Microsoft's New App Can Identify the Breed of a Dog From Its Photo

Remember Microsoft's funny website that could almost accurately guess your age? Well, the Redmond, Washington-based company is at it again. It has released an app called Fetch! which utilises facial recognition and artificial intelligence to recognise your dog's breed. It is available for Web users as well on what-dog.net.

Microsoft on Thursday announced the release of Fetch! for iPhone users. The app allows users to take a picture of a dog you see (or use one from your photos library) and identify its breed. But wait, there's more.

"There was an interest in creating a framework that would allow you to take a domain - in our case, dogs - and recognise numerous classes, such as breeds. We were interested in enabling an app to allow you to make object recognition extraordinary, fun and surprising," says Mitch Goldberg, a development director at Microsoft Research whose Cambridge, U.K based team built the experience.

"We wanted to bring artificial intelligence to the canine world. We wanted to show that object recognition is something anyone could understand and interact with." Microsoft insists that the app utilises machine learning, so it will only get better with use.

Coming to the other interesting feature of the app, you can click your image (or any person you want) and the app would tell you the type of canine you would be if you were a dog.

"This is the kind of app you're going to take out when you're with your friends," its description reads. "You'll make fun of each other, comparing which breeds you look like, and posting the tagged photos."

The app comes from Microsoft Garage, the team inside Microsoft that utilises some of its time on weird - most of the times awesome - things. In the past few months, they have released a number of apps for the rival platforms.

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Microsoft’s insane Android alarm app wants you to make faces at 6AM

Microsoft has been experimenting with guessing people's ages and emotions recently, and now the software maker has created an Android app to show off its machine learning skills. Mimicker Alarm for Android isn't your regular alarm. While most of us wake up at an intolerable hour to the sounds of wind chimes, some European techno, or just a really annoying buzzer, Microsoft has other plans for our morning ritual.

Mimicker Alarm does the normal alarm thing of waking you up, but it then expects you to play a game. Instead of dashing to the restroom and getting ready for work, Microsoft's Android alarm app wants you to take a selfie with a particular emotion, find an object that matches a color, or repeat a phrase like "how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" There are three games to choose from: express yourself, color capture, and tongue twister.

Once you dismiss an alarm you have 30 seconds to complete the game. "If you don't complete that game in time, we assume you've fallen back asleep and then the alarm will start ringing again," says Allison Light, a program manager for Microsoft's Project Oxford team. Thankfully, you can choose the sounds and games so you can simply make a dumb face at the camera and not have to run around your house to find something green in the darkness of winter.

Mimicker Alarm might sound like the world's most insane and annoying alarm, but it's really designed to be a fun little app that shows off what Microsoft's machine learning is capable of. "We are showcasing several different Project Oxford APIs," Light says. "Since we're open sourcing all of the code, we thought an alarm app would be easy for other developers to read the code and see how we used the APIs."

If you want to pull some faces or run around looking for colored objects 30 seconds after your alarm each morning then Microsoft's Mimicker Alarm is available right now in the Google Play store.

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Microsoft wants to bring cheap broadband to 500,000 Indian villages

At a dinner hosted in honor of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that the company wants to help bring internet access to 500,000 villages across India.

Last November, the company began experimenting with the unused spectrum between TV channels, known as ‘white space‘, to provide internet services to a a school in the Srikakulam district in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

It’s now extended its pilot testing to the city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Nadella said Microsoft plans to work with the central and state governments to bring connectivity using this technology to 500,000 villages across the country.

That could be huge for India, where roughly 70 percent of the population inhabits nearly 640,000 villages.

Nadella said, “We believe that low-cost broadband connectivity coupled with the scale of cloud computing intelligence that can be harnessed from data can help drive creativity, efficiency and productivity across governments and businesses of all sizes.”

He added that next week, Microsoft will announce the availability of its cloud services out of its data centers in India.

“A key part of both Make in India and Digital India, bringing world class infrastructure into India, respecting India’s digital security, sovereignty and privacy is a key milestone for us,” Nadella noted, referring to the country’s projects to encourage local manufacturing and to bring government services online.

