The Microsoft Band was updated for the last time in February with support for bicycle riding, now the company is partnering with MapMyRide and Strava to connect the Microsoft Band with these apps and expand its functionality. Microsoft Health is the product getting the most changes with the April’s update. Starting April 27, users will be able to access a variety of new insights through the Microsoft Health Web Dashboard including:...

Alongside the new online stock, Microsoft is also partnering with 765 Best Buy stores across the U.S., to start selling the Band. Although, there is not a specific day when this will happen, it will occur sometime in March. Windows Central confirmed from new information obtained from internal documents unveiling details. According to the same report, the electronic retailer will include the wearable on its extensive smartwatch display area, with a fully functional Band that consumers will be able to their hands on, before buying....

For identity, Microsoft is adding a functionality to connect corporate users to Azure Active Directory. Moving forward devices will talk with Azure AD and users will be able to sign in to Windows 10 using Azure AD accounts or add their Azure ID to access resources and business apps. To ensure Windows works seamlessly with Active Directory and Azure Active Directory, Microsoft will connect the two, allowing users to automatically sign in to services such as Office 365, Microsoft Intune, and the Windows Store....

At Xbox.com, the company just launched a new Black Friday page with great deals on Xbox One games. From November 25th – December 1st, you’ll be able to get awesome game titles such as Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag, Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition, Forza Motorsport 5, Sniper Elite III, and many more. SEE ALSO: Black Friday 2014 best deals and tips not to get screwed On Thanksgiving, you’ll get even more sweet deals, from November 27th – December 1st (Cyber Monday), you’ll be able to buy FIFA15, Sunset Overdrive, and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare starting $14....

According to the report Microsoft could lift restriction starting next month by E3 time. Even though this is a great news for many users, Ars Technica also says that the company could be thinking on putting other services behind the paywall to level the shift, but it’s not clear which ones or if the company will announce new services, which will require an Xbox Live Gold subscription. Update: Microsoft confirms at Xbox Wire that indeed the company is removing the Xbox Live Gold requirement to use some of the apps on Xbox 360 and Xbox One....

This is the story, earlier attempts to bypass Microsoft’s activation technology involved the use of third-party Key Management Services (KMS) servers that would let the activation for up to 180 days, which means that a re-activation was necessary every six months. This simplified the use of Windows 8 for free temporarily, however now it is a bit easier. As you know Windows Media Center is not included anymore with any version of the Windows 8....

What’s different about these mice is that they include a new dedicated Windows key button for quick access to the Start screen. The Sculpt Comfort Mouse includes the “Windows touch tab”, which is a touch-sensitive blue strip on the left side. This new blue strip serves three functions: pressing the center piece will take you to the Start screen, swiping up will cycle through your open Windows 8 apps, and swiping down will reveal the stack of open apps in the left side of the screen....

It seems that Google finally found something on Windows worth building a piece of software for, as you know the search giant hasn’t really expand its portfolio of apps to Windows, every time the company gets asked to bring an app for the Windows ecosystem, Google always answers that when there is a demand, it will bring the app or service in question to the operating system. Today, it seems that Google is already feeling the presences of OneDrive and Office apps on Android, as such it would appear that making available a Google Drive plug-in for Office on Windows could be one of the things the company is doing to get more users to start using more Google services....

The KB3058515 is a cumulative security update for Internet Explorer addressing over 20 reported vulnerabilities. KB3033890 resolves a vulnerability in Windows Media Player that could allow remote code execution. These issues only affect Windows 7 systems and earlier, and Windows Server 2008 R2 and earlier versions. KB3059317, KB3057839, KB3062577, and KB3063858 are important updates that only affects Windows systems that could allow remote code execution or elevation of privilege from attacker....

The catch is that in order get the app for testing, you need to be a Windows Insider and have obtained an invite. “We know that there’s a choice of mobile devices out there, so we want help from our Windows Insiders to make sure she’s a great personal assistant on Android too,” Microsoft’s Anannya Podder says in the company’s support forums. “We are looking for a limited number of people to get their hands on an early version of the app....

