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BetaNews.Com (12 non lus)

What Windows 8 Pro means to you (and Microsoft, too)

Publié: octobre 15, 2012, 10:14pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

Microsoft announces calendar third-quarter earnings in three days, and during the conference call, as usually is the case, some financial analyst almost surely will ask about the percentage of professional to consumer versions sold, since the former typically yields higher margins. But that question may soon be a thing of the past, as Microsoft seeks long-term gains from a little short-term pain. The Redmond, Wash.-based company is quietly, but quite deliberately, trying to put Windows consumer, once called Home, out to pasture (hopefully with a bullet in its bytes).

The signs are everywhere. In April, Microsoft reduced the number of Windows editions to three -- 8, Pro and RT -- or four when looking at volume-licensing-only Enterprise. Most people can't buy Windows 8 Enterprise or RT (which is preloaded only). They also can't buy the consumer edition -- yet -- and Microsoft makes it awfully damn easy to get Pro. Existing users of most any version of Windows going back to XP can, until Jan. 31, 2013, upgrade to 8 Pro for $39.99. That's a helluva bargain, and the lowest launch promotional price for a professional Windows edition ever. Meanwhile, buyers of new Windows 7 PCs starting June 2 get a $14.99 free upgrade -- to Pro 8. Last week, Microsoft and retailers started taking boxed Windows 8 Pro upgrade preorders for $69.99. Windows 8 "consumer" upgrade isn't available. Is the pattern clear enough?

The current Pro push departs from previous launch emphasis on Windows Home. For example, Microsoft offered limited-time promotional three-license Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack at launch three years ago. Additionally, the promotional PC upgrade was for like edition, such as Vista Home Premium to similar Windows 7 product. More broadly, since Windows Vista, Home Premium has been the mass-market version pushed on new systems and at retail. Suddenly, for Windows 8's launch, Pro pushes ahead of consumer -- and that's a welcome development. Something else: Microsoft also removed "Home" from the product name, so the consumer edition is simply Windows 8.

I don't suggest that during this release cycle Microsoft will completely do away with Windows consumer, which debuted with XP in October 2001. Before XP, Microsoft offered a NT-kernel-based OS for businesses and DOS/Windows for consumers -- well, clearly after Windows 95 shipped. Windows XP brought the NT-kernel to the mainstream. Vista added more editions -- and way too many of them. Windows isn't toothpaste, but it is, or was, a monopoly product. Microsoft created choice by arbitrarily pulling out features it chose to make multiple versions. But these editions ultimately didn't reflect the wants of the mass-market, which largely consolidated around Home for consumers and Professional or Enterprise for businesses.

For far too long, Windows Home makes up too much of the install base. Windows 8 marks a feature-push forward. Home edition was never good enough, because it lacks security and networking features that most anyone would want -- not just businesses -- particularly as more people work from home at least some of the time. Encryption, group policies and domain join are among the critical features Pro users get and Home ones don't, and that's for Windows 7 and much as its successor. Apple OS X offers these capabilities out of the box, with one version for everyone. One should be Microsoft's goal, too.

Financial analysts will wince, though. Compared to previous launches, Microsoft practically gives away Windows 8 Pro -- quite literally carving rather than slicing off margins. Windows 7 Professional upgrade, as does its successor, lists for $199.99. But during the launch promotion, upgraders save $130, which is a difference of 65 percent. So there's no confusion, the $39.99 and $69.99 promotional prices are both upgrades. The one is available digitally delivered starting October 26 and the other packaged software comes with DVD and can be preordered now. The $39.99 price is a difference of 80 percent from the packaged list price. Again, never has Microsoft offered Windows Pro for so little to so many during launch. The approach risks margins for market share gains from now until January 31. Surely that will concern anyone watching the company's bottom line.

The OEM market also directionally changes. Last week, CEO Steve Ballmer affirmed Microsoft's transformation into a "devices and services company". As part of "Windows reimagined", the company emphasizes convertibles and tablets -- the latter category running Windows 8 Pro (on x86 processors) and Windows RT (on ARM chips), and neither is based on Home. Shop around today and you'll find the majority of new PCs come with Windows 7 Home Edition, not Professional. Microsoft also wants to lead the OEM market to Pro, too, for which presumably they pay higher licensing fees.

