Microsoft Office 2013 and Office 365 Home Premium go on sale

The Microsoft Office 2013 and Office 365 are finally on sale. The Office 365 Home Premium is currently available for $99.99 a year as expected. For that kind of cash you get to install the software on up to five PC’s or Macs.

Office 365 is also available in a “University” version for all the college students and the variant is priced at $79.99 with a four year plan. Microsoft is giving away free 20GB of SkyDrive storage with each subscription.

Microsoft Office 2013 Home and Student is currently available for $139 and comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. The Home and Business package also adds Outlook and costs $219, while the professional package comes with all the above plus Access and Publisher for $399.

All these Office 2013 offers include one user lifetime license, but do not come with any free cloud storage space.

PlayStation 4 launch in May or June

The next-gen Xbox countdown already started and Sony must be feeling the heat coming from its competitor.

The vice president of Sony Home Entertainment just couldn’t help himself, but tease the masses of PlayStation gamers with the upcoming fourth version of the console.


Hiroshi Sakamoto has hinted of a “big announcement” coming either earlier in May or at the E3 2013 in June. This means that if Sony doesn’t announce anything in May, then we’ll witness both companies debut their next-generation gaming consoles in June at E3 2013.

He also added that Sony “expects to deliver great news”, which are going to be a big step forward in Sony’s console roadmap.Sony’s upcoming gaming console is expected to pack NFC and rely a number of its key feature on it. The next PlayStation is also speculated to feature support for Ultra HD displays.

THQ Assets sold and Company Dissolved

Multi-Million dollar company THQ is no more.

CEO Brian Farrell and president Jason Rubin have sent a letter to the employees stating that the company will be broken apart and their assets will be sold to different companies. They are also currently presenting their case to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court...

Their Assets were sold off as so:-

Relic Entertainment and Company of Heroes franchise - Sold to Sega Corporation for $26.6 million

THQ Montreal, including 1666 and Underdog - Sold to Ubisoft for $2.5 million

Evolve aka Metamorphosis - Sold to Take-Two Interactive for $10.894 million

Volition and Saints Row franchise - Sold to Koch Media for $22.3 million

Homefront franchise - Sold to Crytek for $544,218

Metro franchise - Sold to Koch Media for $5.8 million

South Park: The Stick of Truth - Sold to Ubisoft for $3.2 million

The fate of the Darksiders series and it's developer Vigil Games is still unknown. "We will make every effort to find appropriate buyers, if possible." said Farrell and Rubin.

The auction document also contained information about an announced game called "Underdog" by THQ Montreal. Along with this another game "1666" was also found.

The document suggests that High Voltage Software and Volition Inc. are working together on the development of Saint Row 4.

Most employees will be offered jobs by their new owners, but it is a little uncertain as all the positions might not be needed by all the companies.

Employees that are not part of the sale will be left unemployed, though a small number of staff will remain employed at THQ, Agoura Hills, California beyond 25th January to assist in the transition stage.

"While the company will cease to exist, we are heartened that the majority of our studios and games will continue under new ownership," Farrell and Rubin said. "We were hoping that the entire company would remain intact, but we expect to hear good news from each of the separate entities that will be operating as part of new organizations.

"For those THQ employees who are part of entities that are not included in the sale, we are confident that the talent you have displayed as part of THQ will be recognized as you take the next steps in your career," they said.

This is truly a sad day for gamers. What are your thoughts on this? Will the new owners be able to develop THQ's games to their potential and live up to the standards?

Microsoft reports final quarter of 2012 results

Windows sales up, but income is down

Microsoft had an interesting final quarter for 2012 – the three months period that saw the launches of both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. As a result, the company is reporting record revenues but also a slight decline in operating income.

Sales of Windows saw a 24% increase from the year ago quarter, but the Windows 8 launch is behind the Windows 7 launch, which boosted sales by 76%. Even Vista brought a 65% jump in sales, though in terms of monetary value the Windows 8 launch brought in more cash (Vista replaced 5 year old XP, while Windows 7 is still relatively recent).

