News and Information Technology

Comic Artist Raises $50K for Books, Then Just Burns Them

2014-03-06T17:11:00.001-09:00

A comic artist in Chicago who raised over $50,000 on Kickstarter to publish and ship hardback books has decided to torch the product for which donors paid.

Though John Campbell says he was able to send a good number of them, he posted a rambling 4,500-word note on Kickstarter in late February that claims he ran out of money. Campbell's note is accompanied by a video that shows a flaming heap of paper, presumably the remains of over 100 copies of the book that is based on his online comic series, called "Pictures for Sad Children."

The series was taken offline to coincide with the end of the book project, but DNA Info reports that it was the story of two characters named Paul and Gary who worked unfulfilling office jobs.

That description may not sound particularly riveting, but Campbell had apparently built a sizable following. When he launched his Kickstarter in May 2012, he asked for only $8,000, but donations topped out at $51,615.

But two years later, and after shipping around 800 books, Campbell's money problems caught up with him. He spent $30,000 producing the 200-page hard-back comics, according to DNA Info, and even more money to put a plastic-wrapped dead wasp in each one. Then, his financial problems caught up with him.

Campbell's project page is now titled "IT'S OVER," and his accompanying note is mostly a rant (or "protest," in his words) against capitalism and the negative impacts humans have on each other and the world.

"If you have negative feelings about the actions I am taking, that is part of what I am protesting against," Campbell wrote on his Kickstarter page. "I am protesting the values you use to determine how you feel about and interact with the world. I will not be responsible for the manufacture of any more unnecessary physical objects. The natural world is being destroyed by unnecessary production."

But he does use parts of his declaration to address his former contributors.

"I shipped about 75% of Kickstarter rewards to backers," Campbell wrote. "I will not be shipping any more. I will not be issuing any refunds. For every message I receive about this book through email, social media or any other means, I will burn another book." Campbell already burned 127 copies, he says, because he has received that many emails about the book so far this year.

Kickstarter's regulations say it's the project creator's job to see it through to completion, but quickly state that they can't force anyone to follow through on the promise.

"Kickstarter does not guarantee projects or investigate a creator's ability to complete their project," the website's regulations say. "On Kickstarter, backers ultimately decide the validity and worthiness of a project by whether they decide to fund it."

Some backers were understandably disappointed to hear that Campbell wouldn't be shipping their long-awaited book.

"I love your work, but they way [you're] handling this is really harsh," Ellen Yu wrote in a comment on the Kickstarter page. "It would have been better if you ran away to be a mountain man and left the books abandoned in some storage unit. But instead, you take the books and burn them for us to see. It really breaks my heart."

But the majority of commenters expressed empathy for Campbell's problem or are still trying to find a way to get their hands on a book.

Jacob Weiss says he set up a Sad Children Book Club where members can share their hard copy or get a PDF version.

"John, I love your comics," Weiss wrote. "You were always my favorite web comic artist, and helped me feel less bad for a long time in my life, when very few other people did."

At five days prior to press time, Weiss had written that the club has 11 members.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

How Has Apple Changed Under CEO Tim Cook?

2013-08-25T22:37:00.002-08:00

This Saturday, Aug. 24, marks two years since Tim Cook took over as Apple CEO. In that time, the company has been on a roller coaster ride of highs and lows.

Over the last two years, Cook has watched Apple become the world's most valuable company — and then watched the company's stock price tumble more than $200 a share.
While Apple still finds success whenever it releases a new device, the public (and even Apple's board of directors) have noted concerns about the company's pace of innovation. While the tech industry has become more competitive and innovative, the public still expects the most cutting-edge releases from Apple, which came to be standard under Steve Jobs.

With Apple's next product launch looming in early September, there are many questions the public wants answered: What can we expect from Apple this year? How has Tim Cook fared as Apple's CEO? Can Apple once again pave the way for new innovations?

Today at 2 p.m. ET, we will be hosting a MashTalk Google Hangout on the Mashable Google+ page to discuss Tim Cook's tenure as CEO and what we can expect from Apple in the near future. Join Mashable Editor in Chief Lance Ulanoff, Tech Editor Pete Pachal, Business Editor Todd Wasserman, Senior Tech Analyst Christina Warren and Community Producer Ryan Lytle for the Apple-centric conversation.

Do you have any questions or comments about Tim Cook's reign as Apple CEO? Share them in the comments below or tweet using the hashtag #MashTalk and we'll try to address them during today's Hangout.

Hacker Leaks Details of 15,000 Twitter Accounts

2013-08-20T07:17:00.001-08:00

An Islamist hacker says he gained access to "the entire database of users on Twitter" and has already leaked the login details of more then 15,000 accounts online.

A hacker under the name Mauritania Attacker, who claims to be from the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a country in West Africa — shared details on Tuesday about the leak via file-sharing site Zippyshare, according to a GigaOm report. The account information compromised includes every account's Twitter name, ID and authentication tokens associated with third-party apps that have access to the account (for example, Instagram or HootSuite).
Twitter has not yet responded to a request for comment, but the news comes after Twitter sent an email late Monday to verified users urging them to use two-step authentication to keep accounts secure.

"With a highly visible account like yours, it's a good idea to be extra careful," the email read. "Login verification is a simple way to add more protection to your account."
Active Twitter users should immediately revoke all third-party apps tied to their account. To do so, visit Twitter's application page and click "revoke access" for each app listed. You can then go through the connection process again for the apps you still want to use.

Cleaning house like this is a good practice in general — you may be surprised about how many third-party providers you granted access to your account since signing up.

Samsung's 12-Inch Tablet Coming in October

2013-08-20T07:08:00.000-08:00

News out of Korea suggests Samsung will launch its widely publicized 12-inch tablet with a hi-res display in October.
Citing unnamed industry sources, The Korean Economic Daily reports that the tablet will use a "higher than Full HD resolution" display from Samsung Display and claims that the model will be launched sometime in October.

Digitimes last week reported that both Samsung and Apple are working on bigger tablets, but revealed that Apple is likely to be less proactive in this space for fear of cannibalizing its 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch MacBook Airs. The Wall Street Journal has previously claimed that Apple is testing a 12.9-inch iPad — which has been dubbed the "iPad Maxi" in some quarters.

There hasn't been much in the ways of specs for Samsung's gigantic tablet, although older rumors suggest that the model will have the same resolution screen as the Google Nexus 10 and an ARM 11 processor. There has also been talk that the model could debut at the IFA tech exhibition in Germany early next month

41% of Teens Ask Parents for Online Privacy Advice

2013-08-18T07:48:00.002-08:00

As teens continue to share personal information about their lives on the web, a new study suggests America's youth cares about their online privacy and is taking steps to make sure they are protected.

Data conducted by the Pew Research Center revealed that although teens ages 12 to 17 tend to manage their privacy settings themselves, the majority (71%) have sought outside help at some point about how to do so.

The most popular way for this group to get security tips is from their friends and peers (42%), but 41% have actually turned to parents for advice about how to keep their accounts safe.

"At first, the finding that 41% of online teens have asked for advice about online privacy from a parent seems surprising — particularly given that many teens are motivated to protect their privacy specifically from their parents," Amanda Lenhart, senior researcher and director of teens and technology at the Pew Research Center, told Mashable. "But for a subset of teens, often younger ones, their parents were heavily involved in helping them set up their social media accounts (often as a precondition to use) and so it's not so surprising that those teens would be seeking advice from their parents."

