The New York Times reported on Saturday that the National Security Agency,
the main U.S. government surveillance organization, had since 2010 used data it
gathered to map some Americans' "social connections that can identify their
associates, their locations at certain times, their traveling companions and
other personal information."
In the latest revelation of the activities of the NSA, which have prompted
concern about previously unknown intrusion into Americans' privacy in the name
of protecting against terrorist and other foreign attacks, the newspaper quoted
documents provided by Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who fled to
Russia earlier this year.
It said the documents showed that "the spy agency began allowing the
analysis of phone call and email logs in November 2010 to examine Americans'
networks of associations for foreign intelligence purposes after NSA officials
lifted restrictions on the practice."
The policy shift was intended to help the agency "discover and track"
connections between intelligence targets overseas and people in the United
States, according to an NSA memorandum from January 2011, the Times said.
It said the NSA was authorized to conduct "large-scale graph analysis on
very large sets of communications metadata without having to check foreignness"
of every email address, phone number or other identifier, the document said.
Because of concerns about infringing on the privacy of American citizens, the
computer analysis of such data had previously been permitted only for
foreigners.
The agency could augment the communications data with material from public,
commercial and other sources, including bank codes, insurance information,
Facebook profiles, passenger manifests, voter registration rolls and GPS
location information, as well as property records and unspecified tax data,
according to the documents, the paper said.
It said NSA officials declined to say how many Americans had been affected
and said the documents did not describe the result of the scrutiny, which it
said "links phone numbers and emails in a 'contact chain' tied directly or
indirectly to a person or organization overseas that is of foreign intelligence
interest."
COURT RULING
Earlier this week, leaders of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee said
they were working on legislation that would tighten oversight of federal
electronic eavesdropping programs. Support for such changes has been growing
since Snowden leaked information in June that the government collects far more
Internet and telephone data than previously known.
The Times said that an NSA spokeswoman, asked about the analyses of
Americans' data, said, "All data queries must include a foreign intelligence
justification, period." It quoted her as saying: "All of NSA's work has a
foreign intelligence purpose."
She said the policy change disclosed in the latest revelations was based on
a 1979 Supreme Court ruling that Americans could have no expectation of privacy
about what numbers they had called.
The Times quoted her as saying that, based on that ruling, the Justice
Department and the Pentagon decided that it was permissible to create contact
chains using Americans' "metadata," which includes the timing, location and
other details of calls and emails, but not their content. The agency is not
required to seek warrants for the analyses from the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court.
NSA officials declined to identify which phone and email databases were
used to create the social network diagrams, and the documents provided by
Snowden do not specify them, the paper said.
It said the NSA did say that the large database of Americans' domestic
phone call records, which was revealed by Snowden in June and caused alarm in
Washington, was excluded.
The Times said that while concerns in the United States since Snowden's
revelations had largely focused on the scope of the agency's collection of the
private data of Americans and the potential for abuse, the new documents
provided a rare window into what the agency actually did with the information it
gathers.
Saturday, 28 September 2013
Unless Microsoft includes a magic trick up its sleeve to permit
In an work to save each of its ailing platforms, Microsoft is organizing to
combine each the Windows 8 and Windows Telephone eight app stores into a single,
all-encompassing app shop. It isn’t totally clear irrespective of whether this
will result in comprehensive cross-platform compatibility for each Windows eight
and WP8 apps - like Apple’s iPhone and iPad App Shop - or if it’s far more a
case of designing a really kick-ass app store that each platforms will then use
independently of one another. In either case, the new combined app shop will
seek to rectify two large complaints: That Windows 8 and Windows Telephone eight
have poor app ecosystems, and, specially inside the case of Windows 8, the
utterly atrocious app store encounter that ordinarily leaves you asking yourself
why on earth you decided to purchase a Windows tablet as opposed to an iPad.
This news comes from the usual “sources acquainted with the company’s plans,” who spoke to the Verge. As outlined by the source, the head of Microsoft’s newly formed Operating Systems group, Terry Myerson, held a meeting exactly where he told a large number of Microsoft personnel regarding the new plan to combine the app stores. There didn’t seem to be significantly within the way of particulars, only that the new retailer - which we’ll bet excellent funds on it being named One particular Shop - would come with the “next release” of Windows and Windows Telephone. This need to imply Windows Phone eight.1 and an update for Windows 8.1, each of which are due in spring 2014.
