Fanboys

Not really. Fanboys may be biased but not irrational, they do care about the advancement of society.

If You Already Hate Windows 8 Then You Hate Technology

But the Metro interface in Windows 8 is amazing. It's certainly advanced the field of gesture-based computing. The pen-based handwriting recognition just plain works. The ability to run two apps at once in snap state is spectacular. (I can't wait to use MLB At Bat while web-browsing, for example.) Metro apps are also ridiculously easy to develop and, thanks to the built-in Windows Store, easy to sell. There's a very low bar to entry to make and distribute great-looking gesture-based apps that accomplish all kinds of tasks. They're are going to be loads of them, doing very interesting things, produced by people who have never before made an app. It's profound.

If you're not intrigued by Windows 8 and Metro, if you can't recognize that it's a big leap forward, if you're not excited about what it means for you, personally then you don't really care about technology; you care about brands. You care about platforms. You care about politics. You're a fanboy.

IE Reality Check for Plug-ins on Windows 8

Realtiy Check - Metro style Internet Explorer on Windows 8 to drop support for Plug-ins.

Metro style browsing and plug-in free HTML5

For the web to move forward and for consumers to get the most out of touch-first browsing, the Metro style browser in Windows 8 is as HTML5-only as possible, and plug-in free. The experience that plug-ins provide today is not a good match with Metro style browsing and the modern HTML5 web.

Running Metro style IE plug-in free improves battery life as well as security, reliability, and privacy for consumers. Plug-ins were important early on in the web’s history. But the web has come a long way since then with HTML5. Providing compatibility with legacy plug-in technologies would detract from, rather than improve, the consumer experience of browsing in the Metro style UI.

Windows 8 Launch - Half battle won?

Great to see the what most bloggers and traditional media are writing about Windows 8. 

BGR - Sorry Apple, Windows 8 ushers in the post-post-PC era

But the iPad was only the beginning.

Apple paved the way but Microsoft will get there first with Windows 8. A tablet that can be as fluid and user friendly as the iPad but as capable as a Windows laptop. A tablet that can boot in under 10 seconds and fire up a full-scale version of Adobe Dreamweaver a few moments later. A tablet that can be slipped into a dock to instantly become a fully capable touch-enabled laptop computer. This is Microsoft’s vision with Windows 8, and this is what it will deliver. 

People debate it all the time, but the simple fact is that “real work” is significantly more difficult to do on the iPad or on an Android tablet than it is on a Windows or Mac PC. Debate all you want. Android and iOS apps are dumbed down and infinitely less capable, typing is on a tablet is a pain in the ass unless you carry a Bluetooth keyboard, and the experience as a whole is severely limited. 

We are not living in a “post-PC” era today any more than we were on January 26th, 2010, the day before Apple unveiled the magical iPad. Apple would love a post-PC era, of course, since personal computers no longer represent the bulk of the company’s revenue, but Microsoft is showing us that there is a better way. And that better way, as it turns out, is a PC.

Wired - Windows 8 Re-Imagines the Windows Experience

Microsoft unveiled Windows 8 during the keynote at its BUILD developer conference Tuesday morning. Executives showed off the operating system’s versatility on a variety of mobile and desktop platforms, pointing out features like cloud-based photo sharing, streamlined contact management and the Metro UI overhaul. The OS is Microsoft’s first earnest push into the tablet space and it looks, at first glance, anyway, like it’s a true competitor to mobile operating systems like Android and iOS.

My Views:

As expected this is a solid software release. Windows 8 lives upto the great design standards Microsoft set with Windows Phone 7. The Metro UI is very refreshing and even more useful on Tablet form factor. The demos looked neat and everything worked as expected or even better. 

But this is half battle won. iPad changed the game two years back and they could do that with a combination of both software and hardware. Microsoft has taken care of the software part, the difficult part for sometime appears to be the hardware. This is the reason, Google (Samsung, Motorola, Acer etc), HP, Blackberry are where they are today with the Tablet devices. All produced decent software but failed in finding the best way to produce great hardware which is inexpensive and also allows them to keep the shutters open.

And that separates Apple from others. 

Difficult part is unlike Apple, Microsoft is at the mercy of their OEMs to produce iPad killing competing hardware.  If Microsoft have to win the battle of Tablets, it has to get the hardware part right. Something to think about - Can Nokia be that partner?

