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לקט
חדשות נבחר
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[E] 30/07/2014 22:21
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שלושה חיילים נהרגו היום ברצועת עזה
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| השלושה נהרגו לאחר שמטען הופעל בבית שבו אותר פיר מנהרה בדרום הרצועה. החיילים שנהרגו: סמ"ר מתן גוטליב, סמ"ר עומר חי וסמ"ר גיא אלגרנטי. חייל שנפצע בתקרית שיחזר: "עברנו בכל החדרים ושמעתי בום". 27 חיילים נפצעו במהלך היממה האחרונה. מתחילת המבצע נהרגו 56 חיילי צה"ל |
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"חמאס מחביא נשק בין אזרחים כי עזה קטנה"
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| מזכירת המדינה האמריקנית לשעבר, הילרי קלינטון, הסבירה מדוע חמאס יורה מתוך אוכלוסייה אזרחית: "חמאס שם את הטילים שלו באזורים אזרחיים כי עזה קטנה מדי ומאוכלסת בצפיפות. צריכים הפסקת אש מוקדם ככל האפשר" |
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הערעור של אולמרט: "השופט רוזן סתר עצמו"
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| פרשת הולילנד: ראש הממשלה לשעבר, שנידון לשש שנות מאסר בגין שוחד, טוען בעליון שהשופט הסתמך על עדותו הבעייתית של שמואל דכנר ז"ל. פרקליטיו: "בהכרעה קבע רוזן שהעדות לא תשמש לבנה בחומת ההרשעה" |
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מת אחרון אנשי הצוות שהפציץ את הירושימה
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| תיאודור ואן קירק היה בן 24 כשששימש כנווט במטוס שהטיל את פצצת האטום "ילד קטן" על הירושימה באוגוסט 1945. בראיון ב-2005 אמר שהמהלך הציל חיים, אך הבהיר: "החוויה הוכיחה שמלחמות לא פותרות דבר" |
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18/09/2011 22:58
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אתר הארץ החדש
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| The new Haaretz.co.il site has changed its RSS feed links. Please visit http://www.haaretz.co.il/misc/rss to find the updated link to the RSS you are looking for. |
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Last Updated:
[E] 30/07/2014 21:48
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30/07/2014 22:19
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Last Updated:
30/07/2014 22:16
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Last Updated:
[E] 30/07/2014 22:20
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IE Enterprise Mode Site List Manager
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This tool helps create and manage the Enterprise Mode site list for Enterprise Mode IE. This tool lets IT Professionals create and update the Enterprise Mode site list for their company, without directly editing the XML. The Enterprise Mode site list only works with Enterprise Mode IE. KB2942883 Download |
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Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter 2.0
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Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter (MVMC) is a Microsoft-supported, stand-alone solution for the information technology (IT) pro or solution provider who wants to convert virtual machines and disks from VMware hosts to Hyper-V hosts and Windows Azure. MVMC can be deployed with minimal dependencies. Because MVMC provides native support for Windows PowerShell®, it enables scripting and integration with data center automation workflows such as those authored and run within Microsoft System Center Orchestrator 2012 R2. It can also be invoked through the Windows PowerShell® command-line interface. The solution is simple to download, install, and use. In addition to the Windows PowerShell capability, MVMC provides a wizard-driven GUI to facilitate virtual machine conversion.
MVMC 2.0 release of MVMC includes the following new features: - Converts virtual disks that are attached to a VMware virtual machine to virtual hard disks (VHDs) that can be uploaded to Windows Azure.
- Provides native Windows PowerShell capability that enables scripting and integration into IT automation workflows.
Note The command-line interface (CLI) in MVMC 1.0 has been replaced by Windows PowerShell in MVMC 2.0. - Supports conversion and provisioning of Linux-based guest operating systems from VMware hosts to Hyper-V hosts.
- Supports conversion of offline virtual machines.
- Supports the new virtual hard disk format (VHDX) when converting and provisioning in Hyper-V in Windows Server® 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012.
- Supports conversion of virtual machines from VMware vSphere 5.5, VMware vSphere 5.1, and VMware vSphere 4.1 hosts Hyper-V virtual machines.
- Supports Windows Server® 2012 R2, Windows Server® 2012, and Windows® 8 as guest operating systems that you can select for conversion.
Standard MVMC Features
In addition to the new features previously identified, MVMC provides the following functionality: - Converts and deploys virtual machines from VMware hosts to Hyper-V hosts on any of the following operating systems:
- Windows Server® 2012 R2
- Windows Server® 2012
- Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
- Converts VMware virtual machines, virtual disks, and configurations for memory, virtual processor, and other virtual computing resources from the source to Hyper-V.
- Adds virtual network interface cards (NICs) to the converted virtual machine on Hyper-V.
- Supports conversion of virtual machines from VMware vSphere 5.5, VMware vSphere 5.0, and VMware vSphere 4.1 hosts to Hyper-V.
- Has a wizard-driven GUI, which simplifies performing virtual machine conversions.
- Uninstalls VMware Tools before online conversion (online only) to provide a clean way to migrate VMware-based virtual machines to Hyper-V.
Important MVMC takes a snapshot of the virtual machine that you are converting before you uninstall VMware Tools, and then shuts down the source machine to preserve state during conversion. The virtual machine is restored to its previous state after the source disks that are attached to the virtual machine are successfully copied to the machine where the conversion process is run. At that point, the source machine in VMware can be turned on, if required.
Important MVMC does not uninstall VMware Tools in an offline conversion. Instead, it disables VMware services, drivers, and programs only for Windows Server guest operating systems. For file conversions with Linux guest operating systems, VMware Tools are not disabled or uninstalled. We highly recommend that you manually uninstall VMware Tools when you convert an offline virtual machine. - Supports Windows Server and Linux guest operating system conversion. For more details, see the section “Supported Configurations for Virtual Machine Conversion” in this guide.
- Includes Windows PowerShell capability for offline conversions of VMware-based virtual hard disks (VMDK) to a Hyper-V–based virtual hard disk file format (.vhd file).
Note The offline disk conversion does not include driver fixes. Download |
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What's in Windows Server 2012 R2 Update
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Windows Server 2012 R2 Update is available for download for MSDN and Technet subscribers and it will be generally available through Windows Update starting on April 8, 2014. So what's in this update?
Internet Explorer 11 now includes an “Enterprise Mode.” This mode is available if you disable Enhanced Security Configuration and provides better compatibility for sites designed for Internet Explorer 8, along with tools to manage which web apps use it. You can specify a list of web apps to render dynamically in Enterprise Mode, avoiding compatibility problems with web apps written for older versions of Internet Explorer. For more information, see the Internet Explorer 11 FAQ for IT Pros or TechNet documentation.
- The user interface includes buttons for Search and Power on the Start page. If you install the Desktop Experience feature, other changes introduced with Windows 8.1 Update will also be visible. For details, see What's new in Windows 8.1 Update and Windows RT 8.1 Update. The specific Windows 8.1 features installed when you install Desktop Experience have not changed from those in Windows Server 2012 R2 (see Desktop Experience Overview).
- Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) has added the capability for an administrator to enable signing in with an alternate login ID that is an attribute of the user object in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). This enables customers to adopt Azure Active Directory without modifying on-premises User Principal Names (UPNs). It also allows users to log in to the computer using an Office 365 email address instead of a UPN. This change does not affect the Active Directory schema. For more information, see Configuring Alternate Login ID.
