200 replies to this topic

[David Meadows]

Do people still play games on PCs? I thought most people just had an X-Box these days.

I dunno, I don't play games at all unless they've got a board and/or dice. But I have a friend who still plays PC games and he's always upgrading his graphics card or whatever to play the latest thing.

[Ogul]

The obsessive upgrading isn't even all that necessary anymore. My old computer lasted me several years and was perfectly capable of playing the MMOs (not sure how well it would have handled Skyrim though), and I only just upgraded it more for non-game issues than because I couldn't play the best games. I mean, the nice thing is you can adjust the detail settings, so while you might not be able to pay them on the most crazy graphics settings, you usually have enough juice to play on minimal settings, and in many cases those are still better than on consoles.

[Ricardo_C]

Do people still play games on PCs? I thought most people just had an X-Box these days.

I do most of my gaming on the PC. I have a Wii, and a PS2, but rarely use them. When I do, it's usually to play retro game collections.

For modern gaming, especially first-person games, I need the mouse/keyboard combo. Gamepads have never felt natural on those games, for me. And when I do play gamepad-friendly games, I have one of those Logitech PS2/3 lookalikes that does the job very capably.

Looking at upgrading the video card soon, as my current rig can't handle Skyrim at all.

[Ogul]

My new rig has a EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card, which is down to $129, less with a mail-in rebate. It runs Skyrim fine, although I get this swimmy little bar across the screen when I turn around too fast sometimes. I think this is related to "v-sync" but the game doesn't have a v-sync option.

[Steve Sensible]

Australian retailer introduces Internet Explorer 7 "tax."

Customers who use IE7 will have to pay an extra surcharge on online purchases made through Kogan.com's site. Chief executive Ruslan Kogan told the BBC he wanted to recoup the time and costs involved in "rendering the website into a antique browser".

[David Meadows]

Idiot. If he just coded his site according to proper standards it would work in all browsers* and probably be a lot easier to use too.




* well ok, not things like Netscape 2

[Todd Gross]

Things aren't so good for Nokia:

Nokia to cut one in five jobs

(Reuters) - Nokia plans to cut one in five jobs at its global cellphone business as it loses market share to rivals Apple and Samsung and burns through cash, raising new fears over its future.

In a second profit warning in nine weeks, Nokia said on Thursday that its phone business would post a deeper-than-expected loss in the second quarter due to tougher competition.

Once the world's dominant mobile phone provider, Nokia was wrongfooted by the rise of smartphones and is struggling to keep up with Apple, Samsumg and Google. It is also losing market share in cheaper, more basic phones.

Chief Executive Stephen Elop is placing hopes of a turnaround on a new range of smartphones called Lumia, which use largely untried Microsoft Corp software. But Lumia sales have so far been slow, disappointing investors.

"The job cuts and profit warning underline the seriousness of the challenges Nokia is facing, particularly in light of the eye-watering competition from Apple and Samsung," said Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight.

Nokia, whose cash position is increasingly scrutinized by investors, also said restructuring-related cash outflows would be around 650 million euros in the remaining three quarters of 2012 and around 600 million in 2013.

Shares in Finland-based Nokia were down 10.5 percent to 1.99 euros, below the psychologically important 2 euros mark last, not seen since 1996. The stock has crashed more than 70 percent since it announced the switch to Microsoft's software in February 2011.

Analysts have said that even with the dramatic fall in the share price, the worsening outlook made it hard to judge how much lower the shares could go.

"I won't comment on the stock price anymore, since it's been seen over and over, that there is no definitive bottom," said Evli analyst Mikko Ervasti.

"People are worried over Lumia sales. I think expectations for the third quarter will be cut," said Nordea analyst Sami Sarkamies.

The job cuts, which include the closure of Nokia's only plant in Finland, bring total planned cuts at the group since Elop took over as chief executive in 2010 to more than 40,000.

The move will result in additional restructuring charges of around 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) by the end of 2013.

The company said it expects its operating margin in the second quarter to be below the negative 3 percent level reported in the first quarter. It previously forecast it would be similar to or below that level.

Nokia also said it would sell luxury phone business Vertu to venture firm EQT and revamp its management team.

[Ogul]

I just got around to re-installing the software for my Creative Zen for Windows 7, and boy, the new version of their software is HORRIBLE. Most items can't be right-clicked on, most can't be dragged or dropped from place to place, and it's impossible to sort their lists like files, using file name and folder name, it absolutely insists on only being aware of a file's "track name" and "album name", even when the file is not formatted to include such information. It makes generating or editing a playlist a nightmare. Why can't software engineers leave well enough alone?

[Ricardo_C]

Idiot. If he just coded his site according to proper standards it would work in all browsers* and probably be a lot easier to use too.




* well ok, not things like Netscape 2

Internet Explorer 7 is not exactly standards-compliant, David. At work, we routinely have to set aside extra time to make sure our web apps play nice with older IEs and their quirks.

[David Meadows]

Internet Explorer 7 is not exactly standards-compliant, David. At work, we routinely have to set aside extra time to make sure our web apps play nice with older IEs and their quirks.