7 Ways Teachers Use Social Media in the Classroom

2013-08-18T07:40:00.003-08:00

1. Encourage students to share work socially.
Anna Divinsky created an iTunes U class at Penn State University called Art 10: Introduction to Visual Studies, which she then adapted into a massive open online course (MOOC) on Coursera. The MOOC, called Introduction to Art: Concepts and Techniques, amassed more than 58,000 students.

For each class assignment, students were responsible for evaluating each other's work. Because the class was online, social media played an essential role in connecting students and creating an online community.

Students shared their work on a variety of platforms. On Flickr, they tagged their artwork with "artmooc." On Twitter, they included the #artmooc hashtag. Others posted to Facebook, and continue to do so to this day, even though the course has been over for quite sometime.
"It was fascinating to see learners from all over the world wanting to connect with one another in order to build a sense of community," Divinsky says.

But what was even more surprising was how social media allows students to self-organize into smaller, independent groups. These groups were based on commonalities like age, language and art proficiency levels. By allowing students to share on the site of their choosing, social sharing will come more naturally.

2. Use a hashtag to facilitate guest speaker discussions.
According to a recent YPulse survey, 21% of Millennials use Twitter as their primary source for finding news. Encouraging students to engage with guest speakers via Twitter makes them more engaged with the platform and prepares them to raise important questions online.

During an investigative journalism class at New York University, one professor invited prominent journalists to come speak to the class of more than 200 people, and encouraged students to live-tweet the interview using the hashtag #IJNYU. Because the class was so big and the tweets so frequent, the hashtag occasionally became a trending topic in New York City. Students were then required to turn in a Storify summary based on their classmates' tweets, within 24 hours.

Another way to incorporate hashtags during classroom discussions is to encourage students to tweet questions to a guest speaker as the speaker is talking. This is exactly what Mara Einstein and Chad Boettcher did for NYU's Innovations in Marketing class. This method ensures that students don't interrupt the speaker while he or she is talking. More importantly, however, is that it also engages the students' social communities outside of the classroom, so people who aren't taking the class can also chime-in with questions for the guest speaker.

3. Require students to keep a blog.
While teaching The Business of Media, another class at NYU, Ted Magner required students to keep a "trends" blog on the media sector of their choosing. Not only did this activity keep the students reading relevant articles every day, but it also required them to become familiar with hyperlinks, image embeds and how to cite sources digitally. Perhaps most importantly, it gave them material to include in portfolios after graduation.

Keeping a blog is a phenomenal way to work on your voice as a writer, and to truly explore and hone in on your personal interests. However, between essays and homework assignments, many college and high school students see blogging as more of a chore than a positive career move. By requiring students to keep a blog in place of some traditional assignments, you make your job as a teacher easier, and you help them establish their digital presence as an emerging thought leader.

4. Require original expert sources.
For journalists, LinkedIn has proven to be an invaluable tool to reach out to sources, from CEOs to corporate PR representatives. Teachers can foster this skill by encouraging students to reach out to sources directly through LinkedIn.

It should be noted, however, that free accounts on LinkedIn are mostly intended to be used for professional networking. Features that come with a LinkedIn Premium subscription may make the source-gathering process easier.

5. Use Google Hangouts.
If you're teaching remotely, or if you're teaching an online class, Google Hangouts can be a great way to check in with students face-to-face.

This is also a good option for adjunct professors who wish to conduct office hours but may not be on campus often enough to meet with all of their students.

6. Create a social classroom on Edmodo.
Edmodo helps you create a social, digital classroom. On Edmodo, you can vote, post assignments, create a class assignments calendar, and upload photos and messages to students.

With more 17 million users, Edmodo has been a highly successful endeavor. It allows students to get real-time feedback by taking quizzes online. Teachers can also engage socially with one another by sharing lesson plans online and asking questions to their online communities.

Edmodo's Global Read Aloud program encourages students to practice their reading and public speaking skills with other students from around the world.

7. Hold a class in Second Life.
For the class Philosophy of Cyberspace at Northwestern University, students created accounts on Second Life to explore themes such as online identity, online community building and in-game economics.

Some days the students would meet in the virtual world instead of meeting at a real-life lecture hall. The professor would send out an email saying, "Class on Tuesday will be held in Second Life instead of the lecture hall. I'll email you all the coordinates soon."

What to Do When Your iPhone Freezes

2013-08-18T07:35:00.000-08:00

1. Restart Your Phone

This one’s a no-brainer, but it might work. Turn off your phone by holding on the Sleep/Wake button (top left). If nothing happens, try a hard reset by holding in the Home Button and the Sleep/Wake button at the same time for at least 10 seconds or until you see an Apple logo appear onscreen.

Restarting your phone will complete updates or downloads of your recently installed apps (similar to how your computer restarts every time it updates iTunes). Periodic restarts will keep your phone from wasting computing power on almost-finished installs.

2. Recharge

Plugging your phone into a charger (or connecting to your computer via USB charging cord) may also help unfreeze a stuck screen. If your phone is extremely low on power, your phone screen may remain black for up to two minutes before the battery charging screen appears, so be patient if it doesn't work right away.

4. Close Extra Apps

If only a single app has stopped working, access your open apps by double pressing the Home button. When the open app icons will appear at the bottom of your screen, hold the app icon down until it starts wiggling back and forth. Press the red minus sign in the corner to close.
Having several unused apps open at one time is not only a battery drain, but can cause your phone to freeze. Try to keep only the most necessary apps up and running in the background.

5 Not Enough Space

One reason for excessive freezing on your phone may be a space issue. Your phone may have 32 GB of space available, but utilizing all that space may cause the phone to lag or freeze (it’s an unfortunate truth, but a truth nonetheless).
This is especially true if you’re phone is packing a lot of applications. Delete some of those games you don’t play anymore and try to keep at least 1-2 GB of space free at all times to prevent future freezes.

6. Check for Updates

An outdated OS might be the reason your phone is freezing. To check if your phone needs updated, go to Settings>General>Software Update and follow the instructions on the screen.
You could also check from a computer if your phone screen is not working properly.

7. System Restore

As a last resort, you can also restore your iPhone. Please note that doing a system restore will delete all media from your device, restoring it to the original factory settings. You will want to make sure that you’ve backed up all your media elsewhere before doing this.
To restore, first make sure that your version of iTunes is up to date. Then, with your phone connected to your computer, click iPhone (in the left hand column under Devices), then click Restore in the summary tab and follow the instructions on the screen.

8. Bring in the Geniuses

If all else fails, you may have to call in your Apple warranty or at least ask Apple Support to see if what you’re experiencing is a common issue. They don't call 'em geniuses for nothing.

5 ways your smartphone's ‘smarts’ have become more important than the ‘phone’

2013-08-16T17:15:00.002-08:00

It’s been headline news this week that smartphones outsold feature phones for the first time. Huzzah!

My first thought was, “They still sell non-smartphones?” My second thought was “Why do we even still call it a ‘phone’?” I mean, a PC is basically an evolution of a calculator, but we don’t get excited about whether or not PCs outsell calculators, and we don’t call PCs “supercalculators.”

If you think about it, making and receiving voice calls is one of the more minor functions of a smartphone. Sure, the devices we use today evolved from a basic mobile phone, and they’ve gotten “smarter” with new features and capabilities and a seemingly endless array of apps. But the term “smartphone” is a bit of a misnomer that doesn’t accurately describe what the device is.

It’s a personal communication and entertainment device (PCED). It’s a mobile pocket computer (MPC). It’s a personal digital assistant (PDA)—much more so than the devices that originally claimed that title. It’s an invaluable tool that enables business professionals to stay connected and be productive from virtually anywhere and at any time.