- The update includes all other updates released since Windows Server 2012 R2 was released.
To confirm the exact version of Windows Server 2012 R2 that is installed on a computer, run Msinfo32.exe. If Windows Server 2012 R2 Update is installed, the value reported for Hardware Abstraction Layer will be 6.3.9600.17031.
Microsoft Volume Licensing customers who are planning new or upgrade Windows Server 2012 R2 deployments will be able to get the new OS image through the Volume Licensing Service Center starting on April 14, 2014. We are also working with our server OEM partners to have their offerings updated to the Windows Server 2012 R2 Update image as quickly as possible. We expect various OEMs to roll out systems with Windows Server 2012 R2 Update quickly, but at different times.
Additional note from the Windows Server team blog:
No system APIs have been changed and there are no changes to hardware requirements. Aside from a single reboot, there is no action for you to take if you have turned on automatic update. Plus, you will not need to re-verify nor re-certify your server applications, including System Center. They should “just work” without requiring any additional testing. |
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Startmenu returns to Windows 8.1 in a next update
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What Microsoft should have done after the criticism it received when Windows 8 beta and preview were released, is finally announced today. In a future free update for Windows 8.1 a redesigned start menu will return and Modern apps will be able to run in a window. Rumors of this have been doing rounds, but today we actually could see it in the Build 2014 keynote: 
Click on image for larger view. 
To be clear this is not part of the Windows 8.1 Update that will be released to Windows Update next week on patch Tuesday (and now on MSDN) |
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Exchange Server 2013 Service Pack 1 released, download and details
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Apps for Office in Compose – Mail apps are now available for use during the creation of new mail messages. This allows developers to build and users to leverage apps that can help them while they are composing mails. The compose apps leverage the Apps for Office platform and can be added via the existing Office store or corporate catalogs. Learn more about Apps for Office.Exchange Server 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1) resolves issues that were found in previous versions of Exchange Server 2013. This update rollup is highly recommended for all Exchange Server 2013 customers.
KB2926248 (still unavailable at time of this writing)
Download: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41994 - SP1 provides enhancements improving security and compliance capabilities in Exchange Server 2013. This includes improvements in the Data Loss Prevention (DLP) feature and the return of S/MIME encryption for Outlook Web App users.
- Windows Server 2012 R2 support – Exchange 2013 SP1 adds Windows Server 2012 R2 as a supported operating system and Active Directory environment for both domain and forest functional levels. For the complete configuration support information refer to the Exchange Server Supportability Matrix. This matrix includes details regarding Windows Server 2012 R2 support information about earlier versions of Exchange.
- Exchange Admin Center Cmdlet Logging – The Exchange 2010 Management Console includes PowerShell cmdlet logging functionality. Listening to your feedback, we’re happy to announce that this functionality is now included in the Exchange Admin Center (EAC). The logging feature enables you to capture and review the recent (up to 500) commands executed in the EAC user interface while the logging window is open. Logging is invoked from the EAC help menu and continues logging while the logging window remains open.
- ADFS for OWA – Also new for Outlook Web App in SP1 is claims-based authentication for organizations using Active Directory Federation Services. Learn more about the scenario.
- Edge Transport server role – SP1 also reintroduces the Edge Transport server role. If you have deployed Exchange 2013 with a supported legacy Exchange Edge Transport role, you don’t need to upgrade. That configuration is still supported. But we do recommend that future deployments use the Exchange 2013 Edge Transport role. Learn more about Edge Transport in Exchange 2013.
- MAPI over HTTP(MAPI/HTTP) New communication method for Exchange and Outlook – SP1 introduces a new communication method for Exchange Server and Microsoft Outlook called MAPI over HTTP(MAPI/HTTP). This communication method simplifies connectivity troubleshooting and improves the user connection experience with resuming from hibernate or switching networks. MAPI/HTTP is disabled by default, allowing you to decide when to enable it for your organization. MAPI/HTTP can be used in place of RPC/HTTP (Outlook Anywhere) for your Outlook 2013 SP1 clients while Outlook 2013 RTM and older clients continue to use RPC/HTTP. Learn more about deploying MAPI/HTTP.
- DAGs without Cluster Administrative Access Points - Windows Server 2012 R2 introduces failover clusters that can operate without an administrative access point: no IP addresses or IP address resource, no network name resource, and no cluster name object. SP1 enables you to create a DAG without an administrative access point on Windows Server 2012 R2 from EAC or PowerShell. This is an optional DAG configuration for SP1 and requires Windows Server 2012 R2. DAGs with administrative access points continue to be supported. Learn more about creating a DAG without an administrative access point here.
- SSL offloading – SP1 now supports SSL offloading, allowing you to terminate incoming SSL connections in front of your CAS servers and move the SSL workload (encryption & decryption tasks) to a load balancer device. Learn how to configure SSL offloading in Exchange 2013.
- Enhanced text editor for OWA - OWA now uses the same rich text editor as SharePoint, thereby improving the user experience, and enabling several new formatting and composition capabilities that you expect from modern Web application - more pasting options, rich previews to linked content, and the ability to create and modify tables.
- Apps for Office in Compose – Mail apps are now available for use during the creation of new mail messages. This allows developers to build and users to leverage apps that can help them while they are composing mails. The compose apps leverage the Apps for Office platform and can be added via the existing Office store or corporate catalogs. Learn more about Apps for Office.
More details at EHLO blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2014/02/25/exchange-server-2013-service-pack-1-available.aspx |
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Office 2013 Service Pack 1 released, download it, fix list
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Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1) provides the latest updates for Office 2013. This service pack includes two kinds of fixes: - Previously unreleased fixes that are included in this service pack. In addition to general product fixes, these fixes include improvements in stability, performance, and security.
- All the monthly security updates that were released through January 2014, and all the Cumulative Updates that were released through December 2013.
Overview of Office 2013 SP1 improvementsThe following are the key areas of improvement that are offered by this SP1: - Improves compatibility with Windows 8.1.
- Improves compatibility with Internet Explorer 11.
- Improves compatibility with modern hardware, such as high-DPI devices and the precision touchpad.
- Provides new apps for Office capabilities and APIs for third-party developers.
Outlook 2013 SP1 - Provides support for task pane apps in Outlook 2013 to enable third-party developers to extend the compose experience for email messages and calendar items.
PowerPoint 2013 SP1 - Provides ability to insert and use content apps in PowerPoint 2013 slides.
The following workbook is available for download. This workbook lists the issues that are fixed by this service pack Issues that this service package fixesThis service package fixes the issues that are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles: -
2919506 Can't hear the first few words that a callee speaks when they answer a call in Lync 2013 -
2919507 The "Program Events" sound setting is reset to the default value after you restart Lync 2013 -
2919508 Can't rotate the screen orientation of a video window in a Lync 2013 video conference on a Windows 8.1-based device -
2919510 A pie chart clock icon appears in the "Conversations" tab as a meeting icon in Lync 2013 To download the service pack from Microsoft Update or through MS Download center: |
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Microsoft OneDrive launches worldwide
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Microsoft announced Wednesday the global availability of OneDrive, its free, personal cloud storage service. Formerly known as SkyDrive, OneDrive gives people one place to store important photos, videos and documents that is accessible on the devices they use every day. The new OneDrive offers a host of new features, including improved video sharing and newly updated apps for Windows Phone, iOS, Android and Xbox. To celebrate the launch of OneDrive, Microsoft is giving the first 100,000 customers who access their OneDrive account after the launch an additional 100 GB of complimentary storage for one year (customers will receive a notice if they are among the lucky 100,000). Customers can monitor https://twitter.com/OneDrive for the announcement of the start time for this promotion.
