Blog

• Microsoft exec touts Windows 7's strength

  Sunday, May 02, 2010

  Windows 7 has been relatively well-received since its launch, but one of the key questions has been whether it will help Microsoft gain share against Apple, particularly in the U.S. consumer market. Microsoft says that last quarter's results show that is starting to happen.

  "It was a key goal and a key accomplishment for the quarter...to gain share against Apple," Reller said. "Clearly we made some inroads with those key audiences."

  Overall, IDC reported the U.S. PC market grew 24 percent last quarter, with Apple's share at 6.4 percent, down from 7 percent a year earlier. However, Gartner's preliminary figures have Apple gaining share to 8 percent of the market as compared to 7.2 percent a year ago. And Apple noted in its earnings report that overall Mac shipments grew 33 percent year-over-year in the first quarter.

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• Facebooking for love, part 1--Jasmine's Tech Dos & Don'ts

  Thursday, April 29, 2010

  Thanks to the digital age, nothing is sacred anymore. If you need some proof for this statement, just consider Facebook. The social networking site is a veritable cesspool of vulgar content, unintelligible pseudo English, and TMI. That's not to say the site doesn't have value, because it most certainly does. It's great for reconnecting with old friends, planning gatherings, and sharing amusing media bits from around the Web, among other things.

  But as a tool in matters of the heart, Facebook decidedly falls into the gray area between super useful and downright shady. With that in mind, I've put together some tips to navigate the choppy waters of romantic relationships via social networking.

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• 'Desktop' app turns iPad into split-screen toolbox

  Monday, April 26, 2010

  I've now been an iPad owner for exactly four hours. First impressions? It's heavier than I thought, and I'm furious with iTunes for hanging--repeatedly--during my initial sync attempts. (Weird workaround: After successfully syncing my iPhone, the iPad started syncing normally.)

  Newspaper apps? Fantastic. JamPad? Dazzling. Netflix? I think a tear escaped my eye. But you know which app I'll probably end up using the most? The ingenious 99-cent Desktop, which divides the iPad screen in half so you can run two apps at once.

  Well, OK, not apps, but any of the 10 "applets" built into Desktop. These include a Web browser (complete with thumbnail-enhanced bookmarks, a nice touch); an e-mail composer; Google Maps; unit and currency converters; a calculator; a dictionary; and a weather monitor.

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• Microsoft brings Windows 7 to other devices

  Monday, April 26, 2010

  Microsoft announced Tuesday it has finished the task of customizing Windows 7 to run on TVs, set-top boxes, digital signs, and other devices.

  Among other things, the new software could allow Windows Media Center on new types of devices, Microsoft said. The operating system, dubbed Windows Embedded Standard 7, was shown Tuesday at the ESC Silicon Valley conference in San Jose, Calif.

  "With the release of Windows Embedded Standard 7, Microsoft has furthered its commitment to the integration of Windows 7 technologies in the specialized consumer and enterprise device markets," said Kevin Dallas, general manager of Microsoft's Windows Embedded unit.

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• Comparing smartphone operating systems

  Wednesday, April 26, 2010

  Apple's announcement this week of its iPhone OS 4 marks the company's latest salvo in the smartphone operating systems war. Indeed, that fight has been especially heated this year. Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 is a top-to-bottom overhaul of the Windows Mobile OS, and Google continues to aggressively roll out updates to Android. Palm hasn't been quite as active in the news recently, but we're not discounting its WebOS quite yet.

  The following chart compares popular features among the latest operating system versions from each manufacturer, demonstrating just how competitive the OS battle has become. For example, though we welcome multitasking on iPhone OS 4, but we can't forget that the feature has long been a part of Android and WebOS. However, with the number of available apps, Apple continues to lead the way.

  As we said, it's a brawl for the ages. As each company fired a shot, you can expect its competitors to respond in force. And that's something we love to watch.

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