Sunday, August 21, 2016

Microsoft wants to pay you for using its Edge browser




In an effort to make people switch to Microsoft Edge, the company will now pay you to use the browser, which the company claims can last longer than its Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera counterparts. Edge can deliver 36-53 per cent more battery life while doing daily tasks, including watching videos on YouTube, browsing internet or checking in with friends on social networks.

Microsoft Rewards, announced earlier this week, is a rebranding of Bing Rewards and so far only available in the US, offers points for using Edge and Bing, as well as shopping at the Microsoft store, CNET.com reported on Friday.

You have to make Bing, a web search engine owned and operated by Microsoft, as your default search engine to earn points in its revamped rewards programme. Points can be traded in for vouchers or credits to places like Amazon, Starbucks, Skype and the ad-free version of Outlook.com.

“Almost three-quarters of Windows 10 users are not using the Edge browser,” the report noted.

Microsoft once dominated the browser game with Internet Explorer, a predecessor to Edge.

Over the last decade, however, Internet Explorer has seen a significant decline in usage as alternatives such as Google’s Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox have gained popularity and Microsoft’s browser failed to keep up.

In an effort to convince Windows 10 users to switch to Edge as their browser, Microsoft has resorted to efforts like comparing battery rundown test and proving how Edge lasts significantly longer than the competition. On the other hand, Google has also acknowledged the battery issues with Chrome and is planning to make consumption better with a new update soon.

Microsoft has recently started rolling out Windows 10 Anniversary updates for Windows 10 Mobile. It is a steady roll out, and not all smartphones will get the update on day one.

Earlier this month the Windows 10 Anniversary update was rolled out for PCs and was expected for smartphones as well but the delay went on to two weeks. The devices which run on Windows 10 Mobile will be receiving the updates first. Smartphone users can manually check for updates by following this process — Settings -> Update and security -> Phone update -> Check for updates.

Although the update has been released, Microsoft says the roll out is in phases. There are also several factors like manufacturer, region and network operator that will play a role in when your smartphone gets the Windows 10 Mobile Anniversary update. In other words, not all smartphones will receive the update from day one. The update being rolled out is recognized by the build number 10.0.14393.67.




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