Verizon FiOS TV rolling out new set-top box Home Page HD

In the old days, you'd turn your TV on and see video. Typically it would just play whatever channel was on last, but more advanced digital boxes might start at a main menu or specific channel. Verizon's latest twist on that idea is rolling outvideo hub office by video hub office, and should reach all 5 million customers' set-top boxes within a few weeks. Called FiOS TV Home Page, it welcomes viewers by displaying weather and other basic info next to highlighted VOD or Flex Viewservices, all tailored to each customer's viewing habits. Sure, some might find it useful, but others might be annoyed at seeing the screen for 15 seconds every time they turn on the TV or because there are tiles advertising package upgrades and VOD. Luckily, if simply hitting exit doesn't stop the pain fast enough then there is an option to disable the screen completely if desired.

Windows Chip In brings crowdfunding to students' PC purchases

Think of all the things crowfunding has helped bring into the world lately, fromgaming consoles to smart watches. And really, with all we've given it, the least it can do is help us get a computer. If you're a student with an active .edu email account, you can use Microsoft's new Windows Chip In site to convince family and friends to help you get your hands on the new Windows PC you've been eying, along with a copy of Office 365 University. The program runs now through the first of September, just in time to get some real work done on the thing. There's a link to Chip In below, and you can find out a bit more info on the program via the Windows Blog post.

Outlook finally coming to Windows RT tablets

Microsoft's Surface tablet, which runs Windows RT

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Consumers who own tablets running Microsoft's Windows RT operating system will get a new version of the software giant's widely used e-mail program, Outlook 2013 RT, later this year.

At the Computex computer trade show in Taiwan, Microsoft said Wednesday that the e-mail program will be included as part of the Windows 8.1 update announced last month. Outlook 2013 RT will be available as a free update for tablets running Windows RT, the scaled-down version of Windows 8, and will be included in Windows RT devices going forward.

When Microsoft rolled out Windows RT last year, it included other Office applications, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, but not Outlook. Speculation mounted in recent months that the e-mail application was on its way.

"We're always listening to our customers and one piece of feedback was that people want the power of Outlook on all their Windows PCs and tablets," senior marketing manager Chris Schneider wrote on Microsoft's Office blog.

Outlook 2013 RT is slightly different from Outlook 2013. In the version created for the full-featured version of Windows, developers can use tools such as Visual Basic for Applications to write and run macros and other custom programs. But Visual Basic for Applications is not available for Outlook 2013 RT. The RT version of Outlook also does not include data loss prevention capabilities, nor does it support so-called Group Policy Objects, which corporate IT administrators use to centrally manage deployments of Office software.

Outlook 2013 RT also won't integrate with Microsoft's Lync video conferencing and instant messaging software, since it requires the beefier 64-bit version of Windows. And last, Outlook 2013 RT users will be able to read emails sent with information rights management, used to encrypt documents. But users can't create emails with the information rights management feature.

The new Outlook is built for touch computing. In his post, Schneider said it includes "a streamlined user experience that reduces clutter." Some of the new features include the ability to respond to email with inline reply, and being able to peek at the calendar and contacts in Outlook without have to manually switch between tabs.

Microsoft also announced that its Surface tablets will get new hotkeys with an update in about a week. Users can press the function and caps keys at the same time and it will lock the F1 through F12 keys into being function keys. Users will also be able to press function and spacebar to print their screen, the function and delete bar to turn the brightness up, and the function and backspace bar to turn the brightness down, among other new key combinations.

Bloomberg launches $75M venture capital fund

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Media outlet Bloomberg will launch a $75 million venture capital fund to invest in early stage companies.

The fund, called Bloomberg Beta is expected to launch Wednesday, according to various media reports, but has already invested in nine companies, including Newsle, Nodejitsu, Codecademy, Errplane, and ProsperWorks, according to VentureBeat.

The independent venture will focus on startups that are "producing insights from data" and "making the experience of work better," according to a news release cited by VentureBeat.

Bloomberg has invested in tech companies before through Bloomberg Ventures, an incubator that helped companies that could be combined with Bloomberg products. However, that effort appears to have been put on ice by the departure of Bloomberg Ventures cofounder Matt Turck, who left in March to become managing director at FirstMark Capital.

Roy Bahat, chairman of video game hardware startup Ouya and former head of IGN Entertainment, will head up the fund in San Francisco. Bahat will be joined by Bloomberg executive Karin Klein and James Cham, who was recently a principal to Trinity Ventures.