Image via CrunchBase

It’s official: After months of speculation, Microsoft has set an official release date for Windows 8, its first update to the Windows operating system in almost three years.

After teasing that Windows 8 would be available toward the end of October, Windows President Steven Sinofsky officially announced that the next-generation of Windows will be released on October 26. That’s when you’ll be able to download it to your PC or purchase a new computer with Windows 8, according to a post on the official Windows Team Blog.

Microsoft had previously announced that an upgrade from Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 will cost $40 for a digital-only download.

For Microsoft, October 26th is set to be a big day: Windows 8 is one of the most ambitious overhauls of Windows in years, perhaps ever. It features two separate interfaces: the traditional desktop version, with a start bar and icons, as well as a radical new touch-friendly “Metro” interface with the large, fluid live tiles of the Windows Phone operating system. Many key apps, including Internet Explorer, have been redesigned to run in Metro, while others, such as the recently unveiled Microsoft Office suite, will function as desktop apps.

It is unclear how the general public will react to this radical design change; early reviews have been mixed, which is not a good sign for a Windows user base that has been typically resistant to change. (It took until October 2011 for Windows 7, released in 2009, to surpass Windows XP, released in 2001, as the most used Windows OS). With Windows 8, Microsoft is certainly hoping to avoid another Vista-like revolt.

In the days before Halloween 2012, Microsoft will begin to learn whether it has a fan favorite or a dud in its new operating system. Too, the Microsoft Surface tablet should also be out around October 26th, as Microsoft execs had promised that its first foray into hardware would be out concurrently with the new operating system; we’ll also start seeing how well that tablet can sell, up against Apple’s market-leading iPad (and perhaps a new iPad Mini).

October 26th, in other words, is one of the biggest days in Microsoft history. Mark your calendars.

Source:- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

iPhone 2g, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (Photo credit: reticulating)

For about five years now, the question for smartphone buyers has been a classic either/or: “Android or iPhone?” Answering that question is more difficult than ever, thanks to large advances in Android, as well as the emergence of a third viable option: Microsoft’s beautiful Windows Phone OS.

This week, we’ll attempt to break down your three options, looking at each operating system’s greatest strengths and weaknesses. Which one you choose should depend largely on how you use your phone.

For the first part of this comparison, let’s look at the iPhone and the iOS operating system. The most oft-repeated (and spot-on) description of the iPhone and its operating system is that Apple knows what you want and gives it to you and doesn’t let you change it; you can’t really alter or customize the experience because — well, why would you want to?

Frankly, you would want to. There’s a lot that’s perfect about iOS, but there’s also a lot it could learn from Android and Windows Phone. Here’s where it sparkles over its competitors and where it could use work:

Strengths :-

• Games And Apps: Apple doesn’t just have the most apps in its app store; it also has the best apps. This is especially true for gaming: Gameplay on the iPhone is smoother than on any other smartphone I’ve tried.

• Camera: The camera on the iPhone 4S trumps any other smartphone camera I’ve tried. The HTC One X comes close, but for high-quality photography day or night, the iPhone 4S is your best bet.

• Easy To Use: The iPhone still has a simple interface that makes it a good buy for a first-time smartphone user. I think Windows Phone is a little easier to use — the larger icons help, especially for older buyers with declining eyesight — but the iPhone is still idiot-proof, from initial use, to navigating the phone, to the use of each individual app. The always-available Apple support team of Geniuses also helps.

• iMessage: The iPhone is the most popular single smartphone in America, and with iMessage, texting any other iPhone is essentially free. Rather than counting against your monthly text message, any message sent over iMessage counts a minimal amount against your data plan.

• Device Speed: Forget processors — the iPhone is still, screen-to-screen, the fastest smartphone experience that is available. Apps and games load quickly and without stutter, and the touchscreen is always responsive to your touch, something that no Android phone can say quite yet. It’s a satisfying experience and a big reason why the iPhone maintains its slick appearance.

