Os

Windows 10 is a free upgrade for all Windows 7 and 8.1 users

Windows 10 will be free

Windows 10 is a free upgrade for all Windows 7 and 8.1 users.


Wondering how much Windows 10 will set you back? In most cases, more or less nothing. Microsoft has announced that the new operating system will be a free upgrade in the first year for everyone using Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows Phone 8.1. The company sees Windows as a service rather than a product, Terry Myerson explains.

Microsoft is partly following in Apple’s footsteps (OS X upgrades have been free since Mavericks), but can you really complain about getting a big update for free?

Joe Belfiore demonstrated Cortana, which Microsoft announced it has added to the PC

Joe Belfiore demonstrated Cortana, which Microsoft announced it has added to the PC.


Windows 10 brings the same operating system to devices of all sizes, rather than having different ones for PCs/tablets, mobile phones and the firm’s Xbox games console.

One of the features highlighted at the presentation was how Cortana – the voice-controlled digital assistant previously limited to Windows Phone handsets – would now work on PCs.

Cross-device multiplayer gaming, Game DVR & more. The @Xbox experience is coming to #Windows10.

Cross-device multiplayer gaming, Game DVR & more. The @Xbox experience is coming to #Windows10.

Microsoft is currently live with Windows 10 Briefing: Watch the live event here.

China unveils ‘world’s fastest smartphone’

Photograph: Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Images

Photograph: Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Images

Huawei, the Chinese telecoms equipment group, has unveiled what it claims is the world’s fastest smartphone and announced a 60% annual rise in shipments of its mobile devices.

Headlining at the mobile phone industry’s annual gathering in Barcelona, which opened its doors a day after hundreds of thousands of demonstrators rallied across Spain in protest at national austerity, Huawei presented its latest device to run on Google’s Android software.

The Ascend P2 connects to the web two or three times faster than other smartphones when using Wi-Fi, its maker claims, downloading high-definition films in minutes and videos, songs and eBooks in just seconds.

In the Christmas quarter, Huawei overtook BlackBerry to become the world’s third largest smartphone maker. Although it is some way behind Samsung and Apple, its less expensive but high-performing handsets are attracting a growing following.

It shipped a total of 127m consumer devices last year, of which 32m were smartphones alongside more basic “feature” phones, home broadband modems and dongles to connect laptops to mobile networks.

The division generated $7.5bn of revenues in 2012, a 10% increase on the previous year. Overall income including sales of network equipment to telecoms companies totalled $35.4bn, bringing Huawei level for the first time with the market leader Ericsson.

For the full story check out The Guardian