More in Music & Videos

When you hear a song you like, you can use an integrated Windows Phone 8 feature called Bing Music Search to find out which song is playing. It will also show you the artist and album names, and a button to purchase it online at the Xbox Music Store....More

The new iPod touch and iPad mini are demonstrably better than the competition, despite my long-time complaints about the underlying iOS software on each. There’s no way to overstate this: both are just incredibly desirable tech devices, and they’re almost without peer....More

We are looking for a 30 second video on how Office 365 has helped you in your company. Your video may be posted on this site for millions to see and win a Surface!...More

Microsoft today announced that 40 Xbox LIVE games will be available for Windows 8 beginning on October 26, the day that OS launches. This massive launch lineup includes 29 games from Microsoft Studios, some which are exclusive to Windows 8, and 11 from companies such as Rovio, Miniclip, Gameloft, ZeptoLab, Glu Mobile, Halfbrick Studios, which are porting Xbox 360 games to the Metro environment in Windows 8....More

With its coming Xbox Music and Xbox Video services looming, Microsoft this week alerted Zune users via email about a couple of music-related features that will be dropped as that latter brand is put out to pasture. Among the walking dead are Mixview and channel playlists, Zune HD apps, and music videos....More

Microsoft will soon begin selling an Xbox 360 Essentials Pack that bundles together three popular hardware devices into a single, less expensive package. So if you know someone who needs a new wireless controller, HDMI cable, and Xbox Media Remote, this may be a great choice for a gift this holiday season....More

Following in the footsteps of Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE, Amazon this week announced a new set of video game services for its Kindle Fire tablet. Called GameCircle, it is to the Kindle Fire what Apple Game Center is to iOS: An Xbox LIVE rip-off, with achievements, leaderboards, and many other features Xbox, Windows, and Windows Phone gamers have enjoyed for years....More

For years, I’ve used and recommended Microsoft’s Live Mesh service as the ideal way for Windows users to sync folders between PCs and the cloud. But with Microsoft deeply integrating SkyDrive into Windows 8, Windows Phone, and, eventually, the Xbox, I’ve begun transitioning from Live Mesh to SkyDrive. Here’s what you gain—and what you lose—by doing so, and some tips for making the transition....More

While a lot of attention has been paid this week to Google’s new Nexus 7 tablet and its ostensible competition with the Amazon Kindle Fire rather than Apple’s iPad, these comparisons obscure what’s really happening here. Google’s tablet moves are really just part of a wider ecosystem strategy, one that pits Google Play against established and evolving competitors from Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft....More

An amazingly plausible 56-page PowerPoint presentation leaked over the weekend, giving what appears to be a comprehensive peek at Microsoft’s next generation Xbox video game console. According to this document, Microsoft will ship the next Xbox in 2013 at a price of $299 and will include an improved version of the Kinect motion sensor and voice control technology....More

With both Windows and Windows Phone changing fairly dramatically with this year’s major updates, some users are concerned or confused about how they’ll accomplish common tasks. Key among these is PC-to-device sync: Microsoft will deliver a new sync client and new PC-free functionality with Windows Phone 8 this year, but many are wondering how they can sync their existing Windows Phone 7.x and Zune devices....More

I’ve got good news for Zune fans: Everything you love about today’s Zune music services will continue into the future, but will be rebranded with the Xbox name. I’ve also got good news for music fans: Even if you’ve ignored Zune so far, you’re about to get a set of music services in Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and the Xbox 360 that blows away anything on other platforms. But the best news of all? Xbox Music isn’t just a simple rebranding of existing Zune offerings. It’s a huge improvement....More