Microsoft Build, everything you need to know in 7 minute video

Microsoft Build -- everything you need to know in 7 minute video
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Microsoft still has a #Loser in Windows 8 point whatever, however --
Windows 7 Outgains Windows 8 and 8.1 Again, Windows XP Above 27%
Windows 8.1 grows steadily while Windows 8 stays flat, together they only have 11 percent market share. Windows 7 outgained them both by jumping 1.46 percentage points from 47.31 percent to 48.77 percent. Windows XP still has more than 27 percent of market share. How embarrassing for the team in Redmond! (sources: Net Applications and TheNextWeb)

Microsoft's Windows 8 is Less Popular than Discontinued Windows XP - CraveOnline: According to StatCounter, statistics revealed in March indicate that Windows 7 has held on to its spot as the world's most popular operating system by a considerable margin, with the OS installed on 55% of all surveyed systems. Meanwhile, Windows XP is the second most popular OS, despite Microsoft announcing that it will be discontinuing the OS in a matter of days, with 18.6% of all installs.

But Microsoft putting more lipstick on the pig, making Windows free on devices with screens under nine inches -- Microsoft making Windows free on devices with screens under nine inches | The Verge: "Microsoft today said it will make Windows free of charge for phones and tablets with screens smaller than nine inches, a move designed to help boost the company's market share. The announcement comes alongside plans to let developers make universal applications that work on all devices running Microsoft's software — both Windows Phone and Windows. That feature is headed to Windows 8.1 as well as Windows Phone 8.1, which was also detailed on stage and is arriving on mobile devices in the next few months."

How Russians Are Outsmarting Internet Censorship - Global Voices Advocacy: "Mere days after several opposition websites were blocked [Global Voices report] by Russia's mass communications regulatory agency, Roskomnadzor, free speech proponents have created a unique system for circumventing censorship — and imposing counter-attacks. This approach could create problems both for censors and pro-Kremlin websites. Indeed, it seems that Russian Internet activists have taken the adage “the best defense is a good offence” to heart."

Intel outs 64-bit KitKat Android, 'Braswell' chip for Chromebooks - CNET: "Intel revealed a new processor dubbed "Braswell," the QVOD media box, and a 64-bit Android kernel, among other announcements at the second day of a China conference...Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president at Intel, disclosed that a chip code-named Braswell will be the follow-on to a version of the Bay Trail processor now found in low-cost devices like Chromebooks and sub-$500 Windows PCs. Braswell will be a system-on-a-chip, aka SoC, built on the company's next-generation 14-nanometer manufacturing process. SoCs typically squeeze most of a device's core electronics onto one piece of silicon...."

FireChat Could Be the First in a Wave of Mesh Networking Apps | MIT Technology Review: "FireChat makes use of a feature Apple introduced in the latest version of its iOS mobile software, iOS7, called multipeer connectivity. This feature allows phones to connect to one another directly using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi as an alternative to the Internet. If you’re using FireChat, its “nearby” chat room lets you exchange messages with other users within 100 feet without sending data via your cellular provider."

[Rumor] "Android Silver" May Be Google's Attempt To Finally Provide A Premium Android Sale And Support Experience: "To qualify for Android Silver status, a handset must "run the latest version of Android with no or very limited customizations," (emphasis ours) and only 5 such handsets will be selected by Google for Silver status at any given time. These devices will not be sold by Google, however - at least not exclusively - this campaign is aimed squarely at carriers. Carrier stores will have an Android Silver display, showcasing the Android Silver devices available on their network. Google will be entirely in charge of how this experience is crafted, and carrier store staff must be trained and certified to sell Android Silver devices. Carriers will be required to stock a certain number of Android Silver devices and accessories." (read more at link above)

Amazon announces $99 set-top box
Boston Globe
NEW YORK — If Amazon has its way — and it did not become one of the country's most ... Google, and Apple, have three problems: It is too hard to search for content, performance is slow ... “The likely winners are Apple and Amazon, both of which offer entire ecosystems, ... Facebook · Twitter · Google+ ...

Microsoft Is Now An Underdog, Sort Of
Forbes
Microsoft Microsoft kicked off its Build developer conference in San ... Apple and Google battle already for supremacy in various aspects of the next ...

Microsoft's Cortana Raises Important Questions About Sexism and Gender Stereotyping
TIME
Cortana, the name Microsoft's given its response to Apple's Siri virtual assistant, may turn out to be a bolder move for the company than I suspect many ...

Apple Bulls Bet New Products Will Bring Stock Revival
Businessweek
Options (AAPL:US) traders are betting new Apple Inc. products will propel the world's largest company after it rebounded from the worst monthly loss ...

Apple, Facebook, Google Internet Data Centers Getting Greener, Report Finds
Fox Business
Apple Inc, Google Inc and Facebook Inc have made significant progress in adopting renewable energy sources to power their Web services, the ...

Apple to raise app prices by up to 30 per cent
Sydney Morning Herald
A price increase was foreshadowed by Fairfax Media on Tuesday, and has been followed up with the release of updated pricing tables to Apple ...

Does Microsoft Office Turn an iPad Into a Workhorse? Just Barely
Wall Street Journal
How Word, Excel and PowerPoint perform on Apple's market-leading tablet..... Microsoft says Apple restricts developers from pointing users to offers ...

