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Next Office for Mac leaks, shots of UI appear

<b>A Chinese website yesterday published what it claimed were screenshots of Microsoft's next edition of Office for the Mac.</b><br />
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<b><br /></b>The nearly two dozen screenshots posted by cnBeta.com were of Outlook, the email client that’s included in Office on both Windows and OS X. cnBeta.com said that the screenshots were taken from a leaked internal test version of the application.<br />
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Some long-time Microsoft watchers, including Tom Warren of The Verge, have reported that previews of a new Office for Windows have been circulating among partners and testers. The software that cnBeta.com obtained may have come from a similar early-look program for Office on the Mac.<br />
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cnBeta.com’s screenshots showed an Outlook more closely aligned with the user interface (UI) of the client in Office 2013, the current edition for Windows, and fit OS X Yosemite’s look-and-feel with a “flatter” design.<br />
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According to the leaked build, Outlook will still rely on a “ribbon” at the top of the window, a UI feature that debuted in Office for Mac 2011 four years ago to some resistance.<br />
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Additionally, the new Outlook will integrate with OS X’s Notification Center to show the most-recently-received messages. And, not surprisingly, the suite’s applications will be tightly bound to Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud-based service for document storage and collaborative work.<br />
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Where's the new version?<br />
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An upgrade from Office for Mac 2011 is long overdue: Microsoft shipped that edition in October 2010. The long lag time has implications because 2011’s support retirement date—when the company stops providing security updates—is Jan. 12, 2016, less than 14 months away.<br />
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In the past, Microsoft’s OS X development team has talked up upcoming editions, but this cycle there was been only silence from the company. Among the unknowns are a release date, the name of the edition and pricing.<br />
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One certainty is that the next Office for Mac will be available to subscribers of Office 365, Microsoft’s rent-not-buy program. It’s also likely that Microsoft will continue to offer perpetual licenses—the traditional kind that are paid for once, with rights to use the software as long as the customer wants—because revenue from the Office 365 subscription model continues to lag far behind the more familiar one-off or volume perpetual licenses.<br />
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It’s also a good bet that Microsoft will retain the price synchronization of retail Mac licenses with Windows’ Office 2013, a move the company made last year when it introduced Office 365. Currently, a single-license Office for Mac Home & Student lists for $139.99, and Home & Business for $219.99, prices identical to the same-named version of Office 2013.<br />
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The Office 365 editions of Office for Mac 2011 are equivalent to Home & Business in that they include Outlook, but subscribers can also use Office on tablets, such as Office for iPad.<br />
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cnBeta.com also cited “Outlook 16” as the application’s formal name, implying Microsoft has skipped a version: Office for Mac 2011’s Outlook was pegged v. 14. The v. 16 may indicate that the next Office for OS X will be based on the same code as the next edition for Windows: Office 2013 is formally tagged v. 15. Rumors have also pinned the code name “Office 16” on the upcoming Windows edition.<br />
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Office 16, probably named to match Microsoft’s convention, may launch as early as the spring of 2015. If that’s the case, and Microsoft releases a companion upgrade for the Mac at the same time—or even earlier—it would be another departure for the Redmond, Wash. company, which in the past has shipped the OS X version an average of six months after the one for Windows.<br />
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On the side of an early appearance of Office for the Mac is the fact that Microsoft shipped a touch-only version for the iPad in March, but has yet to do the same for touch-centric Windows devices, including Microsoft’s own Surface.</div>
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Next Office for Mac leaks, shots of UI appear

A Chinese website yesterday published what it claimed were screenshots of Microsoft's next edition of Office for the Mac. The nearly two dozen screenshots posted by cnBeta.com were of Outlook, the email client that’s included in Office on both Windows and OS X. cnBeta.com said that the screenshots w…

03Nov2014

Lenovo's new 13-inch 'Yoga' tablet is as big as its Windows Ultrabooks

<b>Lenovo seems to be coming full circle. After knocking our socks off with the original Yoga, a 13-inch Ultrabook whose screen could fold all the way back, the company followed up with a spinoff product called the Yoga Tablet.</b><br />
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Today, the lineup includes both Android and Windows tablets, mostly in the 8- and 10-inch range. Now, though, Lenovo is blurring the lines: Its new 13-inch Yoga Tablet 2 is the same size as its ultraportable laptops, except it has a kickstand that folds out of the back, and the optional keyboard doesn't attach to the device.<br />
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It's a weird little device: It looks like a tablet, but it's the same size as a notebook, and its screen (2,560 x 1,440) is about as sharp, too. What's even stranger is that on the inside, it actually runs more in line with a netbook, thanks to a quad-core Atom processor (though four gigs of RAM might help speed things up). All told, then, it definitely seems like a niche product: a large tablet, and an unpowered one, at that. Then again, the power-sipping chip could have at least one benefit: The battery life here is rated at up to 15 hours, far longer than most Ultrabooks we know of. It's also lighter than any 13-inch laptop, at 2.27 pounds. Still, will you want to pay a full $700 and up for it when it comes out next month? We'll leave that to you and your wallet.<br />
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Lenovo seems to be coming full circle. After knocking our socks off with the original Yoga, a 13-inch Ultrabook whose screen could fold all the way back, the company followed up with a spinoff product called the Yoga Tablet. Today, the lineup includes both Android and Windows tablets, mostly in the 8- and 10-inch range. Now, though, Lenovo is blurring the lines: Its new 13-inch Yoga Tablet 2 is the same size as its ultraportable laptops, except it has a kickstand that folds out of the back, and the optional keyboard doesn't attach to the device.<br />
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It's a weird little device: It looks like a tablet, but it's the same size as a notebook, and its screen (2,560 x 1,440) is about as sharp, too. What's even stranger is that on the inside, it actually runs more in line with a netbook, thanks to a quad-core Atom processor (though four gigs of RAM might help speed things up). All told, then, it definitely seems like a niche product: a large tablet, and an unpowered one, at that. Then again, the power-sipping chip could have at least one benefit: The battery life here is rated at up to 15 hours, far longer than most Ultrabooks we know of. It's also lighter than any 13-inch laptop, at 2.27 pounds. Still, will you want to pay a full $700 and up for it when it comes out next month? We'll leave that to you and your wallet.</div>
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Lenovo's new 13-inch 'Yoga' tablet is as big as its Windows Ultrabooks

