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Walk on Mars? Microsoft showed off some promising and intriguing technology today in the form of Windows Holographic, and the HoloLens visor.

Microsoft wants to blend your digital world with the real world, using a visor called HoloLens with its new Windows Holographic technology. It promises to be able to give you access to your digital world in extremely useful ways without requiring a screen.

With Windows 10, Universal Apps can be used and interacted with as Holograms using the new system, making it possible to place 3D holograms in the world around you. Microsoft is providing a set of APIs for developers to take their apps into the "real world" too.

Microsoft HoloLens is the world's first "untethered holographic computer", according to the Redmond giant, requiring no wires, no phone to enable it and not even a connection to a PC. Using HoloLens, you can look at Holograms in the real world around you in 3D and even hear them in surround sound.

It is already being put to good use by NASA, which has revealed a collaboration with Microsoft on the development of software called OnSight. Working with HoloLens, NASA scientists can use data from the Curiosity Rover to virtually "walk" on Mars in the area surrounding the rover.

Microsoft is moving away from its traditional view of Windows as its flagship OS product overwhelmingly focused on Desktop, and toward that of a service across devices.

Windows 10 is expected to be released later this year (sometime around the fall) and will be available as a free upgrade for devices running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, with the goal of getting as many Windows users as possible to the latest Windows experience.

It runs across PCs, smartphones and tablets and utilizes Universal Apps to synchronize content, notifications and more. The Windows Phone era seems to be coming to an end.

Microsoft's demonstrations today showcased how much Microsoft is focused on enhancing the user interface too. We saw a more modern looking Start Menu for example and over all, the visuals on display were quite a step up from where they were just back in September with the launch of the Windows Insider program.

For 2in1 devices (laptop/tablet), we also saw a "continuum mode" that changes Windows Apps to full screen display and optimizes for touch-screen when the keyboard is disconnected, while a new Task View really eases multitasking. The Windows automatically revert to their original size when the keyboard is re-attached.

The popular music discovery app Shazam is now valued at $1 billion after having raised $30 million in new funding.

Shazam did not say who invested, but did say that the new round from a whole set of new investors.

If you have a mobile device, you have more than likely heard of Shazam. The app/widget can recognize what song is playing and save your "tags" to a list so you can purchase it, see the lyrics, or watch the music video right from your device or later at home.

Shazam started in 1999 as a text/voice call-based service where you called a number, held the phone up to the radio/speaker/etc and waited to receive a text response for the name of the artist and the song title. The app became widely popular for the iPhone when it launched in 2008.

Since it started, Shazam has raised $125 million, and the most recent funding values the company at $1 billion despite never making a penny of profit. The company currently receives commission on sales of tracks that are tagged and then purchased through the app. Advertisers and TV shows can also pay to be included in the service, so that consumers can tag commercials and episodes.

Sony has confirmed that their upcoming original series 'Powers' will be released exclusively on PlayStation on March 10th.

Powers "tells the story of homicide detectives Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, who are ordinary detectives working on cases that just so happen to involve people with extraordinary powers" and is based on the graphic novel of the same name.

Reads Sony's blog post:

Microsoft announced today that Windows 10 will be available as a free upgrade for users of devices running Window 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 for a time.

The announcement was made by Terry Myerson at an event showcasing Windows 10's consumer experience features to date. The next iteration of Microsoft's most popular product will be released later this year, projected for the fall, and will let Microsoft close the door on the Windows 8 era.

It's not clear how exactly the free upgrade will work for users running Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, but it will be limited to its first year of availability.

No doubt an upgrade will depend on hardware, and limited to verified genuine copies of Windows.

Netflix has announced today that U.S. and Canadian streaming subscribers will be able to watch the infamous 'The Interview' starting this Saturday.

The company did not discuss the terms of the deal, but it certainly marks the quickest time in which a major motion picture has been made available via the streaming service.

Sony Pictures recently announced that the film brought in $46 million from digital rentals and sales and from theater showings in a a couple hundred independent theater chains. The movie will hit Blu-ray on February 17th.

The movie dominated headlines in December after Sony Pictures was decimated by a cyber attack and the attackers threatened a terrorist attack on movie theaters leading the major U.S. chains to suspend the release. Sony then made film available online as a rental or purchase on Christmas, where it became the top online film of all-time.

SpaceX, Elon Musk's space travel and satellite company, has raised $1 billion in new funding from Google and Fidelity, who now take a 9.9 percent stake in the company.

Google and Musk appear to have the joint goal of making the Internet available to all, and there have been reports that SpaceX is looking to use satellites to bring cheap Internet connectivity to places where it is typically hard to obtain.

Musk has also already stated that SpaceX wants to ensure that there is Internet in space, including in Mars for future travels.

Google has been, through their Loon project, also trying to bring Internet connectivity around the globe, using balloons.

First launched in 2009, Nintendo is ending their Club Nintendo loyalty program effective at the end of March.

The rewards program allowed fans to get "Coins" for registering their purchases or completing surveys. The coins could then be used to get downloadable games, special wallpapers/posters and toys.

You can continue to earn coins until the end of March and use the coins until the end of June.

"We want to make this time of transition as easy as possible for our loyal Club Nintendo members, so we are going to add dozens of new rewards and downloadable games to help members clear out their Coin balances," said the company. "We thank all Club Nintendo members for their dedication to Nintendo games and their ongoing love for our systems and characters."

Nintendo will also launch a new loyalty rewards program later this year, although it is unclear what will be different.