Weaknesses -:

• Maps/Navigation: We’re still waiting on voice navigation — spoken turn-by-turn directions — on the Maps app on the iPhone. You can download other apps (for free) with Voice Navigation, but when you click on an address in an email or on a website to get directions, you’ll be taken into Apple’s Maps, not your GPS app of choice. Frustrating.

• Facebook: Uploading photos to Facebook — and Instagram, Google+, Dropbox and more, but let’s focus on the world’s largest social network — is harder than it should be on the iPhone. When you take a photo on Android or Windows Phone, there is an option to upload it to Facebook and even tag your friends straight from the camera. On the iPhone, you have to go into the Facebook app and manually upload it. Apps just don’t communicate with each other very well on the iPhone. For example, here is what I can do with a photo on the HTC One X versus what I can do with a photo on the iPhone 4S:

iPhone on the left, Android on the right. The list of apps you can share with grows as you download more applications (like Tumblr, Google+, etc.).

• Homescreen: The iPhone’s homescreen, and your options for what can be shown on it, is the most rigid and limited of the three major operating systems. When you unlock your iPhone’s screen, you’re going to be looking at your static rows of icons and nothing else. On Android and Windows Phone, you have the option to have “widgets” or “live tiles,” respectively, that can give you a preview of your new mail, the current weather, top headlines, Facebook and Twitter updates, etc, without having to open any individual app.

• Mail: Email on the iPhone is disappointing. Email reliably arrives slower on my iPhone than it does on Android devices, and searching through your archives for old messages is harder on the iPhone.

• 3G: Word is that Verizon salespeople are now pushing prospective iPhone buyers over to 4G Android devices, because the iPhone 4S runs on the slower 3G network rather than the newer, faster 4G network. Some writers are upset about this, but they really shouldn’t be: The fact is that, to a consumer who just wants a phone that can make calls, send text messages and surf the Internet, the difference between operating systems matters less than the difference between 3G and 4G speeds. According to a 2012 study from PCWorld, 3G smartphones’ (like the iPhone 4S) data speeds were around 1.05 megabytes per second on the download. On Verizon’s 4G LTE network, that number rose to 7.35 megabytes per second. It’s a speed advantage that is tangible when you are surfing the web or downloading apps on your smartphone.

So Who Should Buy The iPhone?

Buying an iPhone 4S is like walking into a pizza shop and getting a slice of pepperoni pie. It’s a safe choice that won’t let you down, but if you start to think about it, you might end up wondering what else you might have gotten.

The iPhone 4S is easily the best smartphone option for those who spend a lot of time playing games on their phones or who download a lot of apps to fill out their phone’s functions. For those who use their phone as their primary camera, the iPhone 4S is also the best choice. Given how easy it is to use, and Apple’s famously accessible “Geniuses” at its retail stores, I would also recommend it for first-time smartphone buyers who don’t feel comfortable or confident in their ability to navigate the system. If you anticipate having lots of questions or needing assistance, Apple’s help desk is phenomenal.

For those using their smartphone as an email, text message, Internet-browsing-portal, I would hold off on buying the iPhone until it upgrades to 4G LTE (probably in October), especially if you live in a large city, where 4G coverage will arrive first. You just might feel awfully silly with a 3G phone two years from now, considering the booming speeds and multibillion dollar expansion in 4G LTE networks that the four major U.S. carriers are going through right now. If you’re committed to iOS and the iPhone, wait five months to get a new phone.

Source :- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Related articles

• iPhone 4S: Forward Into Ubiquity! (allthingsd.com)

Apple Inc. New Headquarters (Photo credit: MarkGregory007)

The Apple inspirational note left of the desk of Instagram user “M” and discovered by New York Times columnist Nick Bilton, sums what it means to be an Apple employee.

Basically, “Team Apple! F**k yeah!”

The Instagrammer who posted the photo of the note included these words: “What greets you on your first day at Apple. I’ve had this taped to my dresser for two years. Words to live by.”

