If you are considering buying Microsofts soon to be released Windows Surface RT and Windows 8 Surface hardware it's not a bad idea to check out Microsofts record in the hardware market.
You can look at smaller items like their mice and keyboards and come away with a very positive, confident outlook. When you look at the xbox 360 though things start to look extremely negative. With currently a 54% failure rate you are shaking in your boots. On top of that, of those 54% who had their systems repaired over 42% failed a second time! Thats a shocking statistic.
The 360 was released in November 22, 2005, so thats nearly 7 years ago. If Microsoft can't or won't or can't be bothered to to fix these issues and has had 7 years to come up with a fix for it then why the heck would anyone in their right mind even consider a major hardware purchase like a surface from Microsoft. They have proved that they don't give a damn about their hardware and customers. I mean when a system is repaired they should update it with some better cooling and whatever else is needed so there is no more system meltdowns. But as you can plainly see they haven't even tried. A company that is serious about their hardware and customer satisfaction would have pulled these units within a very short period of time and done the decent thing and fixed the issues.
So I hope you can see why I think anyone that buys any serious piece of Hardware like their soon to be released Surface windows 8 line of products should wait a very long time and see if Microsoft has changed and got it right . I feel very sorry for other owners of Microsofts hardware products like the Xbox 360. So my advice is steer well clear and tread very softly because if their is an issue it might take 7 years for them to fix it. Oh wait a minute!!… 7 years AND counting …. Good luck on that one ….
Yes thats right. Microsoft is confusing the heck out of users so lets just say this once and for all. Windows RT is not and will never be Windows as you know it.
Lets list the facts:
Windows RT is a totally new platform.
Windows RT is not in anyway Windows.
Windows RT Cannot install or run even one Windows application.
Windows RT cannot run or install any Windows Phone Apps, No not even one.
So there you go. Don't think if you buy a Windows RT Tablet that you'll be able to install anything but whats in the Windows RT app store which frankly is next to nothing, You can't even install an existing Windows phone app. This is totally crazy and it is very misleading.
So lets say it again Windows RT is NOT Windows and should be called something completely different.
Remove the word Windows completely maybe just called it Microsoft RT.
Megaupload Is Reborn and called Mega. So whats different? A unique tool that will solve the liability problems faced by cloud storage services, enhance the privacy rights of internet users, and provide themselves with a simple new business. Meanwhile, critics fear that Mega is simply a revamped version of Megaupload, cleverly designed to skirt the old business’s legal issues
(Dotcom and three of his partners remain in New Zealand, where they were arrested in January 2012. They face extradition to the U.S. on charges of “engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering, and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement,” according to the Department of Justice.)
What Mega and Megaupload do have in common is that they are both one-click, subscriber-based cloud platforms that allow customers to upload, store, access, and share large files. Dotcom, and his Mega partner Mathias Ortmann say the difference is that now those files will first be one-click-encrypted right in a client’s browser, using the so-called Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm. The user is then provided with a second unique key for that file’s decryption.
It will be up to users, and third-party app developers, to control access to any given uploaded file, be it a song, movie, videogame, book, or simple text document. Internet libertarians will surely embrace this new capability.
And because the decryption key is not stored with Mega, the company would have no means to view the uploaded file on its server. It would, Ortmann explains, be impossible for Mega to know, or be responsible for, its users’ uploaded content — a state of affairs engineered to create an ironclad “safe harbor” from liability for Mega, and added piece of mind for the user.
“If servers are lost, if the government comes into a data center and rapes it, if someone hacks the server or steals it, it would give him nothing,” Dotcom explains. “Whatever is uploaded to the site, it is going to be remain closed and private without the key.”
Dotcom’s belief is that even the broad interpretation of internet law that brought down Megaupload would be insufficient to thwart the new Mega, because what users share, how they share it, and how many people they share it with will be their responsibility and under their control, not Mega’s.
Dotcom says that according to his legal experts, the only way to stop such a service from existing is to make encryption itself illegal. “And according to the U.N. Charter for Human Rights, privacy is a basic human right,” Dotcom explains. “You have the right to protect your private information and communication against spying.”
Dotcom says that the new Mega will be an attractive product for anyone concerned about the state of online security. And to address the concerns about data loss of the sort that affected Megaupload customers whose files were seized by the FBI, Mega will store all data on two sets of redundant servers, located in two different countries.
“So, even if one country decides to go completely berserk from a legal perspective and freeze all servers, for example — which we don’t expect, because we’ve fully complied with all the laws of the countries we place servers in — or if a natural disaster happens, there’s still another location where all the files are available,” Ortmann says. “This way, it’s impossible to be subjected to the kind of abuse that we’ve had in the U.S.”
Ultimately, Dotcom envisions a network hosted by thousands of different entities with thousands of different servers, in countries all over the world.
“We’re creating a system where any host in the world — from the $2,000 garage operation to the largest online host — can connect their own servers to this network,” Dotcom says. “We can work with anybody, because the hosts themselves cannot see what’s on the servers.”
One of the more unique wrinkles of the new service may come from Mega’s decision not to deploy so-called de-duplication on its servers, meaning that if a user decides to upload the same copyright-infringing file 100 times, it would result in 100 different files and 100 distinct decryption keys. Removing them would require 100 takedown notices of the type typically sent by rights holders like movie studios and record companies.
While Mega is adamant that this is not the point of their technology, others fear the service may atomize the piracy problem, turning internet policing into an even more elaborate game of Wack-a-Mole. “As we learned from the first iteration of Megaupload, how it describes itself and how it really operates can be two very distinct things,” says one industry spokesman who asked not to be named. “We’d rather not wade in here until we can see the thing with our own eyes.”
Julie Samuels, a staff attorney with the Electronic Freedom Foundation, says that while the new Mega may present an interesting development for internet users, it doesn’t answer the issues raised by the unique and, by her lights, questionable interpretation of Internet law used in the case against Megaupload. “It’s likely to change the cat-and-mouse game that goes on in terms of this issue on the Internet,” Samuels says. “But it’s still a cat-and-mouse game.”
Samuels says that the technology may affect how easy or difficult it is for rights holders or law enforcement to determine exactly what kind of files are being shared. “But there are still some fundamental questions that need to be answered. At this point, it’s not technology but the courts which need to address them.”
Dotcom insists that Mega is not “a giant middle finger to Hollywood and the DoJ,” or a relaunch of Megaupload. And Ortmann points out that if users choose to violate copyright with the new technology, there are already rules in place to address it. “If the copyright holder finds publicly posted links and decryption keys and verifies that the file is an infringement of their copyright, they can send a DMCA takedown notice to have that file removed, just like before,” he says.
As with Megaupload, Ortmann says, Mega will also grant direct access to their servers for entities such as film studios, allowing them to remove copyright-infringing material themselves. “But this time, if they want to use that tool, they’ll have to accept, prior to getting access, that they’re not going to sue us or hold us accountable for the actions of our users,” Dotcom says.
In any event, the Mega team believes that a government takedown of their new service is extremely improbable. “Unless our legal team tells us that the DoJ is likely to go berserk again,” Ortmann explains. “But in my view, they can’t pull off this stunt a second time.”
The Pirate Bay has made an important change to its infrastructure. The world’s most famous BitTorrent site has switched its entire operation to the cloud. From now on The Pirate Bay will serve its users from several cloud hosting providers scattered around the world. The move will cut costs, ensure better uptime, and make the site virtually invulnerable to police raids — all while keeping user data secure.
The Pirate Bay is loved by millions of file-sharers but is also a thorn in the side of the entertainment industries.
The latter group continues to push authorities to take action against the site. The Pirate Bay was raided back in 2006 and there are rumors that the police might try again in the near future.
The Pirate Bay is not oblivious to this looming threat. They have backups in place and are shielding the true location of their servers. Nevertheless, should the site lose all its servers it might take a while to get back online.
This is one of the reasons why The Pirate Bay decided to move the site into the cloud yesterday. The switch resulted in five minutes downtime and was hardly noticed by the public, but it’s a big change for the infamous BitTorrent site.
Hosting in the cloud also makes the site easier to scale, it reduces downtime, and is also cheaper.
“Moving to the cloud lets TPB move from country to country, crossing borders seamlessly without downtime. All the servers don’t even have to be hosted with the same provider, or even on the same continent,” The Pirate Bay told TorrentFreak.
The Pirate Bay is currently hosted at cloud hosting companies in two countries where they run several Virtual Machine (VM) instances.
“Running on VMs cuts down operation costs and complexity. For example, we never need anyone to do hands-on work like earlier this month when we were down for two days because someone had to fix a broken power distribution unit,” The Pirate Bay says.
The setup also makes it possible for the BitTorrent site to take their business elsewhere without too much hassle.
“If one cloud-provider cuts us off, goes offline or goes bankrupt, we can just buy new virtual servers from the next provider. Then we only have to upload the VM-images and reconfigure the load-balancer to get the site up and running again.”
While most of Pirate Bay’s former servers are now obsolete, not everything was moved to the cloud.