Between Nadella’s announcement and Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s plan to bring public Wi-Fi to 400 train stations in India, it looks like Narendra Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley is proving to be rather fruitful for the millions of citizens who are yet to log on to the Web for the first time.

➤ Microsoft to take low-cost broadband tech to 5 lakh villages: Satya Nadella [The Times of India]

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Microsoft India Launches FIFA 16, Forza 6, and Gears of War Xbox One Bundles

The Xbox One has been available in India for a year. And to celebrate this, Microsoft will be making three new bundles available for India that can be pre-ordered Friday on Amazon India and will be available from October 2.

First up is the Forza 6 Limited Edition console. It sports a 1TB hard drive, wireless controller, a digital copy of Forza 6 - which we found to be a rather compelling game despite some minor niggles - and most importantly, a slick blue paint job.

Second is the 1TB EA Sports FIFA 16 Bundle. It comes with the obvious 1TB hard drive, and a FIFA 16 download code along with three FIFA Ultimate Team Loan Legends, and a year's worth of EA Access - EA's game subscription program. Both the Forza 6 and 1TB EA Sports Xbox Ones will cost Rs. 39,990. Not bad at all considering the value thrown in.

And if you're looking for something cheaper, Microsoft also announced the Xbox One Gears of War: Ultimate Edition Bundle for Rs. 34,990. It consists of a 500GB console, digital download for Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, early access to the 2016 Gears of War 4 Multiplayer Beta, and a cosmetic downloadable skin for multiplayer use in Gears of War: Ultimate Edition known as the Superstar Cole multiplayer skin.

"Games and gamers are at the centre of everything we do and we're always looking to offer the best ways to play on Xbox. With the launch of these bundles, we have taken into account the feedback that we received from our fans in India and added more storage to their consoles. This year, we're delivering the greatest games lineup in Xbox history and we're committed to delivering gamers the experiences and value they can't find on any other platform." said Anshu Mor, Director Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft India, in a prepared statement.

Microsoft has not confirmed if the consoles will see their way to offline channels. The move may entice users away from Sony's rival platform, but with Sony dropping price on the PlayStation 4 (PS4) next month and bringing in the 1TB PS4 as well, those looking to upgrade from a PS3 or Xbox 360 have a lot to choose from, keeping in mind that some of Microsoft's exclusives are the most expensive of the bunch.

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Ever Seen Zuckerberg, Nadella, Cook, Bezos Together? Here You go

The Internet's coolest kids hung out together for the most impressive picture we've seen in recent times. 

That's what this photo from the Internet Industry Forum at Microsoft's main campus in Redmond, Washington feels like. Maybe less cool and more iconic, though.

The picture puts together the World Wide Web's most powerful names - the top CEOs and founders - Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Alibaba's Jack Ma, Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Apple's Tim Cook, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and 24 other tech biggies - posed with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The tech titans had gathered to participate in the event sponsored by China and Microsoft, and everyone seemed excited to meet President Xi Jinping. None as much as Mark Zuckerberg, however. The Facebook CEO and co-founder spoke to the president in Chinese, and even managed to get a laugh out of him.
In case you're wondering, here's a complete list of all the tech giants captured in the photograph above:

Front row, from the left: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, JD.com's Liu Qiangdong, Cisco's John Chambers, Alibaba's Jack Ma, IBM's Ginni Rometty, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Microsoft's Satya Nadella, China's Internet czar Lu Wei, Apple's Tim Cook, Tencent's Pony Ma, and Amazon's Jeff Bezos

Middle row, from the left: Sohu's Zhang Chaoyang, AMD's Lisa Su, Lenovo's Yang Yuanqing, Microsoft's Harry Shum, Qualcomm's Steve Mollenkopf, CETC's Ziong Qunli, Intel's Brian Krzanich, Qihoo 360's Zhou Hongyi, LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, and SINA's Cao Guowei

Last row, from the left: Sugon's Li Jun, Didi-Kuaidi's Cheng Wei, Broadband Capital's Tian Suning, CEC's Liu Liehong, Baidu's Zhang Yaqin, AME Cloud Ventures' Jerry Yang, Inspur's Sun Pishu, AirBnB's Brian Chesky, and Sequoia Capital's Shen Nanpeng

Today I met President Xi Jinping of China at the 8th annual US-China Internet Industry Forum in Seattle. The Forum is an...
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, 23 September 2015

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Microsoft under fire over collecting user data in new Windows 10

Just days after a smooth launch of its Windows 10 OS, Microsoft has come under fire for its approach to user privacy. The latest OS by Microsoft was installed in more than 14 million systems in a day of going public, however, it is now being criticised for its default settings that apparently send personal information to Microsoft.

