1. The World Post-Windows 8: Getting Better All the Time
Given that the Theme for Windows 95 Was "Start Me Up," Windows 8 likely should pull from the old Beatles hit "Getting Better." As we approach launch, it truly appears to be getting better all the time. It is clear Microsoft has been holding some things back for the launch. You see, I've been working on a Windows 8 tablet for some months now, and I just did my first system build from scratch with Windows 8. A lot of the features that I hadn't noticed earlier are now turned on, and the experience is far more interesting.
2. Dell Goes for the Windows 8 Gold
With Microsoft's next-generation Windows 8 operating system set to launch later this month, Dell on Friday announced new computers that will support it: the Dell XPS 12 convertible laptop, the Dell XPS One 27 all-in-one desktop, and the Dell Inspiron One 23 all-in-one. "Dell and Microsoft have strived to make technology more accessible and intuitive for more than two decades, and the introduction of new Dell PCs and Windows 8 software is another important milestone in this journey," said Sam Burd, vice president of the PC product group at Dell.
3. Acer's Windows 8 Tablet Edges Into iPad Turf
Ramping up for the holiday season, Acer this week announced the Iconia W510 Windows 8 hybrid tablet, just five days after it unveiled the W700 Win 8 tablet PC. The W510 is offered in four versions -- as a standalone tablet PC with 32 or 64 GB of RAM, with a keyboard dock, or as a full-fledged business device running Windows 8 Pro. Prices range from $499 to $799 and the W510 will be available on Nov. 9. "Acer has designed its new Windows 8 tablet PC to serve customers who want to maximize productivity and have a first-rate tablet experience," said Acer spokesperson Kelly Odle.
4. New Xbox interface brings Windows 8 "Metro" style to the console
Back in the good old days, game consoles didn't really need their own on-screen interface. You simply put in the cartridge, turned the thing on, and played the game. But as our systems have expanded to handle everything from downloadable games to Netflix streaming, they've needed increasingly complex interfaces to help users manage all those different tasks. Microsoft's latest Xbox 360 dashboard update launches on Tuesday, and I've been using it as part of a beta program for a few months now. Previous changes to the Xbox interface have been pretty radical, but this is a more incremental update. Still, it's a welcome one.
"I think...with the holiday release last year we went more toward the Windows 8 look and feel," Xbox group client manager Kevin Gammill told Ars. "What you see with the release this year is a further refinement on that, primarily driven by what we found from research and what our users were actually doing."
Those refinements come from what Gammill calls "both qualitative and quantitative user research at a microscopic level." The process started earlier this year, long before the beta launched for hundreds of thousands of Xbox users, Gammill said. Microsoft conducted mock-up testing at its Redmond campus and detailed in-home testing among targeted users in the US and internationally. Gammill and his team also pay attention to aggregate usage data from both beta testers and users of last year's dashboard update, as well as general complaints and suggestions on message boards.
5. Shooting Challenge: 26 Stunning Circle Shots… Vote For Your Favourite
OK guys, it’s Gizmodo Australia Shooting Challenge voting time! There are some amazing photos in this bunch, so start voting for your favourite photographer! They might just win a New Look PlayStation 3!
Given that the Theme for Windows 95 Was "Start Me Up," Windows 8 likely should pull from the old Beatles hit "Getting Better." As we approach launch, it truly appears to be getting better all the time. It is clear Microsoft has been holding some things back for the launch. You see, I've been working on a Windows 8 tablet for some months now, and I just did my first system build from scratch with Windows 8. A lot of the features that I hadn't noticed earlier are now turned on, and the experience is far more interesting.
2. Dell Goes for the Windows 8 Gold
With Microsoft's next-generation Windows 8 operating system set to launch later this month, Dell on Friday announced new computers that will support it: the Dell XPS 12 convertible laptop, the Dell XPS One 27 all-in-one desktop, and the Dell Inspiron One 23 all-in-one. "Dell and Microsoft have strived to make technology more accessible and intuitive for more than two decades, and the introduction of new Dell PCs and Windows 8 software is another important milestone in this journey," said Sam Burd, vice president of the PC product group at Dell.
3. Acer's Windows 8 Tablet Edges Into iPad Turf
Ramping up for the holiday season, Acer this week announced the Iconia W510 Windows 8 hybrid tablet, just five days after it unveiled the W700 Win 8 tablet PC. The W510 is offered in four versions -- as a standalone tablet PC with 32 or 64 GB of RAM, with a keyboard dock, or as a full-fledged business device running Windows 8 Pro. Prices range from $499 to $799 and the W510 will be available on Nov. 9. "Acer has designed its new Windows 8 tablet PC to serve customers who want to maximize productivity and have a first-rate tablet experience," said Acer spokesperson Kelly Odle.
