Microsoft

Google pushing AV1 support into Android TV 10

Home News (Image credit: Philips) Google looks set to be putting its weight behind AV1 by making support for the video codec a prerequisite for any upcoming Android TV 10 device. According to a report by Android TV Guide, any TV, set-top box or anything else looking to use the latest version of Google’s smart… Read more

Intel Snipes at Apple in New ‘Go PC’ Ads

Home News (Image credit: Shutterstock) Do you remember the Mac vs PC commercials from the mid-2000s? While Microsoft and Apple may have become increasingly buddy-buddy since then, with Windows working on Mac and Mac ceding basic productivity app dominance to Microsoft Office, that doesn’t mean the war between Mac and PC isn’t still raging. The… Read more

Pirates are flooding Microsoft’s Edge browser with illicit games like Sonic and Mario Kart 64

Microsoft’s Edge extensions store appears to be hosting illegal copies of a number of iconic games, including Mario Kart 64, Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Pac-Man, Tetris, Cut The Rope, and even Microsoft’s own smash hit Minecraft. The developers listed on the titles aren’t Microsoft, Nintendo, or any other recognizable game developer, meaning… Read more

Microsoft Surface Duo gets a price cut ahead of UK launch

Home News (Image credit: Microsoft) Microsoft’s Surface Duo is coming to the UK next week. On 18th February, the dual-screened smartphone will land in Britain as well as France, Germany and Canada. UK buyers can pick one up from Currys PC World and direct from Microsoft for the princely sum of £1349. In France and… Read more

The Switch continues its bestselling streak, but the PS5 is making more money

The Nintendo Switch continues to perform very well, selling the most units out of any other gaming hardware in the US in January, according to gaming analyst firm The NPD Group. But Sony’s PlayStation 5 still made more money last month, despite a more limited supply. According to NPD’s January report, the Switch was the… Read more

Microsoft’s foldable Surface Duo price drops to $999, arrives in Europe next week

Microsoft is dropping the price of its foldable Surface Duo device to $999, and launching it in Europe and Canada next week. The Surface Duo will be available in the UK, France, Germany, and Canada on February 18th. It’s the first time the dual-screen Surface Duo has been available outside the US, for both businesses… Read more

Turns out that Florida water treatment facility left the doors wide open for hackers

By now, you’ve probably heard the theoretically scary story of how hackers managed to infiltrate the computer systems at a water treatment plant in Oldsmar, Florida and remotely control the chemical levels — but it turns out that description gives the hackers far, far too much credit. The reality? The water treatment plant itself left… Read more

Security researcher finds a way to run code on Apple, PayPal, and Microsoft’s systems

Security researcher Alex Birsan has found a security vulnerability that allowed him to run code on servers owned by Apple, Microsoft, PayPal, and over 30 other companies (via Bleeping Computer). The exploit is also deviously simple, and it’s something that many large software developers will have to figure out how to protect themselves from. The… Read more

Top Xbox Series X and Series S games 2021

(Pocket-lint) – The Xbox Series X and Series S are here at last – Microsoft’s two answers to the next-gen question, bringing 4K gaming in the case of the bigger box and lower-res value from the smaller option. Xbox Series X vs Xbox Series S: What’s the difference? They’re both great in their own ways… Read more

Google is teasing us with dark mode for desktop search

Google appears to be rolling out a dark mode for desktop search, but only some people have it right now. If the change has rolled out to you and your system is set to dark mode, the background of Google’s search pages will be a very dark gray. Here’s an example of what the new… Read more

Apple’s most affordable iPad is even cheaper at several retailers

Starting at $329, Apple’s most affordable iPad model comes at a very attractive price — but if you have been holding off in the hopes of buying it at an even better price, your patience has paid off. At Amazon and Walmart (in select colors), you can buy a 32GB model for $299; you can… Read more

Salesforce declares the 9-to-5 workday dead, will let employees work remotely from now on

Cloud computing company Salesforce is joining other Silicon Valley tech giants in announcing a substantial shift in how it allows its employees to work. In a blog post published Tuesday, the company says the “9-to-5 workday is dead” and that it will allow employees to choose one of three categories that dictate how often, if… Read more

How to swap your Xbox Series X controller’s connection between your Xbox and a phone or PC

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been playing a lot of games on my Xbox Series X, and following the release of the iOS 14.5 beta, which added support for the Xbox Series X controller, I’ve been itching to stream my games from my console to my iPhone. However, I dreaded having to pair… Read more

HP Spectre x360 13-inch (2021) Review: Slim Machine, Squat Screen

Our Verdict The HP Spectre x360 has an attractive design and long battery life, though the 16:9 display feels dated. Its only performance downside is in bursty workloads, which we saw some issues with. For Sliim, attractive chassis Solid speakers for a laptop Long battery life Still squeezes in a USB Type-A port Against 16:9… Read more

Microsoft Word’s dark mode is getting even darker

Microsoft is improving the dark mode in Word to make it even darker. The software maker has started testing an update to Word that will color entire documents in a dark canvas. Currently, Word has a dark mode that modifies the ribbon and toolbars, but the canvas stays bright white. A future update to Word… Read more