Consumer version isn't going away -- heck, some retailers sell the Windows 8 OEM consumer upgrade for $99.99; preorder, of course. Windows 8 also remains as a lower-cost option for PC manufacturers offering less-costly systems. But broadly, Microsoft wants the mainstream Windows market to go Pro or RT, moving away from differentiation by arbitrary features to one around chip architecture (x86 or ARM).
An open 'Happy Birthday' to my first love (I'm not late)

Publié: octobre 15, 2012, 10:02pm CEST par Tim Conneally

My hands plunge into a beaten-up cardboard box sitting atop a black flea market chest of drawers, pulling out one rarity after another…Tigervision's "King Kong," Spectravision's "Mangia," a prototype of Spy Hunter for paddle & keypad controllers, it's every rare game that ever existed and a whole lot of ones that have never been seen before. I am elated.

Then, of course, I wake up.

This was the dream that woke me yesterday morning. It's the same one I've been having on a regular basis for the last twenty years. I go to some second-hand shop, flea market, or swap meet, and happen upon a box of impossibly rare video game cartridges that some unfortunate slob is selling for pennies.

It isn't an unattainable fantasy, it's a subconscious recreation of that rush that turns hobbyists into obsessive collectors, exhaustive researchers, and amateur historians. It's the thrill of uncovering a beloved rarity in the wild. I had this dream two nights ago because I was under the impression that yesterday was going to be the Atari 2600's 35th birthday.

And though it was my first love, my first true gear obsession, I could not confirm the Atari 2600's actual launch date was October 14, 1977.

An unsourced date on Wikipedia was the trigger for my dream and likely the reason why Chris Morris and a number of other bloggers chose to write about the birthday event yesterday. But all the trustworthy sources I checked only said "October 1977."

Racing the Beam, Supercade, Ultimate History of Video Games, New York Times, Washington Post archives, and trade magazine archives, nothing had a specific date attached to the launch of the VCS. This is likely attributable to the fact that the launch of the VCS wasn't a fantastic ceremonious event itself. By many accounts, it was just another thing that was shipped out to electronics and department stores. Only 250,000 units were sold in the first year, due in part to production problems. It became a hero after initial availability, not before.

As I write this, I still do not have the source of this date. The first appearance of the VCS being available in a national publication was an ad in the Washington Post on Oct 21, 1977 for a place called "The Math Box," which I've embedded below.

If my point has been a little hazy up to now, I aplogize. Here it is in a nutshell: The Atari VCS and its anniversary are so important to me that I wasted literally the entire day of the anniversary searching for something to prove it actually was the anniversary. Classic Conneally. It's been that kind of obsession for my siblings and I our entire lives. It's one part history, one part love for obscurity, and one heaping part of perpetual juvenility.

Exhibit A: Audio cassette labeled "June 25, 1984," recorded in our family's living room:

"Gary, do you think that you stink at Yar's Revenge?"

(With mouth full of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups) "Pershonally, I haven't tried it yet."

"Oh, well I think you stink anyway."

The Atari VCS flung the United States into the reprogrammable home video game era, and was a fixture in my home long after the video game crash of 1983. As game cartridges dropped precipitously in price, we kept buying more. Then in 1989, after my peers had moved on to the Nintendo Entertainment System, and our household had long since switched to the Commodore 64 and BBSing, Atari VCS (aka 2600) came back around with its "The fun is back for $50!" ad campaign and the local toy stores filled up with new Atari 2600 games that weren't garnering much public interest. We continued to casually stockpile games and hardware, and continue to stockpile to this day.

On a number of occasions, I've written about classic games here on BetaNews. These are some of the easiest articles to write because the reward is the work itself. The obsession, as you can see, has not waned at all. So this is my birthday wish to the Atari: I hope to find a solid, confirmable date which I can attach to your birthday, so we can raise a glass.

Until then, I'm considering it open to interpretation, and I will keep sinking my hands into imaginary troves of lost software.

Anton Gvozdikov / Shutterstock.com
Tech tribalism leads to BAD computing decisions

Publié: octobre 15, 2012, 7:26pm CEST par Ian Lewis

Computing, and I use the term in the widest sense, has always been tribal to an extent. People have loyalties, and there’s nothing wrong with that. This year, tribes are called "ecosystems", but whatever the current label, looking around the Interweb it seems to me that tribalism is becoming more prevalent and more aggressive. It’s as if everyone stood on soapboxes with their fingers in their ears, shouting "LALALALALALALA", while at the same time (a good trick, this) yelling through a megaphone that theirs is the only way and anyone who doesn’t agree is just too stupid to be considered human.