After a recent discovery that the so-called free game of Solitaire is laden with ads unless you pay to make it ad-free, users have now reported that some of the default settings of Windows 10 uses bandwidth to upload data to other computers running the OS, shares Wi-Fi passwords with online friends and removes the ability to opt out of security updates.

A report on Guardian notes that when the new OS is installed, Microsoft assigns the user a unique advertising ID that is tied to the email address registered with the company. This address is also linked with other services like app downloads, cloud storage, etc.

With this information, Microsoft is able to send personalised ads to users when they surf the web or make new downloads. Other than that, its digital assistant Cortana collects data from the device, such as emails, text messages, calendars, call log, etc. to provide better ‘assistance’ the next time you use these apps.

Although Microsoft is giving users the option to opt out of most of the data collection; some of the base settings still do not offer sufficient choices. For example, Windows 10 offers only two settings when it comes to Windows Update: either install and restart immediately, or install and ask permission to restart. The option to not install updates does not appear to be present on the base version of the OS.

Meanwhile, some researchers have also criticised Microsoft for its terms of service, which allow it to share user data based on nothing more than ‘good faith’ belief that doing so is required to comply with law enforcement agencies and protect user privacy.

The European digital rights organisation (EDRi) sums up the company’s 45 pages of terms and conditions by saying: “Microsoft basically grants itself very broad rights to collect everything you do, say and write with and on your devices in order to sell more targeted advertising or to sell your data to third parties.”

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Windows 10: Why it'll make you dump your Mac

The Windows 10 release date is 29 July. and it's such a significant upgrade that Microsoft skipped Windows 9 altogether. The OS is designed to run seamlessly across desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones and the Xbox One.

Is it going to be enough to keep Apple's share of the computer market from growing even further? Here are the features built into Windows 10 that could convince shoppers to pick up a Windows 10 laptop rather than a MacBook the next time they're in the market for a new machine.

Seamless security

Tapping a password into your computer seems anachronistic these days, and Microsoft obviously agrees — Windows 10 will debut Microsoft Hello, a new set of security protocols that enable you to log into your laptop or desktop with face recognition (thanks to your webcam). There will also be support for fingerprint and even iris recognition, should your computer offer those features, giving you a variety of ways to confirm your identity.

Touchscreen support

Windows 10 should be much easier to operate on a non-touchscreen device than Windows 8 is (see the next entry below) but that doesn't mean Microsoft is abandoning touch altogether. The new OS will be simple and straightforward to use on touchscreen devices, and that could make a big difference for laptops that double as tablets and large all-in-ones. Not everyone needs good touchscreen support but plenty of people do.

The return of the Start menu

When Microsoft excised the iconic Start menu from Windows 8 there was an outcry among users, and the Redmond firm has wisely seen the error of its ways. The Start menu is back, combining the best of its Windows 7 incarnation with added support for live tiles and full-screen apps (which will work much better with the desktop). Windows 10 keeps the best features of Windows 8 while bringing back the options people missed from Windows 7.

Apps work everywhere

Both Google and Apple have separate operating systems for the desktop and mobile, but Microsoft is going the other way. Windows 10 will run on devices of all sizes and the universal apps designed specifically for it will do the same — you'll be able to jump from laptop to phone to tablet very easily, taking all your content and settings with you. That could make a big difference if you're often on the go and want a seamless experience.

Cortana on the desktop

Siri, schmiri — while Apple works out what it wants to do with its voice assistant on the desktop, Microsoft is busy rolling out Cortana to all of your devices (there are even iOS and Android versions on the way). Cortana can search the web smartly for you, remind you to pick up the milk, manage your schedule, tell you about traffic delays and more besides: it's becoming one of Microsoft's most promising products and it's built right into Windows 10.

