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Microsoft confirms it’s closing Xbox Entertainment Studios and halting production of new original TV shows

Jul17

by Sindy Cator on July 17, 2014 at 6:06 pm

Today has been a tough one for Microsoft. After announcing 18,000 layoffs, it has also confirmed that it is shutting down its original programming studio, Xbox Entertainment Studios in the coming months. While the studio itself is being shuttered, the Halo original TV series and Signal to Noise documentary series will continue to be produced by Nancy Tellem, Jordan Levin and other Xbox Entertainment Studio employees. Microsoft had hoped to follow in the footsteps of Netflix producing original content in order to sway consumers to its console and services. But with the Sony PlayStation 4 outselling the Xbox One based on its commitment to gaming…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: microsoft, syndicated

Facebook starts testing Buy button on News Feed ads and Page posts, currently limited to select US businesses

Jul17

by Sindy Cator on July 17, 2014 at 5:15 pm

Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

Facebook today announced it is testing a new feature with ‘a few’ small and medium-sized businesses in the US: a Buy button. The goal is to help businesses drive sales directly through Facebook via News Feed ads and Page posts. The button is available to users on the desktop site as well as on mobile. In short, it allows them to purchase a product or service from a business, without ever having to leave Facebook. Here’s how it looks: Facebook says the feature is built “with privacy in mind” and that the payment experience is “safe and secure.” The company…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: facebook, media, syndicated

Realmac Software announces Typed, an upcoming Markdown editor for your Mac

Jul17

by Sindy Cator on July 17, 2014 at 5:03 pm

Posted In: Apps, Around the Web

Realmac Software, the popular Mac and iOS developer behind apps like Clear, Ember and Rapidweaver, has announced the upcoming release of Typed, an OS X app for writing in Markdown. You’ll need to have OS X Mavericks installed to run it, and the app will upgrade to OS X Yosemite once Apple has released it. Typed will cost $9.99 at launch, but will bump up to $19.99 once the initial promotion is over. Typed will include licensed fonts, a full-screen mode, HTML preview, word and character counts, auto-save support and keyboard shortcuts. I’m told the app will also feature a…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: syndicated

Realmac Software announces Typed, an upcoming Markdown editor for your Mac

Jul17

by Sindy Cator on July 17, 2014 at 5:03 pm

Posted In: Apps, Around the Web

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: syndicated

Chrome 37 beta arrives with DirectWrite on Windows, revamped password manager, and drops sign-in for apps

Jul17

by Sindy Cator on July 17, 2014 at 4:52 pm

Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Design & Dev, Google, Insider

Just a day after releasing the stable version of Chrome 36, Google has announced the release of Chrome 37 beta for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Unlike the Chrome 36 beta, the new features have a consumer focus rather than strictly developer additions. First and foremost, Windows users will be happy to learn support for DirectWrite, a text layout rendering API that first arrived in Windows Vista, has finally been implemented. The question of improving how text appears in the browser on Windows was first brought up in the Chromium bug tracker back in October 2009. Google finally confirmed the feature…