Famously, way back in 1994, the writer and thinker Umberto Eco (The Name of the Rose) compared computing loyalties to religions: Apple followers were Catholics who believed that they would find salvation through following the One True Path. Conversely, PC users, like Protestants, were obliged to find their own way through the many paths open to them, and not all would be saved. And (I guess) Linux users are the hairy prophets who come out of the desert proclaiming, "It’s really easy. Honestly. And these days you only have to scourge yourself with thorns once a week …"

Tribal Warfare

Divisions like this cannot be a good thing, and we can’t all be right. Why don’t we begin by admitting that there is no best ecosystem. They all have good points, and they all have weaknesses. It all depends on what you want to do. Because nobody and nothing is the best at everything.

It used to be axiomatic that you looked at the problem (or need) first, identified the software solution that best fitted what you had to do and purchased whatever hardware you needed to run it on. Tribal loyalties turn that procedure on its head. If you decide on the platform you’ll use before you even know what’s available the danger is that in the end nobody is really happy.

Multiculturalism Computes

A couple of examples: a little while ago I was involved in setting up a small digital TV channel from scratch. The decision on equipping the edit suites was entirely software (not ecosystem) driven. We needed editing software that was capable of fitting in with broadcast television stations and facility houses, and which experienced freelance editors had also worked with. The obvious choice was Avid; but we felt we’d rather look at more cost-efficient alternatives.

Although I personally have worked with Adobe Premiere Pro on Windows for some time, for the TV channel, we chose Apple Final Cut Pro, on Mac Pros -- because that was right for the problem we had at the time. Final Cut Pro is a great piece of software, but then so is Premiere Pro. (They’re extremely similar, partly because Final Cut was initially developed by one of the guys who had previously written Premiere for Adobe.) Final Cut was the right choice in that situation because there were simply more freelance editors around who had experience using Final Cut Pro than Premiere Pro.

The office desktops, however, were Windows PCs, partly because it was easier to support Microsoft's operating system. But mainly because Windows software was what our employees were used to. In both cases the choice was made to provide the greatest compatibility with the surrounding environment. (And, though I have used PCs and Windows since the 1980s, the experience of trying this combination made me think very seriously about going for a Mac Pro on my own next upgrade cycle. Except now it seems Apple has binned the Mac Pro, and killed Final Cut…)

PC Pluralism

Another example. We started out running coolcucumber.tv, a principally Internet TV channel, using Windows media video on a Windows Media Server. This was because at the time we started (about three years ago) the picture quality for a given bandwidth was demonstrably better on Windows video, than on anything else -- especially when combined with Windows streaming server. The situation has changed since then, and the improved quality and popularity of H.264/MPEG4 has made it the obvious choice for streaming video.

So we have replaced the Windows video with H.264/MPEG4 (re-encoded from the original masters, of course), and moved to a Linux server, because that’s what we need to give the widest accessibility to the video. (In particular, with the software we’re using, streaming to iPads/iPhones only works from a Linux server.)

These are (small-scale) corporate examples, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t do this for yourself. Next time you decide to upgrade your desktop, laptop, or other device, you could take a little time to look at what your habits and needs really are, and whether a different device might suit you better.

Although we all have personal preferences, the most important thing is the overall picture, rather than an unthinking "well, it obviously has to be Mac, or Windows, or iPad or Android". In the end you might not change anything, but at least you will have looked with open eyes and an open mind.

And finally… This year’s prize for flexibility of thought goes to the person of my acquaintance who recently, and reluctantly, acquired something that could run Microsoft Word to use alongside his 25-year old RISC OS Acorn machine. He made the decision because he works with so many others who used Word and needed the compatibility. Software-driven, see?

Photo Credit: myway2studio/Shutterstock
Just under half of US wireless services now owned by foreign multinationals

Publié: octobre 15, 2012, 6:08pm CEST par Tim Conneally

With Softbank's majority stake acquisition of Sprint Nextel Corporation, the amount of foreign interest in the United States wireless market is greatly expanded. On the other side of the coin, wholly-American owned wireless companies look like an endangered species.

The two largest US carriers, Verizon Wireless and AT&T are mostly owned by American companies, but based upon first quarter 2012 market share figures (source: Strategy Analytics) and corporate ownership percentages, we estimate 45.3 percent of the United States' wireless market is controlled by foreign multinational companies.

