UK government chooses Microsoft over open source due to cost savings

Chief Information Officer for Hampshire, Jos Creese, has stated in a recent interview that the UK government opts for Microsoft over open source alternatives because it's generally cheaper once costs have been calculated. Creese notes that the software giant has been flexible when it comes to deploying products and hardware to improve frontline services. Cost is not limited to just licensing fees.
                        
There's no arguing that new tenders and contracts signed by governments can be somewhat overpriced, but Creese defends his point by explaining companies like Microsoft, SAP and Oracle have to justify costs and work hard to drive a flexible business model. This is something Microsoft has and will continue to do when working with said parties, ensuring that its products are deployed to maintain market share.
But open source is generally free and therefore should be saving costs, rather than pricey Windows licensing and costs, right? It depends on deployment, support and all other management costs that are calculated when deciding on business plans. This is what Creese notes as being more affordable with Redmond, since everything is included and Microsoft already has management tools available for IT departments.
Microsoft is also currently attempting to drive custom from Windows XP to Windows 8, but has extended support to governments who have requested prolonged coverage of the ageing operating system, including the UK. The company has made moves to make its offerings more appealing by slicing licensing fees as well as helping out with both developments and business models.
Source: Computing, via: Forbes

Windows 8.1-Powered Lumia 630 with Dual SIM capability launched in India, Starts at Rs 10,500

 Windows 8.1-Powered Lumia 630 with Dual SIM capability launched in India, Starts at Rs 10,500

                               
Microsoft has just announced the all new Nokia Lumia 630 in India. There are a few things which make the device a sweet package. Primarily, this is the first Lumia phone to sport a Dual SIM card slot, something that people in the Asia-pacific region really dig, not to mention the envious price of Rs 11,500 too. A single SIM variant can also be bought for Rs 10,500. The phone will start shipping from May 16th onwards.
At the event, P. Balaji, Managing Director and VP of Sales for India and Vipul Mehrotra and Head of Smart Devices, showcased the phone. To give a perspective of its performance, Asphalt 8 was shown running on the Lumia 630, along with two other Android devices. From the looks of it, the Lumia 630 was definitely the faster one. The chiefs also touted a special motion sensor, called SensorCore, present in the new phone which can be used for tracking activities.
From the specifications standpoint, the Lumia 630 sports a 4.5-inch FWVGA screen with a resolution of 854x480. Powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor and coupled with 512MB RAM, the phone comes with Windows Phone 8.1 operating system out of the box. It sports a 5MP shooter at the back, but the absence of a front-facing camera is kind of a downer. Its 1830mAh battery and 8 gigs internal memory are adequate. You can expand the phone memory to 128GB via a microSD card.
The 10,500 and 11,500 price factor is crucial, and in our opinion rather smart. Lumia 630 is now easily one of the most affordable Dual-SIM phones featuring Windows 8.1, along with such a great build quality and, of course, brand power. The ever successful Moto G phone now has some very strong competition.

App Updates this week : Cal, Metrotube, TrueCaller, Lockmix and more

We're slowly grinding through this week, covering news and looking at what's next for Microsoft and its platforms. Developers have been busy cranking out updates left, right and center to keep consumers happy with new features, bug addressing and more. We'll round up some of the updates that have passed through the store.

Cal 1.4

The update for Cal is a small, but important release. This latest version, 1.4.0.0 to be exact, addsWindows Phone 8.1 support in the form of transparent live tiles. Should you be rocking the developer preview of the next major Windows Phone release, you'll be pleased to hear that Cal will now integrate nicely to reveal those awesome backgrounds you have set up.

• Download Cal (4MB – $0.99)

TrueCaller 4.0.3.0

This is a super neat app for Windows Phone which helps smartphone owners see who's calling them. There may have been numerous times when an unknown caller is contacting you and you simply do not know whether it's best to answer or block the call. TrueCaller helps to solve this issue. What's more is you're also able to block calls and ensures the phone book is up-to-date.

