| Microsoft Removes Retailer Deadline to Stop Selling Windows 7 PCs Posted: 10 Dec 2013 01:31 PM PST  The new sales deadline is to be determined
Microsoft last week made it be known that system retailers would not be allowed to sell Windows 7 PCs past October 2014. The deadline is known as the "End of sales" date, which refers to the date when a particular version of Windows is no longer shipped to retailers or OEMs, as well as the last day partners are allowed to peddle the OS. After listing October 30, 2014 as the end of sales date for Windows 7, Microsoft pulled a 180 and is now leaving it up in the air. The revised end of sales for PCs running Windows 7 is now listed as "To be determined," the same as listed for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. So, what happened? "We have yet to determine the end of sales date for PCs with Windows 7 preinstalled. The October 30, 2014 date that posted to the Windows Lifecycle page globally last week was done so in error," Microsoft said in a statement. "We have since updated the website to note the correct information; however, some non-English language pages may take longer to revert to correctly reflect that the end of sales date is 'to be determined.' We apologize for any confusion this may have caused our customers. We'll have more details to share about the Windows 7 lifecycle once they become available." What's interesting about this is that Microsoft typically stops selling a version of an OS one year after the next version launches, and stops delivery of the prior edition to OEMs two years after the new one ships. For reference, Windows 8 came out in October 2012, so October 2014 would be the proper date to halt Windows 7 PC sales based on past policy. If Microsoft extends the deadline past October 2014, it would be the first time since initiating the policy in 2010. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Tech Giants Team Up to Champion Global Government Surveillance Reform Posted: 10 Dec 2013 12:45 PM PST Eight companies collaborate on an open letter to Washington Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo, Aol, and LinkedIn have teamed up to call for global government surveillance reform. Rival companies and services are working together to put pressure on Washington to start the path towards reforming government surveillance and maintaining individual privacy. "The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual — rights that are enshrined in our Constitution," says the open letter published on the site. "This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It's time for change." 
The website lists five defining principles: "limiting government's authority to collect users' information, oversight and accountability, transparency about government demands, respecting the free flow of information, and avoiding conflicts among governments." The initiative has a good point—programs like NSA's PRISM lack independent oversight. We don't get to know where our information is going. Couple that with the fact that many of the affected companies have hordes of our personal information stored on their servers and it's a good thing that there's pushback. Most of the companies listed as supporters have been directly targeted by PRISM and other government requests for information. Google and Twitter have been fighting back in small ways and this is likely just the start of a global move towards reforming the laws and practices that are just coming to light. What do you think? Will this help force Congress to act? Tell us in the comments. |
| Google News Roundup: White Nexus 7 32GB, Chromecast Bundle, and New Play Edition Devices Posted: 10 Dec 2013 11:59 AM PST  A new color Nexus 7 tablet for the holidays
If you're looking to order a Nexus 7 tablet that looks a little different from the ones your friends and family own, we have good news. It's now available in white, though only for the 32GB Wi-Fi model. Those of you shopping the 16GB SKU are still stuck with black. Other than the color of the backside, it's the same Nexus 7 as any other 2013 model, though Google has some more holiday treats of note. If you buy a Nexus 7 and Chromecast together, Google will give you a $35 Google Play credit and ship your goods for free. The Google Play credit essentially pays for the Chromecast dongle, so if you can make good use of it, then it's basically a swap in currency. Finally, Google added a couple of new devices to its Google Play edition lineup. These include the Sony Z Ultra smartphone for $649 and LG G Pad 8.3 for $350. Google Play edition devices automatically receive the latest Android software updates and are free from carrier clutter and third-party overlays. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Asus Revenue Hit Record High in November on Strong Transformer Book T100 Sales Posted: 10 Dec 2013 11:08 AM PST  Asus is riding the convertible craze
To say November was a good month for Asus is like saying the 1992 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Dream Team was decent. Both grossly undersell the accomplishment. The 1992 Dream Team is largely considered the greatest sports team ever assembled (regardless of sports), and for Asus, revenue hit a record high in November at NT$49,298 billion (around $1.67 billion in U.S. currency). That's an 18.73 percent sequential jump and 2.46 rise compared to the same month a year ago, Digitimes reports. From January to November, Asus collected NT$423.40 billion (~US$14.33 billion), up nearly 3 percent year-over-year. According to Digitimes, the spike in revenue is mostly due to increasing sales of Transformer Book T100 convertibles, as well as better-than-expected sales of notebooks in Latin America and China. 