Not Realy Launched Yet?
The url posted i the press release points to preview.onedrive.com. When I logon I still see skydrive in the URL and Logo's. Also when I download the windows client I still get SkyDriveSetup.exe... On my iPhone however the Skydrive client was autoupdated during the night to OneDrive.
Full press release at source |
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Microsoft Board names Satya Nadella as CEO, Bill Gates steps up to new role as Technology Advisor
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It is decided!
Microsoft Board names Satya Nadella as CEO
Bill Gates steps up to new role as Technology Advisor; John Thompson assumes role as Chairman of Board of Directors.
Microsoft Corp. today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Satya Nadella as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors effective immediately. Nadella previously held the position of Executive Vice President of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise group.
“During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella,” said Bill Gates, Microsoft’s Founder and Member of the Board of Directors. “Satya is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together. His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth.”
Since joining the company in 1992, Nadella has spearheaded major strategy and technical shifts across the company’s portfolio of products and services, most notably the company’s move to the cloud and the development of one of the largest cloud infrastructures in the world supporting Bing, Xbox, Office and other services. During his tenure overseeing Microsoft’s Server and Tools Business, the division outperformed the market and took share from competitors.
“Microsoft is one of those rare companies to have truly revolutionized the world through technology, and I couldn’t be more honored to have been chosen to lead the company,” Nadella said. “The opportunity ahead for Microsoft is vast, but to seize it, we must focus clearly, move faster and continue to transform. A big part of my job is to accelerate our ability to bring innovative products to our customers more quickly.”
“Having worked with him for more than 20 years, I know that Satya is the right leader at the right time for Microsoft,” said Steve Ballmer, who announced on Aug. 23, 2013 that he would retire once a successor was named. “I’ve had the distinct privilege of working with the most talented employees and senior leadership team in the industry, and I know their passion and hunger for greatness will only grow stronger under Satya’s leadership.”
Microsoft also announced that Bill Gates, previously Chairman of the Board of Directors, will assume a new role on the Board as Founder and Technology Advisor, and will devote more time to the company, supporting Nadella in shaping technology and product direction. John Thompson, lead independent director for the Board of Directors, will assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors and remain an independent director on the Board.
“Satya is clearly the best person to lead Microsoft, and he has the unanimous support of our Board,” Thompson said. “The Board took the thoughtful approach that our shareholders, customers, partners and employees expected and deserved.”
Continue at source
See videos: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/ceo/index.html |
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30/07/2014 21:46
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[E] 30/07/2014 22:30
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Apple vs. Microsoft: The winner is...
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| Apple’s runaway success is cooling along with innovation, while Microsoft is making changes to get its mojo back. But Apple’s success over the past five years has put it far enough ahead that Microsoft will need to keep putting up some big numbers to catch up.
It’s easy to let biases creep into the debate. Microsoft fans laugh at Apple users who actually try to work on an iPad, and Apple users scoff at Windows Phone’s small market share. So, let’s check the opinions and biases at the door and just compare these two tech giants with cold, hard facts.
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Microsoft's Open Interoperability Gamble Rolls New Dice
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| Faced with the reality of a future where Windows is neither its flagship brand or cash cow, Microsoft’s journey to a cloud and services-centric world means it will be happy enough if users centre their world around Office 365, Bing, Azure, OneDrive and Skype — even if they use an iPhone or other Android/Linux device to do so.
Establishing this new firmament in the eyes of the always-critical software application developer community was always going to be tough. The firm created its CodePlex free and open source project hosting site back in 2006 with some considerable success. Developers have been able to create software projects to share and download (but let’s say ‘collaborate’ because Microsoft would prefer us to) with others.
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Microsoft again writes off Surface inventory, renews profitability doubts
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| For the June quarter, Microsoft said Surface had booked $409 million in revenue, a 16% decline from the previous quarter. Microsoft has never said what revenue it recorded in the 2013 June quarter -- instead it lumped that quarter with two others, Q4 2012 and Q1 2013, tallied the trio and came up with $853 million -- so a year-over-year comparison was impossible.
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Uber drives into the Windows Phone Store
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| Taxis suck. Waiting for taxis sucks, paying for a taxi is always more difficult than it needs to be, and actually riding in a taxi? Well, that sucks too. That's why on-demand ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft have exploded in popularity over the past couple of years: They're fast, clean, and dead-simple to pay for.
At least, they are for iPhone or Android users. Neither service is available for Windows Phone, so Live-Tile-loving mobile users have been stuck with waving their hands and praying for taxis, or using mobile versions of ride-sharing websites, like chumps.
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Microsoft launches Windows Phone training portal in attempt to woo consumers
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| Unfortunately for current Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, Windows Phone continues to plod along in the race for market share in the U.S, but with a renewed vigor thanks to recent structural changes within the company, the software and technology giant are now starting to pull out all the stops to show consumers just how capable their Windows Phone platform is. Thanks to a new interactive training portal that was posted by the Windows Phone team on July 23, potential customers can now see just how easy it is to use the new Windows Phone 8.1 software. |
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Windows development set to be 'unified' by Microsoft
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| Microsoft has said work is under way to "unify" parts of its different Windows operating systems.
Chief executive Satya Nadella discussed the effort while briefing analysts following Tuesday's earnings update.
"We will streamline the next version of Windows from three operating systems into one single converged operating system for screens of all sizes," he said.