Apple's WWDC set for June 2–6, and you must apply to attend — Tech News and Analysis - Gigaom
By Stacey Higginbotham
Amazon has one of the dirtiest powered clouds around, says Greenpeace. Apr. 2, 2014. While Google, Facebook, Apple and others made major ...
Gigaom

Report: Google Wants to Become a Wireless Carrier - Gizmodo
By Adam Clark Estes
Google bosses are dreaming about adding wireless service to the search giant's menu of offerings. A couple of unnamed sources "who have ...
Gizmodo

Google Has 49 Pct Of Mobile Ad Revs, Just 18 Pct Of Time Spent: "Google makes more than its “fair share” of mobile ad revenue based on time spent with Google mobile properties, whereas Facebook’s revenues are in line with time spent. That’s according to data published by Flurry, relying on ad revenue estimates from eMarketer."
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SXSW, 3 Things Everyone Is Talking About (video)

SXSW: The Three Things Everyone's Talking About: Video - Bloomberg: "March 6 (Bloomberg) –- The South by Southwest Interactive conference opens today in Austin, Texas. If you are going or just curious about what it's all about -- pay attention. Bloomberg Businessweek's Sam Grobart breaks down what everyone at "South by" will be talking about this weekend. (Source: Bloomberg)"

Windows 8.1 update? Still a #FAIL - When is Microsoft going to admit it has a big, fat LOSER in Windows 8 point whatever? Microsoft needs to do to Windows 8 what it did to Steve Ballmer -- you're fired! --

Windows 8.1 Update 1: 10 Key Changes

InformationWeek
Windows 8.1 Update 1 makes the Modern UI and Start screen a little friendlier for the mouse-and-keyboard crowd. But it won't silence critics. Previous. 1 of 11. Next. Update 1... already? Microsoft is prepping yet another Windows 8.x update, one it plans to ...

With Shouts and Hugs, Sprint Boss Masayoshi Son of SoftBank Drives Turnaround
Wall Street Journal
SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son, shown at a news conference in Tokyo last month, has been frustrated by slow-motion change at Sprint. Reuters. At a meeting with Sprint Corp. S -1.42% Sprint Corp. U.S.: NYSE $8.75 -0.13 -1.42% March 7, 2014 ...

IBM Debuts Chef Watson at SXSW
PC Magazine
SXSW attendees will get a chance to taste recipes algorithmically concocted by the brainiac machine. 0shares. IBM's Watson App Challenge. For its next trick, IBM's supercomputer Watson will cook you dinner. Visitors to the annual 10-day SXSW festival in ...

Privacy bods bowl sueball at Facebook buyout of WhatsApp
Register
Privacy groups have filed with the US Federal Trade Commission to try to block Facebook's $19bn acquisition of WhatsApp until the social network comes clean on how it's going to use the personal data of the messaging service's 450 million users. Non-profit ...

Apple's latest OS X update adds support for 4K displays running 'Retina ...
VentureBeat
Got a fancy 4K resolution monitor? Soon, OS X will finally be able to take full advantage of all those sweet pixels. With the OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 update, Apple has added the ability to run its OS on 4K displays at a “Retina” resolution, reports 9to5Mac.

Oscar Mayer's App Wakes You to Smell of Bacon
ABC News
First "Pop news," everybody. Let's get to it with the smell of bacon in the morning. Something we're always happy to wake up to and, well, now there's an app for that. It's called wake up and smell... See More. First "Pop news," everybody. Let's get to it with the ...

Watch an asteroid get obliterated by cosmic forces
State Column
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope recently witnessed a one of a kind, never before seen event: An asteroid breaking apart into several pieces, seemingly without provocation. Though asteroids are known to break apart as they approach the Sun, scientists ...

Google bats eyelashes at potential Cloud Platform Partners
TechRadar UK
Google has announced that it is expanding its Cloud Platform Partner Program. The updates to the programme are aimed at recognising the top service and technology partners and providing a means for any company to qualify as a registered company.

Bionic Arm Is A Hit With Cyborg Drummer
Discovery News
Jason Barnes lost part of his right arm in a freak accident, but he didn't want that to derail his dream of becoming a professional drummer. So he built a makeshift drumming device for his arm out of a brace and some springs. But a Georgia Institute of ...

Monster Black Hole Spinning at over Half the Speed of Light
News Tonight Africa
Scientists have measured the spin rate of a massive black hole to be more than half the speed of light. The black hole, RX J1131-1231, is six billion light years away from earth and being able to calculate its spin rate will help in understanding how black holes ...

A Look At Lumus, The Amazing Lens Technology That Is Going To ...
By John Biggs
You may not know the name Lumus now, but expect to be hearing a lot from them in the future. When we first met the Lumus rep Ari Grobman two years ago he showed us some amazing technology. It was basically an augmented reality ...
TechCrunch

The haves, the have-nots and the exploited: How technology - Gigaom
By Derrick Harris
As a new study about sex trafficking during the Super Bowl highlights, advances in data analysis are underpinning some powerful new ways of tackling very tough problems. Among all the stones hurled at the tech sector lately, this is area in ...
Gigaom

New speed reading technology might change reading forever | Shelf ...
By Nina Terrero
Spritz will be releasing its technology on the yet-to-be-released Samsung Galaxy S5 and Samsung Gear 2 watch, the company recently announced at the Mobil World Congress in Barcelona. And with the phone or watch, readers will be able ...
Shelf Life

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Microsoft Slashes Windows 8 Price, Desperation Aboard a Sinking Ship?

Or just moving the chairs on the deck of the Titantic? --

Microsoft Said to Cut Windows Price 70% to Counter Rivals - Bloomberg: "Manufacturers will be charged $15 to license Windows 8.1 and preinstall it on devices that retail for less than $250, instead of the usual fee of $50, said the people, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public."

Why AT&T's Surveillance Report Omits 80 Million NSA Targets | Threat Level | Wired.com: "AT&T this week released for the first time in the phone company’s 140-year history a rough accounting of how often the U.S. government secretly demands records on telephone customers. But to those who’ve been following the National Security Agency leaks, Ma Bell’s numbers come up short by more than 80 million spied-upon Americans...."

WhatsApp Was Valued At ~$1.5B In Final Round Before Sale | TechCrunch: "... the truth is that the company had three rounds of financing, with Sequoia as the sole investor. According to documents unearthed by VC Experts, WhatsApp went from a $250k seed round in 2009 to an $8 million round at an ~$80 million valuation in 2011. The final round, which we reported as a Series C here but was actually technically a Series B, was a $52 million round back in July 2013, at a ~$1.5 billion valuation...."

