Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Unable to spark interest in Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft infects iOS and Android like a cancer [feedly]
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Unable to spark interest in Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft infects iOS and Android like a cancer
// Betanews
At the moment, Microsoft is all about Windows 10. Such is the company's focus on its desktop operating system, that you would be forgiven for forgetting that Windows 10 Mobile is on the way as well. But here Microsoft has a problem. Not only has Windows 10 Mobile failed to infiltrate the public consciousness, those who are aware of the impending release are singularly indifferent to it.
Clearly Microsoft is not happy about this, but there's not much that can be done to force people into using Windows 10 Mobile (although given the company's track record with pushing Windows 10 to desktops, nothing would come as a surprise). Instead, Microsoft is having to content itself by spreading cancerously to iOS and Android, spreading the diseases of Cortana, the Word Flow keyboard and more to rival platforms.
Microsoft recently released the AppComparison app for Android in a bid to tend people away from Google's Mobile operating system over to Windows 10 Mobile. The idea is to highlight just how many familiar apps are available for the mobile version of Windows 10, but really Microsoft is happy enough to get people using its mobile offering by proxy. The company knows full well that it will be a cold day in hell before there is a mass swing away from Android and iOS to Windows 10 Mobile, so it is contenting itself by infecting rival app stores with ported versions of Windows 10 Mobile apps.
We have already seen Cortana make its way to both iOS and Android. This is more than just Microsoft trying to offer an alternative to Siri and Google Now, it's the company trying to get Windows 10 Mobile features to people through the back door. Windows 10 Mobile is not a big seller but by pulling out key features and transplanting them to other platforms, Microsoft is able to advertise the things it is proudest of.
This is certainly not the first time we've seen Microsoft showing an interest in platform other than its own. There was some upset from Windows Phone fans when the company decided to bring mobile versions of Office to iOS and Android first. Shoving Cortana onto Google and Apple handsets is, presumably, a move by Microsoft to push Windows 10 Mobile down people's throats. Now there is news that Windows 10 Mobile's Word Flow keyboard is making the jump to iOS and then spreading to Android. Even the likes of Microsoft Selfie are not Windows 10 exclusives.
But there Microsoft's advertising-by-osmosis approach also serves to highlight another issue with the mobile arena at the moment. There are three broad camps to choose from (four if you are mad enough to include BlackBerry), but despite paying their money and making their choice, users are still demanding -- or being told they want --- the same apps to be available on every single platform. We're being presented with dull, dull, dull, homogeneity.
Google and Apple already have a firm foothold. Android and iOS can afford to share features, to be a little similar to one another. But Microsoft does not have this luxury. It is fighting an uphill battle to bring Windows 10 Mobile to public attention and to do this, it really needs to be different -- something it will completely fail to do if features and apps keep being ported to other platforms.
Microsoft has turned Windows 10 Mobile into a cancer, and the approach the company is taking means that in all likelihood the prognosis is terminal.
Photo credit: Tatiana Shepeleva / Shutterstock
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Saturday, January 16, 2016
Microsoft says new processors will only work with Windows 10 [feedly]
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Microsoft says new processors will only work with Windows 10
// The Verge
Soon, if you have a new PC, you won't be able to run Windows 7 or 8. Microsoft has announced an update to its support policy that lays out its plans for future updates to its older operating systems, and the new rules mean that future PC owners with next-generation Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm processors will have to use Windows 10.
It's not usual for old PCs to fall in under the minimum requirements of a brand new operating system, but in this case, the opposite is happening. Microsoft and its partners will not be putting in the significant work necessary to make new hardware work with older versions of Windows.
Policy starts with Intel's current processors, Skylake
"Going forward, as new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support," Microsoft notes in a blog post published on Friday. "Windows 10 will be the only supported Windows platform on Intel's upcoming 'Kaby Lake' silicon, Qualcomm's upcoming '8996' silicon, and AMD's upcoming 'Bristol Ridge' silicon."
This new policy doesn't mean that Windows 7 and 8.1 are no longer supported in general. The two operating systems will continue to get updates through January 14, 2020 and January 10, 2023, respectively. But that's only if you're using hardware that was contemporaneous with those operating systems.
For current PC owners, the detail to note is that Intel's current, sixth generation processors, known as Skylake, are the first that won't support either of the older versions of Windows. (Intel and Microsoft say that the platform and Windows 10 were designed for each other.) Microsoft is phasing in the policy now.
