Re: I like clean and minimalistic but..

True, that's why many OSes defaulted to a nice blue background. Although there is evidence that blue makes your brain think it is daytime and so sleeping is affected.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-07-08/news/ct-met-night-light-sleep-20120708_1_blue-light-bright-light-steven-lockley

Re: sandy -=> Ivy bridge. Should that not be

Absolutely :)

Re: Why bother?

If the watch has a low power display that can stay on then you don't need to prod it to turn the display on. You can just look at the screen.

Re: At first

XBox? try Atari Jaguar, that's monstrous and doesn't even have analog controls.

Re: Any real reporting here?

Tablets are okay as replacements for textbooks. Although I would question the value of technology and why they seem to think £500 a pop on tablets is more useful than paper books which cost a lot less.

Re: Better idea

Which is what people would have said when the service from Google originally launched. "You suck google, just use Ordnance Survey data".

Any service which relies on good data will take time to resolve.

Re: No pent up demand from current BB owners?

New platform and does it have lots of apps? now I know that a phone could realistically get away with just having a browser these days, but people like apps due to notifications and other integration with the device.

So no matter what the technical merits of a platform are, it needs support from software makers.

Re: Munich doesn't pay more. It uses Linux and open source

Billion? I think you mean million.

http://linux.slashdot.org/story/12/11/23/1732222/limux-project-has-saved-munich-10m-so-far

Re: But seriously

I think he meant "if your tablet can't be used with fingers then you're doing it wrong". So having a UI designed such that you can't touch things unless you use a pointy stick is bad design.

Obviously supporting a pen or stylus as a drawing device is useful, but it should be an optional extra just like using a Wacom tablet for drawing is optional.

Which makes sense if it is just blocked in the browser.

But blocking the execution of JAR files and being able to develop with Java, Eclipse and so on would be bad news.

Re: Expected lifetime?

What's the solution though?

You need for the motor manufacturers to agree some sort of in-built computer standard and screen standard. But this can be a bit too limiting as standards move along very slowly due to the committees needing to agree on every little detail.

Re: Unlike Apple subcontractor Foxconn ...

Stop trying to distract people from the problems at Samsung.

Google are evil and so it seems are Samsung. This is how they can keep making big profits and not give a stuff about the little people.

Apple on the other hand have a good record at auditing suppliers and publish the information:

http://www.apple.com/uk/supplierresponsibility/auditing.html

Re: Yawn. Bored with 'Mega' now.

Or he watched Megaforce as a kid (the inspiration for Team America).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KpfKp-gv6s

Contrast that with Apple and Jobs. Jobs had a good idea and then told everyone to do something to realise the idea.

With Microsoft the ideas fight their way to the top to get a decision from Balmer. This is why you really need someone who is looking to the future in charge.

Re: Pretty good deal for Apple

Have you not seen the interactive textbooks for the iPad then?

There's not really any equivalent for any other tablet.

Cheapest way to get textbooks too apparently:

http://www.cultofmac.com/185222/why-your-ipad-is-almost-always-the-cheapest-way-to-get-your-textbooks-back-to-school/

Re: Microsoft's vision -locked down computing

Trusted computing has been talked about for years now. Ever since 2004 there has been hardware support, Microsoft released a paper on it in 2002. Why are you surprised at this?

Re: Not the Met Office's fault.

How else do you explain the extreme weather we've been having?

Floods almost every single year and in places not built on flood planes.The weather in the whole world is getting more unpredictable and crazy. Landslides, floods, droughts and so on.

You can choose to ignore it, but perhaps you will come around to climate change when it affects you directly.

Re: The meme that there has been no warming in 16 years is false

There's a lot of water on the planet and it is this which is warming more? this is why the ice is melting and it is raining more drastically? water evaporating tends to produce clouds?

Re: I can't see it...

So why do they sell iPods then?

Re: Web fads and video games

Generate millions of revenue, what about profit?

Like other creative industries they hate paying tax and have asked for tax breaks. That's not really contributing is it?

Lets not forget that Microsoft proposed something similar that nobody took up, the Passport system.

At the time everyone said it was a bad idea, hackers getting access to the passport would have access to every site you use with the Passport.

Funny how that argument seems to have gone away.

Re: I lost interest here:

I'm guessing you've never rented a film from Apple then?

Re: Hmmm

Micro USB as a connector sucks, small fiddly and directional. The Apple connector is actually a good idea, it's just that they don't let anyone else use it.

But it is a sad day when you have to rely on a port connector as a selling point for your device.

Re: lets just modify a typical Fandroid commentard on an iPad article

After about 2-3 years FFS.

Exactly right and such a cash cow for the DVLA as well. So imagine the dough they'll rake in with this? with no competition in the market either they can charge what they like.

Re: You lost me at...

Apple claimed to be the first to sell a million despite Commodore's Vic 20 getting there first.

Re: Developers Developer Developers????

Deprecating gives you the chance to move, these platforms still work they just won't get extended.

You're always fighting against the language barrier on any platform, every smartphone platform is now using a totally different language.

Perhaps if people hadn't moaned about the original iPhone being limited to Apple apps only then this while app ecosystem wouldn't have appeared in such a dramatic form and the mobile web would have developed?

Re: Running Windows software

They didn't have a touch optimised UI. Windows 8 adds the touch UI that will fully work well with Windows store apps.

Obviously legacy apps are different matter, I guess in future computers will be split into two categories. General use and creative workstations, the simple touch screen interfaces won't cut it for Photoshop, video editing, CAD and sound engineering purposes.

Re: Bit off topic

Oh please, do your research before you provide your evaluation of a product. The Nest thermostat learns your routine of when you are there or not. It is a lot more intelligent than anything else on the market.

It's just a shame that the installation is such a pain.

Re: Wireless charging

Not to mention on airplanes, where you aren't going to see them provide mains sockets or USB leads are you?

Re: He is right.

See what he thinks of a popular Android tablet, is he still right? lol

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/kindle-fire-usability.html

Android usability is pretty dire.

Re: How much worse can it get?

LOL. A wonderful insight from a blinkered view of the world. Windows Phone isn't the Windows desktop. It's much smoother and faster.

I've used all forms of smartphone and Windows is no less reliable than anything around.

Android isn't superb quality either, Google even missed out December from the calendar in the latest update. Such a schoolboy error.

Re: duh

Which is why it says 90% share on the desktop duh!

Servers are not what people use directly, they are use indirectly.

Re: Apple is certainly in a rut

The problem seems to be an obsession with engineering and design challenges instead of thinking how they can make the end users life easier or make a given task more efficient.

Few people really care if a phone is 8mm or 11mm thick.

Re: MS should just post him a free sdcard

But you could at least use all 64k if you knew what you were doing.

With the surface even the bootloader is locked down, so it's not like you can wipe it.

I have about 5 or so old books on programming the Spectrum, they're a fun way to pass a rainy day and you can show the kids of today that they don't know they're born. Typing in two or three pages of crudely printed basic listings only for it to not work or do very little.

Re: Desktop processor is the dead?

There are still gamers around, but never seen the point of buying the high end, as you pay that premium repeatedly to keep pace with change.

If you're making money from your computer then that's a different thing.