Samsung is dateless and desperate on prom night
A soap opera. That's how I would describe this week's revelation that Samsung is cozying up to Microsoft and the forthcoming Windows Phone 8. Still stinging from its recent court loss to Apple, the South Korean juggernaut appears to be hedging its Android bets by embracing one of the two remaining underdogs in the mobile OS race (the other being Research in Motion).
No matter how you slice it, Samsung's executives are running scared. And who can blame them? Apple will do whatever it takes to crush the little green man from Mountain View (it's a Jobsian legacy thing). And the fact that its chief hardware rival is getting squeezed in the process is simply gravy.
How to install Windows 8 on VMware Workstation
Windows 8 released to manufacturing earlier in this month (wow, it seems longer ago) and the Enterprise version is available for download as a 90-day trial directly from Microsoft. If you want to test the new operating system before the October 26 public release you can download and install the ISO.
Virtual machine is another option, and one less likely to disturb your workflow or upset the comfort of your current Windows settings. We suggest using VMware Workstation and provide here this how-to guide.
Microsoft's new logo doesn't tell the whole story
Last week, I asserted that "Microsoft's new logo is branding fail". Seventy comments later, there is fierce debate among readers. But a branding expert's response catches my interest most of all.
"This is clearly a company who is afraid to take a big step forward -- be bold and innovative", Jason Cieslak, Siegel+Gale managing director, tells BetaNews. "The mark is fresher and more contemporary, yet at the same time, conservative and a bit dull".
Microsoft codename 'Schnauzer Spittle' revealed
Call it life imitating art. One of my favorite pastimes is watching technology trends catch up with popular science fiction. Whether it's smartphones and tablets presaging Star Trek's ubiquitous communicators and PADDs or iRobots and Roombas hinting at our Star Wars maintenance droid-enabled future, I enjoy connecting the dots between various technology developments to see how they point the way towards a sci-fi inspired future.
Take this week, for example. Three seemingly unrelated stories -- Microsoft patenting "life streaming", Facebook tweaking the performance of its iOS app and the announcement of a Nokia-led alliance to promote more accurate indoor location services -- may together lay the foundation for myriad fantastical future applications.
Microsoft can’t censor negative Windows 8 stories
Like a lot of people I was intrigued and confused by the two stories that appeared on BetaNews yesterday regarding Microsoft’s issuing of DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) take-down notices. If you haven't already done so, you can read them here and here. While we’re waiting to find out why Microsoft asked Google to delist one of our old Windows 8 stories, it seems to have boiled down to two things. 1) Because we used an officially-sanctioned-for-editorial-use photo (which makes no sense), or 2) Because it was a negative story.
In his post concerning our DMCA notice, my colleague Joe Wilcox mused: "I wonder if the Microsoft censor police are trying to squash negative Windows 8 reaction using DMCA as a sword".
Thanks for the DMCA takedown order, Microsoft!
I have some advice for Microsoft: Back down and apologize while you still can. Because I won't cow before you, and neither will other editors whose sites you seek to censor. To Google: Shame on you for delisting from search results one of our stories because Microsoft demanded it. What? You're Microsoft's bitch now?
Late this afternoon, colleague Tim Conneally wrote about Microsoft issuing a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) take-down notice regarding a ConeXware Power Archiver forum post. Well, hell, Microsoft filed notice(s) for at least one BetaNews story, too, and nothing exactly recent. I cocked my head in wonder: "Don't wait for Windows 8! Download it now!", from September 2011, when Microsoft released the Developer Preview. What about the post could be so offensive or somehow violate Microsoft copyrights?
Microsoft's new logo is branding fail
Would someone please call the branding police and have them arrest Microsoft's entire executive team. The charge: Indecent logo.
Today the software giant introduced its first major corporate logo change in about a quarter century. I'm all for a brave new look, except there's little brave or memorable about this one. Apple should call a holiday and give out champagne to celebrate. This is one big branding frak up.
MVPs, Microsoft wants your video tips
Microsoft loves its MVPs -- most valued professionals -- and for good reasons. The company sells few products direct, relying instead on the skills of third-parties to promote and service solutions. MVPs receive special status and act, among other things, as crucial evangelists.
