Microsoft denies digital reader plan
Software group says it has no plan to develop an e-reader to rival Amazon's Kindle Microsoft has no plans to develop a digital book reader to compete with the fast-growing popularity of Amazon's Kindle or a device that rival Apple is reportedly developing. A day after Amazon announced an international version of its gadget, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said the company had no need for its own e-reader, since it already supplies the software that runs the most popular reading device. "We have a device for reading
Original post:
Microsoft denies digital reader plan
IDC puts some numbers to Euope’s growing netbook sales
Mini-Notebooks Make Explosive Entry into EMEA PC Market in 2008, and Momentum Will Continue in 2009, Says IDC . Basically, in the final quarter of last year, netbook (mini-notebook) shipments reached 3.6 million units. This represented 20% of total portable sales and 30% of consumer portables in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. IDC says in its press release: "Driven by strong vendor and channel push, consumers benefited from the plethora of new models appearing on the shelves from October onwards, and the explosion in the product offering stimulated fierce competition for shelf space. Following in the footsteps of Asus, there are currently more than 50 vendors, from international players to local assemblers, with a mini-notebook offering across EMEA, which is clearly contributing to the ongoing buoyancy." Acer was the leading vendor, with sales of 1.1m units for a 30.5% market share. Asus placed second with 1.0m (28.0%), with HP's 253,000 units earning it third (7.0%). Samsung and Dell completed the top five. IDC expects models with 10-inch screens to dominate next year, with a growth market partly stimulated by telecoms companies such as Phones 4u, T-Mobile and Vodafone. It says: Market dynamics will remain driven by consumer demand, but improving specifications, larger screens, and integrated 3G will make mini-notebooks more appealing to businesses as well. The education sector will be another growth opportunity in the long term. There are already several projects running in the UK and Russia, for example, and demand is expected to rise in an effort to promote one-to-one computing across the region. Computing guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
View post:
IDC puts some numbers to Euope's growing netbook sales
Letters and blogs: 22 January 2009
Looking through the Beta window I just thought I'd stop being one of the silent majority for a change.
Read more from the original source:
Letters and blogs: 22 January 2009
Getting to grips with Windows 7
Early adopters are eagerly downloading the first beta release of Microsoft's next operating system, Windows 7. Microsoft no doubt hopes it will repair the reputation of Windows, tarnished by too many bad user experiences with Vista, and by the steady growth of Apple's market share. The buzz is mostly positive, though there are dissenters. Paul Thurrott, a Windows expert, likes it overall, but says that the "comingling of different functions" in the taskbar "is a whopper of a mistake, and one that will actively harm most Windows users", adding that the new libraries feature " will confuse users for years to come ". These are described below - see what you think. That said, most agree that Windows 7 is smoother, better-looking, and less annoying than its predecessor. It has similar internals, which means that most software that worked in Vista should continue to work after the upgrade. Raising the (task)bar Windows 7 makes significant changes to the desktop and taskbar, the strip of icons that by default runs across the bottom of the screen. The taskbar was introduced in Windows 95, and has worked in broadly the same way since. Windows 7 changes the rules. The taskbar is bigger by default, and its icons can be shortcuts for launching applications as well as showing what is running. In this respect it is like the Dock in Apple's OS X, though the Windows effort is chunkier and not as pretty. Only frequently used applications that you choose to "pin" appear there, and a subtle difference in shading shows what is actually running. Clicking an icon has varying results depending on the context: it could activate a window or launch an application, or summon a preview or pop up a customised "jump list" menu. Sneaking a peek It sounds confusing, but in practice feels mostly intuitive. If you hover the mouse over a preview, other applications go temporarily transparent - which can be disconcerting, particularly if you do not actually click and the window fades back into the background. There are more tricks to come. Sometimes you can do all your work from the preview or jump list, for simple actions such as playing or pausing a song in a media player
Go here to read the rest:
Getting to grips with Windows 7
Last Christmas for VHS
