Microsoft's legal chief: "We continue to be dogged by an issue we had hoped would be resolved by now: Google continues to prevent Microsoft from offering consumers a fully featured YouTube app for the Windows Phone." Utter nonsense, since MetroTube offers a complete and full YouTube experience on Windows Phone (it's one of the best Windows Phone applications), and YouTube+ on Windows 8. Two fantastically rich applications, built by small ISVs - yet Microsoft can't do the same? Don't make me laugh. Coincidentally, Microsoft is also whining some more about Google's removal of ActiveSync - Redmond again refuses to acknowledge that all it needs to do is implement the open standards CalDAV and CardDAV, just like everyone else has done. Times have changed, Ballmer. You don't get to dictate the industry anymore.
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Member since:2010-05-16
Member since:2007-11-11
Yeah sorry about that, I really need to take the number 4 key off my old clacky and clean it as its hit or miss, especially when I'm typing quickly.
But my point still stands, just as IBM started the PC market by using a little OS later known as "MS-DOS" because they couldn't get CPM so too is the OEMs gonna have no choice but to switch as every dime they give MSFT is money that will be used to try to put them out of business. Just look up the "Windows Blue" memo by Ballmer's team, I'm sure every OEM has read it by now, where it states flat footed that "The future of Windows is MSFT hardware running MSFT software and sold in MSFT stores" thus making it clear they consider the OEMs to be history as far as MSFT is concerned.
They will gouge the OEMs for every penny they can, thus not only taking money from a rival but also making it harder and harder for them to sell a Windows machine and make a profit, so their only choice will be to switch to another OS or close the doors, simple as that. While I'm sure the OEMs hope that Ballmer gets fired and somebody who understands the Windows ecosystem brought in you can't base your business on hopes so I have NO doubt they are all setting up meetings with Google as we speak.
Ironic that the FOSS zealots dreamed for years that MSFT would just dry up and blow away, but who would have thought the death of MSFT would come not from a competitor but from a truly pathetic CEO killing the company trying to raise the stock price.
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.
Member since:
2007-11-11
Here is what I predict, and I did call both Vista and Win 8 right on the nose.
Within 3 years all of the OEMs will be selling ChromeBooks and ChromeTops instead of Windows PCs (because they frankly have NO choice, not only is MSFT sticking it to them with OEM pricing but also stabbing them in the back by announcing they are gonna build their own desktops, laptops, and phones to go with the tablets so every dime they give MSFT is a dime to a company that wants them out of business) and Google will own the low end while Apple will keep the high but will see their market shrink as Android devices become more powerful and cheaper. Cook has already seen this trend, hence the iPad Mini, but when you will soon be able to buy multicore Android tablets for 4100 it will be hard to get more than the Apple faithful to buy your next $500+ products.
The only thing that worries me about this is it is increasingly looking like Google is gonna keep ChromeOS locked down and OEM only, looking at the new ChromeBooks you can't even run Linux on them without 3 pages of CLI and a lot of finger crossing, so we may end up replacing one company that wants everyone locked down into black boxes with another and for those of us that like to build our own hardware things look quite bleak indeed.
It is increasingly likely that computers will become the new consoles, locked down and disposed of when the companies no longer support them, just as an old GameCube is worthless for anything but some legacy games. Its a real shame as we are getting all this crazy powerful hardware that will end up going to the dump even when it could be used, simply because you'll have no access to the hardware at all.