The “phone” part of “smartphone” doesn’t even scratch the surface of what the device is capable of. Here are five things a typical smartphone is used for more frequently than making or receiving voice calls:

Smartphones have made standalone GPSs virtually obsolete.
1. Email
One of the greatest things about a smartphone is that it’s capable of accessing and downloading email over either a Wi-Fi network or a cellular data connection. That means that your email is available in your pocket 24/7.

2. Texting/Instant Messaging
Texting or instant messaging is a nice middle-ground between email and voice calls. It’s an immediate form of communication, and it’s often way more convenient and courteous than a voice call.

3. Web Surfing
This point started out being called “research.” Whether you need to keep up with breaking news in your industry, or you want to see how your investments or doing, the smartphone lets you surf the Web in the palm of your hand. You can compare features or research better prices while out shopping, book travel arrangements, or look up whether a narwhal is mythical creature or a real thing (Hint: it’s a real animal and it should have totally been called a “sea unicorn” or a “unicorn whale”).

4. GPS
Maps, and turn-by-turn directions are one of the most valuable functions of a smartphone. Whether you’re driving in your car or hoofing it, your smartphone can help you get from Point A to Point B as efficiently as possible.

5. Camera

One of the most common uses for a smartphone is as a camera or video camera. Just look at the phenomenal success of Instagram, Flickr, and Vine. The iPhone is the most-used camera in the world. It’s not that the smartphone is a better camera than a DSLR, or even a traditional point-and-shoot—in fact most pale in comparison. It’s simply a matter of convenience because most people have their smartphone with them everywhere they go, and don’t carry a camera around unless they know they need to.

As a matter of fact, the “smartphone” has done just as much to make standalone GPS units and point-and-shoot cameras obsolete as it has for standalone mobile phones, so we could just as easily call it a “smartgps” or a “smartcamera.” Actually, when it comes to Samsung, I guess the “smartcamera” is sort of a real thing thanks to the Galaxy Camera.

So, have fun using your PCED, or getting work done while on the go from your MPC. I was trying to stay focused on functions with some intrinsic value for business users, so I didn’t even cover the fact that you can watch Netflix, read a book, or play Angry Birds as well. Oh, and don’t forget it can also make phone calls if you’re into that sort of thing.

Play Xbox LIVE games on your Windows Phone

2013-06-24T19:15:00.001-08:00

Overview

The Windows Phone Marketplace or Store has many Xbox LIVE games that you can download and play on your phone. Tap Marketplace or Store on your phone to find and install games.

View your gamer profile

You can view your Xbox LIVE profile, achievements, friends and messages, and edit your avatar on your Windows Phone. Here’s how:

On your Windows Phone, tap Games.

Flick left until you see your avatar, and then tap your gamertag.

Flick left to see your achievements, friends and messages.
Invite friends to play a turn-based game

If an Xbox LIVE game is turn-based, you can invite other players to play on their Windows Phone or on the web. In turn-based games, players take turns playing the game. During gameplay, you are notified when it’s your turn.

To Invite friends

On your Windows Phone, tap Games.

Tap the game you want to play.

If the game supports turn-based gaming, tap the option for multiplayer.

Follow the on-screen prompts to invite friends from your phone’s contact list or enter an email address.
An email invitation is sent to your friends. The email invitation includes directions on how to join your game over the phone or on the web.

Troubleshooting

Topics

Why don't I see my new achievements?

Why do I get an “Attention required. Tap here” message when I try to download a game?

I am having problems with a game that I downloaded.
Note If your question isn't listed here, take a look at the Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone forums.

Why don't I see my new achievements?

You can earn achievements playing games on your Windows Phone. If your achievements are not being displayed, there might be a problem with your mobile or Wi-Fi connection, or the Xbox LIVE service is down temporarily. Your Windows Phone will keep trying to record your achievements until it is successful.

Why do I get an “Attention required. Tap here” message when I try to download a game?

This can happen when you try to download a large game – typically 20 megabytes (MB) or larger – to your phone using your mobile connection. To download the item, try using a Wi-Fi connection.

I am having problems with a game that I downloaded.

If you are having issues playing Xbox LIVE games with your friends on your phone, check the status of the Xbox LIVE service. If the Xbox LIVE service is available, make sure you have a strong connection on your mobile or Wi-Fi network.

If you are having problems playing a game, try doing the following:

Remove and reinstall the game.

Restart your phone.
If you are still having problems with a game, contact the game provider.

How Samsung can save Windows 8 tablets

2013-06-23T06:55:00.001-08:00

Windows 8 tablets aren’t in good shape: Microsoft’s OS gets plenty of hate for its desktop functionality, and many people aren’t willing to pay premium prices for the ability to run Office—and not much else—on what amounts to be keyboard-less PCs.

Indeed, with Windows 8 and Windows RT making up just 7.5 percent of the total tablet market, many manufacturers are fleeing what they perceive to be a sinking platform. It looks really bad, right? Not so fast. At Thursday’s big Samsung event, the Korean tech giant might have just thrown Microsoft the life-preserver it needs to help keep Windows tablets in the game.

Solving the software problem

After announcing another handful of Android smartphones (all with the name “Galaxy S4” and whatever noun Samsung decided to tack onto the end), the company surprised those in attendance by unveiling two new slates running Windows 8: the Ativ Q and the Ativ Tab 3. The Ativ Q is the more noteworthy of the two for its ability to seamlessly switch between Windows and Android, giving it access to a whole mess of software normally unavailable on Windows 8 devices.

One of the key problems with Windows 8 and Windows 8 RT (and Windows Phone 8 too, for that matter) is the lack of mobile-optimized software available for the platform. Windows 8 has the benefit of being able to run full-blown desktop applications like Photoshop and Steam, but these software heavyweights aren’t all that useful if you’re on the go and don’t have a mouse and keyboard plugged into your tablet.

But by allowing the Ativ Q to dual-boot into both Windows and Android, users can enjoy apps made specifically for mobile while still having access to a full desktop environment. Granted, not all Android apps are winners, but at least Samsung is providing options for people who don’t mind wading through a bit of junk to find a few gems. It’s also possible that Samsung would create custom software for the Android side of the Ativ Q, something to help it further stand out from other Android and Windows slates.

Samsung’s idea to combine Android and Windows 8 isn’t exactly unique: Earlier this year Asus launched an AIO desktop that transforms into a giant 18-inch Android tablet when you undock the screen. The combination doesn’t really make sense for a tablet that takes up most of your coffee table, but feels just right on Samsung’s more portable device.

Lower pricing

Samsung can also help mitigate Windows 8 tablet pricing problems. Microsoft’s own Surface Pro runs high at $899 for the base 64GB model, while Dell’s Latitude 10, laden with much more modest specs, retails for $500. It’s difficult to convince people to drop such serious cash on a tablet when they can purchase a pretty decent laptop for the same price. A $500 price tag also puts Windows 8 tablet manufacturers in direct competition with Apple’s iPad, the 800-pound gorilla of the mobile market.

“Samsung has to reinforce the notion that a tablet experience doesn’t have to break the bank,” says Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.

So how will Samsung get there? By leveraging its own assets. Samsung is a massive corporate entity—it manufacturers everything from smartphones to washing machines, and essentially makes most of its components in-house, most famously mobile processors and displays. So by leveraging its various manufacturing branches, Samsung could bring its Ativ tablets to the U.S. at competitive prices.

