Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Windows Phone OEMs still important as Microsoft targets 15% market share ( TechSpot 2013-09-03 )

Microsoft's OS leader: Buying Lumia "will help" other Windows Phone OEMs ( NeoWin 2013-09-03 )

However, in an official blog post, Terry Myerson, the recently named head of Microsoft's Operating Systems division, claims that the company's purchase of Nokia's Lumia business " ... will help make the market for all Windows Phones, from Microsoft or our OEM partners." He added:

We have exciting ideas, and so do our OEM partners. Our partners bring innovation, diversity and scale to Windows. Im always thrilled by the beautiful new device designs our partners are continually bringing to market. Theres a breadth of choice in form factor, finish and materials that deliver unique devices at a variety of price points. These devices feature innovative high resolution displays, audio, cameras, multi-finger touch screens, creative new hinge designs, new sensors, and other hardware enhancements that provide choice in the market and great experiences for users.

Man, that is some industrial strength marketbabble that unfortunately says nothing about how this deal will "help" the existing and potential WP OEMs. It's more like "tough noogies". Really now, why would Samsung or HTC release another WP now?

The deal just makes no sense really. According to the buzz on CNBC today, Microsoft takes $10 on every WP phone sold, and they will be able to now take $40 if the deal goes through. I don't feel like doing the math, but that is one huge buttload of phones they will need to ship to be able to clear that $7 billion ticket just to own the Nokia brand. How the he!! are they going to make this thing profitable? They still need to employ these 30 thousand new employees! This is a loser for Microsoft and I have a suspicion it is only to do one thing - save face because the OEM's were abandoning WP and I'd bet Nokia was considering an Android backup.

Here's one of the many skeptical comments about this deal ...

I said at the time Nokia signed the deal with Microsoft that it was only to devalue Nokia, so Microsoft would buy them. If Nokia would have given users a choice of OS, they would have been much more profitable. Microsoft may have still purchased them, but it would have cost them 2 or 3 times as much.

Now, Nokia should be sued by their shareholders for making such a stupid move.

Can't argue with that IMHO.

Could Stephen Elop Be the Next CEO of Microsoft? ( Tom's Hardware 2013-09-03 )

What will be left of Nokia after Microsoft's deal closes? ( NeoWin 2013-09-03 )

Nokia stock up 35 percent today; Microsoft stock down 5 percent ( NeoWin 2013-09-03 )

As Elop returns to Microsoft after a three-year stint at Nokia, this is the question folks are asking.

Stephen Elop knows Microsoft and he knows Steve Ballmer. Aside from teaming up with the Microsoft CEO for this video elaborating on the Microsoft/Nokia Windows Phone partnership, Elop used to work at Microsoft. For two years, from 2008 to 2010, he ran Microsoft's Business Division and was responsible for Microsoft Office. Elop then took the role of CEO at Nokia in September of 2010 and, a few short months later, threw his support behind Windows Phone, making it Nokia's primary smartphone OS.

Two years? Elop was barely ever a Softie. And barely a Nokia CEO for that matter. That qualifies as experience? He was a suit, plain and simple. I'm having a real hard time believing that real Softies would accept this guy as President of a division let alone future CEO. I would promote Raymond Chen instead. Yeah he's got a bit of an attitude but at least he's a bonafide programmer. Even Julie has more credentials. Suddenly Sinofsky doesn't look so bad.

In one of the online polls the majority of voters are supporting Gabe Newell as next CEO. There are even funnier entries too.

More skepticism ...

if he will become the ceo of microsoft there will be many lawsuits to prove he didnt plunge NOKIA into chaos and misfortune, so microsoft could buy it for a lower price, and then become microsoft ceo, since hes been with Nokia its stocks dropped from around 10 usd to around 4 usd

It's hard to argue with this IMHO. I'll bet that the EU will be all over this business arrangement. It just smells bad.

