This tweet from Tom Warren made me smile. So, it's 2012 and tablets are finally able to do what the Amiga did in 1985. Seems like a bit of a stretch to be excited about that, right? Sure, until I caught myself getting excited - only a bit, but still - by this piece of news. Update: removed me being an annoyed child.
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Member since:2006-02-15
Well, even if you don't see the need for that it's still one of the most-often requested features. Just to throw a few links at you I'll offer these: http://www.slashgear.com/android-multi-user-support-uncovered-in-je... , http://www.androidannoyances.com/post/84 , http://mobilesyrup.com/2012/07/30/multi-user-support-could-be-comin... , http://www.androidauthority.com/multi-user-support-coming-soon-to-a... , http://androidcommunity.com/multi-user-accounts-coming-to-android-t... and so on. You can find comments from people asking for this dating all the way to 2010.
Member since:2005-11-14
You seriously think sharing your email and IM accounts with your whole family is a good idea? Put it like this: there's not a single compelling case for a single user environment on a tablet, it's harmful and stupid, whereas multi-user is known to actually work.
Of course there's a compelling case for it.
Member since:2006-01-10
But don't you know? They want you to buy a tablet for EVERY user!
<sarcasm>
Hey, Microsoft got away with saying that security was so old on Unix platforms, and that 40+ year old tech is just so outdated. Why can't they say that about Multi-user support? I mean why on earth would we want that, it's like wanting everyone to go back to tie-dyed shirts and bell bottoms!
</sarcasm>
Seriously though, there is this weird push for Android to be everywhere (including desktop and laptop) and it really can't get there without some form of multi-user.
Personally it'll be a cold day in hell when I have it on my desktop, but on my HP Touchsmart it may not be too bad. Too bad none of the current builds work on that...
Member since:2005-07-11
One word: schools.
School buys 30 tablets, gives them to the socials teacher, who wants to use them with his 4 socials classes. IOW, 4 separate users will be using the tablets.
In a perfect world, each user would have their own, separate account on the tablet, with separate home folders for storing their files, separate e-mail accounts, etc.
Currently, it is next to impossible for students to propely share tablets. iOS, especially, is inherently single-user, to the point of being locked into a single AppleID and e-mail account. Teachers across our district are discovering that tablets are not 'extra portable computers'. Instead, they are single-user, unshareable devices.
"So in summary... Google has pulled the plug on support on a protocol they've helped popularize, after years of promising interoperability, for reasons that are dubious at best, and in a way that leaves people who don't jump to the new Hangouts app unable to talk to their contacts without any feedback that their IMs aren't getting through... And they've done that with no warning to anyone. I imagine there's a bunch of people out there wondering where some of their buddies have gone, or why their messages aren't getting responses, because this isn't documented anywhere." Google really messed this up. Such a dick move.
The Tizen Greek Community has some screenshots of a very recent build of Tizen running on a Samsung GT-i8800. It looks wholly unremarkable.Joint statement to The Next Web from Microsoft and Google: "Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube's API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks. Microsoft will replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time." Good to know these children stopped acting like little pricks. Can we have full Google support in Windows 8 now, please?
Yahoo is acquiring Tumblr, the microblogging and social networking website, for $1.1 billion USD. Tumblr offers little revenue but lots of eyeballs if Yahoo can monetarize them. Now Yahoo is bidding for Hulu, the streaming video service. After years of ineffective responses while Google, Facebook, and others took large chunks of the online advertising market, Yahoo is fighting back. Can Yahoo reignite the momentum it had at the turn of the century? What do you think?
"Sources have described iOS 7 as 'black, white, and flat all over'. This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements." I couldn't be happier.
"Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher with IOActive, has discovered a large number of issues in the way various X client libraries handle the responses they receive from servers, and has worked with X.Org's security team to analyze, confirm, and fix these issues."
"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently."In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies."The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing.
Member since:
2005-07-10
Even there, it would be of limited use.
I'm sorry, but i just don't see a compelling case for it.