Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 1st Feb 2013 18:25 UTC
A few days ago, Microsoft released the long-awaited Windows Phone 7.8 update for all those users who will be stuck on Windows Phone 7 forever because there's no upgrade path to Windows Phone 8 other than buying a new phone. Now that it's here, what, exactly, does WP7.8 to the table?
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RE[3]: Comment by Nelson
by elzurawka on Fri 1st Feb 2013 20:08
in reply to "RE[2]: Comment by Nelson"
Member since:2005-07-08
Very often at least you could upgrade these devices manually as I understand.
Also my Motorola Xoom which was one of the first ICS tablets, got the upgrade to 4.1 just fine. We'll see if it continues, but at least they are not missing core features like the Windows Phone devices.
*For manufactures to choose not to upgrade is one thing, but for Microsoft to come out and say you cannot upgrade your devices is my issue
Edited 2013-02-01 20:12 UTC
Member since:2008-09-21
Member since:2010-09-01
Some have been updated, others will soon, some will not, but that's still infinitely better than 0.
The major reason many Android devices are stranded on 2.3 is that they have too small of a partition for the OS. Updating that would mean wiping the device, which they can't practically do. This is why Google went to a single partition for Nexus devices starting with the Galaxy Nexus.
4.0 to 4.1 updates have been faster coming, but still slowed by carriers and manufacturers. The point is late is better then never.
RE[3]: Comment by Nelson
by JAlexoid on Fri 1st Feb 2013 23:06
in reply to "RE[2]: Comment by Nelson"
Member since:2009-05-19
I understand you pointing out the issue on the other platform, but it's off topic and not even relevant(2.3 > 4.x is a big upgrade for Android, it's Win200 > WinXP. WP7 > WP8 is not an upgrade it's mostly a different platform, it's Mac OS9 > OSX)
Android world has shown it can handle the API level fragmentation.
Windows Phone came with the promise of no fragmentation.
Android is fragmented on 2 levels - API and GPU.
Windows Phone is fragmented on platform level - WP7 and WP8.
Handling API fragmentation is much easier than platform fragmentation.
Member since:2012-09-21
Windows Phone is fragmented on platform level - WP7 and WP8.
Handling API fragmentation is much easier than platform fragmentation.
Handling API fragmentation is much easier than platform fragmentation.
This is only a problem for the older (WP7) device. Just the same as an Android application that has a minimum API level of 14 is not going to run on a Gingerbread device.
Member since:2005-11-29
Android world has shown it can handle the API level fragmentation.
Windows Phone came with the promise of no fragmentation.
Android is fragmented on 2 levels - API and GPU.
Windows Phone is fragmented on platform level - WP7 and WP8.
Handling API fragmentation is much easier than platform fragmentation.
I think they're two ways of saying the same thing. Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8 would actually have close to no fragmentation IF Microsoft would've made the decision to support one unified app project file.
The API differences are very, very minimal (in fact, this is one of my complaints actually.)
WP 7.0 to WP 7.5 was more fragmented than WP 7.5 to WP 8.0
Also FYI: You can access some APIs from a WP7 app using reflection and it works on WP 7.8 and WP8
Member since:2007-04-18
Really no different than any Android phone then. I mean, how many made the jump from GB to ICS or to JB? Look how many haven't even made the incremental step from 4.1 to 4.2.
Google doesn't manage firmware for every Android phone out there, Microsoft does. So if you want to compare like with like, compare it to the Nexus line - software by Google, hardware by an OEM. Also, lots of Android handsets can be flashed with third-party ROMs, breathing new life into otherwise outdated handsets (I'm running the latest Android 4.2.1 on an 3 year old HTC Desire). Try doing that with a phone running WP...
RE[4]: Comment by Nelson
by JAlexoid on Mon 4th Feb 2013 12:45
in reply to "RE[3]: Comment by Nelson"
Member since:2009-05-19
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 7:37 UTC
"In NixOS, the entire operating system - the kernel, applications, system packages, configuration files, and so on - is built by the Nix package manager from a description in a purely functional build language. The fact that it's purely functional essentially means that building a new configuration cannot overwrite previous configurations. Most of the other features follow from this." Interesting approach. A Linux distribution, sure, but with some very refreshing ideas about system configuration.
