In today’s Windows 10 press event, Microsoft spilled the beans on the Xbox app for its latest OS. The application will be available on every tablet and PC running Windows 10.

Microsoft approached gaming as a highly personal activity with its latest Xbox implementation. Read more »

One of the highlights of Microsoft’s Windows 10 event today was Project Spartan, the software giant’s next generation Web browser. This will be built into Windows 10, and according to company execs you can expect to see it both on the desktop version of the OS as well as on mobile devices.

Microsoft hasn’t yet told us if Spartan will replace IE on Windows 10, but past rumors did mention they’d both ship alongside each other, so perhaps that’s what will happen. Read more »

The cloud-based Cortana assistant is officially going to be part of Windows 10 on the PC. It is now more intelligent and useful than ever. During today’s Microsoft Windows 10 event the assistant software was showcased in all its glory, working on a Desktop machine.

Cortana will not only be available on your computer, but she has gotten a whole lot better than on your phone. The software has undergone a major upgrade and is now specifically tailored for a full PC experience. Read more »

At its Windows 10-related “briefing” today, Microsoft has just announced some very good news for those of you who are running an older version of its desktop OS – be that Windows 8.1, or even Windows 7, believe it or not.

Namely, the software giant has revealed that for one year after the official launch of Windows 10, you’ll be able to upgrade to the new version for free. Read more »

HP launched today a plethora of new tablets running either Android or Windows OS. A diversity of user scenarios seems to be what HP had in mind prepping those gadgets and it sure looks like it succeeded.

There are six new slates introduced today – the Android-powered HP Pro Slate 12, Pro Slate 10 EE G1 and Pro Slate 8, joining the Windows-running HP Pro Tablet 408, Pro Tablet 10 EE G1 and Elite X2 1011. Read more »

HP today wasn’t content with just announcing a few new Android tablets – instead, the company also took the wraps off a couple of Windows-based slates, and a convertible tablet / laptop hybrid for good measure. The tablets are even supposed to become available before the end of the day.

The Pro Tablet 10 EE G1, which you can see above, is the Windows equivalent of the Pro Slate 10 EE G1, which runs Android. This device is going to be targeted primarily at schools, it seems. Read more »

With all this talk about the upcoming Windows 10, it’s easy to forget about Windows 7 and how many computers out there still run it. Microsoft is focused on convincing those who didn’t upgrade to Windows 8 to do so for Windows 10. In the meantime, though, the company will be ending “mainstream support” for Windows 7 tomorrow.

This means that the aging OS will no longer receive new features, or any design changes or the likes. It will, however, still get security updates until January 14, 2020. Read more »

Microsoft will be detailing the upcoming Windows 10 in two weeks, but the new features keep leaking on a daily basis. Recently we learnt Microsoft is working on a stand-alone web browser called Spartan, which should replace (though not put to rest) the Internet Explorer.

Today we get to see more of Spartan and the brand new and redesigned taskbar, which comes with the new looks of Windows. Read more »

Yesterday we showed you what was reported to be the first ever leaked screenshot showing an in-development build of Spartan, Microsoft’s upcoming Web browser for Windows 10 which was first rumored late last year. Today though there are a couple of new leaked images doing the rounds, and these two show us a very different design for Spartan.

That may be a good thing, given how cartoonish its interface looked in yesterday’s shot. The downside is that today’s leak is comprised of two extremely small and extremely blurry screenshots. Read more »

Intel is staying close to emerging new technologies – the Internet of Things, smartwatches and now HDMI sticks. With the rising popularity of Google’s Chromecast and Amazon’s Fire TV Stick, Intel’s Compute Stick stands out with a complete Windows 8.1 with Bing copy for just $150.

The stick is powered by a quad-core Atom processor, not unlike the ones found in phones and tablets. Read more »

At the end of last year, we heard an intriguing report which said that Microsoft would ship Windows 10 with two Web browsers on board – IE11 for backwards compatibility, and a new one codenamed Spartan, which was allegedly being built from scratch. Today the existence of project Spartan has pretty much been confirmed by the leaked screenshot you can see below.

This apparently shows us the second version of Spartan, dating back to November. It’s an older iteration than the one currently in the works, but it does help us get a general idea about it. And immediately that codename starts making sense, for this is shaping up to be a very bare bones experience, with a very minimalistic design. Read more »

Last year Toshiba released a pair of tablets under the Encore 2 name. Both devices featured a slick body with rounded edges for better handling and a nice Satin Gold finish. Both tablets feature 1280 x 800 pixel screens in 10 and 8-inch form factors, respectively. They are powered by quad-core Atom processors and come with an array of connectivity options: 802.11n Wi-Fi, Micro HDMI and wireless display support.

In a recent announcement Toshiba revealed that it will now offer an improved version of the devices that include support for Pen input and are bundled with one, produced by Wacom. The extra input method is said to be very precise, with 2048 levels of pressure intensity and should offer an array of new possible features and uses for the next generation Encore 2 tablets, dubbed Encore 2 Write. Read more »

Aside from the carbon ThinkPad X1, Lenovo also brought out new Yoga convertible laptops. The Lenovo Yoga 3 comes in 11″ and 14″ sizes, both powered by a 5th generation Intel processor. The signature move of the Yoga are the four modes – Laptop, Stand, Tend and Tablet – thanks to the hinge that opens all 180°.

The Windows Yoga line continues with an 8″ tablet that can use a pen instead of a stylus and three ThinkPad models that aren’t as portable as the Yoga 3 but pack additional features. Read more »

Alongside the Zenfone 2 and Zenfone 2 Zoom phone duo, Asus also introduced a trio of Windows tablets from its Transformer Book Chi series. Тhe T90, T100, and T300, as their called, all run Windows 8.1 and can be attached to keyboard docks to become a full-fledged laptop.

Like their names suggest, the Transformer Book T90 Chi and Book T100 Chi feature 8.9″ and 10.1″ screens, respectively. The resolution of the T90 is 1280 x 800, while the larger T100 is one step ahead with full HD panel. Both are powered by the Intel Atom Z3775 and are offered in 32GB and 64GB flavors.

However, the star of the show is the Transformer Chi T300 with its all-aluminum body and 12.5″ IPS 2560 x 1440 pixel display. Under the hood, there’s an Intel Broadwell Core M processor with no fans. It’s quite thin too with a waistline of 7.6mm when detached and 16.5mm when attached to a keyboard dock. Read more »

Samsung slipped in two new computers in 2014 even though New Year’s Eve is less than 48 hours away. One is an updated Series 9 ultrabook, the other a Series 7 all-in-one PC.

Interestingly, both lack the ATIV branding that Samsung used for its Windows/Windows Phone devices. Read more »