Microsoft Support & Discussions

UK mobile operator O2 has announced new plans for families and those with multiple handsets. Sharer and Family Sharer enables O2 subscribers to share data bundles of up to 8GB across multiple mobile devices attached to a single account. The new plans aren't limited to smartphones either as tablets and other data-connected hardware are all included. Should you be on the O2 Refresh tariff, you'll need to pay £6 extra per month to share your data allowance across multiple devices. Same with the O2 Family Sharer Plan, which will charge account holders £6 for each new person added to the plan. That charge covers only data, however. Be prepared to fork out £15 a month for …

Have you ever felt like searching through tweets you published years ago? Now you can using Twitter's search engine. Searches on the social network were previously limited to just a week before tweets were removed from the index (but still viewable by other means – direct links, profile timelines, etc). Twitter has worked on rolling out a new search engine that not only keeps up with the plethora of tweets being beamed to the service on a daily basis, but also enable users to search through those vintage messages. "Our search engine excelled at surfacing breaking news and events in real time, and our search index infrastructure reflected this strong emphasis on rece…

Are you deleting the Uber app? Uber, the popular car service app, has been in the news a lot lately, and in the worst possible way. Earlier this year The Verge wrote about their competitive tactics, which to many crossed the line beyond competition. More recently, Pando Daily called Uber out over apparent sexism in their corporate culture. Buzzfeed exposed an incredibly inappropriate ad campaign. And Pando Daily revealed another series of serious allegations. Then, last night, Buzzfeed watched as an Uber executive, Emil Michael... Well, read for yourself: Over dinner, [Michael] outlined the notion of spending "a million dollars" to hire four top opposition resear…

First there was just Facebook, and then there was Messenger, and now there is Groups. Yep, Facebook has launched a dedicated app purely for their Groups feature, and, well, it's pretty much a different user interface for the current groups that already exist in the primary Facebook app. Unlike with Messenger, which was forcibly extracted from the primary Facebook app, Facebook sees Groups as a compliment to the primary Facebook app. "Follow your groups here or on Facebook, whichever is easier for you," they say. There's not much more to say about Facebook Groups. It's Facebook's Groups feature, in an app. If Facebook Groups are important to you, you can download i…

Spotify is making it even easier to enjoy your favorite tunes on the road today. The company has announced today that it is bringing its streaming app to BMW and MINI cars equipped with BMW Apps and MINI Connected Apps respectively. Spotify lists the features of the new app as follows: Access your own music and playlists or use features like Radio and Browse to find the perfect music for every mood and moment Enjoy an intuitive viewing experience on the car's high-resolution Control Display Comfortable and safe to use with the iDrive Controller Spotify Premium subscribers can enjoy extra high quality on-demand music (320kbps) that sounds great on the car's aud…

Starting today developers can start making their own apps for the upcoming Apple Watch, well before it's expected to go on sale. Apple today announced the availability of the first version of their WatchKit dev tools as part of the iOS 8.2 developer SDK release. This first WatchKit release includes "programming guides, human interface guidelines, templates and more." Apple said that developers will be able to make "fully native apps for Apple Watch" starting sometime in 2015. Apple offered some examples of the kind of apps developers can make with Apple Watch: Developers can create notifications that allow users to take action or respond right from their wrist …

Your favorite and recent contacts are now easier to get to than ever, thanks to their inclusion on the iPhone and iPad app switcher screen. Double-click the Home button and they're right there at the top, ready and waiting for you to tap. But what if you don't want your contacts showing up there? What if you want to keep your private contactsfrom prying eyes? Luckily you can turn favorites, recents, or both right off! How to remove favorite and recent contacts from the multitasking screen Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Tap on Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Tap on Show In App Switcher under the Contacts section. Toggle Off the options for Phone Favor…

I've been building and editing ebooks for just over four years now. I started back in 2010 with Macworld when we were still hand-compiling HTML files; and though our process changed and simplified greatly over the years, we still needed multiple programs and long working hours to put everything together for multi-platform ebook releases. Enter Vellum. I got my first glimpse of the Mac app two years ago back in its early beta stages: At the time, the WYSIWYG ebook-builder only supported text and limited styling, but its live-preview engine and instant-compile for iBooks, Kindle, and Nook gave me true hope for a great cross-platform ebook tool. Vellum 1.0 launched this J…

Today, we released an out-of-band security update to address a vulnerability in Kerberos which could allow Elevation of Privilege. This update is for all supported versions of Windows Server and includes a defense-in-depth update for all supported versions of Windows. We strongly encourage customers to apply this update as soon as possible by following the directions in Security Bulletin MS14-068.

