With Windows 8.1 comes scads of hybrids from PC makers eager to show the world that you really don't need to carry around that iPad anymore.
Will new Windows 8.1 hybrids finally expose the iPad for what it really is, a mere tablet?
That's what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer suggested this week.
When speaking at the company's Build Conference on Wednesday, he described in colorful -- and maybe just a tad exaggerated -- terms how tablets don't measure up to laptops (or even pencil and paper).
Enter the "2-in-1," as Microsoft likes to call hybrids. During his keynote presentation, Ballmer brandished the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix as an example of a 2-in-1 he has used.
The Helix can be a pure tablet or can snap into a dedicated keyboard and become a full-fledged laptop, replete with a mainstream Core i5 processor and a 1,920x1,080 resolution 11.6-inch display.
That was essentially Ballmer's pitch at Build. The salient advantage Windows 8.1 devices have over Apple tablets is that you need only one hybrid, not two separate devices.
And Ballmer knows that a lot more Helix-like 2-in-1 devices are on the way, packing Intel's battery-life friendly Haswell and Bay Trail processors.
That's all good except that Apple's iPad 5 is coming too. The 2,048x1,536 pixel-density, 9.7-inch tablet is expected to be lighter/thinner and more powerful, sporting iOS 7 and next-gen Apple A7 silicon.
And there's a booming market for third-party keyboards that turn the iPad into a quasi-laptop.
Then there's the next-gen iPad Mini, which will likely be even more popular.
Not to mention the very-well-received 2013 MacBook Air, which no single Windows ultrabook even comes close to in sales.
Is Ballmer right? Will 2-in-1 devices running Windows 8.1 steer consumers away from the next iPad? Maybe even get them to jettison their MacBooks?
Source: http://foxhippo.com/946473
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Windows 8.1 Download ISO
You can download Windows 8.1 Preview ISO images from this website:
http://foxhippo.com/457435
In case you need Windows 8.1 Preview Key:
NTTX3-RV7VB-T7X7F-WQYYY-9Y92F
http://foxhippo.com/457435
In case you need Windows 8.1 Preview Key:
NTTX3-RV7VB-T7X7F-WQYYY-9Y92F
Windows 8.1: Meet the new and vastly improved Windows Store
Windows 8.1 (codenamed Windows "Blue") brings a redesigned and much improved Windows Store that should make it easier for users to find applications.
A search box is now present at all times, whereas in Windows 8 users have to swipe from the right or put the cursor in the top or bottom right of the screen to bring up the charm with the search button.
The new store has a bigger emphasis on the promotion of top apps instead of categorization by genre. You can still easily bring up categories, but they are no longer the first thing you're presented with.
Automatic updating of apps will be supported, and people will be able to buy gift cards with stored balances. Microsoft is promising an improved in-app purchase experience, although since all we have now is the preview of the software, we can't say exactly how it will work.
To show how the Store has changed and improved, here is a look at the Windows Store in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 (we'll call it "Windows Blue" to make it easier to distinguish).
A search box is now present at all times, whereas in Windows 8 users have to swipe from the right or put the cursor in the top or bottom right of the screen to bring up the charm with the search button.
The new store has a bigger emphasis on the promotion of top apps instead of categorization by genre. You can still easily bring up categories, but they are no longer the first thing you're presented with.
Automatic updating of apps will be supported, and people will be able to buy gift cards with stored balances. Microsoft is promising an improved in-app purchase experience, although since all we have now is the preview of the software, we can't say exactly how it will work.
To show how the Store has changed and improved, here is a look at the Windows Store in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 (we'll call it "Windows Blue" to make it easier to distinguish).
Microsoft Launches Windows 8.1 Preview With Start Button, Deep SkyDrive Integration, Smarter Search Tool & More
Microsoft today officially launched Windows 8.1 Preview, the first public beta of its flagship operating system’s next version, at its Build developer conference in San Francisco today. For Microsoft, Windows 8.1 represents a chance to fix some of the issues with Windows 8. The fact that Microsoft is bringing back the Start button and now allowing users to boot right into the desktop is a sign that the company has been listening to its users. In many ways, 8.1 — even in this Preview version — is what Windows 8 should have been.