What will Microsoft call its upcoming in-house Windows Phones? ( NeoWin 2013-09-03 )

Best idea I've seen seen so far ... Lusitania

[jaclaz]

jaclaz, I did read fully what you wrote, as you will see below.

...

If you can find a protective bag that performs as well or better, for a lower price -- fabulous. Market competition will separate the wheat from the chaff. For now -- and this is the actual point of posting the link to that article, a point that has been ignored in this sidetracking discussion -- a major daily newspaper saw fit to remind its readers (no doubt some of them learning of this concept for the first time) that there is this kind of product out there that they can use. It is not the sort of thing that a user would conceive of automatically, so articles like this one are helpful as springboards for researching one's purchases.

Sorry, but no , you haven't then fully got the technical (please read as "practical") point I was trying to make (besides the "commercial" one of managing to sell something at 5x it's market value).

A cellular phone is BOTH transmitting and receiving.

The "transmitting" part is normally VERY LOW power (otherwise it would fry your brain) in operation and even lower in "stand-by" and cells antenna are VERY "sensitive", but when it cannot reach a cell antenna the intensity of transmission from the phone is raised noticeably (it tries "desperately" to make contact to a cell).

This means that the power consumption (battery drain) will raise noticeably.

A phone whose battery (fully charged) would normally last 24 hours in standby, may be drained in as low as 4 hours (yes, up to x6 factor roughly, of course greatly depending on model and firmware/telecom provider) if isolated from network.

The "need" for a "insulating container" for forensic scopes is of course different from that hinted in the mentioned article (mainly it is to avoid that anything inside the phone is altered and that there is no risk of having it switched off because th ePIN or access password may be not known), but the experience using similar "Faraday bags" devices since years has led to a whole set of "externally powered" containers, using large capacity batteries to guarantee that the power to the phone is maintained for long periods.

So the advertised thingy, besides not being particularly new (and since db are on a logarithmic scale the claimed "leap" between 80 and 100 db is really hard to be trusted at "face value" - and BTW very few "forensic Faraday bags do reach 80 db attenuation):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel

is of very little practical use, as after a few hours inside a perfectly shielded container the phone will switch itself off because of the battery going to 0.

A "normal" user (which does have his/her own PIN/password) would have a much easier way to isolate the phone by simply switching it off/removing the battery.

Since the "new" bag has no "window" it is not like some of the forensic bags with which the "offline" functions of the phone can be used.

So, the only advantage (provided that the shielding is actually effective) would be that taking the phone off the bag is faster than re-inserting the battery/switching it on when you want/need to use it (a handful of seconds), what I was pointing out is that there is a not-so-little drawback, which is the concrete risk of finding - when you take the phone out of the bag - that the phone has switched itself off and/or that there is no power left in the battery.

With all due respect to the good guys/gals at the Daily Mail, they (as well as a number of other UK and non UK newspapers) also publish articles like this one:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2388811/Beware-testicle-biting-fish-Swedish-men-told-relative-piranha-appears-Nordic-waters.html

what they "see fit" to make their readers aware of can be of greatly variable nature, and they did not seemingly care to clarify it was a joke/hoax, like - as an example - the Telegraph felt compelled to:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/sweden/10234986/Swedish-men-told-to-beware-testicle-munching-fish.html

jaclaz

[Formfiller]

Even Thurrott gets annoyed by "NuMicrosoft".

http://windowsitpro.com/cloud/does-microsoft-hate-it-pros

[JorgeA]

A "normal" user (which does have his/her own PIN/password) would have a much easier way to isolate the phone by simply switching it off/removing the battery.

Since the "new" bag has no "window" it is not like some of the forensic bags with which the "offline" functions of the phone can be used.

Thanks for the additional information, jaclaz. I had complete confidence that you would provide it.