According to the Microsoft support page, KB3062095 resolves the following issues: Project Spartan crashes when attempting to open it on some devices. The Start menu appears when features of the work area, such as the screen resolution, DPI setting, or screen rotation, are changed. This can occur when running apps, such as games, that open in full-screen. These apps then crash when pressing the Alt + Tab keys. This update requires to restart the computer after installation, but if you’re installing Windows 10 manually, you can easily schedule a restart at your convenience....

According to the Microsoft Lumia support page, the update is described as 01078.00027.15506.02005 – where the last two digits determine the specific device. Below is the breakdown of what’s new with the December firmware update for Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL: Stability and performance improvements. Improvements for SD memory card support. Improvements for automatic display brightness settings. Fix for a camera problem that was causing noisy images in low-light conditions for some users....

Xbox Project Scarlett will be powered by a custom-designed 7 nanometer processor from AMD using the new Zen 2 architecture and Radeon RDNA graphics, and it’ll use super-fast GDDR6 memory. Microsoft claims that the console will be four times more powerful than the current Xbox One X. The next-generation console will support up to 8K gaming, ray-tracing, variable refresh rate, and up to 120fps gameplay. Perhaps one of the most interesting changes is the new Solid-State Drive (SSD) that Microsoft is creating to boost performance by approximately 40 times, and as a result, the new console will significantly reduce the load times to almost none....

According to Business Insider, when Julie Larson-Green was asked if Cortana would eventually arrive in other operating systems, she said: “The short answer is, yeah”, and no more details were offered. But looking into recent moves where Microsoft is offering Office for iOS and Android, it’s clearly a signal that the company is now more open than before to bring as many tools and services to different platforms. Cortana officially debuted with Windows Phone 8....

The new changes have been announced at the Microsoft forums, where a support engineer explains that the firmware update will only be available on the select phone models, region or network service provider. The company says that at this time the update is only available on selected open market variants, but more phones will gradually be getting the new firmware in the coming days. Lumia firmware version 01078.00038.16025.X changelog Stability fixes....

According to Reuters, Microsoft is not only going to discuss the future Windows (internally known as “Threshold” and externally known by us as “Windows 9”), but it will also reveal a new brand for its software and it could be either a totally new name or as you may be thinking… just plain and simple “Windows”. The reports also states that the new name is “symbolic of a new direction and style for Microsoft”, moving away from “an aggressive focus on Windows and PCs, the hallmark of previous Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer”....

According to some screenshots shared by @WinObs in Twitter (via The Verge) the project is currently known as “Monarch,” and it is a new version of “Outlook designed for large-screen experiences” based on the description. While the screenshots do not reveal any of the visual aspects of the new interface, it is expected to be based on the current web version of the Outlook.com with additional tweaks. According to a Windows Central report, the client will include native support for Windows 10, such as notifications, offline storage, share targets, and much more....

The invite reads “Windows 10: The next chapter” and during the event the company is expected to talk about the features of Windows focus on consumers, and the word is that it’ll be an all-day-long event. For those Microsoft fans, the company will stream the event live and speakers will include Satya Nadella, Joe Belfiore, Terry Myerson, and Phil Spencer. Big Microsoft names have been mentioned, so this is going to be a big event and expect many things to be revealed....

The Microsoft Work & Play bundle includes the following benefits: Office 365 Home: This is perhaps the best option to get access to Office for the entire family. This option gives you up to five installations of Office on PC and Mac; you can install Office on tablets, smartphones, and you get 1TB of OneDrive storage. This option has a price tag of $99.99. Xbox Music Pass: This is a subscription which will give you access to millions of songs from the Microsoft’s music service catalog....

According to statistics from Mozilla’s servers, the usage of the beta version of Firefox for Windows 8 never passed the 1,000 users, which is totally different when they see millions of users testing the desktop version of Firefox — that is of course, counting every platform the browser supports, including Windows, OS X, and Linux. The development started back in 2012 to build a Metro-style version of Firefox. Mozilla began by building Firefox based on the x86 architecture; however, because of Microsoft policy, the open source platform never created a Firefox for Windows RT which is based on ARM chips....