Users blast LinkedIn for falsely implying that friends and colleagues have accounts | The Verge: "... LinkedIn may be taking things a step too far; users have complained about the company's "people you may know" section listing contacts who aren't even on the professional networking site. But you'd have no idea simply looking at the tool ..."

Comcast Time Warner Cable merger criticism: no evidence it will help | BGR: "One thing we’ve heard and will continue to hear over the next several months is that the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger will be an awesome deal for consumers because it will give the newly formed cable giant the ability to really invest in aggressive network upgrades. Writing at Bloomberg Businessweek, Brendan Greeley gives us some good reasons to treat this argument with a great deal of skepticism because we’ve largely let ISPs consolidate to their hearts’ content and it’s done us very little good...."

Netflix packets being dropped every day because Verizon wants more money | Ars Technica: "Verizon wants to be paid by consumers and Cogent, but Cogent refuses to pay...."

America's 10-Year Experiment in Broadband Investment Has Failed - Businessweek: "Tom Wheeler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, announced Wednesday that there would be new rules written to guarantee net neutrality. It’s a good thing any website can reach any person unimpeded by tolls, and it’s good that Wheeler still wants to make this possible. The Internet service providers will first work to dilute the new rules, of course, and then sue to overturn them. Entire legal departments, lobbying outfits, and public-relations firms live for this moment, the beginning of a now-familiar three-year grind with the FCC....The U.S. has slipped to 16th place. Germany, France, and the U.K. have passed us, and all the countries ahead of us have applied some combination of either opening up the last mile or paying for infrastructure at the government level...."

Serious vulnerability found in SSL/TLS on OS X Mavericks and iOS, easily exploitable [Update] - Neowin: "Apple has been working hard to get its products into the enterprise but a new security vulnerability is about to put a black eye on their reputation. Sure, we know that many companies have security related issues but it’s the fact of the obvious oversight of this issue that will raise alarm bells. On Friday, Apple revealed a significant bug in their SSL/TLS implementation..."

Free Online University Receives Accreditation, in Time for Graduating Class of 7 - NYTimes.com: "the University of the People, a tuition-free four-year-old online institution built to reach underserved students around the world, announced Thursday that it had received accreditation."

This is where you'll find your next smartphone | Mobile World Congress - CNET Reviews: "... the Mobile World Congress is anything but usual. Held every February in Barcelona, Spain, it is the the premier global event for the wireless industry. Think of a smaller CES, but pack it with only smartphones, tablets, and everything mobile, and you'll get the idea. Then, drop it all in one of the world's most seductive cities -- sorry, Las Vegas -- and you wind up with a most exciting tech show...."

Google Powers Forest Protection Effort
InformationWeek
Davis and Thau point point out that while Brazil, with its vast Amazon rainforest, has long been one of the top countries for deforestation, the rate of deforestation there declined by an average of 1,318 square kilometers per year in the past ten ...

Google's 3D tech could be boon to Glass, robots and virtual reality
Computerworld
Computerworld - News that Google is working on 3D smartphones has analysts speculating that the company will one day add the tech to a slew of its products, such asGoogle Maps, Google Glass, Google robots and even virtual reality tools. "Google is ...

Apple v. Samsung: CEOs have no deal yet
San Jose Mercury News
Apple and Samsung top executives have been unable to settle their global patent feud, although they told a federal judge late Friday they will continue to seek a pact that might avoid another San Jose federal court trial looming in March. In a brief ...

Amazon Prime prices to increase in UK, Germany
USA TODAY
Amazon will increase the price of its Prime service to customers in the United Kingdom next week by 64%. The price will go from £49 ($81) per year to £79 ($131), Amazon said. The increase comes after Amazon purchased Lovefilm, a European movie rental ...

Why Apple needs a $700 MacBook Air
Computerworld
Historically, Apple's Macs have been revenue-making machines, with an average selling price (ASP) more than twice that of other systems, the vast bulk of them powered byMicrosoft's Windows. In the September 2013 quarter, the Mac ASP was $1,230, down ...

“Near-Real-Time' Updates On Deforestation Will Help Track Global Loss Of Trees
The Almagest
Global Forest Watch (GFW), a novel monitoring system has been launched to provide “near real time” updates on deforestation around the world. Backed by Google and more than 40 business and campaign groups, GFW will collect information from satellite ...

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Windows 8 was designed for "computer illiterates"

No wonder everybody but a few casual users and consumers hates Windows 8! -- Love Windows 8? Then Microsoft has you pegged as a casual user, content consumer, a computer illiterate. For those who actually use their computers to get real work done -- power users, content creators -- get a MacBook or Chromebook!

Windows 8 UX designer on Metro: "It is the antithesis of a power user" - Neowin: " . . . Miller continued on to explain that the [Microsoft Windows 8] design team split users into two groups: content creators and content consumers: Content creators were explained to be power users: they have multiple windows open across multiple monitors, they sometimes even have virtual machines that also have their own nested levels of complexity. Content consumers were explained to be casual users who just use basic social media platforms, view photos, and so on. They were described as the computer illiterate younger siblings, the older grandparents, or the mother "who just wants to look up apple pie recipes." Windows 8 was designed for the latter group: the content consumers. This is also where Metro stems from: it is a platform that is "simple, clear, and does one thing (and only one thing) relatively easily." Miller described Metro as the antithesis of a power user...."

Google strikes upfront deal with ad giant Magna Global
USA TODAY
A group of technology firms, including Google, Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft, created the NewFronts event a few years ago — a digital version of the TV industry's annual upfronts, where billions of dollars in ad slots for popular programming are purchased ...

Apple, Google cracking down on 'Flappy Bird' clones
CNN
(CNN) -- Your app store may be getting a lot less flappy. Both Apple and Googleappear to be cracking down on new apps taking advantage of the demise of "Flappy Bird," the addictively simple casual game that became an unlikely sensation before its ...

Microsoft makes Skype and Lync more compatible, adds Lync for Android tablets
PCWorld
After spending 2013 figuring out what to do with its various communication and collaboration tools, Microsoft's focus in 2014 is not unified communications, but “universal” communications, executives said. As the company opens its Lync Conference this ...