The Surface tablet, the flagship Windows 8 device, was not mentioned at all. Microsoft expects Windows sales to pick up as more touch-enabled Windows 8 devices hit the shelves (including the x86 Surface Pro).

Anyway, revenue for the final quarter of last year was $21.5 billion, up 3% from Q4 of 2011. Operating income, however, went down 3%.

The decline can be explained with reduced sales with the Microsoft Business Division and the Entertainment and Devices division. The Business Division is responsible for Office, which is due for an upgrade soon (the dip in sales is the calm before the storm).

The Entertainment and Devices division handles both Windows Phone 8 and Xbox / Kinect. The Xbox 360 is heading towards retirement (as rumors of its successors increase) and WP8 is picking up steam – Nokia, which is most closely aligned with the mobile OS, went back into profitability for its last quarter of 2012.

You can get the detailed numbers on Microsoft’s financial quarter from its press release.

Samsung showcases flexible OLED displays

We have been hearing rumors of these for a while now but Samsung has finally come clean with their YOUM flexible OLED displays at CES this year.

Although no actual product using these displays have been announced so far, Samsung did showcase three applications of it. One of them had the design of a regular smartphone, with just the right edge being bent downwards. This bent strip displayed content in landscape mode, so that even if you have the phone in a case, you can see notifications and such from the side at a glance.


The other two designs included a device that couple be folded up in the middle and another one where the display could be rolled up and retracted.

Thanks to the flexibility of the display, we might finally start seeing some disruption in the design of smartphones, which have turned into boring slabs over the past years. The flexibility also means that these displays are a lot more shock resistant. It remains to be seen what product Samsung would choose to put it in first.

Google Maps accessible once again on Windows Phone browser

Last week we reported that the mobile web version of Google Maps service was no longer accessible through the Internet Explorer browser on Windows Phone devices. Although the service wasn’t officially supported because Internet Explorer does not run on the WebKit engine that the site is optimized for, it did used to work somehow until Google pulled the plug, citing incompatibility reasons.

Now, one week and lots of outrage later, the Google Maps website is once again accessible through Internet Explorer on Windows Phone. Admittedly, it won’t run as flawlessly as it does on iOS or Android devices because it’s still optimized for WebKit but at least you can use it now.

No reason has been given this time as to why this functionality was suddenly restored.

Has the countdown to Xbox 720 just begun?

Xbox Live’s head Larry Hyrb otherwise known as Major Nelson, posted a countdown on its blog to E3 2013. It counts the days until June 11 this year when the expo kicks off and the text says: And it’s on…

Since the Xbox 360 is nearing the end of its cycle it just make sense we see the next generation announced this year.

Nintendo already announced and launched its next-gen console – the Wii U. Sony has also spilled the beans on PlayStation 4, although we can only expect it to launch next year.

Unlike previous years, Microsoft seems to push the PR for E3 quite early and I bet we’ll be seeing even more within the next few months. There is one more thing – unlike most past shows, this upcoming one isn’t expected to bring some hot sequels or smashing new IPs to Xbox 360. Halo 4 is out, Gears of War and Mass Effect Trilogies are over, and there are just few announced games that seems to deserve the gamers’ attention. Oh, and none of them is an Xbox 360 exclusive. A new Xbox should definitely be on the cards then.

The rumors from last year also suggested the next Xbox will arrive in time for the holiday season in 2013, which adds more credibility to the current one.

I just have one wish – Microsoft, please don’t name this one Xbox 720, because I don’t want to wait another 8 years just to see how you’ll call the one to follow.

Via|Source

First picture of galaxy S4 is appeared

The first picture of the Samsung Galaxy S IV has appeared.

This phone is probably the most anticipated piece of phone tech at the moment. Its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S III, was the most successful smartphone of 2012.