The load balancer and transit-routers are still owned and operated by The Pirate Bay, which allows the site to hide the location of the cloud provider. It also helps to secure the privacy of the site’s users.
The hosting providers have no idea that they’re hosting The Pirate Bay, and even in the event they found out it would be impossible for them to gather data on the users.
“All communication with users goes through TPB’s load balancer, which is a disk-less server with all the configuration in RAM. The load balancer is not in the same country as the transit-router or the cloud servers,” The Pirate Bay told us.
“The communication between the load balancer and the virtual servers is encrypted. So even if a cloud provider found out they’re running TPB, they can’t look at the content of user traffic or user’s IP-addresses.”
In addition The Pirate Bay now believes it’s more raid proof.
The worst case scenario is that The Pirate Bay loses both its transit router and its load balancer. All the important data is backed up externally on VMs that can be re-installed at cloud hosting providers anywhere in the world.
“If the police decide to raid us again there are no servers to take, just a transit router. If they follow the trail to the next country and find the load balancer, there is just a disk-less server there. In case they find out where the cloud provider is, all they can get are encrypted disk-images,” The Pirate Bay says.
“They have to be quick about it too, if the servers have been out of communication with the load balancer for 8 hours they automatically shut down. When the servers are booted up, access is only granted to those who have the encryption password,” they add.
For Pirate Bay users the move to the cloud doesn’t change much though. If anything, they will notice significantly less downtime.
Computerised hospital equipment is increasingly vulnerable to malware infections, according to participants in a recent government panel. These infections can clog patient-monitoring equipment and other software systems, at times rendering the devices temporarily inoperable.
While no injuries have been reported, the malware problem at hospitals is clearly rising nationwide, says Kevin Fu, a leading expert on medical-device security and a computer scientist at the University of Michigan and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who took part in the panel discussion.
Software-controlled medical equipment has become increasingly interconnected in recent years, and many systems run on variants of Windows, a common target for hackers elsewhere. The devices are usually connected to an internal network that is itself connected to the Internet, and they are also vulnerable to infections from laptops or other device brought into hospitals. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that manufacturers often will not allow their equipment to be modified, even to add security features.
In a typical example, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, 664 pieces of medical equipment are running on older Windows operating systems that manufactures will not modify or allow the hospital to change—even to add antivirus software—because of disagreements over whether modifications could run afoul of U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory reviews, Fu says.
As a result, these computers are frequently infected with malware, and one or two have to be taken offline each week for cleaning, says Mark Olson, chief information security officer at Beth Israel.
"I find this mind-boggling," Fu says. "Conventional malware is rampant in hospitals because of medical devices using unpatched operating systems. There's little recourse for hospitals when a manufacturer refuses to allow OS updates or security patches."
The worries over possible consequences for patients were described last Thursday at a meeting of a medical-device panel at the National Institute of Standards and Technology Information Security & Privacy Advisory Board, of which Fu is a member, in Washington, D.C. At the meeting, Olson described how malware at one point slowed down fetal monitors used on women with high-risk pregnancies being treated in intensive-care wards.
"It's not unusual for those devices, for reasons we don't fully understand, to become compromised to the point where they can't record and track the data," Olson said during the meeting, referring to high-risk pregnancy monitors. "Fortunately, we have a fallback model because they are high-risk [patients]. They are in an IC unit—there's someone physically there to watch. But if they are stepping away to another patient, there is a window of time for things to go in the wrong direction."
The computer systems at fault in the monitors were replaced several months ago by the manufacturer, Philips; the new systems, based on Windows XP, have better protections and the problem has been solved, Olson said in a subsequent interview.
At the meeting, Olson also said similar problems threatened a wide variety of devices, ranging from compounders, which prepare intravenous drugs and intravenous nutrition, to picture-archiving systems associated with diagnostic equipment, including massive $500,000 magnetic resonance imaging devices.
Olson told the panel that infections have stricken many kinds of equipment, raising fears that someday a patient could be harmed. "We also worry about situations where blood gas analyzers, compounders, radiology equipment, nuclear-medical delivery systems, could become compromised to where they can't be used, or they become compromised to the point where their values are adjusted without the software knowing," he said. He explained that when a machine becomes clogged with malware, it could in theory "miss a couple of readings off of a sensor [and] erroneously report a value, which now can cause harm."
Often the malware is associated with botnets, Olson said, and once it lodges inside a computer, it attempts to contact command-and-control servers for instructions. Botnets, or collections of compromised computers, commonly send spam but can also wage attacks on other computer systems or do other tasks assigned by the organizations that control them (see "Moore's Outlaws").
In September, the Government Accountability Office issued a report warning that computerized medical devices could be vulnerable to hacking, posing a safety threat, and asked the FDA to address the issue. The GAO report focused mostly on the threat to two kinds of wireless implanted devices: implanted defibrillators and insulin pumps. The vulnerability of these devices has received widespread press attention (see "Personal Security" and "Keeping Pacemakers Safe from Hackers"), but no actual attacks on them have been reported.
Fu, who is a leader in researching the risks described in the GAO report, said those two classes of device are "a drop in the bucket": thousands of other network-connected devices used for patient care are also vulnerable to infection. "These are life-saving devices. Patients are overwhelmingly safer with them than without them. But cracks are showing," he said. (Fu was Technology Review's Innovator of the Year in 2009.)
Malware problems on hospital devices are rarely reported to state or federal regulators, both Olson and Fu said. This is partly because hospitals believe they have little recourse. Despite FDA guidance issued in 2009 to hospitals and manufacturers—encouraging them to work together and stressing that eliminating security risks does not always require regulatory review—many manufacturers interpret the fine print in other ways and don't offer updates, Fu says. And such reporting is not required unless a patient is harmed. "Maybe that's a failing on our part, that we aren't trying to raise the visibility of the threat," Olson said. "But I think we all feel the threat gets higher and higher."
Speaking at the meeting, Brian Fitzgerald, an FDA deputy director, said that in visiting hospitals around the nation, he has found Beth Israel's problems to be widely shared. "This is a very common profile," he said. The FDA is now reviewing its regulatory stance on software, Fitzgerald told the panel. "This will have to be a gradual process, because it involves changing the culture, changing the technology, bringing in new staff, and making a systematic approach to this," he said.
In an interview Monday, Tam Woodrum, a software executive at the device maker GE Healthcare, said manufacturers are in a tough spot, and the problems are amplified as hospitals expect more and more interconnectedness. He added that despite the FDA's 2009 guidance, regulations make system changes difficult to accomplish: "In order to go back and update the OS, with updated software to run on the next version, it's an onerous regulatory process."
Olson said that in his experience, GE Healthcare does offer software patches and guidance on keeping devices secure, but that not all manufacturers have the same posture. He added that the least-protected devices have been placed behind firewalls. But to do that with all a hospital's software-controlled equipment would require more than 200 firewalls—an unworkable prospect, he said.
John Halamka, Beth Israel's CIO and a Harvard Medical School professor, said he began asking manufacturers for help in isolating their devices from the networks after trouble arose in 2009: the Conficker worm caused problems with a Philips obstetrical care workstation, a GE radiology workstation, and nuclear medical applications that "could not be patched due to [regulatory] restrictions." He said, "No one was harmed, but we had to shut down the systems, clean them, and then isolate them from the Internet/local network."
He added: "Many CTOs are not aware of how to protect their own products with restrictive firewalls. All said they are working to improve security but have not yet produced the necessary enhancements."
Fu says that medical devices need to stop using insecure, unsupported operating systems. "More hospitals and manufacturers need to speak up about the importance of medical-device security," he said after the meeting. "Executives at a few leading manufacturers are beginning to commit engineering resources to get security right, but there are thousands of software-based medical devices out there."
Steve Ballmer, Microsofts CEO comments in his annual letter to shareholders published on Tuesday suggested that Microsoft may eventually make its own phones to build on its forthcoming own-brand Surface tablet PC and market-leading Xbox gaming console.
"There will be times when we build specific devices for specific purposes, as we have chosen to do with Xbox and the recently announced Microsoft Surface," wrote Ballmer.
The new approach mimics Apple Inc, whose massively successful iPhone and iPad demonstrated tight integration of high-quality software and hardware and made Windows devices feel clunky in comparison. Microsoft has followed Apples lead and opened their own stores which look and feel a lot like Apples (Samsung has also done this)
Ballmer, who took over as CEO from co-founder Bill Gates in 2000, said the company would continue to work with its traditional hardware partners, such as Dell Inc, Samsung and HTC, but he made it clear that Microsoft's role in the so-called 'ecosystem' was changing.
"It impacts how we run the company, how we develop new experiences, and how we take products to market for both consumers and businesses," he wrote.
Microsoft already makes money from providing services online, such as access to servers to enable 'cloud computing', or Web versions of its Office applications, but Ballmer's new emphasis suggests an acceleration away from its traditional business model of selling installed software.
"This is a significant shift, both in what we do and how we see ourselves — as a devices and services company," he added.