We hear so much about formats dying off these days - after all, 2007 was the year we said bye bye to HD-DVD ; abandoned almost before it was born. Some formats have more legs, though. Take the venerable Video Home System, which is finally done with after 32 years and assaults from Betamax, Laserdiscs, DVD and DVR, according to the LA Times : After three decades of steady if unspectacular service, the spinning wheels of the home-entertainment stalwart are slowing to a halt at retail outlets. On a crisp Friday morning in October, the final truckload of VHS tapes rolled out of a Palm Harbor, Fla., warehouse run by Ryan J. Kugler, the last major supplier of the tapes. "It's dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt," said Kugler, 34, a Burbank businessman. "I was the last one buying VHS and the last one selling it, and I'm done. Anything left in warehouse we'll just give away or throw away." Kugler - who apparently specialises in "distressed inventory" - has decided it's all over. I do remember the days of watching films until the tape would degrade and fuzzy lines would start to invade the screen. But now? I've got some VHS tapes stuffed somewhere in a storage container in Sussex, but that's about it. I think screenwriter John August (credits include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie's Angels and some other films that don't have the word Charlie) captured it best when he said that, despite his obsession with movies: I have almost no nostalgia for the VHS format itself. With its springs and gears, each tape was built to fail. I can't think of another technology that seemed so inelegant even when it was new. Still have a pile of cassettes in your living room? Are you sorry to see VHS go? Digital video Gadgets guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Originally posted here:
Last Christmas for VHS
In praise of … the mouse
Editorial: The mouse helped make computers accessible to ordinary people but on its 40th birthday many believe the future will see it superceded by new interfaces
See the original post:
In praise of ... the mouse
Less killing, more kissing: new breed of computer games bring people together
A new generation of designers and developers is putting the social element back into video games, using online networks such as Facebook as platforms to turn people from across the world into poker aces, boffins and the proud and sometimes obsessive owners of virtual pets. These new games give people the ability to play with their friends rather than strangers, which has sent usage through the roof. Facebook is already seeing over 2bn minutes of game play a month, and the longer people stay online the more chance the game's developer and the network itself have to make money out of them, most obviously through advertising. Investors have spotted the opportunity of social gaming and even as the economic climate turns chilly they have been putting funds into these businesses. Though most social networks have their roots, or at least owners, on the west coast of the US, one of the most successful social gaming companies is based in Britain. Using bright colours, animated characters and addictive quizzes, Playfish has already attracted 25 million registered users in its one year of existence. It is responsible for four of the top 10 games played by Facebook users worldwide, including Who Has the Biggest Brain
See the original post:
Less killing, more kissing: new breed of computer games bring people together
Video: Behind-the-scenes at the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
The Guardian goes backstage at this year's Christmas Lectures and speaks to the director, the prop-maker and a talking penguin
Original post:
Video: Behind-the-scenes at the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
More big names join Open Handset Alliance
There may be just one Android phone in existence right now, but the Open Handset Alliance - the Google-backed group behind Android - is already welcoming new faces. Today the organisation announced that 14 new companies had joined the consortium, with an eye to supporting Android and contributing to the group's open mobile standards: The new members are: AKM Semiconductor Inc., ARM, ASUSTek Computer Inc., Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Garmin International Inc., Huawei Technologies, Omron Software Co. Ltd, Softbank Mobile Corporation, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba Corporation and Vodafone. The addition of ARM - which provides chips for most of the mobile market - is massively important, as is the addition of Vodafone, which has huge global reach for an operator. Along with existing members like HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Broadcam, Qualcomm and others, that means there aren't big names groups which aren't part of the OHA. Aside from those just mentioned, who are the particularly interesting names on that list? Well, it would be intriguing to see Sony Ericsson pushing out Android models (I know a lot of phonegeeks rave about SE's HTC Xperia handset ) but look who else is there. Could Asus build an Android netbook
See more here:
More big names join Open Handset Alliance
Are you getting a portable CD player for Christmas?
Portable CD players are making a comeback, according to the Daily Telegraph, and not just with the DT's readership, which is known for its, ahem, older profile. The story says : The music players have proved so popular with shoppers that John Lewis, the department store, has started stocking the gadget again, four years after it originally phased them out. Currys, the country's largest electrical goods chain, says that sales have increased by 50 per cent compared to last year and industry figures from market research firm GfK show that 45,000 portable CD players were sold in October alone. Apparently, the comeback has been prompted by "the fact that many consumers struggle with digital music players, finding it difficult to both upload and download songs on to their computers," and by price: you can get a portable CD player for less than £15. Fair enough, but you can get a portable MP3 player for about £10, and carry around 1GB of music in a far smaller space than a portable CD player and ten CDs. I still buy CDs, because I still use proper hi-fi equipment, and I'd rather rip them myself than pay for downloads. (I'm certainly never going to buy any DRM-encumbered files.) But even I'm not tempted by a portable CD player, at any price.
Excerpt from:
Are you getting a portable CD player for Christmas?