Microsoft confirms Windows Live Messenger service retirement on March 15th

Microsoft previously confirmed its plans to retire its Windows Live Messenger service in favor of Skype, but the company now says this will take place on March 15th. In an email to Messenger users this week, Microsoft says the service will retire globally except for mainland China where it will continue to be made available. Microsoft urges existing users to move to Skype for instant messages and video chats where the company has been improving its Windows support recently.

The Windows Live Messenger retirement means over 100 million Messenger users will move to Skype as part of the discontinuation. Microsoft has released and updated its Skype for Windows 8 client and also made a Windows Phone 8 preview version available. The future of Skype at Microsoft includes Outlook.com support and an Xbox client that will likely make its debut on a future console planned for later this year.

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LG Nexus 5 and Nexus 7.7 Rumors [More Soon]

Rumors about the next generation of the Nexus has already started leaking from Korean forums. The next version of the Nexus which is the Nexus 5 is claimed to be an LG affair again, but this time around, it comes with a 5" Full HD screen, the new NVIDIA Tegra 4 Processor, 2 GB of RAM, 13 MP camera, as well as 3 MP front-facer, and 8 or 16 GB of storage. The price for the 8 GB versions is said to start off at $299, like the current edition.

Not only that, but the rumor mill spat out the next Google tablet, informing us that it might be a Nexus 7.7 this time, with a higher 1920x1200 resolution (294ppi), Tegra 4 Processor, 8 GB of starting storage, as well as front and rear HD cameras. Interestingly enough, the manufacturer mentioned here is again LG, whereas it was Asus doing the Nexus tablet gear for 2012.



At CES 2013 Event which happened last week, LG's Senior Vice President James Fisher said: "Through our collaboration with Google, we launched the LG Nexus 4 smartphone. This is the first of many devices to come from our growing partnership with this very selective company."

Two rumors that are not hard to believe at all, given the 2013 hardware trends, and the source claims these will be announced at the Google I/O conference in mid-May, alongside the next Key Lime Pie Android 5 version that is expected there too.


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Microsoft signs licensing agreement with BMW for use of exFAT file system

Microsoft has announced that BMW will be another company to jump on board the exFAT band-wagon to provide customers the cutting edge features in its vehicles. BMW can be added to a list of several other big name companies who will now pay Microsoft to use this file system technology for their products.

"Microsoft Corp. and BMW have signed a patent licensing agreement that gives BMW broad access to the latest Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT). BMW will utilize exFAT technology to enhance the digital entertainment offerings in its line of automobiles," Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

For those that didn't know, exFAT is a modern file system that handles large files and enables seamless data portability. exFAT is pretty cool because it improves upon the FAT file system by expanding the capability of flash drives handling larger files as well as increasing the speed in which those files are accessed. Microsoft already has agreements with Panasonic, Canon, Sony, as well as Research in Motion for the exFAT file system.

Google Glass announces 2 upcoming developer events

Last summer, Google offered a $1,500 pre-order for its Google Glass at the I/O conference. Now, a little less than six months later, the company has invited those who signed up to attend one of two developer events it has planned at the end of the month. The two events are being held in New York City and San Francisco.

The email invite that went out reads: “Join us for an early look at Glass and two full days of hacking on the upcoming Google Mirror API in San Francisco or New York. These hackathons are just for developers in the Explorer program and we’re calling them the Glass Foundry. It’s the first opportunity for a group of developers to get together and develop for Glass.”


According to the invite, the first day will kick off with an introduction to Google Glass, with attendees receiving a unit to use during the Foundry. After the introduction, developers will then be given a look at the Mirror API, followed by development. Google engineers will be available on-site to lend a hand.

The second day will be wrapped up with special guest judges and a round of demonstrations. Those who wish to attend must register for the Foundry of their choice by January 18 at 4PM PST. Don’t delay, space is limited. Those who get a slot will then receive their confirmation letter with instructions on how to proceed from there. The San Francisco Foundry is being held on January 28 and 29, while the New York City Foundry is being held on February 1 and 2.

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Kingston to release the World's First 1TB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

Kingston introduced what they claim is the world's first 1TB USB 3.0 flash drive. The DataTraveler HyperX Predator 3.0.

it has read/write speeds of up to 240MB/s and 160MB/s, boasting SuperSpeed USB 3.0 certification.

The drive is available in 512GB capacity right now, while the 1TB version is expected to hit the market in Q1 2013.

The price for the 512GB is $1,750, meaning the 1TB variant will likely be too expensive for almost everyone.

Kingston has also launched slower and smaller USB drives, with capacities of 32GB and 64GB and read/write speeds of 150MB/s and 70MB/s respectively.

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