In the News

Microsoft has announced official price cuts on three of its smartphones in the new Lumia range. The Microsoft Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL, and Lumia 650 all have received permanent price cuts in the US. The Microsoft Lumia 650, launched with a price tag of $199 (roughly Rs. 13,300), is now available for $149 (roughly Rs. 10,000). The Microsoft Lumia 950 was has now come down to $399 (roughly Rs. 26,700) officially and the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is now available for $499 (roughly Rs. 33,400).

On the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, Microsoft made it easy for all who tried to find ‘that’ perfect gift to ensure a day memorable for their siblings. Microsoft, through its popular app, Sprightly gave consumers access to handpicked and specially designed templates for the occasion. Not just this, consumers were also able to create their own special stories in the form of e- Cards by just uploading any of their special memories and putting a heartfelt message to it!

On Tuesday, the Redmond-based company has finally started rolling out the Windows 10 Mobile Anniversary Update to eligible devices. The Anniversary Update on Windows 10 Mobile does not bring as many changes as it does on its PC counterpart but does include notable changes in notifications as well as an added Skype app built on Universal Windows Platform.

State-run telecom firm BSNL today signed a strategic business pact with Microsoft India for offering complete suite of telecom and IT solutions for enterprise businesses. The agreement has been signed under a request for proposal floated by BSNL to cater end-to-end needs of enterprise customers involving many allied services in the field of IT, software as a service, cloud infrastructure, audio-video solutions etc.

At Gamescom, Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg confirmed that the Xbox One Scorpio will be completely compatible with all existing Xbox One accessories. This means that any existing Xbox One stuff you may own controllers, headsets, the Kinect (and, if the Xbox One S is any indication, the Kinect adaptor) is going to work on the Xbox One Scorpio without any hassle and problems.

Microsoft has finally confirmed that the 500GB and 1TB Xbox One S models will be coming over to Europe. The models, which will launch in North America later this month, had not yet been confirmed for European markets. The console will be bundled with FIFA 17, retailing for £249 for the 500GB version, and £299 for the 1TB version. It will also come with a free month of EA Access, EA’s subscription service that is available exclusively on Xbox One. The models are due to launch in Europe on September 22, meaning potential purchasers have over a month to save up money to get them upon launch.

The Xbox One S is the smallest system Microsoft have ever made, and it’s an excellent console that warrants a purchase all on its own. However, in an ad released for the console earlier this year, visual misrepresentation of the extent of the size reduction on the new console is exactly what happened. A new ad for the Xbox One S, however, appears to have rectified the error. The visual in this new commercial, as noted by NeoGAF, is far more accurate about the kind of size reduction that customers can expect with the new Xbox One over the standard launch models.

Microsoft has announced at Gamescom that its early access-like Xbox Game Preview program would be coming to Windows 10 as well. ID@Xbox Director Chris Charla stated that, “I’m super happy that we’re enabling PC gamers to preview and purchase work-in-progress digital titles, participate in the development process and help developers make Windows 10 games the best they can be. We’ll have lots more games to talk about in Game Preview for Windows 10 soon.”

Microsoft released a new ad for the Surface Pro 4, putting it against Apple’s iPad Pro. The video, titled as “What’s a computer?” shows how Microsoft’s Surface devices do a lot more than the iPad Pro. In the video, we get to see Cortana chatting with Apple’s Siri in a party where she’s celebrating the iPad Pro’s new keyboard. The commercial pokes fun at the fact how the iPad Pro now has a keyboard while the Surface Pro 4 is significantly more powerful with an i7 CPU. Considering that the larger iPad Pro and the Surface Pro 4 run in about the same price points when each are given the same storage capacity, the commercial makes a lot of sense for Microsoft.

A commonly used gaming device may prove to be a cheap and effective means of evaluating the walking difficulties of multiple sclerosis patients, a new study has found. The Microsoft Kinect is a three-dimensional depth-sensing camera used in interactive video activities such as tennis and dancing. Researchers from McGill University in Canada tested whether it could detect the differences in gait of MS patients compared to healthy individuals. Using a camera that detects movement and computer algorithms that quantify the patients’ walking patterns can reduce potential for human error, researchers said.