Skip to main content

Microsoft

603 'Microsoft' stories October 2008 - July 2015
See All Stories

Strategy Analytics: iPhone market share climbed from 8.2% to 10.9% year-on-year

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 30 2015 - 4:50 am PT
1 Comment
Site default logo image

Strategy Analytics has issued its latest estimates of global mobile phone shipments, and reports that Apple’s market share climbed from 8.2% in Q2 2014 to 10.9% in the same quarter this year. Apple revealed in its latest quarterly earnings that it saw iPhone sales climb 35% year-on-year to 47M units.

The research firm said that Apple’s dramatic growth in iPhone shipments contrasted strongly with an overall industry growth rate of just 2% … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Microsoft Office iOS apps add Outlook integration, improved sharing, protected documents, & more

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 23 2015 - 1:25 pm PT
1 Comment

Microsoft is rolling out an update to some its Office iOS apps today that includes a handful of new features for the Word, PowerPoint, and Excel iPhone and iPad apps.

Among the new features, all three apps get support for viewing protected documents and Outlook integration. For Outlook, users now have the ability to “send a document as an attachment in Outlook. Or directly edit a document attached to or linked from an Outlook email message.”

In addition, all three apps get support for bi-directional and script languages, including Thai, Hebrew, and Arabic.

The updated apps will also now let users invite others to edit a document and configure permissions for those collaborators.

The updated Microsoft Office apps (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) are available on the App Store now.

Microsoft pilots hybrid not-quite-email, not-quite-IM iPhone app – ahead of Windows Phone

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 22 2015 - 7:37 am PT
7 Comments
Site default logo image

Microsoft has today launched Send, an experimental iPhone app that offers a kind of cross between email and instant messaging. Microsoft says that it is designed for “brief, snappy communications” where you want an instant response but also want to retain a record of what was said within Outlook. The app was previously leaked as Flow by Outlook.

While tools like text messaging and IM are great for short messages, you often don’t have your co-worker’s cell phone number or an IM app on your work phone. And we’ve heard loud and clear from people at work, they want all their communications available in Outlook—even if they send them from other apps. This is where Send comes in! Send gives you the simple, quick text message-like experience while allowing you to reach all co-workers and have all of your communications in Outlook for reference later.

Tellingly, Microsoft is launching first for iPhone – ahead of not just Android, but also its own Windows Phone platform … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Microsoft’s OneNote iOS app goes universal, bringing Notification Center widget and more to iPad

Avatar for Zac Hall Jul 16 2015 - 8:41 am PT
3 Comments

Microsoft today released a new update to OneNote for iPhone that makes it a universal app, now OneNote for iOS. That means that the existing OneNote for iPad app is being replaced by a single, universal app that runs on both iPhone and iPad.

The benefit, aside from having a single version, is that the iPad app is gaining some recent features introduced in the iPhone app including a OneNote widget in the today view of Notification Center. iPad users will also notice a new “recent notes” section for notes made on either device, and landscape mode on the iPad now presents a column of page previews.

Catch the full release notes below:

Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Microsoft’s $99 Universal Foldable Keyboard for iPhone, iPad, & other devices now available

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 14 2015 - 7:21 am PT
7 Comments

Microsoft’s new Universal Foldable Keyboard, first unveiled earlier this year, is now available to purchase online and through Microsoft stores. The super portable Bluetooth keyboard folds in half when not in use and allows users to connect to two mobile devices at once including iPhones, iPads, Android, and Windows devices.

Microsoft notes that the keyboard has full-size keys, a spill-resistant, water-repellent keyboard and outer material, and a built-in rechargeable battery that will get you around three months of use on a charge. There’s also an “OS” button for switching between connected devices. Here’s a closer look at the keyboard:

The Microsoft Universal Foldable Keyboard is available for $100 on Amazon, and it’s also available through Microsoft retail stores and online.

Microsoft made a new video for today’s launch to show off some of the keyboard’s features and its compact, 5mm thin design:

[youtube=https://youtu.be/zNrop5Mwv0g]

Microsoft releases Office 2016 for Mac to Office 365 subscribers

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 9 2015 - 9:01 am PT
44 Comments
Site default logo image

Earlier this year, Microsoft unveiled the entirely redesigned Office for Mac 2016 preview and introduced a variety of new features to go along with the fresh appearance. Today, Microsoft has released the official public build of Office for Mac 2016. In order to use the software, you must have an Office 365 subscription, which runs $99.99 per year or $9.99 per month.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Microsoft de-emphasising phone hardware, writes off more than it paid for Nokia, cuts 7,800 jobs

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 8 2015 - 8:05 am PT
18 Comments
Site default logo image

Windows Phone has not been the greatest success story in the world, and Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia to produce its own handsets looks to have been an even bigger flop. The company today announced that it is writing off $7.6B against the Nokia business – more than it paid for the company in the first place.