4. New Xbox interface brings Windows 8 "Metro" style to the console
Back in the good old days, game consoles didn't really need their own on-screen interface. You simply put in the cartridge, turned the thing on, and played the game. But as our systems have expanded to handle everything from downloadable games to Netflix streaming, they've needed increasingly complex interfaces to help users manage all those different tasks. Microsoft's latest Xbox 360 dashboard update launches on Tuesday, and I've been using it as part of a beta program for a few months now. Previous changes to the Xbox interface have been pretty radical, but this is a more incremental update. Still, it's a welcome one.
"I think...with the holiday release last year we went more toward the Windows 8 look and feel," Xbox group client manager Kevin Gammill told Ars. "What you see with the release this year is a further refinement on that, primarily driven by what we found from research and what our users were actually doing."
Those refinements come from what Gammill calls "both qualitative and quantitative user research at a microscopic level." The process started earlier this year, long before the beta launched for hundreds of thousands of Xbox users, Gammill said. Microsoft conducted mock-up testing at its Redmond campus and detailed in-home testing among targeted users in the US and internationally. Gammill and his team also pay attention to aggregate usage data from both beta testers and users of last year's dashboard update, as well as general complaints and suggestions on message boards.
5. Shooting Challenge: 26 Stunning Circle Shots… Vote For Your Favourite
OK guys, it’s Gizmodo Australia Shooting Challenge voting time! There are some amazing photos in this bunch, so start voting for your favourite photographer! They might just win a New Look PlayStation 3!
6. Apple’s Mobile App Store Is Back After Huge OutageAfter an outage spanning almost 24-hours, the Apple App Store is back on your iDevices. Apple users weren’t able to view the App Store, update or download new apps to their handsets, unless they connected it to a computer during the outage. Now though, you should be once again able to access the App Store.
7. Exoplanet found right next door in Alpha CentauriToday, planet hunters announced evidence there's a planet orbiting one of our closest stellar neighbors. One of the three stars of the α Centauri star system shows the sort of periodic changes in brightness that are a hallmark of the presence of an orbiting planet. And, even though the new world would be far too hot to support liquid water, the astronomers who discovered it point out small planets tend to form in groups. Odds are good that there are additional planets lurking further out from the host star.
Rapid advances in planet-hunting have led to an ever-increasing catalog of exoplanets, but most of these orbit distant stars. In contrast, the a Centauri system "is a household name," as Greg Laughlin of UC Santa Cruz put it. Just over four light years from Earth, the system includes two bright stars, Centauri A and B orbiting each other with an 80 year period, along with a red dwarf called Proxima Centauri. Centauri B has a Sun-like mass, but is quite a bit dimmer.
The planet was detected using the radial velocity method. As a massive body orbits its host star, it exerts a gravitational pull on it, pulling the star in slightly different directions as its position shifts. These create a small acceleration in the star itself, usually on the order of a few meters per second. That, in turn, shows up in the light emitted by the star as Doppler shifts in the light it emits, which vary with the orbital period of the planet.
7. Exoplanet found right next door in Alpha CentauriToday, planet hunters announced evidence there's a planet orbiting one of our closest stellar neighbors. One of the three stars of the α Centauri star system shows the sort of periodic changes in brightness that are a hallmark of the presence of an orbiting planet. And, even though the new world would be far too hot to support liquid water, the astronomers who discovered it point out small planets tend to form in groups. Odds are good that there are additional planets lurking further out from the host star.
Rapid advances in planet-hunting have led to an ever-increasing catalog of exoplanets, but most of these orbit distant stars. In contrast, the a Centauri system "is a household name," as Greg Laughlin of UC Santa Cruz put it. Just over four light years from Earth, the system includes two bright stars, Centauri A and B orbiting each other with an 80 year period, along with a red dwarf called Proxima Centauri. Centauri B has a Sun-like mass, but is quite a bit dimmer.
The planet was detected using the radial velocity method. As a massive body orbits its host star, it exerts a gravitational pull on it, pulling the star in slightly different directions as its position shifts. These create a small acceleration in the star itself, usually on the order of a few meters per second. That, in turn, shows up in the light emitted by the star as Doppler shifts in the light it emits, which vary with the orbital period of the planet.
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