As Microsoft has said for a while now, the usual three-year update cycles for Windows don’t really work anymore in today’s environment. Even though Microsoft delivered over 700 improvements to Windows 8 since its launch, Windows 8.1 represents quite a bit more than just the culmination of these efforts. It’s not just a service pack but actually includes a good number of new features that do make it far more usable than the previous version.
START BUTTON, BOOT TO DESKTOP AND MORE
The Start button is obviously the main attraction here for many users. It’s worth noting, though, that while the Start button is back, the Start Menu isn’t coming back anytime soon. By default, clicking the Start button takes you to the good-old Start menu. Thankfully, however, Microsoft has added a new Apps screen that can take the place of the Start menu when you click the Start button. The Apps screen simply lists all your apps without the interference of live tiles and other embellishments. You can sort the list by name, most often used and newest apps. You can also invoke the Apps screen by swiping up from the Start screen.
As Microsoft announced earlier this year, it’s also now finally possible to boot directly into the desktop again. When combined with the Apps screen, this allows you to almost completely bypass the Start menu when you use Windows 8.1.
Ahead of the official unveiling, there had been rumors that Windows 8. 1 would also allow users to customize how the OS would handle corner navigation, but so far, it only looks as if the only options are to turn this feature off.
Talking about the Start screen: Microsoft has added quite a few new features to it to improve its usefulness. It’s now much easier to rearrange apps (including multiple apps at the same time), and app tiles can now be both larger and smaller than before. You can also select animated backgrounds for the Start menu (which are actually pretty cool) or choose to use the same background for your desktop and the Start screen.
SEARCH
Another marquee feature of Windows 8.1 is the new search tool. As Microsoft previously revealed, the built-in search tool can now look for way more than files and settings. Instead, it’s now a universal search tool that looks for results on the web (using Bing), your hard drive, SkyDrive, inside your documents and in apps that support this feature. The search charm will, for example, show you results from the revamped Xbox Music service and let you play songs right from the search results. When you open the search results, you can also immediately find links to related Wikipedia entries, see images and, if relevant, nearby attractions, upcoming events and an artist’s songs, albums and similar info.
WINDOWS STORE APPS: UP TO 4 SIDE-BY-SIDE
The other major change in Windows 8.1 is that when you use two Windows Store apps (previously known as Metro or Modern UI apps) side-by-side, you can now resize these windows at will. Previously, you could only choose between relegating one app to a sidebar and having the other fill the rest of the screen. The other issues with Windows 8 and Store apps was that you could only see two of them at a time and if you had a second screen, these apps were stuck on one screen only. Now, Windows Store apps can take over all of your screens and you can see up to four per screen if your resolution is high enough. The general rule is one app for every 500 pixels of screen width. This is one of the many Windows 8. 1 features Windows 8 should’ve had right from the beginning, but it’s good to see that Microsoft has finally added this now.
SKYDRIVE EVERYWHERE (WITH BETTER PHOTO EDITING)
For Windows 8.1, SkyDrive is the cloud. This new version deeply integrates SkyDrive, so you don’t need a separate app for syncing your files with SkyDrive anymore. Many of your PC’s settings are also now stored on SkyDrive, so when you log in to a new PC, everything should quickly feel at home.
It’s worth noting that not every file is automatically synced to every device. Most files will only be available after you have opened them on a given machine.
One feature Microsoft has also added to the SkyDrive app in the Windows 8.1 Preview is basic photo editing with filters and a smart color enhancement feature that lets you pump up the color of the sky or grass in an image.
UPDATED SETTINGS MENU
Here is another annoyance Microsoft fixed: previously, when you wanted to switch certain settings on your PC, there was also quite a bit of confusion about which settings were available through the modern UI and which would invoke the old-school Windows 7-like settings windows on the desktop. In Windows 8.1, Microsoft has finally consolidated virtually all the settings you would regularly need in a settings menu in the modern UI mode. From there, you can manage everything from keyboard and Bluetooth settings to how you want to set up your multi-screen desktop and handle SkyDrive syncing with your PC.