Microsoft: 'Remember, some XP-based embedded systems to get support to 2019'
ZDNet
As ZDNet has reported previously, Microsoft will continue making critical patches available for the embedded Windows XP systems running on ATMs until January 2016, compared with fulll Windows XP verions on desktops, for which there will be no more ...

Minyanville: Google, Microsoft make peace with partners
USA TODAY
That spring, Samsung Electronics released the first Galaxy S smartphone, which would later become the subject of a contentious legal battle with Apple. It was also in 2010 that the smartphone patent war went global, with the number of lawsuits ...

Apple Manager Mystique Tempts Google in Search for Talent: Tech
Bloomberg
Apple Inc. (AAPL) is known for producing great products, like the iPod. Now GoogleInc. (GOOG) with its acquisition of Nest Labs Inc. and its Apple alumni founder Tony Fadell, is hoping it produces great leaders who can replicate that success as well.

Microsoft marshals marketing, service, social for Dynamics CRM, aims anew at ...
PCWorld
Microsoft is about to make a fresh run at its CRM (customer relationship management) rival Salesforce.com with new capabilities for marketing automation, customer support and social media monitoring. The three components, which came about in part ...

Apple looking at cars, medical devices for growth: report
Chicago Tribune
Rival Google Inc. recently bought thermostat maker Nest Labs for $3.2 billion, robot maker Boston Dynamic and artificial intelligence startup DeepMind Technologies Ltd. The company has also been working on projects including Google Glass and self ...

Google Buys Israel's SlickLogin
Wall Street Journal (blog)
Google has acquired the Israeli startup SlickLogin, an apparent bet on a new way to more securely log into computer systems. Launched just a few months ago by veterans of the Israeli Defense Force's cybersecurity unit, SlickLogin had been working on a ...

Apple device sales have finally caught up with Windows
tuaw.com
And as John Gruber wrote in his short but astute summary of Microsoft's history, the amazing thing is that Gates actually realized this dream. By the mid-90s, if not a few years earlier even, we were living in a Windows world. At its peak, Windows ...

Elephants Comfort Each Other in Distress: Study
HealthDay
TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Asian elephants use touch and sound to console other elephants in distress, according to a new study. It's the first study to confirm that elephants comfort one another in difficult times, the researchers said....

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Windows 8 Claims Another Victim, Sony Predicts Billion Dollar Loss, Shuts Down PC Business

What Godzilla did to Japan is what Microsoft Windows 8 has done to the PC business --

Sony Now Predicts a $1.1 Billion Loss, Shuts Down PC Business | Entrepreneur.com: "Sony is shuttering its computer business, refocusing its TV division on high-end units and laying off 5,000 people. It is also predicting a massive loss of 110 billion yen, or $1.1 billion, for the fiscal year, a drastic change from its prediction three months ago of a 30-billion yen profit ($294 million)...."

What the Windows 7 Pro sales lifecycle changes mean to consumers and business buyers | ZDNet: "The easiest way to exercise downgrade rights is to buy a new PC with the downgraded version installed by the OEM. That configuration means you have full support from the OEM for Windows 7 Pro. The PC you buy includes media for Windows 8.1 and the right to upgrade to that version (also with support from the OEM) at any time. Those PCs are widely available for sale today, as I noted last month (see Where can you still find a PC running Windows 7?) Most of those models are sold with a Windows 8 Pro license and Windows 7 installed as a downgrade."

Microsoft extends date for OEM preloads of Windows 7 for business users | ZDNet: "Microsoft is going to allow OEMs to continue to build and sell new PCs with Windows 7 Professional preinstalled beyond October 2014, the original date that would have been the cutoff under the company’s normal sales lifecycle. But OEMs won't be permitted to build and sell new PCs with the consumer editions of Windows 7 after October 31, 2014...."

Rakuten to Buy Voice-Call App Maker Viber - WSJ.com: "Since 2012, Mr. Mikitani has also mandated that all in-house business—from meetings to memos to cafeteria menus—be in English, to prepare Rakuten's 3,498 employees for life in the international business community. Buying Viber would give Rakuten access to millions of Viber users, who could use their phone number and password to open a Rakuten shopping account, Mr. Mikitani said. Viber's virtual stickers will also bring in cash, and the two companies said they hoped to make games available on Viber in the future as well. Viber rival Line Corp., the Japanese arm of South Korea's Naver Corp. offers games—a lucrative source of app revenue...."

Merkel, Hollande to discuss possible European communication network that avoids U.S. - Yahoo News: "German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she would talk to French President Francois Hollande about building up a European communication network to avoid emails and other data passing through the United States. Merkel, speaking on Saturday ahead of a visit to France, has been pushing for greater data protection in Europe following reports last year about mass surveillance in Germany and elsewhere by the U.S. National Security Agency. Even Merkel's cell phone was reportedly monitored by American spies...."

Google promises 10Gps fiber network to blast 4K into living rooms • The Register: "Google Fiber is the fastest broadband internet provider in the US, but according to the Chocolate Factory's CFO Patrick Pichette, its 1Gbps connection speeds are going to increase ten-fold. Pichette told the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference that the firm is actively developing the equipment to pump 10Gbps of data into homes and offices on its network and will deploy it faster than people expect...."

Apple & Google Begin Rejecting Games With "Flappy" In The Title
TechCrunch
The Flappy Bird phenomenon shows no signs of slowing down, despite the fact that the original title was yanked out of the App Store by creator Dong Nguyen, whose newfound fame apparently became too overwhelming. But though “Flappy Bird” itself may ...

Google to build new €150m data centre in Dublin
Irish Independent
The new building could bring the total amount invested in Irish property over the past four years by the California-headquartered company, which employs over 2,500 people here, to as much as €500m. Google and other US technology giants have come in for ...

Apple unlikely to launch 12.9" iPad or third-gen iPad mini in 2014, iPad Air ...
Apple Insider
The iPad Air may be the only model in Apple's tablet lineup to receive a refresh this year, with an allegedly still-in-development 12.9-inch model unlikely to launch, and even a successor to the iPad mini with Retina display in doubt, according to one ...