Microsoft has also revealed that it will be laying-off 7,800 staff – more than 6% of its workforce – over the next few months, mostly from the Phones business … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Microsoft introduces ‘Tossup’ iOS app to make scheduling outings with family & friends easier

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 6 2015 - 10:20 am PT
11 Comments

Microsoft today has introduced a new app for iOS and Android that makes it considerably easier for friends and family to make plans while on the go. Dubbed Tossup, the app was developed by the Microsoft Garage, which means it implores new ideas and thinking that the company hopes will catch on to the masses.


Expand
Expanding
Close

9to5Toys Last Call: Incase mega sale, iPad Air 2 $399, 11″ MacBook Air (newest) $749, more

Avatar for Jun 23 2015 - 9:12 am PT
0 Comments

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

Incase up to 40% off sale + extra 15% + free shipping: Icon Compact Pack $51, MacBook Air Hardshell Case $30

Save $100 on Apple’s iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi 16GB in Gold or Silver: $399 shipped (Reg. $499)

Daily Deals: 11.6-inch Macbook Air 128GB (newest version) $749, Anker 40W 5-Port USB Charger $17, more

Amazon Echo smart speaker now available for purchase for $180 shipped

Giveaway: Grovemade’s latest wooden creation provides a luxurious home for your Magic TrackPad

More new gear from today:

WD My Passport Pro 2TB portable storage w/ Thunderbolt cable $200 (Reg. $300)

$50 Toys R Us gift card for $40 shipped (20% off): save on video games, LEGO, amiibo, dolls, more

More deals still alive:

iPhone 5 & 1-Yr Unlimited Talk/Text, 500MB LTE/m $300 shipped

The best deals to really take advantage of Microsoft’s Xbox One free game promotion

…and even more great iPhone 6 dock options

New products & more:

Jabra’s new in-ear Bluetooth headphones track more than 40 exercises

GameStop launches vintage games store and prices are all over the place

E3:

9to5Toys Last Call: car jump starter/power bank $60, DJI Phantom drone $299, Bluetooth headphones, more

Avatar for Jun 18 2015 - 9:09 am PT
0 Comments

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

Daily Deals: Anker Car Jump Starter and Portable Power Bank $60, TaoTronics iPhone 6 Car Mount $5, more

DJI Phantom 1.1.1 Quadcopter with GoPro Mount $299 shipped (Orig. $349)

Bluetooth headphones: Sol Republic Tracks Air $75 (Reg. $150), JBL J56BT on-ears $44 (Reg. $149), more

The 5 biggest iOS and Android games announced at this year’s E3 Expo

Beats by Dr. Dre Powerbeats2 Wireless Bluetooth Headphones in multiple colors: $150 shipped (Reg. $200)

Ondesoft Mac Bundle with X-Mirage, iTunes Converter, Audiobook Converter and more: free ($146 value)

The Big Deal photography bundle with training tools, memberships for $99 ($4,000+ value)

Quick Review: Kano’s Raspberry Pi 2 computer kit shines as a learning tool for kids and DIYers alike

More new gear from today:

More deals still alive:

ZAGG Folio/Profolio+ iPad Bluetooth Keyboard Cases: $28 shipped (Orig. $90+)

Belkin Thunderbolt 2 Express Dock HD w/ 1-Meter Cable: $205 shipped (Reg. $300

New products & more:

Simple Station Dock is an industrial all-in-one charging solution for Apple Watch & iPhone

Super Smash Bros. updates, Star Fox rolls onto Wii U, more

New games & hardware announced at E3 make Xbox One deserving of a second look

Sony shows Last Guardian, Final Fantasy VII remake, Uncharted 4, Star Wars, more

Microsoft unveils new hardware, 360 compatibility + Forza 6, Halo 5, more

Bethesda’s real life Pip Boy for iPhone/Android, Dishonored 2, Doom, more

Xbox Live Gold Members can enjoy EA Access for free this week

Square Enix is bringing Final Fantasy VII to iOS this summer

Avatar for Justin Kahn Jun 16 2015 - 2:41 pm PT
2 Comments

As the main headline events wrap up at this year’s E3, Square Enix dropped more information on its plans for the beloved Final Fantasy series. After a very impressive reveal for the Final Fantasy VII remake on consoles and PC at the Sony event last night, Square executive producer Shinji Hashimoto took to the stage today to announce that FF7 is coming to iOS devices this Summer.

