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A couple of weeks ago I was hosting a group of international media on Microsoft’s campus and we had a session with Curtis Wong from Microsoft Research. He was there to show the group some new capabilities in Excel that we’ll talk more about later this week, but in doing so he showed them...

I’m a fan of Aviary so it was great to see them launch their Photo Editor SDK for Windows 8 last week. I dig the idea of ‘photo editing as a service’ that they provide. They have awesome photo editing skills allowing other such as Rowi and Memorylage to tap in to that capability and...

That’s my Xbox avatar with the new, free prop that was added to the marketplace last week courtesy of the Windows 8 team – a Surface. The prop includes some fun moves, music demo and a demo of the kickstand and keyboard. Cool stuff – US only at present from the Xbox marketplace ...

We’ve all had that moment in email – when you hit send and realize the attachment you meant to add wasn’t actually attached. No more, thanks to the work of Bhavesh Chauhan, a Microsoft engineer, and The Garage. I’ve mentioned The Garage a few times here on NEXT – a grass...

Twitter for Windows 8 is here. Announced today on the Twitter blog the app has some pretty sweet features – I’ve been using for a few days and really like snap view in particular. Live tiles and notifications are also part of the experience and there is integration with the search charm....

Have you ever been frustrated that you missed the perfect shot when taking photos using your Smartphone? BLINK , a new Windows Phone 8 application from Microsoft Research aims to fix that issue. BLINK captures a burst of images with a single click and then allows you to select the perfect image from...

I’m excited to announce the availability of the Next at Microsoft app in the Windows Store . From day one on Next (over 2 years ago) my intention has been to bring you stories from across Microsoft and get behind the scenes of trends such as Natural User Interface and Big Data as well as profile...

I don’t own a Samsung printer but I’m tempted to go find one to try out this new Samsung Printer Experience app for Windows 8. Who would have thought a humble printer app could look so elegant? Per the details in the Windows Store, the app allows you to manage and control Samsung printers...

Seeking to make your Windows 8 dual screen experience more beautiful? A new set of Panoramic themes are now available for free download and compatible with Windows 8 and Windows RT. My personal favorite is the Bridges Panoramic for Windows 8 and Windows RT as shown above. The shot of the Golden Gate...

  A few weeks ago I got the chance to chat with Ira Snyder, General Manager of Fresh Paint . If you've not yet had the chance to try Fresh Paint, the new painting app for Windows 8, it’s available for free in the Windows Store and has over a 4 star rating...

  With my shiny new HTC 8x in hand, I’ve been waiting for the Skype preview for Windows Phone 8 and now it’s here. My pal Derek Snyder announced the availability on the Skype Big Blog . Some of the key features for me Skype contacts right from the People Hub and...

I’ve been busy installing app on to my new Windows Phone this week and Angry Birds Star Wars definitely makes the list. I have a few other eclectic apps I love though which don’t have the profile of the Rovio smash hit. One such app is Composite from James Alliban . I’ve written...

Xbox SmartGlass provided great coverage of the US election last night – I was watching on my Xbox 360 with companion content on my Surface using SmartGlass. In future, I hope all events are delivered that way. Soccer games with real-time player stats based on who is on the ball, F1 race details...

Halo 4 is just around the corner and I have to confess to being almost as excited about the soundtrack as the game. With Neil Davidge at the helm of the audio accompaniment to the game, it promises to be epic and will be available on October 22nd. And now you have the chance to create your own bit...

I’ve been enjoying using the new SkyDrive with it’s modern web design for a few weeks and it’s a leap forward. Yesterday, the new SkyDrive.com came out of preview and is joined by SkyDrive for Windows desktop & OS X, SkyDrive for Android and a new SkyDrive API. This new release...

Last week the Windows team introduced new versions of Movie Maker and Photo Gallery for Windows 7 and Windows 8 – and not a moment too soon as the last 3 weeks for me has been a marathon of family photos and videos. Download: Windows Essentials 2012 ( Web install ) New capabilities in Movie...

This one has been doing the rounds but I couldn’t resist posting here in case you missed it. The V Energy drinks team commissioned this amazing installation that turns motion in to music. You can download the track (MP3) that resulted from this ambitious project and read an incredibly detailed...

I’m not making it to London for the Olympics this summer (something I’m actually pleased about) but I will be following the Games closely – on TV and on my Windows Phone courtesy of the Official London 2012 Results app . The app is free in the Windows Phone Marketplace and provides...

I’m a big fan of Cliplets from Microsoft Research – a small, free application you can download to create "cinemagraphs”. When I show people the mini movies that Cliplets creates they often ask if it’s an animated GIF. The answer until now has been no but during a chance meet with...

A few weeks ago I posted about Photosynth arriving on Windows Phone and I’ve been busy creating panoramas on my Lumia 800. The process of creation is quite captivating itself as the application makes is incredibly intuitive to create a panorama. Now I just need to start sharing more of my creations...

At Microsoft Research TechFest earlier this year I saw a demo of Mayhem but we never covered it here on NEXT. I was reminded of it when I saw on{X} from our Bing team earlier this week and decided it was time for some Mayhem love. Mayhem is an open source Windows application that lets pretty much...

Need I say more? Head to preview.windows.com to grab the bits and to the Building Windows 8 blog and Microsoft News Center for more details. Tweet

As the old adage goes, good things come to those who wait. I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Photosynth on Windows Phone and as of today, it's available in the Windows Phone Marketplace . From my playing with the app, it’s been worth the wait. I got early access to the Windows Phone...

Since the Kinect for Windows sensor and SDK arrived, the team has been adding more features and countries in which the product is available at a fair old clip. Today they released version 1.5 of the Kinect for Windows runtime and SDK. Kinect for Windows hardware is now available in Hong Kong, Korea...

LinkedIn has landed in the Windows Phone Marketplace and while Windows Phone includes the service as one of the core accounts you can add, this app delivers an additional level of integration with your account. Free to download and stay tuned as a favorite app of mine will soon join it. [update...