Google Acquires SlickLogin, The Sound-Based Password Alternative
TechCrunch
Word of the acquisition is confirmed by a notice on the company's site, where they say that they'll be joining Google in their efforts to “make the Internet safer for everyone”. We've also confirmed this news with Google. Exact details of the deal are ...

Google makes huge investment in clean energy
CNBC.com
If you ask top executives at Google, Apple, Facebook or Microsoft, they will all tell you they are gigantic consumers of energy. And it's for this reason that top companies in Silicon Valley are in a race to be the leader of clean and renewable ...

Google tools that work for travelers
The Seattle Times
And if you received a confirmation for a hotel or flight reservation in your Gmail inbox, those notifications will also show up. Privacy-minded travelers take note: If you're concerned about an app tracking your whereabouts, search history and Amazon ...

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The Tablet Is Over, and so is Windows

The affair is over -- will someone please clue in Microsoft, though it may already be too late for Windows after Windows 8 tried to force everyone to use a touchscreen tablet OS interface --
Tablet market grows more slowly than expected as Apple regains share | Technology | theguardian.com: "The tablet market didn't live up to expectations in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to early data from IDC, as sales growth to consumers slowed with mature markets approaching saturation."

Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over | Re/code: " . . . What I realize now is that it has been the phone all along. What we are witnessing today is a merger of phones and tablets, not just at Netflix but everywhere, which is why this decade’s attempt at tablets is nearing its death — just four years after Jobs launched the original iPad. It comes down to size. The vast majority of the hundreds of millions of people who use tech every day are just fine with having two primary computing devices: One for your pocket and one for your desk. Tablets are trying (and failing) to be portable enough to go everywhere, yet large enough to be multipurpose. Despite all the keyboard origami and elaborate ways to make your tablet into a laptop, it isn’t one...."

What the Heck is Happening to Windows? | Windows 8 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: " . . . . Windows 8 is not well-designed. It's a mess. But Windows 8 is a bigger problem than that. Windows 8 is a disaster in every sense of the word. This is not open to debate, is not part of some cute imaginary world where everyone's opinion is equally valid or whatever. Windows 8 is a disaster. Period ... I had found out from internal sources immediately that the product was doomed from the get-go, feared and ignored by customers, partners and other groups in Microsoft alike. Windows 8 was such a disaster that Steven Sinofsky was ejected from the company and his team of lieutenants was removed from Windows in a cyclone of change that triggered a reorganization of the entire company. Even Sinofsky's benefactor, Microsoft's then-CEO Steve Ballmer, was removed from office. . . ." (read more at link above)

Microsoft lists 'Office Online' as replacement for Office Web Apps
PCWorld
A Microsoft Web page currently lists “Office Online” as one of three Office 365 options, a name that will apparently replace Microsoft's current Office Web Apps. ZDNet and Livesino.net noted the Microsoft page, which lists the three personal options ...

Expri Editor's Note: eventually we will have Windows in the Cloud -- the only surviving aspect of Windows, which will be akin to Chrome OS. Microsoft blew billions of dollars, alienated OEMs and customers, and, in essence, destroyed its own ecosystem with Windows 8. We are now in the era of cloud-centric computing ecosystems. Take your pick--Google, Apple, or Microsoft. There is no going back.

MediaTek's new octa-core processor to compete with Qualcomm over the premium LTE smartphone market: "MediaTek tells us that its new chips, known as the MT6595, are actually meant to be featured in premium devices and will square off directly against Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 and 805. "

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Shop on Amazon by Taking Pictures of Items with New "Flow" App: Big Deal or Not?: " . . . It's easy to visualize where this technology is headed: An app where you click on a product and all the places where you can buy it turn up, complete with prices, Amazon, or wherever. The deflationary pressures of such a device are immense. People like bargains, and if they think a store is not offering enough of them, they will shop elsewhere. That's a big deal. And it will further pressure price margins across the board at all box retailers."

Sprint Rethinks Acquiring T-Mobile After Antitrust Officials Oppose Move Publicly - WSJ.com: "Justice Department, FCC Officials Expressed Strong Opposition to a Deal"

Sprint's the only major US carrier yet to lose money this quarter, despite record subscribers | The Verge: "Sprint's struggles continue, and it's the only major carrier that's reported its Q4 earnings in the US to not turn a profit this quarter (T-Mobile will issue its Q4 report later this month). ..." (Sprint's LTE network is still far behind AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile -- source supra)

BlackBerry BBM shakeup as EVP gone from company | BGR: "BGR has learned from multiple sources that Executive Vice President Andrew Bocking is no longer with the company. What is unconfirmed, however, is whether Bocking was fired or decided to leave on his own accord. One source of ours tells us he was let go and that BlackBerry is rolling up the BBM group into the enterprise unit and that Andrew was displeased with BlackBerry as whole, replacing his personal phone with an Android phone instead of using one of BlackBerry’s products...."

Blogger paid Facebook to promote his page. He got 80,000 bogus Likes instead.

Exclusive: Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Says App 'Gone Forever' Because It Was 'An Addictive Product' - Forbes: "In mulling whether to pull Flappy Bird, Nguyen said that it was guilt – atop the fact that “my life has not been as comfortable as I was before” – that motivated him. “I couldn’t sleep,” he said. He added that his conscience is relieved; he spent the past few days, Internet-free, catching up on slumber."

Scary Bitcoin Glitch Revealed but Does It Go Beyond Mt. Gox? - MoneyBeat - WSJ: "....“Basically, we think [Mt. Gox is] overstating it a bit,” said Gavin Andresen, chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation, a not-for-profit organization funded by bitcoin-related businesses that’s charged with acting in their collective interest. “It’s really an unfortunate interaction between what is arguably a flaw in the protocol – I would could it a quirk, not a flaw — and Mt. Gox’s [digital] wallet and their customer support procedures.”"

