Jelly Bean SDK officially released

It seems that Google are wasting no time in getting the development kit for the latest version of Android into the hands of developers.

Less than a month after Android 4.1 was announced at Google I/O, the new SDK allows developers to optimize their applications with a wide variety of new features. Among the things Google have warned developers to look out for is taking care when optimizing a particular application to work with the larger 7 inch screen size, such as the one found on the Nexus 7.The Google devs also urge application developers to start taking advantage of the new richer notification styles introduced in JB, as well hardware accelerated rendering to take advantage of the new framerate optimizations.

For more info on developing for Android 4.1, check out Android Developers. Meanwhile, the new SDK can be downloaded from here.

Source

How fast is Windows 8?

The new interface has now been revealed to all, but what is under the hood? A comparison with the current version gives us surprising results.

The next version of Windows promises a lightning-fast boot in just 8 seconds, fast data transfers thanks to USB 3.0, new immersive webbased applications, and smooth game graphics. How many of these claims Microsoft manages to deliver on will only be known in the long term. No doubt, it will be many months before the final Windows 8 release, and performance will continue to improve while development is in progress. What we have now is the first Developer Preview release, which is by no means indicative of the final product. We are testing it against an everyday PC running Windows 7 with Service Pack 1. This will show how much Microsoft has developed the core of its operating system in comparison to its predecessor. We will disregard the other milestone builds that are circulating on the Web, as they were never officially released or intended for testing.

Installation and boot up

The Developer Preview acts a little difficult during installation, but the irritation is offset by a simple new boot manager which you can control with the mouse. It’s worth noting that if you try to install while running Windows 7, the setup wizard is very different from that of Windows 7. It can check whether any installed applications will not run properly on the new operating system. However if you decide to boot your computer directly from an installation DVD, the process you follow will be largely similar to that of the older version—and it will take 8 minutes longer. While booting the installed system, a loading screen appears and later you will see a brand new graphical boot manager in which you can select the operating system with the mouse. We noted that an available XP partition was missing in the list. The boot manager only recognizes operating systems from Vista onward, because the new boot manager is designed to take advantage of new capabilities of UEFI-enabled computers, which replace the BIOS currently found in most PCs. This behaves strangely on older PCs: in some cases selecting a different operating system, even Vista, causes the computer to restart itself before loading the different selection. The developers are working on a better compromise for systems with BIOS chip, but Microsoft definitely needs to pay attention to the XP problem, as many users still find it useful. Apart from that, the boot manager lets you change a number of settings through the graphical interface, including shortening the amount of time it is displayed for. However, boot time of Windows 8 is quite good: it loads twice as fast as its predecessor. The reason is a drastic change in the list of running programs. Microsoft has finally heard our prayers! Windows 8 does not automatically activate all the available services with each boot like earlier versions do. Shadow copies, Family Filter in Internet Explorer and many other applications that are not used by everyone are switched off and must be activated explicitly with a right click. If you choose to run all these services, you will see boot just like with Windows 7.

Quick start for applications

Windows has also changed the way large applications are loaded, to a great extent. The starting of programs like Adobe Photoshop feels as smooth as the starting of an app on tablets and smartphones. Moreover, the new Metro interface programs  essentially do run the way mobile apps do. If you have a touchscreen, just tap once on a tile. Alternatively, you can also click once on it with the mouse as people without  touchscreens will do. Almost all programs that run in Windows 7 can be installed in the Windows 8 Developer Preview. You can do that fastest by clicking on the ‘Windows Explorer’ icon and double-click the setup file as you have always done. Once the installation is done, however, Windows 8 creates a new tile through which you can later run the program. This replaces the previous Start menu. In order to see this icon, scroll to the extreme right side of the screen—Windows 8 basically puts new icons at the end. If you do not like this position, just drag the icon to the front. Starting standard Windows programs like Notepad and MS Paint is a bit unusual. You can tap the ‘Desktop’ tile to change to an interface which strongly reminds you of Windows 7. Click on the Start button there; you will not see the usual menu with the search bar, but again the icons. Move the mouse cursor over the Start button: a menu opens, in which you have to select ‘Search’. Now click on ‘Apps’ on the right edge of the screen and enter the name of the program you are looking for. A click on the search result starts the program of your choice—visibly faster than seen in Windows 7, apart from the long drawnout process of getting to it in the first place. Many Windows programs are equipped with the ribbon-style interface that was first seen in MS Office. Once you get used to it, you will be using the programs faster and in a more efficient manner. Just like the change from icons to tiles, the ribbon also demands openness for new control concepts.

