Microsoft launches new Xbox One as living room hub
Microsoft hopes its powerful new Xbox One console will become a hub for living room entertainment.
SpaceTop transparent 3D computer unveiled
A transparent computer has been revealed at the TED conference in Los Angeles, which allows users to reach through the screen.
Halo 4 - the biggest blockbuster this Christmas
The latest instalment in Microsoft's Halo game series has launched with sales figures expected to top £125 million on Tuesday alone.
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What the tech writers like about Xbox One
Engadget's Darren Murph praised the Xbox One's "retro" aesthetics and Blu-ray capability but criticised the console's inability to play games from earlier models.
I love the almost-retro boxy look of the #Xbox One. Not sure I love its inability to play 360 games, though. Inclusion of Blu-ray rules.
From @darrenmurph on Twitter:"Microsoft's next-generation console is quite an ambitious product, promising to unifying absolutely everything you do in the living room," wrote Hunter Skipworth for pocket-lint.com.
Xbox One: Everything you need to know http://t.co/A1t5w6hO4n via @pocketlint
From @HunterSkipworth on Twitter:Gizmodo's Kyle Wagner was impressed by the voice-activated channel and input switching.
"This will work via a HDMI pass-through, so this won’t replace your set-top box — rather, it reduces the number of controllers you have to use, and the input switching you have to do on your TV," he wrote.
The Xbox One: everything you need to know about Microsoft's new console (updating) http://t.co/K5KZx2zVD0
From @Gizmodo on Twitter:Microsoft Xbox One on sale by end of year
The Xbox One console will be on sale by the end of 2013, Microsoft announced.
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Microsoft launches new Xbox One as living room hub
Microsoft hopes its powerful new Xbox One console will become a hub for living room entertainment.
Read the full storyXbox One specifications announced
Microsoft announced key specifications for the new Xbox One:
- 8-Core CPU
- 8GB memory
- 500GB hard disk drive
- Blu-ray drive
- Wi-Fi direct
- USB 3.0
- 1080p wide camera
Xbox One partners with ESPN for sports annotations
Microsoft demonstrated utilising a partnership with US sports broadcaster ESPN to display sports statistics and background using voice commands through the Xbox One.
Britain's ESPN channel has recently been acquired by BT Sport.
Xbox One designed to combine TV, web, film and games
A Microsoft representative demonstrated switching between Internet Explorer, films, live TV, Skype and games using voice commands.
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Microsoft reveals new Xbox One
Microsoft has unveiled its latest Xbox games console in a live video on its website.
The new system is called the Xbox One and is designed for use as a social hub and television unit as well as a games console.
It replaces the Xbox 360, which shipped about 76 million consoles by the end of March.
Internet Explorer market share halved since 2008
Microsoft has been fined £484m by EU regulators for breaking a promise to offer European consumers a choice of web browser.
A web browser is a computer programme that allows a user to read internet pages.
Microsoft's share of the European browser market has more than halved since 2008 to 24%.
Google's Chrome has a 35% share, followed by Mozilla's Firefox with 29%, according to Web traffic analysis company StatCounter.
Internet Explorer is currently in third place, ahead of Apple's Safari.
Microsoft blames lack of choice on technical error
The Windows 7 service pack 1, rolled out between mid-2011 and mid-2012, failed to offer consumers a choice of browser, leading to the EU investigation that resulted in today's fine.
Microsoft said the failure was the result of a technical error and that procedures have since been tightened.
In what was seen as an acknowledgement of the severity of the mistake, the board cut the bonus of chief executive Steve Ballmer last year, according to company's annual reports.
EU fines Microsoft £484m for not offering web browser choice
EU antitrust regulators fined Microsoft €561m (£484m) today for breaking a promise to offer European consumers a choice of web browser.
Microsoft had made the pledge in 2009 in settling an antitrust investigation in Europe, where the software group's regulatory troubles date from the last decade and have cost it a total of €2.16bn, including the latest fine.
Microsoft promised to offer European consumers a choice of rival browsers in the previous version of its Windows operating system.
But the European Commission, which acts as competition regulator across the 27-member European Union, said it found the company broke that undertaking between May 2011 and July 2012.
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