Left to right: Real Madrid President Florentino Perez, Microsoft Country Manager of Spain Maria Garaña and Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Chairman, Emerging Markets, Orlando Ayala. Real Madrid C.F. and Microsoft have signed an agreement that will accelerate the digital transformation of the soccer club through technology, it was announced Tuesday in Madrid, Spain. The alliance, through which Microsoft becomes the strategic technological partner of Real Madrid, will revolutionize the soccer experience for members and fans of the club by providing digital services that are accessible anywhere, anytime and on a host of devices. It also will make Real Madrid t…

Looking for the best iPad apps to help you cook the perfect Thanksgiving feast? From Turkey recipes to cooking times, safety tips to side dishes, a lot of work goes into what you serve your family, friends, and loved ones. With the iPad and some great apps, you can keep all the information you need right at your fingertips, and make sure you put together the best Thanksgiving ever! Cook Cook is a beautiful cooking app that serves two purposes. The first is that you get your very own cookbook that you can keep track of your own recipes in. You can control who can see your content or share it publicly. There are also tons of other recipe books to browse by other…

Apple Pay is now available for more people to quickly pay for their groceries in a ton of stores in the southeastern US. That's due to a new agreement between Apple and Bi-Lo Holdings, the parent company of the BI-LO, Harveys and Winn-Dixie grocery stores chains. The company stated: Across its eight-state operating area, Apple Pay is available to BI-LO, Harveys and Winn-Dixie customers who carry iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. These users will be able to hold their iPhone 6 to the contactless reader at checkout and place their finger on the Touch ID to easily and safely pay. Make sure you check out our ultimate guide to using Apple Pay if you are a new iPhone …

WhatsApp is now one of the strongest messaging apps you can find on Android — thanks to new end-to-end encryption for messages — and the features may soon come to the iOS version as well. That means messages send from your iOS device would be totally secure and not have the ability to be decrypted by WhatsApp at all — no matter what. Other apps offer similar end-to-end security, but WhatsApp is by far the largest of the bunch. The new feature comes from a partnership with Open Whisper Systems, best known for their TextSecure apps. Open Whisper CTO Moxie Marlinspike says it took six months to nail down the code for such a large deployment. Only the two parties invo…

If you're a developer, take this 10-minute survey and you could win some really great prizes! It's that time of year again, and our friends at Vision Mobile need 10 minutes of your time to participate in the 8th edition of their Developer Economics Survey. If you're not familiar with the survey, Vision Mobile uses it to compile the most comprehensive report on the worldwide app economy and current developer trends. The finished (must read) report will be available in February via @VisionMobile. This is your chance to have your say and win some really great prizes while you're at it. Complete the survey and you're automatically entered to win some great prizes inc…

Made from a smooth and durable polycarbonate, this iPhone 6 Plus Snap On Case provides excellent drop protection thanks to the thick edging and impact resistant shell. The back features a custom patterned texture that gives you an enhanced grip and a fold-out kickstand. Available in black or white for 47% off today! [/url] Continue reading...

We all develop passions early in life that shape who we are. My love for soccer, or as we call it in my native Colombia, futbol, was a powerful force in my youth. For me, futbol was not just about kicking a ball into a goal, but about the power of community. In futbol, I was a member of a community that shared the same passions: an obsessive discipline to become more skilled with the ball and a fierce determination to excel in the sport. These passions, which on the surface seem very individual, actually required a strong community, one that worked tirelessly to grow together as a team, even when personalities clashed, and one that strived to ensure that each and every pl…

