Bill Rigby

Windows 8 is the first Microsoft operating system primarily designed for touch commands, but it has failed to capture consumers’ imaginations or make a dent in a tablet market dominated by Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics.

“Is it perfect? No. Are there things we need to change? Absolutely. We are being very real about what needs to change and changing it as thoughtfully and quickly as we can”, said Tami Reller, co-head of Microsoft’s Windows unit at the company’s Redmond, Washington headquarters last week, where she announced the latest Windows sales figure, a number made public on Monday.

Microsoft will be rolling out an update to Windows 8, provisionally code-named ‘Windows Blue’, by the end of this year, Reller said. Details of the update will be released in the next few weeks.

Although Microsoft has sold 100 million Windows 8 licenses since launch on October 26, matching Windows 7 sales three years previously, it looks unlikely that the new system will see progressively rising demand, as Windows 7 did, hitting 240 million sales in its first year.

Microsoft’s last Windows 8 sales update was in early January, when it broke 60 million, suggesting only around 40 million license sales in the last four months, well below Windows 7′s average sales rate.

Windows 7 was helped by the fact that it replaced the generally unpopular Windows Vista, whereas Windows 8 has confused many potential customers with its new-look ’tile’-based start screen and the omission of the traditional ‘start’ button.

“The learning curve is real, and we need to address it,” said Reller. “We’re not sitting back and saying, they will get used to it.”

Reller did not say whether the ‘Blue’ update would restore the start button, but she said Microsoft would pay more attention to helping customers adapt.

“We’ve considered a lot of different scenarios to help traditional PC users move forward as well as making usability that much better on all devices,” she said.

Touch laptops

Consumer alienation, and the lack of affordable touch-laptops that can make full use of Windows 8, has held back computer sales, according to industry tracker IDC. PC sales had their sharpest drop on record in the first three months of this year, plummeting 14 percent.

Reller hopes that new machines from firms including Lenovo, ASUS and Hewlett-Packard will change that this year.

“We know customers like touch laptops, but they are also price sensitive,” she said. “Our partners (hardware makers) have to bet on volume, so that they get price breaks, and get that moving into the (retail) channel.”

Microsoft is also tweaking Windows 8 to make it compatible with smaller seven and eight inch tablets, which would allow hardware makers to compete in the fastest-growing segment of the tablet market against Apple’s iPad mini, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, Google Inc’s Nexus 7 and Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle Fire.

Reller declined to comment on whether Microsoft would make a smaller version of its own Surface tablet.

Microsoft has not made much of an impression in the tablet computer market so far, notching only 900,000 Surface sales in the first quarter, according to IDC, compared with 19.5 million iPad sales and 8.8 million Samsung tablet sales.

Overall, Reller hopes the ‘Blue’ update and a slew of attractive touch-laptops will fire up interest in Windows machines in all forms.

“I believe that touch will be mainstream in consumer laptops,” said Reller. “I think we’ll be pleased with the progress we’ve made by ‘back to school’ and by holiday (year end), we’ll be at this tipping point where we will say, ‘Now I see it’.”

Microsoft shares closed at $33.75 on the Nasdaq, after hitting their highest level since January 2008 earlier in the session, as the S&P 500 reached an all-time high.

ARM’s Chief Marketing Officer and EVP of Business Development Ian Drew displays the Nike+ FuelBand, which contains STM32 ARM Cortex-M3 chips, during a Reuters interview before the opening of the Computex exhibition in Taipei June 3, 2013. Reuters/Pichi Chuang

Clare Jim, Reuters: British chip designer ARM Holdings said it will defend its over 90 percent share of the mid-range mobile device market against hard-running rival Intel Corp, helped by a new processor it unveiled on Monday.

ARM introduced the new Cortex A-12 processor optimized for smartphones that sell for between $200 and $350, a mid-range category that the Cambridge-based company said would number half a billion devices a year by 2015.

ARM also expects to see its chip architecture in more wearable devices in the future, such as smart watches which it said could be publicly available this year.

“Wearable and interneted devices are starting to come into the industry,” ARM marketing executive vice president Ian Drew told Reuters in an interview ahead of the Computex show fair in Taipei.

“I was riding a bike with a motion detector, and we’ve demonstrated a fork that has ARM control in it to count calorie consumption … I suspect sometime this year you’ll see one or two (manufacturers) demonstrate smart watches.”

U.S. rival Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, last month unveiled the most extensive overhaul to date of its Atom mobile processors that underpin its push into smartphones and tablets [ID:nL2N0DN0YY]. Its chips now power a number of devices in the mid-market segment that ARM is targeting with its new processor.

“They are a very big competitor and they’re a big competitor to our partners. We have a different business model — we license IP,” Drew said.

“But we’re not slowing down. We focus on how we differentiate the industry … which is why we launched Cortex A-12 and all the graphics and video products around that.”