WINDOWS STORE NOW FOCUSES ON DISCOVERY, NOT CATEGORIES, TAKES AWAY INSTALL LIMITS
With this update, Microsoft is also introducing a redesigned Windows Store, and apps you buy from the store now automatically update when a new version arrives (this is on by default, but you can always turn it off, too). The new store isn’t focused on categories anymore but now stresses app discovery and recommendations. When you open the store, the first thing you will see, however, is an editorial selection of some of the most interesting new apps according to Microsoft. As you scroll to the right, though, you begin to see personalized recommendations (powered by Bing), lists of popular apps and new releases. Finally, the standard lists of top free and paid apps are displayed. You can still get to the categories view by swiping down from the top of the screen (or right-clicking).
With Windows 8.1, Microsoft is bringing the Windows Store to 70 new markets, which takes the total to 191, and it’s also introducing gift cards for loading up your Windows accounts in 41 markets.
With this update, Microsoft is also removing the previous five-device limit of how many devices you could install a given app on. Instead of enforcing a strict limit, Microsoft now uses its fraud detection algorithms to detect cheaters.
OTHER UPDATES
There are obviously plenty of other updates in Windows 8.1 Preview. There’s a new Xbox Music experience with a focus on your music collection and a Pandora-like radio feature, new apps for cooking and fitness and numerous other smaller updates. Internet Explorer 11, for example, isn’t a major revamp of the browser, but you can now open an infinite number of tabs, and bookmarks sync between all of your Windows devices and can even include nested favorites. The Mail app now features automatic filtering for newsletters, shortcuts for finding emails from your favorites and the sweep feature that Outlook.com users are already used to.
Another cool feature in Windows 8.1 is “reading lists,” which let you bookmark virtually anything from within apps or a browser that you want to get back to later.
The lock screen now functions as a personalized picture frame when you are not using the computer and you can answer Skype calls right from the lock screen without having to sign in.
WHAT WINDOWS 8 SHOULD HAVE BEEN
After having spent some time with the Windows 8.1 Preview on a Surface Pro now, it definitely feels like a very robust system already. It’s a shame that many of the features Microsoft is introducing now weren’t in Windows 8 already.
As Microsoft has said for a while now, the usual three-year update cycles for Windows don’t really work anymore in today’s environment. Even though Microsoft delivered over 700 improvements to Windows 8 since its launch, Windows 8.1 represents quite a bit more than just the culmination of these efforts. It’s not just a service pack but actually includes a good number of new features that do make it far more usable than the previous version.
START BUTTON, BOOT TO DESKTOP AND MORE
The Start button is obviously the main attraction here for many users. It’s worth noting, though, that while the Start button is back, the Start Menu isn’t coming back anytime soon. By default, clicking the Start button takes you to the good-old Start menu. Thankfully, however, Microsoft has added a new Apps screen that can take the place of the Start menu when you click the Start button. The Apps screen simply lists all your apps without the interference of live tiles and other embellishments. You can sort the list by name, most often used and newest apps. You can also invoke the Apps screen by swiping up from the Start screen.
As Microsoft announced earlier this year, it’s also now finally possible to boot directly into the desktop again. When combined with the Apps screen, this allows you to almost completely bypass the Start menu when you use Windows 8.1.
Ahead of the official unveiling, there had been rumors that Windows 8. 1 would also allow users to customize how the OS would handle corner navigation, but so far, it only looks as if the only options are to turn this feature off.
Talking about the Start screen: Microsoft has added quite a few new features to it to improve its usefulness. It’s now much easier to rearrange apps (including multiple apps at the same time), and app tiles can now be both larger and smaller than before. You can also select animated backgrounds for the Start menu (which are actually pretty cool) or choose to use the same background for your desktop and the Start screen.
