James Farrell

James Farrell is the former editor-in-chief of Chiang Mai CityNews, where he wrote and managed daily news, features, op-eds and blogs on a diverse range of topics. Prior to this, in the same city of Northern Thailand where he lives, he was the longstanding deputy editor of the monthly magazine Citylife. He has written on culture, politics, travel, tech, business, human rights, for local, national, and international news services and magazines. He has a keen interest in the role technology is playing in the transformation of society, culture and politics, especially in developing nations. This is reflected in his not-so-successful first novel.

Latest from James Farrell

Buying Wunderlist: Microsoft ticks off another acquisition

We reported yesterday that Microsoft was rumored to have acquired 6Wunderkinder, the German company responsible for making the smart list making app, Wunderlist. Today Microsoft made that official. Although it’s thought Redmond paid between $100 million and $200 million for the company whose sole focus is on Wunderlist, an app that featured in the Mac ...

Upgrade to Windows 10: How much it will cost (non-Windows users), won’t cost, and might cost

We know that there will be free upgrades to Windows 10 for folks running genuine of copies of Windows on their computer, at least for one year while the offer lasts. We also now know how it will cost if you don’t have an existing license. What we don’t know yet is if Microsoft will be ...

Lenovo partners with Microsoft for unique Cortana capabilities on its Windows 10 PCs and tablets

Microsoft’s digital assistant, Cortana, will play a unique part on Lenovo Group Ltd’s PCs and tablets, according to a recent announcement during the Chinese computer manufacturer’s Tech World event held in Beijing, China. Using what Lenovo has called the REACHit service, Cortana in Windows 10 will be able to search for content in non-Microsoft services, ...

With an eye to security: Microsoft’s new flagship Lumia phones will feature controversial iris scanning capabilities

Even though Microsoft has not officially announced anything regarding the release of the new high-end Lumia phones, rumors have been circulating for some time about the duo. The two smartphones, codenamed Talkman and Cityman, will reportedly be feature rich, run on Windows 10, and have the new Edge browser with Cortana integration, according Dr.Windows and ...

Microsoft releases hugely popular doc-scanning app Office Lens

After releasing a preview of the handy document scanning app for Android in April as well as an official version for iPhone, Microsoft has now made it available for Android in the Google Store to 130 countries in 30 different languages. The app, which had over 130,000 previewers and works as a pocket sized scanner, has ...

Personal assistant Cortana is coming to iPhone and Android, Microsoft reveals

Microsoft’s mobile, multi-platform vision continues as the company announced that at the end of this year its virtual assistant, Cortana, will be coming to iPhone and to Android phones as early as June. The app will work similar to how it does on a Windows Phone, with a few features missing. It will at least ...

Microsoft releases updated Spotify-esque Music App for Windows 10

As part of the Windows 10 Technical Preview Microsoft has unveiled a new preview of its music app, and we’re not the first to say, it looks not unlike the Swedish music streaming service, Spotify. The screenshot, which showed up on an Xbox support page, shows a much darker theme than the previous preview version of the ...

3 reasons why Microsoft’s Edge browser is way superior to Internet Explorer…and might give Google something to worry about

Formally known as Project Spartan, Microsoft’s Edge (default browser for Windows 10) is currently available in the Windows 10 Technical Preview as part of the Windows Insider Program. According to Microsoft the browser is still a bit rough around the edges (excuse the pun), although its performance has already started people talking about a new ...

Microsoft gives Outlook.com a facelift and adds myriad new features to make your Inbox more hospitable

Tons of new features have been added to Outlook.com as part of an expansive update, including a bunch of new themes, ways to make your inbox more manageable, collaboration features, improvements to the calendar, as well as using Skype from email, and simplified file sharing in OneDrive. The update is now available as a preview ...

Cutting the cord: Xbox One now has an over the air TV tuner for the nation that loves its television

Xbox users in Canada and the US can now watch live TV with Microsoft’s new over the air TV tuner. The tuner, made by Hauppauge, a US firm that manufactures electronic video hardware for personal computers, will set you back $59.99 (although you must also buy the antenna, so make it $99.99 offered as a ...