James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Microsoft blushes after senior employee goes on Google Apps ‘knucklehead’ rant
“We’re sorry, but we can’t find the page you are looking for” is all that remains of a rather contentious and highly amusing Microsoft Office Blogs post in which a senior product manager for Office 365 writing under the name of Tim Carroll waxes lyrical on why he is opposed to Google Apps. The cached ...
Breakthrough or big flop? Arcadia is Microsoft’s secret weapon in game-streaming
Recent reports suggest that Microsoft’s ‘next big thing’, a game and app-streaming service codenamed Arcadia, is moving along. The service will allow Windows devices to stream games from the Azure cloud platform. The rumors surfaced following a report by ZNET’s Microsoft expert Mary Jo Foley, in which she writes about the discovery of job postings ...
Ditching the wait list, Microsoft shares new Sway app with all
Microsoft yesterday reported that as of now there is no waiting list for Office’s new interactive content presentation app, Sway. A bunch of new features have also been added to the application, which was first released in preview October 1st this year. If you’re not already familiar with Sway it’s basically a tool which enables users on any ...
Our digital privacy at stake: Microsoft fights U.S. government in landmark case
When Mark Zuckerberg controversially revealed his thoughts on what he called ‘the end of privacy’ in 2010, his comments didn’t sit well with a large proportion of the global media that landed in the entrails of his remark. Following Zuckerberg’s arguably brazen assumption, Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations cast another shadow over the U.S. government, as ...
Xbox One finally overtakes PS4 in U.S. sales: Clever marketing or better pricing?
As we expected, Microsoft’s Xbox One outsold Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 4 in the month of November according to the NPD Group, the first time this has happened since the two consoles went on the market in 2013. Although the PS4 started off way out in front, outselling Xbox One by a wide margin, the Microsoft ...
The death of the business card and killer contact app
The bulky, finicky, business card arguably has no place in today’s fast-approaching paperless world. Carrying around a stack of identities you’ll likely never get in touch with not only seems anachronistic in view of environmental concerns, but is impractical, too. According to statistics in the U.S. alone 10 billion business cards were printed in 2012, ...
Microsoft toughens on U.S. cybercrime, still struggles overseas
Microsoft is presently going after a member of the public who has been spotted by the company’s cyberforensic department for activating a suspicious amount of pirated copies of Windows 7 and Office 2010. The Redmond giant has filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court in Seattle, WA, and has asked the court that the ...
A smartphone in a pear tree: Microsoft unveils 2nd deal in 12 days of Christmas promo
On December 8th Microsoft unveiled its first of 12 deals in 12 days for its Christmas sales promotion. In 2013 the same event included some notable discounts on smartphones, tablets, games, and so this year we’re thinking the Redmond company will offer similarly delectable gifts suitable for most age groups. The deal behind yesterday’s door was ...
Price dictates console sales as Xbox One duels with PS4
For some time now Microsoft’s Xbox One sales have been catching up to Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 4, due to price incentives and, in some part, Microsoft’s improved Xbox marketing strategy. When both consoles went on sale late last year PS4 was leading in sales figures by about 2-1, according to market industry experts NPD. But since ...
Microsoft ends failed partnership with Barnes & Noble
When Microsoft invested $300 million in Barnes & Noble Inc’s Nook Media LLC e-book division in 2012 it looked at the time to be a solid investment following a few years of progress from Nook as it raced to compete with Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle and Apple Inc’s iPad. In spite of Nook’s efforts, that included ...