Wi
Latest
MS teases Windows Phone 8 enterprise features: Company Hub, encryption, secure boot, IT management
At today's Windows Phone Summit, Microsoft alluded to some of the next-gen OS' enterprise features, including a trusted shared Windows core, encryption, secure boot and IT device management. Company VP Joe Belfiore recognized that some business users haven't been satisfied with the operating system's previous suite of enterprise features, and that definitely appears to be one focus of Windows Phone 8. BitLocker Drive Encryption will provide support for device security, while IT administrators will have have the ability to push apps to handsets while sidestepping the Marketplace. Office will also have a greater presence in Windows Phone 8, though we don't know exactly how that will play out just yet. Enterprise clearly hasn't been a primary target of Microsoft's mobile OS to date, but that could very well change beginning this fall. There's also a new Company Hub feature, which will allow companies their own app distribution pipe, as well as giving IT administrators the ability to highlight specific things depending on what's important to their organization. With so many Windows machines in the workplace, it's pretty smart for Microsoft to take a serious dive into this stuff, and it's honestly really slick. There's also a Microsoft IT app, which the company claims will be provided in template form so that outfits can tweak it to fit specific needs. To check out the latest updates from Microsoft's Windows Phone event, visit our liveblog!
Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8 for fall release, incompatible with current devices
Microsoft has finally and officially removed the wraps from the OS formerly known as Apollo. It's now just Windows Phone 8 and, at their "sneak peek" event we're learning a good bit about that OS, and some of the great new hardware support that it offers. But, there's one thing we want to make clear right away: if you're currently holding a Windows Phone device you won't be getting a taste of this action. Well, not unless you buy a new phone, that is. That back and forth about upgrade paths has been proven to be incorrect, as the hardware requirements for WP8 preclude its running on any current WP device -- even that hot blue Lumia 900 you got for a steal.%Gallery-158719% And what are those hardware requirements? As detailed here, multi-core processors (up to 64) are now allowable, displays up to WXGA (1280 x 768) and external storage on SD. This better, faster hardware will enable new, faster games and other demanding apps which, for the first time, can be written in native code. (Well, it's C/C++, which at least lets developers get out of CLR land.) All this will run on a kernel shared with Windows 8 and Windows RT. In other words: yes, Microsoft has managed to get one platform running on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones, the idea being that apps can be more easily ported from one to the next, promising "games we've never seen before" running on your phones.%Gallery-158726% There's also a new wallet functionality thanks to the NFC support, as detailed here, but reliant on an augmented SIM, not hardware on the phone itself. This means carriers won't have to remove apps (as we've seen with Google Wallet in the past) but they can block support altogether. Nokia maps is now built into the OS, including offline map support. This is a big step forward on many levels, but Microsoft is naturally sticking to its roots, promising enterprise-ready security and support, enabling admins to deploy and restrict apps on corporate-provided phones and manage them remotely. There's also encryption and secure booting integrated. It's all set to arrive this fall, which just so happens to be when Windows 8 (and those fancy new Surface tablets) will start shipping, too. Follow the liveblog of the event here! %Gallery-158711%
This week in WoW news: Aug 3-9, 2008
As we have a dedicated site for World of Warcraft in our sister site WoW Insider, many of the smaller tidbits about changes in the game, or community news don't generally wind up in our news feed. As a way of bridging the gap, we bring you This Week in WoW news, now with 100% more World of Warcraft goodness in a bite-size weekly package! Ask a Beta Tester: The Argent CrusadeThe High Elves actually have a pretty strong presence, which I'm rather excited about. The High Elves (and Blood Elves to a much lesser extent) are one of my favorite Warcraft races ... Hybrid Theory: Spell Power hands onWe've chit-chatted about the new Spell Power mechanic off and on, but we've never gone into serious detail about it yet. Why? Well, we didn't really know how it worked. Blood Pact: Is Demonic Circle the Warlock answer to melee?As some of you have correctly pointed out in my last article, most warlocks use rank 1 of Drain Soul to return a soul shard (I've covered this in tips and tricks). Ask a Beta Tester: Daily quests, skill trainers, and Arthas, oh my!Alex said these wouldn't be worth your while, and he was right. For those of you interested in specifics, though, you seem to get 3g 40s and 9,500xp for your average daily quest in Wrath. Where is Blizzard going with Paladin changes?"Like I promised, the paladin changes were more sweeping than most changes. As such, it's going to take us some time to go through a second pass on the abilities and get everything polished up enough to evaluate the shiny, new paladin." - Ghostcrawler, on the Paladin forums
This Week in WoW news
As we have a dedicated site for World of Warcraft in our sister site WoW Insider, many of the smaller tidbits about changes in the game, or community news don't tend to land here. As a way of bridging the gap, we bring you This Week in WoW news, now with 100% more goodness, and a bite-size weekly package for you to enjoy! Ask a beta tester: Let's get this party started!So you haven't found your way into the Wrath of the Lich King beta. We're sorry for you -- but we're ready to bring you the answers you seek! Hands-on with Inscription in the Wrath BetaBy now you've heard of inscription, the new trade skill coming with Wrath of the Lich King. We've already given you a few sneak peeks, looking at glyphs, enchantment scrolls, and other beta insights. Bornakk says more about two specs per character in WrathOn the WoW forums this morning, there was renewed gurgling about the desire to be able to respec more easily, specifically between PvP specs and raiding specs. Azeroth's new plague, Potion SicknessBad (good?) news for Alchemists and the people that love (hate?) them. The latest Beta build has introduced something called Potion Sickness.
Daily WoW News
Devilsaurs tamable on Wrath servers, Chimeras may be nextAs of the latest build, Beast Mastery, the 51 point Hunter talent in the tree of the same name that lets you tame "exotic" pets, remains unimplemented. Personal Tabards may be a possibility in WrathA lot of us have probably had this problem before: We join a guild, and we like it. It has the right combination of people we like (or can tolerate), interests we share ... Blizzard C&Ds Datecraft, they redesignI can't quite see the purpose of World of Warcraft (or gaming in general) flavored dating sites -- if you were looking for a potential partner, why limit yourself to only people that play this game? Shifting Perspectives: A Feral Druid's Advice on Karazhan Part 1I am absolutely, now and forever, a feral Druid, unable to be restrained or 'tamed'... although I'm aware some folks suffer from a case of wishful thinking. Ask a Beta Tester: Wyrmrest Temple and the dragon shrinesElizabeth is off having grand adventures at the airport today, so I'll be filling in for her on Ask a Beta Tester today. You may know me from such WoW Insider features as ...
VC Monday Madness: More Ninja than you can shake a shuriken at
There's lots of ninja action going on in the Virtual Console today and unless you're swift and silent, you might miss these games as they go live in little over an hour. One of today's offerings is even a game we feel a bit responsible for, as we told of our desire to see the game on Nintendo's digital download service. Today's available games are: Ninja Gaiden (1 player, NES, 500 Wii Points) Ninja Spirit (1-2 players, Turbografx16, 600 Wii Points) Pac-Man (1-2 players, NES, 500 Wii Points) Are you going to get any of these? If you're on the fence, why not come back later for our video wrap-up and decide then!