Linked by fran on 05/18/13 1:38 UTC
Google added, among other features, C/C++ support to its new version of AIDE. From Android-IDE, "Now you can write parts of your app or your whole app in C/C++ on your device. AIDE supports the Standard Android NDK toolchain (GCC 4.6 + Bionic, STL, ...). No changes are necessary if you want to build an app developed on a PC with Eclipse. C/C++ development is fully integrated: Build errors appear in the error list and files can easily be navigated to with Go to file. The editor supports C/C++ syntax highlighting."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/17/13 23:35 UTC, submitted by kragil
Ars nails it: "The answer is that Google did announce what amounts to a fairly substantial Android update yesterday. They simply did it without adding to the update fragmentation problems that continue to plague the platform. By focusing on these changes and not the apparently-waiting-in-the-wings update to the core software, Google is showing us one of the ways in which it's trying to fix the update problem."
Linked by MOS6510 on 05/17/13 22:22 UTC
"It is good for programmers to understand what goes on inside a processor. The CPU is at the heart of our career. What goes on inside the CPU? How long does it take for one instruction to run? What does it mean when a new CPU has a 12-stage pipeline, or 18-stage pipeline, or even a 'deep' 31-stage pipeline? Programs generally treat the CPU as a black box. Instructions go into the box in order, instructions come out of the box in order, and some processing magic happens inside. As a programmer, it is useful to learn what happens inside the box. This is especially true if you will be working on tasks like program optimization. If you don't know what is going on inside the CPU, how can you optimize for it? This article is about what goes on inside the x86 processor's deep pipeline."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/17/13 22:15 UTC, submitted by Tom
"It was the only moment I heard regret slip into Otellini's voice during the several hours of conversations I had with him. 'The lesson I took away from that was, while we like to speak with data around here, so many times in my career I've ended up making decisions with my gut, and I should have followed my gut,' he said. 'My gut told me to say yes.'" The world would've been a much different place - Apple would have been less dependant on Samsung for its chips, which probably would've meant less money for Samsung to develop its Galaxy business.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/16/13 21:41 UTC
Glass is getting some love at Google I/O as well. New applications have been released - Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Elle, Tumblr, and CNN. Perhaps more interesting: the newly announced Google Glass Developer Kit will allow offline applications and direct hardware access - great for hacking and expanding Glass' potential. This kit will really allow hackers to put Glass through its paces.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/16/13 17:04 UTC
"But Beck and Merrill decided that simply banning toxic players wasn't an acceptable solution for their game. Riot Games began experimenting with more constructive modes of player management through a formal player behavior initiative that actually conducts controlled experiments on its player base to see what helps reduce bad behavior. The results of that initiative have been shared at a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and on panels at the Penny Arcade Expo East and the Game Developers Conference." Absolutely fascinating stuff. I'm a League of Legends player, and to be honest, the community isn't nearly as bad as some make it out to be. I'm happy Riot games has the guts to employ science to address the issue.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/16/13 13:17 UTC
"Android and iOS, the number one and number two ranked smartphone operating systems worldwide, combined for 92.3% of all smartphone shipments during the first quarter of 2013 as Windows Phone crept past BlackBerry for 3rd place. According to the International Data Corporation Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Android smartphone vendors and Apple shipped a total of 199.5 million units worldwide during 1Q13, up 59.1% from the 125.4 million units shipped during 1Q12." Windows Phone doubles from a few to twice few, iOS loser market share as its growth is slower than that of the overall market. BlackBerry continues slide into irrelevance.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/16/13 12:06 UTC
"According to the latest research from our Wireless Smartphone Strategies service, global Android smartphone profits reached US$5 billion in total during the first quarter of 2013. Samsung dominated and captured an impressive 95 percent share of all Android smartphone profits." Wow.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/15/13 23:03 UTC
"During its Keynote today, Google announced new features coming to its flagship search function - you know, that thing we all started using Google for. VP Amit Singhal spent some time discussing what Google's search functionality will eventually morph into. Google's strategy is summarized by three words: answer, converse, and anticipate. Singhal explained that many of the pieces of these upcoming changes can already be seen in products that Google has recently introduced - namely, Google Knowledge Graph and Google Now, with perhaps a splash of Google Glass, too." I hold on to my hat every time Google changes Search. It's such a vital product in my daily life.More News »
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Member since:
2012-09-21
Really no different than any Android phone then. I mean, how many made the jump from GB to ICS or to JB? Look how many haven't even made the incremental step from 4.1 to 4.2.