As for how the 1 Retailer will actually perform, we are able to only guess. In a perfect planet, it would work like the iOS App Retailer: apps created for Windows Phone 8 will be scaled up for use on Windows eight tablets, and apps particularly created for tablet interfaces would show up if you are browsing the retailer in your Windows eight tablet. Apple can get away with this simply because its smartphones and tablets run the identical operating program, and thus developers can target the precise similar APIs. Windows eight and Windows Telephone eight share a lot of similar attributes, and also some low-level code, but it is nowhere near the identical level of similarity as an iPhone and iPad.
Microsoft, for its portion, has previously taken for the stage and promised a unified ecosystem - however the specifics on how such unification could really happen haven’t been forthcoming. Because it stands, in case you develop a Metro app very carefully, porting it to Windows Phone eight is usually as effortless as altering some lines of code. In reality, even though, resulting from wildly different screen sizes, UI and UX paradigms, as well as a big variety of hardware targets (from Tegra three and integrated GPUs, via to Haswell and discrete GPUs), cross-platform compatibility has remained elusive.
Unless Microsoft includes a magic trick up its sleeve to permit developers to conveniently create apps that run on each platforms - a compatibility layer (emulator) of some sort, perhaps - then it’s much more likely that the 1 Shop will just be a new app shop design and style that may be applied by both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. Windows eight sorely requires a new app shop, and if a genuinely unified app ecosystem is coming for Windows 9 and Windows Telephone 9, then it wouldn’t hurt to obtain individuals utilized for the new app shop these days. (Study: The Windows eight Shop is broken: Here’s how you can repair it.)
A further possibility, as I’ve hinted at prior to, is that one particular of Microsoft’s OSes could actually consume the other. As lately as final week, Microsoft’s Myerson told some analysts that we should anticipate to see Windows RT on larger phones - and it goes the other way, as well, with the Lumia 1520 phablet operating Windows Telephone. I would not be shocked if Windows/RT sooner or later consumes Windows Phone, which would pretty neatly resolve the issue of cross-platform compatibility by removing the pesky “cross” bit.
http://www.windows7retailpack.com/microsoft-windows-7-professional-3264-bit-full-retail-pack-p-3527.html
This news comes from the usual “sources acquainted with the company’s plans,” who spoke to the Verge. As outlined by the source, the head of Microsoft’s newly formed Operating Systems group, Terry Myerson, held a meeting exactly where he told a large number of Microsoft personnel regarding the new plan to combine the app stores. There didn’t seem to be significantly within the way of particulars, only that the new retailer - which we’ll bet excellent funds on it being named One particular Shop - would come with the “next release” of Windows and Windows Telephone. This need to imply Windows Phone eight.1 and an update for Windows 8.1, each of which are due in spring 2014.
As for how the 1 Retailer will actually perform, we are able to only guess. In a perfect planet, it would work like the iOS App Retailer: apps created for Windows Phone 8 will be scaled up for use on Windows eight tablets, and apps particularly created for tablet interfaces would show up if you are browsing the retailer in your Windows eight tablet. Apple can get away with this simply because its smartphones and tablets run the identical operating program, and thus developers can target the precise similar APIs. Windows eight and Windows Telephone eight share a lot of similar attributes, and also some low-level code, but it is nowhere near the identical level of similarity as an iPhone and iPad.
Microsoft, for its portion, has previously taken for the stage and promised a unified ecosystem - however the specifics on how such unification could really happen haven’t been forthcoming. Because it stands, in case you develop a Metro app very carefully, porting it to Windows Phone eight is usually as effortless as altering some lines of code. In reality, even though, resulting from wildly different screen sizes, UI and UX paradigms, as well as a big variety of hardware targets (from Tegra three and integrated GPUs, via to Haswell and discrete GPUs), cross-platform compatibility has remained elusive.
Unless Microsoft includes a magic trick up its sleeve to permit developers to conveniently create apps that run on each platforms - a compatibility layer (emulator) of some sort, perhaps - then it’s much more likely that the 1 Shop will just be a new app shop design and style that may be applied by both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. Windows eight sorely requires a new app shop, and if a genuinely unified app ecosystem is coming for Windows 9 and Windows Telephone 9, then it wouldn’t hurt to obtain individuals utilized for the new app shop these days. (Study: The Windows eight Shop is broken: Here’s how you can repair it.)
