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SmartAboutThings writes:
According to a recent report coming from the press agency ITAR-TASS, Russia wants to replace US-made computer chips from Intel and AMD with local-made processors. The news comes after four years ago, Vladimir Putin said he wants all of the government’s computers to be replaced with Linux. And now it seems that Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry is making a step forward in this direction, looking to replace US microchips Intel and AMD with the domestically-produced micro processor Baikal
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SmartAboutThings writes:
Mozilla took the world by surprised when it announced that it was developing a Firefox operating system that would be used for mobile phones, especially in developing markets. Now, there are already a few devices out there, but it seems that this isn’t the last step for the company whose name is still associated with the famous web browsers. According to a recent report from GigaOM, Mozilla is currently working on a secretive project which has the purpose of developing a Chromecast-like media streaming stick powered by Firefox-OS.
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SmartAboutThings writes:
After a lot of flip-flops, Samsung has finally announced its first ever Tizen smartphone the Samsung Z. This marks Samsung’s official move to depend lesser on Android for its growth. The Korean giant had already moved its Galaxy Gear series of smartwatches to Tizen OS, so the launch of Samsung Z should send clear signals to the people at Mountain View. Other than running the Tizen OS, the Samsung Z will feature a 4.8-inch 720p (HD), Super AMOLED display with a quad-core, 2.3GHz CPU (from Intel we presume) with 2GB RAM, 16GB memory, LTE, an 8-megapixel camera, a heartrate sensor and fingerprint scanner. It comes with 2600 mAh of battery, and features a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. It’ll fully support 2D and 3D graphics
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SmartAboutThings writes:
According to some rumors circulating in the online environment, the wife of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has reportedly met billionaire former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on Sunday and they discussed about selling the club. Previously, it was reported that Donald Sterling had surrendered control of the Los Angeles Clippers to his wife. The rumored deal has been estimated at about $2billion, and the club’s value has is said to be around $600 million; and if it does get through, there are chances that Ballmer might want to move the club to Seattle. If Ballmer does end up buying the Clippers, this would make him the second former Microsoft top executive to own an NBA team, after Paul Allen, the owner of the Portland Trailblazers.
60403723
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SmartAboutThings writes:
As it was previously talked about, Windows 8.1 with Bing has just become real, and we're going to see the very first Windows devices running it at the upcoming Computex conference from Taipei. Albeit details are scarce at the moment, what we know is that Microsoft is going to offer it to OEMs for a cheaper price and the single difference is that it will come with Bing as the default search engine within Internet Explorer. However, customers will be able to change that setting through the Internet Explorer menu. Also, the new Windows edition will be only be available preloaded on devices, which means it won't be made available for separate purchase.
60279181
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SmartAboutThings writes:
On its special event in New York, Microsoft has announced the Surface Pro 3 when most of us were expecting the Surface Mini. The Surface Pro 3 is pretty impressive, being only 9.1 mm thin, weighing 800 grams and coming with a bigger size of 12inch. According to Microsoft, this is the thinnest Intel core product ever made and it packs the i7 processor, as well. And to prove that it's also pretty durable, the tablet-laptop was dropped on the floor .
60225741
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SmartAboutThings writes:
OwnFone is a London-based company which has launched theworld’s first 3D printed Braille phone in order to help those visually challenged to become more independent by being able to use mobile services. The ndevice has been constructed using 3D printing on both front and back of the handset with added personalised buttons. Albeit this isn't the first device of its kind, it's the first one to go officially on sale, along with a patent pending technology. It is currently available only in the UK for £60 , but a Kickstarter campaign will soon be launched to sell the OwnFone internationally.
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SmartAboutThings writes:
After it was long rumored and discussed about, the ability to text 911 in case of emergency is slowly rolling out in the United States to subscribers of AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. For the time being, the service is available in areas of Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont and Virginia. According to the FCC, the service will gradually roll out to more areas and by the end of this year, virtually anyone with a cellphone and enough service will be able to make use of it. Which means that all carriers will support it.
