General Gaming Article |
- Average Screen Resolution Hits New, Widescreen High
- Kubuntu Dodges Bullet, Finds New Sponsor
- Tons Of New Ultrabooks On The Way With Lower Prices And Higher Standards
- GameStop Agrees to Issue DLC Warning Signs on Used Game Racks
- Western Digital Paves Way for Cheaper Ultrabooks with New 7mm Mobile Hard Drive
- Toshiba Super Sizes New Android Tablet Line with 13-inch Model
- Latest Chrome Beta Lets You Sync Tabs Across Multiple Devices
- Gartner Predicts iPad Sales Will Dominate Android for at Least Four More Years
| Average Screen Resolution Hits New, Widescreen High Posted: 11 Apr 2012 11:31 AM PDT
To be fair, StatCounter only started keeping tracking of screen resolutions back in March of 2009. Up until now, the numbers were dominated by a boxy old standby: 1024x768, which held a whopping 41.8 percent of the market in that initial March 2009 report. The giant has fallen to just 18.6 percent today, however; meanwhile, 1366x768 has skyrocketed from a 0.68 percent share to a 19.28 percent share in the same timeframe. 1280x800 sits in third place with 13 percent. "The data reflects a continuing trend of users moving to larger screen resolution sizes," StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen said on the company's blog. Given that 1366x768 is a very common laptop resolution, I wonder if it also reflects a growth in notebook usage? Musing aside, it'd be great if display manufacturers started focusing more on quality (i.e., pixel density) rather than size. After staring at my HTC ReZound for a while -- which crams 720x1280 into a 4.3 screen for a PPI of 342 -- it almost hurts going back to 1366x768 on a 15-plus inch laptop or desktop display. Get on the ball, people! |
| Kubuntu Dodges Bullet, Finds New Sponsor Posted: 11 Apr 2012 10:55 AM PDT
Kubuntu will remain a largely community-driven distribution, but Blue Systems -- which funds several KDE-focused software projects -- will pick up developer Jonathan Riddell's salary starting in May, at the beginning of the Kubuntu 12.10 cycle. Riddell last day at Canonical is May 11th. Additionally, Geek.com reports that Blue Systems will be providing more funds for expenses and promotional costs related to Kubuntu. Yay! Don't worry about the new boss coming in and shaking things up, either. From the Kubuntu blog: "Blue Systems sponsors a number of KDE projects and will encourage Kubuntu to follow the same successful formula as it has always had - community led, KDE focused, Ubuntu flavor." Of course, with Kubuntu being an open, community-driven Linux distro, you could always contribute some time and expertise of your own to the project. Just sayin'. |
| Tons Of New Ultrabooks On The Way With Lower Prices And Higher Standards Posted: 11 Apr 2012 10:22 AM PDT
Intel also told PC World that it expects Ultrabooks to dip below the $700 price point by the time the kids head back to school this fall. The flood of offerings no doubt helps drive prices down, but the lowering of the initially vaunted "Ultrabook standard" probably doesn't hurt, either. Conceptually, Ultrabooks were supposed to be thin, sleek, long-lasting SSD-sporting notebooks that blended power and portability, but that ideal has faltered a bit in the past few months as thicker, HDD-packing "Ultrabooks" -- some of which even have optical drives -- have come to market. Intel says that Ultrabooks will see even more variation as time goes on, including "hybrid" Ultrabooks like Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga. But don't let that discourage you: Intel plans on cracking down on notebooks that call themselves Ultrabooks, but don't meet Intel's guidelines -- partly by excluding them from the marketing blitz Intel has scheduled for the format. "Intel plans to ensure Ultrabooks have a consistent experience. And if it's too thick it won't be called an Ultrabook," Intel's Kirk Skaugen told PC World. "It won't be allowed to be called an Ultrabook because Ultrabook is a trademark of Intel and we can protect the trademark." Time will tell whether or not that bark has a bite behind it. |
| GameStop Agrees to Issue DLC Warning Signs on Used Game Racks Posted: 11 Apr 2012 08:16 AM PDT
GameStop also agreed to reimburse 'PowerUp Rewards' customers with a $10 check and a $5 coupon if they purchased a qualifying game. Customers who purchased a qualifying title but aren't part of GameStop's PowerUp program are eligible to receive a $5 check and $10 coupon. "We are pleased that as a result of this lawsuit, we were able to obtain complete restitution for consumers, with actual money paid out to people who were harmed by GameStop's conduct," said Mark Pifko, Baron and Budd attorney and counsel in the lawsuit. "The in-store and online warnings are an important benefit under the settlement as well, because if GameStop discloses the truth to consumers, it is unlikely that they will be able to continue selling used copies of certain games for only $5 less than the price of a new copy. In fact, we already know that not long after the lawsuit was filed, GameStop lowered prices for used copies of many of the game titles identified in the lawsuit." The class action lawsuit took issue with the price of online passes even though game packaging lists DLC as being available for free with the purchase of a game. Since GameStop is the one selling used games, it's the one that came under fire, rather than the game publishers who instituted the additional fee. According to the lawsuit, GameStop rakes in more than $2 billion a year on used game sales, all of which is royalty free. Do you agree with the settlement, or do you think game publishers should be held accountable? Image Credit: Facebook (Baron & Budd) |
