BBM set to land on Windows Phone this July

Looks like BBM fans on the Windows Phone platform are set to get the messaging app soon. According to the company’s CEO John Chen, the app will be making its way to the Microsoft mobile operating system this July. Chen announced this during BlackBerry’s earnings call. He, however, did not specify the date so we can’t say it will alive early or late in the month. Of course we’d want it sooner rather than later but we’ll take what we can get.

Source: Ubergizmo

Surface Pro 2's get discounted in the US as Surface Pro 3 ship dates slide

US buyers who are on the fence about the Surface Pro 3 can now consider its predecessor, the Surface Pro 2 at a discounted price. According to ZDNet's Mary-Jo Foley, some Surface Pro 2 models sold in the U.S. have been reduced by $100 each and others by $200.

The 64 GB, Core i5-based Surface Pro 2, for example, is now $799 instead of $899 and  the highest end 512 GB model is now $1,599 instead of $1,799. When the original Surface and Surface Pro were discounted in the US, Canada soon followed suit.

Why would someone opt for the SP2 instead of the newer, thinner, larger and more flexible Surface Pro 3? Well, they share the same Intel Haswell processors for one thing so battery life is pretty good. The older Surfaces also have that Wacom digitizer which has 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity compared to the newer N-trig digitizer used in the Surface Pro 3 which only has 256, that's a pretty dramatic downgrade for artists. 

In other Surface Pro 3 related news, it seems that while some lucky preorders have shipped, the shipping date for some models of the Surface Pro 3 has been moved from June 20 to June 30th, possibly because of constrained supplies.

Source: ZDNet

Microsoft developing passive voice activation for Cortana

Looks like Microsoft is keen on bringing Cortana up to par with Google’s and Apple’s own digital personal assistants with the new features they are throwing in. Marcus Ash, the group program manager for Cortana on Windows Phone, tweeted that their team is currently working on passive voice activation for their service. This would mean you no longer have to hold the search button or tap on the live tile to activate Cortana. You would just need a voice command like when you say “Ok, Google” for Google Now or "Hey Siri," for iOS 8.

Something to think about as we design voice activation for #Cortana. Don't want Jesse sending texts on your behalf. http://t.co/Vq4uXB0P6q

— Marcus Ash (@marcusash) June 17, 2014

Source: Ubergizmo

Microsoft has no plans to release Cortana to other platforms anytime soon

If you’ve been waiting to get Cortana on your Android or iOS device, then we’re sorry to disappoint but the digital personal assistant will not be leaving Windows Phone platform anytime soon. Marcus Ash, group program manager for Windows Phone at Microsoft, tweeted that the company prioritizes development of Cortana for Windows Phone products around the world. Cortana will reportedly make its way to China and the U.K. in the coming weeks. According to Ash, the company will only consider releasing Cortana to another platform once they’ve met all their objectives for Windows Phone platform are met. It is best you don’t hold out for hope that you’ll hear Cortana’s voice on your iPhone or Android smartphone in the near future.

6. Only after we execute on #1 - #5 do we consider #Cortana anywhere other than Windows devices which are only thoughts/questions, no plans.

— Marcus Ash (@marcusash) June 14, 2014

Source: Ubergizmo