Posts by Larry Crapbeans
136 posts • joined Friday 22nd June 2012 10:15 GMT
Yawn
Whatever happened to @passport.com?
Whatever happened to @live.com?
It'll be rebranded again in about 5 years.... Microsoft get itchy feet far too often
Vader Fader
Me and my twin brother came up with the idea for the Vader Fader. We were the ones who told Zuck about it.
He's ripped us off god damn it!!! I want 50% of this Angelfire POS
Google is an advertising company. I never experienced a single ad in Google Reader, so this was no surprise. It's clearly just a Google skunkworks product that gained quite a bit of traction. It had some great points and it had a couple of weak points, but on the whole it was a good service.
It'll be a shame to see it go, but I can't see how Google make any money from it in it's current form and after all they are a business they want to fleece you just as much as Apple and Microsoft
Re: "...forcing Google account holders to have a presence on the site....."
You can close your Google plus account it's in the account settings somewhere
Htlr ws a bd mn
Re: Sony have dropped the ball
They had twitter and numerous websites foaming at the mouth in anticipation of what the thing would look like and then they just give us fantastic specs and some impressive demos, but no tangible product.
Sony won't be able to pull the same trick twice, so when they do announce what it looks like they won't generate as much of a media and social frenzy as they had in the build up to yesterdays event. When Microsoft announce the new xbox at E3 they'll get the bulk of the coverage even if Sony show what their PS4 looks like. The majority of the column inches will have already been written about the PS4 by the time E3 rolls around apart from the design.
I've no preference over either company and I agree it's a long time until we can preorder either console, but I think this launch could've gone so much better for Sony. Microsoft aren't afraid at throwing millions at advertising a product and making sure everyone knows about it. Sometimes it doesn't pay off (like their phone range) and other times it does (like it did with the 360) and no doubt they'll be doing it again, so I hope Sony have a few more tricks up their sleeve with the design of their console.
I can see Microsoft going down the X86 route too and having the new xbox dual boot with Windows 8, so I'm surprised Sony haven't seen this coming and shipped a fork of Android on there as part of their UI experience
Sony have dropped the ball
I can understand Sonys desire to be first out of the blocks with the announcement of their next gen console, but they've dropped the ball for me.
They had all the hype and build up to yesterdays event and didn't show us a single shot of what the console looks like. Some people may disagree, but I think that is MASSIVELY important. Take Apple for example all their big launches are based around them proudly parading their latest iWhatever in front of a drooling audience but all Sony can give us is a controller and an improved EyeToy....
For them to capitalise on the hype they had people needed to see a picture of this thing to get it embedded in their minds early doors that this is the next gen console that you should be buying.
If Microsoft show their new Xbox at E3 and have the finished console there ready for people to see and awe at then they'll come out of the blocks faster than the PS4.
Re: Netbook market
You can get one of these to run linux but it's not pretty and not very practical. The thing with these chromebooks is you aren't the target market. The market is the people who bought netbooks because all they wanted to do is browse the web and check their emails and play the odd game here and there.
Google will never ship them with a Linux OS or make reference to Linux because they know it confuses and scares people which is why they've been smart and played the long game,
People laughed at the first wave of these machines calling them nothing more than a 'dumb terminal' and useless without the Internet, but thanks to eroding the market share of Firefox and Internet explorer (via good marketing campaigns and some shady tactics bundling the browser with other software) your average punter is starting to associate Chrome with the internet which will help these sell.
I know a few older people who bought netbooks to browse the web and check emails and they just didn't like the slow performance and the constant need to fight with XP just to be able to use the machine. They ended up putting the netbooks in a cupboard and buying iPads because they just worked and were hassle free.
Chromebooks are hassle free and there will still be a large number of people who just want a machine with a keyboard that lets them browse the web and check emails. Some of the apps in the store including Gmail work offline so Google are slowly but surely turning this into a dark horse
Re: Chubby Checker is still alive?
HP have an app store still? That's the real story right there....
Plenty of office workers want a proper desktop experience, know windows fairly well and don't want to learn a new OS. If it wasn't for the crappy battery life the surface pro would be a home run because the idea of a mobile computer/tablet with 8 hrs battery, running office and satisfying IT security needs is a winner. For business people anyway.
Yeah so lets upgrade them from Windows XP to Windows 8 great logic.... If Windows 8 isn't a new OS then why bother upgrading in the first place?