Lenovo seems to be coming full circle. After knocking our socks off with the original Yoga, a 13-inch Ultrabook whose screen could fold all the way back, the company followed up with a spinoff product called the Yoga Tablet. Today, the lineup includes both Android and Windows tablets, mostly in the …

31Oct2014

Google Reveals Nano Pill To Seek Out Cancerous Cells

<b>Detecting cancer could be as easy as popping a pill in the near future. Google’s head of life sciences, Andrew Conrad, took to the stage at the Wall Street Journal Digital conference to reveal that the tech giant’s secretive Google[x] lab has been working on a wearable device that couples with nanotechnology to detect disease within the body.</b><br />
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<b><br /></b>“We’re passionate about switching from reactive to proactive and we’re trying to provide the tools that make that feasible,” explained Conrad. This is a third project in a series of health initiatives for Google[x]. The team has already developed a smart contact lens that detects glucose levels for diabetics and utensils that help manage hand tremors in Parkinson’s patients.<br />
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The plan is to test whether tiny particles coated “magnetized” with antibodies can catch disease in its nascent stages. The tiny particles are essentially programmed to spread throughout the body via pill and then latch on to the abnormal cells. The wearable device then “calls” the nanoparticles back to ask them what’s going on with the body and to find out if the person who swallowed the pill has cancer or other diseases.<br />
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“Think of it as sort of like a mini self-driving car,” Conrad simplified with a clear reference to Google[x]‘s vehicular project. “We can make it park where we want it to.” Conrad went on with the car theme, saying the body is more important than a car and comparing our present healthcare system as something that basically only tries to change our oil after we’ve broken down. “We wouldn’t do that with a car,” he added.<br />
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Similar to Y Combinator-backed Bikanta, the cells can also fluoresce with certain materials within the nanoparticles, helping cancer cells to show up on an MRI scan much earlier than has been possible before.<br />
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This has all sorts of implications in medicine. According to a separately released statement from Google today, “Maybe there could be a test for the enzymes given off by arterial plaques that are about to rupture and cause a heart attack or stroke. Perhaps someone could develop a diagnostic for post-surgery or post-chemo cancer patients – that’s a lot of anxious people right there (note: we’d leave this ‘product development’ work to companies we’d license the tech to; they’d develop specific diagnostics and test them for efficacy and safety in clinical trials.”<br />
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We essentially wouldn’t need to go into the doctor and give urine and blood samples anymore. According to Conrad, we’d simply swallow a pill and monitor for disease on a daily basis. We’d also be able to upload that data into the cloud and send it to our doctor. “So your doctor could say well for 312 days of this year everything looks good but these past couple of months we’re detecting disease,” Conrad said.<br />
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Privacy and security, particularly in health care is essential. Google came under fire in the last couple of years for handing over information to the U.S. government. Conrad was quick to mention that a partner, not Google would be handling individual data. “It’d be like saying GE is in control of your x-ray. We are the creators of the tech and they are the disseminators,” Conrad clarified.<br />
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The U.S. government has an active interest in this space, as well. It’s invested over $20 billion in nanotechnology research since 2013.<br />
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This project is in the exploratory phases but Conrad was hopeful that we’d be seeing this technology in the hands of every doctor within the next decade. He also mentioned that his team has explored ways of not just detecting abnormal cells but also delivering medicine at the same time. “That’s certainly been discussed,” he said, but cautioned that this was something that needed to be carefully developed so that the nanoparticles had a chance to show what was happening in the body before destroying the cells.<br />
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So far 100 Google employees with expertise in astrophysics, chemistry and electrical engineering have taken part in the nanoparticle project. “We’re trying to stave off death by preventing disease. Our foe is unnecessary death,” Conrad added.</div>
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Google Reveals Nano Pill To Seek Out Cancerous Cells

Detecting cancer could be as easy as popping a pill in the near future. Google’s head of life sciences, Andrew Conrad, took to the stage at the Wall Street Journal Digital conference to reveal that the tech giant’s secretive Google[x] lab has been working on a wearable device that couples with nanot…

29Oct2014

Facebook sales, driven by mobile, shoot up nearly 60 percent

<b>Facebook continues to reap rewards in mobile, growing its crucial ads business in large part due to ads placed on smaller screens, the company reported Tuesday.</b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><br /></b>Total sales for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 amounted to US$3.2 billion, up 59 percent from the same period last year, and beating consensus analyst expectations of $3.12 billion, as polled by Thomson Reuters.<br /><br />Roughly two-thirds of sales, or 66 percent, came from ads placed on mobile devices, Facebook reported, up from just under half of all revenue coming from mobile a year ago.<br /><br />Facebook’s ability to monetize its site with ads on smaller screens was in previous years a concern to investors, but the company has demonstrated considerable progress there.<br /><br />Facebook also reported decent gains in growing its user base, a critical element in attracting and retaining advertisers. The number of users who logged in at least once a month clocked in at 1.35 billion, Facebook said, up 14 percent.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the number of users who logged in daily—another important metric—rose by 19 percent to 864 million.<br /><br />Facebook stock was at around $79.99 in after hours trading following its earnings report, down slightly from its close of $80.77, possibly signaling lingering investor concerns over Facebook’s progress toward growing its audience.<br /><br />Facebook nearly doubled its net income for the third quarter, to $806 million.<br /><br />The company’s adjusted earnings per share was $0.43, above analyst estimates of $0.40.<br /><br />CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in Facebook’s announcement, called the results “strong,” showing a “good quarter.”<br /></div>
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Facebook sales, driven by mobile, shoot up nearly 60 percent

Facebook continues to reap rewards in mobile, growing its crucial ads business in large part due to ads placed on smaller screens, the company reported Tuesday. Total sales for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 amounted to US$3.2 billion, up 59 percent from the same period last year, and beating cons…