Microsoft offers 18-month grace period for enterprise customers
For the company's all-important enterprise customers, who often lag behind on hardware and software updates in order to guarantee stability, Microsoft says it will be maintaining a list of approved Skylake systems that are guaranteed to have Windows 7 and 8.1 support through July 17, 2017. That gives companies an 18 month grace period to buy modern hardware for employees before committing and implementing upgrades to Windows 10.
After the grace period, only "the most critical Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 security updates will be addressed for these configurations, and will be released if the update does not risk the reliability or compatibility of the Windows 7/8.1 platform on other devices." Companies and consumers, of course, can still buy older PC hardware that doesn't utilize Intel's Skylake platform — the last generation of supported processors are known as Broadwell, and those chips are still widely available.
The policy change not only makes Microsoft's hardware partners happy — they no longer are on the hook to develop as many costly software updates for past versions of Windows — but it also helps Microsoft push adoption of Windows 10. The company sees the operating system as the "final" version of Windows; it's now a service, not a product, and this change better reflects that. There's only one current version of Windows, and while Microsoft will fullfill its legacy hardware obligations, it won't be expending resources to help users steer clear of its latest and greatest.
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Monday, January 4, 2016
There's a new type of Wi-Fi, and it's designed to connect your smart home [feedly]
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There's a new type of Wi-Fi, and it's designed to connect your smart home
// The Verge
It seems obvious: Wi-Fi already connects most gadgets in your home. So why wouldn't it connect your smart home gadgets, too?
But while it sounds obvious, the companies making these connected gadgets have been reluctant to use Wi-Fi. That's because Wi-Fi requires a lot of power, and that's a huge problem for any device that needs to be tiny, cheap, and able to run on a single charge for months or even years at a time.
HaLow is meant for fitness trackers, home sensors, and other tiny gadgets
So now, the group behind Wi-Fi is doing something about it. It's announcing a new type of Wi-Fi today that's meant to work on low-power devices. It'll travel farther and even do a better job of traveling through walls. Basically, it's an all around better option for smart home and IoT devices, at least if these claims hold up.
The new type of Wi-Fi is being called Wi-Fi HaLow (pronounced "halo") and will be an extension of the upcoming 802.11ah standard. The Wi-Fi Alliance intends to begin certifying HaLow products sometime in 2018, but the first of them may begin shipping shortly before then.
Essentially, this is Wi-Fi's answer to Bluetooth. HaLow is supposed to end up inside of fitness trackers, home sensors, security cameras, and an assortment of other single-purpose home gadgets. Wi-Fi is already inside of some of those things — like cameras — but getting inside of wearables and sensors is going to be a fight. HaLow will truly need to be a better option than Bluetooth. The Wi-Fi Alliance won't mention Bluetooth by name, but it implies that HaLow is comparable. "HaLow will provide similar characteristics in terms to battery life to technologies that are out there today," says Kevin Robinson, the alliance's marketing VP.
"The alliance sees HaLow playing a large role in the IoT."
If HaLow really can do what the alliance says it can, it would be a big deal. It's essentially promising to do everything Bluetooth can, but at a longer range and with the ability to connect directly to your router, and therefore the internet. You should be skeptical of whether it can pull that off, but HaLow has the advantage of building on top of an enormously successful existing standard. Our phones and routers will need upgraded Wi-Fi chips to work with HaLow products, but presumably that'll come in time, just as 5GHz Wi-Fi quickly arrived after its introduction.
The reason that HaLow seems to have Wi-Fi superpowers is that it's operating on a much better slice of spectrum. It'll be in the 900MHz range, which has better reach and penetration than the 2.4GHz and 5GHz range that existing Wi-Fi operates in. (But, like existing Wi-Fi, it'll be in operating in unlicensed spectrum, so there may be interferences.)
Obviously, there are limitations
There does, of course, have to be a downside. And there is: HaLow isn't going to be as good at quickly transferring data. This isn't Wi-Fi for browsing the web; it's for transferring small bits of data on infrequent occasions. Device manufacturers can, to some extent, customize HaLow to their needs to get faster transfers, but that'll happen at the expense of battery life.
From the sound of it, it'll be two years before we even see the beginning of HaLow's invasion of the smart home. But the smart home — and, more broadly, the Internet of Things — is only just starting to take shape in a sensible way, so HaLow may not be too late to the party. "The alliance sees HaLow playing a large role in the IoT," Robinson says. But even he admits, Wi-Fi isn't likely to be the only standard. "No one expects that the Internet of Things will consolidate on a single connectivity technology."
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