Alongside the shareholders' letter, Microsoft's annual proxy filing, which deals with the shareholders' meeting and other governance issues, showed that Ballmer, 56, got a lower bonus than he did last year, partly for flat sales of Windows and his failure to ensure that the company provided a choice of browser to some European customers.
It is the third year in a row that Ballmer has not earned his maximum bonus, set at twice his salary.
Microsoft's recent financial year was scarred by a $6.2 billion write-down for a failed acquisition and lower profit from its flagship Windows system as computer sales stood still.
In the company's filing, Microsoft's compensation committee said it took into account a 3 percent decline in Windows sales over the year, as well as "the Windows division failure to provide a browser choice screen on certain Windows PCs in Europe as required by its 2009 commitment with the European Commission."
Microsoft's failure to provide a browser choice in Europe was an embarrassing setback for the company, which has been embroiled in disputes with European regulators for more than a decade and paid more than $1 billion in fines for including its own Internet Explorer browser on Windows. It now faces further fines from a new investigation.
Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside is under fire for an abandoned pledge to update three 2011 phones to Ice Cream Sandwich.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET )
Doran Else bought his Photon 4G last October, lured by the fast dual-core processor and by the close relationship between Motorola and its new owner, Google. Motorola had recently joined the Android Upgrade Alliance, promising to release operating system updates to all its phones for 18 months following their release.
But for Else and thousands of others, those operating system updates turned out to be a mirage. Last Friday, buried in a Motorola forum, the company quietly abandoned its update pledge, killing off plans to ever update the Photon 4G. The Electrify, a re-branded Photon available on the US Cellular network, and the Atrix 4G, a flagship phone that debuted on AT&T in the United States, got the axe as well.
"Just seems they were happy to join the alliance when it helped them sell handsets," Else said in an e-mail. "Now that it's time to do the work, they're all dropping devices. This latest announcement from Moto is just ridiculous."
The result is that Else and thousands of people in the middle of two-year carrier contracts will have to use Android 2.3, known as Gingerbread, for the foreseeable future. Motorola had promised owners of the Photon, Electrify, and Atrix an upgrade to to Android 4.0, known as Ice Cream Sandwich, which would bring a host of new features and security updates. Instead they are stuck on Gingerbread, an operating system that was already a year old when Else bought his phone.
There was no word on why the company had twice said upgrades were coming -- first in the third quarter of this year, then the fourth quarter -- or why it had bothered joining the Android Upgrade Alliance, if it couldn't meet its requirements.
The Photon 4G is among the phones Motorola won't upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET )
Same old song
Every few months, it seems, we hear a new version of an old story: the maker of an expensive smartphone announces it won't be upgraded to the latest version of Android, and consumers cry foul.
But this one is different. First, Motorola told customers they would upgrade the phones for 18 months after they came out, a statement that drove sales of the devices. Second, Google owns both Android and Motorola, making it all the more puzzling why the business units didn't work together to make an upgrade happen.
Finally, there are signs that for some Android devotees, Motorola's abandonment of its year-old phones is the last straw.
We asked Motorola smartphone owners how they were feeling about the company -- and Android -- these days. Jacob Depenbusch, a Photon owner, offered a typical account. He researched a variety of Android phones and settled on the Photon after learning it was on the upgrade path.
"My family and myself all bought the Photon because it met the specifications of being upgraded to ICS," Depenbusch said. "Had they not promised an update, the phone would've been out of the question. And then they reneged on the promise. They benefited financially from lying to us, and these phones certainly aren't cheap. This is an appalling business practice."
Several owners said they had filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau over their treatment by Motorola. Others said they had purchased a Motorola for the last time. That's despite the fact that Motorola is offering a $100 credit to anyone willing to purchase a new phone from the company.
"The fact they are offering $100 to swap to another Motorola phone is laughable," said Danny Brewer, who owns an Atrix. "I will not be touching it or another Motorola phone with a barge pole. I don't want a new phone -- I want my current phone, that I have to keep for another year, as that's how long my contract is for.
"There are very few companies that I have felt I needed to boycott," he added. "But Motorola has just earned that honor."
The really unfortunate part of this? Most of the people who we interviewed love their phones. They find them fast, reliable, and fun to play with. They want to keep using them well into the future. They'd just like to do it on Ice Cream Sandwich -- an operating system that was released to manufacturers a year ago.
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Over the years , and yes I mean years I have used just about every OS on the planet. From my first days running DR DOS on my 8mhz dual 5 1/4" flopped XT IBM computer, thru OS2 from IBM all sorts of Windows , Linux Distros and OSX. Have I tried them all? No, that would be pretty impossible. Though I have used some interesting things like GEO Works. Boy I wish I still had a copy of the and Windows 3.11. Anyway I digress:
I had been using Windows 8 (alongside OSX ) for the last few months and somethings I have liked and others … well, not so much. I was doing a few updates on my beast of a Hackintosh and found a VM image of Windows 7. So I though lets boot it up. I did and was I surprised. Hey this looks nice, very polished, runs smooth and easy to get around. After using it for half an hour it become blindingly obvious to me that what I was enjoying most over all after the pretty looks was the fact I didn't have to go out the door and back in all the time to do a lot of things. So what am I on about. Some people have obviously talked of this before but not using my analogy of the doors. Windows 8 is a lot schizophrenic. Seems like there is always another layer I have to go through to get something done. By layer I mean door.
The fact I have to go out the door of the desktop and outside almost to the start menu and then back in the door to the main menu all the time is a giant pain in the "Talk about inefficiency".
It's like being forced to run multiple despots at the same time and the only way to start sometime new is to go to the other desktop and fire it up and then back to the desktop again. So it's out the door grab the "thing" go back in the door. Then repeat. There always seems to be an extra layer to go through which is just not nice. As a big fan of a simple clean desktop, yes I love OSX though it isn't perfect, I found Windows 7 a lot cleaner and with less layers to get to something. I am not a fan of the apps either. Frankly they such on a desktop computer. Try looking at an app on a 46" screen! Just plain dumb. Trying to be all things to all men just isn't working. So do I hate windows 8? Not at all. It's got some major upsides. Not the least of all is its a speed demon. I hate its look, 2D and flat looks like a cheap toy to me.
So why did Microsoft go to all this trouble to make something great and others drive you plan nuts? I mean they spent a lot of time polishing up to Windows 7, taking some nice cues from OSX and people really loved it. They did a great job of Windows 7.
Windows 8 will be great on a touch screen type tablet. Thats really it. They had to get into this space. I makes sense but as I said trying to be all things to all men is not going to work well at this stage.
So what would we like them to do? Well just make the start screen less intrusive and maybe even be able to shrink it down on the desktop left corner almost like a start menu of windows 7. Yes they could modify it a bit. No problems there. Just don't make it take over the whole screen . The new start screen has one thing I really like . When you open it just start tiping a few letter of the app you want and bash the space bar and your away. Why do I like this? Well it reminds me a lit like spotlight on OSX. Hit the common plus space bar , type sat hit enter and bam safari is running. Only difference is it didn't force take over the whole screen and back again. Thats kind of an inefficient use of graphics/screen realist ate and cpu power. Totally not needed at all.
So, I'm back to Windows 7 for my Microsoft OS use. It feeeeeeeeeeeellllls sooooooo much nicer and smoother to me. I don't have to have these flashes of total screen changes all the time which is hard on the eyes after a while. Of course Microsofts really avenger her is to sell more stuff. The new surfaces they will release soon and other tablet type devices, and of course probably the main reason in my eyes, Windows phone 8. (No it's not Windows 8 Phone) all microsofts screens on all there devices will look the same. Yes the same. Oh look, a Windows Phone 8 device, I know how to use this its just the same as my windows desktop (which sucks) and my windows 8 tablet device.
Ok rant over. Back to Ableton Live on my Macbook Air to make some soothing music.
www.tech-sanity.com
In a report in the New Zealand Herald this morning it claims Kim Dotcom's internet connection was being diverted inside New Zealand weeks before the Government Communications Security Bureau says it started spying on him.
The Herald has obtained details showing Telecom engineers and staff at its technology services company Gen-I were investigating irregularities with his internet connection in November.
The revelation has raised suspicion that Mr Dotcom was victim to earlier spying than the GCSB has admitted. It has brought fresh calls for an inquiry amid claims of the spy agency's role in the international "Five Eyes" Echelon Network.
The focus of the early investigation is the dedicated internet connection from Mr Dotcom's mansion in Coatesville to the Sky Tower in Auckland. It was intended to give him the fastest possible internet connection - a factor which would have been critical in his quest to be the best in the online Modern Warfare 3 game.
Mr Dotcom became the "number one" ranked player of the game before his arrest.
During the record-setting effort, Gen-I staff began an investigation into the amount of time it took for an internet signal from Mr Dotcom's home to reach an offshore Xbox computer server.
Information held by the Herald shows Gen-I studied data showing the amount of time it took information on the internet connection to reach the Xbox server. It went from 30 milliseconds to 180 milliseconds - a huge increase for online gamers.
