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Comment Most of us are afraid to admit it aloud but... (Score 2) 124

Many IT professionals including myself feel that IPv6 is a joke and is unnecessary in most practical scenarios. Arguments I tend to throw out on face value are "why not IPv6?" and "we're running out of IPv4 addresses". Keep NAT'ing IPv4 until the cows come home - no one except tech geeks will really care if we do.

Submission + - USDA services moving to the Microsoft cloud. (pcmag.com)

JoltinJoe77 writes: Not to be outdone by Google, who recently announced an e-mail deal with the GSA, Microsoft is pressing forward with a migration of its own. "The U.S. Department of Agriculture is ready to go live with Microsoft's cloud services. In the next four weeks, the agency will move 120,000 users to Microsoft Online services, including e-mail, Web conferencing, document collaboration, and instant messaging."

Comment One more for the cage (Score 1) 182

All this speculation about iThis and iThat is premature - this could be nothing more than a new foray into the new market known as cloud computing. Big bets suggest there is money to be made, though I'm not sure anyone has figured out the market enough yet to know how to make it. The very young cloud computing space is already crowded with the likes of Amazon, Intuit, Google, Salesforce, Microsoft, and the list goes on. So it looks like here comes one more in Apple for the giant cage match. Like a lot of new areas of competition it will be interesting to see who buys which operation, which ones fail, and who is left standing at the end.

Comment Re:Daddy what's a cassette? (Score 1) 250

I have four young children and almost everything we listen to or watch is stored digitally and instantly available. When they grow up it will be hard for them to imagine having to put anything physical into a unit in order to watch it or listen to it. The main exception is the current generation of game consoles, but I anticipate the next generation of consoles making everything available via download (at least optionally). Heck, with DVR they already struggle to understand if what they want to watch isn't available right this second.

Comment Apple got it, then MS learned it the hard way (Score 2, Insightful) 386

Apple by controlling the OS and hardware out of the starting gate had it right. Microsoft learned it the hard way after years of unsupportable carrier-specific hacks of their Windows Mobile OS, culminating in a much more rigidly defined Windows Mobile 7. Phones that are difficult to upgrade and that cannot run software that runs on other similar phones hurts brand loyalty. If Google wants to retain loyal customers in the mobile market, they are going to have to consolidate these variants and force a single, portable, upgradable OS like Apple and Microsoft are doing.

Comment Nothing to see here (Score 2, Interesting) 124

All of the apps on any TVs I have personally used have been sluggish and slow to respond. Hooking a computer/media center/game console up to the TV and using apps hosted on those devices has always resulted in a much more pleasant experience for me and my friends. I doubt the introduction to Google apps on TVs will make an impact on anything.

Comment Volt was known to be mostly hype (Score 1) 657

IIRC it wasn't long after the original superbowl ads that we knew everything from the looks and implied specs were not going to be met. I would have seriously considered buying the car they showed in the original ads - an electric (or hybrid) vehicle with looks to match was promising. The final form looks as blah as a Prius or Civic Hybrid, so no thanks. (and yes, I'm shallow that I care what the car looks like more than I care about MPGs)

Microsoft

MS Design Lets You Put Batteries In Any Way You Want 453

jangel writes "While its strategy for mobile devices might be a mess, Microsoft has announced something we'll all benefit from. The company's patented design for battery contacts will allow users of portable devices — digital cameras, flashlights, remote controls, toys, you name it — to insert their batteries in any direction. Compatible with AA and AAA cells, among others, the 'InstaLoad' technology does not require special electronics or circuitry, the company claims."

Submission + - R.I.P Indeo Codec (computerworld.com)

JoltinJoe77 writes: Microsoft has decided to disable a 17-year-old video codec in older versions of Windows rather than patch multiple vulnerabilities, according to the company's security team. Technically the codec is only blocked from Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, but this move is effectively the last nail in the coffin for the aging and troubled codec.

Submission + - It's Baaa-aaack (demonoid.com) 1

An anonymous reader writes: The new improved Demonoid. Almost as good as Lawrence Welk. Wunnerful wunnerful
Input Devices

Submission + - A 3D smartphone that can be squeezed and tilted (idg.com.au)

angry tapir writes: "An alliance of companies including Synaptics and Texas Instruments is trying to exploit unused surfaces to make smartphones interactive and easier to use. The companies have announced a concept smartphone that users can interact with by squeezing and tilting it. Interacting with the phone usually occupies both hands, but the Fuse concept phone makes it possible to select and load applications using just the one hand holding the smartphone, the companies jointly said in a press release."

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