Tag: Microsoft

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Jon Rettinger from TechnoBuffalo back tracks on his original Surface Pro review in time for Surface Pro 2.

I wrote a longer maudlin article about agenda “journalism” and bias. I had no idea I’d be rewarded so soon with another perfect example of why we journalists need to take a more nuanced approach to reviewing, and at least try to overcome our natural personal bias.

Screenshot (91)Windows 8 has been incredibly divisive in the tech community. Most of the commentary surrounding MS’s new OS has been pretty negative, and there have been a number of criticisms regarding changes to the UI. See, when you change something as well established as Windows, a UI which hasn’t been significantly altered since Windows 95, people are going to freak out. For as much as we like to think we want “new” and “bleeding edge” we don’t weather actual change all that well. Windows 8 was a shock for me, but after a couple days on a touchscreen laptop, I came to not only really like the UI, but also appreciate the improvements to file management and hardware resource management.

That’s the kicker however. I had to take a couple days to get used to it. I didn’t write up reviews and thoughts during that time. I wanted to understand it before I shared my experiences with readers, even though I was hopelessly behind the tsunami of early angry reviews.

Windows 8 is far from “bad”, it’s actually quite good. If Microsoft is guilty of anything here, it’s not making a bad product, but doing a miserable job of communicating with consumers what the changes were going to be.

And now, in time for the Surface 2 launch, we’re seeing people “come to appreciate” the changes to the UI. Now Windows 8 is “elegant”. Those adorable scamps, they just had to “get used to it”, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s not really as bad as their initial reviews would have led MILLIONS of tech enthusiasts and blog readers to believe. It’s almost like you get more honest and accurate information when you don’t put an un-boxing and first impressions video up as your proper review of a product. Interesting.

Sorry to pick on you Jon, but welcome to the club. Glad you finally figured out how to use a product that most of us haven’t had any serious or significant issues with. I hope you enjoy the Surface Pro 2 even more. Maybe spend more than a day with it before you “review” it?

Hit the jump for Mr. Rettinger’s ACTUAL review of the Microsoft Surface and Windows 8.

Continue reading “Jon Rettinger from TechnoBuffalo back tracks on his original Surface Pro review in time for Surface Pro 2.”

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Microsoft will give you at least $200 to trade in your iPad for a Surface

microsoft promo store trade in your ipad somegadgetguyIf you’ve been wanting to make the jump from iOS to Windows 8 for your tablet usage, Microsoft is more than happy to help you make the transition by cutting you a check.

Yup, on the Microsoft store, they’re currently running a promotion that will pay out a minimum of $200 for you iPad 2,3, or 4. Sorry first gen iPad owners, but no one really wants anything to do with tech that old…

Now, this might be a good, convenient solution for people who just want to buy a Surface or Surface Pro and don’t want to hassle with offloading their old Apple gear, but if your iPad 2 is in good condition, and if you’ve kept the box, it’s likely you could score around $250 for that tablet on eBay.

Microsoft Surface “Trade in your iPad” Promo.

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Petition to keep “Cortana” as the name of Microsoft’s Voice Asisstant.

halo-4-cortanaHere’s a petition I can wholeheartedly support.

We recently found out that Microsoft was working on a Google Now / Siri competitor, and we also know that the code name for the project is ‘Cortana’, which is a terrific little nod to XBox fans. Cortana is the name of the AI which aids players in the popular HALO franchise of video games.

Well, people know a good thing when they hear it and an industrious Halo and/or Windows Phone fan has left a suggestion on Microsoft’s official feedback site. ‘Keep Cortana as the Name of the Personal Assistant’ is already over 1500 votes, and I was proud to add my name to that list.

Microsoft has always had a reputation for lacking synergy between the various teams working on various products and services. This could be a nice, if a bit tongue in cheek, way to signal some cooperation between the XBox, Windows, and Windows Phone teams.

