Hasta La Gadget!

Premiere Pro has already been tearing through video with OpenCL on Macs for a year, and now AMD and Adobe have teamed up to bring support for the open standard to Windows with the software’s next version. Not only does the duo claim it’s the first time Microsoft’s OS has been graced with hardware-accelerated video editing using OpenCL, but they boast that exporting video replete with effects from a source to a final format can now be done up to 4.3 times faster. There’s no word on when the fresh release of Premiere Pro will arrive, but if it’s any consolation, Adobe says it’s set to unveil some “incredible enhancements” to its video editing tools at NAB next week.

Filed under: Software, AMD

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Source: AMD

Tablets and smartphones will squash traditional PC and laptop sales in a trend that looks unlikely to slow down any time soon, analysts predict, with demand for cheaper, more approachable slates hiding a slump in the PC market. In fact, Gartner expects a 7.6-percent dive in PC and notebook sales in 2013 alone, despite combined shipments of PCs, tablets, and phones expected to climb 9-percent in the same period.

“While there will be some individuals who retain both a personal PC and a tablet, especially those who use either or both for work and play,” Gartner research VP Carolina Milanesi said of the stats, “most will be satisfied with the experience they get from a tablet as their main computing device.”

That satisfaction means existing PCs are far less likely to get replaced, whereas once they might have been regularly updated. Whereas many vendors have blamed the global recession for underwhelming sales, Gartner argues that, in fact, it’s a sign of far more complex changes. “This is not a temporary trend induced by a more austere economic environment” the firm warns, “it is a reflection of a long-term change in user behavior.”

By 2017, Gartner expects PC and notebook shipments to have dwindled to 272m units, down from 341m in 2012. That will be partially offset, the analysts predict, by what it calls “ultramobile” – ultraportables and ultrabooks – shipments, which are tipped to more than quadruple between 2013 and 2017, to 96m units worldwide.

Headed in the opposite direction are tablet and phone shipments. Gartner estimates 197m tablet shipments in 2013, rising to 266m the following year, and then surging to 468m in 2017. Phones, meanwhile, will go from 1.9bn this year, to 2.1bn in 2017.

As for what OS will be reaping the rewards, Android is singled out as the likely top candidate. Apple and Microsoft will tussle for second place, it’s suggested, with Windows tipped to maintain a lead over iOS/OS X through to 2017.

Forget the economy, the PC slump is here to stay warns Gartner is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft has quietly revealed a third version of its Surface Pro tablet, this time including a full version of Office 2013 Home and Student at no extra cost, though you’ll have to be in China – and read the language – in order to benefit. The “Surface Chinese Edition” is physically identical to the regular Surface Pro tablet, but swaps Windows 8 Pro for Windows 8 for China.

Where the regular Pro tablet comes with a one month trial of Office 2013 Home and Student, however, the Chinese Edition gets the full package. That’s despite the local variant being priced the same for the 128GB model, even though Office 2013 would usually be 699 yuan ($113).

However, there are some limitations too, not least from the underlying restrictions on Windows 8 for China. The biggest is likely to be language support, since the OS can only be used with the Simplified Chinese UI language pack; you’ll need a full (paid) copy of Windows 8 if you want to use any others.

Whether the third variant of the tablet will improve sales for Microsoft, or just confuse them, remains to be seen. The inclusion of the full copy of Office suggests Microsoft is looking to combat software theft – something the low-cost, download-only Windows 8 for China was also intended to do – but having it on sale alongside, rather than instead of, the regular Surface Pro could end up puzzling potential buyers.

Preorders of the new Surface Chinese Edition are open now, priced at 6588 yuan ($1,062) for the 64GB model and 7388 yuan ($1,191) for the 128GB model. They’ll begin shipping come April 10.

[via istartedsomething]

Microsoft adds Surface Chinese Edition to confusing line-up is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft’s Windows Blue will launch as Windows 8.1, new leaks suggest, not Windows 9 as some have predicted, with the top-level branding still expected to be Windows 8. The update, tipped to be released to manufacturing this August, will stick closely to Microsoft’s existing OS branding, sources tell ZDNet, though as per previous nomenclature around Windows Phone, will make only minor reference to the .1 incremental change.

According to Twitter’s Roman L. and the screenshot from Winforum.eu he posted above, meanwhile, Microsoft has already begun referring to Windows 8.1 (or, in this case, 8.1 Pro) by the Windows 8 name in its latest builds. The screenshot apparently comes from build 9375, and if legitimate is one of the more recent 8.1 escapees.

Windows 8 won’t be the only platform to get a splash of color, either. According to the source, Windows RT – the version of the OS designed for ARM-based processors, and most notably used on the Microsoft Surface tablet – will also get a Blue update. That will be referred to as Windows RT 8.1, it’s suggested.

Microsoft has previously confirmed that Blue is a Windows update, but beyond that has been tight-lipped on what exactly PC users can expect. It’s unclear whether the .1 update will be a paid one or not, too.

However, leaks earlier this year did flesh out the rumors with some feature possibilities, including extra personalization support, new split-screen layout support, and a range of new preloaded apps.

Windows Blue is Windows 8.1 insider claims (and expect it in a few months time) is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the latest NetMarketShare report has been revealed, showing Windows to continue to dominate PC operating system shares in general, with Windows 8 coming up slowly but steadily. In the information presented today, you’ll find that back when Windows 8 was released – back at the tail-end of 2012, not that long ago – the one operating system here that did not take a significant downward turn (or continue to lose popularity), was Apple’s own OS X. That said, Windows 7′s overtake of Windows XP back several months before Windows 8 arrived places it in the coveted “trusted by businesses” category – Windows 8 doesn’t seem to have gained that badge quite yet.

Another term for what Windows 7 has become, as ZD-Net notes, is Long-Term Support, with Windows XP losing that role at the precise moment Windows 7 took the throne. Now it’ll be several years before Windows 8 takes over 7. With Windows 8 out now and, according to NetMarketShare, appearing to grow in popularity at roughly the same rate Windows 7 did back in 2009, we’ll likely see a business must-use marker in about 3 years.

NetMarketShare currently places each of the top operating systems used at the following market shares – note how Microsoft still essentially dominates the market.

• Windows 7 – 44.73 percent share
• Windows XP – 38.73 percent share
• OS X – 6.9 percent share
• Windows Vista – 4.99 percent share
• Windows 8 – 3.31 percent share
• Linux – 1.2 percent share

Have a peek at other NetMarketShare reports from the past few months and years to see how they’ve tracked not only desktop operating systems, but mobile devices as well. Right this minute, Microsoft is rolling with 91.8 percent of the desktop OS market. It’ll be interesting to see where they are in a few years time – at this rate, they’ll be basically in the same place as they are here – no worries!

Windows continues to dominate PC shares with 8 on the upswing is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.