metro

The HTC Wildfire S is quickly becoming HTC's go-to budget and off-contract Android device.

Already available on T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular, the petite Android 2.3 Gingerbread handset is now headed to MetroPCS this week, where it will cost $179 for the off-contract smartphone, and come in white. The Wildfire S has a 3.2-inch HVGA touch screen, a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, and a 600MHz processor.

Significantly, this is MetroPCS' first offering with HTC, a move that signals a partnership between the national's largest no-contract carrier and a handset maker known for bringing forth quality … Read more

Windows users who hate having to reboot their computers after a new update is installed may find some relief in Windows 8.

Microsoft is promising that the upcoming OS will require fewer restarts after a patch, bug fix, or other Windows update finishes installing.

Restarts are sometimes a necessary evil when an update installs simply because the files that need to be updated are in use and can't be modified until the PC reboots. But Microsoft clearly realizes that updates annoy people for that very reason.

"When it comes to Windows Update, one of the most discussed topics … Read more

Microsoft is planning a major revamp of its Xbox.com gaming site this week to boost its social-networking features and give certain areas a new Metro-based paint job.

As detailed in an Xbox blog post last night, Microsoft is replacing the current "My Xbox" section on the site with a new area simply called "Social." The new Social section will let gamers see what their friends are doing and tap into a new Beacons feature that will be available in the next update to the Xbox 360 dashboard. Beacons will allow people to mark the games … Read more

Designing Windows 8 for virtually any device from smartphone to PC, Microsoft says it's had a key goal in mind for all hardware platforms--energy efficiency.

With laptops and mobile devices slurping up battery power and desktops and servers chewing up electricity, Microsoft has wanted to ensure that any device running Windows 8 can tap into better power management.

"Very small changes done well in Windows can result in very large positive environmental impact because of our scale," Pat Stemen, a program manager on Microsoft's Kernel team, said in the latest Building Windows 8 blog. "In … Read more

MetroPCS saw a slight decrease in its third-quarter profit as its customer growth slowed significantly.

The prepaid wireless provider reported today a profit of $69 million, or 19 cents, compared with a year-earlier profit of $77 million, or 22 cents a share. Revenue rose 18 percent to $1.21 billion.

The company was expected to earn 23 cents a share on revenue of $1.22 billion, according to an average forecast taken by Thomson Reuters.

MetroPCS was hit by a triple whammy this quarter. On the high end, national carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile USA made more … Read more

Leap Wireless saw its third-quarter loss narrow as the tide continues to turn for the better on customer growth.

The prepaid wireless provider, which sells its service under the brand Cricket Wireless, posted a quarterly loss of $68.8 million, or 90 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $536.3 million, or $7.06 a share, when it recorded a charge of $477.3 million for the write-off of assets. Revenue, meanwhile, rose nearly 20 percent to $763.3 million.

Analysts, on average, forecast a loss of 79 cents a share and revenue of $764 million, according … Read more

Microsoft has revamped the Start screen's search feature in Windows 8, hoping to help users more easily find and view specific apps, settings, and files.

Like most features in Windows, search has evolved over the years.

In Windows 7, users can type the name of an item in the search field at the bottom of the Start Menu to locate programs and other files. But by default, the initial search results are limited to what can fit in the window, forcing users to click on a link to see more results in a full window. The results also show … Read more

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer really wants to sell you on Windows 8, touting features ranging from a new lock screen that still shares updates to the benefits of the controversial Metro user interface.

In a demo and discussion of the new OS at the Dell World conference on Friday, Ballmer focused on four key features, according to a report from Information Week, though some of it was ground that's already been covered.

A new lock screen that pops up when you're away from your PC displays a "peaceful mountain view." And though the OS is locked, … Read more

Responding to complaints over the Metro-based Windows 8 Start screen, Microsoft is still trying to defend the new user interface but has promised to make some tweaks to appease unhappy users.

In the company's latest Building Windows 8 blog, Windows Live President Steven Sinofsky admitted that Microsoft has received some harsh criticism from people who just don't like the new Metro UI Start screen.

"We've seen some small amount of visceral feedback focused on 'choice' or 'disable'--a natural reaction to change, but perhaps not the best way to have a dialogue leading to a new … Read more