Seriously? I'm surprised. It's a long time since I've had to do any web page testing, and I remember what a nightmare it used to be to accommodate different browsers, but I thought everything followed standards these days (and IE 7 isn't that old).

Sorry for doubting you, I just looked it up and found:

Minor improvements to CSS, DOM, and HTML support have been made. Microsoft's stated goal with version 7 was to fix the most significant bugs and areas which caused the most trouble for developers, however full compatibility with standards was postponed.

I seriously am surprised. I know early IE browsers were crap but thought they had got their act together by the time of IE7.

[garjones]

My site still supports IE6, although it's been discontinued by Microsoft over 10% of customers in China and Japan still use it.

[Christian U]

Things aren't so good for Nokia:

I'm not surprised. They really missed the smartphone bus.

[al-x]

Hello:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Microsoft's long-promised tablet is finally (almost) here.

The company scheduled a last-minute, mysterious event to be held at 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time on Monday in Los Angeles. Microsoft didn't give attendees much notice -- invitations went out Thursday.
The rumor mill has been churning ever since, and the conventional wisdom is that Microsoft will be unveiling its first Windows 8 tablet. Here's the twist: Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) is manufacturing the tablet itself, according to reports in The Wrap and other outlets.

That would be a drastic shift from Microsoft's historic strategy of relying on hardware partners like Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) and HP (HPQ, Fortune 500) to make its actual devices.
If the company does unveil its own Microsoft-branded tablet, there are two ways it can go.

Option A: This is it; here's our iPad killer. Go buy it.

The more likely Option B: Here's a partner-built, Microsoft-branded model of what we'd like Windows tablets to look like. Now go build your own, other hardware folks.

That's the approach Google takes with its Nexus line of Android phones. The company works with outside hardware partners each year to develop a "model" phone showing off all of Android's latest bells-and-whistles. The device is available to consumers, but it's also intended as a guide for other Android smartphone makers.
In either case, Microsoft needs to work quickly.

Two years ago, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised "urgency" on tablets, calling them Microsoft's "job one." Since then, Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) has launched three iPads and secured a 59% share of the market. Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) tablets haven't reached iPad levels, but the company's free Android software helped it make inroads.

Option A: If Microsoft goes the "here it is" route, it will be ripping a page from Apple's playbook and taking "If you want something done right, do it yourself" approach.
But Microsoft's hardware track record is mixed. The social-media themed Kin phone was killed off mere weeks after it launched in 2010. Would-be iPod rival Zune was essentially dead on arrival in 2006 (the brand was officially "phased out" a few weeks ago).

Here's the bright spot: the Xbox gaming console, launched in 2001, is one of Microsoft's brightest successes. The Kinect motion-detection add-on, released in 2010, became one of the fastest-selling consumer gadgets in history.

In this case, though, Microsoft doesn't have much room for trial and error. Its efforts to take on Apple and Google in the phone market have been grim: Its Windows Phone partner, Nokia (NOK), recently slashed its sales forecasts and announced plans to lay off 10,000 workers.

Option B: The tablet market is littered with corpses, and Microsoft can't afford a disaster. The safer option is to stick to its time-tested strategy of focusing on software and outsourcing the actual device design to its hardware partners.

Acer and Asus have already previewed devices featuring "Windows RT," the tablet-optimized version of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system. Dell is also strongly rumored to have one in the works. Samsung is highly likely to be on the list too.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Microsoft has unveiled Surface, a tablet computer to compete with Apple's iPad.

CEO Steve Ballmer was on hand to announce the tablet, calling it part of a "whole new family of devices" the company is developing.

The 9.3 millimeter thick tablet comes with a kickstand to hold it upright and keyboard that is part of the device's cover. It weighs under 1.5 pounds.

Steven Sinofsky, the president of Microsoft's Windows division, called the device a "tablet that's a great PC —a PC that's a great tablet."

Al...

[Steve Sensible]

Love that the clip-on cover is a keyboard.

[garjones]

Yeah I read about the keyboard and thought it was just like the Asus Transformer but it looks no thicker then a normal iPad cover but with added functionality. Will have to take a look away from a flashy promo but it looks nice.

[Steve Sensible]

Microsoft should sell the keyboard as an iPad accessory. They'd probably make more money than they'll make from Surface.

[David Meadows]

If it's got a keyboard it's not a tablet it's a really thin PC

Now if Microsoft were marketing it as a really thin PC, I might buy one!

But that stupid video is mostly random images that don't show me what the product can do, so I still have no idea what it's like. The few seconds that actually do show the product are awesome.

[garjones]

But that stupid video is mostly random images that don't show me what the product can do, so I still have no idea what it's like. The few seconds that actually do show the product are awesome.

There's a lot more details all over the press and they are making two versions, one more like an iPad and another more like a mini laptop.

See here: http://www.bbc.com/n...nology-18500954

[Steve Sensible]

If it's got a keyboard it's not a tablet it's a really thin PC

It's a tablet with a clip-on keyboard - you don't need to have the keyboard attached to make it a fully functional device.

[David Meadows]

It's a tablet with a clip-on keyboard - you don't need to have the keyboard attached to make it a fully functional device.

Yes, but all right-thinking people will have the keyboard attached