Microsoft's Windows leader Steven Sinofsky picked an interview this week to reveal that Windows 8 on ARM wouldn't support plugins. He explained to AllThingsD that Internet Explorer on these chips, even in the regular desktop, wouldn't run Flash or any similar browser add-ins. Mobile devices were moving away from Flash as a whole, he said.
A Mizuho Securities hire, Abhey Lamba, has started Apple coverage at his new firm with a $635 target, says Barron's. The analyst argues that Apple will continue to succeed, and that Wall Street consensus figures are probably too low, despite more intense competition. Android smartphones are mainly taking away share from Nokia and Research in Motion, not the iPhone, he notes.
The same Microsoft preview that discussed Windows 8 on ARM in detail also gave the first official appearance of Office 15. True to some earlier rumors, the interface will be much sparser than Office 2010 and, at least in the touch implementation, lets users hide the ribbon. Both the menus and the main document view have ample amounts of white space to improve their usefulness for touch.
Microsoft's Windows lead Steven Sinofsky in an elaborate breakdown Thursday ended rumors and confirmed that Windows 8 on ARM would support a conventional desktop. Users could still have access to the file system, desktop Internet Explorer 10, and "most" other core features as their x86-running counterparts. Office 15 would carry over, too, and would have touch and power optimizations despite running in the conventional desktop space.
Microsoft will ship its public beta of Windows 8, otherwise known as Consumer Preview, on February 29 at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona. The OS will have a two-hour event devoted to it starting at 3PM, according to invitations sent to ZDnet and others. The date lines up with Microsoft's previous promises of a late February release, if only just.
The Consumer Preview of Windows 8 will have a number of Metro-style apps preinstalled, The Verge has learned. They will include mostly simply-titled core apps, such as Camera, SkyDrive, Messaging, Mail, Calendar, People, Photos, Video, and Music. There may be even more than that, and all will be updatable from the Windows Store.
Key Microsoft program managers Sharif Farag and Ben Srour on Tuesday gave a detailed outline of how Windows 8 will manage Metro apps to control power. While the two stressed that multitasking will still be active, the principle will be to devote attention almost exclusively to apps in the foreground. If in the background, especially if the screen is asleep, it should be having no impact on the battery, they wrote.
Windows 8 on ARM may retain the same desktop as the standard OS, despite a number of early rumors that suggested otherwise. In a blog post on Microsoft's Windows 8 development site, several of Microsoft's lead program managers make references to both desktop and Metro-style apps for system-on-a-chip (SoC) hardware.
The Windows 8 public preview when it ships will have a handful of available games that mostly come from familiar sources in the Microsoft universe, according to new tips on Tuesday. Some of the games seen by The Verge will be direct ports of Xbox 360 downloadable titles, such as Ms. Splosion Man and Toy Soldiers. Others would be titles that are better known on mobile even with a big-screen version, such as the seminal Angry Birds and ilomilo.
New leaks have shown that the Windows 8 public beta, the Consumer Preview, will take the risky step of dropping the Start button in the conventional desktop. As shown on PCBeta's forums, later pre-release builds now just have the app shortcuts, running apps, and taskbar. The menu will still be available, but users will have to mouse to the relevant corner to bring it up.
An escaped internal video for Nokia staff intercepted on Thursday has shown that Windows Phone 8 should be a massive leap, most of all in hardware. The PocketNow view of the clip, which was hosted by senior Windows Phone VP Joe Belfiore, revealed that the update nicknamed Apollo will add multi-core processor support and catch up to Android and iOS. It should also address a longstanding gripe about the lack of easily removable microSD card storage and bring in four new screen resolutions, greatly improving the diversity of phones
ARM CEO Warren East suggests that Windows 8 may have an edge over Google's Android OS in the tablet arena. When answering an analyst inquiry regarding Microsoft's prospects in the tablet market, East argued that Windows brand awareness represents a "fundamental difference" that could carry over into tablets.
New leaks have hinted that Windows 8 could make important gestures to catch certain users. Although it's still thought by The Verge that the regular Windows 8 desktop won't be on ARM, it will purportedly kick in for Internet Explorer and Office 15. The restriction would in part be to keep traditional Windows apps from draining the battery, since they can't suspend themselves like Windows 8's new Metro apps.