We’re not talking Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire prices, but more along the lines of the iPad 2 versus the iPad with Retina display. A $400 Samsung Windows 8 tablet will still be a tough sell, but as Moorhead puts it, “It’s a different value proposition.” iPads are great for consuming media, but aren’t as skilled at content creation. Microsoft’s commercials may just be attacks against Apple’s tablet, but they do make a good point: Windows 8 is better for multitasking and productivity.
So when you put it that way, paying $400 for a Windows 8 tablet doesn’t seem so outrageous. Samsung’s vast resources will help in delivering a Windows 8 tablet at a reasonable price.

The marketing spin
All of Samsung resources will also come in handy as the company helps tackle Microsoft’s biggest problem: No one knows Windows tablets exist. “We haven’t see a lot of pure Windows tablets outside of the Surface,” says Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for the NPD Group. Indeed, putting aside Microsoft’s marketing push on TV and online, Windows tablet makers haven’t been doing much to increase Windows 8 tablet awareness. If you need a good example of what weak marketing efforts will do to a product, just look at Nintendo and the poor sales of its Wii U.

But luckily for Samsung, this is an area in which the company thrives. It spends a ridiculous amount of money on advertising—way more than Apple or Microsoft—to make sure people know about its products and what makes them so cool. It’s one of the reasons Samsung has been able to become the No. 1 smartphone maker in the world. With the power of Samsung’s deep pockets, awareness for Windows 8 tablets can increase and the platform can continue to grow.

The Ativ tablets are just one catchy commercial away from being a household name, much like Samsung’s line of Galaxy phones.

An uphill battle
Selling people on Windows 8 tablets won’t be an easy task, but if anyone is up for the job it’s Samsung. The company has the corporate—and financial—muscle to push Windows tablets into the mainstream, but Samsung also doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to supporting mobile devices running Microsoft’s OS. Before we get our hopes up too high that Samsung can save Windows tablets, we should also ask how long it’ll stick by them before going back to exclusively making Android slates instead.

Microsoft’s Socl network steps up its game with animated GIFs, meme generator

2013-06-19T16:22:00.000-08:00

Microsoft has been playing around with the idea of a social network for a few years, but its lab-grown Socl has been slow to catch on with the kids. On Tuesday, Microsoft is introducing a handful of new features to pump up the volume on what it now calls its "social network for creatives.” And what better path to Internet domination than cat GIFs and pictures with funny words on them?

A meme generator and GIF creator are two brand-new tools Socl users will see on Tuesday. Picotale is a strange name for a feature that lets you enter a phrase and browse photos that would fit the meme. Blink is the animated GIF creator that comes in the form of a stand-alone app for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. The app, also released on Tuesday, lets you start with an image blast, which you can then animate, turn into a looping reel (sort of like Vine), or simply choose the best image to post.

The success of Vine and Instagram have proved that people like to create and share their own works, not just links and images they find around the Internet. Even Pinterest, which is essentially a vast collection of pretty images, lets you curate the life you want through bulletin boards.

Microsoft FUSE Labs general manager Lili Cheng says the company noticed that people on Socl were finding memes and GIFs from outside the network and sharing them on the site. But the community was clamoring for more. Picotale and Blink are designed to satisfy that urge. People can also upload their own photos to Collages—before, they could only add images and links on the Web to create themed Collages (think: Paris street scenes, favorite celebrities).

Microsoft also added more sharing tools to encourage people to share their memes, GIFs, collages, and video playlists (called Parties) to Pinterest and Tumblr. (Facebook and Twitter were already integrated.) Those external shares might draw more people to socialize on the site.

Microsoft’s FUSE Labs team developed Socl as an “experimental research project” for college students that focused on sharing images and links found through social search—using Bing, obviously.

The network deviates from the standard social experience: Instead of building out your personal information and friending people you know, Socl is designed to let you explore content you’re interested in and follow people with similar interests, kind of like Pinterest. You don’t really comment on posts so much as “riff” on them, or create a post in response.

Socl's Video Party feature lets you create video playlists and share them to other networks.
Colleen Estrada, director of experience design at FUSE Labs, told TechHive that Socl has about 400,000 registered users. The site is popular primarily overseas, which is why one of Socl’s early additions was a translation tool to view posts in other languages. That’s another reason the network introduced more visual features, like meme and GIF creators—besides the fact that GIFs are infinitely shareable, which is why Myspace also recently added a GIF creator.

“People were using Socl to talk to people in different languages,” Cheng says. “We think the reason people are using Socl to do this is because of the imagery and ease of finding stuff to share—it’s easier to post using visuals. We wanted to amplify that.”

More features are coming down the pipeline, but Microsoft is waiting to see what the Socl community thinks of the new options. The site is optimized for mobile, but it’s a little strange for a social network in the smartphone age to not have a dedicated app—perhaps a Windows Phone mobile project (of course) is in the works.

Microsoft backtracks on Xbox One sharing policies

2013-06-19T16:19:00.001-08:00

Reacting to "feedback from the Xbox community," Microsoft is appearing to reverse course and change two key components to policies for its new Xbox One video game console.
All disc-based games can be played without ever connecting online, and the 24-hour connection requirement has been dropped, according to an update to a May post concerning questions about the new device, due to be released this fall.
Additionally, there will be no limitations to using and sharing games, Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business division, says in the post. People will be able to share, trade or resell their games in the same way they do for Xbox 360 games.

The changes indicate Microsoft is having second thoughts about some of its future plans with the Xbox One. The post read, "Update on June 19, 2013: As a result of feedback from the Xbox community, we have changed certain policies for Xbox One reflected in this blog. Some of this information is no longer accurate."
The company has been taking a public berating since it announced restrictions to used games and their requirement for an Internet connection. Consumers have been reacting with anger over the policies, but the tipping point may have been when Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC's "Late Night," pointed out that only the PlayStation 4 could freely play used games, which created more confusion.
The flogging became worse when Sony took to the stage at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade show and pointedly did not include such restrictions for the new PlayStation 4. A YouTube video produced by Sony made fun of the used-game restriction by showing how people could share games on the PlayStation 4 -- by just handing them to another person.
The new Xbox One used-games policy only affects disc-based games. Titles downloaded through Xbox Live cannot be shared or resold. Also, disc-based games must have the disc inside the console to play.
The changes being made also affect its proposed family sharing policy. Since Microsoft is allowing players to have the flexibility to use games offline, it will not be launching its family sharing plan, which would have allowed up to 10 family members to log in and play games from anywhere.
However, Marc Whitten, chief product officer for Xbox, told CNN the company still believes very deeply in its digital vision.
"So much of what we've built around our digital ecosystem still works," Whitten said. "It's what we building in how you can use your games. Our online vision and the Xbox One architecture really power the complete new experience in how the Cloud changes everything and we're massively invested in this."
He also said the flexibility the company added for physical-disc play will not change for the life of the Xbox One.
Whitten said there are no changes surrounding the addition of Kinect with the Xbox One. He said the company believes the motion sensor/controller is critical to building out the next generation experiences gamers are craving.
The Xbox One will cost about $100 more than Sony's PlayStation 4 ($499 versus $399), but officials at the Redmond, Washington-based company believe their console will be worth the value.
"While we believe that the majority of people will play games online and access the cloud for both games and entertainment, we will give consumers the choice of both physical and digital content," Whitten wrote in the blog post. "We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds."

Microsoft goes 'Windows Everywhere' with Best Buy takeovers, new ad

2013-06-16T17:09:00.001-08:00

The theme of Microsoft’s latest ads is “Windows Everywhere”—and if you visit a Best Buy store in the near future, you’ll certainly understand why.

