Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on April 19, 2007 by CyberNet.

Microsoft has lofty plans over the next eight years.  By 2015, they have a goal of increasing their users to two billion people.  Is it doable? Especially when they already command 90 percent of the market with one billion users?

Here’s how they intend to do this:

• Offer developing countries $3 software packages with Windows XP and Office included.
• Increase the number of paid copies of Vista in developing countries.

$3.00 Software:

The $3.00 software package is called Microsoft Student Innovation Suite, and it will include Windows XP Starter Edition, Office 2007 Home and Student, and other educational type programs.  The software packages will be offered to governments who purchase Windows-based computers for the students.

It’s their way of getting new users hooked on Vista before they have access to anything else.  Generally speaking, developing countries are untapped, and Microsoft is thinking that they could do well there. It also sounds like Microsoft’s plan to compete with the One Laptop Per Child program(Linux) in developing countries, which has gotten plenty of support and publicity.

China:

Then there’s China they have to work with. In the two weeks right after the release of Vista, only 244 copies of Windows were sold in China.  One of the biggest, if not the biggest reason is piracy.

Pirated copies of Windows Vista are selling for just $1 all over the streets of China, and because of that, there’s no reason for people to purchase it for full price.  Microsoft had hoped that they had dealt with this issue before the launch of Vista by spending millions of dollars advertising about piracy, and the new operating system.Part of their advertising campaign was to place the largest Vista ad ever on the Jim Mao Tower, which reaches 421 meters tall in Shanghai. Clearly it didn’t work.

So, is it possible for Microsoft to increase their users by one billion in just eight years?

Source: Information Week

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Even if Apple never develops anything with the majority of their patents, the documents themselves are always interesting looks into what the world’s biggest tech company might be up to in the future. On Thursday, the blog Patently Apple showed off documents that suggest the company is looking into embedding scanning technology within its displays. These sensors would have two settings: scanning mode and mouse mode.

Scanning mode would allow the device to read any printed information when placed up against its screen. Instead of using the camera on the back to read printed material, you could just hold the screen against a QR code or page of printed text and the i-whatever would scan it in. Unlike traditional handheld scanners, this patent lets the user selectively fill in the document, scanning in sections without the pain of maintaining a straight line and constant speed.

The patent also includes the ability to check the position of the device using the sensors, letting a face-down iPhone connect to a computer and be used as a mouse. Of course, this implies that there would have to be some way of clicking the mouse, and Patently Apple suggests a multi-touch surface on the rear of the device, in a similar style to Sony’s NGP.

Now, there’s no guarantee of any of these things showing up in the iPad 2 or iPhone 5, but it does provide a unique window into what Apple thinks might be part of the next generation of consumer electronics. And that future looks pretty cool.

[via Patently Apple, US Patent and Trademark Office]

Amazon already revealed the three different Tron: Legacy Blu-ray & Blu-ray 3D combo packs on the way, from the 2-disc standard edition to the two movie, 5-disc Identity Disc-packaged limited edition but now we know the release date (4/5/11) and info about the extras. On the disc, Blu-ray-only exclusives include the Daft Punk music video for their song Derezzed, plus Launching the Legacy, Disc Roars and The Next Day: Flynn Lives Revealed features (Tron: The Original Classic Special Edition saves a Photo Tronology just for Blu-ray watchers.) If you have an iPad, the Disney Second Screen app that will make its debut alongside Bambi March 1 adds to the action with 360-degree views of the Tron vehicles, interactive progression reels and other information all synced to the movie by the audio track. There’s more details including MSRPs ($40 – $80) and the press release after the break.

Continue reading Tron: Legacy Blu-ray gets a release date, supports Disney’s Second Screen iPad app

Tron: Legacy Blu-ray gets a release date, supports Disney’s Second Screen iPad app originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Too busy to fiddle with another remote while your iPod touch / iPad / iPhone is already cozily tucked between your arm and chest? Seagate hears you, and it’s just pushed out a new app that’ll transform its bundled remotes into fantastic doorstops for those that adore iOS. The TV Remote app enables any new iOS device to control the functions of Seagate’s GoFlex TV and FreeAgent Theater+ HD media players, and since it relies on WiFi, you need not worry over line-of-sight considerations. You’ll also be able to use iOS’ keyboard to input test into search fields on YouTube, Netflix and Pandora (just to name a few), and users will gain the ability to surf through entire media library (provided you’ve got an HDD connected to your media player) right on your iDevice. Hit the source link to get the download going, but make sure you update the firmware on your box before giving it a go.

Continue reading Seagate’s GoFlex TV and FreeAgent Theater+ HD media players get iPhone, iPad and iPod remote control app

Seagate’s GoFlex TV and FreeAgent Theater+ HD media players get iPhone, iPad and iPod remote control app originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Opera browser is coming to the iPad. That revelation came sandwiched toward the
bottom of a recent press release celebrating the company’s massive installation base. Shedding some light on its plans for the upcoming Mobile World Congress convention in Barcelona, the company wrote, “the Opera Mini browser on Android, iPhone, J2ME, BlackBerry, Symbian and even the iPad will appear.”

“Appear” seems to be an operative word here. The app won’t actually be made available around the event–rather, the company will be showing it off. Sort of a proof of concept. Once Opera Mini for iPad is completed, there’s still the Apple vetting process to contend with.

Of course, Apple has gotten past Apple’s process before. The iPhone version of the app managed to rack up 2.6 million downloads in its first two weeks.