Hasta La Gadget!

Mac users have enjoyed Evernote 5 for nearly eight months now, while those with Windows have had to glare at them in envy and make do with the web version. But never fear, PC aficionados, as you too will get your own taste of the popular note-taking app today — well, almost. Though the final version isn’t completely ready, the beta version is, however. For those brave enough to venture into the beta waters, Evernote 5 offers several improvements over its predecessor. Namely, the interface is fresher and more modern, and new search and discovery tools have been added to help you find those hastily scribbled notes that much faster. As ever with beta software, Evernote warns that data loss might be a possibility and that certain key features like Reminders have yet to be implemented. But if you’re a Windows fiend who just can’t wait to see what’s new with Evernote, head on over to the source, or just peek at the video after the break, to get acquainted.

Filed under: Desktops, Software

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Source: Evernote Blog

Acer reportedly plans to replace the first-gen Iconia W3, the first 8.1-inch Windows 8 tablet, with an updated version that could address screen complaints, potentially arriving as soon as September this year. The new model is expected to hit stores by the end of this quarter, Acer Netherlands spokesperson Star Swank told Tweakers, and be thinner and lighter than the current Iconia W3.

Although Acer didn’t confirm it, the most important change is believed to be in the screen technology. The current Iconia W3 uses a TN-LCD panel which, as we noted in our review, supports only limited viewing angles, meaning as soon as you start to use the tablet off-center the image quality plummets.

On the updated model, however, there’s a switch to IPS instead, which would deliver considerably greater viewing angles. It’s the same display technology as Apple uses on the iPad and Samsung uses on the Nexus 10, both of which have been praised for their screen quality.

Acer wouldn’t confirm the IPS switch, but according to TabletGuide the company has been receiving complaints from retailers about the existing screen. In fact, the concerns are so great that some Dutch retailers have reportedly threatened to remove the W3 from store shelves.

The decision to go for a TN-LCD screen was presumably one made with budget in mind, given that Acer has been pushing the Iconia W3 as a cheap Windows 8 option. The tablet runs Microsoft’s full OS – rather than Windows RT – on an Intel Atom 1.5GHz Z2760 processor with 2GB of memory, and in the US it’s priced from $379.99.

Acer Iconia W3 early refresh over screen quality complaints reported is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

After yesterday’s discount of the Surface RT becoming official in the US, Microsoft is expanding the price cut globally to various other countries, including the UK and Australia. Microsoft has updated its UK and Australian stores with updated prices for the older Windows tablet to reflect the lower price tag.

Each of these stores now as prices for the entry-level Surface RT at £279 and AU$389, respectively. The US price is at $349 now, which is a $150 drop from its initial price tag of $499. As for the 64GB version, that can be had for just $449, which is also a $150 discount from the original $599 cost.

Prices vary depending on the region, but retailers are also cutting the price down of the aging tablet. Both Best Buy and Staples are discounting the Surface RT, which Staples was the first store to discount the tablet. It’s not said whether or not this is a permanent price cut, but Microsoft’s website doesn’t say otherwise.

The Surface RT hasn’t been the most popular tablet, especially with the newer Surface Pro releasing earlier this year. The Pro seemed like Microsoft’s efforts to cover up the Surface RT, giving users a full desktop experience with the Surface Pro, but it seems they’re still wanting to sell them, considering that numbers have been low for the company.

The price cut could also mean a second-generation Surface tablet is on the way. We’ve already heard several rumors of a refreshed Surface slate that could be arriving this year, and while it was tipped that we would see it at Microsoft’s BUILD conference last month, there’s still time for the company to release a second-gen model before the year’s end.

Surface RT cut goes global as Microsoft chases sales is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Samsung‘s ATIV Book 9 Lite will hit US stores on July 28, Samsung has confirmed, with the new touchscreen Windows 8 ultraportable up for preorder today. Announced at Samsung’s Premiere event last month, the 13.3-inch notebook is priced from $799.99 with AMD’s quadcore 1.4GHz A6 chipset inside, and a 10-finger multitouch display.

There are also AMD Radeon graphics and 4GB of DDR3 memory, while storage is courtesy of a 128GB SSD. Connectivity includes WiFi, micro HDMI, mini VGA, two USB ports (one 2.0, the other 3.0), an SDXC card reader, and a headset socket.

Samsung is claiming the 1366 x 768 ultraportable will run for up to 5.5hrs on a single charge, which is short of what Apple is offering from the Intel Haswell powered 2013 MacBook Air. The 13-inch Air we recently tested ran for more than double that, though it’s worth noting that it’s at least $300 more than the Samsung.

The 12.76 x 8.82 x 0.69 inch, 3.48 pound chassis is made of plastic – you’ll need to step up to the Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus if you want metal – though from our hands-on with the notebook we know it feels sturdy and well put together. Samsung will offer it in white or black finishes.