Bing has 14.7% Search share now (up 0.3 % m-on-m)

Bing + Yahoo combined are up 0.5%. 

comScore Releases August 2011 U.S. Search Engine Rankings

Google Sites led the U.S. explicit core search market in August with 64.8 percent market share, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 16.3 percent (up 0.2 percentage points) and Microsoft Sites with 14.7 percent (up 0.3 percentage points). Ask Network accounted for 3.0 percent of explicit core searches (up 0.1 percentage points), followed by AOL, Inc. with 1.3 percent.

With Windows Phone 7, you don't look for Apps anymore

Very apt and very true. With Windows Phone 7, you don't look for Apps anymore. Since day one of Windows Phone 7 release, Facebook has had the best integration of all phones in Windows Phone 7 and with Mango, Twitter, barcode (including Microsoft Tag/WR codes) reader, shazam kind integration are also an integral part of the Phone. I am assuming that any ecosystem which extends API should be easy to integrate with Windows Phone 7 once they license the API usage to Microsoft. Once you license the API usage and WP7 integrates your app, it is a big win for the app maker. You now are a default in all the phones that Microsoft sells and you don't have to advertise anymore to be downloaded. 

HTC boss on Windows Phone 7, patent wars and why iPhones aren’t cool anymore

On the release of the Windows Phone HTC Titan: “I am very happy about these phones, because the integration of Windows is just beautiful. Integration of Facebook, Twitter, everything works seamlessly. It is hard to describe, but you don’t look for applications anymore, you just think about who you want to communicate to and the channels become obvious.”

Western media's focus on India

Suddenly it feels, India has gained a lot of interest in the western media. First it was WSJ and now NYTimes. NYTimes has launched India Ink which apparently is NYT's first-ever country-specific site for news, information, culture and conversation. With an impressive lineup of writers, it sure will be a great read. NYT follows WSJ which has its own India centric blog at India Realtime.

100x IM engagement using Live Messenger's Facebook Chat integration

Live Messenger integrated Facebook chat last year using the "Connect" model where you connect your Facebook account to Messenger (just once) and all your friends are available on Messenger. This is unlike the "Federation" approach which meant that if you changed your app/client you would have to add all tour friends once again. The "Connect" approach for IM, is resulting in 100 times the per-user engagement, and nearly 7 times the total traffic from a fraction as many users.

Betting on Connect – 100X the IM engagement and no need to re-spam your friends with more invites

And while we're excited about that continued overall momentum, we also wanted to share how these numbers compare with the "federation" approach that we've previously tried, and that some services are still more focused on today. Even after 5 years of having federation with Yahoo, and even though for most of that time both Yahoo! and Messenger global IM traffic has dwarfed total Facebook Chat traffic, when we look at a typical day like July 31, 2011, here's what we see:

  • Facebook—164 million IMs from 3 million users, or 55 IMs/user. That's 3 million users (of our 35 million users who are actively using Facebook-connected features with us each month) signing into Facebook Chat from Messenger that day, which connects them to their ~130 Facebook friends automatically, and actively having about 10 IM conversations, each of which contains about 5-6 messages.
  • Yahoo!—24 million IMs from 48 million users, or 0.5 IMs/user. That's 48 million users who have invited and added at least one Yahoo! friend to their Messenger friends list, and have signed into Messenger and had a conversation that day. The average number of Yahoo! friends people have added is only 3.2 (not surprising since they have to re-invite them one by one), and the total engagement follows suit.

 

Windows 8 boots up in 2 seconds

Yes, you read it right. It takes that much time for Windows 8 to boot for a newer system with a solid state drive (SSD). Traditional spinning HDDs and wide variety of systems are taking less than 10 seconds to boot. Reason: Kernel session is hibernated instead of closing it out competely. Check out the video in the link below. 

Delivering fast boot times in Windows 8

The key thing to remember though is that in a traditional shutdown, we close all of the user sessions, and in the kernel session we close services and devices to prepare for a complete shutdown.