Google strikes big ad measurement deal with comScore
USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Google signed a major advertising deal with comScore to help the world's largest Internet search provider win more business from big brands like Kellogg.Google is integrating comScore's Validated Campaign Essentials, or vCE, ...

Microsoft adds critical IE, XP fixes to Tuesday's patch slate
Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft on Monday unexpectedly added two more critical security updates to the list it will deliver tomorrow, including one for all versions of its Internet Explorer (IE) and another that will affect the soon-to-be-retired Windows XP ...

Google subsidiary to run nearby federal airfield
Washington Post
SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. government has picked a Google subsidiary to run and renovate a federal airfield that is frequently used for the personal flights of the Internet company's billionaire executives. The decision announced Monday clears the way ...

Apple loses latest bid to block e-books antitrust monitor
Reuters
In a brief order, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said that monitor Michael Bromwich may continue to examine Apple's antitrust compliance policies while the company pursues a broader appeal seeking to remove him altogether. However ...

Microsoft PowerBI puts Web and internal data on the map
PCWorld
Slightly less than a year ago, Microsoft began outlining its plans to overhaul Office documents with live data, culled from the Web. On Monday, Microsoft made those plans reality, shipping PowerBI for Excel and Office 365. PowerBI, as its name suggests ...

Apple gets breathing room, for now
MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Apple Inc. may have avoided a proxy spat with activist investor Carl Icahn for now, but the company is still under pressure to deliver new products that will take the focus of investors away from its enormous cash pile.

Google Deal Machine Ramps Up to Pass Intel in Top Spot
Bloomberg
Google's strategy is in contrast to that of Apple Inc., the only Silicon Valley company with more cash on its balance sheet. The iPhone maker has only taken part in 12 deals in the past three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and has been ...

Galileo's optical illusion explained by neuroscience
Fox News
A light-colored object on a dark background appears larger than a dark object on a light background, as shown in the image above, but until recently, no one knew why. Now, a study suggests that a difference in how the brain's cells respond to light and dark ...

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New Microsoft CEO may be facing "Perfect Storm"

The new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will have his hands full dealing with Steve Ballmer's failed strategies -- the Windows 8 "debacle," Windows Phone stalled sales, and the continuing losses Nokia is going to produce (Microsoft hardware is mostly unprofitable) --

How Will Major Industry Shifts Impact Windows Phone? | Windows Phone content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: "Nokia doesn't make any money selling Windows Phone handsets. And Nokia is the only company selling Windows Phone handsets."

Windows XP and Windows 8: The worst possible combination for Microsoft | ZDNet: " . . . PCs are no longer the automatic choice for business, thanks to the rise of the tablet. Neither is Windows, with Android desktops and Chromebooks also on an upward trajectory. And, thanks to BYOD, most firms are already used to staff turning up with iPads and Kindle Fire tablets; Microsoft's desktop dominance is already fraying around the edges...By updating the look and feel of Windows to cope with the threat from tablets, Microsoft may have opened the door to its rivals, not slammed it in their faces — hence the profusion of Android desktops generating excitement at CES this year, for example..."

Microsoft stays in-house, taps Nadella as new CEO
Computerworld
"During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella," said Bill Gates, Microsoft's co-founder and former chairman, in a statement before the market bell Tuesday. But the new chief executive was not ...

Microsoft Names New Chief; Gates to Be Adviser

New York Times
SEATTLE — Microsoft on Tuesday announced that Satya Nadella would be its next leader, betting on a longtime engineering executive to help the company keep better pace with changes in technology. The selection of Mr. Nadella to replace Steven....

Microsoft: Why the Windows XP show is finally over
ZDNet
It's easy to get sentimental about Windows XP and forget the hostile reception the OS received at launch — but the fact is, it's simply not cut out for the modern world, according to a senior Microsoft executive. Despite the undeniable eventual ...

Google Opens Chromecast To Developers

InformationWeek
Chromecast remains at the top of the Amazon.com Best Sellers In Electronics list. Initially, Chromecast users could access content only through Google Play, Google'sYouTube, and Netflix. Support for HBO ... Since Apple made iOS the foundation of the...

Apple Quietly Builds New Networks
Wall Street Journal
Apple's online delivery needs have grown in the last few years, driven by its iCloud service for storing users' data and rising sales of music, videos and games from iTunes and the App Store. But the iPhone maker is reported to have broader ambitions ...

Google, Facebook and other Internet companies disclose secret US demands for ...
San Jose Mercury News
Google was the first leading Internet company to report on other types of government information demands, while Microsoft and others have followed suit in recent years. In its report ... Apple reported the same range of numbers last week. Civil ...

Apple, Microsoft join carriers in $750M pledge to education
CNET
Apple is pledging $100 million in iPads, according to the AP. Microsoft is offering up its "billion-dollar response," which is essentially the potential to inject $1 billion in savings into the system. The company will offer Windows-based tablets ...

Google told it must move 'mystery' barge
Boston.com
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google does not have the proper permits for a mystery barge at a construction site on an island in San Francisco Bay, a state official said, and must move the floating, four-story building that drew wide attention and fueled weeks ...

Apple patents inductive charging pad with orientation-based device docking ...
Apple Insider
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday granted Apple a patent for switching docking functions, such as data syncing, diagnostics or charging, based on the orientation of a device while laying on an inductive charging pad. Charging....

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Microsoft Discovers the Power of the Mouse

Surprise, surprise, Microsoft discovers most desktop PC users don't want (or need) gorilla arm syndrome -- of course Steve Jobs understood this years ago --

Use a mouse? Then you’ll likely love the upcoming Windows 8.1 update — Tech News and Analysis: "A leaked, early build of Update 1 for Windows 8.1 appeared online over the weekend and it shows a merger between the Desktop and tiled interfaces of Microsoft’s platform. Mouse and trackpad users should be happy with these changes...."

U.S. states claim Apple owes them $840 million over e-books – MacDailyNews - Welcome Home: "“Apple Inc. (AAPL) faces as much as $840 million in state and consumer antitrust claims related to electronic-book deals with publishers that led to a U.S. lawsuit and court-ordered monitor,” Patricia Hurtado and Christie Smythe report for Bloomberg."