Verizon Wireless --- USA/England
British multinational Vodafone owns approximately 45% of Verizon Wireless, and has done so since late 1999, when Vodafone's U.S. assets merged with GTE's Bell Atlantic Wireless. 55 percent of Verizon is owned by Verizon Communications. If we were to split Verizon Wireless by corporate ownership and market share, U.S. companies would own 18.7 percent of the US wireless subscriber market, while the British would own 15.3 percent.

AT&T --- USA
SBC Communications and Bellsouth ran Cingular Wireless LLC for most of the 2000's, but in 2006, AT&T acquired BellSouth and thereby acquired Cingular. This evolution of the AT&T and BellSouth Brands tells the story nicely. AT&T commands a 32 percent share of the United States wireless market.

Sprint --- Japan
SoftBank's investment and 70 percent ownership of Sprint Nextel bumps the Japanese company up to the rank of third highest revenue among global telecom operators, and approximately 17 percent of United States wireless subscribers.

T-Mobile USA --- Germany

In 2001, Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG acquired VoiceStream Wireless Inc. and Powertel Inc, and in 2002, VoiceStream was renamed T-Mobile USA, and the company has been a top-tier player ever since. However, the difficulty acquiring wireless spectrum has caused Deutsche Telekom to merge with U.S. carrier MetroPCS. MetroPCS formed out of General Wireless Inc., in 2004 after the company acquired C-Block wireless licenses in an FCC spectrum auction. The combined entity of T-Mobile/MetroPCS accounts for a 13 percent share of United States subscribers.

Leap Wireless --- USA
This parent of Cricket Communications began as a spin-off of Qualcomm, and became the fifth largest wireless carrier with its popular brand Cricket. Like AT&T, this is one of the few national wireless carriers that isn't owned in large part by a foreign investor.

In the last two years, the company has been reported to be looking to merge its way out of the market. Five days ago, Leap closed a $400 million loan secured by Cricket itself. In the terms of the loan, Leap is forbidden to incur additional debt, sell its assets, make certain types of investments, grant liens, or make certain types of payments including dividends. It appears that Leap is going to stay on its current course for now. Currently, the company commands about two percent of the market.

U.S. Cellular --- USA
Consistently the eighth largest carrier in the United States, United States Cellular Corporation serves 5.8 million customers in 26 states. As the other carriers have all announced major plans for future growth, U.S. Cellular has remained somewhat quiet and continued to expand its 4G LTE network. Earlier this year, about 31 percent of the company's wireless footprint included LTE connectivity, and the company expects to close out 2012 with approximately 58 percent LTE coverage. U.S. Cellular is on par with Leap with a two percent market share.

Photo: Oleksii Sagitov/Shutterstock
TWRP 2.3 is released, touts speed improvements

Publié: octobre 15, 2012, 4:47pm CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

Running an Android distribution means having a custom recovery installed, with Team Win Recovery Project being one of the most popular solutions. TWRP 2.3 is released, touting a number of speed improvements as well as other fixes.

It's now based on AOSP Jelly Bean source code, and to aid implementing new features and future AOSP recovery updates, TWRP 2.3 has undergone significant under-the-hood changes due to a core rewrite into C++. ADB Sideload, which is a Jelly Bean recovery feature, has been implemented allowing to push and install an Android distribution using a single command from the computer. Also added is the charging indicator that updates every minute. What else?

Fix permissions runs faster than with previous versions, taking "a few seconds instead of a few minutes", with faster boot times claimed as well. According to the announcement, thanks to zip finding in OpenRecoveryScript there should be significantly fewer GooManager automation issues.
Advanced SystemCare 6 FREE is Windows 8-ready

Publié: octobre 15, 2012, 4:32pm CEST par Nick Peers

IObit has released Advanced SystemCare 6 FREE, a brand new version of its freeware optimization tool. Version 6.0 debuts a new, streamlined interface, and comes with full support for Windows 8.

ASC 6 Free, which is also available in Pro form with additional functionality, also updates its Surfing Protection, Driver Manager and Privacy Sweep databases, adds support for additional languages and provides unspecified general bug fixes.

ASC 6 Free looks visibly different to the previous version thanks to a redesigned and streamlined user interface, particularly in Simplified Mode, which is aimed at less experienced users. Among the interface improvements are smaller icons for the various tools provided under Care and Toolbox tabs, allowing them all to be displayed on one screen. The user then hovers the mouse over a tool to find out more about it before clicking to launch it.

Version 6 also provides updated databases for its Surfing Protection, Driver Manager and Privacy Sweep tools, which should provide better protection and security than previous versions. It’s also the first build to come with full support for Windows 8, just two weeks ahead of its general release.

