Hasta La Gadget!

Just when you thought you knew exactly where you wanted to party and occasionally study electrical engineering, Seton Hall in New Jersey comes along to offer you something better. That’s right people, ‘free’ gadgets: in addition to those Lumia 900 phones it’s already promised, the university has also announced a splurge on Samsung Series 7 Slates for all science and honors degree juniors once Windows 8 arrives in the Fall, while those studying other disciplines will have to make do with a Series 5 Ultrabook. The scheme might sound like bribery or a soma to ward off campus activism, but it’s actually part of Seton Hall’s 15-year-old SHUmobile program, designed to ensure that “everyone has access to the advanced technology they need to succeed” — and according to the video after the break, that technology just has to be Microsoft Office.

[Thanks, Vincent]

Continue reading Seton Hall Uni to distract students with Windows 8 tablet handouts (video)

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

Seton Hall Uni to distract students with Windows 8 tablet handouts (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 03:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week at the video game conference known as Casual Connect, Valve head Gabe Newell has taken out the knives and cut up a nice clean slice of Microsoft with heavily negative comments on their next big operating system Windows 8. Newell’s Valve and Steam create a video game environment in which people can download games and keep their accounts with access to those games in the cloud. Newell is currently working to bring big-name games that otherwise would only have been for Windows and OS X machines to Linux in the meantime.

With Newell speaking so negatively about Windows 8 it seems almost inevitable that he’s got a back-up plan set in motion. As it turns out, his move with Steam toward Linux as an operating system of interest is “a hedging strategy” as he describes it. His predictions about Windows 8 certainly don’t place him in the favor of Microsoft on the whole, though their having their own gaming portal too never really added up to a great relationship between the companies in the first place.

“[Windows 8] is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space. We’ll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. … It will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality.” – Newell

This move adds to Newell’s comments that without the open nature of the PC in general, Valve would never have been able to exist. Speaking on the controlled nature of Microsoft’s own Xbox LIVE integration and built-in Windows Store, Newell noted that there’s always a “strong temptation” to close a platform because of the profits that can be gained. Developers, he noted, “look at what they can accomplish when they limit the competitors’ access to the platform, and they say ‘That’s really exciting.’”

Stick around as Newell and his massively popular gaming portal Valve continue to attempt to shape the future of computing on a gaming tip.

[via AllThingsD]

Gabe Newell of Valve: Windows 8 “a catastrophe” is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft just announced the big launch date for Windows 8 last week, and it’s now also confirmed the dates for another of the company’s key events this year. The next BUILD conference will take place between October 30th and November 2nd, with the company’s Redmond campus serving as the host location. Registration will open up at 8AM Pacific on August 8th (hint, hint), at which point the company will also start dishing some details about speakers and events taking place. Naturally, we’ll be there to report on all the goings-on if you can’t make it yourself.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Software

Microsoft confirms dates for BUILD 2012: October 30th to November 2nd in Redmond originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 13:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Microsoft Surface is expected to go head to head against the iPad and plethora of Android tablets available on the market but it looks like it won’t stand a chance if the speculated of the tablet’s price is accurate. According to reports online, Swedish website Webhallen.com has started listing the Microsoft Surface tablet pricing on its site, and one thing’s for sure: it’s not going for cheap. However, we have good reason to believe that these aren’t the final prices for the tablet. Usually when a product goes up for sale before it is officially priced, retailers tend to mark up the prices. It would be better for them to give a price reduction to the final price in the future rather than starting off with a low price and then increasing it to match it later.

But if the prices listed on Webhallen.com are accurate, we can expect the cheapest Surface tablet to cost around £648.00 or $1,000. I don’t know about you, but I personally don’t know too many people who’d fork out $1,000 for a new tablet especially since you can get grade A tablets like the iPad or Nexus 7 for much cheaper. Expect the prices to drop in the future when we have official word on how much the tablets will cost. How much are you willing to pay for a Microsoft Surface?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Microsoft announces BUILD 2012, Windows 8 Store won’t have $0.99 apps,

This morning it’s time to get thin with the newest and best technology for stealing your fellow citizen’s cash: ATM skimmers for thievery on the horizon. You’ll be seeing some Box on your Windows Phone devices in the near future as the group signs up for a party with Qualcomm. There are some lawful bits this morning for Samsung as the Galaxy Tab 7.7 gets mixed rulings and Apple lets it be known that the company owes them $2.5 billion dollars – no big deal!

YouTube will be making it so with real names for some in the near future to combat cruelty in comments. Apple is looking to bump up their iPod nano and iPod touch lineups in the coming months. If you’d like to grab the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 this week, you may very well be able to do so – just find a store that sells it – they’re out there!

The folks at AT&T have released their Q2 earnings with some fabulous numbers for all those investors on their side. Microsoft is making a big deal out of the Windows 8 graphics power. Apple is winning a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 Euro ban while they deny copying Samsung’s 3G tech.

Nokia has finalized their purchase of Scalado lytro-style camera technology. Bethesda has outlined the 1.7 version of Skyrim and what it’ll mean for users on the whole. Be sure to not miss out on 3D printing and its soon to be very gigantic market across the earth!

SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: July 24, 2012 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.