Microsoft partners with TomTom for smarter maps, smarter mobility

You can't build a good self-driving car without good maps. Or, I suppose you could, if you wanted to hit a lot of walls. Microsoft seems to realize this, and it's teaming up with TomTom to ensure the next generation of cars comes with some quality maps.

TomTom and Microsoft announced a new partnership that will see location-based services integrated into Microsoft's Azure cloud platform to make it easier to add location awareness to Internet of Things applications. Azure is an open platform that could theoretically operate on a wide variety of automakers' operating systems.

The best tablets that aren't the Apple iPad

If tablets were the Brady Bunch, the Apple iPad would be Marcia and, well, everything else would be Jan.

But that's not fair, right? Those other tablets have great qualities, too. (Just like Jan.) And just because they're not the most popular doesn't mean they're not worthy of your attention. (Just like Jan!)

Here are the best tablets that aren't the iPad, because they exist, too.

VR is here, but it hasn't really arrived -- yet

Cool new headsets? Check.

3D interactive, immersive experiences? Check.

Customers? Um.

There's been a lot of hype around VR over the past year, but for all the money being thrown at the virtual-reality market from Facebook, Google and Microsoft, among others, it's still not clear whether the next major change in how we think about computers is going to be driven by VR.

 

Steve Ballmer brags he beat Bill Gates in math competition

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.

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He's pleased with himself.

Photo by Team Coco (screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

It's a story some have already heard.

Microsoft shows unusual paranoia on Twitter

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.

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Now that's commitment. Or fear.

Photo by Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

2016 has seen Microsoft gain in confidence.

This doesn't mean, however, that there isn't fright in the air. I judge this from the activity of its Office Twitter account.

When Twitterer @OfficialchinXS mused: "Word 2016 has been the worst year yet," coupled with a weeping emoji, Microsoft was deeply saddened.

Actually, hurt would be a better description. For its official Office Twitter account must have tortured itself for three days, before it replied: "@Officialchinxs Ouch. Do you have any feedback for us?"