ASC 6 Free rounds off the update with additional language support, plus a slew of unspecified general bug fixes. The final release comes just over two months after it entered beta.

IObit Advanced SystemCare 6.0.7.160 FREE is a freeware download for PCs running Windows XP or later. A single year’s Pro license with additional features, including deeper scans, automatic updates and anti-malware protection is also available for as little as $9.95 through the Downloadcrew Software Store, a saving of 50 per cent on the MSRP.

Photo Credit: Sergey Mironov/Shutterstock
Austrian skydiver sets live view record on YouTube

Publié: octobre 15, 2012, 4:15pm CEST par Wayne Williams

Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner broke a number of records with his breathtaking edge-of-space skydive yesterday -- and not just the highest jump from a platform (128,100 feet), the longest distance free-fall, (119,846 feet) and becoming the first skydiver to break the sound barrier (with a maximum vertical velocity of 833.9 mph or Mach 1.24). He was also responsible for notching up the most simultaneous live views on YouTube to date.

According to Google, over eight million people (myself included) visited the live stream to watch Baumgartner jump from a capsule attached to a giant helium balloon some 24 miles (39km) above the Earth and land safely around nine minutes later, nonchalantly touching down almost -- as a friend described it -- as if stepping off a bus.

Celebrating his achievements, Google says in a blog post: "We congratulate Felix Baumgartner and the entire Red Bull Stratos team for their successful mission, and for creating a live stream with the most concurrent views ever on YouTube."

If you missed the Red Bull Stratos stunt live you can watch highlights from the mission and other videos relating to it on the official YouTube channel.
When, if ever, will your LG smartphone get Android 4.1?

Publié: octobre 15, 2012, 4:06pm CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

Jelly Bean is an elusive update for most high-end Android smartphones today, even though introduced at Google I/O four months ago. Today, LG revealed which devices will receive Android 4.1 in the upcoming months, undoubtedly in a move to catch up to the likes of HTC and Samsung that already have announced smartphones running the software.

The list of smartphones is not extensive, and includes more recent devices, such as the LG Optimus Vu and Optimus G; the latter model comes with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and made waves in the smartphone market for its incredibly powerful hardware. The South Korean manufacturer's flagship, Qualcomm-powered, device will be updated to Jelly Bean in December.

The LG Optimus Vu as well as its younger sibling the Optimus Vu II won't get Android 4.1 until next year. There is no word yet on the nVidia Tegra 3-powered Optimus 4x HD, but the less-known Optimus LTE II will get Jelly Bean next month.
Adobe releases Reader XI, Acrobat XI

Publié: octobre 15, 2012, 3:47pm CEST par Mike Williams

Adobe has announced the availability of its next generation PDF reading and creation tools, Adobe Reader XI and Adobe Acrobat XI. And this looks like a useful upgrade, with plenty of interesting additions and extensions on offer.

Adobe Reader XI offers more drawing and annotation tools, for instance: sticky notes, stamps, file attachments, audio recordings and more. Form support finally works at it should, too, with you able to fill, sign, send and save PDF forms as necessary.

There are plenty of extra security features. The new Protected View runs the reader in a separate desktop and winstation, for instance, a little low-level trickery, which will help keep it more isolated from the rest of your system.

And Adobe also says their “◦Enhanced Protected Mode now includes data theft prevention capabilities”, intriguingly, though we’re not yet clear on exactly what they are.

Elsewhere, a new online service allows you to store key PDF’s on Acrobat.com for easy access from anywhere. The free account offers 2GB storage space for free, while commercial accounts start from a monthly $14.99, and offer 15GB storage space, more workspaces, the ability to convert unlimited files to PDF, telephone support, and more (the full pricing details are here).

Adobe Reader also offers easy access to an online PDF conversion service, which can convert various file types to PDF (Word, Excel, JPEG, more), export PDF files back to various Office formats, and more. No free options here, unfortunately: prices start from $7.50 a month if you pay annually up-front.

Of course there is also a nod to Windows 8 here (and OS X Mountain Lion), with a new touch mode aiming to make the program just a little more tablet-friendly.

And as you’d expect, Acrobat XI also sees significant improvements in many of the same areas. So a new Edit Text and Images tool simplifies editing; Adobe’s bundled FormsCentral app makes it easier to create and work with forms; it’s now more straightforward to import, create and work with Office documents; and there’s better handling of electronic signatures, improved PDF file protection, Microsoft App-V support, and more.

