The Microsoft MWC event had a few interesting device announces, namely the new Lumia 640 and its bigger brother – the Lumia 640 XL. A large part of the company’s presentation, however was dedicated to the constantly improving universal application experience on Windows devices.

As most of you surely know, Windows 10 applications are now built around a brand new “One Windows” philosophy. The concept is incredibly straight-forward – have a uniform application ecosystem that will be supported across the whole range of Windows devices and allow developers to write uniform code and make for a seamless user experience transition from mobile screens all the way to full PC desktops. Read more »

Lenovo has chimed in on the MWC 2015 horizon with the launch of a slate trio – meet the Android-running Tab 2 A10-70, Tab 2 A8 and Windows-booting Ideapad MIIX 300.

Lenovo Tab 2 A10

The Lenovo Tab 2 A10 packs a 10.1″ IPS display of 1080p resolution and under the hood features a MediaTek chipset with a 64-bit quad-core CPU and 2GB of RAM. Lenovo says its 7,200mAh battery can last up to 10 hours of non-stop usage. It’s quite sleek, too, with a weight of 509 grams and 8.9mm thick frame. Read more »

As many mobile device makers are holding their pre-MWC press events, HP has unveiled a new laptop – the Spectre x360. This is actually a convertible PC, and HP says that we’re looking at its “most premium and versatile” computer ever.

The Spectre x360 can be used in a few different ‘modes’ – there’s the laptop mode obviously, as well as the tablet mode, but you can also choose ‘tent mode’ for playing, and ‘stand mode’ for watching entertainment. Read more »

Archos has joined The “Grand Digital for Schools Project,” which will do a trial run of equipping 50,000 middle and high school students with tablets and laptops. Next year the program will ramp things up to 1 million students.

Archos has unveiled devices – laptops and tablets with keyboard docks – in three sizes and three OSes – Windows 8.1 Professional, Android and even Chrome OS. Read more »

Microsoft’s Windows operating system, which is often criticized for its security issues, is no longer the number one as far as security vulnerabilities are concerned. According to latest data from the National Vulnerability Database (NVD), the OS is less vulnerable than Apple’s OS X, iOS, as well as Linux.

A quick look at the top operating systems by vulnerabilities reported in 2014 (see image above) reveals that Apple Mac OS X is the most vulnerable operating system, followed by Apple iOS (#2), and Linux (#3). Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 are at position 7 and 8, respectively. Read more »

The HP Stream 7 tablet, which was launched last year at a price tag of $99.99, can now be purchased for just $79 from the online Microsoft Store.

The deal also includes a free one-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 Personal (worth $69.99), which means you get the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, plus 1TB of OneDrive online storage as well as 60 minutes of free Skype calls per month. Read more »

The VAIO PC brand, which became an independent company after Sony sold it off to a to Japanese investment fund last year, has announced two new Z series PCs: the VAIO Z and VAIO Z Canvas.

The VAIO Z features an Intel Core i7-5557U (3.1GHz) processor, a 13-inch display with a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels, and Intel’s Iris Graphics 6100 GPU. It comes with 8GB/16GB RAM and 256/512GB SSD options. Connectivity options include Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI, USB 3.0, as well as IEEE802.11 ac / a / b / g / n wireless support. The device is said to have around 15 hours of battery life. Read more »

After about ten years since it was first introduced, Google will be deprecating the Google Talk application for Windows. Google stopped allowing people to download the app long time ago but you can still continue using it, that is, until February 25.

Google already has a replacement in the form of Hangouts, which has been around for over a year now, and includes a lot more features, such as group messaging, audio and video calls, and emoji support. Read more »

Microsoft introduced a new type of desktop background in Windows 10 for phones – the wallpaper now spreads over the background space, while the tiles become transparent so you can enjoy the picture behind them.

While this new options was welcomed by lots of people, some of the users still preferred the Windows Phone 8.1 way where the image you’ve selected was displayed on the tiles instead of behind. It was quite a cool and unique feature. Read more »

Cortana is just one of the many new features that Windows 10 will bring to eager users. But among the overwhelming sea of new performance and experience improvements, cross-device support and advanced features it is easy to overlook the seemingly plain assistant ant its place in the new OS.

The truth is that Cortana is aiming to be a truly inspired and innovative take on assistant software which has gone far beyond the clever voice search tool it started out as on Windows Phone devices. The team behind the software has taken the time to walk interested users through the steps it took to create the assistant and explain how clever and personal it can actually be. This was done through a rather lengthy blog post on Microsoft’s website and a short video that can be seen below. Read more »

Microsoft Office 2016 preview is now available for users who are willing to commit to a non-disclosure agreement. The Redmond giant will officially release Office 2016 later this year.

The upcoming Office release is available through Microsoft Connect. Read more »

According to a new rumor on the matter, Microsoft is targeting June as the month during which Windows 10 will be “released to manufacturing” (RTM). Once it hits RTM, the OS will be finalized, with no additions coming in after that point. The RTM process refers to Microsoft giving the finalized OS bits to its partners – some of which build computers running the software, and others who actually write those Windows DVDs people still apparently buy.

Obviously this is a rumor and nothing more at this point. So it could turn out to be just a figment of someone’s imagination. Even if this info is accurate now, timelines are known to slip when it comes to software, keep that in mind. It would make sense for Microsoft to do things this way, though, as an RTM in June would ensure we’ll see actual devices running Windows 10 being offered for sale in time for the “back to school” season. Read more »

According to a report in The Verge, Microsoft will soon integrate Cortana into its Office productivity suite. The highly capable virtual assistant will be available in both mobile and desktop guise in the near future.

A Microsoft Office “Work Assistant” application is reportedly in testing. Read more »

Microsoft rolled out universal Office apps for Windows 10 Technical Preview. The trio includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

The touch-optimized applications are available for desktops, notebooks, and tablets with Windows 10 installed. Read more »

Out of the blue the new Raspberry Pi 2 is official. It’s a successor to the B+ model and features the same hardware arrangement (1x Ethernet, 4x USB 2.0), but a much upgraded CPU – a quad-core Cortex-A7 at 900MHz. The best part is that Microsoft will provide a free Windows 10 version!

All this for the same $35 price tag. Read more »