A further possibility, as I’ve hinted at prior to, is that one particular of Microsoft’s OSes could actually consume the other. As lately as final week, Microsoft’s Myerson told some analysts that we should anticipate to see Windows RT on larger phones - and it goes the other way, as well, with the Lumia 1520 phablet operating Windows Telephone. I would not be shocked if Windows/RT sooner or later consumes Windows Phone, which would pretty neatly resolve the issue of cross-platform compatibility by removing the pesky “cross” bit.
http://www.windows7retailpack.com/microsoft-windows-7-professional-3264-bit-full-retail-pack-p-3527.html
Sunday, 18 August 2013
Samsung to Launch Smartwatch Next Month
It’s offficial:
Samsung Electronics Inc. will launch its first wristwatch smartphone early next month, people familiar with the plan say. The move would allow Samsung to potentially beat rival Apple Inc. on what is expected to be the next major battleground for mobile phone makers.
The world’s largest smartphone maker will unveil its first device worn around the wrist called Galaxy Gear on Sept. 4, ahead of Berlin’s IFA, a consumer electronics show where technology companies showcase their gadgets. It will go on sale this year, the people said.
But, one person said the device won’t have flexible displays, contrary to the company’s patent filings in the U.S. and South Korea earlier this year that suggested a device with a bendable screen was in the works.
Analysts had cast doubts about mass producing flexible screens for a couple of years, making the possibility of wristwatch smartphones grim.
Wearable smart devices have been tipped as the next jackpot niche for leading handset makers such as Samsung and Apple as the lucrative high-end segment of the smartphone market worldwide is saturated. Samsung wrested the world’s largest smartphone maker title away from Apple last year and has pushed to widen the lead with a portfolio covering a wide array of smartphone and tablets.
Though the concept of a phone wrapped around one’s wrist has been a widely known concept for a decade or more, the hype has been building around “smart watches” recently with both Apple and Samsung prepping devices. Sony in June showed off a wristwatch-like device that connects with most smartphones running on Google Inc.’s Android operating system.
It’s still unknown whether Samsung’s new gear will also work via a conventional smartphone or as a standalone product.
Samsung’s earlier invitations for the same-date product launch was widely expected to be the next iteration of its phablet device Galaxy Note with a larger 5-inch screen.
The company also plans to showcase the Galaxy Note 3 at IFA.
Bloomberg reported earlier that Samsung will launch the wristwatch device at its “Unpacked” event on Sept. 4.
Samsung Electronics Inc. will launch its first wristwatch smartphone early next month, people familiar with the plan say. The move would allow Samsung to potentially beat rival Apple Inc. on what is expected to be the next major battleground for mobile phone makers.
The world’s largest smartphone maker will unveil its first device worn around the wrist called Galaxy Gear on Sept. 4, ahead of Berlin’s IFA, a consumer electronics show where technology companies showcase their gadgets. It will go on sale this year, the people said.
But, one person said the device won’t have flexible displays, contrary to the company’s patent filings in the U.S. and South Korea earlier this year that suggested a device with a bendable screen was in the works.
Analysts had cast doubts about mass producing flexible screens for a couple of years, making the possibility of wristwatch smartphones grim.
Wearable smart devices have been tipped as the next jackpot niche for leading handset makers such as Samsung and Apple as the lucrative high-end segment of the smartphone market worldwide is saturated. Samsung wrested the world’s largest smartphone maker title away from Apple last year and has pushed to widen the lead with a portfolio covering a wide array of smartphone and tablets.
Though the concept of a phone wrapped around one’s wrist has been a widely known concept for a decade or more, the hype has been building around “smart watches” recently with both Apple and Samsung prepping devices. Sony in June showed off a wristwatch-like device that connects with most smartphones running on Google Inc.’s Android operating system.
It’s still unknown whether Samsung’s new gear will also work via a conventional smartphone or as a standalone product.
Samsung’s earlier invitations for the same-date product launch was widely expected to be the next iteration of its phablet device Galaxy Note with a larger 5-inch screen.
The company also plans to showcase the Galaxy Note 3 at IFA.
Bloomberg reported earlier that Samsung will launch the wristwatch device at its “Unpacked” event on Sept. 4.
Windows XP. Because a safety update will never grow to be out there
Microsoft has reminded, cajoled, and pleaded with customers to move off of
Windows XP prior to assistance for its old OS expires subsequent year. Now
Microsoft warns customers that they may be topic to “zero-day” threats for the
rest of their lives if they do not migrate.