Best Buy will be partnering with the software giant to add stores-within-a-store to 500 selected locations within the United States, plus another 100 more within Future Shop and Best Buy locations in Canada. And the size will be in your face as well: 1,500 square feet to 2,200 square feet, on par with the size of the homes into which those PCs will be installed.

Inside each “store” will be a mixture of Microsoft devices: Windows-based tablets and PCs, Windows Phones, Microsoft Office, the Xbox console, and more. Microsoft said that each space will also include examples of how Windows services straddle those devices, and showcase the latest ultramobile Windows-based PCs, both from third parties as well as its own Surface. The Best Buy stores will be installed from late June through September.

The idea is to put Windows back in front of shoppers’ faces in time for the preview and eventual (re)launch of Windows, with Windows 8.1. Microsoft is rolling out the preview release of Windows 8.1, sometimes known as “Windows Blue,” on June 26, at its BUILD conference in San Francisco. But it’s also been on a media blitz of sorts, spacing out the new features of Windows 8.1 in a bid to attract media attention, launching ads, and generally promising to meet nonplussed consumers halfway.

Microsoft signalled its intentions in early May, when Microsoft Windows marketing chief Tami Reller told The Wall Street Journal that Microsoft was embarking on a strategy to engage with its customers once again. Two points in that revised stategy included, according to the Journal, “helping people overcome obstacles to learning the revamped software, [and] altering the shopping experience for consumers.”

That’s exactly what the in-store boutiques promise. From a retail perspective, Best Buy is simply pushing a trend that former Apple retailing chief Ron Johnson tried at JC Penney: Let third-party brands design their own showcases for their products. (JCP fired Johnson in April, after Johnson’s big bet to eliminate discount pricing failed miserably.)

Microsoft didn't say, but it's almost certain that Microsoft is funding the store-within-a-store concept, propping up the struggling Best Buy. Microsoft has also made a $2 billion investment into a key partner, Dell, demonstrating what it will do to keep its Windows PC ecosystem humming along.

What’s different about the Best Buy experience? Support and staff, one of the keys to Reller’s turnaround strategy. An ”interview” with Microsoft chief marketing officer Chris Capossela described the push as a “takeover” of Best Buy.

”Well, unlike a lot of store-within-a-store concepts, this will actually be a department-level takeover within Best Buy stores,” Capossela said. “And they will be massive in size, up to 2,200 square feet in some locations. The other unique thing about the Windows Store is the people. There will be an additional 1,200 staff on hand to provide a great customer experience, whether it’s choosing the right PC or showing consumers how to stream Xbox music through their Surface. Finally, the online experience should be fantastic. We’ll have a full online Windows Store experience that will mirror the in-store look-and-feel and offer a full range of Microsoft products, even those from other places in the Best Buy store.”

And that’s not all. Surface and other Windows tablets will be showcased in the tablet department, Windows Phones will be predominantly displayed in the phone department, and so on.

Capossela said that shoppers could expect an “innovation table” in the front, the ecosystem section, and a back wall with accessories and other devices. “It’s something that has to be seen to be believed,” he said.

Of course, Microsoft already has a network of retail locations: the Microsoft Stores. Currently, Microsoft owns 68 Microsoft Stores within the United States, each performing much the same function as the Best Buy showcases. A Microsoft spokeswoman said that the two retail experiences will coexist.

MICROSOFT
Microsoft's network of stores will continue to exist, Microsoft said.
”Microsoft remains committed the Microsoft Store network,” Microsoft said in a statement. “With 68 stores open in North America, Microsoft is excited about the success to our growing network. However, Best Buy is the No. 1 retailer for computers, and we felt this was also a great opportunity to offer a superior buying experience for the millions of customers who rely on Best Buy to learn from and purchase their computers.”

”Microsoft’s Windows Store represents a vital strategic step forward in its retail strategy, and ought to yield some benefits,” Forrester analyst J.P. Gownder said. “At the same time, the move should have happened several years ago, it isn’t quite as ambitious as it might have been, and Microsoft will have to work hard to overcome legacy practices within the Best Buy ecosystem. All in all, the opportunities outweigh the challenges with this move. But Microsoft will not rise to the strategically stellar position currently occupied by the Apple Store, which remains the most impressive achievement in retail in any category.”

Microsoft: "Windows Everywhere"
Meanwhile, Microsoft has been quietly repositioning itself as an ecosystem provider, rather than an as a purely software-and-services creator. That has been on display within a new series of ads that Microsoft has launched, including a Surface ad that showcases how users can be more productive using Microsoft Office, which comes bundled on the cheaper Surface RT.

The most recent ad debuted last night. Although the ad focuses on the Windows 8 interface, Microsoft ties it to the Windows PC, the Windows Phone, and the Surface. The tagline? “One experience. On every device. For everything in your life.” Another, seen below, takes a more Office-centric feel.

Microsoft isn’t the only provider promising an ecosystem—Apple could reproduce this with an iPhone, iPad, and Macintosh, for example—but Microsoft’s returned to the practical. It’s all part of a humbler, more responsive, and dare we say it—ubiquitous Microsoft. Microsoft may not regain the luster it once had, but it’s making some focused, aggressive moves to do just that.

Office Mobile for iPhone: What's really at stake for Microsoft and Apple?

2013-06-15T06:31:00.000-08:00

Few people actually open and edit documents on their smartphones, let alone actually create them there. From a short-term perspective, then, placing a version of Microsoft Office on Apple's iPhone shouldn’t dramatically change the world.

Microsoft announced Office Mobile for iPhone on Friday morning, ending months of speculation.

The “free” Office Mobile for iPhone app only works with an Office 365 subscription, however, so users will have to pay to edit Office documents, whether it be an Office 365 subscription or Apple’s own $9.99 productivity apps, iWork. And, for now, Office Mobile is specifically formatted for the iPhone, so iPad users won’t be able to use it.

Office Mobile for iPhone users will only be able to open and edit, not create, documents in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, although a Microsoft-supplied graphic shows the other standalone apps available for the iPhone: Lync, SharePoint, Yammer, and Skype. Outlook appears to be missing, although the Outlook.com app somewhat fills that hole. A dedicated SkyDrive app is also included, which appears to be the only option for cloud storage. That could be a real sticking point if Microsoft doesn't allow documents to be saved to iCloud or imported from there.

MICROSOFT
From a broader perspective, however, Office Mobile on the iPhone represents a foothold by Microsoft onto the broader iOS platform, which represents an opportunity to push Microsoft's idea of Office wherever you are, said Wes Miller, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft. In some sense, it’s the complement to Microsoft’s newfound direction of Windows Everywhere.

”This would be an important announcement for Microsoft to confirm their intent and commitment for Office and other platforms,” added Michael Silver, an analyst with Gartner.

Microsoft characterized Office 365 on Mobile as an added benefit for Office 365 subscribers. "Office Mobile is another great example of the value of subscribing to Office 365, and I can guarantee you, there will be lots more to come," Julie White, the general manager of Office, said in a blog post.

What does Apple get out of the deal? That’s a more difficult question to answer. If nothing else, Apple users get access to the “official” version of Office. But although Apple’s iWork suite for the iPhone and iPad may be getting a bit long in the tooth, according to analysts, there’s also no indication that Apple plans to discontinue it, either. In fact, Apple announced a new iWork for iCloud version is due later this year, along with new versions of iWork for the Mac and iOS.

