I have never been a big fan of the points system that Microsoft uses. The thing that has always annoyed me is that it seemed I always had to spend more than I really should have for things purchased on Xbox since you had to buy at least 400 points at $5. Inevitably, I would need only a few more points to complete a purchase and had to buy 400 even if all I needed was 100. I am not the only one bothered by that and Microsoft is set to end the Points program this year according to a source.
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‘Microsoft’ Stories
Microsoft to end Points virtual currency tips source
Nokia Windows Phone sales top 1.3m in 2011 tip analysts
A shortage of rival flagships and ambitious promotional work could have seen Nokia sell 1.3m Lumia Windows Phones in 2011, according to analyst averages, though the MeeGo-powered N9 could still have outsold its Microsoft-running siblings. Bloomberg took sales estimates from 22 analysts surveyed around Nokia's Windows Phone launch, with figures ranging from as many as 2m down to just 800,000. However, the estimates are over sales into the retail channel, and don't necessarily mean that many of Nokia's devices have ended up in users' pockets or bags.
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Why Sony Won’t Launch A New PlayStation This Year (Or Next)
I’m often asked when Sony will launch its next PlayStation. Just about everyone is interested in finding out if the next console the consumer electronics giant offers up can be as appealing and popular as its predecessors. The push for Sony to launch a new PlayStation is also born out of the fact that Nintendo is launching a new console this year, called the Wii U. And if history is to be our guide for the future, most console makers launch their new devices around the same time.
Microsoft’s Windows Phone Sales Silence Speaks Volumes
Microsoft’s quarterly financial results today make for great reading if you’re a shareholder, with a record $20.9bn in revenue, but are less reassuring if you’re a Windows Phone fan. The big software company broke down Windows 7 licensing numbers, spilled its Bing search share and gleefully detailed Xbox 360 and Kinect sensor sales, but Microsoft’s smartphone OS merited little more than a vague mention of “a lot of excitement.” This was Microsoft’s most obvious opportunity to hammer home whatever dent Windows Phone had made in the mobile market; that it didn’t leaves us more than a little concerned.
Microsoft reports Q2 2012 earnings, light on Windows sales
Microsoft released its fiscal second quarter 2012 earnings report today, exceeding analyst expectations of earnings per share but saw a slight dent on revenue due to slowing Windows sales. Revenue came in at $20.89 billion, up 5 percent from the same quarter last year. However, earnings dipped to $6.62 billion or about $0.77 per share.
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Microsoft’s Dave Cutler now working on Xbox
We all know that Microsoft is hard at work on the next-generation Xbox game console. We also know that there are rumored to be two versions of the console with one aimed at gaming and the other aimed at gaming and entertainment. Microsoft has confirmed that it has moved Dave Cutler, the dude behind Windows NT, over to the Xbox team.
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Microsoft System Center 2012 hits the private cloud running
For those of you looking to create a private cloud in a very real way over the past few years and have done your research on what making a professional effort of doing so have likely heard of VMware, the biggest name in the business thus far - but as Microsoft has shown this week, their jump into the environment will be comprehensive, simple to manage, and inexpensive - a powerful combination indeed. At a release candidate launch webcast, Microsoft's corporate vice president of management and security spoke on how they'll soon have their management suite offered as a single product instead of the modular components of their competitors. This suite, System Center 2012, will have a standard version for $1,323, and a data center version for $3,600 USD.
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Alienware’s X51 puts Games Consoles on Notice
The Alienware X51 isn’t the biggest gaming PC the Dell-owned company has ever unveiled, nor the fastest, but it’s arguably the biggest challenge to traditional consoles to-date. Packing a full PC into a Xbox-scale chassis, the X51 promises to turn its hand to everything from the latest FPS, high-def multimedia playback and even mundane Office tasks. As the central hub for a smart home, that could be enough to edge it ahead of gaming heavyweights like the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Microsoft Windows 8 Tablet hardware requirements posted in full
It's time to get powerful with your Windows 8 tablet, developers, as manufacturers are today having the hardware requirements laid out for them for the tablets they're all starting to make for the seasons of love inside 2012. While we've seen a few Windows 8 tablets already, none of them have been consumer ready, so as Microsoft lays down the law here for future devices wanting to run Windows 8 officially, the races have begun. Five buttons, for starters, will need to physically appear on the device for it to be a true Windows 8 device.
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Microsoft Visual Studio brings Gamification to app development
So you're the sort of person who works best if you know there's a reward at the end of the battle - or better yet, you do best when you know you're competing against someone else for the biggest amount of stars, goals, or flags - you're in luck if you're a developer working to create Microsoft-based applications! What's going on here is that Microsoft is bringing forth a plug-in for their app-development software Visual Studio. This plug-in, aptly titled Visual Studio Achievements, has you the developer unlock badges and compete with your fellow coders on a leader board.
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Mass Effect 3 Kinect voice control gets video demo
BioWare's Mass Effect 3 will use Microsoft's Kinect sensor bar not for motion- and gesture-control but for spoken voice commands that augment traditional gamepad play, speeding up the action by streamlining group tactics and flipping between weapons. Rather than pause the game, use the command wheel to decide non-player sidekick actions and then return to play, BioWare showed VentureBeat how commands like "carnage" can automatically trigger an attack on the opponents you've highlighted.
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Windows 8 hardware specs confirm CTRL+ALT+DEL is reborn
Microsoft's hardware requirements for Windows 8 devices, including tablets and notebooks, have been detailed, including the rebirth of CTRL+ALT+DEL and how NFC touch-points should be highlighted. Outlined in the recently published Win8 device documentation, Microsoft mandates that tablet PCs and convertible PCs should have at least a screen resolution of 1366 x 768 and a digitizer supporting at least five-point multitouch. x86 machines, meanwhile, must resume in two seconds or less.
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- POPULAR STORIES THIS WEEK
- Temple Run for Android postponed, still coming this month
- iPad twin-tier pricing tipped to topple Android rivals
- iPad 3's biggest boost will be its massive resolution
- Google "next-gen personal communication device" in testing
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 pricing set for disaster
- Google: We want 2.25% of the iPhone sticker price
- Mattel Hover Board prepped for 2012 holiday release
- Tesla Model X all-electric crossover unveiled and detailed
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