The Verge - Microsoft Posts

Time Warner customers, others getting HBO Go on Xbox 360 and Roku tomorrow?

2012-05-17T01:03:41Z

HBO will reportedly extend access to its HBO Go streaming service to more cable customers tomorrow. Engadget has screenshots of Xbox 360 and Roku activation menus that show the previously unavailable Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks logos, along with Comcast and DirecTV appearing for Roku. The site's sources also say that Time Warner Cable customers will be able to access HBO Go on Samsung HDTVs and Blu-ray players, though the service actually rolled out for TWC on Samsung Smart TVs back in February. No mention of specific models was made.

HBO and Time Warner Cable are yet to comment, but if you subscribe to one of the mentioned providers (and HBO, of course) it might be worth trying the activation process once or twice come...

Valve takes remote downloads for Steam out of beta

2012-05-17T00:22:04Z

Earlier this month, Valve began beta testing remote download functionality for Steam, allowing users to install games on their home PC via browser or mobile device. Now, just a few short weeks later, the feature is ready for primetime. With the latest update to the Steam client, all users can now remotely manage any Windows or Mac computer synced with their account, provided it is active and connected to the internet. Installations can be initiated from desktop or mobile browsers, as well as Steam's official iOS and Android apps, making games playable as soon as you arrive home. For a better understanding of how the function works, check out our hands-on impressions.

An ultrabook by any other name

2012-05-16T22:30:13Z

Last week, Hewlett-Packard introduced a new category of laptop that made consumer technology enthusiasts hang their heads. Called "Sleekbooks," the specific machines that HP revealed actually don't sound bad: they're thin, relatively cheap, and boast up to nine hours of battery life. The problem is that the word "Sleekbook" doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Words have meaning, and if left unchecked, their meaning can change over time. For instance, in 2007, the word "netbook" stood for an exceptionally tiny, inexpensive laptop with unheard-of battery life. Fast-forward a few years, though, and netbook is practically a derogatory term. It's used to describe a machine that's sorely underpowered. That's because despite the fact that the...

Microsoft-backed HTML5 'Prometheus' tie-in recruits you for Weyland Industries

2012-05-16T17:08:35Z

Much as it did with The Hunger Games, Microsoft is advertising the HTML5 capabilities of its Internet Explorer browser by partnering with a popular upcoming movie — this time, it's Ridley Scott's Prometheus. The Project Prometheus Training Center, launched today on the main movie site, lets you put in your application with Weyland Industries for... well, we're not sure, exactly, but it involves joining the Project Prometheus crew and being very, very good at sliding puzzles.

Internet Explorer is recommended but not required, so just about anyone should be able to play. If there are significant plot hints here, we haven't yet found them, although the multiple-choice cognitive ability test shown above does present some rather suggestive...

Windows 8 Mail, Calendar, People, Messaging, and other apps updated for Release Preview

2012-05-16T09:40:06Z

Microsoft has started to update a range of its core Windows 8 communications applications ahead of the Release Preview debut next month. The updates, available in the latest internal builds of Windows 8, include UI improvements, new features, and drop the "app preview" banner from the top of the application. Microsoft originally released a range of its own Metro style applications with the release of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, designed as simple replacements for full Windows Live desktop apps.

Release notes for several applications, including Photos and Music, reveal that the company modified the applications this week with "updates to support the latest Windows 8 changes." Microsoft's Reader application has also been updated with a...

Microsoft's interactive Kinect NUads rolling out in 'late spring'

2012-05-16T08:49:55Z

Microsoft originally unveiled its interactive NUads almost a year ago and the company now says it will begin rolling them out in "late spring." NUads take advantage of the Kinect sensor to let viewers interact with adverts or launch them from the Xbox 360 dashboard. The design goal is to get users to interact with the advert at their own discretion by saying "Xbox share" to post an update about the advert to a social network like Facebook or to control other aspects of the advert. A typical use case could involve a viewer sharing an advert to identify the song or performer involved. NUads will also be available on Windows PCs thanks to the Kinect for Windows hardware and SDK.

Whether or not viewers will interact with the ads remains to...

Windows RT browser exclusion draws attention from European, US regulators

2012-05-16T07:50:04Z

The European Commission this week announced that it will be keeping a close eye on Microsoft's Windows RT operating system, in response to Mozilla's complaint that the forthcoming platform excludes third-party browsers. At issue is a 2009 antitrust decision that requires Microsoft to provide links to other browsers from within a Windows ballot display. According to Mozilla, though, only Internet Explorer can run in the Classic environment on RT, suggesting that Microsoft's ARM variant of Windows 8 may violate European regulations.

In an e-mail to reporters, EC spokesman for competition Antoine Colombani confirmed that "the Commission is aware" of Mozilla's claims, and that it "will remain vigilant" in overseeing Microsoft's compliance...

Windows 8 Release Preview will include Metro multiple monitor improvements

2012-05-16T07:10:10Z

Microsoft has greatly improved its Windows 8 multiple monitor support in the Consumer Preview version of the operating system, but the company has fine tuned this even more with the upcoming Release Preview. Mark Yalovsky, a member of Microsoft's User Experience team, has taken to the company's Building Windows 8 blog to detail a number of important improvements in the Release Preview, including improved mouse targeting on shared edges and the ability to launch Metro apps on any monitor. Although the post in question has been mysteriously removed by Microsoft, we managed to secure the details thanks to a Google cached version.

Multiple monitor support in Windows 8 Consumer Preview included improvements such as taskbar options for...

Microsoft adds music video and anime streaming apps to Xbox 360

2012-05-16T05:20:35Z

Today, Microsoft expanded the suite of streaming media services available on the Xbox 360 with the introduction of two new apps — Manga Entertainment and Muzu.TV. Manga Entertainment provides access to full length episodes, movies, and clips of anime, while Muzu.TV boasts a catalog of nearly 40,000 music videos from current and classic artists. Currently, Manga Entertainment is exclusive to the United States and Muzu.TV is available only in the US and Canada. Additionally, the company announced an update to on demand TV app, Foxtel, in Australia, which adds Kinect control support.

The news follows rumors of Microsoft's development of a new native Internet Explorer app for the Xbox 360, and allegations this week that Comcast has been...

Bing's social network-infused redesign rolls out to all US users

2012-05-15T23:30:02Z

Microsoft unveiled a new look and a plethora of new features for its search engine Bing last week, and we liked a lot of what we saw. If you'd like to get your hands on it yourself, you're in luck: the redesign is now available to all users in the United States. It's still opt-in — you'll have to visit bing.com/new to get the new look — but it still represents the official launch of Microsoft's strategy to leverage Facebook, Twitter, and a variety of other social networks to take on Google. As you may remember, the new Bing introduces a sidebar devoted entirely to the social networks you belong to, called "Friends Know." The sidebar uses the available data from the networks to suggest search results that it thinks are relevant to...