How much power is in there?

With a new and clearly improved task manager, you get a look into the inner workings of Windows 8. The keyboard combination [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Del] brings up a menu for selecting the task manager as always. Immediately after a bootup, the tool shows all running processes in a newly optimized view. In the columns you can see the how much a certain process is demanding of the CPU, RAM, network, and hard disk. You can get a more comprehensive view of the system’s current load by clicking on ‘Performance’. You can see more details in the tab ‘Details’. In an especially welcome touch, the new sections ‘Startup’ and ‘Services’ display the programs that run automatically at bootup time, and allow you to turn off services. We did not find a Windows Experience Index rating in the Developer Preview, so only specialized benchmark tools such as PCMark 7 could be used in the test. They revealed visibly higher performance, but failed for applications with high graphics requirements. In daily tasks like compressing files into a ZIP archive, we did not see any noteworthy improvements in comparison to Windows 7. Browsing the Web with the new Internet Explorer is a bit faster according to the measured results, but this is not obvious to the user. Rendering an image using a ray-tracing utility takes just as long as in Windows 7. It’s possible that this will change as soon as graphics cards that support DirectX 11.1 are available.

Lightening fast shutdown

Microsoft has not only clearly hastened the startup of Windows 8, but also its shutdown. The only problem is that the ‘Shut down’ button is well hidden—you have to find it before you can use it. Hover the mouse cursor over the Start button and select ‘Settings’ in the menu. Click on the right margin on ‘Power’ and select ‘Shut down’. Windows 8 shuts down quickly: according to the event log, it needed only seven seconds. Its predecessor required twice as long for the same action. The hesitation in Windows7 was caused by the numerous processes and services running in the background that need to be ended in the correct order. Since many of these services are deactivated in the Windows 8 Developer Preview (and a lot of processes have also been cleared out), this problem does not arise. Hopefully these improvements will remain in the final version.

Task                                                                                                        Win 7 Home Premium SP1    Win 8 Preview

Installation (stopwatch)                                                                             21 minutes                              30 minutes

Boot time according to event log                                                              87.501 ms                               45.577 ms

Total performance (measured with PCMark 7 Basic Edition)                      1,502 PCMarks                       1,579 PCMarks

Graphics performance (measured with 3DMark 06)                                   1,844 3DMarks                       904 3DMarks

Loading a large application (Photoshop CS5.5)                                       10 seconds                            4 seconds

Compressing a 317 MB file with 7-Zip                                                       114 seconds                          113 seconds

Decompressing a 98 MB ZIP file (7-Zip)                                                    27 seconds                            28 seconds

Playing videos (PCMark)                                                                           19.23 fps                                 17.99 fps

Converting videos (PCMark)                                                                     1,226.65 KB/s                         1,940.09 KB/s

Surfing the Web (PCMark)                                                                        7.48 pages/sec                      7.72 pages/sec

CPU performance for rendering (measured with CineBench 11.5)             1.34 points                             1.33 points

Shutting down according to event log                                                      12.250 ms                               6.970 ms 

Do long battery life phones deliver as promised?

“You can easily expect the battery to last for at least a week.”

Talk time is an important factor while buying any cellphone. You don’t want your phone dying on you within a few hours, especially during critical situations or when you’re on the move and don’t have a charging point around. This is a common problem with many smartphones – you have to charge the handset at least once (or even twice) a day to keep it alive. The latest trend in the budget phones segment is the emergence of “Long Battery Life” phones. These are essentially conventional low-cost Java phones that have been around for a long time, but with heavy duty batteries. The average battery rating of a candybar phone is around 1000 mAh and cellphone companies claim you’d get around 6 to 8 hours of talk time. With a bit of music listening, FM radio, gaming and shooting photos, you can expect around 3 to 4 hours of talk time. Long battery life phones are on the heavier side due to the high-capacity batteries they use. The handsets weigh anywhere between 120 to 140 grams and the weight of the battery alone is around 50 grams. In this case, the battery rating is a whopping 2,500 mAh – that’s 2.5 times the average battery rating and the promised talk time is up to a staggering 18 hours! I had recently gone on a long road trip and I found it a perfect chance to put one of the long battery phones we got for review through a gruelling test. Between the iBall Shaan and Sict iV171, I chose to take the latter because it was lighter (121 g versus 138 g), its battery had a higher rating (3,000 mAh versus 2,300 mAh) and the FM antenna was built-in. The iball Shaan carries a price tag of 53.895 $ and the Sict iV171 is slightly more affordable at 41.315 $. I had kept the handset on charge the night before the trip and by early morning, it was good to go. I had carried the device’s data cable with a proprietary connector should the battery die within a week’s time. I used it to make and receive a few calls, send a few messages, listen to the radio for an hour or so every day, and I never switched off the handset nor did I switch to flight mode. On the third day, the battery was 65 percent and to my amazement it was still alive and kicking at 30 percent after an entire week. It took another two days to drain the battery completely. What I found most annoying was the ringtone volume – at full volume, you’ll get angry stares from everyone around