The reason for the extra time emerged in a deeper inquiry, which saw a "Trace Route" search which tracks internet signals from their origin to their destinations. When the results were compared it showed the internet signal was being diverted inside New Zealand.
The data showed the internet signal had previously taken two steps before going offshore - but was now taking five.
The GCSB is under police investigation after admitting it illegally spied on Mr Dotcom between December 16 and January 20, the day of the raid. It is also studying three other cases of possible illegal action carried out after requests from the police.
The other cases emerged after Prime Minister John Key - who is responsible for the agency - ordered an inquiry. Asked about the possibility of earlier spying, a spokeswoman said the Prime Minister had sought and received "a fresh assurance" the GCSB and Security Intelligence Service had not carried out any surveillance before December 16.
Green co-leader Russel Norman said it could not be ruled out.
He said a commission of inquiry was needed to examine the behaviour of the GCSB.
He said it could be conducted in secrecy with sensitive material excised from a final public report.
Mr Norman highlighted the Echelon of Five Eyes agreement where the GCSB worked with intelligence agencies from the US, Australia, Canada and the UK.
Labour leader David Shearer said he also wanted an independent inquiry which could be run by a senior and trusted New Zealander. "The critical issue is who knew what and how all the checks and balances work."
A Telecom spokeswoman said the company would not give information to the police of "any other government agency" unless legally forced to do so.
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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced the social network now has more than one billion people actively using the service each month as of Thursday morning, which is quite a feat for something that began as a project in his college dorm room.
"This morning, there are more than one billion people using Facebook actively each month," Zuckerberg writes in the Facebook Newsroom on Thursday. "If you're reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honor of serving you.
"Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life," the founder continues. "I am committed to working every day to make Facebook better for you, and hopefully together one day we will be able to connect the rest of the world too."
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Google’s popular Street View feature is set to arrive for the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad by way of the Web version of Google Maps, according to Walt Mossberg of AllThingsD.
The feature, which will be available at http://maps.google.com using a mobile Web browser, displays 360-degree photographic street views of selected locations, and interior views of certain businesses.
Mossberg also confirms that Google is working on a new Google Maps app for iOS, one that would “be offered as an optional download.” This version, which will support the iPhone and iPad, should arrive in the App Store by the end of the year.
This news comes less than a week after Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for the iOS 6 version of Maps app. The often criticized version replaced the Google Maps-based app that came standard on iOS through version 5.
According to the report, Street View will arrive tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 4.
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Adobe has announced the availability of final releases for both Lightroom 4.2 and Camera Raw 7.2 today. The new updates bring functionality improvements and added raw file and tethered capture support for a range of new cameras. A number of new devices from Canon, Fujifilm, Leaf, Leica, Nikon, Panasonic, Pentax, Samsung, and Sony are now supported.
The updates bring raw file support for the Canon EOS 650D/Rebel T4i, Canon EOS M, Fujifilm XF1, Fujifilm X-E1, Fuji FinePix F800EXR, Leaf Credo 40, Leaf Credo 60, Leica S, Leica D-LUX 6, Leica V-Lux 4, Nikon Coolpix P7700, Nikon 1 J2, Panasonic DMC-G5, Panasonic DMC-LX7, Panasonic DMC-FZ200, Pentax K-30, Samsung EX2F, Sony Alpha NEX-5R, Sony Alpha NEX-6, Sony Alpha SLT-A99V, and Sony DSC-RX100.
For tethered capture support, the newly supported devices include the Nikon D4, Nikon D800, Nikon D800e, Canon EOS Kiss X5, Canon EOS Kiss REBEL T3i, Canon EOS 1100D, Canon EOS 5D Mark III, and Canon EOS 1D X.
Additionally, the Lightroom 4.2 and Camera Raw 7.2 final releases correct issues that had been reported in their initial releases.
Lightroom 4.2 is available as a free download for Lightroom 4 customers, and the Camera Raw plug-in is available as a free download for customers that own Photoshop CS6. The updates, which can be downloaded at Adobe's site, are available for both Mac and Windows platforms.
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Original Geekbench benchmarks had revealed that Apple's new iPhone 5 is powered by a 1.02 GHz ARMv7 processor with 1GB RAM.
But it looks like iPhone 5's A6 chip is much more powerful as it has been clocked at 1.3GHz by a new version of Geekbench 2 - an iOS benchmarking app, that hit the App Store today.
Primate Labs John Poole told Engadget that the new version of Geekbench 2 app "features a dramatically improved processor frequency detection algorithm, which consistently reports the A6's frequency as 1.3GHz."
He said: "Earlier versions of Geekbench had trouble determining the A6's frequency, which lead to people claiming the A6's frequency as 1.0GHz as it was the most common value Geekbench reported."
Teardown of iPhone 5's A6 chip has revealed that it is powered by a dual-core CPU and triple-core graphics processing unit (GPU).
Performance tests carried out on Apple's dual-core A6 chip with triple-core graphics has validated Apple's claim that iPhone 5's A6 chip is twice as fast as iPhone 4S's A5 chip. The benchmarks have also determined that iPhone 5 is the world's fastest smartphone currently.
Performance benchmark results have also shown that iPhone 5's A6 chip runs at variable frequency, ranging from 800MH to 1.3GHz. Our iPhone 5 unit regularly displays 1.29GHz (it reported 1.10GHz initially), but as you can see above, a screenshot from an Engadget reader displays 1.30GHz.
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A major security vulnerability has been discovered in some TouchWiz-based Samsung smartphones, including the Galaxy S2 and certain Galaxy S3 models. Security researcher Ravi Borgaonkar at the Ekoparty security conference discovered it several days ago. . It involves the use of a single line of code in a malicious web page to immediately trigger a factory reset without prompting the user, or allowing them to cancel the process. Even more serious is the possibility that this could be paired with a similar glitch to render the user's SIM card inoperable. And as the malicious code is in URI form, it can also be delivered via NFC or QR code.
Various Samsung phones seem to be affected such as Galaxy 2 and 3, the Galaxy Ace and Galaxy Beam. As far as we can tell, though, the bug does not affect Samsung phones running stock Android, like the Galaxy Nexus. So it's Touchwoxz relalated.
The vulnerability is the result of the way the native Samsung dialer app handles USSD codes and telephone links. USSD codes are special combinations of characters that can be entered in the keypad to perform certain functions, like enabling call forwarding, or accessing hidden menus on the device. On Samsung phones, there's also a USSD code for factory resetting the phone (and presumably another for nuking your SIM). This, combined with the fact that the dialer automatically runs telephone links that are passed to it by other apps, results in a particularly nasty issue for anyone unfortunate enough to run by a malicious web page.
There are, of course, other applications of this glitch -- for example, the ability to automatically run numbers through the dialer could be used to call premium-rate phone numbers. But the fact that just visiting a web site could factory reset your phone, wipe your internal storage and nuke your SIM is a very serious issue. So we'd advise you update your software if you're running an S3, and if you're not, we'd recommend using a third-party dialer like Dialer One until all this has blown over.
The Kim Dotcom saga continues to unfold in New Zealand after the country’s prime minister ordered a full enquiry into claims that the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) unlawfully spied on the Megaupload founder.
New Zealand PM John Key called the GCSB’s efforts to intercept Dotcom communications illegal after it emerged that the agency — the country’s equivalent of the FBI – had wiretapped his communications as part of the sting without receiving the necessary authority and permissions, Investigate Magazine reports.
A statement from Key, in which the prime minister “expressed his disappointment that unlawful acts had taken place”, read:
“I expect our intelligence agencies to operate always within the law. Their operations depend on public trust. I look forward to the Inspector-General’s inquiry getting to the heart of what took place and what can be done about it because this is also a matter for the High Court in its consideration of the Megaupload litigation.”
Dotcom took to Twitter to welcome the enquiry and he likened the latest twist to that of a James Bond film:
I welcome the inquiry by @johnkeypm into unlawful acts by the GCSB. Please extend the inquiry to cover the entire Crown Law Mega case.
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) September 24, 2012
I’m now a real life James Bond villain in a real life political copyright thriller scripted by Hollywood & the White House.
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) September 24, 2012
Authorities have been criticized for the perceived mishandling of a number of issues around Dotcom’s arrest and subsequent trial.
Police have been accused of acting with a heavy hand when footage of the raid on Dotcom’s mansion was aired in national television. Multiple helicopters and several police vehicles converging on his mansion while the multi-millionaire German Dotcom claimed he had been punched, kicked, kneed and otherwise treated unfairly during his arrest.
Authorities suffered a significant blow in June when the New Zealand high court ruled that search warrants for the raid were invalid.
Despite the trial ongoing Dotcom has continued his efforts to revive the Megaupload service and today he claimed that work is now 90 percent complete. Developers were offered early access to the project last month.
The Megaupload founder, formerly Kim Schmitz, is also working on music service Megabox, which he said will launch before the end of the year alongside a revamped Megaupload, that is said will not be operation in the US.
The US Department of Justice closed Megaupload down in January, in what it called one of the largest cases of copyright fraud ever. While there may have been infringing content on the site, many of its users have lost photos, files and other memories stored to the backup service.