The firm also confirmed it had recently scrapped a new type of tablet. |
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[E] 30/07/2014 22:31
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How to access Windows 8.x emoji on a desktop PC
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| The touch screen keyboard available on Windows 8.x tablets -- like Microsoft Surface, for example -- gives you access to a wealth of emoji you can use in chats, emails, comments and so on. As well as the usual smileys, there are hand signs, hearts, cartoon characters, vehicles, weather symbols, and many more to pick from. Just select the character set you want at the bottom of the keyboard. If you’re not using a touch screen device, but still want to access these characters you can. All you need to do is right-click the taskbar, go to Toolbars and select… [Continue Reading] |
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BitTorrent releases Bleep for Windows, a closed Alpha chat client
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| Recent revelations, courtesy of Edward Snowden, have given insight into just how much citizens need to worry about NSA activity, and it was an alarmingly large amount. BitTorrent has been working to mitigate these issues, at least as best as possible, with a Sync app that stores no data that can be accessed, and now a new chat app that will do the same. The service debuts in private Alpha today, allowing testers to jump on board and get a taste of what it's like to use what is claimed to be a "serverless" version of chat. BitTorrent points out the… [Continue Reading] |
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Logitech reveals the world's fastest gaming mouse -- G402 Hyperion Fury
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| PC gaming is a really awesome pastime. While some people prefer console gaming, it is strictly a matter of preference. I like both, but I particularly like the gamification of PC gaming hardware. In other words, the actual building of the gaming PC and buying of cool peripherals can be as fun as the games themselves. Hell, it can sometimes be more fun. One of the most fun peripherals to buy for a gaming PC is the mouse. Unfortunately, far too much emphasis has been put on appearance lately, instead of performance. Don't get me wrong, a gaming mouse should… [Continue Reading] |
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Why I'm still right about the BlackBerry Passport (and other things)
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| What a firestorm! I sort of knew going in that my previous entry, "Do NOT buy a BlackBerry Passport until you read this", would evoke a heated response from the BB faithful. However, I never imagined there were still so many dedicated BlackBerry fans out there. Over 200 (mostly scathing) comments later, and I can feel the rage (the "Zionist" quips, in particular, were hilarious). Another pundit might try to backtrack in light of such unrelenting animosity. But not me! The potent combination of unbridled hubris and geographic isolation have emboldened me to double-down on my original assertions. So, instead… [Continue Reading] |
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Jitterbit connects SAP to the cloud
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| SAP is the world's most popular ERP (enterprise resource planning) system, but a recent survey by HCL Technologies shows that integration with their existing solutions was the biggest obstacle to 45 percent of SAP users when implementing cloud technologies. Integration company Jitterbit has announced a new SAP Connector that lets businesses integrate their existing processes with SAP whether they're on-site or in the cloud. Certified by SAP and running on Jitterbit's Harmony cloud platform it offers faster integration and is compatible with SAP's latest HANA in memory appliance. "Businesses are clamoring to bring on new cloud technologies, but integrating them… [Continue Reading] |
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Smartphone market sees stiffer competition
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| The competition is heating up in the smartphone space, as, in Q3 2014, a dozen vendors have what it takes to shake up the top five smartphone makers list, according to a new report from research firm IDC. Judging by the standing from Q2 2014, the likely players in danger of losing their spots are Huawei, Lenovo and LG. Samsung and Apple continue to be in a position of strength, with the two being responsible for 25.2 percent (74.3 million) and 11.9 percent (35.1 million), respectively, of the 295.3 million smartphones shipped in the quarter that ended June 30. That… [Continue Reading] |
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SUPERAntiSpyware 6 reveals new System Investigator
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| Support.com has updated its popular malware hunter SUPERAntiSpyware to version 6.0. The major new feature is System Investigator, a tool which highlights files of interest in the most common infection points: startup programs, browser extensions, installed applications, Windows services, drivers, temporary and system folders, scheduled tasks, and more. Everything System Investigator finds on your system is checked against SUPERAntiSpyware’s whitelist database, before being separated into "Known Good" and "Unknown" categories. Other users can vote "Unknown" files up or down, and while the scores don’t tell you much just yet, over time they should help you identify potentially unwanted programs. SUPERAntiSpyware… [Continue Reading] |
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Internet of Things devices open up new avenues for hackers
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| We're constantly being told that the internet of things is set to revolutionize the world we live in. Gartner has predicted that it will have around 26 billion units by 2020, but with this rapid growth comes added risk. A new study from HP shows that 70 percent of the most commonly used internet of things (IoT) devices contain vulnerabilities, these include password security, encryption and personal data issues. As manufacturers rush to bring IoT devices to market they open the door to threats ranging from code vulnerabilities and denial of service attacks to weak passwords and scripting vulnerabilities. HP… [Continue Reading] |
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LibreOffice 4.3 arrives, promises more intuitive spreadsheet handling, adds 3D modelling to Impress
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| The Document Foundation has released LibreOffice 4.3 FINAL for Windows, Mac and Linux. The new release sees some notable user-interface tweaks, performance enhancements and a number of new and tweaked features. TDF is particularly keen to highlight four major new features: improved document interoperability, comment management, more intuitive spreadsheet handling in Calc, and support for animated 3D models in Impress. The improvements to document interoperability focus support for OOXML Strict, OOXML graphics improvements and add the ability to embed one OOXML file inside another. Also added are support for 30 new Excel formulas, Works spreadsheets and databases and a number… [Continue Reading] |
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Microsoft announces Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1, Cortana coming to new markets
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| Today, Microsoft announces the first major update for Windows Phone 8.1, called Update 1. It introduces new features and improvements over the version which the software giant unveiled earlier this year at Build 2014, and makes way for Cortana to arrive in new markets. In Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1, Microsoft adds Live Folders, allowing users to group live tiles on the Start screen. Like the name suggests, it is able to display updating information on its tile, coming from the items it contains. A live folder can be created by dragging a live tile on top of another. For… [Continue Reading] |
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[E] 30/07/2014 22:29
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21 Windows Administrative Tools Explained and more
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| Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles: 21 Windows Administrative Tools Explained ASUS RP-AC52 Dual Band Wireless AC750 Range Extender Review BitFenix Fury 650W Gold Modular Review CM Storm Resonar Gaming Earphones Review Cooler Master Nepton 280L Liquid Cooler Review First impressions of Nvidia\'s Shield Tablet Gigabyte Z97X SOC Force Overclocking Motherboard Review Gigabytes Brix Gaming BXi5G-760 mini-PC reviewed Harman Kardon BDS 880 Home Theater System Review Nixeus MODA Mechanical Keyboard Review NZXT Kraken X31 Review P... |
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A Guide to Smartphone Camera Hardware and more
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| Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles: A Guide to Smartphone Camera Hardware Antec ISK 600 Mini ITX Case Review Hands-on review: Canon PowerShot SX400 IS Hands-on review: Canon PowerShot SX520 HS HIS Radeon R7 250X and 260X iCooler Graphics Cards Review Icy Dock MB981U3-1S Hard Drive Dock Review Intel Haswell-E Core i7-5960X de-lidded MSI Nightblade Z97 Barebones System Review Nokia Lumia 520 Smartphone Review Rearth Ringke Fusion Case for Samsung Galaxy S5 Samsung 845DC EVO SSD 960 Gigabyte Review Samsung Galaxy Tab S Review, To... |
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Last Updated:
[E] 07/05/2013 23:14
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Windows Phone 8 Details Revealed
