Hasta La Gadget!

Bill Gates doesn’t give too many interviews, but the Daily Mail‘s Caroline Graham sure managed to get a lot out of him during their recent sitdown. Gates spent much of the time discussing his global health foundation, which, according to him, has become “full-time work for the rest of my life.” And, while he acknowledged that he’s still involved with Microsoft on a “part-time” basis, he reaffirmed that he has no desire to return to the throne. Does this mean he’s finally ready to lift his household’s notorious Apple embargo and allow his kids to own iPods? Not exactly:

“They have the Windows equivalent. They have a Zune music player, which is a great Windows portable player. They are not deprived children.”

Hear that? Bill’s kids aren’t in need! In fact, they even earn allowances and “do chores,” just like your kids. Sure, their pops may have billions of dollars stowed away under his mattress, but he says his offspring will only receive a “minuscule portion” of that fortune. Cue the violins.

Bill Gates’ kids ‘aren’t deprived,’ they have Zunes originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 08:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo’s E3 2011 keynote yesterday gave the world its first official look at the all-new Wii U hardware plus (we thought) a glimpse at the graphical capabilities of its next console. As it turns out, the impressive list of upcoming games for the 2012-bound console was just that, a list, with the visuals we saw on screen coming from PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of said titles. Nintendo of America chief Reggie Fils-Aime has confirmed that to be the case in an interview with GameTrailers, where he also points out that the eventual Wii U games will look at least as good as their PS3 / 360 counterparts. Which is why, in his eyes, it’s okay to show us those games being played on the competition’s (current-gen) hardware. He does remind us that the Wii U will be delivering graphics at a 1080p resolution, and points to the garden tech demo that also graced E3 as an indicator of what can be done with Nintendo’s next console. That’s all well and good, but maybe tell us in advance next time, Reggie?

Nintendo admits its Wii U highlight reel was spiced up with PS3 and Xbox 360 footage originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Adobe-Apple Flash war used to be one of the juiciest catfights around, but, much like two aging boxers, both sides now appear willing to act like adults put it all behind them. Speaking at yesterday’s D9 conference in Palos Verdes, California, Adobe head Shantanu Narayen confirmed that he and Steve Jobs have reached an unofficial armistice, bringing an end to their prolonged war of words. According to the CEO, Apple’s Flash issues stemmed from the company’s “business model,” rather than any legitimate concerns over quality. “It’s control over the app store that’s at issue here,” Narayen said, implying that Flash’s wide-ranging platform compatibility may not have jibed with the Cupertino ethos. He went on to remind moderator Walt Mossberg that developers can still use Adobe’s AIR software to get their products to the App Store, adding that his company is looking forward to the rise of HTML5 and “actively contributing” to its development.

Mossberg, meanwhile, seemed to blindside Narayen when he brought up Flash’s poor performance on Android devices. “I have yet to test a single one where Flash tests really well,” the columnist claimed. “I’m sorry, but it’s true.” Narayen sputtered a bit, before pointing to the BlackBerry PlayBook as an example of the progress that Flash has made. When Mossberg reminded him that the PlayBook doesn’t run on Android, the CEO not-so-subtly sidestepped the question by emptily declaring that Adobe’s mission is simply to provide people with the best tools to create content. Apparently satisfied with this non-answer, Mossberg changed the subject back to Apple, allowing Narayen to wax poetic about their new Pax Romana — and, perhaps, to breathe a sigh of relief. See the full interview after the break.

Continue reading Adobe CEO has no beef with Apple, no answer for poor Flash performance on Android (video)

Adobe CEO has no beef with Apple, no answer for poor Flash performance on Android (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 06:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How much does it take to convince Symbian users their OS is doomed? Just the one slide you see above. Now it seems Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is attempting damage control. In an interview with Nokia Conversations, Elop attempted to placate his shareholders and customers by stating that the OS’s last update will take place somewhere around 2016 at the earliest. He isn’t switching the focus away from Windows Phone as his company’s bright new future, but he does want to assuage folks who sunk money into Symbian that their investment isn’t just going down the drain. Stating there is “a long history still to be paved for Symbian in the future,” Elop didn’t volunteer any additional details on update strategy or how much longer new Symbian phones will be sold. We’re a bit surprised at the length of this extension of relevancy; we can’t help but feel as though it’s all because Nokia’s breakup with Symbian was too emotional and they’re both trying to stay friends. Or perhaps four years is just how long the company thinks it will take to sell all of the remaining 150 million units it originally planned to push. Either way, check out the full video after the break and let us know what you think below.

[Thanks, Chris]

Continue reading Elop: Symbian will continue getting updates until 2016, at least

Elop: Symbian will continue getting updates until 2016, at least originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 May 2011 17:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has a tablet. So does RIM. HP Palm too, soon enough. And Android tablets, particularly those running Honeycomb… they’re everywhere — hell, even Sony has a few on the way. That leaves Nokia as the glaring anomaly conspicuously absent from the tablet wars. Understandable, we guess, given the company’s urgent need to transition its smartphone strategy to Windows Phone. That doesn’t mean the company is standing still though. According to an interview with YLE television in Finland, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is taking a very calculated approach to tablets, saying, “We could take advantage of Microsoft technology and software, and build a Windows-oriented tablet, or we could do things with some of the other software assets that we have. Our team right now is assessing what’s the right tablet strategy for Nokia.” In other words, Nokia is investigating tablets running Windows 7 (doubtful), MeeGo (doubtful), and Windows Next, aka that tablet-friendly Windows 8 OS (likely). But here’s the most illuminating exchange from the well-mannered Canadian:

There are now over 200 different tablets on the marketplace, only one of them is doing really well. And, my challenge to the team is I don’t wanna be the 201st tablet on the market that you can’t tell from all of the others. We have to take a uniquely Nokia prospective and so the teams are working very hard on something that would be differentiating relative to everything else that’s going on in the market.

Q. So you’re not in a hurry?

We’re always in a hurry to do the right things, but we’re mostly in a hurry to do the right thing.

Makes sense to us and echoes what we’ve heard about Sony’s relatively delayed entry into consumer tablets. Why should Nokia build another me-too tablet when it can tap into the combined Microsoft / Nokia ecosystem and make a grab at some real market share and profit? The entire 20 minute interview is interesting as Elop discusses layoffs, the first Nokia Windows Phone, Symbian, and competing against Apple and Google. Hit the source link for the full deal — the tablet discussion begins at 10 minutes and 32 seconds.

[Thanks, Pauli N.]

Stephen Elop: Nokia won’t build just another tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 05:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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