Now here’s the key difference for Windows 8: as in Windows 7, we close the user sessions, but instead of closing the kernel session, we hibernate it. Compared to a full hibernate, which includes a lot of memory pages in use by apps, session 0 hibernation data is much smaller, which takes substantially less time to write to disk. If you’re not familiar with hibernation, we’re effectively saving the system state and memory contents to a file on disk (hiberfil.sys) and then reading that back in on resume and restoring contents back to memory. Using this technique with boot gives us a significant advantage for boot times, since reading the hiberfile in and reinitializing drivers is much faster on most systems (30-70% faster on most systems we’ve tested).

 

Acer, ViewSonic sign Patent Agreement with Microsoft

Acer and ViewSonic have signed up patent agreement with Microsoft which provides broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for Acer and ViewSonic's tablets and mobile phones running the Android or Chrome Platform.

Microsoft adds Acer, ViewSonic to patent licensing list

You can go ahead and add Acer and ViewSonic to Microsoft's long list of patent licensees. This morning, Redmond announced a pair of new licensing agreements with the two companies, just a few months after striking similar deals with Itronix and Velocity Micro.

Google acquires Zagat

Isnt't Zagat a classic case of old media who could not change themselves fast enough against the likes of Yelp. The announcement by Marissa mayer below feels like a Zagat review, you all decide the rating though :)

Google just got ZAGAT Rated!

With Zagat, we gain a world-class team that has more experience in consumer based-surveys, recommendations and reviews than anyone else in the industry. Founded by Tim and Nina Zagat more than 32 years ago, Zagat has established a trusted and well-loved brand the world over, operating in 13 categories and more than 100 cities. The Zagats have demonstrated their ability to innovate and to do so with tremendous insight. Their surveys may be one of the earliest forms of UGC (user-generated content)—gathering restaurant recommendations from friends, computing and distributing ratings before the Internet as we know it today even existed. Their iconic pocket-sized guides with paragraphs summarizing and “snippeting” sentiment were “mobile” before “mobile” involved electronics. Today, Zagat provides people with a democratized, authentic and comprehensive view of where to eat, drink, stay, shop and play worldwide based on millions of reviews and ratings.

Android has Private Branches for preferred OEMs

Stark reality check for the Android focused OEMs.

Shocker for Android OEMs: Google document proposes giving Motorola time-to-market advantage to build Android "lead devices"

  • Do not develop in the open. Instead, make source code available after innovation is complete
  • Lead device concept: Give early access to the software to partners who build and distribute devices to our specification (ie, Motorola and Verizon). They get a non-contractual time to market advantage and in return they align to our standard.

 

Windows 8 to support Hyper-V

I have mixed feelings about these Building Windows 8 blog posts by Steven Sinofsky sharing features of Windows 8 and engaging community. Mixed because you lose the chance to Wow the larger set when you do Jobs-esque kind of presentation. But then I guess that applies more to consumer devices. Enterprises want to be ready for massive adoption exercises and need to budget for these investments before hand.

Anyways, today's post talks about Bringing Hyper-V to “Windows 8”. 64 bit Windows 8 will support Virtualization using Hyper-V. Ask a developer and they will tell you how big this step is with an added bonus of saving money which they would have burnt buying Windows Server versions.

Bringing Hyper-V to “Windows 8”

In this post we talk about how we will support virtualization on the Windows "client" OS. Originally released for Windows Server where the technology has proven very popular and successful, we wanted to bring virtualization to a core set of scenarios for professionals using Windows. The two most common scenarios we focused on are for software developers working across multiple platforms and clients and servers, and IT professionals looking to manage virtualized clients and servers in a seamless manner. 

Carol Bartz out as Yahoo CEO

Sign of the times. On a side note, firing over phone, what are we coming to. Next in the name of being social, we will have firings over Facebook Wall - "Dude you're fired" and then people can like it and leave consolation messages :)

Carol Bartz Out at Yahoo; CFO Tim Morse Named Interim CEO

Bartz also sent a stunning email to staff, saying she had been ousted:

To all,

I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.

Carol

Windows Phone 7 Winning Indie App Developers

Shot in the arm for Windows Phone 7. Covers one of the best photo-editing apps on Windows Phone, Thumba. I expect the adoption growing multi-fold with Mango release and Nokia's arrival.

Why Is Windows Phone 7 Winning Over Some Indie App Developers?