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| Microsoft's renewed push for its Windows Phone platform centers on Mango, an update with hundreds of tweaks and features. Over the next few months, manufacturers such as Nokia will push an array of new smartphones boasting the software. It should come as no surprise, of course, that Microsoft is already thinking ahead to subsequent Windows Phone versions. Given the rapid pace of smartphone OS development, they basically have no choice. Until now, though, the nature of those future versions remained totally unclear. But now, two new reports give us a better idea of what might be in store from Windows Phone late in 2012. On Feb. 2, the blog Pocketnow.com offered a rather extensive rundown of Windows Phone 8's features, claiming it obtained them from a Microsoft-produced video meant for Nokia executives (and hosted by Windows Phone manager Joe Belfiore). Many of those details were subsequently confirmed by Paul Thurrott, in a posting that same day on his Supersite for Windows. Pocketnow paraphrased Belfiore as saying that Windows Phone 8 will "use many of the same components of Windows 8" and that areas of heavy overlap include "kernel, networking stacks, security, and multimedia support." For developers, that apparently means the ability to reuse massive chunks of code when "porting an app from desktop to phone." Thurrott seconded that finding in his own post, writing that Windows Phone 8 "will be based on the Windows 8 kernel and not on Windows CE as are current versions." In other words, apps developed for Windows Phone Mango will apparently continue to play well on the upgraded platform. Both sources said Windows Phone 8 will include the same 128-bit, full-disk BitLocker encryption that currently runs on Windows. A "Data Smart" feature will give WiFi hotspots priority over using the smartphone's cellular connection, in turn reducing data usage. Thurott noted a Skype app, SkyDrive integration, secure payments via near-field communication (NFC), camera improvements, and Internet Explorer 10 Mobile as other additions. Follow me on Twitter
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Leaked Windows Phone Road Map Traces Future Updates
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| Now here's something you don't see every day: a leaked road map for Windows Phone's evolution through the end of 2012. That purported road map comes courtesy of WMPoweruser, which included a screen cap of it in a Dec. 27 posting. The blog also declined to mention its source for the information, which (at least in broad strokes) jibes with past data from other places. Supposedly, the second quarter of 2012 will see the arrival of a "Tango" update, which according to the road map's handy bullet points will feature "products with the best prices." This likely means Windows Phones aimed at the midmarket, with a possible stripped-down user interface to match the lower cost. In the fourth quarter of that year would come "Apollo," aimed at both the "superphone" (i.e., higher-end specifications) and "business" categories. A road map bullet point also suggests "increase overall volume," which could mean Microsoft anticipates more Windows Phone units in users' hands by the end of 2012, or else it is hoping that smartphones loaded with some sort of Apollo software update will kick off a higher volume of sales. Despite the Microsoft brand name and phones from several manufacturers, Windows Phone failed to gain much traction with consumers in 2011. During his July 11 keynote speech at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference, CEO Steve Ballmer described Windows Phone's market presence as "very small." Tango and Apollo rumors have floated for some time. Back in August, Mary-Jo Foley posted on her All About Microsoft blog that she'd heard of "two Tango releases on tap," with the first aiming to expand "the Windows Phone footprint into new markets" while the second "will be targeted at low-cost devices and include fixes and new features." Meanwhile, Apollo had already been tagged (by Slashgear and other sources) as Microsoft's next big code update. However, possible features remain unclear. In any case, if this road map is accurate, it shows that Microsoft has robust update plans to accompany a hard Windows Phone push by Nokia and some other manufacturers. Follow me on Twitter
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Microsoft, CEA Take Different Views on CES Pullout
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| Microsoft sparked a tech-world furor Dec. 21 with the announcement that, starting in 2013, it will decline to provide a keynote speech or booth at the Consumer Electronics Show. "We have decided that this coming January will be our last keynote presentation and booth at CES," Frank Shaw, Microsoft's corporate vice president of corporate communications, wrote in a posting that day on The Official Microsoft Blog. "We won't have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don't align with the show's January timing." Microsoft will continue to participate in CES, he added, "as a great place to connect with partners and customers across the PC, phone and entertainment industries." Indeed, CES doesn't always coincide with Microsoft's timing for its more high-profile releases. For example, at the 2011 edition of the show, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer used his keynote to hint at Microsoft's movement into tablets with Windows 8, but the company nonetheless chose to wait for several more months before providing a glimpse of the operating system at work. However, executives at the Consumer Electronics Association, which runs CES, seem to dispute Microsoft's pullout as unilateral. Jason Oxman, the CEA's senior vice president of industry affairs, told The New York Times Dec. 21 that Microsoft's ending its show presence was more of a mutual decision. "From our standpoint, it was the right decision as well." According to Oxman, the CEA wanted a new company for that opening keynote slot long held by Microsoft. The newspaper paraphrased him as saying the split with Microsoft "had not been acrimonious." For its part, Microsoft could use Ballmer's 2012 CES keynote (if not its significant presence on the show floor) to show off some of the Windows 8 tablets in development. But after that, it seems, all such announcements and unveilings will come on Microsoft's terms. Whether that dampens the ability of CES to draw industry buzz remains to be seen. Follow me on Twitter
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Microsoft, Nokia Considered RIM Takeover: Report
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| Microsoft and Nokia apparently toyed with partnering up for a Research In Motion takeover. That bit of news comes from The Wall Street Journal, itself quoting the ever-popular "people familiar with the matter." Those sources described the status of the talks as "unclear." Given its age and prominence in the mobile industry, RIM almost certainly has an immense library of patents, which could prove valuable to any Nokias and Microsofts in search of a little more intellectual-property protection in these litigious times. With RIM's stock performance of late, the Canadian mobile device maker is arguably even more of a bargain than it was six months or two years ago, when similar acquisition rumors also surfaced. But Microsoft has scored a number of significant legal victories against Android of late, between its campaign of cornering Android manufacturers into licensing agreements, and its minor win against Motorola Mobility with the ITC this week. Any RIM deal would have come with significant drawbacks for both Microsoft and Nokia. For starters, both the latter companies are firmly bonded to Windows Phone, and Microsoft is planning (along with its manufacturing partners) a series of tablets with the upcoming Windows 8. That sort of ecosystem doesn't exactly merge seamlessly with RIM's, which is in the middle of transitioning from BlackBerry 7 to QNX-based BlackBerry 10. Nor could Microsoft and Nokia have made a play for RIM in order to secure the latter's hardware, considering a.) Microsoft and manufacturing partners, and Nokia, already have their own hardware portfolios and proprietary design language, thank you very much, and b.) the majority of RIM's portfolio is centered on devices with a physical QWERTY keyboard, which doesn't exactly fit with Windows Phone. Would Microsoft and Nokia have bought RIM for its corporate business and cloud services? Again, Microsoft is already making its own great strides in the business cloud, and has a significant business audience. At most, Microsoft and Nokia were just performing their due diligence by sniffing around a little. Buying RIM wouldn't be a good move. Follow me on Twitter
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Windows 8 App Store Promises Apple App Store Battle
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| Microsoft has pushed back the curtain from the app store it plans on integrating into Windows 8, in the process kicking off what will surely be a vicious competition with Apple and its own app storefront for Mac OS X Lion. Unlike Windows Phone, whose own app store is growing at a relatively slow rate (and whose total number of apps on offer lags well behind that of Apple's App Store for iOS), Windows comes with a sizable user base. Third-party developers will want to leverage those hundreds of millions of potential customers for profit, and will thus scramble to build "Metro"-style apps to fill the Windows 8 app store. At least, that's how Microsoft hopes the process will unfold. In order to sweeten the deal for developers, Microsoft will give them 80 percent of every dollar generated off an app's sale, provided the app in question earns more than $25,000. Less than that, and Microsoft will pay out 70 percent, a ratio that has become something of an industry standard. Microsoft is also designing the store with businesses in mind. "Enterprise developers have been asking about their path to market with Metro style apps," Ted Dworkin, partner program manager for the Windows Store, wrote in a Dec. 6 posting on the new Windows Store blog. "And, in turn, IT administrators have been asking about deployment and management scenarios, such as compliance and security." Microsoft's way of fulfilling those enterprise needs, apparently, centers on giving businesses direct control over app deployment. "Enterprises can choose to limit access to the Windows Store catalog by their employees, or allow access but restrict certain apps," he wrote. "In addition, enterprises can choose to deploy Metro style apps directly to PCs, without going through the Store infrastructure." Windows 8 beta will arrive in February 2012, with the final release later that year. Unlike previous versions of the operating system with their desktop-style interface, the upcoming operating system's start screen centers on a set of colorful, touchable tiles linked to applications--the better to port it onto tablets and other touch-centric form factors. Follow me on Twitter
