Microsoft Loses $900 Million on Surface Tablets and Doubles Down

Microsoft recently wrote off a $900 million loss on its ARM-based Surface tablets. But according to Computerworld, the company intends to double down on its bet in hardware devices. CEO Steve Ballmer says that "Going forward, our strategy will focus on creating a family of devices and services... We will design, create and deliver through us and through third parties a complete family of Windows-powered devices." Look to Microsoft to produce more new hardware as it fights for market share in the handheld space. Ultimately Microsoft intends to develop a common code base across all devices -- from servers to desktops to handhelds -- that supports "write once, run anywhere."

Analyst Frank Gillett of Forrester Research says that Microsoft is fully committed to shifting away from its traditional emphasis on packaged software and into handheld devices and services (such as subscription software). He sees this as a fundamental reorientation, and says that "No matter what, it's a messy process."

Inside the YouTube battle between Microsoft, Google

In the past two months, Microsoft and Google have been bickering over one central issue: HTML5. The Verge has learned that Google is forcing Microsoft to build its YouTube Windows Phone app in HTML5, despite its own Android and iOS versions using superior native code. Although Microsoft has offered to build ad support along with making other tweaks as Google has requested, a full HTML5 app isn't currently possible on the platform.

The difficult thing here is that Google actually has a very good case; it's their API, their service, their rules. On top of that, YouTube publishers - big and small - need to earn money from advertisements too, and incorrect implementations make that harder. Microsoft's mafia practices regarding patents, extorting companies to pay for Android use even though Microsoft has contributed zero code to Android plays a role too. Lastly, Windows Phone is essentially irrelevant with 3% market share - it's not as if Microsoft ever concerned itself with minority platforms.

Still, all this does is hurt consumers, no matter how few Windows Phone users there are. Just work this out, please, you bunch of children.

KDE Software Compilation 4.11 released

The KDE Software Compilation 4.11 has been released.

Gearing up for long term maintenance, Plasma Workspaces delivers further improvements to basic functionality with a smoother taskbar, smarter battery widget and improved sound mixer. The introduction of KScreen brings intelligent multi-monitor handling to the Workspaces, and large scale performance improvements combined with small usability tweaks make for an overall nicer experience.

This release marks massive improvements in the KDE PIM stack, giving much better performance and many new features. Kate improves the productivity of Python and Javascript developers with new plugins, Dolphin became faster and the educational applications bring various new features.

This release of KDE Platform 4.11 continues to focus on stability. New features are being implemented for our future KDE Frameworks 5.0 release, but for the stable release we managed to squeeze in optimizations for our Nepomuk framework.

That name.

Windows 8.1 to be released 17 October

I know a lot of folks are eager to find out when they will be able to get Windows 8.1. I am excited to share that starting at 12:00am on October 18th in New Zealand (that's 4:00am October 17th in Redmond), Windows 8.1 will begin rolling out worldwide as a free update for consumers on Windows 8 through the Windows Store. Windows 8.1 will also be available at retail and on new devices starting on October 18th by market. So mark your calendars!

Xbox One launch delayed in 8 European countries

Our priority is ensuring our customers get the best Xbox One experience the first day it is available. To do that, and in order to meet demand, we have adjusted the number of markets that will receive Xbox One in November to 13 markets, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand, in November.

We remain committed to launching Xbox One in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, as soon as possible in 2014.

And now delays. Microsoft on a roll.

Huawei Ascend P6 first look

AndroidCentral:

After spending a little time with the Ascend P6 getting it set up with our accounts and apps, we have to say we're quite impressed with the build quality. This is a big step up over some of its offerings last year, and even over what it announced just at CES in January. It is incredibly thin and relatively light as well, without feeling cheap or flimsy and the use of different metals along with small plastic accents is quite nice. The display also looks crisp and bright despite only being 720p (although the resolution is quite acceptable at 4.7-inches), and the device is overall refreshingly small compared to the ballooning sizes of recent handsets.

This thing is going places. Huawei is advertising it all over the country on national TV here in The Netherlands, and it's being pushed by retail chains. The next Samsung won't be American or European, but Chinese.

Microsoft drops Xbox One Kinect requirement

Xbox chief product officer Marc Whitten:

That said, like online, the console will still function if Kinect isn’t plugged in, although you won’t be able to use any feature or experience that explicitly uses the sensor.

The Xbox One used to require Kinect. Now it doesn't. Good move, obviously, but it does raise the question: whatever the hell was this company thinking? Microsoft really seems to have lost all its marbles - Windows 8, Windows Phone, and now Xbox One. Messy, messy, messy.

Larry Ellison sees dark future for Apple without Jobs

Business magnate Larry Ellison thinks that without Steve Jobs -- "our Edison" and "our Picasso" -- Apple corporation is in trouble.

Larry Ellison was one of Jobs' closest friends. Then again, this is the same Ellison who presided over one of the most idiotic and - for Oracle - disastrous lawsuits in technology history.

Update: A few new tidbits from the interview: Google is "completely evil" because of Java, and the mass surveillance by the US government is "absolutely necessary". So, aside from being utterly delusional (the Google and Java thing), he also does not believe in civil rights, and would much rather everyone give up their privacy and right to free speech.

What a tool. No wonder nobody cares about Oracle.

Last SkyOS 5.0 beta released for free

This is surprising.

We suggest using VMWare Player (Windows/Linux) or VMWare Fusion (MacOS) to run the Live CD or install the beta. Install SkyOS to your harddisk or run the Live CD natively on your own risk!