Office Mobile for iPhone requires either an iPhone 4, 4S, and 5 or iPod Touch 5th generation. It also requires iOS 6.1 or later, Apple says.

MICROSOFT
A list of files stored within Office Mobile for iPhone.
”I don’t know if Apple gets anything out of it, because I don’t know that people weren’t buying Apple products because they coudn’t get Office on it,” Silver said. It might be different if Microsoft supports Office on the iPad, he said.

The key appears to be that in restricting Office to the iPhone, Apple leaves the iPad an exclusively iWork platform—unless users want to access the Office Web Apps via the Safari browser, that is.

Earlier than expected?
Shipping a version of Office for either iOS or Android devices has been the subject of rumors for months. Early reports had indicated that it wouldn’t happen until the fall of 2014, although the possibility has been discussed for the better part of a year. That’s left the door open to third-party developers, including everyone from CloudOn to OnLive, to bring Office to the iPad and other platforms.

Microsoft already ships a version of Office for the Mac platform, although the suite, Office for Mac 2011, is generally considered to be a year behind the Windows version. A version of Microsoft’s Office 365 is also available for the Mac, with the 20 GB of SkyDrive storage and 60 minutes of Skype calls available to Windows users. But, at its heart, it’s the same Office for Mac 2011 suite that Mac users can buy as a standalone package.

In the future, Microsoft may hope to push Office to the remainder of the iOS ecosystem, including the iPad, which is suited more for productivity than the iPhone. And then there’s the Android world, which would represent the final frontier for Office.

MICROSOFT
Microsoft Excel for Office Mobile for iPhone.
"I think that there's always a question about whether the Office product group is there to sell Office products, or there to prop up Windows, and the more time we go before we see an iPad version or an Android version, the more that comes into question," Gartner's Silver said. "An iPhone version really isn't proof of that. Again, I'm not sure how many people are going to want to do a lot of Office work on a phone. A tablet's going to be a lot more important."

According to Miller, iWork isn't really an option for even the smallest of businesses, which will welcome Office. An updated version of Office for the Mac is reportedly due in 2014, although Miller said he'd heard nothing official.

But for now, merely pushing Office into competition with Apple’s iWork suite is achievement enough. No mobile platform is entirely “pure,” in the sense that it’s isolated from other services. Outlook.com exists as an Android app. Windows Phone can now tap into Google’s YouTube. And the iPhone has both a Gmail app, Google Maps, and now Office as well.

Windows Phone, however, has but a small percentage of the market share that the iPhone does, so relatively few people use Office Mobile on the Windows Phone platform. If Microsoft really wants to push the concept of mobile Office, it's going to have to do so via the competition. Office on the iPhone is an important first step for Office, and a giant leap away from Windows onto other platforms. But the other foot has yet to fall.

Xbox One coming in November for $500

2013-06-11T16:19:00.004-08:00

Xbox One will drop in 21 countries this November, with a price of $499.99 in the U.S., £429 in the U.K., and €499 in Europe.

Gamers can reserve their Xbox One Day One edition for those prices at major retailers—the list, including Amazon, Target, GameStop, and more, is at
The commemorative Day One package includes a console with 500GB hard drive and Blu-ray player, wrapped in special Day One black packaging. You also get a new Kinect, one limited edition Xbox One Day One wireless controller, and a 14-day trial of Xbox Live Gold. Microsoft will even throw in a "unique commemorative Day One Achievement," so all your Xbox Live friends will know you are a total ninja at buying things.

Microsoft showed off the Xbox One and a lineup of major games this morning at E3 in Los Angeles. Stick with us all week as we bring you more news and videos from the show.

Microsoft’s E3 press conference wrap-up

2013-06-10T17:43:00.002-08:00

Microsoft kicked off the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo bright and early Monday morning with a torrent of exclusive games, explosions, and bass drops for their upcoming Xbox One console, which we now know will arrive in November 2013 for $499.99 U.S. (€499 in Europe and £429 in the U.K.).

Now on the third iteration of the Xbox console, Microsoft has a lot of ground to make up after the tepid response to the unveiling event in May. However, the company just earned some serious public acclaim with an E3 press conference jam-packed with new games.

Coups

Microsoft led with a trailer for Konami’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, delivering on their promise of “nothing but games at E3” after the TV-focused reveal event in early May.

Though a handful of Metal Gear games have been playable on Microsoft platforms in the past, the series is traditionally a Sony mainstay. Metal Gear Solid 4, released in 2008, was one of the first must-buy games exclusive to Sony’s PlayStation 3, so leading with MGS5 was a bold move for Microsoft.

Microsoft scored a similar coup later when it trotted out Ted Price of Insomniac, another developer traditionally in Sony’s corner. Insomniac’s Resistance series launched with the PS3, so it was a shock when Price debuted Sunset Overdrive, a cartoony open-world shooter with zombie-esque enemies, as an Xbox One exclusive. “It’s a living world game, and something we could only do on the Xbox One,” said Price.

Xbox 360 still exists

Early in the conference Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi took the stage to assuage fears of Xbox 360 development dying after the release of the XBO. Microsoft is releasing a new 360 model: quieter, smaller, and designed to mimic the shape of the Xbox One.

Xbox Live Gold is changing to compete with Sony’s PlayStation Plus service. For the past few years Sony has given PS+ subscribers free games on a rolling basis. Microsoft will do the same from here on out, offering two games monthly to Xbox Live Gold subscribers. First up are Assassin’s Creed II and Halo 3.

Mehdi also claims hundreds of titles are in development for the 360 over the course of the next few years—a very different tack than the one Microsoft took in 2005 when the 360 released and the stream of games for the original Xbox quickly dried up.

We saw trailers for three Xbox 360 titles: World of Tanks, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, and Dark Souls II.

The Xbox 360 wasn't left out altogether. Press Play showed off Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, a 2D sidescroller in the same vein as Max & the Magic Marker.

Microsoft also announced that anyone using an Xbox One with an Xbox Live Gold membership attached can take advantage of member benefits, suggesting that friends and family can play your Xbox Live Gold-granted games even if they themselves aren’t card-carrying Gold members.

Microsoft’s first-party offerings for the 360 have dwindled in the last few years, so it was great to see a renewed presence during the press conference.

Rare’s beloved 1994 fighting franchise Killer Instinct has been revived for the Xbox One, and it looks as silly as ever. However, Rare isn’t developing the game; Double Helix Games has shouldered that burden. It’s a depressing indicator of how far Rare has fallen in the past few years.

Microsoft also announced a custom fightstick for Killer Instinct, created by MadCatz, for the dedicated fighting scene crowd.

A car rose out of the stage to signal the start of Turn 10 Studios’s presentation, which focused on their upcoming Forza 5. Turn 10 gave us an extensive look at this latest Forza, touting “the end of AI” as we know it.

No Xbox E3 press conference would be complete without a flashy racing game like Forza Motorsport 5.

Games should be “more human, more intelligent,” said Dan Greenawalt, head of Turn 10. “The new generation is about more than polycount and texture resolution.”

As such, you’ll now have a “Drivatar” in Forza that will learn how you play. Thus, when you’re offline your friends can still compete against a facsimile who supposedly drives the same way you do.

Not to be outdone, 343 Industries showed a CG trailer for the new Halo game, coming in 2014. Bonnie Ross, head of 343i, says Halo 5 runs at a constant 60 frames per second—a first for the franchise. The trailer feature a hooded figure wandering through a formless desert, before an enormous robot erupted from the ground. As the sand settled, the hooded figure was revealed as Master Chief. I’m sure Halo fans are already dissecting what the trailer means, and we’ll see how the game shapes up in the coming months.