Microsoft Edge

Once the dominant player in the browser market, Internet Explorer is now really showing its age. Microsoft Edge is its modern replacement, ready to be ushered in with the arrival of Windows 10, and it promises a simpler and faster web surfing experience. It lets you annotate web pages, supports extensions and has an interesting New Tab page that helps you get started more quickly. Watch out Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Safari.

Other apps

The full-screen modern apps running in Windows 8 (for mail and contacts and so on) always felt half-baked and rushed, but they'll be much more sophisticated and useful by the time Windows 10 rolls around. As we've already mentioned, they'll work better on the desktop thanks to the new windowed mode. What's more, the new breed of apps are much better at catering for both touchscreen input and mouse and keyboard control.

Xbox integration

One device Microsoft does have that Apple doesn't (yet?) is a top-of-the-line games console. If you're a keen Xbox gamer then you have more reasons than ever before to get yourself a Windows 10 computer: the primary one is the ability to stream gameplay from your console right to your desktop. The Xbox app for computers is getting a revamp too, and a version of Windows 10 will form the basis of the Xbox One's next major software update.

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HOW TRON INSPIRED WINDOWS 10’S MOODY NEW WALLPAPER

The Hero Wallpaper

YOUR COMPUTER’S DEFAULT wallpaper was designed to be changed. Apple’s starry, galactic image? Pretty lame. Dell’s swoopy blue swatch? Thanks, but no thanks. The only image in the history of pre-loaded computer images that has deserved to remain as your background came from Windows XP in 2001. Yes, we’re talking about the idyllic, sunshiny Bliss photo taken in Sonoma County by Charles O’Rear.

As far as operating-system images go, Microsoft set itself a pretty high bar from the start—a bar, we have to admit, it’s struggled to hit again with Windows Vista, 7, and 8. Now, with the release of Windows 10 next month, Microsoft is unveiling a brand new hero image that it hopes will help redefine what the company means in 2015.

The backdrop—a glowing, blue-hued window—will be what every Windows 10 user first sees when he or she turns on the computer. It feels decidedly 2015—modern, sleek, and a little moody. If images could talk, it’d say we’re a creative, nimble company, not a bloated corporation that powers your work computer. It’s a fitting message, as the company’s big marketing push for Windows 10 is about highlighting all the stuff people can do on Windows. It wants to show that artists and creatives—not just buttoned-up 9-to-5ers—use its products to make cool stuff. As Microsoft’s creative director, Chris Ashworth, puts it: “You can only change perception by doing and showing it.”

Click to Open Overlay Gallery

 MICROSOFT

Microsoft tapped Gmunk (a.k.a. Bradley G. Munkowitz), a production designer and artist known for his futuristic work on Tron: Legacy’s 1 opening titles, to come up with a visual way to express the company’s identity. The team started with what they had: a name and a logo. “When you think of the name of our brand, we’re lucky in the fact that it’s not an acronym or surname,” Ashworth says. “It’s actually a thing, and that’s a pretty powerful and interesting thing to play with as a creative person.”

Microsoft redesigned its logo in 2012 from a wavering four-colored graphic to a flat, skewed-perspective window. Gmunk and Ashworth knew they wanted to use the current window as a jumping-off point. They also knew that despite creating an image for a computer operating system, they didn’t want to use a computer to actually make it. The volumetric window of light you see was created in-camera using a handful of clever lighting techniques. “I actually wanted to open up the window and say what are the contents of the window?” Gmunk explains. “What exists in it? What emanates out of it? What is through this portal?”

Straight Out of Tron

Like most things that look simple, creating the image took a lot of work. The biggest challenge was recreating the exact perspective of the logo with a physical object. “We figured we could take four almost-squares, skew them in perspective and we’d have the Windows logo,” Gmunk says. “Then we realized the middle part of the logo wasn’t skewed, and it was like, ‘Oh, shit, how do we figure this out?’”

He and his team ultimately cut four squares into a piece of black poster board and used a camera-mapping technique, which involves visualizing a flat 2-D image in 3-D software, to ensure the center pane remained flat to the camera. After lining the board’s holes with a thin layer of acrylic, they projection-mapped lasers to hit the interior of the holes, catch the acrylic, and glint as they passed through.

