Saturday
Jul192014

Microsoft canceling Android-powered Nokia X in favour of Windows Phones

A memo from Microsoft's Stephen Elop states that the company will likely abandon the Nokia X line of Android powered smartphones in favour of lower-cost Windows Phone models under the more premium Lumia line.

“We will be particularly focused on making the market for Windows Phone. In the near term, we plan to drive Windows Phone volume by targeting the more affordable smartphone segments, which are the fastest growing segments of the market, with Lumia," Elop's memo stated.

While Microsoft will continue to support existing Nokia X devices, which were launched in early April of this year, the company will no longer use Android as the operating system for these devices, it will retain the design and hardware of the Nokia X line but ship devices running Windows Phone even in the low-end and emerging market segments.

"we plan to deliver additional lower-cost Lumia devices by shifting select future Nokia X designs and products to Windows Phone devices. We expect to make this shift immediately while continuing to sell and support existing Nokia X products," Elop stated.

Many were intially surprised when Nokia released an Android phone, specially since the company is third place behind  Google's Android and Apple's iOS. By launching an Android-powered device in emerging markets, some analysts felt Microsoft was competing with itself. This isn't the first time Microsoft's discontinued a recently released product, the Microsoft Kin phones were discontinued in less than two years and the widely rumoured Surface Mini, never even made to market.

Saturday
Jul192014

Sue Wagner joins Apple's board of directors, Bill Campbell retires

It's been quite a year for Apple management and board changes with new blood coming in to add fresh perspective to the company at large. Apple just announced that Susan L. Wagner, founding partner and director of BlackRock, has been elected to Apple's board of directors. Bill Campbell, the board’s longest-serving member, is retiring after 17 years of service. Wagner becomes the second female board member for Apple joining Andrea Jung from Grameen America.

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Friday
Jul182014

Microsoft to add mobile purchases and boost social interaction on Xbox One

Microsoft is set to release another hefty update for the Xbox One this coming August. Larry Hryb just released a detailed list of what Xbox one users can expect in the next update. One is the ability to purchase games on your mobile device using SmartGlass or Xbox.com. Once you buy a game, your console at home will power on and download and install the game.

Another new feature will be a redesigned activity feed that focuses on sharing and social aspect. It will let you comment and like content on your feed. This has been redesigned into a single column to let you scroll further back in time. There will be a friends section on the Xbox One home screen coming at a later release. To find out more about what’s coming next month, you can check out Major Nelson’s blog.

Friday
Jul182014

Twitter will soon let you access your DM history on their Android and iOS apps

Want to remember what you told your best friend months ago on Twitter’s Direct Messages but can’t seem to access it? Well, Twitter has just tweeted that they plan on releasing an update that will give you access to your DM history on their Android and iPhone apps. They also intend to release updates that will make deleting DMs more consistent on the Web and on mobile.

Source: The Next Web