Microsoft Sold 100 Million Windows 8 Licenses Since Launch

Way back in January we reported that Microsoft sold over 60 million Windows 8 licenses within first few months of it’s public release in last October.

Now the number has reached 100 million licenses sold mark within first 6 months of the launch of newest operating system from the software giant as revealed earlier by Tami Reller Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer,Microsoft.

This number includes Windows 8 licenses shipped on new tablets and PCs and the upgrade numbers.The number of certified devices for Windows 8 and Windows RT has now grown to 2,400 devices with the touch based devices dominating the certified devices.

With the Windows 8.1 update nearing and the upcoming new smaller tablets coming from the manufacturers we can expect to see some rapid growth in the number of sales of Windows 8 operating system.

Source[Windows Blog]

Windows 8.1 Public Preview Will Be Available in June

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Windows 8.1 Public Preview Will Be Available in June

It’s official,Windows 8.1 will see a public preview i.e Windows Blue in the month of June.Julie Larson-Green, Corporate Vice President for Windows Confirmed this news at the Wired Business Conference.

So the Windows Blue Public Preview will be made available during the Build 2013 conference which would take place at the end of next month,while the final release of Windows Blue is expected in the later half of this year.

Windows Blue will bring a bunch of new features to the Windows 8 operating system including File Browser for the Modern UI based Start Screen,Customization options and a range of new apps coming to the platform with the release of Windows Blue i.e Windows 8.1 update.

Source[Windows Blog]

From “My Computer” to “Computer” to now ” This PC” !

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Gone are the days of the Good ol’ My Computer icon on our Windows operating system.Ever since the launch of Windows Vista We saw the changes appearing in the icons list with My Computer being renamed to Computer,which continued with it’s successor Windows 7.

Windows 8 released with the same “Computer” icon with it’s initial release,but now it seems they are tired of the word computer.As per the recent leaks coming from Winforum.eu the “Computer” will be renamed to “This PC” with the upcoming Windows 8.1 i.e Windows Blue update from Microsoft.

While doing so the software giant seem to have removed the Libraries Feature and have introduced the “Folders” in “This PC” which lists the folders like Desktop,Music,Downloads,Documents Pictures and Videos.

This change might be due to the recently rumored Metro based Files app,so the “This PC” will describe the location of files on Local PC and would be easier for networking with other devices.

The Preview version of Windows Blue is expected during the Build 2013 conference which is slated for end of next month while the final version is expected in the second half of this year.

Source[Winforum.eu]

[Rumor] HTC Prepping 2 Windows RT Based Tablets!

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[Rumor] HTC Prepping 2 Windows RT Based Tablets!

It’s raining rumors as far as the Windows 8/RT platform is concerned,over the past few days we reported about Asus prepping Windows 8 tablet with smaller display size and today about the confirmation of Acer W3 8.1″ Windows 8 tablet.

It’s time for Windows RT platform. According to some recent reports coming from Phonearena HTC is prepping not one,but two Windows RT based tablets For Q3 2013 launch.One with a 7″ display and the other with a larger 12 ” display.

The R7 which is supposedly a 7″ tablet running Wndows RT would feature a Full HD display and would be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Quad core processor to go with 2 GB of RAM.Other speculated features include 16GB of Internal memory with Micro SD slot,13 megapixel rear camera, WiFi,Bluetooth 4.0,NFC etc.

The R12 with a 12″ display would feature a display with 2048×1536 resolution and better connectivity options than it’s smaller brother.Expected launch date of these devices is slated for Mid October which coincides with the rumored Windows Blue launch from the software giant.Stay Tuned for More Coverage.

Source[PhoneArena]

Acer to Launch Iconia W3,First Windows 8 Tablet with 8.1″ Display Size on 4th of June

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Acer to Launch Iconia W3,First Windows 8 Tablet with 8.1″ Display Size on 4th of June

Yesterday we reported that Asus is planning to bring the Windows 8 tablet with smaller form factor after Microsoft’s recent changes in minimum display resolution.

Now another Windows 8 hardware partner Acer is prepping their own version of Windows 8 tablet with an 8″ display.A couple of days ago reports came about such a device from Acer when amazon prematurely listed the device on their site which was removed later.

But now an Acer official from Russia has confirmed that the company is prepping this device and the official announcement will be made on 4th of June i.e next month.From what we know till now The device will probably sport an 8.1″ display with a resolution of 1280×800,running Intel’s Dual Core Atom processor clocked at 1.8Ghz to go with it 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage space and a full fledged Windows 8 operating system(not Windows RT).

Other expected features include a pair of camera’s with 2 megapixel rear and front shooter and the device is expected to last for roughly 8 hours of the day.

There is no official word on pricing of Acer W3 Windows 8 tablet,but if the amazon leak is any indication it would be priced around $380-400 price range which would be a great pricing for the device and would certainly give the iPad mini run for it’s money.

Source[hi-tech.mail.ru]

Asus Prepping Smaller Windows 8 Tablets,Targeting Under $300 Price Range?

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Over the past few weeks we have been hearing about smaller Windows 8 based tablets making their way into the market,with Microsoft hinting smaller display support with the updated minimum display resolution brought down to 1024×768.