ARM said the new processor would deliver 40 percent more performance than its predecessor, the Cortex A-9, using a similar amount of energy. It expects devices using Cortex A-12s to be on the market by mid-2014.

Chips based on ARM technology dominate mobile computing, from tablets like Apple Inc’s iPad to high-end smartphones from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, and down to feature phones and entry-level devices. It licenses its designs to chipmakers like Qualcomm Inc and Samsung, and in return receives a royalty on every chip shipped.

ARM beat first-quarter profit forecasts, driven by buoyant demand for smartphones and tablets that use its processor technology and the strength of the dollar.

You get the freedom to put speakers anywhere you want high-performance sound as installation possibilities are endless: The kitchen, the den, the guestroom, the patio or pool, even the backyard BBQ pit.

The Atrium’s anodized aluminum tweeter domes with rubber surrounds, absolutely immune to the elements, provide the smooth, broad high-end range you need for larger outdoor spaces without skimping on the detailed highs, for the most realistic outdoor musical reproduction possible.

Mineral-filled polypropylene or aerated polypropylene cones, the same material used in our high-end LSi Series (depending upon model), are designed for higher outdoor efficiency. They’re lightweight but stiff and strong, with longer linear excursion capabilities. These cones play louder with less distortion, and won’t break up as you increase the volume.

Polk Audio’s patented Dynamic Balance and Klippel optimization technologies ensure optimal material performance, eliminating driver and tweeter “artifacts” for more realistic sound reproduction at high and low volume levels.

Polk Audio Atrium Series speakers exceed baseline industrial and military specifications for environmental endurance. Polk’s own all-weather certification goes even further, ensuring that every Atrium loudspeaker can effortlessly withstand the harshest conditions, whether high temps, heavy rains or even as horrific as this seems, your bathroom. Stainless steel, brass and aluminum hardware ensure Atrium speakers are tougher than nails for years of rustproof reliability.

The plug and play router also extends the range of an existing Wi-Fi connection an additional 100 feet. The small but mighty Multifunction Mini Router combines maximum wireless speeds of up to 300 Mbps in a 2.4GHZ wireless band to improve range and optimize data rates, making it the ideal solution for high-bandwidth applications such as video streaming, VoIP and online gaming.

The router supports the newest 802.11n wireless standard and is backwards compatible with older 802.11b/g standards, supporting a wide range of devices. Additional features include a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) which allows users to set up their own security, automatically establishing a faster and more secure WPA2 connection.

Multifunction Mini Router is small enough to fit in your pocket, the Wireless Multifunction Mini Router is capable of providing robust wireless network solutions to travelers, students, or anyone looking to expand their network.

Lenovo

The new AIOs let users interact like never before with up to 10-finger multi-touch technology for versatile computing; Intelligent TouchPad for easy scrolling, zooming and rotating; Lenovo Cloud for media sharing on any device from anywhere; and the Windows Store that provides access to thousands of entertaining and useful apps.

IdeaCentre B340: The Home Entertainment Hub

B340_Hero_08The IdeaCentre B340 AIO PC lets movies come alive on the 21.5-inch full HD widescreen frameless display that support state-of-the-art 3D vision—with two pairs of 3D glasses included.

With 10-point multi-touch, different users can do multi-tasking at the same time on the same computer, making computing experience more interactive.

The B340 is equipped with the following:

Powered by 3rd generation Intel Core i3 processors

4GB DDR3

1 TB HDD; allowing users to hold up to 250 HD movies, 320,000 photos or 200,000 songs

Cutting-edge NVIDIA GeForce 615 2GB integrated graphics which makes for a great gaming experience

VESA Mount for flexible fitting anywhere in the home

Optional TV tuner which provides great access to HDTV Windows 8

The IdeaCentre B340 features apps such as the Lenovo IdeaTouch, a user-friendly touch-based interface that gives you easy access to all your music, photos and videos and a range of touch-optimized multimedia applications and games and Lenovo Rescue System that makes data backup and recovery simple.

Lenovo C440: Built for Mainstream Family Use & Home Entertainment

Lenovo’s C440 is a smart, space-saving all-in-one PC ideal for family use and home entertainment.

The Lenovo C440 AIOs isequipped with the following:

• C440_Hero_02_BlackUp to 1 TB HDD; allowing users to hold up to 250 HD movies, 320,000 photos or 200,000 songs
• Up to 8GB memory for smooth multi-tasking
• Lenovo Education Portal with nine child education games
• 720p HD webcam with YouCam picture enhancements including fun, cartoon effects
• Dolby Advanced Audio V2 for a crisp, clear cinematic surround sound experience
• Windows 8

The Lenovo C440 automatically adjusts screen brightness based on users’ current surroundings and alerts users if they are too close to the screen. The stunning HD LED display of the 21.5-inch C440 is made for watching HD videos and movies.

