Tech Roundup: Oct 27, 2012
Windows 8 surfaces along with Surface tablet:
Microsoft has finally launched its much awaited and redesigned desktop operating system Windows 8. The Surface tablet too has begun shipping, though are reports of delays in the UK. That said, the initial response to both their ventures have been promising. A steep learning curve notwithstanding, the main sore point at present seems to be the lack of apps in the Windows 8 app store, a situation that hopefully will turn for the better soon. Here's wishing the best for the company which decided to do something remarkably different at a very challenging time! If you are planning to upgrade to Windows 8 from the existing XP, Vista or 7 versions, make sure you download the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant which will list out the compatibility issues with your hardware and software. Though theoretically PCs running the previous three versions are upgradeable, it very much depends on the available hardware. Check out the complete system requirements here.
What exactly is iPad mini? Shrunken iPad 2? Blown out iPhone?
Apple removed the wraps off the eagerly anticipated iPad mini at an event last week. The device almost shares the same features as iPad 2 save for its 7.9-inch screen size while embracing an iPhone like design. Two years back when Steve Jobs termed 7-inchers as dead on arrivals, things were different. But low cost alternatives like the Amazon Kindle Fire and the recently launched Google Nexus 7 have managed to create a dent on iPad's share in the tablet market, thus instigating Apple to bring its own cheaper, if not as cheap as its Android counterparts, alternative to the iPad. The iPad mini pricing (at $329) again indicates that the company wants its products to be labelled as 'premium' and doesn't mind demanding it. But is the extra money worth putting in when compared to Nexus 7?
If an additional 0.9 inches of screen estate (but lower resolution), LTE, 10-hr battery life and a compelling ecosystem is what you are after, then iPad mini is bang on target. Elsewhere it's largely hit or miss. It has a comparatively old A5 processor and doesn't have Retina Display, something ubiquitous in all its recent devices. All this point to the fact that Apple has staved off fragmentation of its ecosystem temporarily and that a refresh is likely to come soon, probably in another six months. At the event, Apple touted their sale of the 100 millionth iPad promptly triggering concerns regarding its dwindling sales, if not by large numbers (the earnings call revealed 14 million in sales, down 3 million QoQ). Interestingly, sales of iPad mini will further eat into the iPad's market share. Because people who plan to buy a 16 GB iPad can now get a 64 GB iPad mini for almost the same price.
So what does Apple do to curb the sliding sales? Out the fourth generation iPad and discontinue the sales of the new iPad launched six months back. Although a minor refresh with lightning connector and HD FaceTime camera was expected, the processor bump to A6X (from the previous A5X) caught many off-guard. It shows that Apple is determined to stay on top no matter what, even if that means launching devices more frequently than before. As people gear up the holiday season ahead, Apple's product refresh comes at a crucial time when Microsoft and Google have their own tricks up their sleeves (read Surface and Nexus 10). But considering the amassed pre-orders, looks like Apple has scored another victory.
Worst kept secret - LG Nexus 4 and Samsung Nexus 10:
iPhone 5 and iPad mini announcements were lacklustre partly because we already knew what was in store. I guess the same thing is gonna happen to the Google event scheduled for October 29, where it's expected to unveil its next Nexus smartphone and tablet - Nexus 4 (with LG) and Nexus 10 (with Samsung) respectively. From leaks of user manuals to a Nexus 4 reportedly being left untented at a San Francisco bar (iPhone 4 repeat!), the two devices have seen it all. And so have we. The upcoming smartphone is said to be coming in 8 and 16 GB configurations with a release date set for October 30 i.e. the next day. The final confirmation came from Amit Gujral, head of Mobile Product Planning for LG's India division, who said "Google will unveil the LG Nexus on October 29 and the phone will be available in the Indian markets by the end of November." Is there anything left to announce? Perhaps the announcement itself!
Update: Google has cancelled the October 29 event due to hurricane Sandy, according to confirmed reports from The Verge.
Google hits a paywall in France and Brazil:
We all know that Google News aggregates content from various news outlets depending on the selected edition. But news agencies in France and Brazil are quite unhappy about the search giant making revenues from news searches. They are now pushing the Mountain View company to pay for linking their websites to the search results. In response to the French situation, Google has callously remarked it would rather remove French news sites from its index. Things in Brazil however have quite worsened further with almost 154 daily Brazilian newspapers pulling out of the Google News partnership. Will Google start negotiating? We'll have to wait and watch.