Gmunk shot thousands of exposures on what he describes as a “crazy 50 megapixel camera,” using various visual effects like smoke, lasers, and bokeh (out-of-focus effects produced by the lens). The final image is a composite of about 10 exposures, which combine the different qualities of light to produce a sense of depth. “It looks like something straight out of Tron [Legacy], and that makes me happy,” Gmunk says. “But it’s all physical, and we shot it and built it.”

Compared to Windows previous clip-art-esque main images, the glowing window does feel like the company is harkening back to a more visually exciting time. And that’s great—we hope the rest of Windows 10 follows suit. Beyond that, it’s a sign that Microsoft wants to change the the way you think about the company. A hero image is a small, but not insignificant, way to change the impression of a company you’ve known for decades. Short of that, if you don’t ditch it for your family photo right away, it’s a slight win for Microsoft.

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It's official: Microsoft says you can download the final version of Windows 10 on July 29

The wait is over: Microsoft said early Monday morning that you’ll be able to download Windows 10 on July 29, especially if you sign up for a “reservation” on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 machines.

On that date, the company said, you’ll be able either to download Windows 10 or buy a new Windows 10 PC from retailers. And if you click the “reservation link” that Microsoft is pushing via its most recent updates to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, you can apparently sign up to preload the software just as soon as it’s ready.

Don’t expect Windows 10 Mobile to be available on that date, however. In a footnote to a blog post announcing the date, Microsoft notes that the date applies just to PCs and tablets. Microsoft also didn’t explicitly specify that the July 29 date applies to both the Windows 10 Home and the Professional versions, but we can assume both are included.

Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s corporate vice president in charge of all of its operating system development, wrote that Windows 10 will be a free upgrade—and, like the ongoing security updates that Microsoft will provide, will be “free for the supported lifetime of your device.” Microsoft didn’t define what the “supported lifetime”of those PCs will be, however.

GORDON MAH UNG

If you see this screen, you’ve successfully reserved a free copy of WIndows 10.

Why this matters: Obviously, we’ve all been waiting for the day that we can know we’ll have the final version of Windows 10 in hand. But this date meant quite a bit more in years past, when Microsoft reserved testing of its new OS to a select few, and the detailed features of the new OS remained a mystery up through the launch. With Microsoft’s open public testing, that mystery goes away. Moreover, Microsoft’s commitment to continued updates after Windows 10 launches also means that the July launch is a moment in time, rather than the final steps in a long road of product development. 

What you get in Windows 10

Microsoft’s Myerson ran down the list of Windows 10’s signature features: Cortana; its new Edge browser; the Xbox app and integrated Xbox Live service for PCs; Windows Hello, its biometric login service; the Windows Continuum transition between PC and tablet; and the Windows Store. In a related video by Joe Belfiore, the corporate vice president of the Operating Systems, Belfiore implies that the new Store will finally include high-powered Windows games that support Windows 10’s DirectX 12. Myerson specifically highlighted Maps, Photos, Mail & Calendar, Music, and Video as the separate but integrated apps that will complement the core Windows 10 experience.

Windows 10 users will be able to download the touch-friendly versions of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel that the company showed off earlier. But Myerson’s blog post also revealed another little tidbit of news: Versions of Outlook and OneNote will ship with Windows 10 at no additional cost. Both of the latter apps have been exclusively reserved for Office in previous versions.

Does that mean that Newegg, which put a page up claiming that Windows 10 would be available in store at the end of August, was mistaken? Not necessarily. It’s entirely possible that Microsoft will ship a finished copy to stores a month after it sends the same version to retailers. Microsoft said nothing about the price it would charge for Windows 10 at retail.

How to reserve Windows 10 on Windows 7 and 8.1

If you’re worried about missing your chance to download Windows 10 on July 29, don’t be. For one, you can always join the Windows Insider program, allowing you to download a preview copy of the OS and try out the new features as they’re tweaked and polished ahead of the launch.

GORDON MAH UNG

Microsoft will run a quick survey for hardware compatibility on your PC.

