Microsoft Support & Discussions

The following is a post from Jean-Philippe Courtois, President, Microsoft International. The key challenge posed at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year is this: what can we do to kick-start economic progress amid global complexity? I am headed to Davos today, joining our CEO Satya Nadella, our chief counsel Brad Smith, Mark Penn and Peggy Johnson to engage with government and business leaders from around the world in a dialogue about potential solutions to fluctuating economies and stubborn social problems. For us the answer is clear, although not easy… it’s about reinventing productivity through technology, enabling people to get more out of every moment. W…

Ùll is like something out of legend. A conference in the style of 4C and Çingleton, it's taken place for the last couple of years in Ireland, and included a veritable treasure trove of speakers and guests from the Apple community. 2015 looks to be be as ambitious as ever, just announced for March 30-31 in Killarney at the Europe Hotel. Oh, and Serenity Caldwell, Georgia Dow, and I will be there! Úll is a conference for people who build and love great products. We focus on great product businesses, presented through an Apple-shaped lens. We treat the conference itself as a product: with a deep emphasis on the attendee experience. Úll brings together talks, intervi…

Share extensions work much in the same way as action extensions, which are both part of extensibility. For example, if you want to share something to Pinterest from Safari, you no longer have to copy the URL and then open the Pinterest app. Instead, Pinterest and many other apps are now available via the Share sheet and can be accessed directly from Safari and many other App Store apps. That means you no longer have to go jumping around between apps — All you have to do is set up share extensions. Note: Share extensions will show up in iOS 8 or later in the Share sheet of any app that supports them. However, Share extensions are only shown if they support that partic…

LastPass has released a new, native app for Mac. Available through the Mac App Store, LastPass for Mac brings all of the features you love about LastPass, including passwords storage, secure notes, and form-fills, to a native Mac application. LastPass for Mac offers you complete control over your LastPass account and data. You can add new passwords and sites, create new default information for online forms, and even create stronger passwords with the password generator. You can also utilize quick search either with a keyboard command or through the Menu Bar icon, to quickly find exactly what you're looking for. Premium users will also be able to access all of their d…

Twelve South has introduced a new stand for Apple's MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops called ParcSlope for MacBook. Billed as "the MacBook stand you can type on", ParcSlope sits on your desk, angling your MacBook for comfortable typing. ParcSlope for MacBook is made to hold Apple's 11, 13, and 15-inch computers. It features three small ridges on its shelf that keep your Mac in place at its 18-degree angle. It uses a silicone lip at the edge of the stand to keep your Mac from sliding off, complete with a notch for easier on-handed opening. There's also a slot in the back of ParcSlope for easy cable management. ParcSlope is available from Twelve South now for $49.…

This week's photography column is dedicated to Kevin and Ally, both of whom have recently become enamored of selfies and selfie sticks. Now, I admit that I don't hate selfies — I find they're a great way to snap quick facial expressions you don't have an emoji for, or show off something awesome you found. (Or a haircut, I guess.) And because we're on a selfie kick this week, I decided to write down some of my top tricks for getting photos of yourself that don't stink up your camera roll. Avoid the "in" face Duck, pout, kissy, emo — whatever the trending "face" of the week is, it's already stale. If you're sending someone a photo of yourself, or putting it onli…

Blackguards 2, the follow up to last years The Dark Eye: Blackguards, is now available worldwide for OS X. A dark fantasy RPG, Blackguards 2 is based on the RPG rulebook for The Dark Eye, and puts an emphasis on strategy in order to achieve victory. As with its predecessor, Blackguards 2 features turn-based combat. The goal is to capture territory, but you will also need to defend it, as enemy factions can attempt to reclaim areas that you have taken. Aside from the main quest, you'll have plenty of side quests and characters to keep you immersed in the world, opening up new stories and areas for you to explore. Blackguards 2 is available for download from a numbe…

Amazon has announced that Prime members in Canada now have access to unlimited photo storage with Prime Photos. In addition to Prime members, unlimited photo storage on Amazon Cloud Drive is available to Amazon Student and and Amazon Family members in Canada as well. From Amazon: Amazon today introduced Prime Photos for customers in Canada, providing free unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive. Most people have a lifetime of birthdays, vacations, holidays, and everyday moments stored across numerous devices. And, they continue to create billions of photos every year. Now, Prime, Amazon Student and Amazon Family members in Canada have a simple, secure pla…

This iPhone 6 bumper features 4-corner protection against drops and keeps the display and back of your device safe from scratches by elevating it away from flat surfaces. You'll have access to all features, while the side and top buttons have been raised to provide easy access when the bumper is installed. Continue reading...