28Oct2014

Microsoft Android Wear app lets you search Bing by twisting your wrist

<b>Slightly irked that you have to say "OK Google" whenever you want to use voice search on your Android Wear smartwatch? Microsoft, of all companies, is coming to your rescue.</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Microsoft Android Wear app lets you search Bing by twisting your wrist</td></tr>
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The developer is leading a trio of experimental Android releases with Torque, an app that lets you start a Bing search just by twisting your wrist; you only have to speak when you're asking your question. You'll get optimized output for certain kinds of search results, including maps, stocks and weather.<br />
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The other apps are meant solely for your phone, but they could be equally handy. Next Lock Screen puts important at the top level of your phone, including missed calls and frequently used apps; you can also change the lock screen's background depending on your location. Journeys & Notes, meanwhile, lets you write notes to share with anyone else who visits nearby, such as tips about what to eat. All three of Microsoft's latest Android apps are free, so it probably won't hurt to give them a try.</div>
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Microsoft Android Wear app lets you search Bing by twisting your wrist

Slightly irked that you have to say "OK Google" whenever you want to use voice search on your Android Wear smartwatch? Microsoft, of all companies, is coming to your rescue. Microsoft Android Wear app lets you search Bing by twisting your wrist The developer is leading a trio of experimental Android…

24Oct2014

It costs $50 to plug an Xbox One Kinect into your PC

<b>What's stopping you from creating the first killer Kinect 2.0 hack? Well, now that Microsoft's released the do-all sensor's SDK to the public for free you don't have many more excuses.</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It costs $50 to plug an Xbox One Kinect into your PC</td></tr>
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The software development kit is available without any fees and what's more, you can now put any finished apps up for sale on the Windows Store as well. Just like that! To help developers along even further, Redmond is releasing an adapter that makes the Xbox One Kinect play nicely with a Windows 8 PC. Meaning, they won't have to use a hack to create a hack (or buy a redundant Windows Kinect). The $50 USB 3.0 dongle not only brings price parity between the two previously separate cameras, but it'sanother instance of Microsoft reversing a previous hardline policy to better suit its customers too. Now, get out there and get cracking -- the hardware giant already has a head start on you.<br />
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Update: Developer Ubi Interactive, known for large-screen gesture control installations, has posted a trio of brief, new videos demoing some fresh uses for the Kinect 2.0. We've embedded them below.</div>
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It costs $50 to plug an Xbox One Kinect into your PC

What's stopping you from creating the first killer Kinect 2.0 hack? Well, now that Microsoft's released the do-all sensor's SDK to the public for free you don't have many more excuses. It costs $50 to plug an Xbox One Kinect into your PC The software development kit is available without any fees and…

24Oct2014

Google to build Play-like hardware store for Project Ara

<b>Drawing inspiration from its Play Store, Google will create a hardware store in which users can buy and sell Lego-like hardware modules for the customizable Project Ara smartphone.</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google to build Play-like hardware store for Project Ara</td></tr>
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Project Ara is Google’s upcoming build-your-own smartphone that allows users to mix and match features. The $50 configurable smartphone will come with a basic frame, and users can add or remove features by simply snapping on or taking off modular parts.<br />
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For example, users will be able to individually swap out screens, cameras, antennas and CPUs, which could be a cheaper way to replace parts than buying new smartphones. Google is pursuing biometric modules, and independent hardware makers have mulled creating temperature, input, gaming, antenna and medical sensors. Modules can be designed with Google’s Module Developers Kit (MDK), which contains reference designs, specifications and guidelines.<br />
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“Anybody can create a module per the specifications of the developer’s kit and put it in the Ara module marketplace, which is analogous to the Google Play Store, and sell directly to consumers,” said Paul Eremenko, head of Project Ara at Google’s ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects) division, during a question and answer session at Purdue University earlier this month.<br />
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Rankings and ratings<br />
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Buyers will be able to see the most popular modules based on reviews and user ratings, much like with apps in the Google Play store, Eremenko said.<br />
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A market pilot for Project Ara will begin in 2015, during which Google will try to understand usage and iron out kinks. Google has developed three Project Ara smartphone prototypes with different screen sizes, and Eremenko indicated it could be a while until final products ship worldwide. </div>
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“There’s a lot more that we need to do in terms of retiring technical risks on the project. We have probably two more ...prototypes to make. And during the market pilot we have a lot to learn about how people interact with this device,” Eremenko said.<br />
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Modular phones are not a new concept. Israeli company Modu in 2010 announced Brewphone, to which keyboard, speaker and camera modules could be attached. ZTE isdeveloping a customizable smartphone called Eco-Mobius, which has not yet been released.<br />
<br />
The viability of Project Ara has been heavily debated, but Eremenko believed consumers will appreciate its flexibility.<br />
<br />
“If we can span price points that range from a feature phone crossover price point all the way to an aspirational, very high-end device that may be able to do...portable medical diagnostics, that could potentially help us on the way of delivering the mobile Internet to the next five billion people who are not smartphone enabled,” Eremenko said.<br />
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Success defined by flexibility<br />
<br />
The success of Project Ara could ultimately lie on its functionality, which will be defined by the swappable modules. Eremenko wants to make module development easy, and his team is working on new design tools to make hardware design as simple as writing mobile apps.<br />
<br />
“Today it takes maybe 12, 18, 24 months to make a new smartphone and bring it to market and we’re hoping to get that down to a couple of months,” Eremenko said.<br />
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Google is encouraging developers to come up new module ideas, and is also working on some of its own. The company is chasing the idea of “adaptive commerce experiences” in which health sensors can track monitor human biometric signals.<br />
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“That includes galvanic skin response, sweat levels, your pupil dilation, gaze direction, and a variety of things that we can pick up non-invasively about you as you’re interacting with the e-commerce system. If you’re stressed or impatient or bored with the experience, we could present a differently curated experience,” Eremenko said.<br />
<br />
During the talk, Eremenko also floated the idea of secure modules with private user information, which can be swapped depending on who’s using the smartphone.<br />
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Google and Linaro are developing a custom version of Android for Project Ara. Work is underway around plug-and-play recognition so modules are identified immediately without restarting the smartphone. Much like USB attachments, modules will be recognized based on different driver “classes,” such as those for storage, input, networking, imaging and others. Some modules not recognized, like high-end cameras, will be placed in isolated zones so as not to compromise the smartphone.<br />
<br />
The modules are electropermanent magnets that can turn on and off but use no power in either state. Instead of connectors, the modules use inductive coupling for data transfers.<br />
<br />
To make module development cheaper, Google ATAP is also partnering with companies like Flextronics and Quanta so developers can inexpensively turn designs into actual hardware.</div>