I did wonder why not just keep the phone turned off, which is what I normally do anyway. But then it occurred to me that there could be special (political) circumstances where you'd want to keep the phone turned on and available for quick use, but inaccessible by snoops, which is where these bags come into play. Like wearing plate armor, anybody who's involved in these sorts of special circumstances will learn the product's limitations soon enough, and use it with the understanding of where it's most effective.

Time and experience will tell what the "market for privacy" considers the best product at the optimal price. As I see it, the more people who know that these kinds of products exist (thanks to the news media), the quicker we can get to that point.

--JorgeA

[jaclaz]

Like wearing plate armor, anybody who's involved in these sorts of special circumstances will learn the product's limitations soon enough, and use it with the understanding of where it's most effective.

Well, in the specific case you mention, the moment the user realizes that the product has some limits may be a bit late.

BTW, anyone knows how many "current" members Technet has/had?

The number of subscriptions to the petition cited by Thurrot in the article FormFiller mentioned:

http://windowsitpro.com/cloud/does-microsoft-hate-it-pros

around 11,000:

http://www.change.org/petitions/continue-technet-or-create-an-affordable-alternative-to-msdn

may mean "something" or "nothing at all" depending on th enumber of original Technet subscribers,

As a side note, taken from:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/ms772427.aspx

APOC DELAY

Why haven’t the 90-day subscription extensions been automatically applied to the accounts of customers in the Asia Pacific region?

Subscriber data for our customers in the Asia Pacific region is stored in a different database and the process to extend eligible subscriptions is more complicated. The TechNet Subscriptions team is actively working to provide this extension offer to all eligible subscribers as soon as possible and will send a notification email to subscribers in the Asia Pacific region, once their subscriptions have been extended.

When will subscribers in the Asia Pacific region whose subscriptions expire between September 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014 receive their 90-day extension?

The TechNet subscriptions team will extend eligible subscribers’ subscriptions in the coming weeks and will send a notification email to subscribers in the Asia Pacific region, once their subscriptions have been extended.

Let me get this straight, we are in AD 2013, the most powerful software corporation on Earth, that makes business (or tries to) selling/providing online storage and database solutions to multinational industries/ will need a few weeks to merge/order/whatever the data related to Asia Pacific region subscribers because the data is "stored in different database and the process to extend eligible subscriptions is more complicated" ?

Oww, come off it!

jaclaz

Edited September 4, 2013 by jaclaz

[JorgeA]

Even Thurrott gets annoyed by "NuMicrosoft".

http://windowsitpro.com/cloud/does-microsoft-hate-it-pros

Thanks for the link!

I'm coming around to the view that Thurrott "gets it," and that what I've interpreted in the past as his advocacy of NuMicrosoft insanity is largely his attempt to describe the company's attitude from its perspective, without necessarily agreeing with it.

Maybe he himself is conflicted, or maybe his views are shifting. But it's encouraging to hear him say things like Microsoft "should do the right thing" and offer choice to its customers.

From the post you linked to:

...But the end game is clear enough: Microsoft intends to move from software to services, and it intends to take its customers with it.

Many customers are balking at this so-called journey. Some have regulatory needs that may or may never be satisfied by cloud services. Some simply don't like the idea of relying on external hosters and services providers. Some, yes, are simply old-fashioned. But as Microsoft moves inexorably to the cloud, many see choice disappearing.

One problem with their cloud model is that there are businesses that cannot affordto take the risk inherent in having somebody else store their data. When somebody else keeps your data, you no longer have control of how securely it is stored. If I were an executive in a healthcare or financial company, I would simply not trust any assurance that a cloud service might give me about the security of my data -- I would do that in-house where I had total control over the data and its protection. Otherwise, if there were a breach, how would I answer my customers, my CEO, the directors, the stockholders... and the lawyers dashing to the courthouse to file suit? "Sorry, we trusted SkyDrive or Amazon (or whomever) to know what they were doing, and gave them our data..." I don't think that line would wash.