The letter left on the desk of new Apple hires reads as follows, according to “M’s” image:

There’s work and there’s your life’s work.

The kind of work that has your fingerprints all over it. The kind of work that you’d never compromise on. That you’d sacrifice a weekend for. You can do that kind of work at Apple. People don’t come here to play it safe. They come here to swim in the deep end.

They want their work to add up to something.

Something big. Something that couldn’t happen anywhere else.

Welcome to Apple.

WARNING! Severe cynicism below!

Welcome to Apple. We’re going to throw you into the deep end and you’re going to work weekends. Be inspired. Don’t play it safe, take risks, take chances, design the next iPhone by putting an “S” in the name. (Nobody is confirming if they drop these notes on new hires at Foxconn, an Apple supplier.

Cynicism aside, Apple is a company built that was built in no small part by a man named Steve Jobs, a man with a reputation for developing revolutionary products that have quite literally changed the landscape of how humans communicate with one another. So it should probably stand to reason those people taking up positions at Apple are there because they’re passionate about what they do and will willingly jump into the deep end over the weekend.

No matter which way the note rubs you; towards the cynical or the inspired, the words do have impact. They’ve had enough of an impact that this note has been around for at least a couple of years, as TheNextWeb points out this Apple inspirational note has surfaced on the internet back in 2010.

Source:- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Related articles

• Read The Inspirational Note Given To Every Apple Employee On Their First Day (cultofmac.com)

Stanford/Cal Divide (Photo credit: neutralSurface)

More young people would want to work for Google than any other company. Apple is the the second most popular company, according to a survey done by Universum.

This makes complete sense. Google is ranked as the 4th best company to work for by CNN Money. In a similar list by Glassdoor.com, Google comes in at No. 5 and Apple at No. 10 for best places to work.

So where did the employees at Google and Apple go to college?

See the seven schools that are the most common universities for Google and Apple employees to have attended:

• Stanford University - Stanford is the No. 1 school for Google employees and the No. 2 for Apple employees.
  
  Photo Credit: Jawed Karim

• San Jose State University - San Jose State is the most common university for Apple employees to have attended.
  
  Photo Credit: roarofthefour

• University of California, Berkeley - UC Berkeley is tied with Stanford for the most common school for Google employees to have attended. It is tied for No. 2 for Apple employees.
  
  Photo Credit: Gku

• University of Texas at Austin - The University of Texas at Austin ties with Stanford and UC Berkeley as the second most common school for Apple employees to have attended.
  
  Photo Credit: Zereshk

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT ties for the third most common university for Google employees to have attended
  
  Photo Credit: Madcoverboy

• Carnegie Mellon University - Carnegie Mellon ties with MIT and UCLA for the third most common college for Google employees.
  
  Photo Credit: CMU

• University of California, Los Angeles - UCLA ties with MIT and Carnegie Mellon for the third most common school that Google employees attended.
  
  Photo Credit: OystersAndTrifle

Source :- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

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• Where are the Top 1% of Engineers (from Carnegie Mellon) (apeekatchu.com)

Image via CrunchBase

After months of talk, Apple finally announced the release of its latest tablet device at an event in San Francisco, Calif. on March 7.

World, meet the new iPad. (That’ right, “iPad.” Not iPad 3, not iPad HD, not iPad 2X — just iPad.)

While the device doesn’t look too different from its predecessor on the outside, like the iPhone 4S before it, the differences are mainly internal. Share your thoughts in the comments below!

• Retina Display - The photo above shows the difference between the iPad 2′s 1,024 x 768 pixel display and the new iPad’s high-definition Retina display, which has double the resolution and four times the pixels (2,048 x 1,536 pixels). Apple has described a Retina display as ”pixel density is so high your eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels.” And how does it stack up to other tablet displays? GDGT’s Ryan Block said of his first hands-on with the new device: “It’s the best display I’ve ever seen. Anywhere, period.”