Google to build Play-like hardware store for Project Ara

Drawing inspiration from its Play Store, Google will create a hardware store in which users can buy and sell Lego-like hardware modules for the customizable Project Ara smartphone. Google to build Play-like hardware store for Project Ara Project Ara is Google’s upcoming build-your-own smartphone tha…

23Oct2014

Android 5.0 Lollipop to hit the wild on November 3

<b>Google is telling developers to step on it if they want their apps ready for a November 3 release of Android Lollipop.</b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTCbmeKdXqEiiKNDp_kHDw4-8vsw6XP_eU_KvNkMLf0BkpO17oiAUAMz1wZlE4NBJkAJSL0aR43rqh-M2n0h6SkF6T8i-9RS51UUQd9B608aHc-cTJSA-7ySN3hBpQKCFVrYMJmKn9rOzh/s1600/Android-5.0-Lollipop-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="alt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTCbmeKdXqEiiKNDp_kHDw4-8vsw6XP_eU_KvNkMLf0BkpO17oiAUAMz1wZlE4NBJkAJSL0aR43rqh-M2n0h6SkF6T8i-9RS51UUQd9B608aHc-cTJSA-7ySN3hBpQKCFVrYMJmKn9rOzh/s1600/Android-5.0-Lollipop-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="Android 5.0 Lollipop to hit the wild on November 3" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Android 5.0 Lollipop to hit the wild on November 3</td></tr>
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It’s the first specific date we’ve heard, which means the newest flavor of Android will start hitting the street in less than two weeks. The Nexus 9 preorders start shipping on that same date as well. Though as is often the case with preorders, they may show up on some people’s doorsteps early.<br /><br />With Lollipop so close, Google is gently nagging programmers in the Google Play Developer Console (pictured) to grab the latest release of Android and get cracking. They can already upload apps and schedule them for release when Lollipop goes live.<br /><br /> GOOGLE PLAY DEVELOPER CONSOLE<br /></div>
<div>
This isn’t a guarantee that your device will get Lollipop on November 3, but at least we know when the rollout will start. Expect Nexus devices to get it first, with others manufacturers planning to follow suit.  Manufacturers like HTC have promised some phones (like the One M8 and M7) will get an update within 90 days of the official release—this would be the date to start the clock. Software updates often have to be tested by carriers before they're released, too.<br /><br />Why this matters: It’s one thing to get Android 5.0 Lollipop out the door, it’s quite another to get the rest of the ecosystem ready. Lollipop is a significant rewrite of how Android looks and performs, so it will be rather funky if third-party apps look like they don’t belong.<br /><br />Google is nudging developers to update their apps so the transition to Lollipop is a smooth one, which won’t happen if all of a sudden Android owners can't get their favorite apps to work properly.<br /></div>
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Android 5.0 Lollipop to hit the wild on November 3

Google is telling developers to step on it if they want their apps ready for a November 3 release of Android Lollipop. Android 5.0 Lollipop to hit the wild on November 3 It’s the first specific date we’ve heard, which means the newest flavor of Android will start hitting the street in less than two …

22Oct2014

Surface Hub is a stylus configuration app that's more trouble than it's worth

<b>Rarely does Microsoft release an app that isn’t worth your time. For now, however, Surface Hub probably falls into that category.</b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ux7V083BgXa_QMx_weWCImo8zqhn9aEe27uc19oP8iWpjgxVcCdbPKM42LkxouN6cJLsiG-KsMmPmGe31a47PMwBB9B7wrwyA68vZjmH9n9yySN4YJAw5lHzYfcGJ01RyDkSjFc0ZLWU/s1600/Surface-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="alt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ux7V083BgXa_QMx_weWCImo8zqhn9aEe27uc19oP8iWpjgxVcCdbPKM42LkxouN6cJLsiG-KsMmPmGe31a47PMwBB9B7wrwyA68vZjmH9n9yySN4YJAw5lHzYfcGJ01RyDkSjFc0ZLWU/s1600/Surface-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="Surface Hub is a stylus configuration app that's more trouble than it's worth" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Surface Hub is a stylus configuration app that's more trouble than it's worth</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Released over the weekend, Surface Hub is apparently built on a recent Surface Pro 3 update that paved the way for additional pen sensitivity. The app is extremely basic: Users can adjust the sensitivity curve of the pen and change the behavior of the launch button at the top of the pen. That’s it.<br />
<br />
Surface Hub is just an odd app, in general. The launch screen trumpets “GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR SURFACE,” but then you have to find the two menu items that hang off the right edge of that screen, requiring you to slide right.<br />
<br />
<b> MICROSOFT</b><br />
<br />
Surface Huib offers the basics and not much more.<br />
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There, you can adjust the sensitivity curve or the launch button. I’m no artist, but the differences in the curve change the thickness of the Surface Pro 3’s pen minimally, at best.<br />
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A small improvement is the option to change the app that launches when you click the button on top of the pen—either the modern OneNote app, or the desktop version. There’s still no way to change what the buttons on the side of the stylus do, however.<br />
<br />
Both functions worked as expected. But unfortunately, after launching the app, my input devices began acting up. Although I was able to launch OneNote (or the desktop version of OneNote) as expected, I switched back to my Web browser. When I tried to type in a new Web address, however, the PC seemed to think I was trying to search for a particular file and opened up the search Charm instead. Concerned that I might have inadvertently tapped a keyboard shortcut or hotkey, I rebooted. <br />
<br />
<b> MARK HACHMAN</b><br />
<br />
So far, you can’t change the functionality of the two buttons modway down the Surface Pro 3 stylus. <br />
<br />
At that point, however, my mouse refused to work, as did the touchpad. Since I had set my Windows 8.1 desktop to open on my (non-touch-enabled) standalone monitor, I had to tap the Windows key + X to allow me to enter the desktop via the menu. At that point, the mouse began working again. User error may have played a role, but it was also annoying for an app to begin behaving unexpectedly, when it already did so very little.<br />
<br />
Many users have already begun complaining that the app itself refuses to recognize their stylii, so it appears there are other problems I didn’t experience. In any event, you might want to check back after Surface Hub gets updated.<br />
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Why this matters: The bottom line is that it seems Surface Hub is more trouble than it’s worth at the moment. But if Microsoft updates it to allow you to configure its buttons and sensitivity—say, like a mouse—then it may prove to be a useful utility. So why didn’t Microsoft release it when all these capabilities were included?</div>
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Surface Hub is a stylus configuration app that's more trouble than it's worth