There’s a vast amount to explore, then, and both Adobe Reader XI and Adobe Acrobat XI are available now.
Microsoft announces Xbox Music

Publié: octobre 15, 2012, 3:39pm CEST par Wayne Williams

Whether you think Microsoft wants to be Apple, or not, the company continues to roll out products designed to compete with its major rival. Today’s announcement is for Xbox Music, a digital music service for the Xbox games console, which will also appear as the default music player in Windows 8.

The service, which goes live tomorrow and will be available in 22 countries from launch, is a cross between Spotify and iTunes. Users will be able to listen to songs or full albums for free, create artist-based streaming radio stations, and put together music mixes and playlists. The iTunes element comes in the form of a music store, which will allow users to purchase and download tracks. The store will reportedly offer over 30 million songs, some four million more than Apple's store. There will also be over 70,000 music videos on offer.

Talking about the new service, Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business Marketing and Strategy, says: "There are a lot of individual services that do a good job, but today there isn’t a service which can pull together the benefits of download-to-own, music subscription, or free streaming services. With Xbox Music, what we wanted to do is bring all of that value in one simple, easy-to-use service, then build some additional value on top -- make it really beautiful, and have it work across all of your devices. We’ve been able to simplify the music experience in a really powerful way".

Xbox Music will be available in two flavors -- free, but ad supported, or as an unlimited subscription-based service priced at $9.99 a month. Although it will only be available on Xbox initially, the service will expand to PCs and tablets running Windows 8 when the new OS launches on 26 Oct, and arrive on Windows Phone 8 shortly afterwards. There are also plans to release Android and iOS apps at a later date.

Personally, I'm pretty excited about the new service -- what about you?
SoftBank invests $20.1B in Sprint for 70 percent stake

Publié: octobre 15, 2012, 3:35pm CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

Four days ago Sprint Nextel Corporation confirmed acquisition talks with Japan's third-largest carrier, Softbank Corp, with unspecified details surrounding the transaction at the time. Today the operator from the land of the rising sun announced that it will invest $20.1 billion in Sprint, $12.1 billion of which will give SoftBank a dominant stake of 70 percent in the US carrier.

The two operators expect the transaction to close, pending approval of Sprint's shareholders, the Federal Communications Commission and other regulatory agencies, in the second half of 2013. Combined the two carriers will rank as the third largest operator worldwide according to the press release, a strong position that favors both parties. The Japan-based carrier will provide Sprint $8 billion from the total amount for its balance sheet, mobile network and strategic investments.

The investment will allow Sprint to better compete with national carriers such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless, permitting the nation's third-largest carrier to transform into a worthy opponent for larger local operators and improve services offered to customers.

Sprint CEO, Dan Hesse, which according to the details provided by SoftBank will maintain his position after the transaction is complete, states: "Our management team is excited to work with Softbank to learn from their successful deployment of LTE in Japan as we build out our advanced LTE network, improve the customer experience and continue the turnaround of our operations".

Masayoshi Son, SoftBank Chairman and CEO reinforcing Sprint's strong-suit in the transaction adds: "Our track record of innovation, combined with Sprint’s strong brand and local leadership, provides a constructive beginning toward creating a more competitive American mobile market".

If Sprint accepts a better offer from a third party or if Softbank does not obtain financing the penalties will be substantial for either side, amounting to $600 million to the other party involved in the agreement.

Photo Credit: Minerva Studio/Shutterstock
Windows reimagined: 'Only Want You'

Publié: octobre 15, 2012, 5:51am CEST par Joe Wilcox

Well, hello, Windows 8 advertising. Microsoft smartly chose tonight's "The Walking Dead" season 3 premiere (and perhaps other programs I didn't watch) to kick off marketing for the new operating system. Considering post-PC advocates treat Windows as something like an undead creature, there's certain appropriateness to using the popular AMC series.

I'm stoked about the first commercial, "Windows 8 is coming soon", which begins with blast-off countdown "10, nine, eight, eight, eight..." I love the exploding laptop, because everything is changed, baby. The spot moves fast, uses jump cuts to bounce around and tells you absolutely nothing specific about Windows 8 other than release date: "10-26-12".

But Microsoft shows off the modern UI over and over and lots of young folks having fun. Eagles of Death Metal track "Only Want You" energizes the emotion and sense of something quite alive going to shake up your life. Bring it on, Microsoft.