SEARCH
Another marquee feature of Windows 8.1 is the new search tool. As Microsoft previously revealed, the built-in search tool can now look for way more than files and settings. Instead, it’s now a universal search tool that looks for results on the web (using Bing), your hard drive, SkyDrive, inside your documents and in apps that support this feature. The search charm will, for example, show you results from the revamped Xbox Music service and let you play songs right from the search results. When you open the search results, you can also immediately find links to related Wikipedia entries, see images and, if relevant, nearby attractions, upcoming events and an artist’s songs, albums and similar info.
WINDOWS STORE APPS: UP TO 4 SIDE-BY-SIDE
The other major change in Windows 8.1 is that when you use two Windows Store apps (previously known as Metro or Modern UI apps) side-by-side, you can now resize these windows at will. Previously, you could only choose between relegating one app to a sidebar and having the other fill the rest of the screen. The other issues with Windows 8 and Store apps was that you could only see two of them at a time and if you had a second screen, these apps were stuck on one screen only. Now, Windows Store apps can take over all of your screens and you can see up to four per screen if your resolution is high enough. The general rule is one app for every 500 pixels of screen width. This is one of the many Windows 8. 1 features Windows 8 should’ve had right from the beginning, but it’s good to see that Microsoft has finally added this now.
SKYDRIVE EVERYWHERE (WITH BETTER PHOTO EDITING)
For Windows 8.1, SkyDrive is the cloud. This new version deeply integrates SkyDrive, so you don’t need a separate app for syncing your files with SkyDrive anymore. Many of your PC’s settings are also now stored on SkyDrive, so when you log in to a new PC, everything should quickly feel at home.
It’s worth noting that not every file is automatically synced to every device. Most files will only be available after you have opened them on a given machine.
One feature Microsoft has also added to the SkyDrive app in the Windows 8.1 Preview is basic photo editing with filters and a smart color enhancement feature that lets you pump up the color of the sky or grass in an image.
UPDATED SETTINGS MENU
Here is another annoyance Microsoft fixed: previously, when you wanted to switch certain settings on your PC, there was also quite a bit of confusion about which settings were available through the modern UI and which would invoke the old-school Windows 7-like settings windows on the desktop. In Windows 8.1, Microsoft has finally consolidated virtually all the settings you would regularly need in a settings menu in the modern UI mode. From there, you can manage everything from keyboard and Bluetooth settings to how you want to set up your multi-screen desktop and handle SkyDrive syncing with your PC.
WINDOWS STORE NOW FOCUSES ON DISCOVERY, NOT CATEGORIES, TAKES AWAY INSTALL LIMITS
With this update, Microsoft is also introducing a redesigned Windows Store, and apps you buy from the store now automatically update when a new version arrives (this is on by default, but you can always turn it off, too). The new store isn’t focused on categories anymore but now stresses app discovery and recommendations. When you open the store, the first thing you will see, however, is an editorial selection of some of the most interesting new apps according to Microsoft. As you scroll to the right, though, you begin to see personalized recommendations (powered by Bing), lists of popular apps and new releases. Finally, the standard lists of top free and paid apps are displayed. You can still get to the categories view by swiping down from the top of the screen (or right-clicking).
With Windows 8.1, Microsoft is bringing the Windows Store to 70 new markets, which takes the total to 191, and it’s also introducing gift cards for loading up your Windows accounts in 41 markets.
With this update, Microsoft is also removing the previous five-device limit of how many devices you could install a given app on. Instead of enforcing a strict limit, Microsoft now uses its fraud detection algorithms to detect cheaters.
OTHER UPDATES
There are obviously plenty of other updates in Windows 8.1 Preview. There’s a new Xbox Music experience with a focus on your music collection and a Pandora-like radio feature, new apps for cooking and fitness and numerous other smaller updates. Internet Explorer 11, for example, isn’t a major revamp of the browser, but you can now open an infinite number of tabs, and bookmarks sync between all of your Windows devices and can even include nested favorites. The Mail app now features automatic filtering for newsletters, shortcuts for finding emails from your favorites and the sweep feature that Outlook.com users are already used to.