Microsoft may be sticking to traditional Windows programming for the upcoming Office edition, which is currently referenced by the monicker Office 15. The overhaul is said to include a revamped interface with a radial menu system designed for touch input, however unnamed sources have told The Verge the utilities will not be true Metro-style apps.
ARM benefited from the surge in mobile Tuesday after it saw fall revenue surge 34 percent to the equivalent of $217 million. It credited the gain both to getting more royalties from existing deals as well as to having customers licensing ARM for the first time. Its profits were also up 47 percent.
Ilana Smith, a lead program manager on the Windows Engineering System team has authored a new post outlining some of the recent developments with Windows 8. The most notable piece of news coming out of Redmond is that after receiving a ’voluminous response’ on the controversial addition of the ribbon UI to Explorer, Microsoft has decided to pursue its implementation in the final release of Windows 8. The ribbon UI first made its appearance in Microsoft’s Office suite of applications, and was also considered a controversial update on the more traditional file menu system.
Multiple sources stated Monday that the ARM-native version of Windows 8 is in good enough shape to reach developers in February. The release was deemed "quite stable" by CNET contacts, which had been told by hardware partners to anticipate a release sometime in February. There was no indication that Microsoft planned to separate the Intel- and ARM-based versions of Windows.
Microsoft corporate VP PJ Hough confirmed that the temporarily-named Office 15 had just entered the Technical Preview phase in what could create concerns for Windows 8 tablets. The stage sees a small group of customers get early access in secret to offer feedback as Microsoft moves towards a beta and an eventual release. Hough couldn't address rumors and leaks, but he did promise that it would be the first time Microsoft would simultaneously update Office's web, cloud, and server apps on both desktop and mobile.
NPD researchers on Monday took a gamble with a belief that tablet demand would explode over the next five years. It saw the category swelling from 72.7 million in 2011 by about 5.3 times to reach 383.3 million in 2017. Almost half of those, 46 percent, would go to developing countries as prices came down.
Friday signaled the second anniversary of the iPad's introduction and what has since been interpreted as the start of a shift in the entire computing space. Apple's tablet was unveiled this day in 2010 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco by its late co-creator, Steve Jobs. It would only go on sale April 2, but it proved to be polarizing from its unveiling, even for Apple loyalists.
Microsoft is not only planning to release Kinect for Windows but is aiming to make motion control a built-in feature for PCs, according to fresh leaks. Those at The Daily claim to have used two prototype Windows 8 notebooks where the Kinect sensor system replaces the normal webcam. A Microsoft insider claimed that the ASUS-branded systems are testbeds with the hint they may become real products.
A seemingly minor decision for Windows 8 in the post-developer preview versions has shown an about-face by Microsoft in its approach to design. During new demos on Thursday to TechRadar, Windows 8 communications lead Chris Flores explained that users wouldn't be allowed to change the background of the main Metro screen to their own photo. Scaling was an issue, but Microsoft had also decided that the home screen tiles would cover it up too much, defeating the point of a custom image.
The Amazon Kindle Fire may have saved Android's share of tablets, Strategy Analytics reckoned from its calculation of shipments. Although the research firm didn't break down individual model numbers, the known strong Kindle Fire sales could be credited to Android more than tripling tablet shipments versus a year ago, to 10.5 million units. Apple's 15.4 million iPads still kept it in the clear majority, at 57.6 percent, but Android now had 39.1 percent of the fledgling category.
On its developer blog on Tuesday, Microsoft talked about how Windows 8 will use sensors to optimize the user experience. As the OS will be used on tablets and notebooks as well as desktop PCs, Microsoft found it important to include an automatic adaptive brightness that uses ambient light sensors. This feature aims to strike a balance between reading comfort, battery life and legibility when outdoors.
Microsoft platform evangelism GM Tim O'Brien in a blog post said his company was dropping another major event, MIX. At least the 2012 developer show would be cancelled in favor of one, monolithic developer event "sometime in the coming year." The notion of separating the web and native apps was no longer needed, O'Brien said, but Microsoft was also getting backlash from an excess of events.