Rarely does Microsoft release an app that isn’t worth your time. For now, however, Surface Hub probably falls into that category. Surface Hub is a stylus configuration app that's more trouble than it's worth Released over the weekend, Surface Hub is apparently built on a recent Surface Pro 3 update …

20Oct2014

Samsung's futuristic Wi-Fi tech is five times faster than today's wireless networks

<b>Those face-meltingly fast new 802.11ac routers might not be king of the wireless networking world for long. On Sunday, Samsung announced it’s developing new 802.11ad Wi-Fi technology that can turbocharge network speeds fivefold, from today’s 866Mbps per-device maximum to a blistering 4.6Gbps. At that rate, Samsung says, a 1GB movie file can transfer from one device to another in under 3 seconds.</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQ7eEhxqn_HXTJKap3JJ5XMjpRvzK1g7wNlbGuISXXR2GGlcGecHpDd0o5_goSpj3k1tX8ukk2kwZ_CtZDTXyZBhSg9gHJmnno19mg-Hc2oh7GZbvqIQow9HeXUw3vJS1E1LOx9yBmoci/s1600/Samsung-futuristic-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="alt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQ7eEhxqn_HXTJKap3JJ5XMjpRvzK1g7wNlbGuISXXR2GGlcGecHpDd0o5_goSpj3k1tX8ukk2kwZ_CtZDTXyZBhSg9gHJmnno19mg-Hc2oh7GZbvqIQow9HeXUw3vJS1E1LOx9yBmoci/s1600/Samsung-futuristic-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="Samsung's futuristic Wi-Fi tech is five times faster than today's wireless networks" /></a></div>
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<b><br /></b>The secret sauce: Ditching the crowded 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless channels used by today’s routers and jumping to the 60GHz frequency band.<br />
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Even though you might not have heard of them, neither the futuristic 802.11ad standardnor the idea of using the 60GHz frequency for ultra-fast Wi-Fi are new. But prior implementations have run into a brick wall, both literally and figuratively: 60GHz signals can’t easily penetrate walls. That’s obviously a big problem for real-world usage. Most of the 60GHz-capable "WiGig" accessories you can find today are designed to operate at very, very short ranges as a result.<br />
<br />
But Kim Chang Yong, head of Samsung’s DMC R&D Center, says the company has “successfully overcome the barriers to the commercialization of 60GHz millimeter-wave band Wi-Fi technology.”<br />
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Samsung’s press release says it overcame those physical and metaphorical barriers with "high-performance modem technologies and by developing wide-coverage beam-forming antenna." The WirelessHD and WiGig standards groups have also been trying to improve 60GHz signal performance using beam-forming, a Wi-Fi technology that detects where client devices (like PCs and tablets) are physically located and then sends a focused signal directly at those devices, rather than mindlessly broadcasting a Wi-Fi signal in all directions as most routers do. (Beam-forming is already becoming a common feature in high-end 802.11ac routers.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKFDk4_bOCzHlgyJme-GaHWmS8x4U_Os3CnZAKgXvfQw9JgV0S6_a5m6FcYwhfZNlZZYci90jZRAwtKtEB0ybWmeDe3rvAlr2towIiueE3u8rsUD5skVQaVdMIez_O1tQz1YR6dxWHwZ8e/s1600/Samsung-futuristic-01-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="alt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKFDk4_bOCzHlgyJme-GaHWmS8x4U_Os3CnZAKgXvfQw9JgV0S6_a5m6FcYwhfZNlZZYci90jZRAwtKtEB0ybWmeDe3rvAlr2towIiueE3u8rsUD5skVQaVdMIez_O1tQz1YR6dxWHwZ8e/s1600/Samsung-futuristic-01-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="Samsung's futuristic Wi-Fi tech is five times faster than today's wireless networks" /></a></div>
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<br />
Don’t start saving your pennies for this particular bit of next-gen networking kit just quite yet, however. While Samsung’s press release states that “commercialization is expected as early as next year,” that’s only talking about industry-wide usage of the 60GHz frequency itself—not necessarily the release of Samsung products packing the company’s new technology. A Samsung spokesperson provided the following statement to John Ribeiro of the IDG News Service:<br />
<br />
"As 60GHz is an unlicensed band spectrum globally, along with 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum, industry-level of commercialization is expected as early as next year, but there's nothing we could confirm at this point on when Samsung products supporting 60GHz Wi-Fi will be available in the market."<br />
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It seems 802.11ac routers will have to do for now. Fortunately, there are a slew of compelling options available.<br />
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The story behind the story: The idea of making wireless networks as fast or faster than wired connections holds obvious appeal—the less time you spend waiting for files to transfer, the more stuff you can get done. But while Wi-Fi improvements like Samsung’s new technology should (eventually) turbocharge sharing files, streaming locally stored movies, or playing games across your home network, don’t forget that a fast router won’t magically make your actual Internet connection any faster. Activities like browsing the web or zoning out on the couch and watching Netflix are usually limited by your Internet speed, not your router.</div>
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Samsung's futuristic Wi-Fi tech is five times faster than today's wireless networks

Those face-meltingly fast new 802.11ac routers might not be king of the wireless networking world for long. On Sunday, Samsung announced it’s developing new 802.11ad Wi-Fi technology that can turbocharge network speeds fivefold, from today’s 866Mbps per-device maximum to a blistering 4.6Gbps. At tha…