In case you missed it (I did being on vacation August 2), Microsoft is holding a contest for its MVPs through October 3. They submit "video tips" for which they can receive ongoing drawings for Microsoft points or grand prize, which varies by country. For example: Samsung Series 5 laptop in Canada and Dell Vostro in the United States.
10 Windows 8 features you should know about
Windows 8 will make its public debut on October 26 and has been controversial ever since Microsoft first released information about the operating system to the public. What most can agree on is that Windows 8 is a shift away from the traditional desktop-orientated operating system towards a system that can be deployed on a wider variety of devices.
The 10 features listed here are but some of the benefits coming with Windows 8.
I'm an early adopter, and I can't help it
Second in a series. "My name is MB and I'm an addict" is what I would say at the first Early Adopters Anonymous meeting.
I'm driven by an addiction to try a product as soon as possible, at the earliest point in its life cycle and I can (silently) admit to it being a compulsive behavior. It's not that I don't enjoy it, but I feel that's what I should do with every new product that I can get my geeky hands on. Yes, that's the second confession, and I'm fairly certain it will not be the last either.
Laplink CEO: Windows 8 will ensure Microsoft's dominance in the enterprise
You can’t have failed to notice that Windows 8 is attracting a lot of negative press. Some commentators, such as myself, have said it will flop, others that it will be the new Vista.
But not everyone thinks the updated operating system is a disaster. Thomas Koll, CEO of Laplink, is actually pretty positive about Windows 8's chances, and took the time to sit down with me and share his views about that and other topics, including flat PC sales, Microsoft Surface and tablet adoption in the enterprise.
SkyDrive gets graphical overhaul, Android app, full-sized photos (finally!)
Tuesday, Microsoft announced it has begun a major update to its consumer cloud storage service SkyDrive, which includes a new Web interface to the service, updated apps for desktop and new ones for mobile, and some new APIs for developers.
Two weeks ago, Microsoft opened its newest webmail brand and design upgrade on Outlook.com, and over a million people signed up in the first 24 hours alone. The update to the SkyDrive interface will be similar, and it will bring the same clean appearance, and will utilize the tile-based interface formerly known as "Metro" that is common among most current-generation Windows properties.
Third-party OneNote app does what Microsoft can't
At the end of 2011, Microsoft released Office OneNote for iPad, bringing the cult favorite note-taking application to all of Apple's devices.
But major shortcomings with the freemium OneNote for iPad app have earned it a significant number of negative reviews in the iTunes App Store. Third-party iPad app Outline+, released at the end of July, seeks to provide fixes to these complaints. So far, the app tackles two of the major issues plaguing the iPad version of OneNote: syncing and formatting.
Is Microsoft planning to ditch Intel post-Windows 8?
It's a radical thought. What if Microsoft is secretly planning to ditch Intel? With all of the recent talk about Windows RT "PCs", distinctions between the consumer roles associated with RT-based devices and the more traditional PC roles normally reserved for Intel-based systems have become blurred.
Suddenly, usage scenarios and form factors that were firmly part of Intel's territory are being encroached upon by a cornucopia of non-x86 Windows offerings. And cheering them all on is the chip maker's longtime comrade-in-arms, Microsoft. The Redmond, Wash.-based behemoth has been looking for a way out of the Wintel duopoloy for some time now, and the combination of increasingly powerful ARM designs and a tepid response to Intel's Ultrabook campaign has given the company the perfect opportunity to step out on its old partner.
Will Windows 8 make Linux the new gaming OS?
Windows 8 gets grief from all angles, including from the gaming industry. Valve’s boss Gabe Newell recently called the forthcoming OS "a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space", and Blizzard's Executive vice president of Game Design, Rob Pardo, tweets that Windows 8 "was not awesome for Blizzard either".
There are a couple of reasons why Gabe Newell, who worked at Microsoft for 13 years before leaving to form Valve, doesn’t like the new operating system. The awkwardness of running games through the interface formerly known as Metro is the most obvious issue, but the integrated Windows Store, which will directly compete with Valve’s distribution service Steam, is a much bigger concern for the company.
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