Windows tips

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Starting today, you can now place orders for the IdeaPad Yoga 11S Ultrabook from www.lenovo.com and pre-order from Best Buy. Various models of the Yoga 11S will be available in Best Buy stores starting on June 23. The estimated retail price for the Intel Core i3 model is $799.99 (U.S.).

The Yoga 11S follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, Lenovo’s Yoga 13, and boasts an 11.6-inch HD IPS screen with 10-finger touch support. And like the Yoga 13, the Yoga 11S converts into four modes, including “tent,” as shown in the above photo. It can be used as like a laptop or folded and flipped to be used like a tablet.

For more on Lenovo’s Yoga PCs – click here.

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Your Windows Phone 8 app presents three potential sources of revenue: app sales, in-app advertisement, and in-app purchases.

In a previous blog post I wrote about what you can sell in your Windows Phone 8 app by adding in-app purchase. You can:

• Sell digital items.
• Offer consumables (items that are used a set number of times per purchase) and durables (items purchased and then owned by the buyer).
• Extend app features: add game levels, app features, and game currency, for example.

Today, I want to share recommendations and guidance to optimize the experience and effectiveness of in-app purchase in your Windows Phone app.

In-app purchase trends in the Windows Phone store

In-app purchase was added with the launch of Windows Phone 8 as a way to expand the value of apps and offer the possibility of additional revenue. It represents a growing revenue source in the Windows Phone Store: already 40% of the top 15 highest-grossing developers have apps that use in-app purchase.

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Today Dell announced some exciting new workstation PCs, the Dell Precision T1700 small form-factor workstation, the Dell Precision T1700 mini-tower workstation, and the Dell Precision R7610 rack-mounted workstation.

The new Dell Precision T1700 mini-tower (left) and Dell Precision T1700 small form-factor (right)

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Here’s another classic Angry Birds title for your growing Windows Phone collection. As we previously hinted, Rovio’s Angry Birds Rio arrived this morning. The game works on both Windows Phone 7 and 8 devices. Price: $0.99.

In the game, the original Angry Birds have been caged up and shipped off to exotic Rio de Janeiro, where they eventually elude their captors and set out to rescue friends Blu and Jewel—two rare macaws you’ll recognize from the 2011 movie Rio. The scenery in the game is fresh and exciting, and the physics-based gameplay is as fun as ever—with 210 challenging levels and more than 40 bonus ones. Speaking of bonus: The Windows Phone 8 version of the game also includes Xbox LIVE achievements and leaderboards.

Buy it for Windows Phone 8

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Bing just added a new language to its highly rated Translator app that makes it a must-have for Star Trek fans headed to see Star Trek: Into Darkness this Thursday: Klingon. Download it to your Windows Phone communicator.

In what could be the biggest advance for the popular fictional language since the publication of 1984’s “The Klingon Dictionary,” the app lets you translate back and forth between Klingon and the 41 planetary tongues it supports. If you really want to test your skills, check out this post from Microsoft’s Translation team.

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Today, HP is announcing the HP Split x2. The Split x2 is a two-in-one detachable PC that can be used as a high-performance laptop or a tablet.

The Split x2 comes with a powerful third-generation Intel Core processor and a 13.3 diagonal HD touchscreen display. You can get the device with an optional hard disk in the base (the keyboard) that gives you expanded storage capacity. And it has dual-batteries – one in the tablet and another in the base. The design of the Split x2 features a “soft-touch” coating for a comfortable hold and apparently protects against fingerprint smudges. It has Beats Audio for fantastic audio and a trackpad that allows for multiple finger gestures (they call it the HP ClickPad).

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日頃より弊社製品ならびにサービスをご利用いただきありがとうございます。今回は、Outlook Blog の記事の抄訳になります。なお、本記事中でご紹介させていただいている SMTP Send 機能は、米国の Outlook.com 開発チームとの共同プロジェクトの中で、日本の Windows サービス開発チームが中心となり設計・開発した新機能です。ぜひご利用ください！

Dick Craddock (Microsoft) on May 02

Outlook.com のプレビュー版をリリースした当時、私たち Outlook.com 開発チームが掲げたゴールは、10億におよぶ規模のユーザーを安定的に支えることができる世界最高のメールサービスを提供することでした。Outlook.com がプレビュー版から正式なサービスとして公開された時点で、すでに、急速なペースでユーザー数が伸びているメールサービスとして成長していたのも、プレビュー版において多くのフィードバックをいただきましたユーザー様のご支援のおかげです。そしてOutlook.com は直近の2ヶ月で様々な新しいサービスが追加され機能を強化してまいりました。

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Nokia’s design team is on fire lately. Just days after unveiling a sleek new addition to its Windows Phone 8 flagship line—the Verizon-bound Lumia 928—the company today took the wraps off another innovative new model at a highly-anticipated London press event today. (Watch the replay.)

There’s a lot to say about the new Lumia 925, but let’s start here: The first Windows Phone to incorporate aluminum into the design is something to hold and behold. The second thing to know is that the phone will come with the latest Windows Phone 8 update that adds FM radio support and a handful of other goodies—extras that existing Windows Phone 8 owners will ultimately be offered, too. (More on that in a moment.)

The Lumia 925, which also includes an advanced new camera, will debut in June on Europe’s Vodafone network, then head to China Mobile and China Unicom. It’s scheduled to launch on T-Mobile in the U.S. later this year, Nokia said. In Europe, the phone will cost around 469 euros before taxes and subsidies.

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Windows 8 was built for a world that blends our work and our personal lives, a world where we expect high quality touch experiences everywhere, and a world that is always on the go and always connected. Windows 8 redefines our market from PCs to mobile computing.

We are pleased with the progress we’ve seen with Windows 8 so far.

Our OEM partners have delivered tablets, touch laptops, and convertibles that bring the vision of Windows 8 and mobile computing to life. They have introduced some incredible (and unique) new form factors like the Dell XPS 12, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13, the Sony VAIO Tap 20, or the recently announced Acer Aspire R7. And today at retail, you can find a powerful mobile touch laptop starting at just over $400.

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File History is a new feature in Windows 8 that automatically keeps a backup history of your personal data. I previously wrote a detailed article about File History in Windows 8 with a lot of detail about this feature. In this post I’ve created a video to show you how easy File History is to use, and how flexible it is for backing up and restoring your files.

In this video I talked about File History with photos, but File History works just as well for any other kind of file including office documents, videos, and any other files you have in your document libraries.

As a quick recap, most users will need to do the following to get going with File History in Windows 8:

1. Add non-library folders to document libraries (optional, if non-library folders need File History)
2. Populate “Exclude Folders” list for File History (optional)
3. Plug in an external storage device
4. Launch the File History Control Panel
5. Click the “Turn On” button

If you already have an external drive plugged in and use default settings, you will only need to perform steps 4-5 above. Now that’s easy!