To be clear, this isn’t a mobile version of the new remake, but rather a port of the now iconic original PlayStation release. Square Enix already has a wide selection of mobile titles available in the App Store including Final Fantasy 1 through 6.

No exact release date or pricing details have been given, but you can expect it in the coming months, and likely for a premium judging by Square’s other mobile offerings.

Head over to 9to5Toys for a complete rundown on everything Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and everyone else had to offer at E3 2015.

Site default logo image

Microsoft reportedly buying cross-platform to-do list app Wunderlist

Avatar for Zac Hall Jun 1 2015 - 11:16 am PT
6 Comments

You can now add the German mobile app firm 6Wunderkinder GmbH to the growing list of companies with iOS apps that Microsoft has bought in recent months. 6Wunderkinder makes the popular cross-platform Wunderlist task manager for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft has spent somewhere in the ballpark of $100-$200 million for the firm.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Siri will have competition this year as Microsoft confirms Cortana coming to iOS (and Android)

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy May 26 2015 - 6:22 am PT
26 Comments
Site default logo image

Reuters reported back in March that Microsoft planned to bring its Siri competitor Cortana to iOS, and Microsoft has now officially confirmed this in a blog post.

Today, we’re announcing a Cortana application for Android phones and for iPhones which works as a companion to Cortana on your Windows 10 PC. The ‘Phone Companion’ app on the PC will help you install the Cortana app from the Google Play or Apple App Store onto your phone so you’ll be able to take the intelligence of Cortana with you, wherever you go […]

The Cortana companion will be available for Android phones at the end of June and for iPhones later this year.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXREpLEwgOY]

While Microsoft is pitching the app as a companion to a Windows PC, it appears that most of the functionality will work in the iPhone app without the need for a Windows device, Microsoft saying that you can “make the same queries, ask the same questions” in the standalone app … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Microsoft working on a new Email/IM app for the iPhone, ‘Flow by Outlook’

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy May 20 2015 - 4:11 am PT
8 Comments
Site default logo image

Microsoft appears to be working on a new instant messaging app for the iPhone, acting as a kind of cross between email and instant messaging, known as Flow by Outlook. The download page, which describes the project as ‘Microsoft Confidential,’ was first spotted by @h0x0d (via ZDNet).

Use Flow with anyone, it’s email: Reach anyone with an email address and all conversations for you and others are also in Outlook. Together, you can use Flow and Outlook interchangeably to participate in the same conversations.

Fast, fluid, natural conversations: No subject lines, salutations, or signatures. Flow is designed for fast, light-weight conversations in real time.

Focus on what’s important: Only conversations started in Flow and their replies show up in Flow, not your whole inbox. Focus on your most important person-to-person conversations without the noise.

While the webpage describing the app is unprotected, the actual download link requires a login…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple releases iOS 8.4 beta 3 with revamped Music app ahead of late June launch

Avatar for Mark Gurman May 11 2015 - 9:50 am PT
22 Comments
Site default logo image

Apple today released the third beta of iOS 8.4 to developers, labeled build 12H4098c. The update is available via Software Update on iOS and it should be hitting the developer center soon. The second Public Beta is available as well for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Xcode 6.4 beta 3 is also available. As with the first pair of betas, iOS 8.4 brings a revamped Music application with a new design, Up Next functionality, a Mini Player, and a new version of iTunes Radio. As we’ve reported several times, iOS 8.4’s Music app will also be home to Apple’s upcoming Beats-based streaming music service. Sources say that the new service will be announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8th alongside iOS 9 and OS X 10.11, and it will launch publicly in several countries alongside the new iTunes Radio in late June.

Below, we list the changes in this new beta:


Expand
Expanding
Close

Dropbox for iOS adds file commenting & 1Password login, creating Office docs coming soon

Avatar for Zac Hall May 5 2015 - 8:57 am PT
2 Comments
Site default logo image

Dropbox is rolling out a new version of its iPhone and iPad app today with a new features including commenting and mentions, a new ‘Recent’ files tab, and 1Password integration. Dropbox for iOS will also gain the ability to create Microsoft Office files including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents directly from the app soon.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Microsoft announces new tool for effortlessly porting iOS apps to Windows 10

Avatar for Mike Beasley Apr 29 2015 - 10:52 am PT
24 Comments
Site default logo image

Microsoft announced today during its Build conference that it will release a tool for developers to port their iOS apps directly to Windows 10 as “universal apps” that run on both phones and desktop computers. Developers will be able to feed their existing Objective-C code into a new software package and have it converted to work on the upcoming PC operating system.