AT&T has revamped their AT&T World Connect $5 monthly international calling package to offer unlimited calls to Mexico. The news comes just days after AT&T got approval from the Mexican government for a $2.5 billion acquisition of Iusacell, Mexico's third-largest cellular carrier. Said AT&T Mobility Chief Marketing Officer David Christopher: "We're always looking for opportunities to show our appreciation to our customers. Mexico is the most frequently dialed country among our wireless customers—and now they can call as much as they want with our enhanced World Connect Value package." The remainder of the AT&T World Connect plan remains…

Instagram's Hyperlapse uses the sensors in your iPhone to stabilize video on-the-fly. That way you get silky-smooth time-lapse video, at up to 12x, of stages being built, forests being run-through, highways being race by, and anything else you can imagine. What you can also do, however, is choose to save the video at 1x. And what that does is create silky-smooth regular video. So smooth, in fact, it looks almost like it was shot for a steadycam. That's not only great for tech writers trying to cover new products solo at an event, but for everything from shooting a birthday cake in motion to an impromptu ukulele jam. You'll need to pay close attention to how to save the fi…

I’m pleased to announce that Microsoft has acquired Equivio, a provider of machine learning technologies for eDiscovery and information governance. We are making this acquisition to help our customers tackle the legal and compliance challenges inherent in managing large quantities of email and documents. Businesses and governments around the world generate enormous volumes of data every day. Sifting through that data to find what is relevant to a legal or compliance matter is costly and time consuming. Traditional techniques for finding relevant documents are falling behind as the growth of data outpaces peoples’ ability to manually process it. Equivio’s solution ap…

A panoramic presentation of the Dr. Pig app at Microsoft China Center One. Having the right data means that businesses can predict trends: What are the energy demands in buildings? What products should a company continue to stock, and which ones should they stop carrying? Azure Machine Learning provides the data to help make these kinds of decisions, changing the way business – and lives – are affected. In China, farmers lack the tools that are needed to predict market volatility, but most of them have smartphones, and a new cross-platform app uses Azure Machine Learning to help pig breeders predict market conditions up to six months. The app, Dr. Pig, takes th…

Xbox One SmartGlass for iPhone and iPad has hit version 2.10.1. This update adds support for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. In addition to support for Apple's latest phones, SmartGlass has also received a number of bug fixes. You can download SmartGlass 2.10.1 from the App Store now. Free - Download Now Continue reading...

Legendary game designer Sid Meier continues to keep himself busy. Today it was revealed that he and a small team at developer Firaxis have been working on a space-themed turn-based strategy game, Sid Meier's Starships. It's due for release early in 2015 for the iPad and Mac, along with the PC. According to GameSpot, the new game will be published by 2K Games. It states: In the game, you'll control a fleet of starships as you journey through the galaxy to complete missions, protect planets and their inhabitants, and build a planetary federation. As you trek through the stars, you'll be challenged to expand your federation's influence and reach. You'll also am…

Apple's home page, at the time of this writing, has been given over in tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. It's in honor of the man and his accomplishments, and coincides with the observation of Martin Luther King Jr. day in the United States. From Apple.com: Today we reflect on the life and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the work that continues in service of the broader concerns of humanity. Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, added the following on Twitter: Honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. #MLK Apple http://t.co/ngqL0bym8y — Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 19, 2015 While many in the US enjoy an extra day off, Apple is encouragin…