“The pretty very first month that Microsoft releases safety updates for supported versions of Windows, attackers will reverse engineer these updates, obtain the vulnerabilities, and test Windows XP to determine if it shares these vulnerabilities,” he wrote. “If it does windows 7 professional retail version, attackers will try to create exploit code which will take advantage of these vulnerabilities on Windows XP. Because a safety update will never grow to be out there for Windows XP to address these vulnerabilities, Windows XP will essentially have a ‘zero-day’ vulnerability forever.”
Zero-day vulnerabilities refer towards the way in which hackers can attack an operating method or other code just before a patch is released, fixing the vulnerability. Since Microsoft will never patch Windows XP once more right after April 2014, at some point some vulneability that affects XP will be discovered.
Involving July 2012 and July 2013, Windows XP was an impacted item in 45 Microsoft safety bulletins. Thirty of these also impacted Windows 7 and Windows 8, Rains wrote.
Rains acknowledges that some protections in XP will assist mitigate attacks, and third-party antimalware computer software could possibly supply some protection.
“The challenge here is the fact that you will never know, with any self-confidence, in the event the trusted computing base with the program can actually be trusted for the reason that attackers will likely be armed with public understanding of zero day exploits in Windows XP that could allow them to compromise the system and possibly run the code of their decision,” Rains wrote.
That is the exact same argument that some have not too long ago utilized, claiming that hackers will “bank” their zero-day XP attacks till right after subsequent April, then unleash them around the unprotected herds of XP machines. As Rains notes, the sophistication of malware has only enhanced, which means that your XP machine is a lot more vulnerable, not much less. PCWorld’s Answer Line columnist, Lincoln Spector, agrees.
The problem that some XP users have is that they’re so in adore with the way that Windows XP does items that they’re reluctant to migrate, specially to Windows 8. Effectively, Windows 7 machines do exist, that provide functionality related to XP: here’s ways to uncover them.
The bottom line is this: whilst Microsoft stands to gain from arguing that customers need to upgrade, the truth is: they do. So if you are nevertheless on Windows XP, begin considering a migration technique.
http://www.windows7retailpack.com/microsoft-windows-7-professional-3264-bit-full-retail-pack-p-3527.html
“The pretty very first month that Microsoft releases safety updates for supported versions of Windows, attackers will reverse engineer these updates, obtain the vulnerabilities, and test Windows XP to determine if it shares these vulnerabilities,” he wrote. “If it does windows 7 professional retail version, attackers will try to create exploit code which will take advantage of these vulnerabilities on Windows XP. Because a safety update will never grow to be out there for Windows XP to address these vulnerabilities, Windows XP will essentially have a ‘zero-day’ vulnerability forever.”
Zero-day vulnerabilities refer towards the way in which hackers can attack an operating method or other code just before a patch is released, fixing the vulnerability. Since Microsoft will never patch Windows XP once more right after April 2014, at some point some vulneability that affects XP will be discovered.
Involving July 2012 and July 2013, Windows XP was an impacted item in 45 Microsoft safety bulletins. Thirty of these also impacted Windows 7 and Windows 8, Rains wrote.
Rains acknowledges that some protections in XP will assist mitigate attacks, and third-party antimalware computer software could possibly supply some protection.
“The challenge here is the fact that you will never know, with any self-confidence, in the event the trusted computing base with the program can actually be trusted for the reason that attackers will likely be armed with public understanding of zero day exploits in Windows XP that could allow them to compromise the system and possibly run the code of their decision,” Rains wrote.
That is the exact same argument that some have not too long ago utilized, claiming that hackers will “bank” their zero-day XP attacks till right after subsequent April, then unleash them around the unprotected herds of XP machines. As Rains notes, the sophistication of malware has only enhanced, which means that your XP machine is a lot more vulnerable, not much less. PCWorld’s Answer Line columnist, Lincoln Spector, agrees.
The problem that some XP users have is that they’re so in adore with the way that Windows XP does items that they’re reluctant to migrate, specially to Windows 8. Effectively, Windows 7 machines do exist, that provide functionality related to XP: here’s ways to uncover them.
The bottom line is this: whilst Microsoft stands to gain from arguing that customers need to upgrade, the truth is: they do. So if you are nevertheless on Windows XP, begin considering a migration technique.
http://www.windows7retailpack.com/microsoft-windows-7-professional-3264-bit-full-retail-pack-p-3527.html
Friday, 2 August 2013
Time Warner Cable drops CBS as talks over fees fall short
Notes that CBS is blocking full-episode streaming on its Web site for some
with Time Warner Cable as their broadband provider.