Another cool feature in Windows 8.1 is “reading lists,” which let you bookmark virtually anything from within apps or a browser that you want to get back to later.
The lock screen now functions as a personalized picture frame when you are not using the computer and you can answer Skype calls right from the lock screen without having to sign in.
WHAT WINDOWS 8 SHOULD HAVE BEEN
After having spent some time with the Windows 8.1 Preview on a Surface Pro now, it definitely feels like a very robust system already. It’s a shame that many of the features Microsoft is introducing now weren’t in Windows 8 already.
Friday, June 14, 2013
The end of Symbian: Nokia ships last handset with the mobile OS
This week, Finnish smartphone creator Nokia announced that it had shipped its final handset running the Symbian operating system. As the last company in the world building phones using the Symbian OS, Nokia's withdrawal from the platform means Symbian is now completely defunct.
Symbian's fall from dominance is a tale about which books can (and should) be written. Its origins date to the '80s, but as of 1998, Symbian's existence was formalized when an old PDA company, Psion, changed its name to Symbian and took funding from the major phone manufacturers at the time, including Ericsson and Motorola, to become the official caretaker of the rising mobile OS.
What killed symbian?
But Nokia has always been Symbian's biggest supporter. The company produced millions of phones running the OS, and the two have always had close ties. Together they dominated the cell phone market throughout the early 2000s; in fact, Symbian remained the top-selling smartphone OS worldwide until late 2010.
That abrupt reversal of fortune was due to a couple of factors: First, the rise of Android and iOS as the dominant phone OSes, sought-after by consumers dropping simplistic handsets in favor of smartphones. Second, Nokia's fall from grace (for much the same reason), along with its fateful 2011 decision to jump into bed with Microsoft and the Windows Phone OS. At that point, the only remaining Symbian backer (and the main contributor to the Symbian code base) said goodbye to the OS, and the writing was on the wall for what would happen next.
Today, Symbian is actually maintained by Accenture, a management consulting company, to which Nokia outsourced development (and shipped off thousands of employees) in 2011. Accenture is supposed to maintain the OS through 2016.
So, what killed Symbian? Complexity, according to Nokia. In reports, the company blamed Symbian's difficult and unfriendly code structure for the extended time it takes for a phone using that OS to be developed. BGR quotes a Nokia spokesperson complaining that a typical Symbian handset required 22 months of development time, compared to less than a year with Windows Phone. In today's environment, when markets are made and lost in a matter of weeks, that just won't fly.
For businesses with large deployments of Symbian smartphones, well, there's probably little need to fret. First, there's no question you've seen this day coming for at least a few years, and chances are you've long since figured out a successor to standardize on. For those stragglers, that deal with Accenture means you'll likely get security updates and other fixes for the next three years—that's plenty of time to decide whether you want to jump to Android, iOS, Windows Phone, or—dare we suggest it—BlackBerry. (The smart money seems to be on moving to Android.)
That said, support agreements tend to be fluid, especially with a product like Symbian that is now effectively off the market. While there's no sign that Symbian support activities are likely to shut down in the near future, it might be a good idea to accelerate any mobile migration plans just in case.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/636732
Symbian's fall from dominance is a tale about which books can (and should) be written. Its origins date to the '80s, but as of 1998, Symbian's existence was formalized when an old PDA company, Psion, changed its name to Symbian and took funding from the major phone manufacturers at the time, including Ericsson and Motorola, to become the official caretaker of the rising mobile OS.
What killed symbian?
But Nokia has always been Symbian's biggest supporter. The company produced millions of phones running the OS, and the two have always had close ties. Together they dominated the cell phone market throughout the early 2000s; in fact, Symbian remained the top-selling smartphone OS worldwide until late 2010.
That abrupt reversal of fortune was due to a couple of factors: First, the rise of Android and iOS as the dominant phone OSes, sought-after by consumers dropping simplistic handsets in favor of smartphones. Second, Nokia's fall from grace (for much the same reason), along with its fateful 2011 decision to jump into bed with Microsoft and the Windows Phone OS. At that point, the only remaining Symbian backer (and the main contributor to the Symbian code base) said goodbye to the OS, and the writing was on the wall for what would happen next.
