James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Pretty Bing gets a facelift with Microsoft update: Can it outshine Yahoo?
The Bing search engine just became a little more interesting following the latest Microsoft update, which consists of image captions, an information carousel, high-definition (1920×1080) backgrounds and a new menu for Office Online. Microsoft reported that the move comes after Bing users had requested such features through feedback channels. Some of that feedback included, “Wouldn’t ...
Soccer fans tire of over-digitized experiences as Microsoft kicks off cloud deal with Real Madrid
Real Madrid, ranked the world’s best soccer club of the 20th century (or football,as it’s called outside the U.S.), have recently struck up a deal with Microsoft to transform how their live games are watched. Employing Microsoft’s cloud solutions, fans will now be privy to a closer inspection of the game with personalized and customized content and digital ...
Emergency update from Microsoft: Out-of-cycle security for devastating Kerberos bug
Microsoft has just added one of two missing security updates that were part of the 14 critical patches released last week. Updates MS14-068 and MS14-075 were supposed to be released last Tuesday, but for some reason, possibly due to a fault in the patch, the two patches were held back. MS14-068 will address CVE-2014-6324, a Windows Kerberos ...
Tech giants push USA Freedom Act now, fearing Republican rejection next year
In an era where public concern over omnipresent and oppressive government surveillance is at an historical high, partly attributable to Edward Snowden’s National Security Agency (NSA) revelations, nine of the world’s biggest tech companies are fighting for the public’s right to internet freedom. The coalition, made-up of Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, AOL, Dropbox and Evernote, ...
Did cloud put Microsoft in second place for world’s most valuable company rank?
Microsoft now trails only Apple Inc. on the list of the world’s most valuable companies, having leaped-frogged Exxon Mobil Corp. The Redmond tech-giant, led by CEO Satya Nadella and his cloud first, mobile first vision, has seen its total market value rise to $410 billion, compared to Exxon’s $404 billion. Apple is still way out ...
Making movies with Microsoft’s new Lumia app: same…but different
“Making movies has never been easier,” says Microsoft in reference to its Movie Creator Beta app for Lumia phones, the Lumia 2520 tablet and Surface tablets running Windows 8.1. The new app works as an all-in-one basic editing suite in which users, or should we say auteurs, can splice video clips, insert images, add text ...
Critical threat to Windows users? Microsoft releases patch install
Users of Windows 2003/2008/2012, as well as Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and Windows RT, could be under attack from a bug which Microsoft reported could “allow remote code execution if an attacker sends specially crafted packets to a Windows server.” Machines are vulnerable in the Secure Channel (Schannel) security package in Windows, says Microsoft, from threats that ...
A phone for every budget? First Lumia phone launched by Microsoft looks at low-cost buyers market
The first Lumia device has been officially launched today as the Lumia 535, a smartphone, which doesn’t offer much more than some of Microsoft’s Windows Phones, but is the first Lumia device available minus the Nokia brand. The phone offers two models, one with Dual SIM. Both are relatively cheap, and it seems they’re aimed ...
Microsoft guides the blind with bat-like tech
Navigating the cities of the world could soon become a lot easier for the millions of blind and visually impaired people thanks to Microsoft’s innovative navigational headset, which lets you hear your surroundings when seeing them is not possible. The product, which is still in its pilot stage, gives the visually impaired what Microsoft has ...
Opinion: Why Skype’s “magic” video translator is unlikely to beat Google Translate
When I first heard of Microsoft’s real-time voice translation app for Skype and CEO, Satya Nadella’s bold prediction to “imagine in the very near future technology allowing humans to bridge geographic and language boundaries,” I was moved by such a world-changing utterance. I was also curious, and a little skeptical: the translation tools already available, to ...