To run SkyOS in VMWare just:

  • create a new virtual machine and point it to the ISO image you downloaded
  • give it at least 2GB of RAM
  • use a virtual IDE harddisk (we don't suggest using a physical partition in order to prevent possible data loss)
  • optionally Install SkyOS from the running Live CD to get all available applications and utilities

SkyOS was quite prominent on OSNews between 2003-2008 - it was coded virtually entirely by Austrian Robert Szeleney in his free time. It achieved a relatively usable state on the desktop - especially considering it was a one man project - but it did suffer from what I call the 'ooh shiney!'-syndrome - it was a hobby project for Szeleney, and as such, focus tended to shift around quite often, depending on whatever he wanted to work on at that time.

SkyOS originally started out as a mere bootloader, but eventually expanded into becoming an entire operating system. In the early days - up until version 4.x - SkyOS was freely available, but it wasn't open source (I believe the 1.x versions may have been, though, I can't recall). After that, Szeleney started charging a small fee for access to the SkyOS 5 beta, which some considered controversial. The SkyOS 5.0 release cycle started with its first alpha release in December 2003, and ended with the release of beta build 6947 in August 2008 - a final release never materialised.

The project seemed to fizzle out, but Szeleney did experiment with using third party kernels, like a BSD kernel or a Linux kernel. That was the last we heard of it - and earlier this year, the website went dark.

So, it's quite a surprise to see that over the weekend, Szeleney has made the last beta release of SkyOS 5.0 - build 6947 - available for free. I somehow doubt we'll see development pick up again, but it's nice to have the latest release out in the open for everyone to play with.

Elementary OS Luna released

The Elementary OS team has released their latest offering, Luna, which has been in development for a while now. Based on Ubuntu, this Linux distribution aims to develop its own minimalist applications, but it goes beyond that - it has its own desktop environment, window manager, human interface guidelines, APIs, and more. There's an article on their blog detailing the road to Luna.

They've managed to build quite some hype, so let's see if it lives up to it. Does anyone here use it?

The reality about Android tablet usage

Android tablets browsing share is still relatively low in Europe, but very strong in Asia. Despite the iPad's head start in the market, Android's tablet browsing share has nearly matched the iPad in Asia. More importantly, the overall trend is sharply in favor of Android tablets, which supports the strong shipment performance over the past few quarters.

Good analysis. Sameer Singh compares the growth trend of Android tablets to that of Android smartphones in the past, and it shows that Android tablet usage is actually growing faster than Android smartphone usage did in the past.

At this point, nothing seems to be able to stop Android's total and utter dominance. Not Apple, not Microsoft. Scary.

Apple patent wins could mean US import ban for Samsung

Some older Samsung Electronics Co. mobile devices face a sales and import ban in the United States after a U.S. trade panel ruled for Apple Inc. in a high-profile patent infringement case.

The U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday ruled that South Korea's Samsung infringes on portions of two Apple Inc patents on digital mobile devices, covering the detection of headphone jacks and operation of touchscreens.

If Obama does not step in, two tiny patents like this can get devices banned, but refusal to accept FRAND terms, refusal to negotiate, all the while using the patent in question anyway does not.

Sure, this is not about protectionism. How cute.

CCIA response to veto of ITC ban on Apple products

Ed Black, President & CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association:

The Administration’s unprecedented decision to veto an ITC "Section 337" import ban against Apple for infringing Samsung's intellectual property is a disruptive and potentially dangerous development that calls into question the fairness of our trading regime and could undermine the way US companies are treated globally.

Adjudication by USTR fiat, however, is unacceptable and invites other countries to do the same. While Ambassador Froman's letter cites policy issues, it offers little helpful analysis or guidance. And it ignores the ITC's determination that Apple failed to prove either that Samsung's patent was a standard-essential patent or that Samsung breached its obligation to a standards-setting organization.

Well said.

This is the core of the problem with Obama's veto. Not only did he completely and utterly contradict the findings of an expert panel of judges who investigated all the materials in great detail, he also sent out a very strong message: if you're a foreign company doing business in the US, you will be treated as a second class citizen. Combined with the endless stream of negative press concerning surveillance and which hunts for whistleblowers, the US just got a whole lot less enticing for technology companies.

Windows Phone update in testing, includes rotation lock

While Microsoft's latest Windows Phone 8 update is slowly rolling out to existing handsets, the company is prepping new changes that will be made available by the end of the year. Sources familiar with Microsoft's Windows Phone plans have revealed to The Verge that the software maker is currently testing a General Distribution 3 (GDR3) update. The update is designed for new hardware initially, and will provide a rotation lock feature, UI changes to Live Tiles, and a driving mode option that's designed for in-car use.

Apple and Google are surely shaking in their boots.

Google adds ads to mobile Maps applications

Over one billion people use Google Maps services every month. On the Google Maps app, these users are often searching for local businesses - from restaurants, to car dealerships, to dentists, and more. Recently, we launched a new version of the Google Maps app for Android, iPhone, and iPad where we introduced several new features. Today we're introducing an updated ad experience we think is more attractive for users and more effective for advertisers.

Yes, ads in Google's mobile Maps applications. Fantastic.

Tech executives meet with Obama to talk surveillance

President Barack Obama hosted Apple CEO Tim Cook, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Google computer scientist Vint Cerf and other tech executives and civil liberties leaders on Thursday for a closed-door meeting about government surveillance, sources tell POLITICO.

Five hundred years ago, our ancestors started the fight to separate church and state. Now it's time we separate corporation and state.