Dotcom extradition hearing is set to take place in March 2013. The date was rescheduled from August 2012 following a series of issues relating to the way that police has handled the case.
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Benchmarks that rate RAM, processor speed, browser speed, JavaScript and graphics capabilities of various smartphone published by PC Magazine let the publication to declare the iPhone 5 "the fastest smartphone in the land" and able to substantially surpass rivals like Samsung's Galaxy S III and Motorola's Droid Razr M, the latter of which was just released last week (the S III came out in June). The iPhone 5 was more than twice as fast as any previous iPhone model, even when they were updated to iOS 6.
Graphics and JavaScript appear to be the strong suits of the new iPhone, with its GPU (said in recent examinations of the A6 to be a triple-core setup) in some cases doubling the score achieved by the Razr M and the S III and offering substantial improvements in every area tested. The iPhone 5 had previously broken a record for smartphones in the JavaScript-testing SunSpider benchmark. Even more impressive was the improvement in the iPhone 5 when compared to earlier models of iPhone.
In both Browsermark (browser testing) and Sunspider, Apple's claim of "twice as fast" as the iPhone 4S was seen as no exaggeration. In the Geekbench suite, scores were generally more than double, and in one instance (the streaming memory test) results showed a full tripling over the iPhone 4S. As mentioned, graphics testing showed the iPhone 5 easily doubling scores achieved by the 4S, and the gap grows further when older models such as the iPhone 3GS are tested.
Compared to an original iPhone running iOS 3.1.3, the iPhone five is more than 20 times faster in browsing almost 20 times faster in graphics, and five times faster in JavaScript. Tests with Geekbench focusing on RAM, along with GLBenchmark (which measures graphics) could only be compared as far back as the iPhone 3G running iOS 4.2.1, but still showed the iPhone 5 as generally 10-15 times faster in RAM and between five and 10 times faster in graphics.
Though the award for "world's fastest smartphone" won't last long -- rivals are already planning next year's competitors -- the fact that the iPhone 5 exceeds by a substantive margin its top rivals in almost all measures of "speed" may be a crucial selling point heading into the holiday buying season. In addition to the advantages that come to the iPhone naturally from the company's "cool" factor and the improvements in iOS 6 down to the improved build quality of the hardware, being "the fastest" on the market -- and likely to keep that crown for a little while -- is (for some) the most important factor apart from price in making a buying decision amongst a rapidly-growing field of quality smartphones. It provides at least as much of an edge as does being the only new model with access to the world's largest App Store for a certain segment of the market. [via PCMag]
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As promised, Microsoft is issuing a security patch for a Flash vulnerability on Windows 8 in Internet Explorer 10. Though the operating system has yet to see its official public release, researchers testing the RTM version found a bug that could cause Flash to crash and allow for attackers to take control of a user's machine. Additionally, the company is rolling out an update to address a security hole in Internet Explorer versions 7 and 8 on Windows XP -- and IE 9 on Windows 7 and Windows Vista -- which left the door open for hackers to spread malware via a specially designed Flash animation. Both security patches are available via Microsoft's Windows Update service.
HTC announced the new Windows Phone 8X and Windows Phone 8S smartphones. The 8X and 8S represent a new focus on Windows Phone for HTC. Microsoft has committed to a heavy promotion of HTC's new devices, and it's even gone so far as to call them the "Signature of the Windows Phone 8 brand. HTC's new flagship Windows Phone. The 8Xs t packs a 1.5 GHz, dual-core Snapdragon S4 chipset and 4.3-inch 1280x720 display good for a PPI of 342 and It's light and thin as well. The tapered edges of and soft-touch finish of the make the phone easy to hold, though you do feel the edges dig into your palm a little when you grip it. The screen is beautiful. Deep blacks, and eye-popping colors that immediately impress you.The combination of the screens responsiveness, the beefed-up processor, and OS improvements really make for an experience that's fast and fluid. The 8X keeps pace with the Lumia 920 in nearly every category, and even bests it in a few. It has LTE, a gig of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera (with dedicated button), a 2-megapixel front camera, 1080p video recording, NFC, and Beats Audio enhancement with an "enhanced" headphone amp (of course). The one major downside to the phone is that it's only available in a 16 gigabyte storage capacity, and has no expandable storage. And while it does have a slightly smaller, but comparable, 1800 mAh battery and a slightly smaller screen than the 4.5-inch Lumia 920, those may not end up being negatives if battery life is the same and you prefer a smaller screen.
But that's not the only phone HTC has in tow; the HTC 8S is the cheaper, smaller sibling to the 8X with specs that reflect that across the board. Whether its the 4-inch, 800x400 Super LCD, the 1 GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU, the 512 megabytes of RAM, lack of LTE, or the 5-megapixel camera (with no front cam), there's no room for debate as to which phone is better. The one plus is that because it only has 4 gigabytes of storage, HTC included a microSD slot for system expansion. But those looking for a cheap-ish Windows Phone could probably find worse.
Looking at the 8X and 8S, with their loud color schemes and boxy designs, Nokia's design influence is apparent. It's almost as if HTC took Nokia's playbook, lifted the pages about design, and then made some strikingly Lumia-like devices. All of this with Microsoft's blessing, approval, backing, and on-stage support from Microsoft's CEO.
Nokia has put a lot into the Windows Phone platform. Unlike HTC, Nokia is betting its whole hand on WIndows Phone, and it has developed a number of differentiating software features for its Windows Phone smartphones. Nokia Drive, Nokia Music, and Nokia's Camera Lenses are all valuable software additions that Nokia brings to Windows Phone. HTC, on the other hand, is focusing mainly on hardware features to separate its Windows Phone 8 smartphones from others, and it hasn't done the extensive software development on the platform that Nokia has. Likewise, HTC does have its line of Android devices to fall back on, should Windows Phone 8 fail, but Nokia doesn't have a backup platform if things go south.
Both phones will begin shipping in November on AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, in an array of very bright colors (reds, blues, yellows) or just black. Pricing has yet to be finalized, but HTC would hope to keep both phones under $200 with contract. [HTC]
Nokia Lumia 920, you have some serious competition here.
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iPhoto for iPhone and iPad have been updated with support for iOS 6 and also includes a slew of new features including coaching tips, new ink effects, support for 36.5 megapixel photos, and more.
• Added support for iPod touch (4th generation and later)
• Coaching tips have been added to the Help system on the iPhone and iPod touch
• Effects now include six new Apple-designed ink effects such as Chalk and Palette Knife
• Images up to 36.5 megapixels are now supported*
• Full resolution photos can now be imported via iTunes File Sharing
• Tag albums can be created by adding custom tags to photos
• "Updating Library" alert appears less frequently
• Multiple photos can now be saved to the Camera Roll at one time
• Cropping presets now use detected faces to determine composition
• Tilt-shift and gradient effects can now be rotated
• Facebook sharing now supports single sign-on in Settings
• Comments can be added more easily when posting photos to Facebook
• Videos can be uploaded to Facebook
• Locations and friend tags can now be set when posting photos to Facebook
• Comments and locations can be set on individual photos when sharing a group of photos to Facebook
• Any photo previously posted to Facebook can be more easily replaced with a more current version
• A notification is now displayed when an upload to Facebook completes in the background
• Photos can now be shared directly to Cards, iMovie, and other supporting apps
• Journals now include new layout options
• Fonts and alignment of text in journal items can be modified
• New style and color options are available for Note and Memory items in journals
• Journal Note and Memory items can now be resized
• Dividers can be added to break journal pages into sections to control the reflow of layouts
• A new Swap mode makes it easier to change the placement of items in a journal layout
• You can now place a pin on a journal map when no location data is present
• Links to journals can now be shared directly to Facebook and Twitter, and via Messages
• Links to remote journals can now be shared even if the journal was created on another device
• A new Publish Changes button provides control over when to update your journal
• An overlay displaying month and year now appears when scrolling in Photos view
• Photos can now be sorted by date and can be filtered using new criteria
• Photos view now includes a Power Scroll strip for high-speed scrolling
• Grid of thumbnails can now be expanded to multiple rows in portrait orientation
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It’s tandem operating system updates for Apple today. After rolling out iOS 6 this morning, as promised, the company issued an update for OS X Mountain Lion, its desktop operating system.