Amazon considers $40 Prime price hike
CNN
Amazon said it is thinking about raising the price of Prime membership by as much as $40, hoping it can strike the right balance between managing rising costs and scaring away customers. Prime members get two-day shipping on a large number of Amazon ...

Google Opens Chromecast To Developers
InformationWeek
Though Google has not released Chromecast sales figures, CFO Patrick Pichette said during the company's earnings call last week that Chromecast was a bestseller throughout the last quarter of 2013. Chromecast remains at the top of the Amazon.com Best ...

Microsoft's CEO Pick: a Safe Choice, With Edge
Wall Street Journal
Google, Apple, Amazon and others are branching out into driverless cars, wearable computing gadgets, sensor-packed devices and flying robots. Microsoft has plans in some of those areas, but has shelved similar projects in the past. Around the time ...

Apple's iPad Losing Share To Samsung And Lenovo
Forbes
Samsung has solidified its second place position with Amazon slipping to third. While Lenovo is in fifth place behind ASUS it is ... IDC published its preliminary worldwide tablet shipment data and I have developed a Google Google Doc with quarterly ...

Microsoft: Why the Windows XP show is finally over
ZDNet
It's easy to get sentimental about Windows XP and forget the hostile reception the OS received at launch — but the fact is, it's simply not cut out for the modern world, according to a senior Microsoft executive. Despite the undeniable eventual ...

Google did win from buying Motorola, but not in the way you might expect
ZDNet
Selling Motorola to Lenovo means Google is no longer the only Android handset maker publicly refusing to take a patent licence from Microsoft (companies such as Foxconn, LG, Samsung and HTC are among those that have decided to license Microsoft's ...

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Microsoft to turn off Metro, Windows 8 "awful"

Even Microsoft finally gets it! -- (of course almost everyone was telling Microsoft months before they ever released Windows 8, how bad it was) --

Windows global desktop market share by OS (Jan. 2014):
Windows 8.1 - 3.95%
Windows 8 – 6.63%
Windows 7 – 47.49%
Windows Vista – 3.30%
Windows XP – 29.23%
older Windows - .10%

(source: Netmarketshare)

Leak hints Microsoft will recant 'make-them-eat-Metro' strategy for Windows 8 - Computerworld: "Microsoft will renounce its "make-them-eat-Metro" strategy in an update for Windows 8.1 slated to ship this spring, if leaked preliminary builds reflect the final product...."

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols: Told you so! Microsoft backs off on Metro - Computerworld: "It looks like Microsoft has finally been hit by the clue stick of awful Windows 8.x sales often enough that it's learned its lesson. Apparently, in the forthcoming Windows 8.1 update, the user interface (UI) formerly known as Metro will be bypassed, and users will default to starting in the defective, but better than nothing, desktop mode. I'm going to tell you more about this potential, game-changing move, but first let me get this out: "HA! I told you so!" Sorry about that. But ever since I started pointing out just how awful Metro was for the desktop, I've been buried by nasty emails from Microsoft shills telling me how wonderful Metro really was. Even as Windows 8's sales slunk below Vista's abysmal sales adoption numbers they kept screaming that Metro was great. . . . "

Microsoft Windows 8 OS market share growth trails Windows 7 in November 2013.: "“You’ll Hate Windows 8,” my former colleague Farhad Manjoo predicted last June. He was right. And this isn’t just a matter of a difficult transition period, in which people initially resist a new interface before ultimately embracing it, as Microsoft's Steve Sinofsky predicted. A year after it was released, Microsoft’s new operating system is a certifiable flop...."

Zuckerberg outlines Facebook's ambitious 10-year plan | Internet & Media - CNET News: "... Facebook's 10-year plan appears to be as follows: Deliver highly personalized, targeted ads in news feeds that greatly increase average revenue per user, and profit margins. Establish standalone apps as major spokes that deliver unique experiences and plug into the massive Facebook data hub. Surpass traditional search with Search Graph that enables a variety of artificially intelligent services. Bring the Internet, and increasingly cheaper and more functional devices and data centers, to the entire planet, making the world flatter and enlisting more people to become members of the Facebook society...."

BREAKING NEWS: Google SVP of Chrome & Apps Sundar Pichai now front runner for Microsoft CEO job | SiliconANGLE: "SiliconANGLE has confirmed that Sundar Pichai is the top choice for the CEO position of Microsoft according to sources close to the hiring team.  According to sources, negotiations are in full swing with Pichai...."

Apple's higher standard: How 51M iPhones is somehow disappointing | Apple - CNET News: "In developed markets like the US, almost everyone who wants a smartphone has one. And the tablet market is maturing as well. That means Apple, Samsung, and all others in the mobile industry have to look to emerging regions like China for growth. Apple now has a bigger presence in that country with its China Mobile partnership, but it could take some time for sales to really take off on the world's biggest network with three-quarters of a billion subscribers."

An Amazon Prime price bump means fist pumps at Netflix | Internet & Media - CNET News: "Amazon is considering a Prime rate increase, and it would push the cost higher than Netflix for the first time. That's good news for Netflix, but -- like Prime's combo of services -- it's a little complicated."

How the NSA Almost Killed the Internet | Threat Level | Wired.com: "Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and the other tech titans have had to fight for their lives against their own government. An exclusive look inside their year from hell—and why the Internet will never be the same."

New Smartphone and Software From Finland Aims at Android - NYTimes.com: "...While the cellphone start-up has sold fewer than 100,000 handsets worldwide since the model was released late last year, many in Helsinki’s technology community say Jolla’s operating system and device, which retails for around $550, show that Finland’s telecommunications industry can still compete on a global stage...."

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Microsoft Consumer Sales Tank and Nokia Windows Phone Sales Decline

Microsoft today: enterprise sales still strong but consumer sales in decline. Will enterprise follow?