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Apple’s Crisis of Confidence: Consumer Perception and Stock Market Response

tim cook apple logoBefore I dive into this, I need to make it clear that I don’t hate Apple. I used to be an Apple product specialist working a JIT contract for DOE facilities in New Mexico. This was during the dual socket days of the PowerMac G5. It was a glorious machine, and I used to adore Apple. As Apple walked away from markets and product lines that I cared about, that adoration became a loving competition. The recent glory days of the company provided me a terrific nemesis as I moved over to Windows 7 computers and Android Phones.

Following Tuesday’s unveiling of the iPhone 5C & 5S, I came to an unsettling realization: I’m worried about Apple.

See, my world as a tech enthusiast and writer just doesn’t make sense without a powerful Apple, and the company which was on display during this last keynote was anything but powerful.  Continue reading “Apple’s Crisis of Confidence: Consumer Perception and Stock Market Response”

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Rumor: Nokia to launch Lumia 1520 on September 26

nokialumia1520leaknew9_1020_verge_super_wideI’m not a big fan of rumor posts, there’s enough real stuff to actually play with that I don’t like getting bogged down by speculation. This rumor comes courtesy of @evleaks however, and they’ve been pretty good about not engaging in wild speculation regarding gadget leaks…

The timing on this seems pretty legit. We know Microsoft is gearing up for a couple big moves over the next couple months, including dropping a new Surface and the public release of Windows 8.1. Updating Windows Phone with a killer Nokia phablet would fit into that release line up nicely.

More news when we get actual news.

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Microsoft intros Office 365 for Nonprofits

office 365 logoMicrosoft donates about $2 Million worth of software every day to nonprofits as part of their Technology for Good initiative. Now Microsoft is adding Office 365 to their grant initiative, providing organizations free access to business grade document and presentation solutions.

Office 365 now joins Windows 8, Windows Server, and Visual Studio on the list of donation-ware for qualifying organizations, and should be available in over 90 countries by the summer of 2014.

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Apple Intros iTunes Radio to compete against Pandora, Spotify, Google, Microsoft, etc…

itunes radio announced somegadgetguy streaming internet musicThe iTunes Radio announcement was one of the first things discussed during Apple’s keynote today, but Tim Cook ran over it so fast, I think you can still see tire tread on its back.

What should have been one of the more interesting services announcement for Cupertino was largely ignored. Apple created the online music sales market as we know it today, yet even with that legacy, very little was said about iTUnes Radio. With a nod and a collective shrug, we just took it for granted before moving on to hardware announcements.

Simply billed as “coming soon” on the official iTunes site, Radio will be another streaming service designed to compete with offerings from Pandora, Spotify, Google, and even Microsoft. It will allow you to build “stations” for your favorite music, and those stations will be synced across all of your devices via iCloud, so iPhones, iPads, and Apple TV can all get in on the act.

On a personal note, it’s a little shocking that even Microsoft was able to beat Apple to a service like this. Plus, it’s uncharacteristically tame of Apple not to work being late into more of a consumer oriented selling point. In the past being late to a service, Apple would’ve boldly claimed that they waited to perfect the offerings which were obviously inferior or confusing to consumers. There was no such bravado on display here today, and lacking that confidence is a dangerous place for Apple to be in this viscerally competitive market.

Full deets on Apple.com

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Microsoft Event on September 23rd to introduce Surface 2

surface 2 media event microsoft somegadgetguyThe invites went out this morning!

So you should all know by now how I feel about writing up rumors (I hate writing up rumors), so thankfully we wont have to wait long to get the full scoop on Microsoft’s next-gen Surface. Come September 23rd, we’ll finally have confirmation on all the hardware deets, like whether it will use a Tegra 4 chipset, if it’ll have a proper 1080p screen, and how that new kickstand will work.

Thankfully we do know that MS will be dropping that confusing “RT” label. So that’s already progress.

Until then, we must find other ways of entertaining ourselves… If only there were other tech stories out there to distract us until the 23rd… If only…

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