Later in the piece, Thurrott makes a point I've said in this thread before, that Microsoft should focus on its strengths rather than try to be all things to all people:

And as Google and Apple's focus on consumers has led them to great success, maybe Microsoft needs to focus solely on those customers that historically, as now, have been the company's primary source of revenues: businesses.

Maybe Microsoft should treat its consumer products like incubation projects: Build them out, establish the brand, and then spin them off. Certainly, I can make more of a case for a purely business-focused Microsoft than anything else.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

It seems that AT&T has joined the (totalitarian) party:

Drug Agents Use Vast Phone Trove, Eclipsing N.S.A.’s

For at least six years, law enforcement officials working on a counternarcotics program have had routine access, using subpoenas, to an enormous AT&T database that contains the records of decades of Americans’ phone calls — parallel to but covering a far longer time than the National Security Agency’s hotly disputed collection of phone call logs.

The Hemisphere Project, a partnership between federal and local drug officials and AT&T that has not previously been reported, involves an extremely close association between the government and the telecommunications giant.

The government pays AT&T to place its employees in drug-fighting units around the country. Those employees sit alongside Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local detectives and supply them with the phone data from as far back as 1987.

[...]

Hemisphere covers every call that passes through an AT&T switch — not just those made by AT&T customers — and includes calls dating back 26 years, according to Hemisphere training slides bearing the logo of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Some four billion call records are added to the database every day, the slides say; technical specialists say a single call may generate more than one record. Unlike the N.S.A. data, the Hemisphere data includes information on the locations of callers.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

I hope Tripredacus won't mind my linking to this relevant post of his in another thread. It sounds like the Windows 8.1 option to "upgrade" from Win8 is a bit misleading, or at least open to misinterpretation, which could tick off a lot of users.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

An interesting critique of the new IE/Win8 SmartScreen Filter. Not an entirely disinterested analyst, of course, but his points make sense and it's still a thought-provoking writeup.

If you look at the illustrations, the XP-style warning is a heck of a lot more useful than the information-free Windows 8 notification.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

And for those who say that "anti-crime" tools would never be used to persecute political opponents -- well, they're already being used that way:

Software Meant to Fight Crime Is Used to Spy on Dissidents

SAN FRANCISCO — Morgan Marquis-Boire works as a Google engineer and Bill Marczak is earning a Ph.D. in computer science. But this summer, the two men have been moonlighting as detectives, chasing an elusive surveillance tool from Bahrain across five continents.

What they found was the widespread use of sophisticated, off-the-shelf computer espionage software by governments with questionable records on human rights. While the software is supposedly sold for use only in criminal investigations, the two came across evidence that it was being used to target political dissidents.

The software proved to be the stuff of a spy film: it can grab images of computer screens, record Skype chats, turn on cameras and microphones and log keystrokes. The two men said they discovered mobile versions of the spyware customized for all major mobile phones.

But what made the software especially sophisticated was how well it avoided detection. Its creators specifically engineered it to elude antivirus software made by Kaspersky Lab, Symantec, F-Secure and others.

One may be tempted to say that "it can't happen here," but is that a bet you'd be willing to lose? We know that in the U.S., critics of the current administration have been singled out for special attention by the federal tax-collection agency (IRS). How long before someone (of either party, at some point) rationalizes that the opposition "might" be involved in "civil disobedience" -- meaning, breaking some law -- and are "therefore" suitable targets for this kind of spying?

Power corrupts, and absolute power...

--JorgeA

[jaclaz]

Not an entirely disinterested analyst, of course,

I simply LOVE understatements

http://community.norton.com/t5/Norton-Protection-Blog/Myth-Busting-Windows-8-Security-Part-Four/ba-p/833024

Make sure you protect your Windows 8 investment, choose a security product that bridges gaps present in the current operating system. Norton One and Norton 360 Multi Device products are designed to protect all your devices including those running Windows 8, and proven to make your Windows 8 device faster and safer.

Gerry Egan is Senior Director of Product Management, Norton by Symantec.

