Windows RT

According to data released by research firm Strategy Analytics, Microsoft has managed to obtain 7.5 percent of the tablet market with Windows 8 and Windows RT. Tablet shipping in general reached an all-time high of 40.6 million units in Q1 2013, a huge climb from 18.7 million reported in Q1 2012. Apple still dominates the market with 48 percent, but Android is close behind with 43 percent of the pie. So what's hindering Microsoft's advance?

There are always providers looking to capitalise on a single party's choice on withdrawing a popular service. It's known across the Internet that the search giant is closing down Google Reader, the company's RSS service later this year. Competing services have taken this as a golden chance to expand business and attract those who will be surely looking for an alternative and migrate away from Google. Cue Feedly.

AdDuplex, the advertising publisher for developers on both Windows and Windows Phone, has released data for Windows 8 and Windows RT devices in the month of February 2013. Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet has only been available for a short while and already the product has sold out (but has since been made available once again). So how does this translate to usage?

The International Data Corporation has released a report showing an unexpected growth in the tablet market. Worldwide tablet shipments reached a record total of 52.5 million units in Q4 2012. This is the same quarter Microsoft chose to enter the competition with the Surface family of tablets, releasing the Surface RT tablet. But how did Microsoft perform in the first quarter of selling the product?

Next week’s Xbox Windows Phone release Skulls of the Shogun is possibly Microsoft’s most ambitious game yet. Not only will it be launching on Windows Phone, but also XBLA and Windows 8/RT simultaneously. Take that, WSOP: Full House Pro! Sorry, I just ate some sour grapes. On top of the three-platform release, Skulls also supports shared campaign progress across devices thanks to cloud saving and asynchronous cross-platform multiplayer.

The only problem with Skulls coming to all Xbox-supporting platforms at once is that Microsoft has yet to establish a ‘universal app’ pay structure like iOS and the Playstation 3/Vita support. Thankfully the game’s developer 17-BIT and Microsoft have just announced special launch pricing that will make picking up all three versions (or even just one) more attractive to gamers.

Latest data from advertisement network AdDuplex reveals usage statistics of both Windows 8 and Windows RT in the first month of 2013. Information presented in this report was collected on January 14th (112 Windows Store apps running the AdDuplex SDK). As well as usages, Windows RT devices and multiple geographic locations are also included.

It appears that Samsung will not be launching the companies Windows RT tablet, the ATIV Tab, in the U.S. market and the future doesn't look bright for other markets as well.

The reason behind the cold feet? Feedback from Samsung's retail partners indicated demand for Windows RT tablets is modest at best and the investment to sell the importance of Windows RT's benefits was too great.

As well as a number of Windows Phone app updates, new releases have also been hitting the Windows 8 Store, which include both Fantweestic! and the official OneNote app. So what's new in the new versions for both Windows apps?

Keeping up to date with things we want to read can be a constant challenge, thankfully there are services which allow you to save things for later. The premise is simple, notice something on the web that you want to read and you can save it to your reading list. One such service is Instapaper, it essentially allows for a stripped down mobile-friendly version of the article for reading later.Your reading list is stored in the cloud so can be easily accessed on your computer, smartphone and tablet. 

Stacks for Instapaper has been around on Windows Phone for some time and consistently gets great reviews in the Windows Phone Store. Stacks is now available on Windows 8 and combined with an upcoming refresh of the phone app it might just make this the best Instapaper experience on both platforms. We review the Windows 8 version while taking a sneak peak at the coming update for the Windows Phone 8 app.