you and even at the lowest volume it’s distractingly loud. To top this, you get only three built-in lousy ringtones. The user interface is quite good, however, there’s plenty of room for improvement. The dictionary also isn’t as efficient as the T9 dictionary; there were plenty of commonly used words that weren’t recognized. The phone was nice and shiny before the trip, but on return, there were faint scratches on the screen and the glossy shell. All in all, the Sict iV171 is a great package for its price. Wish Nokia had a long battery life phone to offer!

Grand theft auto Wishlist

Now that Grand Theft Auto V has officially been announced, the world’s gone into overdrive with speculation. We jump aboard the bandwagon with a few ideas we hope make it into the game. Rockstar, are you listening?

Better economy

Games like GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption allowed players to earn money through both main and side quests, but with nothing worth really spending your money on, your income felt useless. Ten hours into GTA IV, I had enough money to buy my own country, but all I had was weapons and ammunition. For GTA V, it would be nice if I could actually put my money to good use. At least this way I’m motivated to rake in the moolah.

Improved quest system

GTA IV had way too many “go here and kill this random dude” kind of quests for its own good. It was either that or uninteresting fetch quests. Rockstar definitely needs to add in a ton of mission variety into GTA V. Adding stealth missions would also be a good change of pace with the inclusion of silenced weapons and the ability to actually plan your missions a la Hitman. Stalk your prey and kill him/her when they enter a dark alley, sabotage the brakes in their cars to make it look like an accident, or enter their houses at night and kill them in their sleep. All effective ways to vanish without a trace. Plus, adding in the random encounters from Red Dead

Rewarding side quests

Side quests should also make sense and should reward the player with more than money. For example, tackling cop missions should give access to the police database. This way if you have to whack someone and know the places he visits regularly, you don’t have to tail him through all the traffic. Redemption would be a pretty sweet

Balance realism and fun

Rockstar should know when to keep the game realistic and when to let players have a good time. For GTA V, they should bring back some of the fun activities while keeping the game grounded in reality. For example, limit the amount of weapons a player can carry on them at a time just like in real life. Additional firepower can always be stored in your car trunk; a feature that was promised with GTA IV as well.

Customization

The character customization is GTA IV, simply put, sucked. A few shoes, suits and some raggedy pieces of clothing were all players could adorn Niko Bellic with. Even if Rockstar don’t want players to tweak facial features, they can very well add a plethora of customization options like they did in San Andreas. Customization shouldn’t be limited to the character. The tuner culture is still going strong on the West Coast, so they should allow players to deck out their rides any way they see fit. Similarly, a player should be able to deck out his arsenal to a certain extent as well. I mean, who doesn’t like wielding diamond-encrusted AK 47s?

Verticality

In an urban open world environment, it’s a real pity to restrict all the gun fights to the streets. GTA V should allow players to tackle them anyway they seem fit, so if I feel I’m at an advantage after climbing a roof top, let me do so. I’m not saying make me like Ezio from Assassin’s Creed, but adding a bit of verticality to this series wouldn’t really hurt. After all, that too was promised to us for GTA IV.

Better combat system

The hand to hand combat system in GTA IV was not all that hot. In fact, it was pretty rigid and useless. Implementing the one from L.A. Noire will go a long way towards making fist fights more immersive. Similarly, they need to tighten up gunplay as well; something on the lines of Red Dead Redemption with a smooth and fluid looking cover system to boot.