Dave McCarthy of Microsoft Studios demoed Project Spark. Less a game than a multiplayer map editor, Project Spark appears to resemble the Sony-exclusive LittleBigPlanet games. Players can create their own original game maps and scripting. “When you’re ready, you can share your game with anyone, anywhere,” said McCarthy. Designers can use SmartGlass, the platform Microsoft developed to allow tablets to interact with the Xbox, for more granular map editing.

Microsoft Studios’ Phil Spencer revealed Microsoft has opened five new studios for first-party development. Only one game was shown, from the fledgling Black Tusk Studios. The game appeared to be an espionage-type title in the vein of Rainbow Six, though the trailer was scant on details—we don’t even have a title yet.

Third-party is actually where it counts

Despite a lack of first-party titles in recent years, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 thrived because of wide third-party support. So it was no surprise how many developers lined up to discuss their upcoming Xbox One games.

Crytek showed off Ryse: Son of Rome, an exclusive Xbox One launch title. “With Ryse: Son of Rome you will step into the boots of Roman general Marius Titus,” said Crytek’s Cevat Yerli. The game looks like a next-generation version of the old Dynasty Warriors games, with you leading an entire army of Roman troops into battle.

Remedy Entertainment gave us more information about its new title Quantum Break, teased at the Xbox One reveal event. Quantum Break appears to be a TV/game hybrid, potentially in a similar vein to the recently released Defiance. According to Sam Lake, creative director of Remedy, Quantum Break is “blurring the lines between gaming and television,” with the events you play in the game potentially affecting the TV show and vice versa.

Remedy showed more Quantum Break at Microsoft’s E3 press conference, but we still don’t know much about what the game is about.

Capcom took the stage to announce a new entry in its open-world, zombie-fighting Dead Rising series. Dead Rising 3 looks much less cartoonish than previous games in the franchise, with stark, washed-out graphics and a desolate Los Perdidos setting. However, the game’s affinity for ridiculous weapons returns. In the trailer, protagonist Nick Ramos attached a saw to a sledgehammer and used it to wade through a zombie crowd. The game also employs SmartGlass to allow players to call in heavier ordnance, such as airstrikes.

And for RPG fans, John Mamais of CD Projekt Red announced that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt runs on Xbox One—no surprise, considering the second entry was also playable across both the PC and the Xbox. The Witcher 3 certainly looks gorgeous, and is apparently a multi-region open-world game. Mamais promises to harness the Xbox One’s strengths: the team is including voice commands and porting the UI to SmartGlass for menu-driven interactions like inventory management.

Microsoft gave a token nod to independent developers, with quick trailers for Minecraft on Xbox One and a new title from Capybara Games, called Below. It appears Microsoft is trying to address concerns in recent years that they’re unfriendly to indies, though we’ll see if the gesture brings people back onto the platform.

Then there were the huge entries in the first-person shooter genre: Battlefield 4, developed by EA Dice, and Titanfall, the debut game from Respawn Entertainment.

DICE showed off more gameplay footage from Battlefield 4, though the presentation was marred a bit by an embarrassingly long string of technical difficulties. The Battlefield 4 footage looks gorgeous compared to Battlefield 3 on the Xbox 360, so hopefully the gap between the console and PC versions has narrowed in terms of multiplayer features also.

DICE also revealed the first map pack for Battlefield 4 is a timed exclusive for Xbox One.

The show closed with a trailer for Titanfall, from Respawn Entertainment, the studio founded by Vince Zampella and Jason West after they left Infinity Ward (creators of Call of Duty). Titanfall looks quite a bit like Call of Duty on the surface, but your tiny soldier is able to leap small buildings and run up walls with the aid of a jetpack, as well as clambering into gigantic mechs for a bit of extra firepower.

The game looks like it runs at a frantic clip, so we’ll see if the shooting is just as arcadey and responsive as the Call of Duty games. Zampella claimed that with Titanfall, Respawn is “pushing the boundaries of multiplayer gaming,” with many calculations offloaded into the Xbox One’s cloud computing platform.

Microsoft talks games at E3

2013-06-10T06:27:00.001-08:00

Microsoft took the wraps off its Xbox One last month. But while the May unveiling might have been the first word on the company’s forthcoming gaming console, it’s certainly not the last word. News about what content will be available when the Xbox One arrives later this year was noticeably absent from Microsoft’s launch event; instead, we were told to expect more information at the E3 gaming expo.

Well, E3 is upon us. And Microsoft is hosting a Monday press conference in which we’re expecting to hear even more about the Xbox One. Join us at 9:30 a.m. PT/12:30 p.m. ET for our live coverage from Los Angeles.

Android security is sadly lacking, researchers reveal

2013-06-09T20:20:00.000-08:00

Android smartphones and tablets are under attack, and the most popular tools developed to protect them are easily circumvented, according to new research from Northwestern University and the University of North Carolina.

The researchers created technology called DroidChamelon that can be used to perform common obfuscation techniques (simple switches in a virus' binary code or file name, for instance) to blow by security products. It tested DroidChamelon with products from the likes of AVG, Kaspersky, ESET, Symantec and Webroot.

Details about the research can be seen in a paper titled "Evaluating Android Anti-Malware Against Transformation Attacks."

Simple security is easily beaten

"The results are quite surprising," said Yan Chen, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science (Vaibhav Rastogi, a Ph.D. candidate at Northwestern, and Xuxian Jeng of North Carolina State University, co-authored the work with Chen). "Many of these products are blind to even trivial transformation attacks not involving code-level changes—operations a teenager could perform."

The products' downfall was due to their use of overly simple content-based signatures, said researchers, who recommended more widespread use of static analysis to sniff out transformed viruses. Though the good news is that last year 45 percent of signatures could be evaded easily, whereas only 16 percent could be this time around.

Attackers are going after Android because it is so widely used. Kaspersky estimates more than 94 percent of all mobile malware targets Android.

Even so, the researchers at Northwestern and NC State emphasized that other mobile OSes are all aren't necessarily any more protected from virus attacks. The researchers just didn't test them.

Former CIA assistant Edward Snowden outs himself as NSA whistleblower

2013-06-09T16:22:00.001-08:00

You've seen the inflammatory NSA slides, and now you can attach a name to the paperwork: His name is Edward Snowden, he has a 10-year history in government defense and intelligence gathering, and now, he tells The Guardian, he's leaked classified documents because he thinks current NSA surveillance techniques pose "an existential threat to democracy."

"My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them," he told Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald in an interview conducted in Hong Kong.
Snowden is a former CIA technical assistant, and a current employee of defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, where he has worked for less than three months according to the company. For the last four years, Snowden has done contract work for the NSA as an employee of various outside firms. In 2003, Snowden enlisted in the U.S. Army to join the Special Forces, but broke both his legs during a training mission, and was discharged. From there, the Guardian reports, Snowden took a job as a security guard for the NSA, and then later joined the CIA to work in IT security before returning to the NSA as a contractor, including his current position as an infrastructure analyst.

In a 12-plus-minute video interview conducted June 6 with Greenwald, Snowden explains his motivations for leaking classified NSA information, though it's worth noting that the now infamous PRISM program is never mentioned on camera, nor does the specific program name appear in the accompanying Guardian article.

Nonetheless, Snowden's words on video seem to reaffirm the Post's and Guardian's initial reports that the NSA has deep hooks into Big Tech, including real-time access to the data of American citizens—an assertion that's now being vigorously disputed by Director of Intelligence James R. Clapper. CNET has also quoted an anonymous former government official who says "None of it is true," referring to original reporting by The Guardian and Washinginton Post.

