TECHY TECH WORLD

Microsoft has just revealed arguably its biggest Windows 10 upgrade so far and the irony is it is all about making things smaller… Speaking on the official Windows blog, Windows program manager Bill Karagounis explained that Windows 10 is going to get much smarter about how it downloads updates: “We are announcing the next generation of our delivery technologies incorporated into our latest Insider builds called the Unified Update Platform (UUP). One of the biggest community and customer benefits of UUP is the reduction you’ll see in download size on PCs.” UUP uses differential download technology meaning it will download “only the changes that have been made since the last time you updated your device, rather than a full build”. Karagounis says this should reduce the size of major Windows 10 updates by “approximately 35%”. This is a big deal. UUP will become the universal system used by all versions of Windows 10 – including on smartphones and tablets – and it should mean users not...

Microsoft has had a rocky few years as it tries to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung in the smartphone world. This week, it looks like the wheels are finally falling off. The company announced Wednesday it’s cutting 1,850 jobs, with 1,350 coming from its Finnish operations, known as Microsoft Mobile Oy, and an additional 500 from other regions. The move also includes a $950 million restructuring charge for the company, with $200 million going to employee severance packages. The news comes just a week after Microsoft confirmed it was selling its feature phone business to FIH Mobile and HMD Global for $350 million. Microsoft’s smartphone struggles speak to a larger issue facing potential competitors to Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android: With so many consumers already embedded in one operating system or the other, creating a viable third alternative is a virtually Sisyphean task. In fact, according to comScore, Microsoft’s share of the US smartphone market is a paltry 2.7%. T...