Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talks about the future of Windows at CES 2010. Photo: Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com

We may finally get a look at Microsoft’s first Windows 8 tablet.

Samsung and Microsoft are set to introduce a brand-spankin’-new Windows 8 tablet next week at Microsoft’s BUILD conference, the Korea Economic Daily reports. The device is expected to house a quad-core ARM processor.

And tech blog This Is My Next says conference attendees will get the tablet for free.

We first got wind of Microsoft’s plan to release Windows 8 tablets when Steve Ballmer accidentally detailed the company’s roadmap in May, saying, “As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors.” Other reports indicated Microsoft may deliver a Windows-branded tablet, but that seemed unlikely.

Windows 8 is designed to run on desktops and tablet PCs, unlike Apple’s mobile operating system iOS and Windows Phone 7. It shares its tile-based interface with Windows 7, and users will be able to purchase apps through a dedicated Windows 8 app store.

Last year, Microsoft gave away Windows Phone 7 devices as a perk to conference attendees. But seeing how Windows 8 isn’t even out yet, a complimentary Windows 8 tablet (likely running a pre-release or dev build), would be an extra nifty gift.

So far, Windows’ only foray into the tablet space has been the Windows Phone 7-running Lenovo IdeaPad K1. A previous tablet project, Microsoft Courier, never saw the light of day.

During a sitdown with reporters yesterday, NVIDIA Chief Executive Jen-Hsun Huang discussed his company’s near- and long-term financial outlook, while providing some insight into the chipmaker’s quad-core future. According to Huang, NVIDIA expects to rake in between $4.7 and $5 billion in revenue during fiscal year 2013, with revenue from its mobile chip unit projected to mushroom tenfold by 2015, to a whopping $20 billion. Huang acknowledged that these predictions could be affected by external factors, including the ongoing patent wars between tablet and smartphone manufacturers, but didn’t seem too concerned about their immediate impact. “At this point, it looks like it’s much ado about nothing,” he said. In fact, Huang foresees rather robust growth in the mobile processing sector, estimating that there are about 100 million devices that will need chips this year — a figure that could soon rise to one billion, on the strength of more affordable handsets, efficient ARM processors and the rise of ultra-thin notebooks. And, despite his recent disappointment, Huang expects Android tablets to comprise a full 50 percent of the market in the near future, claiming that NVIDIA’s Tegra chips can currently be found in 70 percent of all slates running Google’s OS, and about half of all Android-based smartphones.

In the short-term, meanwhile, NVIDIA is busy developing its quad-core mobile processors — which, according to the exec, should appear in tablets during the third or fourth quarter of this year (quad-core smartphones, however, may be further down the road). Huang also sees room to develop wireless-enabled, Snapdragon-like processors, thanks to NVIDIA’s recent acquisition of Icera, but he hasn’t given up on GPUs, either, predicting that demand for graphics performance will remain stable. The loquacious CEO went on to divine that Windows 8 will support apps designed for Windows 7 (implying, perhaps, that Microsoft’s Silverlight platform will play a major role in future cloud-based developments), while contending that smaller, “clamshell devices” with keyboards will ultimately win out of over the Ultrabook strategy that Intel has been pursuing. For the moment, though, Huang seems pretty comfortable with NVIDIA’s position in the mobile processing market, citing only Qualcomm as primary competition. “We’re the only people seriously on the dance floor with Qualcomm,” he argued, adding that companies without a solid mobile strategy are “in deep turd.” You can find more of Huang’s insights at the source links below.

NVIDIA CEO sees major growth in mobile processing, quad-core tablets coming this year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Sep 2011 03:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Challenging Sony’s PlayStation 3D display, LG’s new LW980T “Dual Play” TV lets Xbox users see two different views on the same screen — ditching the standard split gaming view. Spotted this week at IFA, the technology requires a pair of snazzy all-right / all-left passive specs and a compatible 3D Xbox game to get two different 2D perspectives on one TV. Compared to Sony’s $499, 24-inch active-shutter offering, the 47-inch and 55-inch passive ‘tubes are significantly larger and more expensive, rumored to retail for £1799 (or $2915) and £2499 (or $4050), respectively. According to sources, this feature will join LG’s lineup of Cinema 3D displays sometime in September — offering gaming as well as LG’s SmartTV and 3D movie support. Hey gamers, since we’re not splitting up anymore, is it safe to say we can stay “in a relationship” on Facebook?

LG’s ‘Dual Play’ TVs let gamers share a single screen, different perspective originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Sep 2011 16:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

Tracking Down Great Software For You!

Note: This software is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. It also does not require any installation to use it, just download the files and run the program.

It’s been a little while since we have come across freeware software that made us all giggly inside, but Nubs (Download Mirror for version 1.1) is just that. It essentially puts tabs (which the program calls Nubs) around the border of your screen so that you can quickly access all of your applications.

It appears that this Windows application gets the idea from a Mac application called Sticky Windows, which will cost $16 to purchase. The video on the site for Sticky Windows actually demonstrates how Nubs works since it is so similar, but this screenshot should explain it all:

As the screenshot demonstrates, dragging a window to the edge of the screen creates a “Nub” out of it. You can then drag the Nubs around to position them how you like, but they’ll always remain attached to one of the edges.

Just like on your Windows Taskbar, clicking on a Nub will alternate minimizing and maximizing the window. A Nub won’t appear until you drag a window to the edge of the screen, but once it is created it will remain visible until you right-click on the Nub to close it. And if you choose to, there is an option available to hide a window from the Taskbar once a Nub has been created for it.

Here is a list of things that you can customize in the application:

• Enable/disable a fade effect when minimizing/maximizing windows.
• Hide “Nubbed” windows from appearing in the Taskbar.
• Hide the Nub icon from the System Tray, but you’ll probably want to leave it there because it is a convenient way to restore all of your Nubbed windows.
• Pick your font type and size.
• Choose from several themes that are included, but you’ll first have to follow the instructions in the ReadMe file that’s included so that you know where to place the themes. Otherwise they won’t show up in the list.

Here are a few screenshots that demonstrate all of the available options:

  
Click any screenshot to enlarge

Quick video demonstration of how Nubs works
Nubs Homepage (Download Mirror for version 1.1)

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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In a recent report from Nielsen, Google snagged 40 percent of the smartphone market, while Apple captured approximately 28 percent — up just barely .01 percentage point from last year. This report coincides with findings filed earlier this week by ComScore, citing Google with 41.8 percent market share and Apple with 27 percent, up one whole percentage point from last year. Diving a bit deeper, Nielsen found that around 33 percent of people planning to buy a smartphone in the next year want an iPhone, while another 33 percent would prefer an Android. The tie between those who want an Android v. an iOS phone fluctuated when Nielsen asked the “early adopters” within the group what kind of phone they are hoping to cop. 40 percent of “innovators” said they would like a phone on Google’s OS, while 32 percent want a bite of the Apple — leaving a mere 28 percent of self-proclaimed tech junkies desiring something else, like a BlackBerry or Windows Phone. Perhaps these figures are an indication that Google will remain on top for 2012, or will there be an upset? Only time will tell.

Nielsen confirms Android on top, buyers split on next smartphone originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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