Microsoft has provided details on how it has optimized its upcoming Windows 8 OS for mobile and wireless networking. Integrated into the new architecture are tools to automatically toggle between mobile broadband and Wi-Fi networks based on data transmission costs, seamlessly switch between networks without interruption, and view diverse networks, including Wi-Fi, mobile broadband like 3G and 4G, and Bluetooth, from a unified interface. The new Windows can even stay connected to a network even when the PC is in a low power state such as sleep-mode or when the screen is turned off.
(Update on PC decline reasons) Microsoft on Thursday revealed record results that masked underlying problems with its core Windows business. It generated $20.5 billion in revenue in the fall, a five percent increase from the same season a year earlier. Most of the increases came from its server business and the Xbox-related Entertainment & Devices group, each of which grew their own revenue by 11 percent and 15 percent.
Toshiba and Lenovo have reportedly signed deals with contractor Quanta Computer for production of new tablets based on the Windows 8 on ARM architecture. Unnamed sources within the industry have told DigiTimes Quanta will handle the tablet production for both companies, with the first models expected to arrive on the market early next year.
A scouring of Microsoft's Windows 8 hardware requirements document has uncovered very specific conditions for Windows 8 tablets. Every slate will need at least a 1366x768 display with five-point multi-touch, ruling out the cheaper displays used on some Windows 7 tablets. In a symbolic change of the times, the company will also require that the familiar Ctrl-Alt-Delete shortcut for managing logins and the OS be replaced with a Windows Key-plus-power command instead.
Microsoft has announced details surrounding its new file system, known as ReFS or Resilient File System. The Windows team has worked to build the new system "from the ground up" to improve upon the current NTFS technology, maintaining compatibility while expanding features and reducing complexity.
Sony had a surprisingly large number of prototype devices at CES 2012, including a pure tablet. Those were only a small piece of its prototypes. We revisited to catch the rest as well as to see just how Sony was gearing up what looked to be a more direct challenge to Apple for 2012.
Microsoft's Secure Boot feature will be mandatory on ARM-based Windows 8 tablets, according to a discovery in Windows hardware certification documents just found this weekend. While it will be optional on x86, disabling Secure Boot "must not be possible" on ARM. As described, it would prevent any unsigned operating system from running on the resulting hardware, including Linux and variants on it, like Android.
Nearly every business pro with an iPad is using it primarily to get work done, IDG determined in a study on Monday. About 91 percent worldwide who have iPads use it for work first, leaving just the small remainder to personal-first use. About a quarter of those tablets had been supplied by work, showing that companies were increasingly handing out Apple's tablet as a corporate tool.
An insistence on earlier pricing policies from Intel and Microsoft may put Windows 8 tablets out of contention, notebook PC builders getting into the field claimed Monday. Intel was reported by Digitimes contacts as unwilling to cut profit margins on its Clover Trail-based Atom chips, while Microsoft wasn't planning on trimming its Windows 8 price. As such, Intel-based Windows 8 tablets might start at a minimum $599 and scale up to $899, all well over the benchmark $499 price of the iPad.
Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty after a trip to Asia has claimed to have heard that Apple would get a truly world-capable LTE chipset for the iPhone. With quad-frequency support, it would support "all 3G and LTE network flavors," according to the copy obtained by AppleInsider. It might revolve around whether or not Apple gets a deal with China Mobile that might be contingent on TD-LTE.
TI has teased its first practical OMAP5 reference hardware. The dual-core, dual-graphics ARM-Cortex A15 device shown to Engadget by VP Remi El-Ouazzane was capable of playing 1080p content at 64 frames per second and ran Android 4.0. The executive anticipated it being fast enough at 800MHz to rival a Cortex-A9 chip at 1.5GHz, overshadowing Apple's A5.
Windows 8 will be shipping around October this year if a hint dropped to Pocket-lint from Windows Business Group director of PR Janelle Poole eventuates. The radically redesigned OS, which Steve Ballmer has referred to as Microsoft’s biggest gamble in recent times, had been rumored to ship early. Heavily criticized for failing to deliver a tablet OS to take on Apple’s iPad, Microsoft is betting that by developing its full Windows platform around a touch-based paradigm that it will attract users who want a ‘full’ desktop experience on a tablet.