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Microsoft Preps Xbox Dashboard Revamp
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| At some point soon, Microsoft is going to deliver a radical revamp to the Xbox's Live Dashboard, one that positions the gaming console as more of a home-entertainment center. It's just a question of when, apparently. "We are still working to get the release out," Larry Hyrb, a member of Microsoft's Xbox team, wrote in a Dec. 6 Tweet, followed a few others later by another: "No new information to report yet. My earlier update is still the most current." Those with the Kinect hands-free controller linked to their Xbox will have the ability to navigate through an array of programming via voice and gesture command. New options such as HBO will join old stalwarts like Netflix. Presumably, Microsoft is negotiating to bring additional shows to the platform, although I'm sure the associated rights issues are a veritable hornet's nest of conflicting interests. Meanwhile, the revamped Xbox interface embraces the same tile-centric "Metro" theme already present in Windows Phone, and soon in Windows 8. Branding-wise, it's a smart move to integrate the same design cues into all your company's major products. Thanks to millions of Xbox Live subscribers, a robust and content-heavy Xbox dashboard is a challenge to both Google TV and Apple TV, neither of which let you gun down a couple dozen zombies after concluding another episode of "Boardwalk Empire." Apple is heavily rumored to be entering the television-set business sometime in 2012, but actual details remain scarce; it is Cupertino, after all, which rivals the CIA for keeping its secrets locked down. Microsoft has made no secret about its designs for control of the living room. Now it's about to take one giant step closer to accomplishing that goal. It'll be interesting to see how rivals like Google and Apple respond in the short term. Follow me on Twitter
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Salesforce CEO Benioff Slams Microsoft
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| Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff used a high-profile company event in New York City to engage in one of his favorite activities: swiping at competitors such as Microsoft. "I think they've lost their relevancy," was how he described Microsoft during a Nov. 30 question-and-answer session, following his company's unveiling of its Social Marketing Cloud. "I just don't think they matter anymore." He was dismissive of the upcoming Windows 8, suggesting that that the "Windows Everywhere" paradigm was terminally outdated. Microsoft and Salesforce have made a sport of lunging at each other's throats. On the product side, Salesforce.com's browser-based CRM competes with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. On the lawsuit side, the two companies have engaged in tit-for-tat patent battles, the latest of which ended in August 2010 with Salesforce agreeing to pay Microsoft an unspecified amount. In the wake of that lawsuit, the companies' respective spokespeople took a somewhat conciliatory tone, with Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of intellectual property and licensing at Microsoft (not to mention the bête noire of Google Android), describing the endpoint agreement as "an example of how companies can compete vigorously in the marketplace while respecting each other's intellectual property rights." But that doesn't stop Benioff from doing his best to rip into Microsoft seemingly at every opportunity. There's a method to his madness: Salesforce products like the new Social Marketing Cloud (a suite of cloud-based analytics and engagement tools built atop Radian6 software) fully embrace the idea of browser-based software as an increasingly important business platform, one whose flexibility and scalability eclipses traditional on-premises software (and associated hardware). Meanwhile, Microsoft is powering toward the cloud as fast as it can, with products like Office 365, but its revenues are still largely tethered to traditional software such as Office and Windows, which it continues to heavily promote. Benioff needs to cast his company as the way of the future, and Microsoft as struggling to catch up. The flip side is that Microsoft has billions of dollars and thousands of very smart people at its disposal. That means the company can do things like burn through hundreds of millions of dollars per quarter on developing online services. It can also afford to play a much longer game, strategy-wise, than many of its competitors. In other words, it's a dangerous opponent. So Benioff slams them as outdated, and Microsoft's people fire back, and the game continues. Follow me on Twitter
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Microsoft Bing's Most-Searched Terms Include Bieber, Xbox
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| Microsoft has unveiled Bing's top-searched terms for 2011, a list that harbors absolutely no surprises. Topping the list of most-searched people is Justin Bieber, which suggests a lot of tweens are using Microsoft's search engine for their teen-idol needs. No. 1 in the category of consumer electronics was Xbox/Kinect, followed by the Kindle, then PlayStation. Top news stories searched out on Bing include the Casey Anthony trial, Osama bin Laden's death, and Hurricane Irene. Top finance queries included real estate agents, "cheap" and "coupons." Vegas ended up the most-searched world destination, and the upcoming "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" the most-hunted movie. The complete list is available here, for anyone with a burning desire to find out, say, which reality star or morning show topped Bing's search list. Microsoft accounted for 14.8 percent of the U.S. search engine market in October, according to research firm comScore, compared with Google at 65.6 percent. Although Yahoo racked up 15.2 percent of that market, its back-end search is powered by Bing, which for all purposes folds its share into that of Microsoft. In essence, Microsoft holds a third of the domestic search market. From its inception, the company has tried to differentiate itself from Google in a number of ways, most notably its subdivision of search into a series of subject-specific verticals, including "Shopping" and "Travel." In contrast to the Google search page's famous blank background, Bing also refreshes daily with a new image. In addition, Microsoft's partnership with Facebook has allowed Bing to take things a step deeper, layering search with social data such as the ability to see which friends "Liked" a particular Website. Despite the steady stream of new features, though, Microsoft's gains against Google have come in a decidedly gradual game, and the company's online division costs it millions of dollars per quarter in losses. Nonetheless, as Microsoft moves increasingly toward the cloud and mobility, Bing plays an ever-greater role as both a collector of aggregate user data and as a branding tool. That's more than enough reason (aside from giving Bieber-ites their all-important fix) for the company to continue pouring money into the effort. Follow me on Twitter
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Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL Partner on Advertising
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| In a bid to counter some of the Internet's larger ad giants--most notably Google and Facebook--Microsoft has joined in an advertising partnership with AOL and Yahoo. However, Microsoft isn't framing the agreement as a response to its competitors in that arena. "Other players in the industry are welcome to join us," Rik van der Kooi, corporate vice president of Microsoft Advertising Business Group, told Reuters Nov. 8. "This is not in response to anybody in particular." Under the terms of the agreement, each of the three companies can sell premium display ads belonging to the other two. That will allow the trifecta to more efficiently unload premium advertising inventory, although their competition over advertiser spending and other segments will continue apace. Facebook and Google continue to battle for their own significant shares of the online advertising pie. Although Microsoft's product portfolio gives it diverse streams of revenue (in contrast to Google, for example, which depends on advertising for an overwhelming percentage of its bottom line), its recent emphasis on Web and cloud services makes advertising a more prominent concern. Greater ad revenues would also allow Microsoft to absorb some of the massive losses its online division accrues on a quarterly basis. Microsoft is already in partnership with Facebook. A number of the latter's features, including the "Like" button, feed social data into Bing, Microsoft's search engine. That wouldn't stop Microsoft from making a more aggressive play for the same advertising-dollar pool that feeds Facebook, of course, and nor would that stop AOL or Yahoo, which presumably view Facebook as more of an existential threat. Follow me on Twitter