Set pieces

I know I’m a bit spoilt by the Uncharted series when it comes to phenomenal set pieces, but if anyone can pull something like this off, it’s Rockstar. With a place like LA, where earthquakes are a common occurrence, a mission featuring one would be sweet. Imagine having to speed away from an earthquake that’s inches away from swallowing your car up!

The Future of Netbooks

A netbook may not be the best replacement for your laptop just yet, but a fewtechnological tweaks can help narrow the gap. 

A look at the Display Search reports shows that netbook sales grew by a staggering 103% in 2009  despite global recession. Despite a meagre 19% prediction in 2010 by Display Search’s forecasts, these devices cannot be brushed aside as a passing fad. While netbooks puts up a fi erce defence against  Tablet PCs, they certainly would not replace desktops or laptops in totality. But if netbooks do need to survive the competition, there is a need for constant evolution. Listed below are some of the upgrades we can expect soon.

BETTER PERIPHERAL MANAGEMENT

Netbooks are mostly not purchased in isolation; you would need to get some peripherals to ensure that you adjust to the dimensions and working of a netbook. Apart from basic peripherals like external DVD writers and mice, there are hordes of USB devices and netbook accessories available to personalize your netbook usage. However , many USB device today are version 3.0 compatible. Both USB devices and Bluetooth connectivity need to be abreast with prevalent  technologies in use

DEDICATED SOFTWARE SUPPORT

The biggest let down for netbook users in that not many applications are created keeping in mind this market segment. Using applications meant for laptops, notebook and desktop PCs becomes a problem even on high-end netbooks because of the small screen size. Thus, there is a need for applications, offi ce productivity tools, image editors, and games targeting netbooks.

OPERATING SYSTEM SUPPORT

While Microsoft does provide for a decent Windows 7 starter edition to work quite well with netbooks, there is room for more. Cost seems to be a very strong factor going in favor of netbooks, and thus, operating systems like Linux (like a lighter gOS Ubuntu variant) and Android would work best for netbooks.

BETTER SPEED

Keeping abreast with competition means faster speeds and higher performance. The Internet is no longer limited to text and images. The Web is all about staying connected and being live. Social networking phenomena, cloud computing and multiple avenues for streaming media have given a new lease of life to computing devices like smartphones and tablet PCs. Although netbooks support Wi-Fi connectivity, touch screens for faster data input and better connectivity using technologies like GPS and 3G is the way ahead. It also means netbooks need to have better processor capacity to handle these new technologies.

LONGER BATTERY LIFE

Netbooks have left laptops and notebooks way behind with its solid battery life and upgradeable lithium-Ion battery packs, but they face a stiffer challenge where longevity is concerned. Most handheld devices give you as much as a day of battery life to work with, while a netbook averages around 4-5 hours. As all other specifi cations on netbooks improve, battery life will take a beating if the technology doesn’t get better with time.

BETTER DIMENSIONS

If netbooks are to continue existing in the on-the-go genre of computing devices, they need to compete with devices that are shrinking by the day. While netbooks come with screen sizes between 7 and 13 inches and 75% to 85% smaller keyboards, they can get smaller still without compromising

AMD Raedon HD 7970 Ghz Edition Released

When AMD released the HD 7970 last year, it was the fastest single-GPU graphics card on the market. That was until NVIDIA launched their GTX 680, which took the crown from AMD and left the 7970 with a bloody nose

Now AMD is back with a tweaked version of the HD 7970, called the HD 7970 GHz Edition, to take back what’s now rightfully theirs, the title of the fastest single-GPU graphics card.

As usual, AnandTech put the new card through its paces and found that it tied with the GTX 680 in single-monitor setups, however, the HD 7970 GHz Edition took the lead when it came to multi-monitor setups running at insane resolutions, which made it the overall winner in terms of pure FPS performance. However, they also noted that this performance comes at the cost, and that is higher power consumption and heat levels and significantly higher noise levels. They even went as far as to say it was one of the noisiest cards they ever tested.

Underneath the identical looking body (compared to the standard HD 7970), the HD 7970 GHz Edition has the exact same hardware. The changes come in the form of a higher clock speed that has gone from 925MHz to 1000MHz and the introduction of an even higher 1050MHz turbo boost clock speed. The memory clock has also been updated from 5.5GHz to 6GHz and that’s about all the difference there is between the two cards.