Dell is planning a big push into home tablet PCs at the end of 2012, the company's Steve Felice said in an interview late Tuesday. In spite of having tried the mobile OS category with the discontinued Streak 5 and 7, Dell would come back in a "bigger way," ,he told Reuters. He suggested that too many tablet makers, implying itself, had just rushed in and been burned.
Sony in the aftermath of its CES 2012 opener began showing a slew of unmentioned concepts and prototypes at its booth. Among the examples was a new, mystery VAIO tablet concept behind a glass case. The new device, presumably intended to run Windows 8, had an all-rounded design with an aluminum back and a separate, illuminated, capacitive touch keyboard.
Lenovo brought two last devices out for CES that Electronista had the opportunity to see first-hand. The IdeaPad Yoga is intended to take on the ultrabook (MacBook Air) and tablet (iPad) spaces at once through a unique folding design. Although it measures just 0.67 inches thick and 3.1 pounds, the 13-inch, 1600x900 screen has a unique 360-degree hinge that folds the display back completely to turn it into a heavier tablet, or partway to form a stand.
Intel has previewed the capabilities of Windows 8-based ultrabooks, some of which take advantage of touchscreen technology and voice recognition. The chip maker suggests more than 75 ultrabook designs will arrive on the market this year, as the company's third-generation Core-series processors become available this spring.
ASUS in a presentation in Taiwan confirmed its commitment to Windows 8 tablets while also renewing its efforts in Android. Eee Systems chief Samson Hu mentioned with Netbook News present that there would be an ARM-based tablet using Microsoft's new OS. Partly supporting rumors of a September date, Hu said it would arrive before the end of the year, hinting at a wait for Windows 8 itself.
AT&T appears to be preparing to introduce new Windows 8 tablet next week at CES in Las Vegas. The carrier is holding a special event ahead of CES for developers, with a session to be focused on "Windows 8 tablets super charged with LTE."
The iPhone 4S held off the Galaxy Nexus for the top spot in smartphones on Verizon, Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley found through channel checks. Apple's newest phone still had the top sales spot on every major US carrier that sells it in December, keeping the first Android 4.0 phone at second place. As before, the only carrier where Apple didn't lead was T-Mobile, where it doesn't participate.
Claims of the iPad 3 shipping in March were braced on Friday by a rumor that included uncertain claims of a second 2012 follow-up. Apple's tablet would arrive in two months with its rumored 2048x1536 display, Digitimes' anonymous sources said. They also echoed beliefs that Apple would cut the iPad 2 down to $399 to squeeze out other companies who had discounted their own tablets, though in their case due to poor sales.
Microsoft has provided details on a new capability of its upcoming Windows 8 release. The feature, Storage Spaces, provides virtualized storage for improved scaling, resiliency and efficiency. It does so by allowing physical disks to be organized into dedicated "storage pools" and then let the user create virtual disks, or "spaces."
Tobii, known for its partnership with Lenovo on an eye-controlled notebook, has now introduced its Gaze interface for Windows 8 Metro. The technology combines touchpad inputs and looking at an app to interact with it, and allows seven primary touch commands of Windows 8, including select, zoom, scroll and more. Eye-tracking hardware will determine at which area of the screen a user is looking and will place the cursor in that area when a user places his finger on the touchpad.
Acer is reportedly changing is tablet strategy, shifting its focus toward Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 platform. Although Acer has yet to formally announce its full product lineup for 2012, unnamed sources within the supply chain have told DigiTimes that the company will be diverging from the Android tablet market in the near future.
Microsoft has detailed a Windows 8 feature that will allow users to 'refresh' the operating system or reset their computer to original factory settings. The reset option will wipe all personal data, apps and settings before reinstalling Windows, while the refresh capability will keep personal data, apps and settings while reinstalling the operating system.
Acer and Lenovo are putting their faith in Intel-based Windows 8 tablets for the summer, part suppliers claimed Monday. The two, according to Digitimes, would depend on Intel's tablet-oriented Clover Trail Atom platform. No details existed for the tablets, although Clover Trail would help get thinness and battery life closer to ARM tablets like the iPad and some future Windows 8 models.
