windows

Google+ adds Communities, hits 135 million active users

While Google+ has been a relatively quiet corner of the Web, the site has definitely attracted some close-knit groups. Photographers, in particular, have gravitated to the site, finding it an effective way to share their work with a large, receptive audience.

Now Google is introducing a feature that the company hopes will spur more groups to make Google+ their social network of choice. Google+ Communities, which will integrate group functions into the social network, are rolling out across the site today.

"We see Google+ Communities as the next logical step for groups of people that have already formed on … Read more

Microsoft tries #DroidRage thing again -- doesn't take

Call it a Microsoft holiday tradition. The annual #DroidRage Twitter campaign is back.

The general idea of #DroidRage is to "share your Android malware horror story."

And while there are some tweets supporting Microsoft, they aren't easy to find -- despite this tweet by Microsoft: "Yikes! Hundreds of #DroidRage stories already since our tweet last night."

Instead, the tweets are trending toward flaming Windows.

Here's how adamwiniecki put it: "marketing guru who came up with #droidrage actually secretly works for Google."

He's right. There is precious little about Android malware stories. … Read more

Lenovo exec: We didn't realize how big touch would be

Nearly every day seems to bring another dismal report about Windows 8 and the PC market.

If the forecasts and comments are to believed (and they largely are), few consumers are buying computers, opting instead for the iPad or other tablets. And if people actually want to buy the more innovative computers out there, like the ones with touchscreens, they have a hard time finding them in stores.

But Gerry Smith, who sat down to talk with CNET today after recently being named Lenovo's president of the North America region, said those suppositions are only partially true.

The industry … Read more

Dropbox plans Windows 8 touch support

PARIS -- Dropbox plans to launch a version of its software that will let Windows 8 customers use the file-sharing service on the Microsoft's new operating system.

"We are going to be launching our client app for Windows 8," said Aditya Agarwal, Dropbox's vice president of engineering, speaking at the LeWeb conference here. The software will of course work in the traditional desktop mode shared with earlier Windows versions, but also with the new touch-centric user interface of Windows 8 spotlighted with Microsoft's new Surface tablet, he said.

The move isn't a major surprise; … Read more

Windows 8 touch PC demand strong

Demand for Windows 8 touch-screen PCs is strong, according to two analysts who spoke with CNET.

"Touch machines are actually selling above expectations," said Bob O'Donnell, a program vice president at IDC.

And that means supply shortages. "Some vendors are actually facing shortages because touch panels are in limited supply. Vendors are saying they can't get as many touch-based machines as they would like to meet the demand that they're seeing."

Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at IHS iSuppli, echoed O'Donnell's comments. "We've talked to a number of PC makers … Read more

Surface sales may exceed 1M in Q4, says researcher

Microsoft's Surface RT tablet is expected to see sales of more than a million units in the fourth quarter, IHS iSuppli told CNET today.

"We see estimated sales of 1.3 million" in the quarter, Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at IHS iSuppli, said in a phone interview today. The fourth quarter still has a few weeks left.

"I would be surprised to see it much above that," she added as a qualifier.

The Surface RT version of Microsoft's tablet first went on sale October 26, well into the fourth quarter, so sales of over … Read more

A day with a Windows 8 laptop convertible: Keep the top up

I'd done my research, having investigated major Windows 8 convertible laptops on the market. The one I'd settled on, the Lenovo Yoga 13, had arrived. So last week, I went cold turkey with it on a business trip, abandoning my MacBook Air to see if Windows 8 could deliver a product that was both tablet and laptop in one.

Short answer: no.

As I explained in my last column, I've long wished for a device with the "instant-on" ability of my MacBook Air but also one that could transform into a tablet, for those times … Read more

8 things Microsoft is doing wrong

A few days ago, Tami Reller, Microsoft's chief marketing and financial officer for Windows, announced that the company had sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses since October 26 -- the day the new operating system launched. All puns aside, on the surface that seems pretty impressive, but recent articles by CNET and others indicate a much shakier start for Windows 8 and the hardware hinged to it.

On November 29, an article by the New York Times cited poor sales figures for both Windows PCs and tablets from NPD, the retail sales tracking firm, painting "a darker picture … Read more

Shake your Groovy Tuesday

Do you hate your job? Is your boss a jerk? Are you an elephant on roller skates?!

Every year, the DePaul University Game Dev Program chooses a set of students to create an entry for the Independent Games Festival, and the results are usually impressive (see last year's entry Octodad). This year, the anthropomorphic-loving crew is back with Groovy Tuesday, in which you guide a roller-skating elephant on his quest to funkify his office--including furniture, lights, and coworkers--by tossing "plugmen" into heretofore unconnected music devices.

Still under development, the 0.9 version of Groovy Tuesday offers up … Read more