Source:
Nintendo and Nintendo America

Originally planned for a March release, Björk's latest album "Vulnicura" was leaked two days ago, including full tracks and album art.

In order to mitigate the potential losses from such an early leak, the artist has made the album available officially via iTunes, letting fans purchase the tracks legally.

The leak was the second high-profile album leak in the past two months, after most of the tracks for Madonna's upcoming album hit the Web in December.

Björk posted to her Facebook about the new release:

dear websitefolks , fans , tweeters and my music supporters on all the sorts of www :

vulnicura will be rolling out worldwide over the next 24 hours !!

http://smarturl.it/vulnicura

i am so grateful you are still interested in my work !!

i appreciate every little bit !!!

i wanted to tell you the tale of making of this album

i guess i found in my lap one year into writing it a complete heartbreak album . kinda surprised how thoroughly i had documented this in pretty much accurate emotional chronology .... like 3 songs before a break up and three after . so the anthropologist in me sneaked in and i decided to share them as such . first i was worried it would be too self indulgent but then i felt it might make it even more universal . and hopefully the songs could be a help , a crutch to others and prove how biological this process is : the wound and the healing of the wound . psychologically and physically . it has a stubborn clock attached to it .

According to research firm NPD, the top selling video game of 2014 was 'Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare,' the latest in the blockbuster franchise.

NPD collected sales numbers from only physical copies sold of console, portable and PC games. Excluding digital sales, which are certainly above $1 billion at this time, total industry sales reached $13.1 billion for the year, up just 1 percent year-over-year.

The full list of games, in order (most of which are unsurprising):

After three years of major declines for the industry, 2014 saw PC shipments finally stabilize somewhat with growth from most of the major OEMs.

Overall, sales slipped 2.1 percent year-over-year after years of double digit losses and total annual shipments were down to 308.6 million units.

"The strength from market leaders, as well as improvement in Asia/Pacific and the consumer market more generally, are positive signs for the PC market," said Loren Loverde, IDC Vice President, Worldwide PC Tracker. "Growth of Chrome, Bing, all-in-ones, ultraslim, convertibles, and touch systems similarly make PCs more compelling and competitive. Nevertheless, some of the gains are relatively small, and weakening drivers like Bing promotions and end of XP support transitions, cast a shadow of doubt on the strength of the market going into 2015."

Apple saw the biggest growth year-over-year, at 15.7 percent. The company sold almost 20 million Macs in 2014, good for 6.4 percent share. Lenovo stayed in first place with 59.23 million computers shipped (19.2 percent share) followed by HP at 56.85 million (18.4 percent share) and Dell with 41.66 million shipped (13.5 percent share). Acer was the lone 'Big 5' to see a decline YoY, down 1.6 percent to 24.1 million PCs shipped and 7.8 percent share.

Mojang (now owned by Microsoft) has confirmed that their hit 'Minecraft: Pocket Edition" game has now reached 30 million units sold.

The company last announced 20 million units sold back in April, and just released the game for Windows Phone last month, which may have led to a spike in sales.

In addition, Mojang announced that player will be able to change their in-game names.

Mojang posted an infographic, as well, showing just how big 30 million really is.

According to new reports, HTC's upcoming flagship phone, the M9, will be unveiled in March alongside a new smartwatch from the Taiwanese company.

The new smartphone will look similar to the critically acclaimed M8, but will see spec upgrades everywhere else. The phone will allegedly have an octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor, Dolby 5.1 audio technology built-in, a 20MP camera and an HTC UltraPixel camera up front.

As expected, HTC will update their user interface skin to Sense 7, with a plethora of new features and specialized software.

If accurate, the smartwatch will also be built around Under Armour's new fitness service.

We will know more at the Mobile World Congress event starting on March 2nd.

Amazon Studios has announced today that they will begin producing and acquiring original films that will be released in theaters and then released for streaming via Amazon Prime within 60 days of release.

The Amazon Original Movies "will focus on unique stories, voices, and characters from top and up-and-coming creators."

"We look forward to expanding our production efforts into feature films. Our goal is to create close to twelve movies a year with production starting later this year," said Roy Price, Vice President, Amazon Studios. "Not only will we bring Prime Instant Video customers exciting, unique, and exclusive films soon after a movie's theatrical run, but we hope this program will also benefit filmmakers, who too often struggle to mount fresh and daring stories that deserve an audience."

Amazon has been moving into more original content, keeping in line with the industry trend started by market leader Netflix. Their most recent original show, 'Transparent,' was recently nominated for a Golden Globe award.

"Audiences already recognize that Amazon has raised the bar with productions in the episodic realm, tackling bold material in unique ways and collaborating with top talent, both established and emerging. To help carry the torch into the feature film world for such an innovative company is a tremendous opportunity and responsibility," said Ted Hope, the new Head of Production for Amazon Original Movies. "Amazon Original Movies will be synonymous with films that amaze, excite, and move our fans, wherever customers watch. I am incredibly thrilled to be part of this."

According to new reports, Google is close to investing in Elon Musk's rocket and satellite company SpaceX.

Google, in their investment, would value the company at over $10 billion, and the company's expected investment is said to be ten figures.

Why does Google want to invest in SpaceX? The Information's Jessica Lessin says: "The purpose of a deal, which is still in the works, is to support the development of SpaceX satellites that could beam low-cost Internet around the globe to billions who don't have it."

Musk recently announced a grand plan to have the Internet in space, all the way to Mars. Said Musk: "It will be important for Mars to have a global communications network as well. I think this needs to be done, and I don't see anyone else doing it."

Source:
BI via Information