20Oct2014

Facebook Stickers Are Now Available In Comments On Timelines, Groups And Events

<b>Facebook Stickers – the cute, cartoonish images Facebook Messenger users take advantage of to spice up their conversations – are now rolling out to a wider audience. Facebook announced today that stickers will be available on comments found on people’s Timeline posts, Group posts and Event posts.</b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpElW5nyZFn3rZRtglMAUuIxz3oySQnDNND1v8JQEjMKFa6vTX9yxK9LN-RDw2PwVVEbwgPP34mxSbsM9wNT8I9fOJ-ulb4FBhhCWoXlLQXD3nx0T08cOfqmhDbVnkXIWmaSvLeC-C1iL/s1600/Facebook-Stickers-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="alt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpElW5nyZFn3rZRtglMAUuIxz3oySQnDNND1v8JQEjMKFa6vTX9yxK9LN-RDw2PwVVEbwgPP34mxSbsM9wNT8I9fOJ-ulb4FBhhCWoXlLQXD3nx0T08cOfqmhDbVnkXIWmaSvLeC-C1iL/s1600/Facebook-Stickers-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="Facebook Stickers Are Now Available In Comments On Timelines" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Facebook Stickers Are Now Available In Comments On Timelines</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
To access the stickers, users tap the smiley face icon in the bottom-right of any comment field on Facebook in order to pick the sticker they want to share with the others on the thread. The engineer on the project, Bob Baldwin, shared his thoughts on stickers when announcing the news on his own timetime this afternoon, explaining that “stickers will allow people to reply to a variety of posts in a more fun way than words alone.”<br />
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“You can now easily show your excitement for a post with good news, cheer up a friend who’s feeling down, and express a variety of more nuanced reactions,” he says.<br />
<br />
Stickers and emoji are sometimes seen as silly things — and, well they are to some extent. After all, you can’t take a picture of a dog eating a cheeseburger or a cat riding a scooter all that seriously. But they also allow users to express their tone in a way that may not always come across in a digital format where interactions historically have been text-based.<br />
<br />
Many times, we’ve seen threads where one friend makes a sarcastic comment and others jump on them in a viral mob of Facebook abuse – but the original commenter was only making a joke, as it turned out. It just fell flat. And they were attacked.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IS0aQWHfL1vN7SdSL3OarvCux_1qMgn0PNktOCqqaKg_QBMlLpsCElPLLvVzL7xIUY8kxAK9585is6J80jJibBynOjugPPik9hcwjqvDuYkW7eN9sryozhGJwMGY4AumXSfGjf200Efr/s1600/Facebook-Stickers-01-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="alt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IS0aQWHfL1vN7SdSL3OarvCux_1qMgn0PNktOCqqaKg_QBMlLpsCElPLLvVzL7xIUY8kxAK9585is6J80jJibBynOjugPPik9hcwjqvDuYkW7eN9sryozhGJwMGY4AumXSfGjf200Efr/s1600/Facebook-Stickers-01-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="Facebook Stickers Are Now Available In Comments On Timelines" /></a></div>
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<br />
A sticker could have diffused the situation at the forefront by letting others know the poster was not serious. In a world where cyberbullying is now rampant, I’d actually argue that anything that can prevent comment threads from turning ugly is fairly important – even if it comes in the form of a bird with a lampshade on its head. (Yes, this is an actual sticker.)<br />
<br />
Stickers also allow social networking and messaging users to engage in conversations more easily from a mobile phone since they can sum up an emotion or thought with just a picture. That’s obviously another key area for Facebook to focus on as it continues its shift to mobile.<br />
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However, enabling stickers in comments could also make scrolling through longer threads — like those on public pages — more time-consuming.<br />
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The stickers are now available to Facebook users across web and mobile, the company says.</div>
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Facebook Stickers Are Now Available In Comments On Timelines, Groups And Events

Facebook Stickers – the cute, cartoonish images Facebook Messenger users take advantage of to spice up their conversations – are now rolling out to a wider audience. Facebook announced today that stickers will be available on comments found on people’s Timeline posts, Group posts and Event posts. Fa…

19Oct2014

Doctors report a case of Google Glass addiction

<b>You've probably heard of Google Glass owners who seemingly can't put the wearable down, but there's now at least one reported instance of genuinely addictive behavior.</b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYN0YLpoHHnIpVEtAv_x_oLUY_NommZnEDA0vogRl_bYLLKSQ6AizI2CVQ2tlFkocT8dKauoMFRBMMuFx4j8qX67ztivAYo4xgNvamL8m4uABrEn9mKsGVj3NIy4b8siYA2FpChB70EJqI/s1600/Doctors-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="alt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYN0YLpoHHnIpVEtAv_x_oLUY_NommZnEDA0vogRl_bYLLKSQ6AizI2CVQ2tlFkocT8dKauoMFRBMMuFx4j8qX67ztivAYo4xgNvamL8m4uABrEn9mKsGVj3NIy4b8siYA2FpChB70EJqI/s1600/Doctors-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="Doctors report a case of Google Glass addiction" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doctors report a case of Google Glass addiction</td></tr>
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Doctors at Naval Medical Center San Diego claim that a 31-year-old Navy serviceman is the first person to be diagnosed with a Glass-related internet addiction disorder. The patient wore the head-mounted computer for up to 18 hours a day, and was so attached to it that he would instinctively reach for his right temple (to activate Glass) whenever you asked him a question, whether or not the device was there. He's getting better after having spent 35 days in on-site treatment, according to doctors; that reflexive movement doesn't come up so often, and the man is both less irritable and more focused.<br />
<br />
The case certainly raises concerns about the effects of always-on wearable devices on mental health, but there's no guarantee that you'll get hooked. As the Medical Center notes, the patient originally checked himself in for alcohol abuse -- while the Glass addiction ultimately proved more severe, the history suggests that the patient was prone to compulsive activities in general, not just when using wearables. This is also just one incident, so there's no definite evidence that Glass is more alluring than other technologies and substances. You're probably fine splurging on that Explorer Edition headset as a result, but you may want to hold off if you already have trouble saying "no."</div>
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<br /></div>

Doctors report a case of Google Glass addiction

You've probably heard of Google Glass owners who seemingly can't put the wearable down, but there's now at least one reported instance of genuinely addictive behavior. Doctors report a case of Google Glass addiction Doctors at Naval Medical Center San Diego claim that a 31-year-old Navy serviceman i…