The photo was released by Sammobile. The design looks very similar to that of the Galaxy S III, however the screen is bigger. On the other hand the edge is narrower than that of the S III, making the phone barely a bit bigger overall.

On top of that, Samsung has stated on Facebook that the Galaxy S IV will not hit the stores before May. The reason for this release date is not clear. The Galaxy S III has been available since May 29, 2012.

There are also rumoured specs:

-Exynos 5450 Quad-Core CPU 2.0GHz
-Mali-T658 GPU
-2 GB RAM
-4.99" SuperAMOLED FULL HD (1080x1920) display
-13 MP Rear Facing Camera
-2 MP Front Facing Camera
-Android 4.2.1 (May be updated as newer releases become available)

 Keep in mind these specs are rumoured.

Samsung announces Series 7 touchscreen monitor for Windows 8

Samsung has announced the Series 7 SC770 touch monitor, the first of its kind by Samsung. The monitor has been designed with Windows 8 in mind and has a multi-touch display that supports up to 10 touch points at a time.



The monitor also has a adjustable stand that allows you to tilt the display up to 60 degrees, making it easier to use the touchscreen. The 24-inch panel has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 with a viewing angle of 178 degrees.



Other than that Samsung also announced a non-touch monitor – the Series 7 SC750 – which has a 27-inch, FullHD panel. This one does not tilt back like the SC770 but lets you rotate it sideways 90 degrees to be used in portrait mode for viewing documents and such.

Both models are expected to go on sale in the first quarter of 2013 but no prices have been provided so far.

Acer will launch a $99 Android tablet and lower-priced Windows 8 slates in 2013

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Acer will launch a $99 Android tablet in 2013. The sub-$100 slate will go head to head with the numerous low-cost Chinese tablets which are offered in developing countries under a plethora of different brands.

The budget-friendly Acer Iconia Tab B1 will sport a dual-core 1.2GHz CPU (likely a Mediatek unit), a 7″ display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, and 512MB of RAM. Built-in memory is reported at 8GB with a microSD card slot available as well. The OS on tap will be Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. The above press image of the upcoming tablet has been confirmed as the real deal by the WSJ sources.

Curiously, ASUS has told the WSJ that it will not be threading into the sub-$100 tablet category, which is in line with recent rumors. The manufacturer is apparently satisfied with the Nexus 7 success and doesn’t feel the need to enter significantly lower price points.

Acer will also introduce lower-priced Windows 8 tablets next year. The tech giant has conceded that its current Windows 8 tablet lineup is a tad pricey.

Samsung Galaxy Tabs 2 7.0, 2 10.1 and Note 10.1 in Garnet Red

Samsung seems to be preparing new colors for its latest slates – the Tabs 2 7.0 and 10.1 as well as for the Note 10.1.

The new colors is called Garnet Red – if it sounds familiar it’s because the Galaxy S III is already available in it.


The Garnet Red editions of the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and Galaxy Note 10.1 will arrive in time for Valentine’s Day next year. Unfortunately only the 3G+Wi-Fi slates will get the new paintjob.

Pricing is yet to be confirmed, but likely the red units will cost the same as their black and white siblings.

Dell abandons its smartphone business

In a rather unexpected move, Dell announced it is quitting the smartphone market altogether as of next year.

The news was delivered by Jeff Clarke, Dell’s head of consumer business at the Dell World Conference. The reason behind the decision is that “It needs a lot of investments to really be successful”.

So, what’s Dell’s mobile strategy from now on, then? The simple answer is – Windows tablets. The company’s XPS10, XPS 12 and Latitude 10 are now the headline runners for the consumer’s heart, all running Windows 8 or Windows 8 RT.

In an interview with Forbes, Clarke added.

"It’s a content play with Android. Amazon is selling books and Google is making it up with search. So far we couldn’t find a way to build a business on Android."