The latest update (version 4.0.3.0) brings the following:

• New design to take advantage of Modern UI
• Editable personal profiles
• Spam notifications will show when an unwanted caller is ringing the phone
• Verified badges help everyone figure out who's legit and who isn't
• 29 languages

This is all thanks to a new development team formed of quality folk who know Windows Phone inside and out. We recommend this app, especially if you're slightly paranoid about unwanted callers.

• Download True Caller (2MB – free)

Pocket Sheep 1.5.0.24

Pocket Sheep is one of the popular listings from Nokia's AppCampus. The game puts the player in charge of herding cute little sheep through levels to safety. In the latest release, the developers have added 90 collectable cards for players to grab. Complete each level to unlock them all.

• Download Pocket Sheep (28MB – free)

Metrotube 4.1.2.0

Metrotube is a premium Youtube client for Windows Phone. Just like Cal above, this latest release adds support for transparent Live Tiles in Windows Pone 8.1, letting you further personalize the Start screen with custom backgrounds.

• Download Metrotube (1MB – $0.99)

Odds and ends

As well as the above apps, we have also been made aware of the following receiving updates:

• Lockmix (1.9.0.0)
• HD Photo Viewer (3.4.8.6)
• Google Maps (8.7.1.0)
• ProShot (3.7.0.0)
• TimeMe (2.0.3.0)

Quick Launcher for Windows Phone 8.1 gives you quick access to your cellular settings

Windows Phone 8.1 introduced a handful of new features that we’re using every day. Notification center is probably the most used out of all those features. It’s a great tool to quickly see all the notifications from your apps and to quickly toggle a select settings on and off. Unfortunately, not all settings can be accessed with in the Action center. Thankfully a new app called Quick Launcher might solve a few of your problems. Details below on how you can quickly access your cellular settings in the Notification center.

Quick Launcher is a new Windows Phone 8.1 app that allows you to get quick access to cellular settings. In addition, you can also jump quickly to popular apps like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and others.

Quick Launcher doesn’t add a true cellular toggle to the Action center. Instead it creates notifications that persist and stay in the Notification center. You can then tap them to quickly get to the cellular setting or popular apps. Right now the following apps are supported in Quick Launcher: Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, WeChat. More apps will come to the application in a future update, be sure to let the dev know which apps you want!

Quick Launcher is currently in a public beta. It’s free to download and use the app. Give it a try if you’re waiting for Microsoft to add a cellular toggle to the Action center.

Download Quick Launcher from the Windows Phone Store.

source wpcentral

Bing app suite and Skype app for Windows 8.1 receive new updates

Microsoft has rolled out an update to the Skype app, along with an update to the Bing app suite for Windows 8.1. The Skype app features two new improvements, while there is no change log available for the Bing app suite.

"Stay connected while you shop, read, watch and work. When you do more with Skype, there's more to talk about. Connect how you want, when you want. Chat, hear their voice, or get together face to face all within the comfort of one app. Snap Skype alongside other apps to get more done or play a game together while you chat. Share everyday things and special moments - files, photos, or even a video message. Connect with anyone else on any PC, Mac, Android, iPad, Windows Phone, iPhone, Xbox One or more," the app description reads.

Here are the two new features in this latest update:

• Favorites sync across devices – You’ll have the same list of favorite contacts synced across all your devices
• Less scrolling – Your favorites and recent conversations take up less space so you easily see your entire contact list

The Bing app suite, comprising of Bing News, Bing Health & Fitness, Bing Travel, Bing Weather, Bing Finance, and Bing Sports, has also received an update. Microsoft did not provide a change log for the app updates, so we are left, as usual, on our own. Grab these updates via the Windows Store and let us know if you notice any new improvements.

You can hit the download link below for the updated Skype app.

DOWNLOAD LINK: 

SKYPE APP

Bing introduces Venue Maps for malls and airports in India

Microsoft has announced today that Bing users in India can now use Venue Maps to easily navigate malls across the country.

Source wpcwntral:
Venue maps provide an easy way of seeing the layout of a venue like a mall or an amusement park. Currently, Bing Maps provides maps and level wise layouts of over 5,300 venues across the world.