Today, Symbian is actually maintained by Accenture, a management consulting company, to which Nokia outsourced development (and shipped off thousands of employees) in 2011. Accenture is supposed to maintain the OS through 2016.
So, what killed Symbian? Complexity, according to Nokia. In reports, the company blamed Symbian's difficult and unfriendly code structure for the extended time it takes for a phone using that OS to be developed. BGR quotes a Nokia spokesperson complaining that a typical Symbian handset required 22 months of development time, compared to less than a year with Windows Phone. In today's environment, when markets are made and lost in a matter of weeks, that just won't fly.
For businesses with large deployments of Symbian smartphones, well, there's probably little need to fret. First, there's no question you've seen this day coming for at least a few years, and chances are you've long since figured out a successor to standardize on. For those stragglers, that deal with Accenture means you'll likely get security updates and other fixes for the next three years—that's plenty of time to decide whether you want to jump to Android, iOS, Windows Phone, or—dare we suggest it—BlackBerry. (The smart money seems to be on moving to Android.)
That said, support agreements tend to be fluid, especially with a product like Symbian that is now effectively off the market. While there's no sign that Symbian support activities are likely to shut down in the near future, it might be a good idea to accelerate any mobile migration plans just in case.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/636732
Lightweight Microsoft Office available on iPhone
Even as a pared-down version of Microsoft's Office software package arrived on the iPhone, the company is holding out on extending that to the iPad and Android devices as it tries to boost sales of tablet computers running its own Windows system.
Microsoft also isn't selling Office Mobile for iPhone separately. Instead, it comes as part of a $100-a-year Office 365 subscription, which also lets you use Office on up to five Mac and Windows computers. Microsoft made the app available through Apple's app store Friday.
Microsoft Corp is treading a fine line as it tries to make its subscription more compelling, without removing an advantage that tablet computers running Microsoft's Windows system now have, the ability to run popular Office programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Microsoft has been pushing subscriptions as a way to get customers to keep paying for a product that has historically been sold in a single purchase. The company touts such benefits as the ability to run the package on multiple computers and get updates for free on a regular basis. Microsoft said it wants to give customers yet another reason to embrace subscriptions by offering Office on the iPhone only with a subscription.
The iPhone app will let people read and edit their text documents, spreadsheets and slide presentations at the doctor's office or at a soccer game. But many people will prefer doing those tasks on a tablet's larger screen. Office is available on those devices through a Web browser, but that requires a constant Internet connection, something many tablets don't have.
``The nature of the Office suite, being productivity-focused, makes it better-suited for a larger mobile screen,'' said Josh Olson, an analyst with Edward Jones. ``The issue then becomes, `How do you provide the Office offering in its best-suited mobile environment without negating a distinguishing characteristic of the Windows 8 tablets?'''
He said Microsoft isn't likely to offer Office on the iPad and other tablets until it sees sufficient adoption of Windows tablets first. Because of that, the new mobile app is likely to increase consumer awareness, but it won't significantly increase subscriptions.
Another analyst, Rick Sherlund of Nomura Securities, warned that delaying a tablet version on non-Windows devices will merely help competitors. ``Office is a bigger business for Microsoft than Windows, so we see more urgency to preserve and extend the Office franchise cross platform,'' he said.
Apple, for one, is refreshing its iWork package this fall, while Google bought Quickoffice last year. The two offerings are among several that are capable of working with Office files on mobile devices, though people using them may lose formatting and other details. Chris Schneider, a marketing manager with Microsoft's Office team, would not comment on any plans for the iPad or Android.
The regular version of Office works on Windows 8 tablets, and most of the features are available on a version designed for tablets running a lightweight version of Windows called RT. Customers needing to use Office on a larger screen than a phone might be drawn to the Windows tablets, which have lagged behind in sales and cachet compared with Apple's iPad and various devices running Google's Android system.