At least, that’s how Microsoft is pitching it, though the whole process is a bit more complex. Essentially Windows 10 will ship with APIs that mirror the expected behavior of many iOS APIs, and this new conversion tool will help developers swap out iOS code for matching Windows code.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Office for iPhone & iPad will soon support cross-platform add-ins from services like Uber and LinkedIn

Avatar for Zac Hall Apr 29 2015 - 10:28 am PT
3 Comments
Site default logo image

<a href="https://twitter.com/harrymccracken/status/593459473173204992" target="_blank">via Harry McCracken</a>

It was hard to miss the iPhone 6 and iPad Air on stage during the beginning of Microsoft’s BUILD conference for developers. It turns out the Apple devices were used to demo a new feature coming to Office for iPhone and iPad called add-ins…

Expand
Expanding
Close

First screenshots of top Apple Watch apps revealed by new tool [Gallery]

Avatar for Mark Gurman Apr 22 2015 - 8:22 am PT
13 Comments
Site default logo image

While hundreds of apps for the Apple Watch have been announced and detailed, screenshots of most of the major applications have yet to be revealed, until now. Developer Steven Troughton-Smith has created a tool to view screenshots of Apple Watch applications by pasting in the link to the existing iPhone application. Below, we’ve put together several galleries of several notable Apple Watch applications, including Twitter, Instagram, Uber, Starbucks, and Apple’s own Keynote presentation remote. We’ll be updating this post live as more application screenshots are discovered. WatchAware is also showcasing more interactive previews of over 2000 Apple Watch apps.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Microsoft OneNote will now take dictation from Apple Watch, Calcbot will make it a 1985 Casio

Avatar for Chance Miller Apr 21 2015 - 5:35 pm PT
9 Comments
Site default logo image

As we near the April 24th launch for the Apple Watch, a pair of notable apps have received support for the device this evening. First off, Microsoft’s OneNote app has been updated to version 2.11.7 with support for the Apple Watch. A variety of features will be available from the Watch, including the ability to dictate new notes.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Now you can control your PowerPoint presentation with your Apple Watch

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Apr 21 2015 - 5:33 am PT
8 Comments

Microsoft has today updated the iOS version of Powerpoint to allow you to use your Apple Watch as a remote, to start presentations, navigate to the next slide and track your progress by viewing elapsed time, current slide number and total number of slides. The watch app currently only controls the iOS version of Powerpoint, not the OS X version.

Microsoft added support for iCloud and other third-party storage services back in February.

Powerpoint is free for iPhone and iPad, but you’ll need an Office 365 subscription to unlock the full functionality. You can download it from iTunes, and you may like to check out our guide to the best Apple Watch apps available to date.

Microsoft releases ‘Halo: Spartan Strike’ top-down shooter for iPhone & iPad

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Apr 16 2015 - 10:07 am PT
0 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eyazVwm0oY]

Microsoft Studios is today releasing a new top-down shooter set in the Halo universe for iPhones and iPads (in addition to Windows mobile devices and Steam for PC).

The game, developed by Microsoft Studios, 343 Industries, and Vanguard Games, is set during the timeline of Halo 2 and follows a Spartan supersolider on “30 challenging missions while leading UNSC troops through cities and jungles with an all new arsenal of weapons, abilities and vehicles.”

The company is also making Halo; Spartan Assault, the first top-down Halo shooter it developed, available on both iPad and iPhone today. It’s available in a $9.99 bundle with the new Halo: Spartan Strike title:

Also available on iPad, iPhone, and Steam is the Halo: Spartan Bundle. The bundle includes both Halo: Spartan Assault – the original Halo top-down shooter that plays through the historic first missions of the Spartan Ops program as Commander Palmer – and Halo: Spartan Strike for $9.99 ERP.

The iPhone and iPad version of the game is available for $5.99 on the App Store.

Microsoft updates Office 2016 for Mac preview, launches companion apps for iPhone

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Apr 15 2015 - 6:40 am PT
7 Comments
Site default logo image

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05VrH4uX-Mc]

Microsoft has updated its preview version of Office 2016 for Mac with several new features and a number of bug fixes. It has also launched two companion apps for the iPhone, Office Delve (above) and Office 365 Video.

Office 2016 for Mac allows meeting attendees to use Outlook to propose new times for meetings to which they’ve been invited, and allows organizers to modify proposed meetings and send updates. Word gets macro recording, online template search and new proofing tools. Excel is given new analysis tools and a “solver” feature. Powerpoint gets bug fixes and better support for VoiceOver … 
Expand
Expanding
Close