The service displays interior and exterior maps as a layer on top of Bing Maps, complete with store names and precise location data. The venue map data is provided from the Nokia Maps application as well as via Bing searches for public information such as maps which a mall may place on its website.

As you view the mall on your map, the venue map will automatically be displayed. If the mall has multiple levels, a menu bar should appear in the upper left corner of the map to allow you to change which level is displayed.

In India, Bing Venue Maps allows consumers to search 120 malls across Hyderabad, Delhi NCR, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Chennai, Kolkata, and other India cities as well as airports in three cities - Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi.

Also, several extra features have been added to Bing Search on Windows Phones. Consumers searching for local destinations on their Windows Phones will automatically be provided with directions on how to reach that destination, with an option for audio drive directions.

Last year, Nokia’s HERE division had launched venue mapping facility for over 20 cities in India and earlier this year, Google too launched indoor maps for malls across 22 cities in India.

Microsoft and Apple are both two-trick ponies: Steve Ballmer

Steve Ballmer,  who stepped down as Microsoft's CEO in February, did a speech last month at Oxford Union but some of it's extended excerpts were recently made public online.  Ballmer, passing Bill Gates to become Microsoft’s largest shareholder, said "I'm nervous" at the beginning of his talk, "this is the first I'll give and maybe my last if it doesn't go well".  He talked about the future of Microsoft, Facebook and Whatsapp, open source software and many other things. Although, one of the most interesting parts from the talk was when he referred Microsoft and Apple each as a "two-trick pony".

According to Ballmer, a lot of successful companies are "one-trick ponies" like Coca-Cola. He said, Coca-Cola invented one thing and sustained a profitable business by getting it right. “In a lot of businesses, you are forced to do a second trick or you die,” said Ballmer, referring to Microsoft and Apple. Apple invented the Macintosh and then also got its hands on low power touch computing.  Microsoft got into personal computing, then getting that technology adopted by businesses.  He said, a lot of businesses are forced to do a second trick or they die. 

Steve Ballmer is also scheduled to speak at the University of Washington commencement next month on the 14th.

NOKIA CREATIVE STUDIO 6: ENHANCE YOUR IMAGE

It’s been a staple favourite for many Lumia owners since it’s inception in early 2012. Now, the soon-to-be-released Nokia Creative Studio 6 will make editing your photos quicker, simpler, and more fun.

The latest version of Creative Studio sports an entirely redesigned user interface. While previous incarnations launched you straight into the filters menu, where you would first apply an effect, then make any further edits, Creative Studio 6 now presents your photo with various editing options in a menu bar alongside your image.

Reframing is a concept we introduced with Pro Camera for the Lumia 1020. Creative Studio 6.0 supports the dual capture, which means that you can rotate, straighten and change the aspect ratio of any image after you’ve shot it, over and over again without losing any quality.

The New Creative Studio makes it super easy for you to turn your shots into professional looking photographs. To get the right look we’ve worked with aprofessional photo studio to create ten high-quality filters, which can change the mood and feel of a photo dramatically.

Finding the right one for your photo is half the fun. You’ve got these to choose from:

• Vivid
• Warm Caress
• Warm Horizon
• Retro Fade
• Retro Cool
• B&W Fade
• B&W Strong
• B&W Antique
• Pure
• Nightlife

And if you want to make your pictures brighter, or add more color to it, you can go to the enhance module, where you can adjust brightness, shadows, clarity, vibrancy and colour tone. And if you don’t feel like adjusting it manually, we also have a very simple auto-fix feature.

Nokia Creative Studio 6 also provides non-destructive editing, meaning you can work and rework your image as many times as you like, until you’re left with your perfect photo.

This also means that you can always revert back to your original image. You also have the option to save your edited image as a copy into your camera roll.

We’ve also enhanced the blur functionality, and made sure that you can add circular blur or simulate the effect of a tilt-shift lens, or draw freehand which part of the image you want to blur, just like in CS 5.5.

The new CS 6.0 makes this process easier and more accurate, and also non-destructive, which means you can remove the blur from your image at any time. This makes the whole experience very playful.