OS X 10.8.2 is a major update to Mountain Lion, with some important new features — one in particular: Facebook integration. Also on board: Support for Passbook, Apple’s location-aware mobile wallet app, and some tweaks to iMessage and FaceTime that route messages and video chats to the Mac. Here’s the full change log:
This update is recommended for all OS X Mountain Lion users, and includes new features and fixes:
Facebook
- Single sign on for Facebook
- Adds Facebook as an option when sharing links and photos
- See Facebook friends’ contact information and profile pictures in Contacts
- Facebook notifications now appear in Notification Center
Game Center
- Share scores to Facebook, Twitter, Mail, or Messages
- Facebook friends are included in Game Center friend recommendations
- Added Facebook “Like” button for games
- Challenge friends to beat your score or achievement
Other new features
- Adds Power Nap support for MacBook Air (Late 2010)
- iMessages sent to your phone number now appear in Messages on your Mac
- You can now add passes to Passbook (on your iPhone or iPod touch) from Safari and Mail on your Mac
- FaceTime can now receive calls sent to your phone number
- New shared Reminders lists
- New sort options allow you to sort notes by title, the date you edited them, and when you created them
- Dictation now supports additional languages: Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Korean, Canadian English, Canadian French, and Italian
- Dictionary app now includes a French definition dictionary
- Sina Weibo profile photos can now be added to Contacts
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When Windows 8 Consumers Preview was released, reaction was somewhat mixed from users and tech pundits alike. Much has been changed from past Windows versions and the software giant wants to merge both tablets and desktop UI into one single package. Since its a hybrid OS, desktop users doesn’t seem to look any happy. Along with revamped UI, unified desktop/tablet usage, and other enhancements, there are many features that have been either reworked, or removed for good. One of these features that is reworked, is application handling. Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows 8 handles running applications in a different way. As you know that Windows 8 is optimized for both PCs and tablets, and features metro style applications, which run in the Metro UI environment. The metro applications behave similar to that of Android/iOS apps (well, that’s the closest example i can think of). For instance, when you move to home screen (i.e. the Metro Start Screen) while using a metro app, the OS suspends the application to conserve CPU resources for other apps. Even though this reduces the load time of metro apps, suspended applications (apps running in the background) do consume memory resources, which can be serious problem if you don’t have enough memory at your disposal. In this post, we will show you a few ways to properly quit Metro apps.
There are 4 different ways to close/shutdown the Metro apps that Windows 8 provides you with. The first method involves the use of Switch List that contains all the running metro applications. Its fairly easy, to close an app from the Switch List, right click the app and select Close to shut down the app.
Next up, is using the task manager, you can easily quit the metro applications. It shows you all the currently running Metro apps in the Task Manager. Just Right click the running app and select End Task to close it.
The above mentioned methods let you close the Metro apps from outside the application interface. However, if you want to close the app without having to open Task Manager or access the Switch List, you can grab the App window from the top end and drag it all the way down to the bottom of the screen. This will immediately close the metro style application. You can also close any running metro style app using the Alt+F4 hotkey combination.
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AnandTech published the first SunSpider Javascript benchmarks for the iPhone 5. SunSpider measures Javascript performance which runs in web browsers.
Figures where impressive and it looks like it is leading the pack.
The chart below shows that better than a bunch of words.
Smaller numbers are better, so the final score of 914.7ms is better than all of the other devices on the chart and is the fastest SunSpider test they've ever recorded for a smartphone. The iPhone 5 is two and a half times as fast as the iPhone 4S (2250ms) and notably faster than the Samsung Galaxy S III (1442.9-1824.9ms).
Javascript is used as a measure of web browser performance, but the final score can be impacted by both the processor as well as the particular Javascript implementation on the device. Javascript is a common area of optimization due to its common usage on websites and may have been improved in iOS 6 which ships with the iPhone 5. AnandTech notes that the superior performance is likely a reflection of the Apple A6's improved memory subsystem.
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Here we going some concrete dates at last.
Microsoft officials confirmed on September 17 that Windows 8 will launch in New York City on October 25.
Here's the "Save the Date" invitation:
Microsoft is still not sharing the specific venue, time or agenda for the launch. Microsoft officials did share that there will be a Manhattan holiday pop-up store opening this fall, but declined to say whether it would be open in time for the Windows 8 launch.
Microsoft is making Windows 8 -- and Surface RT, its first tablet running the Windows RT on ARM version of the product -- available commercially on October 26.
New York City has been Microsoft's chosen site for many of its recent Windows launches, including Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.
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Windows 8 Tablet pricing is starting to dematerialise and it's looking bait bit steeper than Microsoft has lead us to believe.
First up: Asus has a trio of Windows 8 tablets on deck for the holidays, but the pricing is so high---$599 to $1,299 for a hybrid---that it's going to be nearly impossible to compete in the marketplace.
The challenges here are obvious despite Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's talk of a sweet spot.
In a nutshell:
• Asus isn't a business brand yet it is pricing its Windows tablet as if there were some enterprise secret sauce. Asus roadmap only highlighted upcoming products not the big sales pitch to differentiate these tablets.
• Also included in Asus' roadmap are details about 12 and 13-inch laptops. What's truly odd is that one laptop is $549 and the next-gen Transformer is $1,399. The Transformer Book is billed as "one device for two personalities between tablet and notebook."
• Consumers will balk at these tablet prices and a) either opt for a laptop or b) go with a cheaper tablet such as Apple's iPad or any variety of Android.
The roadmap here is preliminary in that Asus could change its pricing before the tablets launch along with Windows 8. But if the pricing sticks these tablets could have rough sledding ahead. Given the pricing fumbles of OEMs, it's no wonder that Microsoft has cooked up its Surface tablet. After all, Microsoft has the resources to lose money---just look at the billions lost in the search wars---in the name of market share.
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Motorola just launched an Android-powered desktop computer in China that hosts all sorts of home entertainment content. The HMC3260 has an 18.5-inch LED touchscreen that can play TV shows, movies, play games, browse the web, and otherwise run Android apps. Motorola partnered up with a cloud service provider called WASU to load this thing up with content. Here are the specs.
• Freescale i.MX53 ARM Cortex A8 1GHz
• Memory: 1 GB DDR RAM, 4 GB NAND flash memory.
• 18.5-inch LED display (1366x768 @ 60Hz, 16:9 widescreen)
• Android 2.3.4 operating system, customized Android Launcher with rich desktop experience
• TV and video client and integration
• Broadband internet access through EuroDOCSIS and LAN (PPPoE / DHCP +, etc.)
While Android is certainly no stranger to dipping its toes in the desktop computer world, it's not often we see big-name manufacturers create an all-out desktop device complete with a mouse and keyboard. It's still running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, so don't expect a whole lot from the Motorola HMC3260, but the concept sure is interesting.
There's no information on pricing or availability, but you can find more info at the source link below. Could you imagine an Android-powered device that would replace a traditional desktop computer? I'm looking at you, Transformer Prime owners.
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Microsoft helped disrupt more than 500 different strains of malware this week. in an attempt to deal to the Nitol botnet. Retailers in China selling computers with counterfeit versions of Windows loaded with malware where found and felt to. Microsoft discovered that 20 percent of the PCs its researchers purchased in China were infected with malware. Microsoft is calling on suppliers, resellers, distributors, and retailers to safeguard consumers from purchasing machines loaded with malware. "They need to adopt and practice stringent policies that ensure that the computers and software they purchase and resell come from trustworthy sources," says Microsoft's Richard Domingues Boscovich.
Microsoft has previously disrupted the Kelihos (around 100,000 machines) and Zeus botnets (around 13 million infections) by working closely with US officials. For this week's Nitol botnet disruption, a court granted Microsoft's request to takeover the 3322.org domain name, which hosted the Nitol botnet, through a DNS redirect — allowing the company to block Nitol and other malicious subdomains hosted at the site, including over 37 million malware connections. "Cybercriminals have made it clear that anyone with a computer could become an unwitting mule for malware," says Boscovich. "Today’s action is a step toward preventing that."
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The Wall Street Journal's Spencer Ante was lucky enough to try a pair of the glasses out for 10 minutes, and his verdict is mixed.
He explains that the glasses weigh just a few ounces, with an embedded camera and that all-important heads-up display we've long been hoping for, which projects data into the user's field of vision on a small screen above the right eye. He explains what they're like to use:
In all, the glasses are like a wearable smartphone, allowing the user to take pictures, send messages and perform other functions via voice-activated commands. For instance, say "OK, Glass" into one of the glasses' two microphones and a menu pops off to the side of your vision showing icons that will let you take a picture, record a video, use Google Maps or make a phone call.
After 10 minutes of playing with the glasses-which the company prefers to call Google Glass, since they don't have lenses-I could see their long-term potential. The device fit well. It was easy to snap a picture or video without taking my smartphone out of my pocket. It was cool to see the information there in front of my right eye, though a little disorienting. I kept closing my left eye, which was uncomfortable.
All told, it's clearly too early to tell how good the glasses will be, because the software that will provide most of their functionality isn't finished yet. Sergey Brin explained to Ante that the HUD mapping system wasn't ready, nor was the phone functionality. With a $1,500 early-adopter launch coming up next year, the pressure's on. [WSJ]
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We've seen and heard about many of the new features coming to iOS 6 already, but with the announcement of the iPhone 5, we now know exactly when it's coming: September 19.
Little has been added in the way of functionality aside from what we saw at WWDC, but it will be compatible with devices all the way back to the iPhone 3GS (along with the iPhone 4 and 4S, and the iPad 2 and New iPad). Below is a rundown of the new features, and if you're unfamiliar with what's already been announced in iOS 6 there's a quick rundown of the other notable features.
iMessage: With the latest iOS 6 beta, Apple quietly introduced the ability to send, receive and sync iMessages between multiple devices, even if its sent to your phone number. Messaging on iOS is now a near seamless experience that allows you to pick up any of your Apple devices (or even Messages on Mountain Lion), and continue a previous conversation in stride
.