The iPhone app comes with Word, Excel and PowerPoint and will sync with Microsoft's SkyDrive online storage service. Microsoft said people will be able to pick up a Word document exactly where they left off on another computer tied to the same account, while comments they add to a Word or Excel file will appear when they open it up on another machine.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/279239
Microsoft also isn't selling Office Mobile for iPhone separately. Instead, it comes as part of a $100-a-year Office 365 subscription, which also lets you use Office on up to five Mac and Windows computers. Microsoft made the app available through Apple's app store Friday.
Microsoft Corp is treading a fine line as it tries to make its subscription more compelling, without removing an advantage that tablet computers running Microsoft's Windows system now have, the ability to run popular Office programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Microsoft has been pushing subscriptions as a way to get customers to keep paying for a product that has historically been sold in a single purchase. The company touts such benefits as the ability to run the package on multiple computers and get updates for free on a regular basis. Microsoft said it wants to give customers yet another reason to embrace subscriptions by offering Office on the iPhone only with a subscription.
The iPhone app will let people read and edit their text documents, spreadsheets and slide presentations at the doctor's office or at a soccer game. But many people will prefer doing those tasks on a tablet's larger screen. Office is available on those devices through a Web browser, but that requires a constant Internet connection, something many tablets don't have.
``The nature of the Office suite, being productivity-focused, makes it better-suited for a larger mobile screen,'' said Josh Olson, an analyst with Edward Jones. ``The issue then becomes, `How do you provide the Office offering in its best-suited mobile environment without negating a distinguishing characteristic of the Windows 8 tablets?'''
He said Microsoft isn't likely to offer Office on the iPad and other tablets until it sees sufficient adoption of Windows tablets first. Because of that, the new mobile app is likely to increase consumer awareness, but it won't significantly increase subscriptions.
Another analyst, Rick Sherlund of Nomura Securities, warned that delaying a tablet version on non-Windows devices will merely help competitors. ``Office is a bigger business for Microsoft than Windows, so we see more urgency to preserve and extend the Office franchise cross platform,'' he said.
Apple, for one, is refreshing its iWork package this fall, while Google bought Quickoffice last year. The two offerings are among several that are capable of working with Office files on mobile devices, though people using them may lose formatting and other details. Chris Schneider, a marketing manager with Microsoft's Office team, would not comment on any plans for the iPad or Android.
The regular version of Office works on Windows 8 tablets, and most of the features are available on a version designed for tablets running a lightweight version of Windows called RT. Customers needing to use Office on a larger screen than a phone might be drawn to the Windows tablets, which have lagged behind in sales and cachet compared with Apple's iPad and various devices running Google's Android system.
The iPhone app comes with Word, Excel and PowerPoint and will sync with Microsoft's SkyDrive online storage service. Microsoft said people will be able to pick up a Word document exactly where they left off on another computer tied to the same account, while comments they add to a Word or Excel file will appear when they open it up on another machine.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/279239
With Windows 8.1, Microsoft is aiming squarely at mobile devices
With Windows 8 roughly halfway through its first year, and look how things have changed. A decade ago, you had a PC (maybe two) and you probably had a cell phone, which you used for making phone calls and not for Internet access. Today the average American adult has multiple devices capable of doing PC-like things, including a smartphone and, increasingly, a tablet or ebook reader. And we expect to be able to pick up any one of those devices and doing the kinds of tasks that used to be reserved exclusively for PCs.
Give Microsoft credit for spotting the rise of the tablet a year before it began. When they started planning Windows 8 in 2009, they focused on making it a worthy engine for tablets the size of a small notebook PC. But they didn't think small enough, because the real growth in tablets now is in the "bigger than a smartphone, smaller than a notebook" category.
That's where new Windows devices like the Acer Iconia W3-810 are intended to fit in.
Its 8.1-inch screen is too small to meet the original Windows 8 logo requirements. Even if you ignored that technicality, the initial release of Windows 8 wasn't designed to run on a device that small. And to add the final insult, most configuration options require you to go back to the desktop, which feels downright bizarre and decidedly not-touch-friendly on a device of this size.