This Lenovo All-in-One PCs fits into any home with a thin design, modeled after the pages of a journal or book. Its aluminum stand uses little desk space and allows users to slot the keyboard under the screen.

With up to 3rd generation Intel Core i3 processors, the C440 packs powerful performance and supports up to NVIDIA GeForce 615 2GB graphics, ideal for PC gaming fun.

Huawei

Sharp-cornered and thinner than a pencil at 8.4 mm, the company said it can achieve speeds of 150 Mbps, fast enough to download a two-hour high-definition movie in less than five minutes. 500-nits brightness, Gorilla Glass 2 topper for scratch resistance, and lower power consumption. It’s also has a 2,420mAh battery.

The mobile, which has a 4.7-inch, high definition screen, a 1GB of RAM, has a powerful 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and is able to use the fourth-generation high speed mobile networks being rolled out worldwide.

In addition to 13 megapixel camera, is facial recognition software helps organize photos in the gallery by contact. The camera is backside illuminated for increased low-light performance, and includes HDR mode.

Unveiling the device on the eve of the opening Monday of the four-day Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the company said it was “the world’s fastest smartphone,” smashing all previous records.

Huawei said its phone surpassed top speeds of 100 Mbps for the fourth-generation network ready versions of Apple’s flagship iPhone 5 and Samsung’s Galaxy SIII.

The Ascend P2 will launch in France through Orange in June and is also expected to be available worldwide during the second quarter of 2013, it said.

“Ascend P2 downloads HD movies in minutes, and loads online videos, web pages, songs or e-Books in seconds,” Huawei said in a company statement issued at the launch.

It has 1GB RAM and 16GB of storage, which unfortunately is non-expandable for the lack of a microSD card slot. The Huawei Ascend P2 is a solid mid- to high-end smartphone with some decent features and a pleasing array of specs. It doesn’t quite have the build quality of the iPhone 5 or HTC One, nor does it have the same snappiness as the excellent Samsung Galaxy S3. But I’m looking forward to putting the Ascend P2 a chance on the market.

Sales of smartphones are also increasing at a faster rate in China than in any other global market, going up by 85 percent from last year so far in 2012, according to the London-based Informa Telecoms & Media, a unit of the research firm Informa UK Ltd.

According to estimates, about 786 million smartphones have been sold in the world so far in 2012, 45 percent more than for the whole of last year.

The increase is being driven by a demand for android smartphones that run on the Android system, said Malik Saadi, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.

Saadi estimated that about 67 percent of the devices sold this year in China will run Android.

A similar trend has been noticed by the domestic consultancy Analysys International, which predicted Android’s market share would rise by 7.3 percentage points to 90.1 percent in the third quarter.

Speaking of Android’s chief rivals, Saadi said about 5 percent of the smartphones sold in China now run on Apple Inc’s iOS, and 1 percent run on Microsoft Corp’s Windows Phone operating system.

Data from Analysys International predicted iOS’ market share would decline to 4.2 percent in the third quarter, while the older Symbian operating system’s share would fall significantly to 2.4 percent.

One large reason that Android has managed to overtake larger competitors is that it is a free and open source, said Sandy Shen, a Shanghai-based analyst at the IT consultancy Gartner Inc.

The developers of Android promised from the system’s start that it would remain free. Its release prompted many hardware makers to put out low-cost smartphones, Shen said.

The top five cell phone producers in China—Samsung Group, Lenovo Group Ltd, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, ZTE Corp and Coolpad – all use the Android system. They now hold 60 percent of the Chinese market, said Li Yanyan, an analyst from Analysys International.

The system comes in a wide range of varieties. Cupcake, Donut, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich are not only the names of desserts but also of different versions of Android.

Android’s open source enabled Google to enlist the help of programmers from all over the world to improve the operating system, Li noted.

Analysts said they expect Android to further consolidate its position globally and in China.

Saadi said Android is likely to continue gaining market share in the world, so much so that one in every two handsets sold worldwide will be running on it by 2015.

As for Apple’s iOS, Shen said it is expected to see a moderate increase in its market share as intense competition rages in the market for high-end smartphones.

Written by XINHUA
Source: http://manilatimes.net/index.php/technology/38030-android-calling-the-shots-in-market

Sony

Slim, sleek and, at 146 g, unbearably light, the Sony Xperia Z is one handsome devil. Precision engineered and made from premium materials, it looks very stylish, with its rounded edges and smooth, reflective surfaces on all sides. Though slightly larger than the current crop of Sony Xperia phones, it still fits easily in the palm of one’s hand, making it easy to grip and unlikely to slip and fall.

Meet Xperia Z, the precision engineered Full HD smartphone designed with careful attention to every corner, piece and pixel.