Wi-Fi + Cellular: A new secret little feature in iOS 6 is the ability to keep your cellular data alive if there's no internet available on a wi-fi network you might be connected to. Maybe you're on a network that's set up solely for AirPlay, or maybe you've setup an ad hoc connection with a wi-fi flash drive. Either way, it's nice not to lose mobile data entirely. Also expect this to play nice with AirPlay direct.
Siri: The search functionality of Siri has been greatly expanded to fetch sports scores, list movie times and book tables at restaurants. It's almost to the point where it serves some practical function in our lives.
Maps: Gone are Google Maps. In its place is Apple's own home-cooked Maps app, complete with data from TomTom. From what we've seen so far, it's not a finished product quite yet, but the addition of 3D maps and turn-by-turn navigation are welcome additions to be sure.
Passbook: Apple's answer to Google Wallet and Pay With Square is Passbook. It will store your credit card data, customer rewards cards, coupons and plane tickets. And either with the use of a QR code or bluetooth, merchants can collect your payment info and send you on your way.
Facebook: Like being able to Tweet from anywhere in iOS? You can do the same with Facebook now. And as an added bonus, you can update Facebook and Twitter straight from notification center. Just be careful with contact sync, as Facebook will overwrite your contacts primary info with its own.
Facetime over 3G: Like Facetiming on the go? If you do, you can now do it over 3G without needing a wi-fi connection. Just as long as you're not on AT&T.
iCloud Tabs: iCloud tabs is a nice little feature that will allow you to access open Safari tabs on other iCloud connected devices. Pages viewed on iPhones, iPads, MacBooks (running Mountain Lion) can all be accessed from any device. A bit overdue, perhaps, but a welcome feature nonetheless.
YouTube: Apple's baked-in YouTube app is no longer available in iOS. Be sure to download Google's standalone app if you don't want to view YouTube vids in Safari.
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Apple's new Lightning connector, the replacement for the old 30-pin, and the way you'll be charging and syncing all your iPads, Pods, and Phones from now on.
According to Apple, the Lightning connector is more durable, reversible (making it easier to use), and "adaptive". It's 80 percent smaller than the old 30-pin. The cable itself is $20. And sadly, it's only USB 2.0. Ugh. There is an adapter to use old 30-pin gadgets with it, but it looks like it's over an inch thick, and is $30. There's a cable version of the adapter for $40.
Before today, Apple had used a 30-pin connector with its iPhones and iPods since 2003, when the third generation iPod switched over from FireWire.
The 30-pin connector was useful because it allowed Apple to use the connector to control accessories using only the iPod or iPhone in a way traditional USB connectors couldn't. But over the years, all the old tech stuffed into it became too heavy and too spacious an anchor, so Apple tossed it all out
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Apple announced it's new A6 chip for the iPhone 5. No word on whether it's quad core or not, but it's 22 percent smaller than the old A5 and has twice the GPU and graphics power. The A5 to the A5X was a huge graphics leap itself, so we'll let you know when we know more about it.
Apple is also claiming the A6 will help the camera take pictures 40 percent faster, and power better image stabilization, and photos from video.
As reference, the A5X at the time was billed as twice as powerful graphically as the A5 as well. So that's a little confusing, but we'll figure it out once the official specs come out. Either way, that soft stat represents a boost in CPU performance from the A5X. Apple also claims that it makes all these gains in performance while actively increasingly battery efficiency.
Cocktail napkin math would suggest that the A6 went to a 1GHz or 1.5GHz quad core processor, leaving behind the dual core A5x, but there's nothing official from Apple just yet.
For now, though, expect a boost in graphics, launch time, and battery life from the A6.
Apple finally putting its old, terrible earbuds to rest. The new ones, dubbed "EarPods" mark a bit of a shift, but still retain their iconic, white, hey-look-at-me-I've-got-an-iPhone-in-my-pocket color. Unlike the previous 'phones, these guys are the in-ear type, and will hopefully sound and fit a little better than the good old-fashioned kind. They'll be coming bundled with iPhone 5, the iPod Touch, and the iPod nano, and are also available separately starting now, and cost $29.
It might not be the biggest iPhone 5 update, or the one you're the most excited for, but it's probably the one that was the longest time coming. Hopefully they'll justify their weird look by being better than their.
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The iPhone 5 is announced and its thinner, taller 2x faster.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook took to the stage a short while ago at the Yerba Buena Centre, San Francisco, along with a bevy of other company executives and vice-presidents, to announce the sixth-generation iPhone.
In a small pocket of San Francisco, technology press gathered to learn what the new iPhone would look and feel like, despite the dozens of leaks that led up to today's announcement. Nonetheless, the news was in no way dampened by the series of cracks in Apple's tight-lipped mantra.
The new iPhone comes in 3 different flavors: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, costing $199, $299 and $399 respectively on a two-year contract. Pre-orders start on September 14 and Apple will begin shipping the devices September 21.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook took to the stage a short while ago at the Yerba Buena Center, San Francisco, along with a bevy of other company executives and vice-presidents, to announce the sixth-generation iPhone.
In a small pocket of San Francisco, technology press gathered to learn what the new iPhone would look and feel like, despite the dozens of leaks that led up to today's announcement. Nonetheless, the news was in no way dampened by the series of cracks in Apple's tight-lipped mantra.
The new iPhone comes in 3 different flavors: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, costing $199, $299 and $399 respectively on a two-year contract. Pre-orders start on Setember 14 and Apple will begin shipping the devices September 21.
iOS 6 will be released on September 19. It is available on the iPhone 4, 4S, 3GS, the iPad 2, iPad 3, and the fourth-generation iPod touch.
The iPhone 4 will replace the iPhone 3GS as Apple's entry-level smartphone, and will be free on a two-year contract.
Here's what Apple is serving up in the iPhone 5:
Apple's iPhone 5 event
A brand new design: The iPhone 5 is the thinnest phone Apple has ever made, with a 4-inch Retina display, boasting 1136 x 640 pixels (or 326 pixels per inch) with a 16:9 ratio. The screen is not wider as anticipated, however. The screen also has 44 percent more color saturation than the iPhone 4S.
The iPhone 5 is also taller to accommodate an extra line of apps in the home screen. The handset is also 18 percent thinner, at 7.6mm the device is 20 percent lighter than the iPhone 4S at 112g.
Global 4G LTE connectivity: Dubbed "Ultrafast Wireless," the handset now includes HDPA+, DC-HSPDA, and 4G LTE for global next-generation networking. LTE is on a single chip for voice and data. The handset has a dynamic antenna that allows the phone to switch between different networks.
Available on Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon in the U.S.; Softbank, Smartone, Singtel, SK Telecom in Asia; and Deutsche Telekom and EE in Europe.
The iPhone 5 also includes 802.11n Wi-Fi networking (2.4GHz and 5GHz), allowing for speeds up to 150Mbps.
Improved processor: The A6 debuts in the new iPhone, a processor that is twice as fast as the A5 chip and twice as fast in graphics as well, making way for faster performance. It's also 22 percent smaller than the A5 in the iPhone 4S.
Battery life improvements: The battery now exceeds that of the iPhone 4S, allowing for 8 hours of 3G talk time, 3G browsing and LTE browsing. It accommodates 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing. Crucially, the device will last on standby for 225 hours.
iSight camera: Featuring an 8 megapixel camera, it takes photos at 3264 x 2448 resolution. It also has backside illumination and a five-element lens. The camera itself is 25 percent smaller.
The new A6 chip has a "smart filter" and image signal processor that allows for 40 percent quicker photo taking, even in low-light conditions.
Users can also take 1080p video, and the stabilization has improved. It features face detection for up to 10 people.
'Lightning' dock connector: An 80 percent smaller dock connector. Accessory makers have been working with Apple to support new peripherals. Apple will also provide an adapter for the old 30-pin dock connector, which has been used since 2003.
A quick rundown of the other hardware specifications:
• FaceTime HD with 720p support;
• FaceTime now works over 3G with iOS 6;
• Speaker has five magnets, up from two, featuring better quality and using 20 percent less space;
• Noise cancelling improvements, called "Wideband audio."
And last, but most certainly not least:
iOS 6: Despite the new iPhone design and the wealth of new features, ultimately it will be the software that carries the next-generation smartphone. Dubbed the "world's most advanced mobile operating system," Apple will make the latest mobile software available to download for older devices later this month.
Included with iOS 6 we have:
• Maps: Maps have been built up completely from the ground. iOS no longer users Google Maps, but instead has its own in-house solution. It includes traffic notifications, 3D graphics, and driving directions. A new "Flyover" feature allows users to see 3D satellite imagery and 3D buildings in non-satellite view.
