Computerworld Archive

  • Microsoft and Verizon say Kin’s monthly pricing isn’t crazy, when you think about it

    Microsoft and Verizon say Kin’s monthly pricing isn’t crazy, when you think about it

    Whatever you think about the Kin devices themselves, the one thing most folks can agree on is that their monthly pricing is more than a little out of step with their target audience -- except for Microsoft and Verizon, that is. Speaking to Computerworld, Microsoft senior product manager Greg Sullivan and Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney both raised the issue of the Kin's ability to backup to the cloud when defending the high monthly price ($30 for data on top of a standard phone plan), with Sullivan saying that once customers "realize the value of this, they'll realize it's a great deal." On another note, Sullivan also used some interesting language when discussing the possibility of app downloads for the Kin, saying that "over the longer term" Microsoft will be "merging" the Kin and Windows Phone 7 platforms and adding downloadable apps. Now, that's not a radical departure from what we've heard from Microsoft before, but "merge" is a curious choice of words, isn't it?

    Microsoft and Verizon say Kin's monthly pricing isn't crazy, when you think about it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • German site lets you pre-order unreleased HP Mini 210

    German site lets you pre-order unreleased HP Mini 210

    Oops! Looks like someone spilled the news about HP's new Mini 210 netbook. The new netbook (if the site is to be believed) will be running the new Intel N455 chipset, the successor to the N450. The N455 runs at 1.55GHz, and is expected to support the newer DDR3 RAM.

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  • Windows 7 market share growing

    Windows 7 market share growing

    Don't look now, but Windows 7 is taking over. And while Vista is still in the number 2 spot overall, Windows 7 has reached that critical 10% milestone almost a year earlier then Vista. Having used both version of the OS, it's pretty obvious why.

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  • A DVD that lasts 1000 years (but is it scratch resistant?)

    A DVD that lasts 1000 years (but is it scratch resistant?)

    New kid on the block Cranberry claims that their new DVD will last 1,000 years. Of course no one will be around to dispute that claim, and by then we'll be using some kind of organic memory light data cell, but hey! Who knows, maybe future generations will want to see those vacation photos you took of Grandma Rhoda and Aunt Suzy.

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  • Apple welcomes Windows pirates with open arms

    Apple welcomes Windows pirates with open arms

    Apple seems to have bought some keywords on Google including, most interestingly, "download windows 7." That's right: every hax0r out to download Win7 will see a little ad from Apple saying "Upgrading to Windows 7? There's never been a better time to switch to a Mac. Find out why."

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  • Tiny mini-SATA solid state drives from Samsung are smaller than a business card

    Tiny mini-SATA solid state drives from Samsung are smaller than a business card

    Samsung has a tiny solid state drive that might make its way into future notebooks and netbooks. Based on the mSATA (mini-SATA) interface, the drive would require no external housing and “would plug directly into an internal PCI Express (PCIe) slot in a desktop, laptop or netbook,” according to Computerworld.

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  • Analyst: Android to become #2 mobile OS by 2012

    Analyst: Android to become #2 mobile OS by 2012

    According to Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney, Google’s fledgling Android OS has the potential to become the number two mobile operating system (behind Symbian OS) by 2012. This certainly sounds like a bit of a stretch considering that currently Android is operating on less than 2% of the world’s smartphones. However, in a recent interview with [...]

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  • Apple Gets A Mapmaker. Where Does That Leave Google?

    Apple Gets A Mapmaker. Where Does That Leave Google?

    In case you haven't had enough location-based news tonight, here's another very interesting bit. It looks like Apple has very quietly bought an online mapping company, Seth Weintraub of Computerworld reports tonight. Apple's purchase of Placebase actually took place this past July, and a founder of a partner company that was using Placebase maps tweeted about it. But it slid under most people's radars as that was the only news out there about it. But Weintraub dug up Placebase CEO Jaron Waldman's LinkedIn profile tonight, and sure enough, he is now part of the "Geo Team" at Apple.

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  • Free laptops sent to government offices spurs FBI case

    Free laptops sent to government offices spurs FBI case

    free laptopApparently it's not okay to send West Virginia's governor five free laptops. What a world! Governor Joe Manchin's office got a nice four-pack of Compaq laptops earlier this month, followed a week later by a fifth machine from HP. The only problem was that nobody in his office ordered them or paid for them.

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  • Linux is big business

    Linux is big business

    linux developmentHot on the heels of the news of UNIX's 40th anniversary comes a Linux Foundation report entitled Who Writes Linux. This report investigates who is contributing to the Linux kernel, and how much: "Since 2005, over 5000 individual developers from nearly 500 different companies have contributed to the kernel. The Linux kernel, thus, has become a common resource developed on a massive scale by companies which are fierce competitors in other areas." Wow! Click through to see who's been contributing.

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  • Apple Approves iPhone App That “Promotes School Shootings”

    Apple Approves iPhone App That “Promotes School Shootings”

    Our beefs with Apple's inconsistent behavior when it comes to approving or rejecting applications for the iPhone / iPod Touch platform has been well documented. iPhoneWorld.ca draws our attention to yet another example that makes us wonder if there's a clear policy at Infinite Loop at all, or if the team is simply trained well in the 'hit or miss' phenomenon. Or as ComputerWorld eloquently puts it: "[Apple's App Store] is lorded over by an inscrutable team of guardians devoted to maintaining control over the platform." Take this Zombie School application from the aptly named iPhone app developer Retarded Arts. It lets you turn your classmates or teachers into zombies, after which you can use a machine gun, bow or grenades to kill them. It's a pretty tasteless game, but I can see how the team at Apple responsible for screening new apps for submission in the App Store could have missed the sensitiveness surrounding the topic of the game to ultimately approve it.

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