Microsoft's updated privacy policy; deja vu Google:
Following the footsteps of Google, Microsoft has also updated its privacy policy (not to be confused with the Services agreement which it updated a couple of weeks back) which allows the company to combine user information from its various services like Outlook.com, Bing, Messenger etc (and does not include paid offerings like IE 10, Office). But it has vehemently stated that the collected information will be not used to target ads, unlike Google which is already in hot water in EU over the policy change. Meanwhile, EU regulators have found that the Redmond tech giant has failed to comply with the browser choice standards after a technical error in Windows 7 SP1 prevented the choice screen from appearing in almost 28 million PCs.
New security flaw uncovered in Android:
Android is really turning to be a security nightmare. After the recent USSD code hack discovered on several devices (including the Samsung Galaxy S III) that allowed them to be reset to their factory defaults, here comes another one. Security researchers tested 13,500 popular apps on the Play store and found that about 8% (i.e. 1080) of them failed to protect bank account details and social network related login credentials. By employing man-in-the-middle attacks, they were able to:
> Capture login details for online bank accounts, email services, social media sites and corporate networks
> Disable security programs or fool them into labelling secure apps as infected
> Inject computer code into the data stream that made apps carry out specific commands
Follow the full story reported in BBC.
Apple and Microsoft's awkward responses:
Thanks to innumerous leaks and Apple doubling down on secrecy, its latest products iPhone 5 and iPad mini were well-known to us even before they were officially unveiled. A couple of Apple employees, to whom Ars Technica had a chance to speak to, were of the opinion that overseas manufacturing is the cause for such leaks. Placing the blame on supply chain eh? Plus, I was naturally curious as to what justifications Apple's going to give for coming up with iPad mini especially in the context of Jobs's comments about them being DOA. And I was not disappointed. CEO Tim Cook has remarked thus: "I'm not sure if you saw our keynote, but the difference between just the real estate size between the 7.9... versus 7 is 35 percent. And when you look at the usable area it's much greater than that... The iPad mini is a fantastic product. It is not a compromised product like the seven inch tablets. It's in a whole different league." Convincing enough? I don't think so.
Microsoft entered the mobile race late but it's not the company's fault, said Craig Mundie, Chief research and strategy officer for the company, adding it would have focussed on mobile if not for its shifting focus to security engineering. "The criminal activity in cyberspace was growing dramatically ten years ago, and Microsoft was basically the only company that had enough volume for it to be a target," he added.
Most popular passwords of 2012:
Everyone of us have an endless list of online accounts on the Web and so remembering the login details for every single one of them can be outright tiring. Moreover, the passwords we create should be unique, random and easy to recollect. Tough task! With all the hue and cry over online security, it is a minimal responsibility on our part to ensure that we ourselves don't try to be subversive. But things doesn't seem to look bright if the latest list of popular passwords for 2012 is any indication. Password, 123456, 12345678, abc123 and qwerty take the top five spots while monkey, 123123, ninja, iloveyou, letmein, football, baseball, jesus are some of the rest.
Winners of smartphone wars - Apple & Samsung:
Apple and Samsung posted record profit for the last quarter and in addition these two companies emerged as the clear winners in the smartphone race according to latest findings by IDC. While Samsung shipped 56.3 million smartphones, Apple was a distant second with 26.9 million shipments. RIM, ZTE and HTC rounded off the remaining three positions with 7.7, 7.5 and 7.3 million shipments respectively. Interestingly, Nokia has managed to sell just 6.3 million smartphones as it struggles with its Windows Phone only strategy.
In other news:
Microsoft has finally launched its much awaited and redesigned desktop operating system Windows 8. The Surface tablet too has begun shipping, though are reports of delays in the UK. That said, the initial response to both their ventures have been promising. A steep learning curve notwithstanding, the main sore point at present seems to be the lack of apps in the Windows 8 app store, a situation that hopefully will turn for the better soon. Here's wishing the best for the company which decided to do something remarkably different at a very challenging time! If you are planning to upgrade to Windows 8 from the existing XP, Vista or 7 versions, make sure you download the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant which will list out the compatibility issues with your hardware and software. Though theoretically PCs running the previous three versions are upgradeable, it very much depends on the available hardware. Check out the complete system requirements here.