The HD 7970 GHz Edition prices start at $499, which is a tiny bit more than what the HD 7970 cards are selling for right now and a lot less than the $549 launch price for the same. The hardware partner include ASUS, Gigabyte, HIS, MSI, Sapphire, TUL and XFX. If you want the ultimate performance from a single-GPU graphics card and can tolerate the high noise levels then this is the card to get right now.

Microsoft announces names of the Windows 8 editions

In the passed April Microsoft has released the list of editions that Windows 8 will be sold in. As of now, there will be four editions, Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8 Enterprise and Windows RT.

                   

                          The first three will be available for PCs and tablet users running x86/64 processors and will be on sale whereas Windows RT will be exclusively for PCs and tablets running on the ARM platform and will not be sold but would rather ship built into the devices. According to Microsoft, all editions of Windows 8 offer a no-compromise experience, which has sort of become their slogan with Windows 8.

                          As you can guess, Windows 8 will be the base version meant for home users and is the equivalent of the Home Premium version of the current Windows 7. It will have all your basic features, including the updated version Windows Explorer, Task Manager, better multi-monitor support and the ability to change languages on the fly. You will be able to upgrade to this OS from Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic and Home Premium

                          

                         Windows 8 Pro will have all the features of Windows 8 but will add additional stuff such as encryption, virtualization, PC management and domain connectivity. You will be able to upgrade to this OS from Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate.

                         

                             Windows 8 Enterprise will include all features from Pro and also have “features for IT organization that enable PC management and deployment, advanced security, virtualization, new mobility scenarios, and much more”. This version will only be sold to corporations with Software Assurance agreements. This means if you are a regular consumer, you can only purchase Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro.

                          

                            Windows RT (RunTime), or WOA as it was known before, will be exclusively for devices running on the ARM platform. It will be optimized for touch and will come with touch optimized version of Microsoft Office built-in, unlike the other three editions. However, it will not allow the user to install any other application on the desktop side of the OS and the focus will be on using the Metro apps from the Windows Marketplace. Windows RT won’t have Storage Spaces or Windows Media Player built-in but will have device encryption. It will otherwise be similar to the base Windows 8.

Microsoft hasn’t announced the pricing yet but said that it will shortly. For more information, click on the source link below.

source

Microsoft offers existing Windows users to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99

So far we have learnt a lot about Windows 8 since Microsoft announced it last year but the one thing we did not know so far was the price. Now Windows has been historically been a fairly expensive piece of software so people were worried that Microsoft might overshoot it again this time. Thankfully, that does not seem to be the case.

Microsoft has announced on its Windows blog that those who are already running a legitimate version of Windows on their current PC, whether it is Windows 7, Vista or even XP, are eligible to a Windows 8 Pro upgrade for only $39.99. Now Microsoft has not clarified in their post that the current OS has to be a legitimate copy but I think that is understandable.

But that is for the online version. What if you don’t have a good enough Internet connection and want to use a DVD drive? Then you can purchase the Windows 8 Pro upgrade on a DVD as well, but that would cost you $69.99Do note that these prices are just for upgrade. Microsoft has not yet revealed the prices for the standalone version of Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro for those who don’t want to or cannot upgrade. Also, the prices mention above are part of a limited time offer, which expires on January 31, 2013.If you own a legitimate copy of Windows or if you recently bought a new computer that comes with a copy of Windows pre-installed then this is great news for you. The rest, however, will have to wait for the prices of the standalone versions to be revealed

BLOGGING: LEVEL TWO

"ONCE YOU GET STARTED, YOU HAVE TO DISTINGUISH YOURSELF. KEEP THE TRAFFIC FLOWING TO KEEP THE ADVERTISING CASH COMING IN."

What many prolific bloggers might agree with is that consistent and incremental traffic largely determines the success of a blog. Also, making a blog interesting is one thing, but always keeping it that way is what’s most important. Now the inflow of traffic and the growth of a blog are directly proportionate in ways more than one. This is where taking your blog to the next level comes in. If you’ve followed one or more successful blogs, you’ll notice a pattern. Gradually but continually, bloggers add value to their writings. Since content is more important, it’s good to pay attention to it and innovation in design can wait until your blog has good amount of traffic. If you don’t offer new and interesting content regularly, chances are that readers will re visit a few times, but on realizing the lack of consistency, they’ll drift away. Also, even if the content is top notch but no one knows about it, you won’t have any readers in the first place. 