• Panorama: As the leaks suggested, the new iSight camera allows for panoramic photo taking, up to 28 megapixels in total. The iPhone takes slices of photos and stiches them together in realtime, creating a seamless transition between the individual photos taken.
• Passbook: Passbook keeps your boarding passes, store cards and e-ticket details all in one place. If you're airline or coffee shop supports Passbook -- many already are -- your passes appear when you reach the airport or the store where you can check-in or redeem your gift card or coupon. If, for example, your gate changes after you have checked in, Passbook will tell you where you need to go next.
• Facebook integration: Facebook is integrated by default with iOS 6, in much of the same way Twitter was with iOS 5. Simply open up the Settings and install it directly to your device. It's integrated deep into the operating system. We'll see more of this later.
• Privacy improvements: Settings now includes a Privacy option. This follows the Path contact list uploading controversy earlier this year. Twitter was also embroiled in the privacy mess. Users are now explicitly asked for consent before any personal data is accessed within the iPhone or iPad.
• Do Not Disturb: Users can schedule the Do Not Disturb setting to prevent the device from making sounds during sleeping hours. However, if an important call comes through -- from your family members in an emergency, for instance -- your iPhone will still ring. If they ring back again shortly after, it will ring again.
A quick rundown of the other iOS 6 features:
• New fullscreen mode in Safari;
• iCloud syncronizing tabs in Safari;
• VIP in email, collecting messages from important people in one place;
• Siri improvements, now includes sports scores, movie timings, restaurant bookings;
• Siri can also update your Facebook status;
• Shared Photo Streams to share photo content with your friends;
• Enhancements to accessibility for those with disabilities;
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Not much extra to see here this is a review done by Engadget.
Only thing I would add and its a big thing not mentioned is the Amazon apps store and therefore the Kindle Fires are all only available in the US.
You CANNOT access the store outside of the USA so it makes these units totally useless for none USZ based users.
More Info
It was 10 months ago that we had a doppelgänger in our midst. Amazon unleashed the Kindle Fire to the world and we spent much of the beginning of our review comparing and contrasting it to the (even then a bit long-in-the-tooth) BlackBerry PlayBook. Now, finally, we can stop making that comparison -- at least for this, Amazon's current top-shelf tablet.
It's the Kindle Fire HD and it quite handily addresses nearly every concern that we had with the original Fire. It's thinner, lighter, faster and, yes, better looking. It's a huge step forward from that which came before and yet it still follows very much in the footsteps of its predecessor, existing as a physical portal to a digital marketplace with an alluring selection of premium content. Is it enough of an improvement to topple our current king of budget tablets, the Nexus 7? You'll just have to read on to find out.
Amazon Kindle Fire HD review
Hardware
To borrow a bit of cigarette marketing, the Kindle Fire HD has come a long way, baby.
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FireCore has released version 2.0 of its aTV Flash (black) program, which is specifically aimed at jailbroken second- and third-generation Apple TVs (the small black model that sells for $99). The new update is not yet working for the latest, 1080p-supporting black Apple TV, but brings a new Library View, integrated search, trakt.tv and Last.fm scrobbling, Recently Added displays and more to second-gen Apple TV units.
The software is a popular choice for owners of black (or the older "silver") Apple TV units that are either out of warranty or simply want the unit to be able to play video formats other than those stored and supported in iTunes. The program features it's own menu system that works alongside the usual Apple TV menu and features, but can show media files stored on network drives and other devices. The program supports video formats like MKV and AVI and features Internet access, Last.fm radio stations, subtitle support and other features.
The new version 2.0 features a Library View that indexes media from across devices and platforms and organizes movies, TV and music by tags and genre, release date, star rating, age rating and other optional criteria. TV show seasons are automatically recognized and sorted together. There is also now an integrated search so that users can type in partial titles, artists, filenames or other information rather than just browse.
The latest version also has trakt.tv syncing for those with multiple Apple TV units in a household, allowing a program watched on one unit to be marked as watched on another unit. Users can also mark programs as watched on the trakt.tv website and the info will be reflected on the owner's Apple TV units. The Last.fm support includes scrobbling so that users can track their listening habits in their Last.fm account.
Other improvements include better handling of WTV files and DVD audio tracks, improvements to AFP connections and subtitle handling. FireCore says that when it can get the program working for third-generation Apple TV units (visually identical to the second-generation machines except for 1080p resolution support), it will make the update available free for current customers. The program for second-gen Apple TV users is also a free update available through the Maintenance menu.
The aTV program requires second-gen Apple TV units to be running OS version 4.4 or higher. The program costs $30, and works only with jailbroken units (FireCore provides its own Seas0nPass jailbreaking tool for free).
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An Australian Business Traveler reported that a reader was recently able to load a boarding pass into Passbook while checking in to a Virgin Australia flight by simply using his iPhone running iOS 6:
AusBT reader Shaun Lorrain checked in for a Virgin Australia flight using the airline’s mobile website on his iPhone, which is running a developer preview edition of iOS 6 – and this is what he saw…. Yes, iOS 6 detected the mobile checkin and offered to save the boarding pass into Shaun’s Passbook account…Passbook also offers live updates to these e-passes, such as flight delays and changes to the airport boarding gate…United Airlines has already committed to supporting Passbook with its own mobile boarding passes, and other airlines won’t be slow to jump onto that bandwagon.
Interestingly, this popup message is not actually coming from iOS itself, but rather from the airline’s website, which has detected iOS 6 as the phone’s operating system. This means, at any time over the next few days, other airlines and businesses could start adding Passbook support to their websites too. The web is not curated like the App Store, so these updates can roll out without approval from Apple.
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The Nokia's Windows Phone event this morning, which showed off the new flagship Nokia Lumia 920 with a brief nod to the mode budget-friendly Nokia Lumia 820. Daniel Rubino from our Mobile Nations sibling site, WPCentral was there live to catch all the actions.
Along with some digs at Samsung (for their "first" Windows Phone 8 device being unfinished) and Apple (for putting needless metal elements in their antennas), Nokia threw the spotlight on location services, including their traditional maps products, transit directions (which will be offloaded to 3rd party apps in iOS 6), indoor directions, and some interesting if awkward Augmented Reality features. Inductive charging was also front-and-center, along with partnerships to bring compatible chargers to places like Virgin Atlantic lounges, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf outlets, and retails products like Fatboys.
Once again the materials look out of this world. Literally. Nokia stressed how you could pound nails with the Lumia 920. Literally. The screen is curved and gorgeous and intelligently tries to prevent glare when used outside. The assemblies are ceramic to prevent scratches, and the whole, solid unit looks built to last. Apple and Nokia are both making phenomenal, iconic hardware these days. No one else is coming close.
The most impressive part of the demo, however, was the Lumia 920 camera. Building off Nokia's PureView brand, it sports a massive, over-sampling lens with an f2.0 aperture that's essentially "floated" so it can capture more light, longer, and produce truly amazing images. A series of "lens" apps, including Microsoft's Photosynth allow for extended features and functionality as well.
It will be interesting to see if Phil Schiller, who's been handling the iPhone camera demos for the last few Apple events, can show off something competitive on September 12.
Microsoft's Joe Belfiore also previewed home screen tile customizations and a new feature of Windows Phone 8: Press the Home and Power button at the same time, and you get a screenshot. You're welcome, bloggers.
Steve Ballmer came out at the end to proclaim 2012 the "year of Windows", which was a bit odd since, from Microsoft's perspective, which year wouldn't be the year of Windows?
The biggest disappointment of the event, however, was that absolutely no pricing or launch date information was provided. Similar to the Microsoft Surface event, it smacked of something thrown together quickly to grab some b-roll from the iPhone 5, with neither the Windows Phone 8 feature set nor go-to-market strategy actually finished yet.
And that's too bad. Because those details matter. And you better believe that on September 12, Apple will announce a price and ship date for iPhone 5.
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Softbank Mobile Corp and Universal Robot Co Ltd co-developed software that enables personal authentication with hand veins by using a smartphone camera, etc.
In the past, a separate device was required to realize this function. The two companies aim to commercialize the software within fiscal 2012.
This time, Softbank Mobile and Universal Robot eliminated the need for an infrared device by developing their own algorithm that uses visible light to detect veins. Moreover, they employed a mechanism that extracts not only veins but also a palm pattern from the image of a palm taken by using visible light and uses them for personal authentication. Because palm patterns can be easily obtained, the new mechanism realizes highly-accurate, stable authentication, compared with authentication using only veins, they said.
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Apple has announced it will indeed hold a special media event on September 12 in San Francisco. The event will take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern.
Invitation are out from Apple and features the text “It’s almost here” along with a large number 12 casting the shadow of a numeral 5, which would seem to lend credence to suggestions that Apple will be announcing the iPhone 5. The company’s also likely to discuss iOS 6, which it first announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June and is due for release in the fall.
Plenty of whispers about the iPhone 5 have been circulating in the past months, and many of them have centered around a September 12 event. Among the most pervasive rumors have been a phone with a larger display, the addition of LTE networking, and a new dock-connector port. In about a week, we’ll see which of these rumors are true and which are dead.