Otherwise, you should be receiving a popup notification that’s triggered by the latest updates to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. You’ll have the option of clicking on the popup to trigger the reservation process and ensure that your PC downloads the Windows 10 update, which will be free for up to a year after it launches. Interestingly, the updates will also scan your PC and alert you to any possible problems that you might have—such as incompatible hardware or services—when the upgrade kicks off. In all, the upgrade will total 3GB, Microsoft’s update says.

Once you’ve completed the process, though, relax! You can be sure you’ll have a brand new copy of Windows 10 running on your PC just as soon as everyone else does.

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Its name is Edge;Microsoft new browser's

Yesterday was a big day for Microsoft, with a ton of announcements and demos being released at their showcase developer event, Build. Among other things, the name for the new Web browser on Windows 10 was finally unveiled along with a brief peek at its key features. Initially codenamed Spartan, the new browser will be called Edge, and it features a redesigned tab page that offers suggestions of popular content based on your browsing habits, such as news stories, stock reports, weather and the like.

Not many features of the browser have been revealed thus far, but it is clear this new browser--based on its all-new engine--will have tight integration with their Cortana assistant, a built-in annotation feature where users can directly scribble on Web pages to share via social networks, and the distraction-free reading mode.

Also Microsoft Edge will be the sole browser running on Windows 10 mobile, although it can be downloaded to Windows 10 desktop, tablets and laptops. It is still not confirmed whether the mobile version of this browser will be made available for Android and iOS.

Watch Microsoft Edge in action here:

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Windows 10 release set for this summer in 190 countries; say hi to "Windows Hello"

Microsoft confirmed today Windows 10 will be released this summer, hitting 190 countries in 111 different languages. Terry Myerson, Microsoft's VP of Operating Systems, made the announcement during the WinHEC summit (Windows Hardware Engineering Community summit) taking place in Shenzhen, China.

Although an actual release date hasn't been finalized, the commitment is that the operating system will become available globally sometime during the summer.

The company took the opportunity to highlight how universal Windows' userbase is, with over 1.5 billion users worldwide, and hundreds of millions of those operating in China. During the presentation Myerson showed off some of Windows 10's localized features for the Chinese market, among them Cortana running in Mandarin. 

Another new feature called "Windows Hello" was demoed on stage for the first time. 'Hello' introduces biometric authentication to a Windows PC or to your personal data and applications, using your face, fingerprint or iris. On paper (and watching the video below) it looks like a neat and much needed improvement for Windows' security. Since Windows 8 introduced -- or should I say, forcefully encouraged -- users to log in to Windows using a Microsoft account password, it's become a real hassle to lock your computer and log back in, especially if you do it several times a day.

Windows 10 is set to be one of the biggest OS releases in the company's history and possibly the most crucial. Let's not forget Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for Windows 8, Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 7 users during the first year of the release. Windows 7 alone is found on nearly half of all Windows-based PCs, so it's an encouraging and bold step for Microsoft to make.

On the China side, Microsoft unveiled strategic partnerships with Lenovo, Tencent, Xiaomi and Qihu 360 to boost usage and upgrades to the latest operating system. On a more global and broader scale, Microsoft has forged close relationships with the Raspberry Pi Foundation, Intel, Qualcomm, among others to push Windows into the smartphone and mobile markets, as well as for Internet of Things devices. On this last bit, a version of Windows for small IoT devices will be available free of charge when Windows 10 launches.

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Microsoft is providing select Xiaomi users with a ROM to put Windows 10 on their Android smartphones

Windows 10 Rom for Xiaomi

During Microsoft’s big announcement earlier today that Windows 10 will arrive this summer, the company also revealed that it is working with Xiaomi to test its new operating system among power users.

In a Microsoft statement obtained by TechCrunch, the company said they are partnering with Xiaomi to offer a select group of Xiaomi Mi4 smartphone users access to Windows 10 free of charge through the Windows Insider Program.

Those selected will be able to flash their phone using a custom ROM that'll put Windows 10 on their Android handset. From there, users are invited to provide feedback to both companies regarding their experience.

Reading between the lines a bit, the bigger story here is that Microsoft is actively developing a way for Android users to make the (free) switch to Microsoft’s mobile platform without having to buy a Lumia handset. Some Lumia devices are nice but let’s face it, there are plenty of other more attractive Android phones to choose from.