| Western Digital Paves Way for Cheaper Ultrabooks with New 7mm Mobile Hard Drive Posted: 11 Apr 2012 07:43 AM PDT
The WD Scorpio Blue drives feature a single platter, small form factor design and are available in 500GB and 320GB capacities. Western Digital says they're specified to best-in-class 400Gs shock tolerance, so while you probably wouldn't want to toss your Ultrabook down a flight of stairs, these drives should have no problem dealing with the hustle and bustle of everyday life. "Consumers want thin and light personal computers, but the limited storage capacity of SSD-based notebooks forces them to pick and choose what files to bring from their library," said Matt Rutledge, vice president and general manager for WD client storage products. "With the release of the new WD Scorpio Blue 7mm mobile hard drives, WD is able to offer capacity, reliability and data-protection features combined with excellent power management all in a slim form factor perfect for thin and light notebooks." The drives are available now via select distributors and resellers. Pricing has been set to $100 for the 500GB model and $80 for the 320GB model, both of which are backed by a two-year limited warranty. Image Credit: Western Digital |
| Toshiba Super Sizes New Android Tablet Line with 13-inch Model Posted: 11 Apr 2012 07:02 AM PDT
"One size does not fit all, so we are carefully considering how and where people are using tablets and designing form factors to best suit various needs," said Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "With amazingly thin and light designs, our new Excite family of tablets continues to incorporate what consumers have come to love about Toshiba tablets: essential ports for a more complete tablet computing experience plus durability that ensures they can go the distance." Size shenanigans aside, all three tablets storm into the scene with sturdy aluminum shells and scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass displays. Nvidia's Tegra 3 '4-Plus-1' processor and Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) team up to form the hardware and software foundation, along with a 5MP rear-facing camera, 2MP front-facing camera, stereo speakers with sound enhancements by Toshiba and SRS Labs, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 1GB of RAM, and robust connectivity options that include micro USB port and micro HDMI ports and a full sized SD card slot (the 7.7-inch model doesn't have a micro HDMI slot). The 13-inch Excite will feature a 1600x900 native resolution, while the 10.1-inch boasts a 1280x800 resolution. Toshiba didn't reveal what resolution the 7.7-inch model will run. Pricing and release dates breaks down as follows:
It will be interesting to see how consumers react to these new models. At a glance, it appears Toshiba is pricing the Excite out of contention -- all too common when it comes to Android tablets -- but will the thrill of a 13-inch display sway users into spending more? We'll find out come June. Image Credit: Toshiba |
| Latest Chrome Beta Lets You Sync Tabs Across Multiple Devices Posted: 11 Apr 2012 06:03 AM PDT
In its blog post, Google described a typical usage scenario thus: "Imagine you've looked up directions to a cool new restaurant on your home computer. Later, when you're leaving work, you realize you can't quite remember how to get there. If only you could quickly pull up the same directions on your office computer with one click!" "Well, with the latest Chrome Beta, you can. When you're signed in to Chrome, the tabs you have open on one device are available on all your other devices—just click the "Other devices" menu on the New Tab page." Apart from open tabs, Chrome will also sync the tabs' back and forward navigation history across all your devices, allowing you to "pick up browsing right where you left off." Image Credit: Google |
| Gartner Predicts iPad Sales Will Dominate Android for at Least Four More Years Posted: 11 Apr 2012 06:00 AM PDT
