03 Oct 09 BlackBerry Gets Mac Syncing Software

The software enables BlackBerry users to sync their calendars, contacts, applications, and media with Macintosh computers.



File Download:
  Apple iPhone users: It's all good -- except AT&T
Tagi: macintosh computers, blackberry, calendars, macintosh, sync, mac syncing

06 Feb 10 Intel flash, Apple departures, ARM roadmap lead weekly story ranking

Here are the top five online stories for the week beginning Sunday, Jan. 31, as ranked by EE Times readers, up to and including Friday, Feb. 5. The ranking is based on the number of reader "views" or "hits" on a particular article.



Apple - EE Times - ARM architecture - Intel Corporation - Macintosh
Tagi: intel flash, arm architecture, times readers, ee times, departures, intel, macintosh, apple

10 Mar 10 Interview with Chuck Thacker, PC pioneer

Charles Thacker won the 2009 Turing Award for his work in the early 1970's on the Xerox PARC Alto, a forerunner of the Apple Macintosh and IBM PC, and is now a Microsoft researcher testing out parallel programming concepts on a multi-core FPGA development system he designed.



Microsoft - PARC - Charles P. Thacker - IBM - Macintosh
Tagi: charles thacker, xerox parc, turing award, parallel programming, early 1970, forerunner, researcher, xerox, macintosh, pioneer, microsoft

29 Mar 10 Comment: For Apple, litigation or innovation?

What is Apple up to? The company is viewed as an innovator inside the circle of Apple aficionados. But does the company's litigious behavior deflect corporate attention or dilute the pipeline of product innovation?



Apple - Lawsuit - Company - Macintosh - Apple II
Tagi: litigious, innovator, pipeline, litigation, macintosh, innovation, apple

29 Jun 10 Early Windows 8 features to include startup performance boost, visual login, and improved graphics (Update: Windows Store, no more 1394?)

Sure, Microsoft might be selling seven copies of Windows 7 a second, but that doesn't mean Redmond isn't planning for the future: the software giant is purportedly beginning to prep ODMs on Windows 8, if these leaked slides are to be believed. It doesn't look like anything is nailed down just yet, but some interesting larger themes are being discussed, like improving startup and and wake-from-sleep times to be nearly instantaneous, the addition of higher-speed interconnects like USB 3.0 and Bluetooth 3.0, hard drive encryption, ambient light sensitivity, and facial recognition login / out. That last is the most interesting, as it hints at some Kinect-style user detection, but then again, PCs from HP, ASUS and others can do this already, so we'd like to see some more of Kinect bleed over as well -- we could definitely see the gestural menu navigation hit Media Player and IE. Unfortunately, there's no dates on any of this, and we can't imagine Microsoft will shift gears from Windows 7 anytime soon, but it's still nice to dream -- hit the read link for the full set of slides.

Update: The folks at Microsoft Kitchen have pored through all the slides and come up with some interesting takeaways. First, Microsoft appears to be looking to what it refers to as Apple's "virtuous cycle" of brand loyalty, and the company wants consumers to think of Windows 8 as being just as uncomplicated and high quality. There's also a render of a concept Windows 8 machine (pictured above), which looks like... well, it looks like a remix of the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh from 1997. Microsoft is also tailoring Windows 8 specifically to slates, all-in-ones, and laptops, which suggests a great emphasis on touch to us -- there's a slide of user interacting with something called a "Lap PC" that looks like a convertible tablet.

Other interesting notes include a "push button reset" that automatically resets Windows to factory condition while leaving a user's files in place, an August 2010 beta data for IE9, and most interestingly, plans for a "Windows Store" app store, which will allow apps and settings to follow users from machine to machine. However, docs show that not a line of OS code had been written until at least this month, and all of the slides are marked "Windows 8 Discussion -- this is not a plan of record" so it seems like everything is still a bit up in the air. Looks like Microsoft is planning some big moves, though -- we're definitely eager to see what makes the final cut.

Update 2: We've had a nice long look through the slides ourselves, and that Windows Store is looking pretty interesting even at this early juncture. Early mockups show a Zune-like interface with content curated not only by Microsoft, but also partners and device manufacturers, and there's even a "Apps your friends love" section. The Store will also apparently recognize which device you're using and display content appropriately -- things that run on a desktop may not play nice with a tablet PC -- and there's a robust-looking developer dashboard so indie devs who intend to monetize the new platform can keep track of the goods. See what the experience might look like in the gallery below.

Update 3: While there's no telling what Microsoft will actually do when it starts coding the OS, documents indicate it's currently asking partner OEMs whether Bluetooth 3.0 + HS and IEEE 1394 are important to their customers. Why? Microsoft doesn't plan to support either in Windows 8 if at all possible. Is it finally the end of the road for FireWire?

Continue reading Early Windows 8 features to include startup performance boost, visual login, and improved graphics (Update: Windows Store, no more 1394?)

Early Windows 8 features to include startup performance boost, visual login, and improved graphics (Update: Windows Store, no more 1394?) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink NeoWin  |  Being Manan, Francisco Martin Garcia, Microsoft Kitchen  | Email this | Comments
Tagi: twentieth anniversary macintosh, brand loyalty, virtuous cycle, software giant, secd, light sensitivity, anning, ie9, gears, asus, slides, laptops, hard drive, butt, bluetooth, ace, macintosh, high quality, sleep, hp