If this plan pans out, users may no longer have to buy Lumia hardware to enter Microsoft’s ecosystem. And who knows, perhaps this sort of thing could catch on to the point where handsets are sold as barebones devices that allow users to select the OS of their choice during the setup process (it doesn't hurt to dream, eh?).

Microsoft said it plans to announce availability in the coming months.

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So,Its BYE BYE to IE

It’s the end of an era. While Microsoft had already revealed it was working on a lightweight browser for Windows 10 codenamed ‘Project Spartan’, and dropped hints it would be an Internet Explorer replacement, a company executive has now confirmed that these two are indeed separate products, and the much maligned Internet Explorer is on the way out.

Speaking at Microsoft’s Convergence conference in Atlanta on Monday, reports The Verge, Microsoft’s marketing chief Chris Capossela said that the company is currently working on a new name and brand. Internet Explorer will still be kept around “in some versions” of Windows 10 for compatibility reasons, but the new browser -- whatever it ends up being called -- will take its place as the primary way for users to access the web from a fresh Windows 10 install.

Although it’s yet to settle on a name it’ll probably have the Microsoft brand attached to it, as in-house research shows the appeal “is incredibly high”.

The Internet Explorer brand gained a poor reputation in the early and mid-2000s both for security and for standards compliance. Despite Microsoft’s best marketing efforts, and actually delivering a fast and capable browser with the latest versions of Windows, it hasn’t been able to shake off the stigma.

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Microsoft is bringing Cortana to Android and iOS

Microsoft will soon give people one less reason to purchase a Windows Phone, as its digital assistant, Cortana, is reportedly headed to Android and iOS as a standalone application.

At this stage Microsoft has only hinted at when Cortana will hit competing mobile platforms, with managing director of Microsoft Research, Eric Horvitz, saying that "the next roll out of Cortana" is scheduled for sometime this fall. This places its release around the same time as Windows 10, which Microsoft is also working to integrate Cortana into.

As well as bringing Cortana to more mobile platforms, Microsoft is working on a major update to the virtual assistant that uses research from "Einstein", an artificial intelligence project at Microsoft Research. Details are light on at this stage, but it was mentioned that Microsoft hopes Einstein will transform Cortana into "the first intelligent 'agent' which anticipates users needs".

The choice to bring Cortana to other mobile platforms is all part of CEO Satya Nadella's plan to increase the reach of Microsoft's services. Rather than attempting to get users to switch to their operating systems, Microsoft can gain users of their software platforms and services by offering tools like Cortana on other OSes.

Unfortunately the news likely won't please Windows Phone fans, who have felt neglected by Microsoft for quite some time. Now that one of the main selling points of the OS is moving to other platforms, it leaves Windows Phone users with few truly exclusive features.

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Windows 10 New Preview is here: 7 key features you need to know

Start-Screen on new Windows 10.

Microsoft showed us the final version of Windows 10 in an event yesterday, and the roll-out will begin later this year. But what’s new in Microsoft’s latest OS? We take a quick look at the biggest and most important features of Windows 10.

Free, free, free: For the first time ever, Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 users.

As we noted here, Microsoft has taken a cue out of Apple’s book which has been given OS X and iOS upgrades away for free, to ensure that users don’t have to shell out money for an OS.

If your PC or laptop is running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 and your Windows phone has the Windows Phone 8.1 OS, you will get a free upgrade to the latest version of Windows 10 – in the first year.

What is not clear is if users on laptop and desktops will have to pay after the first year. In an age, where free OS and software is the new mantra, Microsoft has taken the right step by making Windows 10 free of cost. Hopefully the free upgrade will continue after year one as well.

Windows 10 Spartan browser.

No more Windows Phone, it’s all the same: Unity across operating systems is something that Apple and Google have been going on about for sometime and Microsoft also clearly believes that this is the way forward.

What this also means, is that the name ‘Windows Phone OS’ is actually defunct. Also tablet users can forget the horror of having to deal with something like a new Windows RT on their devices, which received terrible user feedback.

Windows 10 will ensure that desktops, mobiles, laptops, tablets, 2-in-1 devices will all run the same Windows 10 OS, which will be optimised based on the platform. This is great news for those who are heavily invested in the Windows eco-system and for app developers who won’t have to create a separate app for mobile or tablet.