The Transformer Book T100 is a 10.1-inch detachable 2-in-1 touchscreen laptop with an Intel Atom (quad-core) foundation, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, 64GB SSD, and 11 hour battery life. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| HP Refreshes Elite Portfolio, Rolls Out Slimmest EliteBook Ever Posted: 10 Dec 2013 10:35 AM PST  New systems start at $359
Traditional PC sales might be on a decline, but c'mon, they're not evaporating. Therefore it's business as usual for Hewlett-Packard, the world's second largest PC maker, which just updated its Elite line with four new models. One of those new systems is an HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1, the thinnest and most durable EliteBook to date, the company says. It's 16.1 percent slimmer and 7.3 percent lighter than the previous generation, yet still is able to pass a dozen military-grade tests for reilability and durability. It weighs 3.3 pounds, has a 14-inch display with a Full HD 1080p resolution, and dual-core Intel Core i5 and i7 processor options. There's also a new pressure-sensitive touchpad to help users speed through familiar touch gestures used with smartphones and tablets. On the small computing side, HP introduced the EliteDesk 800 G1 Business Desktop Mini. The name pretty much says it all -- it's a mini desktop for business users, and the smallest system HP has offered to date. HP also announced the EliteDisplay 530tm (its first Windows 8 touch monitor for businesses). It has a 23-inch IPS display, 178-degree viewing angle, VESA mounting support, Full HD 1080p resolution, built-in 720p webcam, dual microphones, and integrated speakers. As for pricing and availability, the EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 is available now starting at $1,299; the EliteDesk 800 G1 and 600 G1 will be available in April for $669 and $449, respectively; and the EliteDisplay S230tm will be available on January 6 for $359. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Maxthon Makes Bold Claim, Says Its Browser is Fastest for Windows Posted: 10 Dec 2013 09:35 AM PST  New versions uses Blink rendering engine
Maxthon's developers have officially joined the ranks of braggadocios browser makers who puff out their chest and claim their online vehicle is the fastest around. You may recall that Maxthon (originally called MyIE2) started as a nifty shell of Internet Explorer that brought tabbed browsing to the IE experience. Now dubbed "Maxthon Cloud Browser," these days it stands on its own two feet. The newest release is a beta build that uses a branched version of the Blink rendering engine combined with Maxthon's own "speed and performance enhancements." The result, according to Maxthon's team, is the world's fastest browser, trumping Chrome 30 by 10 percent (Maxthon's figures, not ours). "Our challenge to our team was to build a browser that is faster and lighter than Chrome," said Jeff Chen, CEO and founder of Maxthon. "I'm pleased to say that our team rose to the challenge and exceeded expectations. The new architecture nets 40 percent faster start times than previous iterations and test results comparing the new Maxthon 4.1.3.700 against Chrome 30 show that Maxthon is 10 percent faster. Plus, our proprietary approach to 3rd party cookie handling is a boon for anyone who wants the personalization benefit of the cookie without allowing ad networks to track their usage." Maxthon says its browser has a reduced memory footprint and low CPU usage. It also boasts support for WebGL and has a GPU accelerator, along with deep support for HTML5 coding. That's all fine and dandy, but is it truly the fastest? In our limited testing, it certainly feels snappy, though the few impromptu benchmarks we ran show that Maxthon's claim might be a little ambitious. 
Since Maxthon compared itself to Chrome, we ran a few benchmarks on a daily workhorse system (Asus G73J laptop) with Chrome 31 installed, one version higher than Maxthon's comparison. However, the Chrome browser had several open tabs and extensions installed, whereas Maxthon represents a clean install. Here's how things shook out: SunSpider 1.0.2
Chrome: 193.4ms
Maxthon: 417.5ms Futuremark Peacekeeper
Chrome: 2318
Maxthon: 2213 Google Octane v2.0
Chrome: 8869
Maxthon: 8509 HTML5Test.com
Chrome: 503
Maxthon: 515 Chrome won three of the four benchmarks, though Maxthon was nipping at its heels in each test. A full gamut of tests on a proper testbed is needed to tell the whole story, but from our quick examination, it looks like Maxthon is right up there with the best, albeit it doesn't yet take the speed crown. The newest version of Maxthon is available to download now. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Start Menu to Make a Glorious Return in Upcoming Windows "Threshold" Update Posted: 10 Dec 2013 08:07 AM PST  It's about damn time!
The Start menu is coming, the Start menu is coming! Feel free to run up and down the aisles of your office building shouting the news at the top of your lungs. Act crazy enough and you may not have a job tomorrow, but at least you can look forward to the return of a feature in Windows 8/8.1 that should never have been left out in the first place. Oh, and to be clear, don't confuse the Start menu with the Start button, the latter of which made its triumphant return in Windows 8.1, but without the all-important menu (thanks for the half-assed concession, Microsoft). Here's the deal -- the Start menu isn't returning tomorrow, next week, or even next month. Instead, it will be an optional feature in Windows "Threshold," the codename for Microsoft's next wave of updates scheduled for 2015 and designed to unify the Windows experience, according to Paul Thurrott and information scattered all over the web. As ZDNet explains things, Threshold will include updates to all three OS platforms -- Xbox One, Windows, and Windows Phone, all three of which share a common Windows NT core. Things get a little fuzzy at this point, but Threshold is supposed to bring these OSes even closer together. In addition to the return of the Start menu as you once knew it, Threshold will also give users the option of running Metro apps in floating windows on the desktop, a feature that today requires the help of third-party utilities. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: D-Link DIR-850L Wireless AC1200 Router, Acer 27-inch LED Monitor, and More! Posted: 10 Dec 2013 07:14 AM PST |