• 4G, A First For Apple - Apple’s March 7 event marked a first for Apple, the arrival of 4G LTE connectivity on a mobile device. Purchased with a two-year contract from either AT&T or Verizon, a 4G iPad will, according to The Wall Street Journal, ”allow users to connect a[t] speeds roughly 10 times faster than current 3G data networks.” 4G models will also “work on any 3G network,” per GigaOm.
  New iPad models equipped with this unique feature, however, will cost users slightly more than models without 4G. (More on this later.)

• Meatier Specs – The new iPad may look pretty similar to the old one, but it’s packing some serious hardware upgrades within its thin frame. These include a faster processor, the “quad-core” 1GHz Apple A5X, which Apple claims to offer twice the processing power of the A5 CPU (found in the iPad2) and four times the graphics-rendering power of the Tegra 3 processor found in many Android tablets, per Wired’s live blog of the event. Gizmodo argues that Apple has also probably upped the device’s RAM, “if only to handle the new resolution.”

• No Siri – The new iPad did not get Apple standout iPhone 4S feature, the voice-activated virtual personal assistant, Siri. What it did get was Voice Dictation, which will be a blessing for anyone who has ever tried to type on the iPad’s tricky virtual keyboard.
  To use the handy new feature, just tap the microphone icon on the keyboard and start talking. Current languages supported by dictation include U.S., U.K. and Australian English as well as Japanese, French and German.

• Look – While the new iPad offers quite a bit more than the iPad 2 in terms of display, hardware, and connectivity, the outside remains almost identical to its predecessor, measuring 9.5 x 7.31 inches.
  As expected, the biggest difference between the updated Apple tablet and its predecessor is its thickness…

• A Bit More Heft – Compared to the .34 inch iPad 2, the new iPad measures .37 inches deep, according to Apple’s website. In addition, the new iPad has .11 pounds on the iPad 2, weighing in at 1.44 lbs. The 4G version of the new iPad is even heavier, weighing in at a whopping 1.46 lbs.

• New Photo Tools – The new iPad boasts 5-megapixel rear-facing iSight camera that shoots 1,080p HD video.The iPad 2′s rear camera was only .7-megapixels and recorded video in a paltry 720p.
  iPhoto, Apple’s photo-editing software, is now available for the iPad. The app can be used for editing, effects, beaming photos between devices and sending finished products to iCloud or social networking accounts. The app also lets users create photo journals, digital scrapbooks into which users can insert maps, notes and weather widgets. The new iPhoto app costs $4.99 and is available today.

• Personal Hotspot – The 4G version of the new iPad also comes with a feature called Personal Hotspot, which “can be used to share the fast network connection on your iPad with up to 5 other devices using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB,” according to an Apple press release.

• Powerful Battery – Even though the new features like Retina Display and 4G connectivity will be consuming a lot more juice, a larger, more powerful battery will keep the new tablet charged for the same amount of time as the previous model.
  Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, had the following to say about the battery during Apple’s Wednesday event (per GDGT): “You may recall we claim 10 hours of battery life, and 9 hours on 3G. The new iPad delivers the same 10 hours of battery life, and 4G is 9 hours.”

• Price And Availability – The WiFi-only iPad starts at $499 for the 16GB then jumps to $599 for the 32GB and $699 for the 64GB. The 4G version starts at $629 for 16GB and tops out at $829 for the 64GB version.
  The iPad is available for pre-order now and will begin shipping on March 16. 

• Apps – In addition to its own apps, Apple also introduced a new generation of apps made specifically with the new iPad’s higher resolution and enhanced hardware capabilities in mind. According to Engadget, these apps came courtesy of third-party developers like game-maker Namco, which previewed its jet combat simulator SkyGamblers, and Epic Games, the developer behind popular role-playing sword-fighting game Infinity Blade and creator of the new Retina display-optimized Infinity Blade: Dungeons.
  In addition, 3-D design software manufacturer Autodesk showed off its Sketchbook app, which allows for a whole new level of sketch detail thanks to the new iPad’s improved display.

