Last week at //BUILD/ we had the chance to see something pretty cool. It was an early look at the work Orbotix was doing with Windows 8 and their robotic gaming system Sphero. The team is working on making an official SDK for both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. Not sure what Sphero is? In short, it’s awesome. Details after the break. Sphero (www.gosphero.com) is a little robotic ball...
Halo: Spartan Assault is coming to both Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8. It marks the first time in the franchise’s history that it won’t be on console or PC. It’s also the second time there will be a departure in gameplay from the series trademark first-person shooter experience. This past week at //BUILD/ we learned a bit more about the upcoming game. We also have a better picture of...
While we use this weekend to recover from the whirlwind that is //BUILD/, there is still plenty of news to discuss from the past week. A preview of Windows 8.1 was released to everyone in attendance at Build and to anyone willing to try it out around the globe. Microsoft stressed that Windows 8.1 is just Windows 8, but refined. And in the short few days we’ve been playing we’re going to...
Unity, developers of the wildly popular gaming engine of the same name, announced yesterday at Build 2013 that they have struck up a "strategic partnership" with Microsoft to develop for Xbox One and Windows Phone 8. This collaboration with Microsoft means the development of new development tools geared specifically for both platforms, "including support for many next-generation...
As Build enters its third and final day, there has been lots of circulating murmurs regarding Rudy Huyn’s “Wall of Windows Phones” i.e. the technological monstrosity that you see above. In other words, we’re getting a lot of “tips” on the matter and we want to knock out any hope or speculation. The wall, based off of Rudy’s earlier trick of linking together many phones to display one...
Yesterday during a Build session, Microsoft software engineer Polita Paulus held a session on what it means for developers to upgrade their apps for Windows 8.1. While current Windows 8 apps will of course run just fine on 8.1, developers interested in taking advantage of the new code base will need to recompile their app and add or modify a few lines of code. Like all OS updates, those...
Today at Build, Microsoft handed out a few thousand Iconia W3s to the attendees. For those of you don’t know, the Iconia W3 is Acer’s first attempt at an 8-inch Windows 8 tablet running with an Intel Atom processor. Is it good, bad, somewhere in between? We’re not a 100% sure yet but we do like playing around with it a whole lot. Head past the break for our hands on video and some...
Today during one of the many Build 2013 sessions going on, Microsoft also publicized some Windows Phone Store numbers since Windows Phone 8 was launched. By now, many of our readers have probably figured that Windows Phone 8 has quickly become the more popular OS (over 7.x) partially due to the new and exciting hardware and also because of it being more powerful. So how much of an...
Today was quite the day if you follow our feeds. Microsoft took the stage on day one at its Build 2013 conference to show off some products running Windows 8, as well as presenting Windows 8.1 and talking about the ecosystem in general. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer leaped on to the stage to kick the show off, but we were also blessed with the presence of Julie Larson-Green and co. Don't...
Apparently Larson Green wasn't happy with the Acer Iconia W3 giveaway and wanted to make the day even sweeter. Developers who attend the Build 2013 conference will receive a Microsoft Surface Pro with Type Cover. Not a bad deal to try and drum up more development for Windows 8. We're sure developers will not disapprove of this move either. Stay tuned to our Build 2013 coverage for...
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer today unveiled at the company's Build event that all attendees will be walking away with an Acer Iconia tablet, which we believe to be the Iconia W3. This Windows 8.1 tablet will help developers and those interested in the platform get stuck in with new features on the latest hardware. Unfortunately, media don't count and won't receive one, so there's no...
![A quick list of significant changes in Windows 8.1 [Updated]](https://www.windowscentral.com/sites/wpcentral.com/files/styles/w250h188crop/public/field/image/2013/06/WPDang_win8.1-5.png)
According to Chinese site WPDang, Microsoft had a small scale revealing of new features in Windows 8.1 earlier today in San Francisco. The non-disclosure agreement they signed with Microsoft just expired a few minutes ago. With legal concern gone, they've decided to make a quick list of things, and save everyone some time mining into the system update looking for what's new when Windows...
Community Live Blog (During the keynote while we disable comments on the editorial live blog above, we'll leave commenting opening below so you can react to the news in real time - all comments will be automatically published).
We’re here in not-so-sunny San Francisco (seriously, it’s cloudy and humid) but we’re still gearing up for tomorrow’s early keynote speech from Microsoft. It starts at 9AM PT/12PM ET (or your localized time here) and we’ll be in the front of the audience to cover it live, all for //build/ 2013. What will Microsoft reveal? We’re not sure as the whole event is shrouded in mystery this...
According to Tom Warren of The Verge, Microsoft’s Xbox Music streaming service will see a web-based interface launching next week. This would provide a substantial boost for the service as it is currently only available on Microsoft based platforms. Bringing Xbox Music to the web would allow access for Linux and Mac OS X users. The Verge announced that unspecified sources had revealed...
It’s almost that time of the year again for Microsoft to host their annual developer conference, aptly called //build/ (www.buildwindows.com). Windows Phone Central will of course be on location this week, with the show starting on Wednesday and running through Friday. The event is being held at the Moscone Center in sunny San Francisco versus last year’s well-attended but rainy...
The third //BUILD/ conference takes place June 26-28 in San Francisco. Tickets went on sale back on April 2nd and sold out in the blink of an eye. Good news if you missed the chance to buy tickets and still want to go. This Wednesday more tickets will go on sale. At Build we’re expecting to learn all about the Blue update coming to all of Microsoft’s products and service later this...
Microsoft has just announced another //BUILD/ conference for developers. The event will take place sooner than expected and will be held in a new location. We cannot wait for summer. The first Build conference took place in Anaheim back in September 2011, it’s where the company really gave the public its first in-depth look at Windows 8. Fast forward a year, late October 2012 the...