With changes in technology complicating the balance of power between television creators and distributors, CBS and Time Warner Cable failed to reach an agreement on fees Friday. After weeks of talks and multiple deadline extensions, the broadcaster's flagship network went dark for the cable giant's subscribers in several major U.S. cities.
CBS being dropped from a cable system for the first time in its history opens the door for companies like Aereo, the online streamer of over-the-air broadcasts, to deliver those transmissions in real time for Time Warner subscribers in New York. Time Warner subscribers can also turn online to CBS's Web site or Amazon to watch popular shows like "Under the Dome."
Time Warner Cable, on a screen that pops up where CBS's programming should be, is directing its subscribers to turn to CBS.com to watch, but CBS appears to be eliminating the option to watch full episodes on its Web site for some. In New York, people with Time Warner Cable as their broadband provider couldn't access any CBS full-length videos online, nor could people with TWC as their provider in other parts of the country unaffected by the blackout.
"If Time Warner Cable is a customer's internet service provider, then their access to CBS full episode content via online and mobile platforms has been suspended as a result of Time Warner Cable's decision to drop CBS and Showtime from their market," CBS spokeswoman Dana McClintock said in an email. "As soon as CBS is restored on Time Warner Cable systems in affected markets, that content will be accessible again."
Time Warner Cable spokeswoman Maureen Huff said CBS should not be allowed to abuse the privilege of using publicly owned airwaves to deliver its programming. "CBS has shown utter lack of regard for consumers by blocking Time Warner Cable's customers, including our high-speed data only customers, from accessing their shows on their free website," she said.
CBS, which is the parent company of CNET, said in a statement it "deeply regrets" that Time Warner Cable has dropped its network in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas, as well as other smaller markets. It criticized Time Warner for "indulging in pointless brinksmanship" and twisting the facts to the public, and said it is eager to make an agreement with "fair compensation for the most-watched television network with the most popular content in the world."
"We hope and believe this period of darkness will be short," the broadcaster said.
Time Warner Cable said that when it agreed to continue talks until Friday, it expected to engage in a meaningful negotiation with CBS. "Since then, CBS has refused to have a productive discussion," it said.
"It's become clear that no matter how much time we give them, they're not willing to come to reasonable terms," it added in a statement.
In addition to the blackout of CBS in select markets, CBS properties Showtime, TMC, FLIX, and Smithsonian are also going dark for all subscribers.
CBS Corp. and Time Warner Cable have been negotiating a new carriage pact with under multiple extensions to their previous agreement that expired June 30.
Failing to reach an agreement on retransmission fees -- money that CBS requires from TWC to carry the channel for its subscribers -- comes as customers who lose CBS stations face more online alternatives. Time Warner has gone so far as to encourage New York customers to explore Aereo, the online streamer of over-the-air broadcasts, to pick up the broadcasts that have been dropped from its cable packages. Usually, many CBS shows are available on the network's own Web site, typically for a limited window of time, and Amazon Prime customers can watch "Under the Dome" on its Instant Video service four days after they run.
With changes in technology complicating the balance of power between television creators and distributors, CBS and Time Warner Cable failed to reach an agreement on fees Friday. After weeks of talks and multiple deadline extensions, the broadcaster's flagship network went dark for the cable giant's subscribers in several major U.S. cities.
CBS being dropped from a cable system for the first time in its history opens the door for companies like Aereo, the online streamer of over-the-air broadcasts, to deliver those transmissions in real time for Time Warner subscribers in New York. Time Warner subscribers can also turn online to CBS's Web site or Amazon to watch popular shows like "Under the Dome."
Time Warner Cable, on a screen that pops up where CBS's programming should be, is directing its subscribers to turn to CBS.com to watch, but CBS appears to be eliminating the option to watch full episodes on its Web site for some. In New York, people with Time Warner Cable as their broadband provider couldn't access any CBS full-length videos online, nor could people with TWC as their provider in other parts of the country unaffected by the blackout.
"If Time Warner Cable is a customer's internet service provider, then their access to CBS full episode content via online and mobile platforms has been suspended as a result of Time Warner Cable's decision to drop CBS and Showtime from their market," CBS spokeswoman Dana McClintock said in an email. "As soon as CBS is restored on Time Warner Cable systems in affected markets, that content will be accessible again."
