Technology

I would consider Tech a form of art, and most certainly entertainment, so I thought it could use its own thread.

Lets get the ball rolling with one of the biggest technology giants: Microsoft. The company is planning to release a plethora of software and hardware this fall and I feel it is worth discussing. Microsoft is planning to release Windows Phone 8, Surface Tablet, Windows 8 OS, a new Microsoft Office, Office for iOS, and the new Xbox update to include Internet Explorer and Smartglass.

Microsoft got into the Smartphone market rather late with Windows Phone 7 which, while decent, never really took off. With Windows Phone 8 and Nokia's new phone that will run it, it looks as if they could become real competition for Android and Apple. Surface also looks very good and could challenge the iPad, especially while running Windows 8.

I have hands on experience with the Windows 8 OS because I installed the Release Preview on my laptop. While it would be best used with a touch-screen computer, it still works very well with a keyboard and mouse. The Metro interface is very well done and easy to use and navigate. The App Store is good and could present a lot of opportunities for different software.

The fact that Microsoft is finally bringing Office to iOS is great. This is something that should have come closer to the first iPad's release date but is welcome all the same.

Now while Microsoft has the definitive top spot in the console market, this new update could send them over the top. Playstation has had its own web browser for a while now but the inclusion of Internet Explorer will make them equal on that front, but Xbox still has no Blu-ray. Kinect has already beat out the Wii and the PS Move, but Smartglass could potentially trump Wii U before it even comes out. The ability to integrate the smartphone or tablet you already own with your console sounds better than having to purchase several Wii U tablet-controllers that will most likely cost over $100 each.

Well those are my views on the subject, feel free to post your own. Or speak your mind about anything regarding technology

I have to admit to being pretty skeptical about windows 8- I dont want a huge phone interface on my monitor. I'm also one of those people who likes to be able to get at the nuts and bolts behind the scenes and Microsoft have a bad habit of making them increasingly less accessable with every windows.
I'm running windows 7 now and I like it (though it took a bit of time to work out how to get at some of the nuts and bolts), Vista I thought was awful, 7 reminds me more of XP- in that it basically seems to work as you expect it and to be stable.

8 definitely did sound like it would be a big smartphone at first, but after getting hands on with it I realize it is much better than it sounds. It is free on the Microsoft website Petty and i recommend you download it and install it, simply for testing purposes, just dual boot your computer so you don't lose all your W7 stuff. It actually comes with a Windows 7 style desktop app, where you can access the stuff youre talking about

Thanks Lorient- I'll take a look at that.

No problem, let me know what you think of it!

Anyone have any thoughts on Apple winning its lawsuit against Samsung?

Core, doesn't that give you the pips.

Lorient Avandi wrote:Anyone have any thoughts on Apple winning its lawsuit against Samsung?

what lawsuit?

I hate mobile phones I hope they all go down the tubes, this is a good start!

(Norc, Samsung got done for nicking Apples software and fined a huge, whopping amount of money)

well, then samsung got what they deserved. apple all the way!

Well the iPhone 5 just came out. Looks nice, but really want a Nokia Lumia 920!

I quite like the look of the red Galaxy S3.... think I may go for that for my next phone in December. iCraps get on my nerves..... i expect more than half an hour of battery life.

And I am afraid this conversation is one of many reasons why I dont have a mobile phone.
I realise I am probably the only person left on the planet who doesn't carry a source of instant annoyance about their person but I heartly recommend trying it- its very libererating and peaceful.

I decided to get rid of all my friends and keep my phone.... liberating and peaceful whilst also providing entertainment in a more mobile way.

But why would you want to be entertained whilst your out and about?- when I go out and about its to do stuff- that the whole reason for being out and about- when I come home I want entertained and I can get that in a comfy chair with a buckie to hand on a nice big screen.
When I'm mobile I'm busy- I dont want to be texted, buzzed at, updated or have people trying to sell me things.

I think Lance is the wave of the future.

Living in New York I should get a smart phone: really comes into it's own here for finding things. But I'm afraid it will just get stolen, and when I'm out with people someone always has one to help us find, say, places that sell gorilla suits or whatnot, where-ever the whim of the moment takes us.

I thought you only went out dogging Petty?

And I have to make a multitude of long journeys across the Essex border every week day and would rather play Worms than stare at people.

I hate people!

Edit - Just noticed Half-wise has 'Whims' too... dont understand all this dogging craziness you know.

I refuse to admit I even know what you are alluding too Lance.
Besides I'm a cat person.

{{{Note to self when incognito dont approach ridiculusly pimped up Chav cars wearing a kilt}}}

And I agree about people. They never seem to go out of their way to make my life easier, which deep down I feel is surely the main purpose of there being other people.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:When I'm mobile I'm busy- I dont want to be texted, buzzed at, updated or have people trying to sell me things.

Not to say you have to get a mobile if you don't want one, but I can count on one hand the number of times that telemarketers have called my cell phone. I don't know if there's some sort of law against it or just common courtesy but they always call the land line (which we rarely use anymore).

Oh I have owned one in the past- in fact it was years of owning one led me to the conclusion life without one might be worth a go.

So Zune (Microsoft's petty attempt to compete with iTunes) dies tomorrow. Well, more accurately, is rebranded tomorrow as Xbox Music and Xbox Video. They are moving away from an iTunes style service to compete with Services such as Spotify and Pandora. The service is subscription based, much like Zune was at the end, and offers both paid and free subscriptions. Free are ad supported and, as far as I can tell, must have an Internet connection. Paid loses ads and has the ability to save playlists to a device so as to listen without Internet. Ironically, despite the new brand, Xbox users are hurt most by the new service. There is only a free trial, not a free subscription. Xbox users must have a Gold (paid) subscription To Xbox Live and pay an additional $9.99 for the Xbox Music service. Windows 8 users will have the option of both paid and free, as well as Windows Phone 8.

To be honest, I had thought Zune died years ago.

The Pirate Bay strikes again!

File-sharing website The Pirate Bay has moved its servers to the cloud to frustrate attempts to take it offline.
"All attempts to attack [us] from now on is an attack on everything and nothing," it says.
"The site that you're at will still be here, for as long as we want it to. Only in a higher form of being. A reality to us. A ghost to those who wish to harm us."
"Moving to the cloud lets TPB move from country to country, crossing borders seamlessly without downtime.The hosting providers have no idea that they're hosting The Pirate Bay, and even in the event they found out it would be impossible
for them to gather data on the users."
"If the police decide to raid us again there are no servers to take, just a transit router.If they follow the trail to the next country and find the load balancer, there is just a disk-less server there. In case they find
out where the cloud provider is, all they can get are encrypted disk-images."- BBC

I am still amazed that a piracy site with the high profile of TPB has survived for so many years while others like Megaupload (RIP) have fallen.

'A team of British scientists claim to have turned fresh air into petrol. A company called Air Fuel Synthesis manufactured five litres of petrol from a small refinery using carbon and water vapour.
Peter Harrison the company's chief exectutive explained that Air Fuel Synthesis "use renewable energy to take carbon dioxide from the air and
hydrogen from water to make methanol. The methanol is then converted to petrol".- BBC