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Bing for Mobile Embraces HTML5 for Android, iOS
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| Microsoft has updated its Bing for Mobile app for iPhone and Android, adding some new features and bringing the experience more in line with the experience offered on Windows Phone. "Today's update uses HTML5 to blend the mobile browse experience with the app experience so you get a consistent and fast mobile search experience," read a Nov. 2 posting on the Bing Community blog, "whether you're using m.bing.com from your browser or the Bing app." Microsoft's Windows Phone tightly bakes Bing's search engine into the interface, blurring the line between traditional browser-based search and the platform's "Metro" interface. Evidently, Microsoft seems interested in extending aspects of that experience to other smartphone platforms. "Rather than tightly binding functions into a mobile client, we want to embrace the drive towards exposing our functions via an HTML5 experience," the blog post added. "Using HTML5, our goal is to build a mobile experience that leverages the unique capabilities" of platforms such as camera support and voice search, while "making the functions the apps can provide consistent across the platforms." In addition, this app update also includes Deals, which the blog describes as "one-stop deal shopping and convenient mobile phone access for local deals from more than 100 deal providers across the United States." It makes Bing's video domain, launched in October on m.bing, available on the iPhone. The Android version of the app offers a combination of real-time transit routing and news. And the Maps/List Split View allows users to synchronize a list, such as directions, into a single view alongside a map. Microsoft is apparently aiming to release the same experience for Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices at some unnamed point in the future. For the moment, the Android and iOS apps are available on their respective app stores. Follow me on Twitter
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Windows 8, Bill Gates Killed Courier Tablet: Report
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| Microsoft's innovative "Courier" tablet prototype--which, if produced, would have offered two touch-screens bonded together in a book-style format--now has a cause of death: crushed with extreme prejudice by Windows 8. According to CNET's Jay Greene, who interviewed a number of unnamed executives with knowledge of the company's tablet deliberations, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had a choice to make: either support Courier, which executive J Allard (famous for helping conceive and push the Xbox) touted as a complementary device to PCs and smartphones, or wait until Windows and Windows Live division President Steven Sinofsky could build a version of Windows capable of running on tablets. The latter would take substantial time. Ballmer went to former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, who in turn focused his laser intellect on the dilemma. And Gates had one big issue with Courier: namely, it wasn't intended to run Exchange or Outlook, instead pulling down email via the browser. "The device wasn't intended to be a computer replacement," Greene wrote. "The key to Courier, Allard's team argued, was its focus on content creation." Gates, according to an unnamed Courier worker quoted in the article, had an "allergic reaction" to the concept. After all, Microsoft has grown on the concept of supplying an integrated ecosystem of software products, portable across a wide variety of form factors. Something that operates outside that matrix, well, is an outlier. Within weeks, according to Greene's sources, "Courier was cancelled because the product didn't clearly align with the company's Windows and Office franchises." Microsoft has now placed all its tablet chips on Windows 8. The operating system, due for arrival sometime in 2012, offers a Start screen loaded with colorful tiles linked to applications, and meant to operate equally well with traditional PCs and touch-centric devices. It also allows users to switch to a "regular" desktop interface. Tablet interoperability will place Windows 8 in a head-on vector with Apple's iPad, which currently dominates the tablet space. Other touch-screen competitors, including a variety of Google Android tablets and Hewlett-Packard's TouchPad, have crashed and burned in their attempts to seize their own portion of the tablet market. That's either a portent or an opening for Microsoft, depending on how you look at it; certainly, the company intends Windows 8 to offer a robust "no compromises" experience on tablets, which could boost its appeal with the same business users who already constitute a significant portion of Microsoft's core audience. All that being said, I can't help but feel a little twinge of sadness over Courier's premature death. It was a cool concept, even if it never saw the light of day. Follow me on Twitter
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Nokia's Windows Phones: The Games Begin
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| Last week Nokia unveiled a pair of Windows Phone devices, the Lumia 710 and 800. They'll arrive in the United States sometime in early 2012, according to the Finnish manufacturer. "Lumia is the first real Windows Phone," Nokia CEO Stephen Elop told the audience during a London keynote Oct. 26. "We are signaling our intent right now to be today's leaders in smartphone design and craftsmanship, no question about it." Let the games begin. The Lumia 800 represents the high end of Nokia's smartphone plans, and features a 1.4GHz processor, hardware acceleration and graphics processor, and an 8-megapixel camera that uses Carl Zeiss optics. Design-wise, there's a 3.7-inch active-matrix organic LED (AMOLED) ClearBlack curved display integrated into a body rendered from a single piece of polycarbonate. I played with it during a Nokia presentation last week in New York City; it's pretty. In a play toward the midmarket, Nokia is also offering the cheaper Lumia 710, also with a 1.4GHz processor, and a 5-megapixel camera. It's pretty, too. To say that Nokia needs both these devices to succeed is something of an understatement, considering how it's abandoned its other operating systems in favor of Windows Phone. In order to sweeten the deal for consumers, Nokia has installed some exclusive apps with its phones, including Nokia Drive (with turn-by-turn navigation and voice-activated control) and Nokia Maps, which offers up points of interest around the user's location. As I mentioned in an earlier posting, Microsoft wants to push Windows Phone more toward the midmarket, and the Lumia 710 seems a big step in that direction. "We are dramatically broadening the set of price points in Mango-related phones that we can reach," Andy Lees, president of Microsoft's Windows Phone division, told the audience during the Asia D conference Oct. 19. "That's particularly important because going lower down in price point opens up more addressable market." But it'll still be some months until we know whether Nokia's succeeding in its all-or-nothing effort.
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Steve Jobs Biography Criticizes Microsoft, Ballmer
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| A good chunk of Walter Isaacson's new biography of Steve Jobs focuses on Microsoft and Bill Gates. In the book, he characterizes former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates as "a business person" but not someone who necessarily made great products: "He ended up the wealthiest guy around, and if that was his goal, then he achieved it. But it's never been my goal, and I wonder, in the end, if it was his goal." In the same passage, he also discussed Microsoft as a company. "They've clearly fallen from their dominance," he said. "They've become mostly irrelevant. And yet I appreciate what they did and how hard it was. They were very good at the business side of things. They were never as ambitious product-wise as they should have been." Microsoft, of course, would strenuously disagree with those assertions. The latest edition of Windows has sold more than 450 million licenses, and the company continues to maintain a dominant position in business software. While the jury's still out with regard to its cloud efforts as revenue generators, platforms such as Office 365 are making inroads against Google and other companies in that area. But Apple has framed itself as primarily a mobility company, with products such as the tablet and smartphone, and that area has also proven troublesome for Microsoft. Windows Phone has attracted critical praise but not enough sales to dent either the Apple iPhone or the growing family of Google Android devices; and Microsoft remains largely absent from the tablet game until the launch of Windows 8 sometime in 2012. Jobs also had some things to say about current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. "When the sales guys run the company, the product guys don't matter so much, and a lot of them just turn off," he said. "It happened at Apple when Sculley came in, which was my fault, and it happened when Ballmer took over at Microsoft." As a consequence, "I don't think anything will change at Microsoft as long as Ballmer is running it." Microsoft's efforts with Windows 8 (particularly when it comes to tablets) and its revamped Windows Phone strategy (which involves a host of new manufacturing partners, including Nokia, in conjunction with the wide-ranging "Mango" software update) will determine whether Jobs' prophecy plays out. If those efforts succeed in a big way, then Microsoft could have a turnaround story in mobility to rival Apple's own. If they fail, then Redmond has some very serious problems.