Re: Microsoft?
you are correct. There are literally hundreds of examples of people partnering with MS and either getting bought and obliterated or being stabbed in the back as MS steals their know-
-----------------------------------------------
Name..... say ten
Re: You eat rat poison for two days and not get sick
I'm not recommending it but you could probably sprinkle D-Con on your Wheaties for two days and not end up in the hospital. Unless he's seriously diabetic
He wasn't seriously diabetic before filming, but he is now
Re: There are no top tips for Windows Phone - it's a failed product, like Zune.
How can you sell a device that is
f) it's a closed system (closed app store)
g) it's not an open source system
---------
Ask Apple regarding these two points. I believe their closed source sysetem + app store managed to shift 47 million mobile phones last quarter alone.
----------
The criticism about a lack of apps is unfair too. There are more than enough of the most popular apps in the Windows Phone store. Yeah sure it doesn't have anywhere near as many as iOS or Android, but a lot of the apps in there mirror functionality or aren't worth installing anyway. All the important ones that would appeal to users are there in the Windows App store though like Facebook, Twitter, Instragram, Angry Birds, Spotify.
Of course though some people will deny that, but then you can't have a reasoned argument with some people on here when it comes to OS wars on phones. When articles are ran showing iOS has more apps than Android you get Android fans saying 'yeah but the majority of them are useless fart apps', but when it's Microsoft and their app store has fewer than Android suddenly the fart apps go out the window and it's suddenly important to have a massive amount of apps in the store......
I have a google nexus 4 by the way, so I'm not pro microsoft or anything like that I just like to see healthy competition which can only improve all platforms in the long run
Re: Android on x86??
Been using this on an old netbook quite happily for months. It's excellent really stable. Only issue is some apps aren't compatible with it
What did he expect?!
But deciding to follow the Apple Inc founder's fruitarian diet for two days was too much for Kutcher, putting the actor's pancreas "out of of whack" and putting him in hospital.
------------------------------------------
Well the diet obviously didn't work out too well for Jobs.... What was Kutcher thinking?!
He was a visionary
Joachim Kempin, who left the Windows giant under a cloud in 2002
-------------------------------
Spotting the cloud potential in 2002 a full ten years before it came mainstream. Microsoft need visionaries like him
Re: Nokia - another Microsoft victim
@Eadon- you are wrong, and here is the reason:
When 75% and counting of the market have switched to Windows, then you really need to be an Windows player. It's better to have 10% of a 75%+ share than to have 50% of 0.2% share. (All Linux Distros combined).
No matter how good your Linux desktop, if the Market prefers kit running Windows you are doomed.
Secondly!
There are also too many "linux distros" too because several companies and groups are making them, so even with a tiny market share, companies like Ubuntu are facing stiff competition.
-----------------------------------
Cuts both ways Eadon :)
Re: Win 8 RT rooted
Except that it doesnt. Windows RT has better battery life than any Android tablet with a similar screen resolution and without an extra battery....
Think about what your saying here. If you saved the money that a Windows RT Surface device cost and spent that same amount of money on an Android tablet there is NO WAY you'd get an Android tablet with a similar screen resolution for that price. You would get a much better far superior screen resolution on your Android device. The Android screen resolutions for that money would all blow the Windows RT Surface out of the water because it's overpriced and under specc'd
android?
A new Skype app will become the default chat app for Windows Phone, set to rival iMessage on Apple iOS gear and BBM on RIM's BlackBerry smartphones. It should offer instant messaging, video chat and merged Skype, Windows Phone and Live Messenger contacts.
----------------------
Having recently gone from iPhone back to Android one of the only things I miss is the features and ease of use of imessage. Seeing when someone had read your text and messages synching across devices were really useful for me and the face time integration was spot on. Could do with something similar for android unless I'm missing it and its already under my nose? Microsoft seem to be heading down this route so surely Google will too? I'd heard of g talk but thought it was us only PC to landline or mobile calls?
Do I
Get a free egg to fry on the back of it?
Load of old rubbish
The guy claims to have purchased 75 laptops to hand out to various people in positions of authority. His evidence for this? A poor quality photo of THREE Acer Aspire Netbook boxes. If he had actually bought 75 I'd have expected to see better evidence than that like erm...... 75 boxes or netbooks?
As for the key logging / activating webcams remotely. I'm glad I use Linux....
Winking
Yeah as others have mentioned above they should take winking as a click.
A right wink = Right click
A left wink = Left click
A blink = CTRL+ALT+DELETE X2
Posted in 2012: The year that netbooks DIED
real shame
I need to replace my netbook and I was holding out for another one to emerge with a retina style display rather than the 1024x600 they all seem to come with. I don't understand how they could put that screen in a tablet but not a laptop. I figure it must be a real battery killer and that plus Intel wouldn't give you more than 45 minutes on battery...