It wasn't all that long ago when iOS dominated smartphone sales, but it took Android less than three years to skip ahead after it was introduced in 2008. Android's big advantage, as far as market penetration goes, is that numerous carriers and hardware manufacturers are invested in the platform, whereas Apple is the only one that builds and sells iOS devices, and for awhile the iPhone was only available at AT&T. For the most part, the same advantages now apply to the tablet market, so why is it taking Android so long to catch up? "Despite PC vendors and phone manufacturers wanting a piece of the pie and launching themselves into the media tablet market, so far, we have seen very limited success outside of Apple with its iPad," said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. "As vendors struggled to compete on price and differentiate enough on either the hardware or ecosystem, inventories were built and only 60 million units actually reached the hands of consumers across the world. The situation has not improved in early 2012, when the arrival of the new iPad has reset the benchmark for the product to beat." "It appears that this year competitors have waited to see what Apple would bring out — because there were very few announcements of new media tablets at either the Consumer Electronics Show or Mobile World Congress. Many vendors will wait for Windows 8 to be ready and will try to enter the market with a dual-platform approach, hoping that the Microsoft brand could help them in both the enterprise and consumer markets." Perhaps that strategy will pay off. Gartner believes enterprise sales of media tables will account for roughly 35 percent of sales in 2015, though IT departments won't necessarily being pushing for Windows 8 tablets. According to Gartner, Windows 8 will only account for 11.8 percent of tablet sales by the end of 2016. As for Android, Gartner analysts pegged the main issue as being "the lack of applications that are dedicated to tablets and therefore take advantage of their capabilities." In other words, it's the same old song (price) and dance (fragmentation/apps). |
Things are looking up for PC users! And by that, we mean bigger and sharper. A couple of months back, we told you that the average monitor size had increased 3 inches in just 4 years and that 
Canonical, the company that sponsors Ubuntu Linux, announced back in February that it would no longer be funding Kubuntu -- a fork that uses the KDE desktop environment rather Ubuntu's Unity interface -- after the release of Kubuntu 12.04. Things looked bleak for Kubuntu as the lone full time dev working on the distro began looking for a new job. Yesterday, the dark cloud lifted: Kubuntu found a new sponsor.
Sick of hearing about Ultrabooks yet? If so, you'd better grab some Pepto Bismol. PC manufacturers have jumped onto Intel's slim n' fast bandwagon with almost astonishing vigor; the first Ultrabooks didn't even hit the streets until the end of last year, and a whopping 21 variations have dropped in the scant 5 months since. That's just the tip of the iceberg, however. Intel says that there are a full 75 more Ultrabooks already in development, and that lower price points and stricter standards are also coming.
A class action lawsuit has put the onus on GameStop, not videogame publishers, to warn buyers of used games that they will be unable to access certain downloadable content (DLC) and online features unless they pony up an additional $15 for an online pass. GameStop could have fought against the measure, but opted for a settlement that requires the world's largest games retailer to post warning signs on shelves where used games are sold in California stores, as well as online, for the next two years.
Western Digital has begun shipping its new WD Scorpio Blue 7mm hard drive line, the newest edition to its mobile HDD family and the one with the lowest power consumption. These 2.5-inch drives are fully compatible with industry-standard 9.5mm slots found in mainstream notebooks and slimmer laptops, but they're really designed to shine in Ultrabooks as an alternative to costly solid state drives that fall short on storage space.
Does the world need or want a 13-inch Android tablet? We're about to find out. Toshiba this week announced the expansion of its Excite line of Android tablets, of which there will be three new display sizes. Two of them are fairly traditional -- 10.1 inches and 7.7 inches -- but the monster sized 13-inch variant is the one everyone is talking about. When it debuts this summer, it will be the largest Android tablet to date.
The 
Tablet sales are expected to reach 118.9 million units by the end of the year, a nearly two-fold increase (98 percent) from 60 million units in 2011, market research firm Gartner predicts. It's no surprise that Apple's iPad leads the way and, if Gartner's crystal ball is in proper alignment, the iOS platform will account for more than 61 percent of worldwide tablet sales by the end of 2012. That too isn't shocking. But would you have guessed that Android will still be chasing iOS through 2016, and perhaps longer?| You are subscribed to email updates from Maximum PC - All Articles To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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