Related articles

• The new iPad: sharper display, same price (thehindu.com)

Microsoft, the software giant better known for enterprise productivity software and Excel spreadsheets, is forging into territory more commonly reserved for bootstrapping Silicon Valley startups: social media.

Microsoft’s two-month old So.cl, a hybrid social network and search engine, marks the company’s latest attempt to get cozy with consumers and move beyond the boardroom, an effort that has ensnared Microsoft in multiple battles with tech behemoths such as Apple and Google.

Microsoft is careful to cast So.cl as a research experiment, not a full-on assault against the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

Instead, the service offers a playground for the company to test new features and concepts that could ultimately help shape its search engine, Bing, which has made ongoing efforts to differentiate itself from Google. Already, Bing has attempted to one-up Google by cutting deals with Facebook and Twitter to integrate some social elements into its search results, and So.cl could very well offer a glimpse at new avenues Bing may choose to pursue.

Launched by Microsoft’s FUSE Labs, a research group of about 30 people, So.cl grew out of an attempt to imagine what search would look like if it had been preceded by social media, not the other way around, notes FUSE Labs’ general manager Lili Cheng.

“Search is something you typically do alone. You might find content in search you want to share with other people, but it’s hard to share the stuff you’re looking at within search,” said Cheng. “We said let’s open up the box and experiment to see how we could merge together these concepts of search and social networking.”

“We started to think about … what search might be like if everything you did on search was together with other people,” Cheng added.

• The So.cl Feed

• Sharing On So.cl

• The Landing Page For So.cl’s Video Parties

• Inside A So.cl Video Party

• Another View: The So.cl Feed

Source :- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Related articles

• Microsoft Mixes Social Networking with Search (c24.co.uk)

Image via CrunchBase

New versions of Twitter’s mobile apps are coming in to land on a device near you.

On Tuesday, the official Twitter Blog announcedupgrades for the microblog’s apps for Android devices, including the Kindle Fire and certain Nook tablets, as well as on Apple’s iOS devices.

The iPhone and Android apps will both feature a swipe shortcut that lets the user view a profile and reply, retweet, favorite or share a tweet without having to leave her home timeline.

Both apps will also get a “find friends” notification, which explicitly warns the user that she’ll be uploading her mobile contacts to Twitter’s servers. This is likely a response to the controversy that erupted last week when the blogosphere discovered that Twitter and other popular apps like Facebook and Instagram were swiping users’ address books without notifying the users.

iPhone users will also enjoy several more additions, including the ability to email, copy and tweet a link (via the “share” option) within a tweet. (Visit the Twitter Blog to see what other options iDevice users will now have access to.) You can download the iOS app right now at Apple’s App Store.

Twitter’s Android app will now be optimized for Ice Cream Sandwich-powered devices and for the “forked” Android OS tailor-made for Amazon’s Kindle Fire. Both versions of Twitter’s Android app are available for download at the Android Market and the Amazon app store. A version of the app for Nook Tablet and Nook Color will be available on February 23 though the Barnes & Noble NOOK Store, according to the Twitter Blog.

The Verge’s Chris Ziegler has been playing around with the updated Android app and notes that it feels “far snappier on our Galaxy Nexus than the build that it replaces, and seems to fix the all-too-common bug of the timeline “bouncing back” after flicking to scroll.”

Source :- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Steve Jobs never said it exactly this way, but we think he would have agreed that not all “Think Different” is created equal.

This seems to be true in the case of the year’s most epic technology flops.

While some products were fated for failure — more than one eyebrow was raised at the launch of a certain handheld 3D gaming console with a steep price tag and a slim catalogue of games — others seemed like more of a sure thing, at least in theory. (A wristband that keeps track of your health is a brilliant idea, as long as you can get the device to work.)

