Matt Weinberger Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s Xbox chief. Microsoft’s Xbox boss admitted “we’ve lost our way” on PC gaming, but the company wants another chance. At the Game Developers Conference on Wednesday, Phil Spencer took the stage and reaffirmed that the company sees Windows 10 as the company’s big chance to get back its shine and its market leadership. He also committed to building games for HoloLens , the futuristic augmented reality goggles that Microsoft promised would be out in the Windows 10 time frame. “We see this as a full Windows 10 device,” Spencer said. Microsoft also announced it was giving game makers their first look at a toolkit for integrating Xbox Live into Windows 10 games. PC gaming used to be synonymous with Windows — games were played on Windows, using the DirectX APIs for graphics, and often controlled with Microsoft mice, keyboard, and hardware. Then, 15 years ago Microsoft rolled out the first Xbox and everything changed: Suddenly, all of Microsoft’s vi...
AP Microsoft gave us a quick glimpse at its next web browser — codenamed Project Spartan — back in January , but a new video shows some of the web browser’s newest features in action. The folks over at WinBeta have managed to get their hands on an early copy of Project Spartan, according to The Verge , and their video walkthrough demonstrates how the browser will see close integration with Cortana, Microsoft’s own Siri-like virtual assistant. In an effort to make browsing the web more efficient, Cortana will be able to glean important information from websites like store hours, phone numbers, and addresses. Cortana lets you know if she’s been able to pull any helpful information by jumping up and down in your search bar. Click on Cortana’s circular symbol, and a side bar is brought up that presents what she found in a tidy format. WinBeta Cortana can also easily pull up directions without even leaving the current web page, which could end up being handy when you’re in a rush and d...