A strange thing kept happening to me at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week: Whenever I was standing in line for food, for coffee, or to speak to someone at a booth, and using my iPhone 6 Plus to help pass the time, people came up to me to ask how I liked it. That's usually my move. I'm the tech writer. I'm the one who's supposed to be asking how they like their phones. Yet this time it kept happening to me. The story was almost always the same — the person asking had switched to the iPhone 6 Plus from a big screen Android phone, they were loving it, and they wanted to know if I was loving it too. And that made me curious... These people were almost al…

Customers of UK mobile operator EE are to receive a share of around £1 million after they were wrongly charged VAT. Those who happened to be outside the EU and used data on their plans between October 2012 and October 2014 were affected by a "billing system error." It's reported that 0.5 percent of EE customers were overcharged. EE has informed the BBC that the money received was sent directly to Revenue & Customs, and that refunds will be between £2 to £80 per affected customer. Spokesman David Nieberg explained the error: "Due to a configuration error in our billing system, made following a system change, a small number of customers were wrongly charged V…

Maybe you’ll be participating in a breakfast or a parade honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., or maybe you want to learn more about the iconic civil rights leader, whose birthday is honored Monday with a federal holiday. You can start with the Bing home page, which features the “Homage to King” sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia, and links to more information available with an “Info” box in the lower right-hand corner. Also, on the Bing Blogs, experience the signature landmarks of Dr. King’s life and of the civil rights movement in a Bing Maps tour that takes you from the house in Atlanta, where Dr. King was born in 1929, to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum …

Here's how notifications work on the Apple Watch: When a new one comes in, the "taptic engine" — a linear actuator — literally taps you on the wrist to let you know about it. There's no loud buzzing to draw anyone else's attention, just a subtle but recognizable tap, designed for you and you alone. Meanwhile, the "short look" for the notification provides a minimum of information. Nothing that anyone could oversee — just the icon for the app and a brief bit of context as to who or why. If you lower your wrist, it goes away. Keep your wrist raised or tap the notification, and it expands into a "long look" to give you more details. It's the kind of staging that respects …

The company behind UK mobile operator Three, Hutchison Whampoa, is reportedly looking to purchase competitor O2, which is currently owned by Telefonica. The deal could be worth as much as $13.6 billion to Telefonica, who The Financial Times reports to have enlisted the aid of investment bank UBS to analyze available options, including partnership and flotation of the business. Discussions with Hutchison Whampoa were described as part of these considerations by one person with knowledge of the situation, although there was no deal on the table or any certainty of an offer being made on either side. He added that there was also no urgency given a deal between BT and E…

Earlier today, on the heels of yet more rumors about Apple moving their stylus pen into production, I asked how many people would actually want one. What I didn't consider, however, was potential demand beyond the retail and online shelves. For example, from enterprise and education. Neil Cybart, writing for Above Avalon: An Apple Pen would find a nice fit in this type of setting. Additionally, if the Apple Pen can be used to capture information such as distance, shape, texture, and angles, the implications expand into many different industries such as industrial and into various commercial settings from Fortune 500 companies to independently owned and operated busi…

The stability of Apple's platforms has been the subject of a lot of debate recently. Whether you agree with it or not, there's a growing sentiment that the quality of Apple's software has gone downhill in recent years, and that some form of "Snow Leopard moment" is needed to get it back on track. Our own Peter Cohen tackled the issue back in November: Apple made the decision a few years ago to adopt an annual upgrade cycle for its operating systems. That's brought tremendous innovation to the Mac and to iOS in a relatively short amount of time, but it's also brought a lot of pain for users. Here's to hoping that Apple can iron out the problems with iOS 8 and Yosemit…

Do you want an Apple stylus? The iPad Pro (or iPad Plus) is one of the latest in a long line of products rumored to be on-deck from Apple, and along with it are rumors of an Apple stylus — a digital pen that can be used to more easily write or draw on the screen. Apple famously said fingers were better for input than styluses at the original Apple event, yet they've accumulated a lot of patents in the area over the years. Meanwhile, companies like Ten One Design, Adonit, FiftyThree, Studio Neat, and others have shipped a lot of third-party stylus pens. Apple, arguably, could make an amazingly engineered, incredibly well integrated stylus if they chose to. But the quest…