Microsoft Windows Sales - Business Insider: "Basically, consumer PC sales are tanking, but sales to enterprises are strong.  Suh said Windows revenue for consumers was down 20%. Windows revenue for enterprises was up 12%. He said the consumer sales drop was affected by China, where there is an inventory build up. But, even if you don't include China, the consumer drop is still 14%"...".... didn't provide any guidance on whether corporations are buying Windows 8, or Windows 7 licenses. (If we had to guess, we'd guess Windows 7 is more popular since he didn't say anything either way. If Windows 8 was hot, Microsoft would want to brag about it."

Nokia Earnings - Business Insider: Nokia says it sold 8.2 million Lumia phones last quarter. Lumia phones are the devices that run Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 operating system. Lumia sales had actually been growing quarter over quarter in 2013, but saw a decline in the final quarter. It sold 8.8 million Lumias in Q3 2013.That's a troubling stat since sales declined during the holiday season.

Microsoft results show tough realities of company's expansion into hardware - GeekWire: "Microsoft this afternoon posted record revenue of $25.5 billion for the December quarter, an increase of 14 percent. And yet the company’s profits were up just 2 percent, to $6.56 billion. So what’s going on? A quick glance at Microsoft’s Devices & Consumer segment helps to explain what’s happening — and illustrates how the company is being reshaped by its expansion into hardware. Revenue in the Devices & Consumer segment was up 13 percent, to $11.9 billion, driven by strong sales of the Xbox One and Surface tablets. However, the segment’s gross profit declined to $5.8 billion — a decrease of 14 percent from the same quarter a year ago...."

Microsoft Form 10-Q: "Launched in October 2012, Windows 8 was designed to unite the light, thin, and convenient aspects of a tablet with the power of a PC." Problem: Windows 8 is a debacle - "Threshold" to be Called Windows 9, Ship in April 2015 | Windows 8 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: "there's no way to sugarcoat this. Windows 8 has set back Microsoft, and Windows, by years, and possibly for good."

Microsoft Earnings Illustrate Move to Devices and Services From Software
New York Times
Apple's success in new product categories like tablets and mobile phones — and Microsoft's weakness in those areas — is a big reason Microsoft has taken the once unthinkable step of making its own computers and mobile phones, although both crimp...

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Windows PC Shipments Decline Worst in History

Microsoft Windows PCs -- going, going, gone?

2013 saw worst global decline of PC shipments in history: "PC shipments have seen their steepest decline in history, according to analysts at Gartner. Total PC shipments for 2013 reached 315.9 million units – a 10% decline in shipments from 2012. According to Gartner, this is equal to the number of shipments achieved in 2009."

Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Declined 6.9 Percent in Fourth Quarter of 2013: Newsroom\Announcements\Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Declined 6.9 Percent in Fourth...Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Declined 6.9 Percent in Fourth Quarter of 2013 In 2013, Global PC Shipments Suffered the Worst Decline in PC Market History, But Analysts Say [hope?]* Industry Has Bottomed Out *expri.com editor's note

How the 'value trap' squeezes Windows PC makers' revenues and profits | Technology | theguardian.com: "As one unnamed LG employee told the Korean Times, exiting the PC business makes sense: "it doesn't make sense to put more resources into the money-losing business.""

Microsoft to reveal Windows 'Threshold' plans in April, ...
CNET
Microsoft to reveal Windows 'Threshold' plans in April, says report. Microsoft's Windows team may share its high-level plans for its next-generation Windows "Threshold" release at its upcoming Build developers show, according to a new sourced report...

Google to Buy Nest Labs for $3.2 Billion
New York Times
Tony Fadell, the founder and chief executive of Nest, holding up his company's Protect smoke alarm. Peter DaSilva for The New York Times. Google agreed to buy Nest Labs on Monday, in a $3.2 billion deal that will expand the technology giant's portfolio of ...

Google X staffers meet with FDA on devices
San Francisco Chronicle
Google Inc. sent employees with ties to its secretive X research group to meet with federal regulators who oversee medical devices, raising the possibility of a new product that may involve biosensors from the unit that developed computerized glasses...

Google Redraws Detroit's Map
Wall Street Journal
Think of the apology Apple had to issue in 2012 following criticism of a new version of its own Maps app, which was designed to replace Google's.

Apple's Mac ends up in tablet cannibal pot, too
Computerworld
30, 2013, the end of Apple's fiscal year, Mac sales contracted 10% ... able to accept cannibalization -- something PC makers and Microsoft have had a ...

Apple brilliantly waxes poetic in new iPad Air ad
CNET
While Google has made considerable progress in mimicking and sometimes subsuming Apple's emotional credentials, an ad like this reaches for ...

Apple Insider

Microsoft more trusted than Apple, study says
CNET
A Forrester analysis suggests what some might find surprising: Microsoft ... to the muscular manner in which Google is now trying to entice people to ...

Apple wakes up to India's potential
Times of India
BANGALORE: India - After deliberating for months, Abhilash Sathyendra, a 25-year-old equity adviser in Mysore, India, bought his first Apple phone....

Economic Times

Google Glass used in yet another surgery, this time in India
NDTV
Wearable computers and electronics were the biggest crowd pullers this year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). And just to showcase how ...

Ubergizmo

Google and Ryanair to launch airline ticket service
eTurboNews
Internet giant Google is working on top-secret plans with Michael O'Leary's Ryanair in a bid to completely transform how consumers search for, select ...

eTurboNews

Preston Gralla: Apple is still making it hard to think differently
Computerworld (blog)
Computerworld - Apple, which famously fashioned itself as a friend of rebels ... Apple would do well to follow the examples set by Yahoo and Google...

Amazon's bogus anti-Apple crusade
Salon
You may remember that Amazon helped persuade the U.S. Department of ... he's devised sound legal strategies to sue Blue Cross, Microsoft and Visa in ... In the Amazon case, Berman has alleged that Apple and the publishers ...

Apple Watch: The danger of proliferation
New Zealand Herald
Almost everyone knows the current Apple lineup: Mac mini, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Pro. iPhone 4s, 5c and 5s, iPad and iPad mini.

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