Both newbies and well-established companies are responsible for 2011′s most cringe-worthy fails. From giants like Netflix and HP to startups like Color Labs, these companies are responsible for poor decisions and surprise misses from the past 12 months.

Here are our picks for the year’s biggest tech failures (below). 

• Qwikster

• HP’s Attempted Spinoff Of PC Branch

• BlackBerry PlayBook

• Playstation Network Outage

• Jawbone Up

• Motorola Xoom

• Nintendo 3DS

• Facebook Places

• Google Buzz

• Google TV

• Color

• ‘Duke Nukem Forever‘

• Flip Cam

Source :- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Related articles

• Top 10 Worst Technology Fails Of 2011 (ceoworld.biz)
• Here’s One Take On The Biggest Tech Stories Of 2011 (businessinsider.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Apple in October announced that iPhone, iPad and iPod users had downloaded over 18 billion applications from the iTunes App Store since the service launched in 2008.

The company recently released its iTunes Rewind 2011 lists, counting down some of the most popular content of the year. The annual recap looks at Apple’s favorite apps across 21 categories, including Books, Games, Music, News and more. Apple has also listed its own picks for the “App of the Year” and has selected its favorite downloadable content from iTunes, such as best musical artist, best nonfiction book and several others. (Click here to see what Apple selected as the best content of the year.)

As for users’ overall favorite paid and free apps available on the iOS platform, gaming app “Angry Birds” topped the lists of paid and free iPad apps and took the number-one spot among paid iPhone apps. While the game also cracked the top four free iPhone apps of the year, it came in behind a social networking app, a music app and another game. View the slideshow (below) to see users’ 13 favorite free iPhone apps from 2011. You can check out the iTunes Rewind to see the complete list of users’ favorites from the year, too. Heres the List -:

• #1 – Facebook

• #2 – Pandora Radio

• #3 – Words With Friends Free

• #4 – Angry Birds Free

• #5 – Skype

• #6 – Netflix

• #7 – Angry Birds Rio Free

• #8 – Groupon

• #9 – Fruit Ninja Lite

• #10 – Twitter

• #11 – Angry Birds Seasons Free

• #12 – Tap Tap Revenge 4

• #13 – The Weather Channel

Source :- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

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The iPhone has been banned in Steve Jobs’ ancestral home of Syria.

Image by reticulating via Flickr

As the country enters its ninth month of violent protests, the Syrian government has reportedly outlawed iPhones in a move to crack down on activists who were allegedly using the device to expose government abuse.

On Friday, Times Live reported that, according to the the Lebanese website Al Nashara, the iPhone ban had been issued by the Customs Department of the Syrian Finance Ministry. The Department’s statement read in part, “The authorities warn anyone against using the iPhone in Syria.”

Said an activist quoted in Times Live, ”It is enough for any tourist or guest visiting Syria to own an iPhone to be a spy suspect.”

Jobs’ biological father, Abdulfattah John Jandali, a native Syrian who did not have a relationship with his famous son, has come out on the side of the protesters in a YouTube video, stating,

“I am in solidarity with the Syrian people. I reject the brutality and killing that the Syrian authorities are committing against the unarmed Syrian people. And because silence is participation in this crime, I declare my participation in the Syrian sit-in on YouTube.”

According to The New York Times, more than 4,000 civilians have been killed since protests began in March.

The same day that the iPhone ban was reportedly issued, Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, called for a U.N. intervention to protect Syrian civilians.

On Friday, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that government forces had killed six protesters who were calling for foreign intervention to stop government violence against demonstrators.

In June, the Syrian government shut down the internet and 3G mobile networks to in apparent effort to hamper communications among protesters. President Bashar al-Assad has also banned most foreign journalists from the country.

Source:- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Related articles

• The iPhone gets banned in Syria to curb protest coverage (digitaltrends.com)
• iPhone Ban in Syria: Steve Jobs’ Dad Gets Involved (ibtimes.com)