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SmartAboutThings writes:
It’s not the first time we’re hearing about Microsoft working on a cloud-based Windows version, but it’s the first time when we’re seeing a name – Windows 365, thanks to a well known-leaker. The “365 moniker clearly hints that the upcoming cloud Windows version will be based on a subscription system, probably similar to the one available in the cloud productivity suite for Office products. And we know how much Nadella loves the mobile and the cloud, so it’s no wonder that Microsoft is getting ready to unveiling this product. Most likely, the subscription model would allow the installation of Windows on multiple devices, with a yearly or monthly fee. And we’re curious to see whether it will be Windows 8 as we know it, or a slightly modified version.
59937353
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SmartAboutThings writes:
It might be weird for some, but at the moment, there isn’t a single Microsoft Innovation Center in the United States, but is soon bound to change as Microsoft officials say they plan to open the first one in downtown Miami. As of now, Microsoft has 115 innovation centers across the world, with most of them being locate in Eastern Europe, India and Brazil. These act as partnerships between local government organizations, universities, industry organization, software or hardware vendors and Microsoft with the purpose of growing local software economies. At the moment, there are none in the United States, but Microsoft will be opening in the near future in downtown Miami at a tech incubator and accelerator called Venture Hive and a second center is said to open in Houston, as well.
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SmartAboutThings writes:
Microsoft has been a little too late to the tablet party, even if it actually was the first company to introduce a tablet. And we can’t say that it fares quite well in smartphones, either. But according to a patent filing which has been made public recently, Redmond is getting closer to the actual release of its own smartwatch. Google, Samsung, Sony, Pebble and others are already important players in the market of smarwatches and wearables and if Apple joins the crowd, as well, then Microsoft could be late to the party once more. The alleged device could run on a modified version of the recently announced "Windows on Devices" software and it could bear the "Surface" brand name. What's your take on this?
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SmartAboutThings writes:
It was quite a surprise when we heard back in September, last year, that Microsoft was going to acquire Nokia’s Devices and Services unit for just $5 billion. And today, more than eight months after the announcement, the company whose name was once synonymous with “mobile phone”, gets officially acquired by the Microsoft behemoth. Just as a reminder, $7.2 billion is the price that Microsoft paid for the acquisition. The merger will have a big impact on Nokia’s employees, as Microsoft will transder approximately 25,000 workers from around the world. The company also mentioned that Nokia’s factory from Masan, South Korea, and the factory in Chennai, India, will stay with Nokia.
59209003
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SmartAboutThings writes:
It was quite a shock for many when Facebook announced that they would acquire messaging service WhatsApp for a staggering amount of $19 billion. At the time, Zuckerberg was quite confident that WhatsApp could reach to one billion users, and it seems that they're now half way there, as WhatsApp announced it has now more than 500 million users across the entire world. WhatsApp has seen fast growth in countries like Brazil, India, Mexico, and Russia. Also, more than 700 million photos and 100 million videos are being shared on a daily basis.
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SmartAboutThings writes:
The Apek Maxpad is touted as the world's first Windows 8.1 powered smart touch TV, available in 39, 50 and 63.5-inch screens with full-HD multi-touch screens and powered by AMD A10 APU based PCs. The processor runs at 3.8GHz and packs Radeon HD7660 graphics. As for the RAM, the spec sheet says it comes with a 8GB DRDR3 model, expandable up to 64. It’s quite a power, house, as we can see. But it's definitely not cheap, being available in the following prices $5,400, $9,000 and $12,000. Still, we must agree that a Blue Screen of Death would look terrific on such a big screen, heh?
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SmartAboutThings writes:
While we are still waiting for the official Windows 8.1 touch-enabled apps to get launched on the Windows Store, Microsoft went and decided that it’s time to finally bring the Office online apps to the Chrome Web Store, instead. Thus, Microsoft is making the Web versions of its Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote apps available to users through the Chrome Web Store and also improving all of them with new features, along with several bug fixes and performance improvements.