It also plays nicely with your smartphone, assuming you have a Samsung Android device. Hooked up via USB, Samsung SideSync makes it possible to send messages; browse maps, photos, and other multimedia; and edit files stored on the Galaxy handset from the ATIV Book 9 Lite’s keyboard and touchpad. Dragging and dropping files between the two is also supported.

Samsung ATIV Book 9 Lite gets priced and dated for imminent US launch is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft has detailed its much-rumored reorganization plan, with Steve Ballmer describing the strategy as “One Microsoft” and forming four main areas: operating systems, devices & studios, applications & services, and cloud & enterprise. The new teams – which will be led, respectively, by Terry Myerson, Julie Larson-Green, Qi Lu, and Satya Nadella – will take a more over-arching approach to engineering Microsoft products, rather than seeing things like Xbox gaming, entertainment, and Windows all silo’d off into separate divisions. Ballmer says that the company will adopt a more direct communication strategy with him as CEO, following the five tenets of being nimble, communicative, collaborative, decisive, and motivated.

“Going forward, our strategy will focus on creating a family of devices and services for individuals and businesses that empower people around the globe at home, at work and on the go, for the activities they value most” Ballmer wrote in an email to all staff sent today. He also confirmed that Kurt DelBene will be leaving Microsoft, that Craig Mundie will be solely occupied in “a special project for me through the end of this calendar year”, and that Rick Rashid will shift away from Microsoft Research and instead take on “driving core OS innovation in our operating systems group.”

The reorganization basically means that Windows and Windows Phone have been merged into a single group, the Operating Systems Engineering Group, which will also handle the software that runs on Xbox, back-end systems, and core-cloud services for OSes. Hardware, meanwhile, will be tackled by Julie Larson-Green’s Devices and Studios Engineering Group, covering design, engineering, and supply chain.

Larson-Green’s team will also tackle the various studios experiences, such as games, music, and video.

“We are going to focus on completely reinventing experiences like creating or viewing a creative document and what it means to communicate socially at home or in meetings at work. We are going to immerse people in deep entertainment experiences that let them have serious fun in ways so intense and delightful that they will blur the line between reality and fantasy. And as we develop these new experiences, we will also support our developers with the simplest ways to develop apps or cloud services and integrate with our products” Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft

According to Ballmer, working in divided ways is no longer a possibility. “Each major initiative will have a champion who will be a direct report to me or one of my direct reports” the Microsoft CEO writes. “The champion will organize to drive a cross-company team for success, but my whole staff will have commitment to the initiative’s success.”

The full organizational structures and the new divisions are detailed below, and you can find the updated titles and other information at Microsoft’s senior leaders page.

Operating Systems Engineering Group. Terry Myerson will lead this group, and it will span all our OS work for console, to mobile device, to PC, to back-end systems. The core cloud services for the operating system will be in this group.

Devices and Studios Engineering Group. Julie Larson-Green will lead this group and will have all hardware development and supply chain from the smallest to the largest devices we build. Julie will also take responsibility for our studios experiences including all games, music, video and other entertainment.

Applications and Services Engineering Group. Qi Lu will lead broad applications and services core technologies in productivity, communication, search and other information categories.

Cloud and Enterprise Engineering Group. Satya Nadella will lead development of our back-end technologies like datacenter, database and our specific technologies for enterprise IT scenarios and development tools. He will lead datacenter development, construction and operation.

Dynamics. Kirill Tatarinov will continue to run Dynamics as is, but his product leaders will dotted line report to Qi Lu, his marketing leader will dotted line report to Tami Reller and his sales leader will dotted line report to the COO group.

Advanced Strategy and Research Group. Eric Rudder will lead Research, Trustworthy Computing, teams focused on the intersection of technology and policy, and will drive our cross-company looks at key new technology trends.

Marketing Group. Tami Reller will lead all marketing with the field relationship as is today. Mark Penn will take a broad view of marketing strategy and will lead with Tami the newly centralized advertising and media functions.

COO. Kevin Turner will continue leading our worldwide sales, field marketing, services, support, and stores as well as IT, licensing and commercial operations.

Business Development and Evangelism Group. Tony Bates will focus on key partnerships especially our innovation partners (OEMs, silicon vendors, key developers, Yahoo, Nokia, etc.) and our broad work on evangelism and developer outreach. DPE, Corporate Strategy and the business development efforts formerly in the BGs will become part of this new group. OEM will remain in SMSG with Kevin Turner with a dotted line to Tony who will work closely with Nick Parker on key OEM relationships.

Finance Group. Amy Hood will centralize all product group finance organizations. SMSG finance, which is geographically diffuse, will report to Kevin Turner with a dotted line to Amy.

Legal Group. Brad Smith will continue as General Counsel with responsibility for law and corporate affairs and will map his team to the new organization.

HR Group. Lisa Brummel will lead Human Resources and map her team to the new organization.

Microsoft reorganization official: OS teams merge, Hardware unified is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.