You can add a filter, adjust brightness, add blur, and then go back to change the filter or reframe without loosing your edits. You can even save the image, and one week later you can still go back to your image and remove the blur if you so wish.

The much-loved colour-pop feature is something our engineers are working on, but will not be available until Creative Studio 6.1. The same goes for Red-Eyes-Reduction tool.

Nokia Creative Studio 6.0 launches with the sale start of Lumia 930, and will replace Creative Studio on all Lumia devices.

Microsoft updates OneDrive app for Windows Phone with some bug fixes

It’s Monday, so it’s time to kick off some app updates. Microsoft goes first with their OneDrive app, which recently received a fairly major update a few weeks ago. Since that time it received a bug fix update for duplicate folders and today, 4.1.2 is live in the Store bringing even more improvements.

So what’s new? Nothing much, as the changelog simply noted ‘bug fixes and performance improvements’, which while not detailed at least tells you something.

OneDrive 4.1.2 is fairly new, so you may not see the update live just yet, but give it a few minutes or force-check the update if on Windows Phone 8.1. Head to the Store here to pick up OneDrive for Windows Phone.

Danal opens up mobile operator billing for Windows Phone Store

Microsoft has now added another name to the list of partners helping roll out operating billing for theWindows Phone Store. Danal announced today that it is now processing mobile operator billing for Microsoft with the service being made available on multiple mobile operators using Danal's BilltoMobile payment platform.

"Danal's bespoke solution for Windows Phone provides the app store with our intuitive Carrier Billing payment option," said Jim Greenwell, President and CEO of Danal Inc. "We're extremely excited to bring that platform to the growing user base in the Windows Phone Store."

"Working with Danal to implement another secure payment solution for Windows Phone will enable even more customers to enjoy our expansive catalog of apps and games through one convenient billing system," said Todd Brix, general manager, Windows Store & Apps, Microsoft Corp. "Mobile Operator billing connections also benefit app developers by significantly increasing total app revenue in markets where operator billing is available," Brix continued.

In order to process all of the transactions, Danal had to create a custom interface to Microsoft's billing specifications. With the addition of the Danal's BilltoMobile payment platform, the Windows Phone Store now supports 59 Mobile Operator billing connections in 36 countries.

Verizon drops Lumia Icon's price to $99.99

It's been a while since Nokia released the Lumia Icon in the US. The handset is exclusively available from Verizon, and came with a $199.99 price tag. There's a piece of good news for those who are thinking about getting the Lumia Icon. Verizon has slashed the price of the handset to $99.99 with a two-year contract, a savings of $100 compared to the original price.

The Nokia Lumia Icon comes with a 5-inch display sporting a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, and is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 800 SoC with 2GB of RAM. On the storage side, it comes with a 32GB internal storage. Unfortunately, there's no microSD card slot for those who want to expand on that. Other features include a 20MP camera with Carl Zeiss Optics and PureVIew, 1.2MP front-facing camera, 2,420 mAh battery and it runs Windows Phone 8 as its operating system. 

This reduction in the price is a part of the Mothers Day promotion Verizon is running on the latest smartphones so you need to act fast, the promotion will end on May 12th

For those of you who are having trouble deciding, you can check out our review of the Lumia Icon. I'm sure it's enough to help you make up your mind. So, who's getting a Lumia Icon? Sound off in the comments below.

Thanks Mark for the tip..

Surface 2s to be handed out to 5,800 Canadian career college students

Students attending Canadian career training institute CDI College are in line to receive a Surface 2s to help with their studies. The college has 26 campuses, and each of the 5,800 students will receive one of Microsoft's tablets by the end of summer this year.

Vice president at the college Dr. Bohdan Bilan said "We need to provide students with the tools they will use when they graduate and the skills that will translate in the future as technology continues to evolve, so the Surface 2 and Microsoft software was perfect for us".

CDI College started off with a pilot program at the Ajax, Ontario campus which then spread to the campus at Surrey, British Columbia. Now the entire student body will be able to take advantage of Surface 2s using tools such as Office 2013, Skype, and OneDrive to assist with their education.