Time Warner Cable spokeswoman Maureen Huff said CBS should not be allowed to abuse the privilege of using publicly owned airwaves to deliver its programming. "CBS has shown utter lack of regard for consumers by blocking Time Warner Cable's customers, including our high-speed data only customers, from accessing their shows on their free website," she said.
CBS, which is the parent company of CNET, said in a statement it "deeply regrets" that Time Warner Cable has dropped its network in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas, as well as other smaller markets. It criticized Time Warner for "indulging in pointless brinksmanship" and twisting the facts to the public, and said it is eager to make an agreement with "fair compensation for the most-watched television network with the most popular content in the world."
"We hope and believe this period of darkness will be short," the broadcaster said.
Time Warner Cable said that when it agreed to continue talks until Friday, it expected to engage in a meaningful negotiation with CBS. "Since then, CBS has refused to have a productive discussion," it said.
"It's become clear that no matter how much time we give them, they're not willing to come to reasonable terms," it added in a statement.
In addition to the blackout of CBS in select markets, CBS properties Showtime, TMC, FLIX, and Smithsonian are also going dark for all subscribers.
CBS Corp. and Time Warner Cable have been negotiating a new carriage pact with under multiple extensions to their previous agreement that expired June 30.
Failing to reach an agreement on retransmission fees -- money that CBS requires from TWC to carry the channel for its subscribers -- comes as customers who lose CBS stations face more online alternatives. Time Warner has gone so far as to encourage New York customers to explore Aereo, the online streamer of over-the-air broadcasts, to pick up the broadcasts that have been dropped from its cable packages. Usually, many CBS shows are available on the network's own Web site, typically for a limited window of time, and Amazon Prime customers can watch "Under the Dome" on its Instant Video service four days after they run.
Microsoft and Computer makers must convince the masses
Windows 8 keeps clawing its way up the market place share charts, but not
in the expense of Windows 7 or Windows XP.
In line with Netmarketshare, Windows 8’s market share now stands at five.4 %, up 0.3 percent from a month ago when it lastly surpassed Windows Vista. Once again, Vista’s marketplace share declined last month, this time by about 0.38 percent, to a total of four.24 percent.
Meanwhile, Windows 7 and Windows XP are holding robust. In actual fact, Windows 7’s market place share improved last month by 0.12 %, and Windows XP saw a 0.02 percent bump in marketplace share in spite of the looming finish of XP assistance by Microsoft. Both Windows 7 and XP remain one of the most widely-used operating systems by far, with 44.49 percent and 37.19 percent of your market place, respectively, based on Netmarketshare.
In other words, any market share that Windows eight gained last month appears to be in the expense of Windows Vista.
When it’s not surprising that customers are eager to upgrade from the widely-panned operating technique, acquiring people to switch from XP or Windows 7 might be tougher for Microsoft, especially amongst users who desire to stick having a standard desktop interface.
Windows eight.1 will make some concessions for all those users, with all the return in the Commence button, a boot-to-desktop option, quicker access to sophisticated desktop functions, and also a strategy to prevent modern-style menus from popping up in the course of desktop use.
But ultimately, Microsoft and Computer makers must convince the masses that they require to upgrade their hardware to touch-enabled laptops, hybrids, or desktops. More affordable touchscreen devices could support on that front, but it’ll most likely be a though just before the market place share needle moves a great deal for Windows XP and Windows 7.
In line with Netmarketshare, Windows 8’s market share now stands at five.4 %, up 0.3 percent from a month ago when it lastly surpassed Windows Vista. Once again, Vista’s marketplace share declined last month, this time by about 0.38 percent, to a total of four.24 percent.
Meanwhile, Windows 7 and Windows XP are holding robust. In actual fact, Windows 7’s market place share improved last month by 0.12 %, and Windows XP saw a 0.02 percent bump in marketplace share in spite of the looming finish of XP assistance by Microsoft. Both Windows 7 and XP remain one of the most widely-used operating systems by far, with 44.49 percent and 37.19 percent of your market place, respectively, based on Netmarketshare.
In other words, any market share that Windows eight gained last month appears to be in the expense of Windows Vista.
When it’s not surprising that customers are eager to upgrade from the widely-panned operating technique, acquiring people to switch from XP or Windows 7 might be tougher for Microsoft, especially amongst users who desire to stick having a standard desktop interface.
