Canadian innovators smartARM win big at Microsoft's 2018 Imagine Cup

Microsoft recently hosted the 2018 Imagine Cup finals in Seattle, the competition that inspired 40,000 students from over 190 countries to innovate for a chance to compete on a global stage.

This year, Canada triumphed after taking the Gold at the Canadian finals in May, team smartARM from Toronto reigned supreme at the worldwide finals as well! As the winners of this year’s program, the team will receive $85,000 USD in cash, $50,000 USD in Azure grants and a mentoring session with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Click to read more ...

Galaxy Note 9's improved battery life teased in new Samsung advert

Samsung is gearing up the launch of the Galaxy Note 9 and one of the foreshadowed feature upgrades is an improved battery. The ad shows how battery life on flagship smartphones can be challenging specially with apps and services hogging Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and other features.

Will Samsung ship the device with the rumured 4,000 mAh battery? Do they have improved software that can optimize battery life? We will know more on August 9 when Samsung unveils its premium phablet.

Microsoft issues massive updates for Surface Pro 4 and Surface Laptop

Owners of the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Laptop now have some updates available to improve stability, system reliability as well as resolve potential security issues. The security updates are targetting Intel's Spectre and Meltdown exploits.

“On July 25th we released updates for Surface Pro 4 and Surface Laptop running Windows 10 Fall Creators Update version 1709 or greater to Windows Update,” Microsoft’s Scott McArthur explains in separate posts for each to the Surface Blog for IT Pros.

The updates took around 20 minutes to install on both our Surface Laptop and Surface Pro 4, they also required a restart.

Source: Thurrott.com

Microsoft reveals accessible packaging for Xbox Adaptive Controller

Microsoft unveiled its accessible packaging for the Xbox Adaptive Controller, the first-of-its-kind device designed for gamers with limited mobility. All Xbox Adaptive Controller units will ship with the accessible packaging in September 2018, and pre-orders are available now at Microsoft Store.

Recognizing that reality, Microsoft’s Packaging Design team faced a unique challenge in creating a box for the new Xbox Adaptive Controller, designed to accommodate gamers with limited mobility. The box for the device, which will be available for $99.99 in September through the Microsoft Store, needed to be as accessible as what was inside. It had to enable gamers with limited dexterity, who might be using just one hand or arm, to easily open the box and remove the controller. And it had to be as high-quality and aesthetically appealing as any other Xbox packaging.

Click to read more ...