DirectX 12 for Windows 10 dominates in Star Swarm benchmark videos

New videos have been posted showing how a gaming benchmark demo, Star Swarm, uses Microsoft'supcoming DirectX 12 graphics API to allow for thousands of RTS units to appear on screen at a high frame rate. DirectX 12 will be released as part of Windows 10 later this year.

The Star Swarm benchmarking demo, developed by Oxide Games using their in-house Nitrous Engine, was launched first in 2014 as a way to show off AMD's Mantle graphics API. Anandtech received a special version of Star Swarm, currently unavailable to the public, that was developed by Oxide Games and Microsoft to use DirectX 11 and 12. The demo itself shows a space battle between two AI fleets with thousands of ships, along with tons of laser blasts and explosions.

Star Swarm was tested with DirectX 11 and 12 on several graphics cards, including NVIDIA's GTX 980, GTX 750 Ti, and GTX 680, along with AMD's R9 290X, R9 285, and R9 260X. The final results, which the site has posted in a series of videos, show that frame rates under DirectX 12 were far higher on all the cards running the benchmark when compared to DirectX 11. The numbers were close to the ones while using Mantle on the AMD cards. Keep in mind that Microsoft, NVIDIA and AMD are still developing their drivers for DirectX 12, which means we will likely see even more performance increases when the final software is ready.Microsoft will reveal even more information about DirectX 12 in early March as part of the Game Developers Conference. Windows Central will be there to cover that event on the ground, so stay tuned.

FreePrints Windows Phone app removed from store and will shut down March 1

The FreePrints Windows Phone app, which allowed users to order and ship prints of images from their phone and other online sources, is no longer available to download from the Windows Phone Store. The app will shut down for anyone that still has it installed on their device on March 1.

We've received a number of tips about this development, as the company behind the app, Photo Affections, sent out emails to customers today informing them of this change. Here's their statement, which confirms that the Windows desktop app will also be discontinued:

"Dear FreePrints Customer,"

"We regret to inform you that FreePrints for Windows Phone and Windows desktop will be discontinued on March 1st. As of this date, you will no longer be able to order prints using the apps for either Windows Phone or Windows desktop."

"You can still continue using FreePrints online at www.photoaffections.com/freeprints. Additionally, FreePrints mobile apps for iOS and Android will continue to be available."

"To learn more about FreePrints online, FreePrints for iOS and FreePrints for Android, please visitwww.freeprintsapp.com."

This is just the latest popular Windows Phone app to receive its shutdown orders. The Chase Mobile banking app has already been removed from the store and existing copies will stop working in March. TheBank of America app will also end in March.

Folks who are looking for photo printing alternatives for Windows Phone can check out Printicular if they live near a Walgreens store, or SnapCam, which is a Windows Phone exclusive

Image & News Courtesy Windows Central

Office Work Assistant with Cortana integration revealed in newer batch of images

Office Work Assistant is part of Microsoft's plan to overhaul the mobile Office experience for Windows Phone users. One aspect of that refresh coming with Windows 10 is Work Assistant, a Cortana powered metadata search engine to help users find documents, spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations on their phone, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint using "natural phrases and language".

The Verge reported existence of the app on Friday, and Earlier this morning, WindowsBlogItalia posted a handful of images from the app, which is currently in internal beta testing at Microsoft. Now, Windows Central has even more images from the app in action, revealing a little more about the layout and capabilities.