                                   There’s very little value—if any—in blogs that merely offer links to other websites and file-download servers. When there’s original content, it gets indexed and is valued by search engines. Whether a reader is interested will depend a lot on how the article is written. For blogs featuring fiction stories, even a sad but well-written tale can be a hit. But if you try to put across a lengthy and technical piece packed with jargon into a single post, you might loose the reader midway. In such cases, break it up into chapters, such as ‘Managing terabytes of data in 10 days’. Then each post could be about different types of data. Ranting on a subject that you’re well-versed with can be used to your advantage. Once you've built up a collection of posts, you can offer a free ebook when a user signs up. Also, whenever you want to detail your readers about something, send them an ebook, there’s added value and they can read it at their own leisure. Send weekly or fortnightly newsletters to subscribers. Speaking of which, there should be simple-to-use email subscription and RSS feeds on your blog so that subscribers can stay updated in the way they choose to be. The idea is to ensure that existing readers come back. Now, it’s time to attract more visitors.

                             

                                 Although word-of-mouth and emails to friends and family are effective, social

networking can prove to be much more powerful. Join a couple of sites and tell your friends and their friends about the blog. Also, when meeting people, it’s good to be ready with a 30-second description. Not everyone has a very good attention-span, so being able to concisely explain what your blog is about is a great idea. Try not to overdo the promotion, too much of it can backfire.

                                

                                 Here’s a fun way to keep your blog lively. Actively participate on other blogs which involve people who share similar interests. This way you get updates ahd also exchange traffic, which means newer visitors. You can even have your own forums, which will mean continuous interaction amongst readers. The more value you add to your blog, the higher expectations are set, and the more your blog has to consistently be enjoyable.

"ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE ON BLOGS WHICH INVOLVE PEOPLE WHO SHARE SIMILAR INTERESTS."

Microsoft Surface tablets to be priced at $599 for RT, $999 for Pro

You all remember the sleek hardware that Microsoft presented last week. Called Surface, the tablet has two versions – one with a Tegra 3 chipset, running Windows 8 RT, and another one with a proper x64 processor by Intel – that one running regular Windows 8 Pro. We’ve all been wondering what sort of pricing would the new tablets have. 

Well, know we sorta know. According to “a close source to Microsoft”, the Tegra version will have a price tag of $599 and the Surface Pro will go for $999.


These prices work out with what we previously knew. Back at the announcement event, a Microsoft rep commented that the pricing of the Windows RT tablet would be around the same as that of other ARM tablets with 32GB and 64GB storage. The price of the Surface Pro, too, was supposed to be around the price of current Intel ultrabooks. 


I would probably understand the high asking price for the Pro version – after all, they stuffed some serious hardware in an impressively thin shell and the thing has a FullHD screen. They are not even that many laptops with a FullHD screen, let alone tablets. The Surface Pro is an engineering feat.

The RT version, on the other hand, sounds like a regular run-of-the-mill tablet with just a different OS on it. Now, $599 is probably ok for a top-of-the-line 32GB tablet and it even matches the price of the latest iPads, so obviously Microsoft does not intend to go on a price war. But somehow the tablet suddenly lost its appeal to me. Now that I know that for its price, I would be able to get any other premium tablet on the market, I kinda started to doubt whether it’s worth it.

Bloomberg also reports that the first available Surface models will be Wi-Fi-only, so these prices most probably will go even higher for the 3G equipped versions. Since Microsoft is obviously not after making this platform more affordable than the competition, it would be interesting to see how they intend to lure in new customers. The tablet market is severely saturated already – consumers are already spoilt for choice. The Kindle Fire sales storm last holiday season already proved that there’s a huge market opportunity only for sub-200 tablets. In the $500+ range, the iPad simply has no competition. I wonder how all that fits in Microsoft’s plans for their tablet business. Perhaps they’ll let some other manufacturers build the cheap machines. Because without cheap machines, I don’t see them making much out of it. 

Microsoft Surface announced

"The company’s own Windows 8 tablet"

Microsoft just announced its own tablet, named Surface, which blurs the line between tablets and ultrabooks. The 10.6″ slate features simplistic design and compact measures, while offering a full-blown Windows 8 experience.

