March, 2016

• 30 March

  The Xbox is finally becoming a Windows PC. Do you care?

  

  If an inexpensive $300 Xbox game console could double as a Windows computer, would you use it that way? This summer, Xbox One owners will finally be given that option. Microsoft will turn the separate Windows 10 and Xbox One app stores into a single shared marketplace, the company confirmed at a developer conference Wednesday. …

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• 30 March

  Microsoft CEO on crazy Tay AI: It was not up to the mark

  

  “Back to the drawing board.” That’s how Chief Executive Satya Nadella addressed Microsoft’s recent gaffes with Tay, its artificial-intelligence teenage chatbot. Microsoft took the chatbot offline last week after it spewed racist and sexist remarks on Twitter. However, Tay managed to sneak back online for a couple hours Wednesday and continue her nonsensical rant before being grounded again. A Microsoft …

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• 29 March

  Using Samsung Pay makes me feel like a rock star

  

  “Sorry, ma’am, you can’t use NFC payments over 30 quid.” That from the pimply young waiter at a London restaurant too hip for its own good. I just smiled, placed the Samsung Galaxy S7 I was testing over the handheld payment card portal, and said “Let’s see what happens.” What happened was that a little blue check-mark animated out of …

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• 29 March

  Acer’s new Chromebook 14 promises 14 hours of battery life

  

  Mid-size screen, but with a big battery: That’s what Acer is offering with the newest in its long line of Chromebooks, the Chromebook 14. The promise of the Chromebook and Google’s Chrome OS has always been a low-cost, simple computing system that covers the basics. Traditionally that’s meant smaller screens and low-end processors. Acer has bucked that trend over the …

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• 29 March

  Apple pushes yet another version of iOS 9.3 to fix activation bug

  

  Apple is trying to deal with hiccups in the latest version of the software that runs iPhones and iPads. Out since March 21, iOS 9.3 arrived with a glitch that prevented owners of older iPhones and iPads from activating their devices. Last week, Apple released a second version of iOS 9.3 (build number 13E236) to fix the issue on the …

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• 29 March

  Winter is coming, but here’s what’s hot on streaming services in April

  

  I’ll level with you. This month, everyone is going to be anticipating and then reliving the Season 6 premiere of a certain Gamey-Throney TV show that’s exclusive to Foxtel (at least I will be, after binge watching the show for five hours a day last month). So the streaming services have a lot of work to do. Luckily, they’re delivering. …

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• 29 March

  Apple’s iPad goes to bat for Major League Baseball

  

  The iPad is getting called up to the big leagues. Apple’s tablet will be in every Major League Baseball dugout this year as part of a multiyear deal between the tech titan and the league, according to the Wall Street Journal. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro devices will be on hand for coaches looking to analyze players’ performance stats from current …

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• 29 March

  Snapchat adds a bunch of features to help you, you know, chat

  

  Snapchat is making its chat features snappier. The maker of the popular app said on Tuesday it updated its disappearing photo and video service to give people more ways to talk and respond to each other within the same conversation. Among the choices: voice, video and text. Oh yeah, and stickers. Snapchat introduced more than a hundred stickers, like emoji …

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• 29 March

  Sony RX10 III camera gives enthusiasts the zoom lens they craved

  

  Now playing: Watch this: Sony’s Cyber-shot RX10 III ups the zoom-lens ante for… 1:33 Sony’s RX-series cameras have long been some of our favorite advanced compacts, delivering high quality and good performance in a small size with features that rival or surpass the competition — with perhaps one exception: the Cyber-shot RX10. When it first launched in October 2013, the …

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• 29 March

  Sony 4K HDR streaming service coming in April, movies start at $30

  

  If you’ve got a new Sony TV and don’t mind paying $30 to buy a movie, the company’s new Ultra app for its 4K TVs might be for you. Launching April 4, the new streaming service will offer a variety of Sony Pictures films for purchase only (no rental option yet) at $30 apiece. They’ll include new releases like “Concussion,” …

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