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Windows Phone Will Target Smartphone Midmarket
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| Next up for Windows Phone: attacking the middle range of the market. "We are dramatically broadening the set of price points in Mango-related phones that we can reach," Andy Lees, president of Microsoft's Windows Phone division, told the audience during the Asia D conference Oct. 19. "That's particularly important because going lower down in price point opens up more addressable market." Until this point, Microsoft had positioned Windows Phone as more of a competitor to high-end devices such as Apple's iPhone and the Motorola Droid. But Microsoft's traditional aim with any of its products has been to capture as big an audience as possible, so a thrust toward the smartphone midmarket is perhaps inevitable. For a couple of months, rumors have circulated about a stripped-down Windows Phone OS code-named Tango, aimed at lower-cost hardware and developing markets such as India and China. Back in August, Mary Jo Foley wrote on her All About Microsoft blog about two new Tango releases that could expand Windows Phone into new markets and load onto those cheaper devices. At the moment, Microsoft is mostly concerned with pushing Mango, a wide-ranging update with some 500 tweaks and features, onto Windows Phone. That's happening in conjunction with a host of new manufacturers, including Nokia and Samsung, prepping a host of new Windows Phone devices. Although outside research firms generally place Windows Phone's share of the smartphone market far behind that of the iPhone and Android, Microsoft hopes that the combination of boosted software and new manufacturing partners can give the platform the momentum it needs to seize a bigger portion for itself. One of those partners, Nokia, reportedly plans to show off its first Windows Phone devices at Nokia World in London, due to start Oct. 26. That information also came from Lees, who told the Asia D conference Oct. 19: "Next week it's going to be Nokia World, where they're going to announce their phones and how they're going to make the most out of the Windows Phone opportunity." It'll be interesting to see what rolls out. By tossing out homegrown mobile operating systems such as Symbian in favor of Windows Phone, Nokia is betting its existence on Microsoft software allowing it to push back against Android and other competitors. I'll bet anything that Nokia's push will eventually involve Windows Phone devices targeted at that midrange. The only question is when Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will try to make that happen. Follow me on Twitter
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Microsoft's Ballmer Swipes at Google
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| We can learn at least one thing from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's talk at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco: When it comes to smartphone competition, Microsoft sees Android as a bigger threat than Apple. I'm basing that solely on the vitriol that Ballmer leveled at Android (and Google in general) while leaving Apple relatively unscathed. Indeed, he offered faint praise for the iPhone, grouping it along with Windows Phone as a device that feels "good in your hand." His most damning criticism was that the iPhone offers "seas of icons," versus Windows Phone's goal of placing "information front and center." But he launched an attack on Android. First he said, "You don't need to be a computer scientist to use a Windows Phone," as if you somehow need a Ph.D to use an Android-based device. Then he added, "It is very hard to be excited, for me, about the Android phones," which, well, is exactly what you'd expect the CEO of Microsoft to say under such circumstances. It makes sense that Ballmer would reserve the bulk of his fire for Android, considering that both Microsoft and Google are following roughly the same strategy in smartphones: Persuade hardware manufacturers to load your software onto as many devices as possible, in a bid to saturate the market. But Android's a dominating platform while Windows Phone, roughly a year after its release, is still struggling for adoption. At the same time, though, maybe Ballmer should curb some of that ire: The more Android devices sold, the more Microsoft gets paid, thanks to a series of patent-licensing agreements with Android manufacturers. That Android strategy (Microsoft's alternative for Android manufacturers who refuse to enter into a licensing agreement: an intellectual property lawsuit) is just one piece of Microsoft's larger competitive thrust against Google. During his talk, Ballmer also insisted that, with the release of Office 365 and other cloud-productivity platforms, Microsoft was making more progress against Google in the cloud. "Our ramp rate of sold seats, it's got a nice trajectory," he said, "We've got a highly functional product that's highly available." He also painted Microsoft as gaining search-engine traction with users despite Google's dominance of the search space. Bing's progress was good "not just for share but for having enough data to continue to improve the product," he said, according to a video of the talk posted on YouTube, "to make search more than just 10 blue links." He sidestepped a moderator question about whether Microsoft would create its own social platform along the lines of Google Plus, suggesting instead that "we're adding what we would call connectivity to our products." In other words, don't expect this battle to end any time soon. Follow me on Twitter
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30/07/2014 22:41
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Government's 'Google Review' copyright rules become law
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Welcome in a New Era ... of copyright litigation
Analysis The dog-ends of the “Google Review” of copyright sailed through the Lords yesterday and will become law on 1 October – creating work for the courts and quite possible, legal headaches for the government.… |
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[E] 30/07/2014 21:50
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[E] 10/03/2014 09:23
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[E] 30/07/2014 21:50
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News: Google launches "Features, Not Products" initiative
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Sergey Brin is telling employees to stop making old products and start improving new ones. "For example, said Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, Google plans to combine its spreadsheet, calendar and word-processing programs into one suite of Web-based applications." |
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Launch: Google running AdWords in newspapers
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Google is buying the leftover ad space in the _Chicago Sun-Times_ and filling it with AdWords ads related to the rest of the content. I wonder how they're going to charge advertisers. The domains posted are the real domains, so it can't exactly be pay-per-click. |
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Last Updated:
[E] 30/07/2014 22:30
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MAPILab POP3 Connector for Exchange 2013, 2010, 2007
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| MAPILab POP3 Connector enables various companies to solve an actual problem of downloading mail from external POP3 servers and its delivering to recipients located on Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, 2010, 2007 in the most effective and simple way. Using an external server which downloads mail allows you to limit access to Microsoft Exchange Server from the internet. |
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Print Agent for Exchange
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| Print Agent for Exchange - a solution for Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, which allows to automatically print out the necessary emails and attachments. The product consists of three components - a management console, transport agents, installed on the Exchange server, and one or more services that are directly processed printing. A practical system of rules, including conditions, actions and exceptions, allows to define criteria for printing of really necessary messages and attachments. Print Agent for Exchange can print both email messages and attached files (images, html, PDF, txt). |
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MAPILab Search for Exchange
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| MAPILab Search for Exchange is a solution for searching messages and other items in multiple mailboxes on Microsoft Exchange 2013, 2010 and 2007 servers. The product is a tool for carrying out multi-mailbox searches, and provides greater functionality than the built-in features in Microsoft Exchange 2013, 2010, 2007 servers. MAPILab Search for Exchange is designed to fulfill a range of tasks to automate the e-discovery process in your organization: internal investigations; human resources activity monitoring; legal discovery. |
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MAPILab Disclaimers for Exchange
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| MAPILab Disclaimers for Exchange is a solution for Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, intended for the centralized management of signatures and disclaimers in corporate mail messages. MAPILab Disclaimers for Exchange will help not only to meet email messaging standards and requirements, but also will transform each outgoing message into an effective marketing tool by adding the necessary text and graphic information about your company. |
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Last Updated:
[E] 30/07/2014 21:50
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