Bigger Start Menu, Action Centre: There have been some improvements thanks to feedback from testers of the Windows Insider program. The Start Menu is now available in full screen instead of the limited in Windows 8.1. The Action Centre has quick buttons to switch Wi-fi and Bluetooth on or off.

There is a new Notification Centre which is seen above the Action Centre and notifications in these will be synced across devices. The Notification centre brings you updates and alerts from your email, weather, news sources you’ve subscribed to and it also has Cortana built in.

The Control Panel and Settings menu have been merged into a single folder. Also when using a 2-in-1, when you go from a desktop mode to a tablet mode, users will be prompted if they want to switch to tablet mode.

Cortana for Windows: Microsoft has gone a step ahead of Apple by bringing its personal voice-assistant Cortana to all Windows 10 devices, including desktops and laptops, which is a massive plus point.

On the desktop, Cortana will be seen as a search box located beside the Start button. Cortana now supports 7 languages and can speak in impersonations as well. You can also ask Cortana to open apps on your desktop such as PowerPoint or Word. You can also dictate emails in Outlook using Cortana and send them by voice commands.

Reading View in Spartan browser.

As we noted here, Cortana has a new feature called Notebook that keeps a tab on all the saved information. It also keeps a track of the sports scores, travel, weather and such similar information that you may be interested in. You can also add other things that you want Cortana to keep a track of.

Universal apps for PCs: Microsoft is going the Apple way by finally introducing universal apps. These will have a similar design across devices and will work across PCs, laptop, smartphones and tablets.

Outlook will come with an in-built Word engine which provides the Office ribbon, which allows multiple ways of formatting Office documents. The calendar app will also be synced across devices and will sport a consistent design as well. There’s also a new Photo App gallery, which looks inspired by Google+.

All pictures taken on the devices, as well as photos on One Drive will be merged together and the app will automatically delete the duplicate files to reduce the clutter. The Photo app will automatically enhance your photographs by default, much like Google+. It will also create Photo Albums automatically based on date, location and the people in the photographs.

Other universal apps on the list will be for Videos, Music, Maps, People & Messaging.

Hello Project Spartan: Microsoft unveiled its Project Spartan at the event, which is indeed a new browser which comes with Cortana built in with its contextual searching. For example, if you look up restaurant on Spartan, Cortana will throw in a map, menu and contact details as well.

On Spartan some of the new features will allows users to annotate a webpage using a stylus or touch interface, click on any section of a webpage to type out a comment and then share this page with friends or co-workers. Also while the page shared will be frozen, the links inside them will be active.

Reading mode in Project Spartan, similar to the reading mode in Apple’s Safari, will put articles in a layout that gets rid of all the unnecessary elements on a page. You also get a Reading List feature that syncs across all devices, even offline, which is quite identical to what’s seen on the Pocket app.

By the way Microsoft has clarified that the introduction of Spartan doesn’t mean that Internet Explorer 11 is going anywhere. According to a blog post, the company wrote that “Spartan loads the IE11 engine for legacy enterprise web sites when needed.” Essentially enterprise websites that older technologies designed only for Internet Explorer, such as custom ActiveX controls and Browser Helper Objects will load on Internet Explorer, which will also be available on Windows 10.

Internet Explorer will use the same dual rendering engines as Spartan, ensuring web developers can consistently target the latest web standards, says the blog post.

Gaming on Windows 10:  The Xbox app will come bundled with all Windows 10 devices. A new feature will allows users to record 30 seconds of gameplay which can be sent across to Xbox Live so that Xbox users can watch it as well.Windows 10 also brings cross-play, which lets users play with a friend on an Xbox One while they are using a Windows 10 PC. Microsoft also has plans to launch Windows 10 on the Xbox One platform.

Game DVR, which gives simple access to recording, editing, and sharing a player’s most epic gaming moments on an Xbox will now come to Windows 10, and is accessible by simply pressing Windows+G.

Also games on Xbox One can be streamed through your home network to your Windows 10 PC or tablet, anywhere in your house. Xbox One gamers will also be able to many of their favourite console games on their PC. And many Xbox One accessories will work interchangeably on the console and PC.

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