17Oct2014

Breakthrough batteries last 20 years, charge 70 percent in two minutes

<b>Over the years, consumer electronics have improved in almost every way, becoming thinner, lighter, and more pixel-packed, all while increasing exponentially in performance. But beating at the heart of many mobile devices and even electric cars is a technology that hasn’t kept up with the rapid pace of innovation: batteries. Specifically, lithium-ion batteries.</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWKvsbeDZsWwmnzs-hcZvK2Kw4S2fpKW3EaHVh05f7S0yww2I_CGRiMTvdM51JHqUrQTM7PFWt_xRJMl4gR8F1onDfeultJDwIK1_2g_n3UHwdtuJO9c40t3Tcimm8V_fe3oZcoQKfDo0w/s1600/Breakthrough-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="alt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWKvsbeDZsWwmnzs-hcZvK2Kw4S2fpKW3EaHVh05f7S0yww2I_CGRiMTvdM51JHqUrQTM7PFWt_xRJMl4gR8F1onDfeultJDwIK1_2g_n3UHwdtuJO9c40t3Tcimm8V_fe3oZcoQKfDo0w/s1600/Breakthrough-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="Breakthrough batteries last 20 years, charge 70 percent in two minutes" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakthrough batteries last 20 years</td></tr>
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Battery tech is a limiting factor in the design of many of today’s technologies.Researchers at Nanyang Technology University say they’ve discovered a way to build a better battery, however—a battery that charges in mere minutes and lasts an amazing 20 years.<br />
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Why this matters: If these batteries begin trickling into mass production, they could kill two of the biggest irritants in today’s mobile electronics: Long charging times and forced obsolescence.<br />
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The benefits of fast charging need no explanation, but many of today’s smartphones and tablets won’t let you remove their batteries, essentially forcing you to buy a new device when the lithium-ion battery inside starts to fade after 500 or so charges. A battery that lasts 20 years could dramatically change how long people hang on to their smartphones, especially with the mobile industry’s recent trend of decoupling hardware fees from services subscriptions. Together, the combo could further reduce the two-year upgrade cycle so common in the mobile industry.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcSXgFa-VGWYi_hAnMsGPFH81kmaNhAQoS7HZPTI4iyDaAR3Zugp4UFtqWkSVbb27h-wvqQXkrpOTfuwFQ9olL7crVz2CViTdmfhbuDAEH2ucBeLbOLmn9X8uK-P_Uzt5DLOv949TBaBc/s1600/Breakthrough-01-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="alt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcSXgFa-VGWYi_hAnMsGPFH81kmaNhAQoS7HZPTI4iyDaAR3Zugp4UFtqWkSVbb27h-wvqQXkrpOTfuwFQ9olL7crVz2CViTdmfhbuDAEH2ucBeLbOLmn9X8uK-P_Uzt5DLOv949TBaBc/s1600/Breakthrough-01-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="NTA associate professor Chen Xiaodong with research fellow Tang Yuxin and PHD student Deng Jiyang." /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NTA associate professor Chen Xiaodong with research fellow Tang Yuxin and PHD student Deng Jiyang.</td></tr>
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<div>
Enabling the nifty new tricks doesn’t require a full reimagining of how we design batteries, either. The researchers replaced the graphite used in the anode of lithium-ion batteries with a gel made from  titanium dioxide nanotubes "a thousand times thinner than the diameter of a human hair."<br />
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Using tiny titanium dioxide nanotubes rather than graphite also speeds how quickly electrons and ions flow in and out of the battery, by ditching an energy-slowing additive needed in today’s batteries. The NTU researchers say their battery charges far faster than traditional lithium-ion batteries, going from empty to a 70 percent charge in just two minutes. Two minutes!<br />
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NTU associate professor Chen Xiaodong, the inventor of the titanium dioxide gel, says batteries built with it could hit the market within two years, with an unnamed company already licensing the technology. The Nanyang Technology University press release has more detail about the technical aspects of the discovery if you’re interested.<br />
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Breakthrough batteries last 20 years, charge 70 percent in two minutes

Over the years, consumer electronics have improved in almost every way, becoming thinner, lighter, and more pixel-packed, all while increasing exponentially in performance. But beating at the heart of many mobile devices and even electric cars is a technology that hasn’t kept up with the rapid pace …

16Oct2014

Microsoft updates Skype for Windows, Mac with new chat interface

<b>Chatting in Skype for Windows and the Mac now looks more like the Windows Phone version, whether you like it or not.</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Microsoft updates Skype for Windows</td></tr>
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Microsoft's Skype announced version 7.0 for the Mac together with a new preview version for the Windows desktop. Both include a number of potentially attractive productivity improvements, including the ability to chat and talk simultaneously in the new Mac version. But there's still an awful lot of white space, which may annoy some.<br />
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"For the last year we’ve dedicated a lot of time to refresh the chat experience in Skype. We’ve brought more improvements to the desktop," Tom Huang, a Skype exec, wrote in a blog post. <br />
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<b> MICROSOFT</b></div>
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Why this matters: What's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander. On a phone, scrolling is part of the experience. On a PC, it's more annoying. The new chat UI could use some tightening up, especially if spread out across a large, high-resolution monitor, to cut out some of that white space. But while Skype hasn't come out and said it, we suspect the new Skype app (at least on Windows) is intended to be (eventually) snapped inside one of the four corner windows that Windows 10 allows. In that scenario, the UI should (hopefully) tighten up and conserve space more efficiently.<br />
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Some useful additions<br />
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In general, the new chat UI looks nice, with round avatars representing your friends. Photos can easily be dropped into a chat session, as can documents. Both are useful features when talking back and forth with a colleague or friend, although the layout isn't quite ideal—they sort of dominate the conversation. Microsoft touts this increased spacing as a benefit, although it may prove a bit annoying to scroll back through a long chat.<br />
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<b> MICROSOFT</b></div>
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When chat is tucked into a narrow window, however, it seems to work well. Skype for Mac 7.0 adds the ability to text-chat and video-chat in side-by-side windows, sharing photos and documents alongside the live commentary that you and your friends can provide. And Microsoft also promised that the free group video calls that the company previously announced will work better than ever. <br />
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Naturally, the Skype team promises more updates in the future, and to respond to feedback. How do you like the new chat UI within Skype? Do you actually chat within Skype, or is it more of a tool you use to chat via video? Let us know in the comments.</div>

Microsoft updates Skype for Windows, Mac with new chat interface

Chatting in Skype for Windows and the Mac now looks more like the Windows Phone version, whether you like it or not. Microsoft updates Skype for Windows Microsoft's Skype announced version 7.0 for the Mac together with a new preview version for the Windows desktop. Both include a number of potential…