Windows 8.1 addresses all of those issues. It specifically supports the 1280x800 resolution and screen size of this device, allowing two modern apps to run side by side. Virtually every configuration option has been redone in a touch-friendly style that doesn't require visiting the desktop.
Imagine that Start screen flipped to its more natural portrait orientation and only a few icons on the screen: the Kindle app, Music, Video, Mail, Skype. In that configuration, it's functionally not that different from an iPad Mini or a Kindle Fire or a Nexus 7.
The Acer lists for $380 with 32 GB of storage or $430 for 64 GB. Street prices will probably drop slightly thanks to online discounts, making its price comparable to an iPad Mini but at least $100 more than a Nexus 7. Similar devices from other manufacturers will no doubt appear around the same time as Windows 8.1, at the same or lower price points.
But that Windows 8.1 device can do something its competitors can't. It has the power to transform itself into a full-fledged desktop PC, capable of running Microsoft Office and other desktop apps. Use the HDMI cable to connect a large monitor (or use the wireless projection mode in Windows 8.1), add a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and you've temporarily turned this small tablet into a full-fledged desktop PC. Unplug the monitor and throw the tablet into your traveling bag and it's a mobile device again.
Microsoft's gamble is that Windows users will see that capability as a positive, rather than as needless complexity. They're betting that frugal PC buyers will be attracted to the possibility of versatile devices. But in a world where we've become used to thinking of small, cheap devices as disposable, single-purpose tools, can that philosophy succeed?
Source: http://foxhippo.com/767638
Give Microsoft credit for spotting the rise of the tablet a year before it began. When they started planning Windows 8 in 2009, they focused on making it a worthy engine for tablets the size of a small notebook PC. But they didn't think small enough, because the real growth in tablets now is in the "bigger than a smartphone, smaller than a notebook" category.
That's where new Windows devices like the Acer Iconia W3-810 are intended to fit in.
Its 8.1-inch screen is too small to meet the original Windows 8 logo requirements. Even if you ignored that technicality, the initial release of Windows 8 wasn't designed to run on a device that small. And to add the final insult, most configuration options require you to go back to the desktop, which feels downright bizarre and decidedly not-touch-friendly on a device of this size.
Windows 8.1 addresses all of those issues. It specifically supports the 1280x800 resolution and screen size of this device, allowing two modern apps to run side by side. Virtually every configuration option has been redone in a touch-friendly style that doesn't require visiting the desktop.
Imagine that Start screen flipped to its more natural portrait orientation and only a few icons on the screen: the Kindle app, Music, Video, Mail, Skype. In that configuration, it's functionally not that different from an iPad Mini or a Kindle Fire or a Nexus 7.
The Acer lists for $380 with 32 GB of storage or $430 for 64 GB. Street prices will probably drop slightly thanks to online discounts, making its price comparable to an iPad Mini but at least $100 more than a Nexus 7. Similar devices from other manufacturers will no doubt appear around the same time as Windows 8.1, at the same or lower price points.
But that Windows 8.1 device can do something its competitors can't. It has the power to transform itself into a full-fledged desktop PC, capable of running Microsoft Office and other desktop apps. Use the HDMI cable to connect a large monitor (or use the wireless projection mode in Windows 8.1), add a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and you've temporarily turned this small tablet into a full-fledged desktop PC. Unplug the monitor and throw the tablet into your traveling bag and it's a mobile device again.
Microsoft's gamble is that Windows users will see that capability as a positive, rather than as needless complexity. They're betting that frugal PC buyers will be attracted to the possibility of versatile devices. But in a world where we've become used to thinking of small, cheap devices as disposable, single-purpose tools, can that philosophy succeed?
Source: http://foxhippo.com/767638
Friday, June 7, 2013
The Windows 8.1 Start Button has finally been caught on video
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YTR8_-UVmHc?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Source: http://foxhippo.com/596653
Source: http://foxhippo.com/596653
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