Windows eight.1 will make some concessions for all those users, with all the return in the Commence button, a boot-to-desktop option, quicker access to sophisticated desktop functions, and also a strategy to prevent modern-style menus from popping up in the course of desktop use.
But ultimately, Microsoft and Computer makers must convince the masses that they require to upgrade their hardware to touch-enabled laptops, hybrids, or desktops. More affordable touchscreen devices could support on that front, but it’ll most likely be a though just before the market place share needle moves a great deal for Windows XP and Windows 7.
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
ands On With the New Motorola Droids
Motorola announced three new exclusive phones for Verizon Wireless today.
The Droid Ultra, Droid Mini, and Droid Maxx wrap the current version of Android
in slim Kevlar, adding a mix of Verizon and Motorola features to ice the
cake.
The three phones have a lot in common: they're all unibody, made of very smooth Kevlar with shiny, visually textured backs that tend to get fingerprinty, and ridged power and volume buttons on the side. (The SIM card slot is actually in the volume rocker.) They all have 10-megapixel cameras on the back and 2-megapixel shooters on the front. The batteries are sealed in, and there are no memory card slots. They'll all come in black and a deep Verizon red, and they all have 720p displays; the Ultra and Maxx have 5-inch Super AMOLED HD displays, while the Mini has a 4.3-inch TFT LCD.
The Mini is a tight little device. If I was personally with Verizon, I'd definitely consider it as my actual phone. All three phones are very well-built, with an elegant, solid look to them.
What Is The X8 Chipset?
The phones run on Motorola's "X8" chipset, which is mostly a rebranded dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro running at 1.73-GHz with Adreno 320 graphics. Motorola's secret sauce may be the two additional chips the company has been promoting, which handle "contextual computing" and voice processing. I ran the Antutu benchmark and got 18573, if you're curious.
"It's really a system architecture rather than developing the ASIC," Motorola product manager Jeff Snow said.
According to Snow, the voice processing DSP allows the phone to recognize voices even when apparently turned off; you can wake up Google Now by hollering at it without waking up the phone by hand first. The contextual computing chip, meanwhile, seems to function as a very low-power, off-duty CPU, doing things like maintaining time and status information on the screen without involving the more power-hungry main processors.
This isn't "stock Android." There are tiers of Motorola and Verizon features here. Motorola adds an ability to launch the camera from standby mode by wobbling the phone in midair, something it calls Quick Capture. There's also an always-listening Google Now mode, where Now can respond even if the phone is apparently asleep, and something Motorola calls "Active Display," which wakes up only a small part of an AMOLED screen to show status information, to save battery.
Motorola Assist, meanwhile, is Motorola's new version of Smart Actions, which sets your phone into various modes when you're driving, in a meeting or asleep, for instance. The most intriguing thing about Assist, actually, is that it uses the same fonts and visual design as Google Now, making it look like a core Android feature.
Exclusive to Verizon are Droid Zap and Droid Command Center. Droid Zap is a slightly oddball photo-sharing app which lets you toss photos up into a geotagged, temporary cloud, which other people with the Droid Zap app within 300 feet will be able to download. It isn't peer-to-peer, but it kind of makes you think it is. Droid Command Center is a bubbly little home-screen weather, time and battery widget.
The new Droids also come with the Ingress augmented-reality game preloaded, and each Droid buyer gets five Ingress invites to distribute to friends.
Oh, and by the way: the phones don't default to screaming "DROID" at you as the notification sound. The default ringtone does say "Droid," but at the end of the ring.
Droids vs. Droids vs. Moto X
The big difference between these phones is in size, battery life and price. The $99 Droid Mini fits very securely into even the smallest hands. It's a little bit thicker than the Ultra 8.9mm, and has the lowest-capacity battery at 2000mAh, but I think that will balance out with the lower power draw of a 4.3-inch as opposed to a 5-inch screen.
The $199 Droid Ultra and the $299 Droid Maxx are the same phone with different batteries and memory capacities. The Ultra uses a 2130mAh battery to keep its 7.2mm slimness and packs 16GB of storage, while the Maxx packs in a huge 3500mAh battery, which Motorola says will run the phone for a full 48 hours, and 32GB. At 8.5mm, it still feels extremely slim.
The Droid launch is just the beginning of Motorola's summer assault. Tomorrow, we'll hear from Motorola's parent company Google about Android 4.3, and on August 1, we'll see Motorola's flagship Moto X phone. When I asked Motorola reps about whether these Droids meant the X wouldn't be coming to Verizon, they demurred.