What exactly is iPad mini? Shrunken iPad 2? Blown out iPhone?
Apple removed the wraps off the eagerly anticipated iPad mini at an event last week. The device almost shares the same features as iPad 2 save for its 7.9-inch screen size while embracing an iPhone like design. Two years back when Steve Jobs termed 7-inchers as dead on arrivals, things were different. But low cost alternatives like the Amazon Kindle Fire and the recently launched Google Nexus 7 have managed to create a dent on iPad's share in the tablet market, thus instigating Apple to bring its own cheaper, if not as cheap as its Android counterparts, alternative to the iPad. The iPad mini pricing (at $329) again indicates that the company wants its products to be labelled as 'premium' and doesn't mind demanding it. But is the extra money worth putting in when compared to Nexus 7?
If an additional 0.9 inches of screen estate (but lower resolution), LTE, 10-hr battery life and a compelling ecosystem is what you are after, then iPad mini is bang on target. Elsewhere it's largely hit or miss. It has a comparatively old A5 processor and doesn't have Retina Display, something ubiquitous in all its recent devices. All this point to the fact that Apple has staved off fragmentation of its ecosystem temporarily and that a refresh is likely to come soon, probably in another six months. At the event, Apple touted their sale of the 100 millionth iPad promptly triggering concerns regarding its dwindling sales, if not by large numbers (the earnings call revealed 14 million in sales, down 3 million QoQ). Interestingly, sales of iPad mini will further eat into the iPad's market share. Because people who plan to buy a 16 GB iPad can now get a 64 GB iPad mini for almost the same price.
So what does Apple do to curb the sliding sales? Out the fourth generation iPad and discontinue the sales of the new iPad launched six months back. Although a minor refresh with lightning connector and HD FaceTime camera was expected, the processor bump to A6X (from the previous A5X) caught many off-guard. It shows that Apple is determined to stay on top no matter what, even if that means launching devices more frequently than before. As people gear up the holiday season ahead, Apple's product refresh comes at a crucial time when Microsoft and Google have their own tricks up their sleeves (read Surface and Nexus 10). But considering the amassed pre-orders, looks like Apple has scored another victory.
Worst kept secret - LG Nexus 4 and Samsung Nexus 10:
iPhone 5 and iPad mini announcements were lacklustre partly because we already knew what was in store. I guess the same thing is gonna happen to the Google event scheduled for October 29, where it's expected to unveil its next Nexus smartphone and tablet - Nexus 4 (with LG) and Nexus 10 (with Samsung) respectively. From leaks of user manuals to a Nexus 4 reportedly being left untented at a San Francisco bar (iPhone 4 repeat!), the two devices have seen it all. And so have we. The upcoming smartphone is said to be coming in 8 and 16 GB configurations with a release date set for October 30 i.e. the next day. The final confirmation came from Amit Gujral, head of Mobile Product Planning for LG's India division, who said "Google will unveil the LG Nexus on October 29 and the phone will be available in the Indian markets by the end of November." Is there anything left to announce? Perhaps the announcement itself!
Update: Google has cancelled the October 29 event due to hurricane Sandy, according to confirmed reports from The Verge.
Google hits a paywall in France and Brazil:
We all know that Google News aggregates content from various news outlets depending on the selected edition. But news agencies in France and Brazil are quite unhappy about the search giant making revenues from news searches. They are now pushing the Mountain View company to pay for linking their websites to the search results. In response to the French situation, Google has callously remarked it would rather remove French news sites from its index. Things in Brazil however have quite worsened further with almost 154 daily Brazilian newspapers pulling out of the Google News partnership. Will Google start negotiating? We'll have to wait and watch.
Microsoft's updated privacy policy; deja vu Google:
Following the footsteps of Google, Microsoft has also updated its privacy policy (not to be confused with the Services agreement which it updated a couple of weeks back) which allows the company to combine user information from its various services like Outlook.com, Bing, Messenger etc (and does not include paid offerings like IE 10, Office). But it has vehemently stated that the collected information will be not used to target ads, unlike Google which is already in hot water in EU over the policy change. Meanwhile, EU regulators have found that the Redmond tech giant has failed to comply with the browser choice standards after a technical error in Windows 7 SP1 prevented the choice screen from appearing in almost 28 million PCs.
