Hasta La Gadget!

This week the folks at Socketeq have been pushing for a widespread testing of their software setup known as WindowsAndroid, running Android natively inside Windows OS. This system takes the Android mobile operating system and runs it on the Windows kernel – instead of Linux, that is, and therefor making everything move ultra-swift as it takes away the emulation layer that would otherwise be present. Sound like a fun project to you? Have at it right this minute!

This setup is currently working with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and requires a little more than base knowledge of how to work with Android outside of its standard smartphone housing. That means if you’ve never hacked your smartphone or tablet before, this might not be ready for prime-time for you at the moment. Once you’re in-the-know, on the other hand, you’ll be running apps and games of all kinds – including 3D games, so Socketeq promises – like a wild animal!

What’s extra fun about this whole situation is that it’s possible, depending on the setup you’ve got on your Windows machine, that you’ll be able to work with full touch controls as well as mouse and keyboard. Google added native support for both keyboards and mice (USB, Bluetooth, or otherwise) so you’ll almost certainly be working with those two ancient devices, but the future is wide open! It’s important to note here also that Android will still need your help running apps as this build comes with basically none – you’ll want to download Gapps (from one of the many sources we’re sure you’ve got a hold on right this minute) and flash them on your own once you’ve got WindowsAndroid running.

NOTE: WindowsAndroid currently runs on Windows 8 as well as Windows 7 and Windows Vista – good luck!

You can download WindowsAndroid from the Socketeq website by entering your email and basic info which they promise they’ll do no evil with therein. Be sure, again, to know what you’re doing before you download or start up any apps such as those spoken about above, and understand that SlashGear claims no responsibility for you destroying your systems for the fun of it. That said, have lots of fun!

Also be sure to check out BlueStacks, a system made to push Android apps to Windows and Mac computers that’s been in business for over a year – great stuff! Now the war will begin, users deciding whether they’d rather run natively or in an emulated environment. Which one will you choose?

[via Reddit; via Android Police]

WindowsAndroid runs Android without emulation on Windows 8 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Have you ever had a mind to run Android apps not on your smartphone, but on your PC instead? Well, that is made possible thanks to a spanking new app that is called WindowsAndroid, where it more or less will enable the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich platform to function on Windows just as though it was a native Windows app. The moment WindowsAndroid is installed, you are able to take advantage of various features such as the Web browser, gallery and other included apps. Heck, if you are diligent enough to pay your dues, so to speak, you can even opt to load and run additional third-party Android apps.

Of course, this is not the first time that Windows computers run Android apps as the past has seen software from BlueStacks that does something similar, and assuming you insert an FXI Cotton Candy any-screen PC into your computer, the same somewhat happens, too. Thing is, WindowsAndroid intends to differentiate itself from the rest of the pack by offering the full Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich experience sans additional software or hardware.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Best Buy Discounts MacBook Air Starting At $799 Today And Tomorrow, Latest Chrome For Android Beta Offers Easy WebGL Support ,

During Microsoft’s Q2 2013 earnings call yesterday, where they recorded a profit of almost $6.5 billion with over $21.5 billion in revenue, the company talked about its new Surface tablet lineup, which saw a less-than-steller launch, and while sales have been low, the company is outing a better “Pro” version for power users. However, it looks like Microsoft plans to do more with the Surface series.

During the earnings call, Microsoft CFO Peter Klein suggested that more Windows RT devices will be available in the future, including cheaper models. Klein said that the company is “working closely with chip partners and OEMs to bring the right mix of devices,” and added that Microsoft is looking to “expand the product lineup” and provide “a greater variety of devices at a bigger variety of price points.”

As it stands, the Surface Pro, which Microsoft plans to release on February 9, starts at $899, and the original Surface starts at $500, and comes with a stripped-down version of Windows 8, called Windows RT. While $500 is certainly competitive, it seems Microsoft wants to make budget tablets that could compete on price with Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD and Google’s Nexus 7.

Microsoft didn’t address specifically any sales numbers on Surface tablets in its earnings report, but analysts estimate that the company most likely sold anywhere from 600,000 to one million Surface tablets during the quarter, which is about 3% of Apple’s iPad sales during the same quarter.

[via Seeking Alpha]

Microsoft prepping cheaper Surface tablets to expand lineup is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the teams behind the NVIDIA GeForce Experience have unleashed the Open Beta version of the software, available for download by not just the select few (40,000 users, to be fair), but the greater public – you can grab it now! This Open Beta allows you access to the one and only GeForce Experience, a system where the teams of professionals and undeniably powerfully-minded graphics know-it-alls of NVIDIA’s GeForce ranks have for you sets of optimizations for the games you play all the time. In short: your PC games are about to get a whole lot more awesome.