I would personally would like to have a look at the tests that can lead anyone to believe that the absurd amount of bloat that constitutes a current Norton Antivirus or "protection solution" can make Windows 8 (or any other OS for that matters) faster.

jaclaz

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Microsoft Rumored to be Considering BlackBerrry Purchase ( Tom's Hardware 2013-09-04 )

Interesting little tidbit ...

Sources told Bloomberg that the Microsoft-Nokia deal is more of a sprint than a marathon, that talks between the two began back in February. Both parties reportedly agreed that the current two-year-old smartphone collaboration just wasn't working as expected.

That's quite illuminating really. You had WP landing a pitiful 3-4% marketshare and then several OEMs bailing or planning to bail. This is why I think there were some plans being made for a Nokia Android model ( would have been a huge hit for sure ) which got Microsoft fired up to land Nokia. It's all for naught though, they're going to stay right where they are in single digits. And we lose a competent handset builder in the process. Just great. The MicroDestroyers continue effin up the Tech world to placate their inferiority complex and envy of Apple and Google.

HTC on Microsoft-Nokia deal: 'We are assessing the situation' ( NeoWin 2013-09-04 )

I'll bet they are. As above, I suspect they were planning an exit and now will finally do it. Great comment replying to a typical fanboy ...

Nokia was the only one that gave two nuts about it - and it did them good

Yep, it REALLY did them good...

yep, he looks perfectly suited to become a Microsoft hotshot, even CEO. He's even got the chair phone throwing thing down ...

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

It seems that AT&T has joined the (totalitarian) party:

Drug Agents Use Vast Phone Trove, Eclipsing N.S.A.s

For at least six years, law enforcement officials working on a counternarcotics program have had routine access, using subpoenas, to an enormous AT&T database that contains the records of decades of Americans phone calls parallel to but covering a far longer time than the National Security Agencys hotly disputed collection of phone call logs.

The Hemisphere Project, a partnership between federal and local drug officials and AT&T that has not previously been reported, involves an extremely close association between the government and the telecommunications giant.

The government pays AT&T to place its employees in drug-fighting units around the country. Those employees sit alongside Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local detectives and supply them with the phone data from as far back as 1987.

[...]

Hemisphere covers every call that passes through an AT&T switch not just those made by AT&T customers and includes calls dating back 26 years, according to Hemisphere training slides bearing the logo of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Some four billion call records are added to the database every day, the slides say; technical specialists say a single call may generate more than one record. Unlike the N.S.A. data, the Hemisphere data includes information on the locations of callers.

--JorgeA

Another stunning example of the real life Matrix we had no idea we were really living in. The government paid lip service to all those criticisms for decades and then not only continued the path, but exceeded everyone's wildest fears. I can't think of a conspiracy theory from back in those days that hasn't been proved true and surpassed. The drug thing alone is bad enough ( I don't see a corresponding Amendment to the 18th, which itself was repealed, allowing the drug war in the first place ). Obviously, this far exceeds prohibition because it guts the first, fourth and fifth Amendments to the core.

Their "out" has always used the FCC oversight of "public airwaves" as the linchpin for all these intrusions. A perfect example of how precedent layered upon precedent gets you from point-a to point-z in quick fashion. Now anything is fair game.

The sheeple better wake up.

[Formfiller]

I hope Tripredacus won't mind my linking to this relevant post of his in another thread. It sounds like the Windows 8.1 option to "upgrade" from Win8 is a bit misleading, or at least open to misinterpretation, which could tick off a lot of users.

--JorgeA

I am pretty sure the scenario in the link happens only when you put in the DVD.

The upgrade through the store is a real upgrade I think (what a colossal p***-off if not!)

Edited September 5, 2013 by Formfiller

[Formfiller]

Metrotards are obviously pissed about Aero Glass:

http://www.neowin.net/news/areo-glass-mod-for-windows-8-10-version-released