14Oct2014

Nokia's Here Maps for Android

<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue;">Nokia's Here Maps for Android</span></h2>
<b>When Microsoft finally completed its €3.79 billion acquisition of Nokia earlier this year, the company took control of its smartphone business, but left behind a number of Nokia's other powerful and profitable properties.</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nokia's Here Maps for Android</td></tr>
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One such property was the company's mapping division, now called Here, which has become the de facto maps app for Windows Phone users the world over. Nokia tried to replicate the experience on iOS, but after poor reviews and the admission that things "went horribly wrong," the companypulled its iPhone app and went back to the drawing board. As for Android, it looked like Nokia would never deliver a real Google Maps alternative.<br />
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Luckily, that's all about to change. Thanks to some marketing muscle from Korea, Nokia will soon give Samsung Galaxy smartphone owners advanced access to its maps app. While Nokia readies Here Maps for Samsung's Galaxy Apps store, which is expected to drop in the coming weeks, the company gave us an early preview of its new app, and it's good.</div>
</div>

Nokia's Here Maps for Android

Nokia's Here Maps for Android When Microsoft finally completed its €3.79 billion acquisition of Nokia earlier this year, the company took control of its smartphone business, but left behind a number of Nokia's other powerful and profitable properties. Nokia's Here Maps for Android One such property…

02Oct2014

Microsoft Announces Windows 10

<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue;">Microsoft Announces Windows 10</span></h2>
<b>This morning at an event in San Francisco, Microsoft announced the next version of its Windows operating system: Windows 10.</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Microsoft Announces Windows 10</td></tr>
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The name is definitely not in line with expectations, but also comes on the heels of rumor talk that it could pick up another title. Happily, the last 943 people to cover the operating system got the name wrong.<br />
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Starting tomorrow, Microsoft will launch a Windows Insider Program that will give users who are comfortable with running very early beta software access to Windows 10. This first preview will be available for laptops and desktops. A build for servers will follow later. Microsoft says it is opening up this beta process to get more feedback from more users early on, but also noted that this will be a learning experience for the company and that some experiments users will get in new builds may not make it into the final version.</div>
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The company went on to detail that its new operating system will have a tailored user experience between different screen sizes — that’s to say that if you are on a smaller device, you will see a different sort of user interface. The code will run across all device categories: “One product family. One platform. One store.”</div>
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Microsoft is currently riffing on the following: Enterprise value, device management, the ability to customize the store to the device you are on, and a way to protect data. Or, to put it more precisely, there will be the ability of the enterprise to manage their devices, and “customize” their application store, and so forth.<br />
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As expected, the company is bringing back a few features of Windows 7, too, including a redesigned start menu that combines the basic Windows 7 menu with the (resizable) tiles of the Windows 8 start screen. Windows 8 Metro apps can now also open in a windowed mode on the desktop, so you aren’t taking into the full-screen mode by default and you can use a “modern” Windows 8 side by side with a standard Windows desktop app. <br />
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Windows 10 will also allow users to work with multiple desktops. Thanks to Microsoft’s new “Snap Assist” UI, the company is making it easier for these power users who need these multiple desktops to grab apps from multiple desktops and move them around.</div>
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<div>
<br />
While Microsoft focused mostly on the regular mouse and keyboard combo for interacting with the operating system, the company stressed that it is not giving up on touch. Windows 10 will still have a Windows 8 like Start Screen for users on touch-enabled machines, for example.<br />
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Some of the gestures will change a bit in Windows 10 (swiping in from the left now gets you a task view, for example), but the overall feature set seems to be very similar to that in Windows 8 and even the Windows 8 Charms bar is still available.</div>
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One thing Microsoft did not show (at least so far), is any other consumer features in Windows 10. What the company did talk about a bit, however, is that Windows 10 for the phone will look and work almost exactly like the slightly pared down modern UI on Windows 10. One thing Microsoft clearly learned from the experience with Windows 8 is that if it wants to build a single operating system and user interface for every device, it can’t just optimize for edge cases. Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore, for example, noted that while it was an obvious choice to combine the interfaces for tablets and phones, “the real rub comes in the middle.” This time around, he said, he feels “pretty positive about the outcome we are going to get.”</div>

Microsoft Announces Windows 10

Microsoft Announces Windows 10 This morning at an event in San Francisco, Microsoft announced the next version of its Windows operating system: Windows 10. Microsoft Announces Windows 10 The name is definitely not in line with expectations, but also comes on the heels of rumor talk that it could pi…

01Oct2014

Windows 9 will be free to Windows 8 owners

<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue;">Windows 9 will be free to Windows 8 owners</span></h2>
<b>We already know quite a bit about Windows 9 (or whatever Microsoft decides to call it). Thanks to the president of Microsoft Indonesia, we might now know another detail about Microsoft’s upcoming OS—its price.</b><br />
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According to Indonesian news site Detik.com (via BGR), Andreas Diantoro, the president of Microsoft Indonesia, confirms that Windows 9 will be a free upgrade for all Windows 8 users.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Windows 9</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Why it matters: Users are becoming more accustomed to free operating system updates, given the fact that even major iOS, Android, and OS X updates are gratis. And after the negative reception Windows 8 received, Microsoft has some added incentive to earn back its users’ trust. With that in mind, Windows 9 is just as much a chance to change the tenor of discussion surrounding Windows as it is a new version of the OS.<br />
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<b>Taking cues from Windows 8.1, OS X</b><br />
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According to BGR, Windows 9 will be available as a free download, much like Apple’s updates to OS X–and much like Windows 8.1, which was a free update provided to Windows 8 and Windows RT users through the Windows Store. <br />
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We don’t yet know if Windows 9 will be free to users of earlier versions of the OS, such as Windows 7 or Vista. A free upgrade for all would make sense, though, in that it would make it easier for Microsoft to entice as many of its users as possible to upgrade to the latest and greatest.</div>

Windows 9 will be free to Windows 8 owners

Windows 9 will be free to Windows 8 owners We already know quite a bit about Windows 9 (or whatever Microsoft decides to call it). Thanks to the president of Microsoft Indonesia, we might now know another detail about Microsoft’s upcoming OS—its price. According to Indonesian news site Detik.com (v…

29Sep2014