While many app developers have merely reworked their Android or iOS apps to function on Windows Phone 7, a handful of independent app makers are developing exclusively in Microsoft's mobile operating system. Why are these bootstrapping coders throwing all of their (spare) time behind the insurgent OS, and not Android or iOS?

For some, it’s because there’s less competition on WP7, or because they’re most familiar with Microsoft’s tools, or because they simply don’t care for the way iOS and Android operate. Microsoft is fighting to exploit those beliefs and recruit the developers who hold them; the company's success or failure at doing so may mean the success or failure of the Windows Phone 7 platform.

Will the real iPad competitor, please stand up

First this, then this and now this (and in between, there have been many "this"es with names like Xoom, Playbook, Dell Streak etc).

Notebook players limit initial Ultrabook shipment volume below 50,000 units

First-tier notebook brand vendors Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba and Asustek Computer, understanding that demand for notebooks is unlikely to recover in the fourth quarter, while Apple's products are taking up all the glory in the market, will limit their initial Ultrabook shipment volume to below 50,000 units for testing the water, according to sources from notebook makers.

Will the real iPad competitor, please stand up. Microsoft, anyone??

 

iCloud runs on Azure & Amazon AWS

Posting just for the records.

Apple's iCloud runs on Microsoft and Amazon services 

Apple has selected Microsoft's Azure and Amazon's AWS to jointly host its iCloud service, The Reg has learned.

We understand that Apple has barred Microsoft and Amazon from discussing what would otherwise be a high-profile deal, especially for Microsoft's fledgling Azure cloud service.

But Reg sources close to Microsoft this week confirmed rumours circulating in June that Apple's iCloud is running on Azure and Amazon. Customers' data is being striped between the pair. iCloud was released as a beta in August and is expected by the end of this year.

 

Amazon Kindle Tablet

So, "Amazon Kindle" Tablet is a real deal afterall and at $250 (unconfirmed) it's sending shudders down the spines of the likes of Samsung/Motorola and ofcourse Barnes & Nobles. Throw in a year of Amazon Prime ($79/yr) service, it becomes even more attractive. 

Amazon’s Kindle Tablet Is Very Real. I’ve Seen It, Played With It

the device is a 7-inch tablet with a capacitive touch screen. It is multi-touch, but from what I saw, I believe the reports that it relies on a two-finger multi-touch (instead of 10-finger, like the iPad uses) are accurate. This will be the first Kindle with a full-color screen. And yes, it is back-lit. There is no e-ink to be found anywhere on this device. 

Originally, Amazon had planned to launch a 7-inch and a 10-inch tablet at the same time. But that plan changed this summer. Now they’re betting everything on the 7-inch. If it’s a hit, they will release the more expensive 10-inch tablet in Q1 2012. 

So how much will the 7-inch Kindle cost? $250.

Elvis has left the building

Steve Jobs resigned today. It had to happen but it still is a shock. Apple and Jobs are synonyms. Like his products he was elegant in his resgnation letter.

Letter from Steve Jobs

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve 

Plus is the New “Post”

Frank Shaw

As human beings, we’re inherently social, and we use our tools to create, collaborate, communicate and consume. Yes, you could break “consume” down into its constituent parts (read, listen, watch, play), but I like alliteration, so I’m sticking with consume. :)

...

I’ll be the first to admit that these new “non-PC” objects do a great job at enabling people to communicate and consume in innovative and interesting ways. That’s not surprising, because they were expressly designed for that purpose. But even their most ardent admirers will not assert that they are as good as PCs at the first two verbs, create and collaborate. And that’s why one should take any reports of the death of the PC with a rather large grain of salt. Because creating and collaborating are two of the most basic human drives, and are central to the idea of the PC. They move our culture, economy and world forward. You see their fingerprints in every laboratory, startup, classroom, and community.

Whether Post or Plus, PCs are here to stay alongside the newer Tablets and Smartphones. 

"Getting better soon" will not get you anywhere

Marco Arment has some great advice to tablet makers. "getting better soon" will not get you anywhere. I hope Microsoft's listening.

Rose-colored glasses

This is a high-stakes game. Apple is kicking everyone’s asses so much in the “tablet market” that it’s really not accurate to call it that. Competitors need to be great on day one to stand a chance.

webOS was always “getting better soon”. Maybe we should finally give up our unfounded hope, like HP probably has, that webOS ever could have been great, because it never was.