Netizen: Windows 8

Showing posts with label Windows 8. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Touch Is Transient

Gesture will go mainstream before we know it.

A Shape-Shifting Smartphone Touch Screen
Leaping Into the Gesture-Control Era

a matchbox-sized device that adds intuitive gesture control to any computer ..... The technology, which is also being adapted for mobile devices, could even leave the beloved pocket touch screen looking outmoded. .... The black glass on the Leap’s upper side hides two small cameras and a handful of infrared LEDs, which track the motion of a person’s fingers to an accuracy of a hundredth of a millimeter .... Leap provides the solution to “gorilla arm,” a term used to describe the dubious ergonomics of a person repeatedly lifting his or her hands from the keyboard or mouse and reaching out to operate a computer’s touch screen. Users of Leap’s device can lift their hands just slightly off the keyboard and make more economic gestures with their fingers. .... significantly faster than using a mouse and keyboard .... Holz says touch screens soared in popularity because they are more intuitive to use than keyboards and mice, but believes they are limited in a way the Leap is not. “The fact is that you can’t really do anything with a tablet, with tap and swipe, but it feels natural,” he says, meaning that people love touch screens but can’t easily create content using them. “We have that same natural experience but we have more power.” ..... since the [developer’s kit] is still in the preview stage, more features are being added that make capturing specific motions even easier. ..... over the longer term, the Leap will be used for very complex interactions. “You’ll be reaching into a 3-D world and grabbing hold of and moving things.” .... a chunk of simulated clay. He reached out and pushed and pulled with his fingers in the air in front of the monitor, creating a stylized human head in about a minute. ...... gestures can help remove a barrier between people and their technology ..... Leap Motion’s closest competitor may be Kinect, Microsoft’s body-tracking sensor for the Xbox games console

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Windows 8: Another Case For The Chromebook

Image representing Windows as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

A most amazing thing about the Chromebook - and there are many - is you don't need anti-virus software on it. The plan seems to be that you stop paying your annual rent to Norton and with that saving you buy a Chromebook instead. The anti-virus software is so expensive, and the Chromebook is so cheap and getting cheaper.

Same Crap, Different OS: Windows 8

Crapware has long been a thorn in the sides of Windows users. Consumers and enterprise users buy PCs under the faulty impression that they’ll be getting a completely clean computer when they break open the box. Instead, they find a PC that’s been loaded up with junk that they typically don’t need. What’s worse, all of that software slows down boot times and performance, since the programs are usually set to load automatically and typically run in the background.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

The Single Platform Talk

I am enamored by the vision. I like the idea. You are the same person with your phone, your tablet or in front of your laptop. Why should the device feel different?

But there is an undercurrent here. Bill Gates would like to dominate the mobile space like the dominated the PC space. That is what he really means when he talks of one platform. In case you did not notice, Bill Gates never left Microsoft. He is still Chairman. China had Chairman Mao. Microsoft has Chairman Gates.

By the way, I am a huge fan of his foundation. There might not be another person on the planet as focused on poverty - laser focused - as the Chairman. The other Chairman also cared a lot about the poor. That one was practically a communist. Bill is the ultimate capitalist. I like that convergence. A lot.

The future of Windows is a single platform according to Bill Gates

Windows is really headed toward a "single" platform. That means that at some point in the very near future, your Desktop, your Phone and your Tablet will all share the same operating system.

What does Bill Gates think about the new Windows lineup?

Windows 8

Many have predicted the demise of Windows, and you look bold when doing so, but here is Microsoft claiming to have married the tablet touch into the laptop Windows.

Microsoft has a small but legitimate presence in the mobile space by now. And so I am not about to call the end of Windows. As for the sexy, that right now rests with Apple and Google.

The new Windows tries to give you the tablet feel.

Windows 8: Does Microsoft’s Split-Personality OS Make Sense?

Microsoft is trying to leverage its Windows customer base to drive demand for the phones and tablets that are the company’s future. .... consumers today would prefer to buy a tablet rather than a desktop or laptop ...... Windows 8 has two separate ways of working. There’s a familiar Desktop mode, which resembles the multi-window, taskbar-at-the-bottom world most users have becomes used to. But it also has a completely new interface somewhat awkwardly called “Modern-style UI” (previously “Metro”). ..... a full-screen grid of large, colorful tiles whose contents change dynamically to show, for example, new Facebook photo posts. On a touch-screen tablet, it seems natural. ..... the company’s particular vision of mobile computing. ....... Don Norman .. a former Apple vice president .. “The requirements of small-screen mobile devices are incompatible with those of large-screen fixed devices,” Norman says. “Windows 8 has a problem. The real business workhorses of Microsoft Office are not well supported by the mobile apps. So Microsoft had to provide a backwards-compatibility mode, which provides the necessary power, but makes things even more confusing.” ..... wants Windows-powered tablets to seem more familiar than an iPad to potential buyers. ..... they’re using the “tablet” interface instead of Desktop even on desktop computers.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Bill Gates On Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 And Surface

Source: TechNet

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Intel, Smartphones And Chips

Image representing AMD as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

During the PC era Intel was the clear leader. But it has been missing in action in the smartphone era. There is no Intel inside. Bigger is not better, more powerful is not better. Weird, right? Mobile keeps confounding the smartest.

The tablet is closer to the smartphone than it is to the laptop. And it is still an uphill battle for Intel. People are more concerned about battery life than power. But power would be nice too.

AMD enters Windows 8 tablet fray with Z-60 chip: 'all-day' battery life, graphics 'you would never expect'