Discover more about its 5-inch Full HD screen with a 1920 x 1080 resolution. Viewing videos and photos is no hardship with the device’s five-inch full HD 1080p Reality Display screen that offers a clear, crisp video display that draws viewers into whatever it’s playing. Powered by Sony’s acclaimed Mobile BRAVIA engine, images are razor sharp and colors remain vibrant, making viewing something like “Puss in Boots” that much more immersive.

The Xperia Z has 13MP camera with Exmor RS™ – the world’s first image sensor with HDR video for smartphones. With Exmor RS™ for mobile and HDR, Xperia Z takes sharp photos and videos both in lowlight and strongly backlit conditions.

Ability to resist water and dust, and other astonishing features. a microSD card slot and an HDMI port. It’s powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, as well as 2 GB of RAM. It runs on an Android 4.1 (Jellybean) platform and also boasts a Snapdragon™ S4 Pro quad-core processor gives you super-fast performance, unparalleled graphics and efficient battery use.

Sony Xperia Z, experience the best of Sony in a smartphone

The Kingston DataTraveler HyperX Predator 3.0 flash drive boasts of 1 TB or 1,024 GB of storage. It can read files at 250 MB per second, and write them at 160 MB per second, according to a report from the International Business Times. It’s not as fast as the SSDs that ship in many of today’s laptop and desktops, but it’s definitely plenty fast for a storage device that fits in your pocket.

Kingston’s newest product is three inches long, one inch wide and half an inch deep, the report added.

The 1 TB USB flash drive is expected to hit stores within the first quarter of 2013, along with a smaller 512 GB model. The prices of the two items have yet to be announced.

As I see these flash drives, you would be able to take your own OS and files with you (encrypted, of course!) on one, so you plug your flash drive into a computer, turn it on, and your favourite OS (e.g. Linux Mint, Windows 7, etc) appears with your desktop on it, and all your files are right there! This would be useful in an environment where people move around a lot sharing computers, but don’t actually want to totally trust the previous users to not have downloaded some malware, e.g. people who frequent internet cafes.

But all that speed and capacity won’t come cheap.

Kingston DataTraveler HyperX Predator 3.0 flash drive will be available in two variants – 512 GB & 1 TB. The 512GB variant of DataTraveler HyperX Predator 3.0 is now available online for around $800 – $900 while the 1TB variant will be out in the market this quarter.

With the high penetration rate of Filipino kids on the Internet, the risk of cyberbullying is also heightened. Eight out of 10 Filipino children (82 percent) access the Internet weekly while more than a third (37 percent) are daily Internet users. Seventy three per cent (73 percent) of Filipino teens have online social profiles as of 2010.

The thought of your child being bashed and bullied in the cyberspace is a nightmare for most parents. But it is worse for the child being cyber-bullied who could suffer from extreme depression that could lead to fatal consequences, as reported in recent newspaper accounts.

Here are some ways to protect your child from cyber bullying:

Pay Attention to the ‘red flags’
Kids who suffer from cyberbullying give out signals that they need help. And parents should watch out for these signals. The child may suddenly become moody and constantly angry or begin to distance himself from the family or even his friends. Sometimes parents mistakenly see this as a normal growing up phase not knowing that these sudden change in behavior are actually cries for help. If the parent is attentive to these red flags, the problem may be resolved at once before it gets any bigger.

Level up!
If your child is active in the social network scene, you should be too. Create your own Facebook account if you still don’t have one and make sure to add your child as “family.” That way, you’ll be able to see what your child is posting in cyberspace and the response that he or she is getting. Make sure, though, not to be intrusive in your child’s social network activities.

Have a one-on-one talk with your child
As soon as your child mentions the word cyberbullying or any Internet threat that tends to bother him, sit down with him for a serious one-on-one. Listen to what he has to say, try to find out how he feels and what exactly disturbs him. Assure him that you are always there to support and help him in whatever he is going through. After he’s done talking, make him understand what cyberbullying is and how seriously it affects the victim. At the same time, if your child happens to be the cyberbully, immediately step in and resolve the problem. Make your child understand that it is never right to tease, offend or bash someone, online or otherwise. Make the child understand the consequences of his actions.

Show support
Take cyberbullying seriously and support them through the next steps. This is a very difficult situation for your child so he will be needing your guidance to help him get through this. You may also tap professional help to work with you and your child on this problem.

Encourage your child
Help your child find safe and better things to do online. By protecting your child against Internet threats, it does not mean that you will stop him from exploring the cyber world where he could also learn and discover new things from if guided accordingly.

Get Help
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Reach out to a teacher, principal, parent or even law enforcement to help deal with a situation. And, if your child is showing signs of distress, consider having them talk with a counselor or doctor. Remember that cyberbullying can refer to emotional harassment, but can also result in physical danger.

Source: manilatimes.net/index.php/technology/35151-protect-your-child-from-cyberbullies