This release has a limited number of games for which you’ll be able to get next-level optimization on your own GeForce-toting gaming PC. This release pumps up the availability of optimization beyond what the closed beta offered, with both Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad CPU support now ready for action. NVIDIA also added 2560 x 1440 display resolution support this time around – that having not been part of the closed beta release either.

With the GeForce Experience Open Beta you’ll see improved game detection logic as well as a collection of 41 games ready to look and work as magnificent as they’ve ever been on your machine. Having added FarCry 3, Mechwarrior Online, and the battle action heavy Hawken for this release, GeForce Experience is now able to work with 41 total titles. The rest are as follows:

Assassin’s Creed 3, Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Borderlands 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Counter-Strike:GO, CrossFire: Rival Factions, Crysis 2, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Diablo III, Dirt 3, DOTA 2, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, F1 2012, Fable III, Fallout New Vegas, Far Cry 3, FIFA 12, FIFA 13, Football Manager 2013, Hitman Absolution, League of Legends, Left 4 Dead 2, Mass Effect 3, Max Payne 3, Mechwarrior Online, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Planetside 2, Portal 2, Shogun 2: Total War, Star Wars The Old Republic, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Team Fortress 2, The Secret World, The Sims 3, The Sims Medieval, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, World Of Tanks, and World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria.

The actual app and usage therein is beyond simple. Once you’ve got it downloaded and open, you hit the scan button to see if there are any games on your machine that are part of the current list the GeForce Experience works with. The machine we’ve used here is an Alienware M17x R4 (see our full review here), and on it we’ve got none other than Batman: Arkham City (see our full review here) which the GeForce Experience software recognizes easily.

From there it’s just a button click or two more before we’ve got full NVIDIA-approved optimization of our settings, based entirely on the hardware/software combination we’ve got and ready for the best-case-scenario outcome when we kick out the gaming jams.

And that’s it! The simplicity of this app is part of the experience, the GeForce Experience being one that’s meant to be beyond simple. This environment makes certain everyone takes the time to optimize their machines with as easy a process as possible so that NVIDIA’s GeForce graphics can do their work as well as possible – and everything looks and handles hot!

This release includes upgrades in performance for client startup, game scan, billboard display, and nothing less than straight up communication with NVIDIA as well. If you’re all about getting some fantastic support for your games straight from NIVIDA, it’s time you headed over to the GeForce Experience Beta download page and had at it. This release works with Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, and is just 9.16 MB in file size – make it yours!

Bonus! Have a peek at the two videos below direct from NVIDIA – the first was filmed at the CES 2013 event we attended (see the timeline below for more info) with the bossman talking about the release iteration of GeForce Experience. The other video shows the app again in simple terms with fancy graphics flying everywhere – hot stuff!

GeForce Experience Open Beta hands-on: optimization for all! is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Details on the rumored multi-billion Microsoft investment in Dell continue to emerge, with chatter of the expectations the Windows maker would have for its supposed target. Whispers of Microsoft considering up to a $3bn injection to help stabilize Dell as a private company circulated yesterday following CNBC reports, and now the WSJ weighs in with further insider talk of how the deal might work out. Perhaps most important is the criteria that “Windows software [would] power the vast majority of its devices,” though there are concerns that perceived favouritism might push other Windows OEMs to look elsewhere for their software.

That Microsoft might have a Windows bias hardly comes as news, though beyond mandating predominant use of its software, the company would supposedly be a quiet partner. Day-to-day operations would be left to Dell to decide, without Microsoft involvement, under the current deal being proposed.

Microsoft is also apparently hoping to weight the payout in its favor should Dell – even with the extra financial help – collapse under the strain. The preferred security it hopes to hold in Dell would put it ahead of the line of stockholders, should Dell go bust and debts be settled out of what was left over.

The potential deal is already being compared to Microsoft’s partnership with Nokia, which switched to focus its smartphone efforts on Windows Phone back in 2011. Although talk of Microsoft buying out Nokia wholesale proliferated both before and after that partnership was agreed, the two companies have remained distinct, with Microsoft merely sloshing cash into the Finnish firm’s account on a quarterly basis.

Microsoft has also helped foot the bill for some of Nokia’s advertising and promotional work around Windows Phone, a move that led many to wonder whether other smartphone manufacturers using the OS might balk at the apparent favoritism. A similar concern has arisen around this rumored Dell deal, with suggestions that Acer, ASUS, Sony, and other OEMs might react to the proposed investment by looking to Google’s Chrome OS or other platforms.

However, even with its close ties to Nokia, Microsoft doesn’t always turn to Lumia devices when Windows Phone needs promoting. The company surprised many by opting to brand HTC’s 8X and 8S handsets as “Signature Windows Phones” last year, rather than their Lumia counterparts.

Microsoft wants Windows commitment not Dell control tip insiders is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.