New security flaw uncovered in Android:
Android is really turning to be a security nightmare. After the recent USSD code hack discovered on several devices (including the Samsung Galaxy S III) that allowed them to be reset to their factory defaults, here comes another one. Security researchers tested 13,500 popular apps on the Play store and found that about 8% (i.e. 1080) of them failed to protect bank account details and social network related login credentials. By employing man-in-the-middle attacks, they were able to:
> Capture login details for online bank accounts, email services, social media sites and corporate networks
> Disable security programs or fool them into labelling secure apps as infected
> Inject computer code into the data stream that made apps carry out specific commands
Follow the full story reported in BBC.
Apple and Microsoft's awkward responses:
Thanks to innumerous leaks and Apple doubling down on secrecy, its latest products iPhone 5 and iPad mini were well-known to us even before they were officially unveiled. A couple of Apple employees, to whom Ars Technica had a chance to speak to, were of the opinion that overseas manufacturing is the cause for such leaks. Placing the blame on supply chain eh? Plus, I was naturally curious as to what justifications Apple's going to give for coming up with iPad mini especially in the context of Jobs's comments about them being DOA. And I was not disappointed. CEO Tim Cook has remarked thus: "I'm not sure if you saw our keynote, but the difference between just the real estate size between the 7.9... versus 7 is 35 percent. And when you look at the usable area it's much greater than that... The iPad mini is a fantastic product. It is not a compromised product like the seven inch tablets. It's in a whole different league." Convincing enough? I don't think so.
Microsoft entered the mobile race late but it's not the company's fault, said Craig Mundie, Chief research and strategy officer for the company, adding it would have focussed on mobile if not for its shifting focus to security engineering. "The criminal activity in cyberspace was growing dramatically ten years ago, and Microsoft was basically the only company that had enough volume for it to be a target," he added.
Most popular passwords of 2012:
Everyone of us have an endless list of online accounts on the Web and so remembering the login details for every single one of them can be outright tiring. Moreover, the passwords we create should be unique, random and easy to recollect. Tough task! With all the hue and cry over online security, it is a minimal responsibility on our part to ensure that we ourselves don't try to be subversive. But things doesn't seem to look bright if the latest list of popular passwords for 2012 is any indication. Password, 123456, 12345678, abc123 and qwerty take the top five spots while monkey, 123123, ninja, iloveyou, letmein, football, baseball, jesus are some of the rest.
Winners of smartphone wars - Apple & Samsung:
Apple and Samsung posted record profit for the last quarter and in addition these two companies emerged as the clear winners in the smartphone race according to latest findings by IDC. While Samsung shipped 56.3 million smartphones, Apple was a distant second with 26.9 million shipments. RIM, ZTE and HTC rounded off the remaining three positions with 7.7, 7.5 and 7.3 million shipments respectively. Interestingly, Nokia has managed to sell just 6.3 million smartphones as it struggles with its Windows Phone only strategy.
In other news:
- Researchers create nine-gigapixel image of the Milky Way galaxy.
- LG Optimus Vu out in India for Rs. 34,500.
- iPhone 5 reportedly launching in India on November 2; iTunes App Store now shows app pricing in Rupees.
- Apple finally posts apology note on its UK website claiming Samsung Galaxy Tab didn't copy its designs.
- Nokia launches Lumia 510 in India for Rs. 11,000; available next month.
- Apple testing iOS 6.0.1 to fix Wi-Fi and a host of other issues, reports BGR.
- Amazon Web Services suffers outage, takes down Reddit, Flipboard, Minecraft along with it.
- Google outs new Samsung Chromebook; subsequently sold out.
- Facebook, LG and Yahoo's quarterly earnings show early signs of turnaround.
- Microsoft rumored to be acquiring streaming media service Netflix.
- California court dismisses class action lawsuit against Sony for failing to protect user information in the massive 2011 PlayStation hack attack; says there is 'no such thing as perfect security'.
- Facebook's $1 billion acquisition of Instagram now worth $715 million following its share price fall.
- Windows Phone 8 rumored to have support for live lock screen wallpaper.
- Apple set to launch music streaming service early next year, reports Bloomberg.
- Apple CEO Tim Cook calls Microsoft Surface tablet 'a fairly compromised, confusing product'.
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