Ah well. Now I need to find a laptop with a respectable resolution that will run a Linux distro. Everyone I look at seems to be x768 though which is pathetic.
Re: What about the gum ?
That gum you like is going to come back in style
Re: Shill
Or maybe someone who is in charge of IT buying at a company the size of John Lewis is able to distinguish between the WP8, RT8 and Windows 8, but just says Windows 8 as a shorthand?
----------------------------
Using windows 8 as 'shorthand' is a dangerous game. If the man at the top of John Lewis starts doing it then that will filter down to people on the shop floor and it will cause confusion amongst consumers
At the end of the day Windows RT and windows 8 are VERY different beasts aimed at two different markets but Microsoft have blurred the line which will ultimately cause the products or at least windows RT to tank.
The devil is in the detail and fan or not this isn't the sort of major howler apple would make and Microsoft are so desperately trying to copy them
This guy is trying to justify stocking windows RT because of then demand for Windows 8 Intel laptops. Putting RT surface and windows 8 in the same group is just going to backfire
Shill
In a statement, Matt Leeser, head of buying for communication technology at John Lewis, claimed: "Demand for Windows 8 computers has been phenomenal with touchscreen models leading the way."
------------------------------------------------------
he's either a Microsoft Shill or he shouldn't be in charge of buying for Communication technology at John Lewis.
Here is a clue pal - Windows RT Surface is NOT Windows 8. He has fallen into that trap and consumers will be led into that locked basement too
Posted in The best smartphones for Christmas
Nexus 4
I traded in my iPhone 4S and bought a Nexus 4 with the difference. I must say the stock Android experience is way better than the latest version of iOS that I was using. Features like home screen widgets and google now are brilliant and makes life so much easier.
After using it for a couple of weeks now and seeing mates with their iPhones it's like going from a featurephone to a smartphone then trying to get your head around a featurephone again.
My only gripe with it is the build quality doesn't seem great. It feels like quite a light phone despite it's size, but the bottom half seems a bit flimsy and if you are gripping it quite hard it feels like it's ready to almost snap. Don't know if I've got a dud one or if this is what they are all like, but thats one area I'd say Apple can't be beaten. Their build quality is usually second to none
On the whole though I'm extremely impressed for 280 unlocked to any network. That should see me through to the end of my contract when the Samsung Galaxy S5 should be around the corner for release......
Re: I will have to revise my numbers as well.
Have a real usable physical keyboard
--------------
Yeah that's what makes a good tablet... A physical keyboard. I reckon you are Ballmer because he doesn't get it either
the only thing most people on Facebook would pay for is to lose the ads.
There's a wonderful plugin for chrome and Firefox that means you never get to see them on the desktop version....
They will find it tough to drive adds into the mobile version especially when a lot of people access from things like blackberries which doesn't really work well for hiding adverts amongst posts. Once the adverts on mobile become the norm a lot of people will simply switch to twitter
The number of people I've seen posting on Facebook now were the post has originally been made on twitter and an API is copying it across has gone up recently so maybe people are already sick of the mobile version
Ballmer
Could learn a lot from this guy...
Ballmers legacy
He will be so proud
I'll stick with iOS4 and Google maps until my Nexus 4 arrives...
Re: But hang on..
And the Xbox OS itself is unhacked, so you cant use hacked boxes on Xbox Live, etc. whereas you can use hacked PS3s on PSN
You are either a Microsoft troll or clueless. I was speaking to a colleague at work the other week about buying a Xbox and he told me he had never bought a legitimate game ever for it.
How was he playing the latest FIFA I asked? He said he bought a copy of the game from some back up and restore site that trusts your good faith that you have an original. Total cost a fiver. He then said he could play it online by taking the ISO from the disc and then applying a patch I think he called it stealth patch and then burned a new disc and he was playing his mates and others on Xbox live just like he did with COD and Forza
I will admit I've seen some hacks on PS3 online but it's all been limited to the COD games and I'm unaware of anyone who has managed to get snide games working but then I know about 3 Xbox users for every 1 PS3 users.
I think both consoles are exploitable in some way or another but your post is just so pro Microsoft and anti Sony it's like you have some sort of loyalty to Microsoft. Are they paying you to worship them?