In case you didn't think you had a reason for another photo-oriented social network on your iPhone (hello, Instagram, Imugr, 500px, et al), there's a new one from serial entrepreneur and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone: Super! The app (which we're just going to call "Super", no exclamation, for the sake of our own sanity) focuses on imagery, but unlike those networks listed above it also focuses on bold captions overlaid on top of those photos with prompts like "The Best" and "My Favorite" and "The Sexiest" and "Definitely Don't". You then complete the sentence and "sign it" with, well, whatever tag you with to sign, and publish. Super is built around simplicity, wit…

Starting tomorrow, November 18, AT&T will be running a limited-time promotion to bring more data to its 10 GB Mobile Share plan. For the same price that you would be paying on the 10 GB Mobile Share package, which comes with unlimited talk and text, AT&T will throw in an extra 5 GB bringing the shareable data bucket to 15 GB. The promotional 15GB Mobile Share Value plan at the 10GB price is available to new and existing AT&T consumer and business customers and includes domestic unlimited talk and text, and the nation's most reliable 4G LTE network. Customers can easily take advantage of this new offer by visiting att.com and our current AT&T customer…

Following the release of iOS 8.1.1 for iPhone and iPad, along with OS X 10.10.1, Apple has also issued an update for the Apple TV. The update introduces no apparent changes to the user experience, and most likely contains bug fixes and performance improvements. To download Apple TV software version 7.0.2, turn on your Apple TV and go to Settings > General > Software Updates. You can also set your Apple TV to download software updates automatically. Continue reading...

Vainglory has finally arrived on the iPhone and iPad in the U.S. iTunes store a day before its scheduled launch date. This should please the gamers who have been waiting for this MOBA-themed fantasy title to be released since it was shown as part of Apple's iPhone 6 press event in September. Here's a quick break down of its features: Dive into a complete MOBA by developers formerly at Riot & Blizzard. Immerse yourself in a stunning world with ultra-high fidelity graphics. Play with precision controls that amplify your skill. Blaze through fast-paced, 20-minute matches. Explore immense variety and flexibility in item builds for each hero. True laning, gan…

Target is getting ready for Black Friday 2014 with an upcoming iPhone app update that will enable customers to view in-store maps with the locations of all of their major sales items during that massive holiday purchasing event. While in-store maps have been available as part of the Target app, adding a way to find where all the best deals are located in the store aisles is new. A company called Point Inside is helping Target with these updates, which include adding shopping lists that "provide a product's aisle location when a guest is in store and link directly to the new, interactive maps." As far as their Black Friday updates, Target says, "Open the app between 6…

On Tuesday, November 18, 2014, at approximately 10 a.m. PST, we will release an out-of-band security update to address a vulnerability in Windows. We strongly encourage customers to apply this update as soon as possible, following the directions in the security bulletin. More information about this bulletin can be found at Microsoft’s Bulletin Summary page.

Today Microsoft released update MS14-068 to address CVE-2014-6324, a Windows Kerberos implementation elevation of privilege vulnerability that is being exploited in-the-wild in limited, targeted attacks. The goal of this blog post is to provide additional information about the vulnerability, update priority, and detection guidance for defenders. Microsoft recommends customers apply this update to their domain controllers as quickly as possible.

Apple Stores are once again gearing up for the holiday season, and this year that reportedly includes not only red shirts and gold, silver, and space-grey gift cards, but a few new twists as well. According to MacRumors: Anonymous sources claim Apple's new gift cards will move to solid silver, gold and space gray designs to match the current styling of the iPad and iPhone. Similar to previous gift cards, these new gift cards can be used in store or online with a value up to $2000. They will debut starting today, November 17. Other retail changes include the rollout of red holiday t-shirts to replace the traditional blue shirts for employees and the removal of the…

Spotify has teamed up with Uber to let you ride with your music. Now rolling out in beta, Uber will let you choose what music you listen to during your ride when you connect your Spotify account. Because it's in beta, the service will only work in certain cities with select drivers. To use Spotify with Uber, you will first need a Spotify Premium account. Then request a ride from Uber as you normally would. If you get matched with a music-enabled car, a small bar will appear at the bottom that will take you to a music customization screen. You can then designate any of your Spotify playlists, one of Uber's pre-made lists, or search for new music. You can control your …