"The experience students receive with the enterprise-quality technology of the Surface devices and Microsoft productivity tools help us achieve our goal of preparing them with the skills and experiences they need to succeed in their career now and 20 years from now," said Dr. Bilan.

Internet Explorer 11 jumps to 16.61% market share, while Internet Explorer 8 remains at the top

New data from Net Applications for the month of April 2014 has been released, showcasing just how well Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser has performed in terms of market share. According to the data, the company's latest browser, Internet Explorer 11, has seen an increase in market share bringing it to 16.61% for the month of April. This is up from the previous share of 15.71% for the month of March. However, Internet Explorer 8 remains at the top of the charts.

Internet Explorer 11 now holds a 16.61% share, compared to the previous month's 15.71%. Internet Explorer 8 remains at the top with a 20.85% share, compared to the previous month's 21.14%. Clearly, Internet Explorer 11 is on track to overtake Internet Explorer 8 and become the top browser, as the gap between the two narrows.

While Internet Explorer remains the top browser, Mozilla's Firefox 28 comes in second place with a 12.28% share. Google's Chrome comes in third place with a 8.64% share.

Remote Desktop Preview app now available for Windows Phone 8.1

If you currently have Windows Phone 8.1 installed on your device as part of the Windows Phone Preview for Developers, you can now try out the Remote Desktop Preview app which is now available in the Windows Phone Store to download.
                        

The Remote Desktop Preview app uses RDP 8.1 and RemoteFX that enables you to have a rich multi-touch experience that supports Windows gestures when you connect to Windows 8 devices for example. For a complete drill-down into all the capabilities of the Remote Desktop Preview app, head on over to the Remote Desktop Services Blog and read this blog post from David Bélanger who is a Program Manager on the Remote Desktop Team.

Nokia Lumia 930 to land in Italy in June with a €599.90 price tag(rumor)

Earlier this month, Nokia unveiled three new Windows Phone 8.1 powered handsets: Nokia Lumia 630, 635 and 930. The first two are budget devices, and is expected to launch in various parts of the globe in May, while the high-end Lumia 930 will hit retail in June. The Lumia 630/635 will hit retail in some European countries for €149.90, but there's no word about the exact launch date nor pricing of the Lumia 930. Recently, the folks at Plaffo are reporting, citing a source who has been reliable in the past, that the Nokia Lumia 930 will hit Italian shores in June for €599.90/649.90.

The Nokia Lumia 930 brings high-end specifications to the table -- it's basically the Nokia Lumia Icon for international markets. For those of you who can't recall, Lumia 930 rocks a 5-inch 1080p display, and comes with a quad-core Snapdragon 800 SoC clocked at 2.2GHz with 2GB of RAM on board. Other features include 32GB internal storage with an additional 7GB SkyDrive storage, 20MP camera with PureView technology and Carl Zeiss Optics, a 2,420 mAh battery and runs the latest Windows Phone 8.1 OS out of the box.

It's not confirmed at the moment so a grain of salt is advised. It won't be a surprise if the price turns out to be around €600, as flagship devices from other OEMs are also running for a similar price tag in Europe.  We'll update you as soon as it becomes official.

Movie Moments now available for Windows Phone 8.1

Many of us shoot videos with our smartphones. I have friends and family that take a ton of videos of their kids doing various activities – from taking their first steps to playing baseball. I’m constantly taking videos of my puppy Kilo doing funny things like snoring really loudly. We all want an easy way to share these videos. With Windows 8.1, we introduced an app called Movie Moments that lets you take videos you’ve taken and edit them down into a shareable 60-second clip that captures a memorable moment with captions and music. Today, we’re bringing Movie Moments to Windows Phone 8.1! If you are trying out Windows Phone 8.1 as part of the Windows Phone Preview for Developers, download Movie Moments from the Windows Phone Store and give it a try.

                

With Movie Moments on Windows Phone 8.1, you can shoot a video and in 4 steps edit that video down to a clip that captures a specific moment that can easily be shared out to Facebook or to OneDrive.

 It’s super easy. Give it a try!