I can't wait for the TRUE Apple TV
Apple TV iTV call it whatever you will I can't wait for the final vision of Steve Jobs to see the light of day. I imagine it will have the following features
• 4X3 display screen
• 32 inch screen (no bigger because your eye goes from here to here as does this wonderful 32 inch screen)
• available in black or white
• basic model starting with 16 gig to store all those iTunes HD movies on
Actually i might wait for revision 2 where they backtrack to 16X9 and 37 inch screen
Hmmm
I'm a PS3 owner, but all of my mates are on xbox live. They all bang on about how good it is and how I should join them to see what I'm missing, but the PS3 doubles as a Blu-ray player and also good for streaming TV in the UK and surfing the net (something Microsoft just cottoned on to with Xbox)
I am tempted to get a Xbox slim for Christmas just so I can join them all on Black Ops II, but of all my mates on Xbox I don't know a single one who hasn't had to buy a second console. Only a couple were early enough adopters to get red ring of death, but they managed to get them swapped out then their replacement units developed faults after about 2 years. The most common fault seems to be faulty disc drives and not recognising the hard drive. I'm hoping they've refined the manufacturing process now though and ironed out these bugs for when I get mine
Re: SIXTEEN GIG!!!!!!!
Re: SIXTEEN GIG!!!!!!!
Nope, TIFKAM still sits on top of the Win32 API's, It's just that user programs can't directly access them.
Thanks for answering that question. Suppose it's another reason why windows RT will never gain any traction.
This was their chance to rip out all the legacy code and start a fresh with their RT platform but their first mistake was calling the RT version windows even though there is limited desktop action and their second mistake is not stripping out unneeded features and signing it off at 16 gig.
They clearly didn't even try for the RT version did they? Just complied it for ARM dumped that interface on top and locked out installing 3rd party apps and restricting the desktop. Real half arsed approach this
Re: Just another lawyer stretching the truth for personal gain
If he has an iPhone and not sued Apple over the same issue then that too goes against him. My 16 GB iPhone 5 only came with 13.5 GB
I make that from a rough calculation 85% of the iPhone available to use. This is 50% we are talking about here it's beyond a joke
SIXTEEN GIG!!!!!!!
16GB taken up and this is the RT version?!
What's the full fat Windows 8 X86 going to take up?! I thought RT had been stripped of the win 32 runtimes?!
That's a joke talk about bloat ware half the features and double the amount needed to install... No wonder Steve walked
Undecided
Loved the sound of this when it came out in the US as I was a big big user of Spotify, so when it came out I uploaded all my tracks from my PC and added the URL as an app on my iPhone.
Sadly it was a disappointment on my 4s. I'd pick an album the first track would play and then I would have to unlock the screen to see what it was doing as I was getting nothing once the first track had finished - even when connected on WiFi. It was a painful experience trying to use it on the iPhone in general.
Nexus 4 is on it's way though so someone please tell me they've got a dedicated app for this on the play store?
Should be
Bill Gate cos only he can save them from themselves
Re: Cheers google
I smell BS for the simple fact you said you spoke to a human at Google.... When I tried calling their number all I got was a fax machine
Re: Oh and what's this?
If you don't like it go to North Korea
Farcical
Decided to sell my iPhone 4S to get the Nexus 4 and I waited and waited and waited. Couldn't get any further than adding the phone to the basket in Google Chrome but then it kept producing an error
Worked like a charm in Internet Explorer and launched the google wallet screen, which kept producing an error or loading a screen with no billing details or information at all.
After several attempts it then told me it was out of stock. I used a link I'd copied and it was back in my basket. Managed to proceed to the checkout only to be told at the final stage after submission there was another error. Checked my bank account and they've taken the money for two phones instead of one.
I believe I have successfully managed to cancel one of the orders and that the other one is being dispatched, but I'll be buggered if I know how I ended up with 2 separate purchases when I only got as far as the billing information screen once.
Can't wait to get my hands on it though great spec'd phone and it's got pure Android which is leaps and bounds ahead of iOS now. Too many great features that iOS lacks without resorting to a jailbreak to resist switching
THAT'S the Windows we all know and love!!! I knew it'd still be there under all that Metro UI
Posted in Surface more profitable than iPad
Be interesting to see the cost of materials for their X86 version since seinsible businesses will avoid the ARM device.
I'm yet to come across any techy people who have bought one of these. I'd have been tempted but the screen resolution is a deal breaker. I may as well get a nexus 7 and a nexus 4 for roughly the same price
280 quid seriously?!
Very tempted to trade my iPhone 4S in and buy this if it's available for 280 quid for the 16gb version. The lack of micro SD is baffling though don't understand that at all
GERIATRICS GERIATRICS GERIATRICS!!
Balmers lost the cool kids to Apple maybe he's going after the elderly folk?
Re: How short is our memory
The different Zune flavours made the Amazon top seller list too. Even the brown one.
What a coincidence. Windows 8 is another 'brown one'.... a big pile of it
Re: "Microsoft actually writes fantastic software"
If you throw enough shit at the wall some of it will stick....