Image Credits [Asus]

Now according to the latest reports from the WSJ suggests that Asus who is one of the Hardware partners of Windows 8 operating system are prepping a smaller Windows 8 tablet.As per their reports Asus’s CEO Jerry Shen has confirmed their intensions of making Windows 8 tablets with smaller form factor and these devices could be released in the later half of this year.The reports also suggests that the company will be targeting the Under $300 price range for the Windows 8 based tablet from the company.

It is going to be an interesting battle among Windows 8 based smaller tablets and the competitors like Apple iPad mini and the Nexus 7 tablets which are priced in the similar price range and this would definitely help Microsoft’s latest operating system gain market share which is currently dominated by iOS.

Source[WSJ]

[IDC]Microsoft Shipped Around 900,000 Surface Tablets in Q1 2013

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[IDC]Microsoft Shipped Around 900,000 Surface Tablets in Q1 2013

Microsoft launched the Surface RT tablet in October along with the Windows 8 public release and the Surface Pro tablet 3 month later as per their pre decided strategy.

iCharts

But the company haven’t yet released any official numbers as far as the sales for the Surface RT or the Surface Pro are concerned.Though we have seen a lot of reports claiming low sales of the tablets due to limitations for Surface RT and early distribution issues.

IDC has recently released a research suggesting estimated sales for the Surface tablets for the first quarter of 2013,with estimated sales of Surface tablets(including RT and Pro platform) reaching 900,000 mark.This accounts for around 1.8% worldwide tablet market share.With apple leading the pack with close to 40% of worldwide tablet market share ,followed by their arch rival Samsung with around 18% market share.

So currently Microsoft is at the number 5 spot in the worldwide market share with Asus( 5.5%) and Amazon (3.7%) sealing the 3rd and 4th spot respectively courtesy their Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire Tablets.

Source[IDC]

[Report]Next Generation Surface Tablet to be Announced in June!

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[Report]Next Generation Surface Tablet to be Announced in June!

We are just 6 months into the Surface tablet launch,with the Surface RT been launched in Late october last year while the Surface Pro which was launched in February in some countries followed by a phased rollout.

But within a span of 6 months of the initial launch of the Surface tablet from Microsoft,we are getting reports about the next version of Surface tablets from the company.As per the recent reports from Digitimes,the upcoming Surface tablets could be revealed as early as in the month of June when the company hold the Build Developer conference.

The report further adds that the Surface tablet’s next iteration would feature 7-9″ display to meet the rising demand for tablets with smaller form factor.The Surface mini is being long rumored with Microsoft reducing the minimum display resolution to 1024×768 hinting support for devices with smaller displays on the horizon.

It would be interesting to see the pricing of the smaller Windows 8 based tablets including this one,since the competition is intense in the smaller tablets with the likes of iPad mini,Kindle Fire HD and the Nexus 7.

Source[Digitimes]

Windows Store Crosses 60,000 Apps !

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Windows Store Crosses 60,000 Apps !

Last month we reported that Windows Store has crossed 50,000 apps over the store for Windows 8 and Windows RT Platform.Less than a month after that the store has crossed another 10,000 apps.

According to the latest stats from MetrostoreScanner,the Windows 8 and Windows RT store now accounts for 61,313 apps for the new emerging platform from Microsoft.The United States regional Windows Store now accounts for 42,084 apps in their regional store while the China regional Windows Store has 40,102 apps in the store.

If we take a look at the Store apps category wise the Entertainment category still leads with over 8200 apps closely followed by Books and Reference category with over 8,000 apps and Games category with over 7,800 apps in the Windows Store.

Microsoft recently had opened up a lot of initiatives for the developers and for enthusiasts to help them bring their apps to the store with programs like Ideapress which converts the WordPress blog into a full fledged Windows Store app.

With Windows Blue rumors floating around the web and some reports suggesting that the company is planning to unify both Phone and PC Operating Systems,we can expect a flood of apps making their way to both the Windows Phone and Windows Store platform in coming months.

Source[MetroStoreScanner]

[Rumor] Windows 8.1 to add “Boot to Desktop” Feature!

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Most of the Windows 8 users,mostly the early adopters are quite familiar with the Start Screen of Windows 8 which is the default screen after the boot for Windows 8.

Many of the enthusiasts criticized this move by Microsoft,but there were workarounds and apps to skip the Start Screen and directly boot into the Desktop mode of Windows 8.But now it seems like Microsoft will be adding the Boot to Desktop Feature to Windows 8 with upcoming Windows Blue updated dubbed Windows 8.1.

According to the latest reports coming from Winbeta.org via MicrosoftPortal,one of the supposed leaked screenshots reveal the code which was found inside important operating system files of Windows 8.1,indicates that the company might be thinking about adding an option to “Boot to Desktop” and skipping the Start Screen altogether with the upcoming update.

Though this feature is no where to be seen on the recently leaked Windows Blue builds which were leaked over the web a few weeks ago,so this might be from the future builds.If true,this would be a good feature and many Start Screen haters would like this one to be added on their existing Windows 8 based systems.

Source[Microsoft Portal],via[Winbeta]