We did get a few hints about the X, though. It's likely to use this X8 chipset, and it'll probably have the Motorola features which we heard about here: touchless control, active display, quick camera launch, the new camera app and probably Motorola Assist. We'll have to wait for next week to learn more.
The three new Droids are available for pre-order now, and they'll hit shelves on August 20.
The three phones have a lot in common: they're all unibody, made of very smooth Kevlar with shiny, visually textured backs that tend to get fingerprinty, and ridged power and volume buttons on the side. (The SIM card slot is actually in the volume rocker.) They all have 10-megapixel cameras on the back and 2-megapixel shooters on the front. The batteries are sealed in, and there are no memory card slots. They'll all come in black and a deep Verizon red, and they all have 720p displays; the Ultra and Maxx have 5-inch Super AMOLED HD displays, while the Mini has a 4.3-inch TFT LCD.
The Mini is a tight little device. If I was personally with Verizon, I'd definitely consider it as my actual phone. All three phones are very well-built, with an elegant, solid look to them.
What Is The X8 Chipset?
The phones run on Motorola's "X8" chipset, which is mostly a rebranded dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro running at 1.73-GHz with Adreno 320 graphics. Motorola's secret sauce may be the two additional chips the company has been promoting, which handle "contextual computing" and voice processing. I ran the Antutu benchmark and got 18573, if you're curious.
"It's really a system architecture rather than developing the ASIC," Motorola product manager Jeff Snow said.
According to Snow, the voice processing DSP allows the phone to recognize voices even when apparently turned off; you can wake up Google Now by hollering at it without waking up the phone by hand first. The contextual computing chip, meanwhile, seems to function as a very low-power, off-duty CPU, doing things like maintaining time and status information on the screen without involving the more power-hungry main processors.
This isn't "stock Android." There are tiers of Motorola and Verizon features here. Motorola adds an ability to launch the camera from standby mode by wobbling the phone in midair, something it calls Quick Capture. There's also an always-listening Google Now mode, where Now can respond even if the phone is apparently asleep, and something Motorola calls "Active Display," which wakes up only a small part of an AMOLED screen to show status information, to save battery.
Motorola Assist, meanwhile, is Motorola's new version of Smart Actions, which sets your phone into various modes when you're driving, in a meeting or asleep, for instance. The most intriguing thing about Assist, actually, is that it uses the same fonts and visual design as Google Now, making it look like a core Android feature.
Exclusive to Verizon are Droid Zap and Droid Command Center. Droid Zap is a slightly oddball photo-sharing app which lets you toss photos up into a geotagged, temporary cloud, which other people with the Droid Zap app within 300 feet will be able to download. It isn't peer-to-peer, but it kind of makes you think it is. Droid Command Center is a bubbly little home-screen weather, time and battery widget.
The new Droids also come with the Ingress augmented-reality game preloaded, and each Droid buyer gets five Ingress invites to distribute to friends.
Oh, and by the way: the phones don't default to screaming "DROID" at you as the notification sound. The default ringtone does say "Droid," but at the end of the ring.
Droids vs. Droids vs. Moto X
The big difference between these phones is in size, battery life and price. The $99 Droid Mini fits very securely into even the smallest hands. It's a little bit thicker than the Ultra 8.9mm, and has the lowest-capacity battery at 2000mAh, but I think that will balance out with the lower power draw of a 4.3-inch as opposed to a 5-inch screen.
The $199 Droid Ultra and the $299 Droid Maxx are the same phone with different batteries and memory capacities. The Ultra uses a 2130mAh battery to keep its 7.2mm slimness and packs 16GB of storage, while the Maxx packs in a huge 3500mAh battery, which Motorola says will run the phone for a full 48 hours, and 32GB. At 8.5mm, it still feels extremely slim.
The Droid launch is just the beginning of Motorola's summer assault. Tomorrow, we'll hear from Motorola's parent company Google about Android 4.3, and on August 1, we'll see Motorola's flagship Moto X phone. When I asked Motorola reps about whether these Droids meant the X wouldn't be coming to Verizon, they demurred.
We did get a few hints about the X, though. It's likely to use this X8 chipset, and it'll probably have the Motorola features which we heard about here: touchless control, active display, quick camera launch, the new camera app and probably Motorola Assist. We'll have to wait for next week to learn more.
The three new Droids are available for pre-order now, and they'll hit shelves on August 20.
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