Microsoft’s latest creation will be offered in two flavors. The entry level one will run Windows RT for ARM based chips, while the fully tricked out version will be running Windows 8 Pro. The screen size on both versions will be 10.6″, but the Windows 8 Pro units will offer full HD resolution.

The Windows RT version is 9.3mm thin and weighs 676 grams. It will come with 32 or 64GB of built-in memory and the connectivity suite will include microSD, USB 2.0, MicroUSB HD Video Out, 2×2 MIMO antennae. Expect the tablet to become commercially available around the time when Windows 8 gets launched, with a price in line with its rival offerings, according to Microsoft.

The Windows 8 Pro version of the tablet will come much closer to being a full-blown PC. It will be thicker and heavier than its Windows RT running sibling at 13.5mm and 903 grams respectively. The Pro Surface will come with more built-in memory as well. You will be able to grab a 64 or 128GB version of it. The connectivity suite of the Surface pro will include microSDXC, USB 3.0, Mini DisplayPort Video, and 2×2 MIMO antennae. The Surface Pro will be available about three months after the entry-level version of the slate. It is said to be priced in line with similarly equipped ultrabooks.


  

Both the Windows RT running Surface and the Surface Pro will feature a built-in kickstand, which will pop out of their vapor-deposited (PVD) magnesium cases. The coolest feature for the slates however, is the Touch Cover. As its name suggests, the accessory looks like a typical tablet cover on the outside. Once you flip it open however, it reveals a full blown touch sensitive QWERTY keyboard, to go with a touchpad. Furthermore, the Surface Pro will feature Pen input with Palm Block.


Check out the promo video, which is quite impressive.

Source

A new future

One man managed to isolate an entire nation and brainwash its population into believing he was a god. Will the rest of the world learn any lessons from his life and death? ...

The death of Kim Jong Il raises some interesting questions concerning the future of North Korea. The common citizens of the famously insular nation are plagued by food shortages and have almost no communication at all with the outside world. Although computers are fairly common in schools and offices, the Internet itself is famously absent. Reporters Without Borders called North Korea the “world’s worst Internet black hole” as recently as 2006, and Internet access itself is illegal, according to Wikipedia. Similarly, mobile phones are tightly regulated, and it isn’t possible to make or receive international calls. A few hotels and establishments in Pyongyang reportedly do have satellite Internet connections, and a few privileged officials have secret private connections too. The country does seem to allow citizens to access information through some sort of intranet, which includes educational resources and even chatrooms. Seperately, the government runs a number of propaganda sites, which till quite recently were hosted outside the country, and there are even official Twitter and YouTube accounts for outsiders to admire.
                       Now, in the stories that have predictably been making the rounds of media outlets following his death, it emerges that the “divine glorious leader” was quite fond of surfing the Internet himself—which is not all that surprising, considering his other indulgences included fine food and drink especially imported from all over the world. Maybe being tech savvy himself, he realized how dangerous it would be to allow citizens to learn the truth about their country and leader. More importantly, he couldn’t risk letting them see how differently the rest of the world lives. China is often in the news for its totalitarian censorship of the Internet and harsh punishment for anyone trying to circumvent the nationwide blockage, but Chinese citizens are at least allowed some exposure to international news and media. In comparison, North Korea is still pretty much in the dark ages, and it’s unlikely that people outside of the privileged families in Pyongyang even know how free information exchange could affect their lives.
                   We take our technology for granted, and often moan about how weak or expensive it is compared to other parts of the world. We've rarely, if ever, measured ourselves against those countries dramatically less fortunate than us. North Korea needs all the change it can get, but let it also serve as a warning to us—this is what will happen when megalomaniacal individuals have such complete control over a nation and are scared of losing it. This is what could happen if extreme ideology is followed when deciding national level policies regarding censorship vs the freedom of expression, and the rights of individuals vs those of corporations.
                         So what happens now? How much of this policy was one man’s doing, and will his son, the “great successor”, take after him? With an expensive Swiss education and hopefully a broad world view, the younger Kim might have very different ideas of how to run his nation. Imagine the possibilities of a country full of people, some of whom might have had no exposure at all to international media in their lives, emerging onto the Internet. While the primary focus of a new regime should of course be the human rights situation, technology can only help the people and agencies who will need to jumpstart an entire country's economy and bring it onto the international map.