The following three paragraphs contain the meat of Snowden's indictment.

"The NSA and the intelligence community in general is focused on getting intelligence wherever it can, by any means possible," says Snowden in the video. "It believes on the grounds of sort of a self-certification that they serve the national interest. Originally, we saw that focused very narrowly tailored as foreign intelligence gathered overseas. Now, increasingly, we see that it's happening domestically."

"And do to that, they, the NSA specifically targets the communications of everyone. It ingests them by default. It collects them in it system and it filters them, and analyzes them, and it measures and it stores them for periods of time, simply because that's the easiest, most efficient, and most invaluable way to achieve these ends.

"So, while they may be intending to target someone associated with a foreign government, or someone they suspect of terrorism, they're collecting your communication to do so. An analyst at any time can target anyone. I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authorities to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant to a federal judge, to even the President if I had a personal email."

Tiny Windows 8 tablets will ship with Office 2013 baked-in

2013-06-06T05:54:00.001-08:00

Windows tablets are about to get a whole lot more Office-y. Mere moments after announcing that Windows RT tablets are receiving a version of Outlook 2013 with the Windows 8.1 update, Windows CFO Tami Reller also said that all small-screen Windows 8 tablets will ship with a free copy of Office Home & Student 2013, starting with the recently announced 8-inch Acer Iconia W3.

Diminutive Windows 8 tablets won't be receiving Outlook, but they will include Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. The news isn't exactly a surprise: For months, rumors have swirled that Microsoft was offering manufacturers deep discounts on Windows and Office licenses destined for small screen, touchscreen Windows 8 devices.

Reller and the complimentary Windows blog post left one key detail murky, however—it never mentioned just how small a Windows tablet needs to be in order to qualify for Office inclusion. Engadget grabbed a Microsoft rep at Computex, who said the deal is good for all devices with sub-10-inch screens. I've reached out to Microsoft and will update this post when the company gets back to me with the hard details. Update: Microsoft representatives say the company is delving into screen size specifics at this time.

Thinking small

Acer will offer a keyboard accessory for its 8-inch Iconia W3 tablet, which should make the bundled Office 2013 software all the more useful.
While tossing in Office gratis is a great way to differentiate diminutive Windows 8 tablets from the Android horde and the iPad mini, the shift to small screens—even with Office and the Windows 8.1 update—likely isn't enough to cure Microsoft's tablet blues. Tiny tablets are more often used for consumption than creation, and while the modern UI and apps should stand up well, the Windows desktop will probably be too small to navigate comfortably on a sub-10-inch screen.

That said, Windows 8.1 and the inclusion of Office on small screen devices show that Microsoft is committed to making its modern UI-tinged operating system more appealing to the masses. Acer's Iconia W3 is priced at $380—a mighty fine price for a machine that comes with Office baked-in. Asus officials have said they expect small Windows 8 tablets to wind up below $300 to better compete with low-cost Android devices like the Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire.

Forget Haswell: Why tablet processors mean more to Intel at Computex

2013-06-04T15:46:00.001-08:00

Intel’s Haswell processor line may have gotten all the glory at Computex this weekend, but ten years down the line, we may just remember Computex 2013 as the year that Intel’s most portable CPUs were finally embraced by mobile manufacturers.

Intel’s portable technology has made waves before, of course—remember those x86 smartphone processors from 2012? But for the first time ever, it’s looking as though all of Intel’s pie-in-the-sky promises are truly turning into real-world hardware wins. The prospect already has ARM bristling to defend its turf.

“Intel has made some dramatic improvements in the mobile market, and I think what we’re starting to see now are the fruits of their hard work and labor.”
“If Intel continues on its trajectory, we’re going to look back on [Computex 2013] and say not necessarily that it’s where Intel’s mobile push started, but that it’s where it started to gain traction,” says Patrick Moorhead, founder and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.
Let’s take a peek at that traction in action, starting with honest-to-goodness Android tablets with Intel Inside.

While Intel has notched a few Android smartphone wins on its post, it was never able to convince a big manufacturer to take a stab at a proper Atom-powered Android tablet—until Computex, that is. And at Computex, it landed one of the biggest fish swimming around in the Android ocean: Samsung.

While the 8-inch Galaxy Tab unveiled Monday runs a standard ARM processor, the 10.1-inch flagship model sports a dual-core Intel chip of unspecified design. Since the tablet is due to launch in June, look for it to likely rock the “Clover Field+” Atom system-on-a-chip popular in today’s Windows tablets, rather than the next-gen, Silvermont-based “Bay Trail” processors slated for release by the holidays.

“Intel has made some dramatic improvements in the mobile market, and I think what we’re starting to see now are the fruits of their hard work and labor,” Moorhead says. Intel has been laying the groundwork for its mobile chips for more than four years. “They deserve a lot of credit. This is only stage two or three of a ten-stage plan by Intel for mobile, but this is very positive for them.”

More impressively, Intel won over Samsung despite the fact that 32nm Clover Trail chips aren’t as slim as the 28nm ARM chips favored today, and that many Android apps have to be translated on-the-fly to ensure compatibility with Intel’s x86 architecture.

Don’t celebrate too much just yet, however. “Intel still has a lot of work to do and its market share in the mobile space, be it tablet or smartphone, is very, very small,” CCS Insight analyst Geoff Blaber told IDG y.

The Intel-powered Asus Fonepad Note phablet.
That’s very, very true—but Intel’s processors didn’t just pop up in the Galaxy Tab. Clover Trail could also be found in the bizarre Asus Transformer Book Trio laptop-desktop-tablet “frankenconvertible” (as Moorhead calls it) that runs both Android and Windows; the 10-inch Asus Memo Pad FHD; and even the 6-inch Asus Fonepad Note phablet. Asus, it seems, is at least partially won over.

Intel’s Clover Trail processor can also be found in the world’s first 8-inch Windows tablet, the Acer Iconia W3. That, in fact, brings up a whole ’nother problem for ARM, and a whole ’nother win for Intel.

At this year’s Computex there’s nary a Windows RT tablet to be seen, while last year manufacturers were showing off ARM-powered slates like the Asus VivoTab.
Windows RT’s absence from Asia’s biggest trade show is nothing short of glaring, especially when you consider how most manufacturers were tripping over themselves to show off Windows RT slates—which run on ARM processors and aren’t compatible with classic Windows desktop programs—at last year’s show. In the 12 months since, manufacturers, developers, and consumers alike have avoided Windows RT like the plague.

That’s bad news for Microsoft and ARM, but it’s wonderful news for Intel. Manufacturers are rolling out droves of Windows tablets, but virtually all of those tablets run the full-blown version of Windows 8 on top of Intel’s x86 silicon, rather than the crippled monstrosity that is Windows RT.

There’s a reason for that. The mere threat posed by Microsoft’s ARM adoption spurred Intel into action, prompting it to devote its near-endless resources on energy efficiency.

“The power and performance gap to ARM for Intel Atom is a myth now,” Blaber says. And when Intel’s Atom or one of AMD’s mobile processors offer a true Windows experience and last just as long as an ARM chip, settling for Windows RT’s sea of compromises just doesn’t make much sense. Manufacturers know that.

Intel has rethought power efficiency from the ground up with its Haswell and Silvermont CPU architectures. (Click to enlarge.)
Bay Trail chips will be even more powerful and long-lasting than the Clover Trail processors winning the hearts and hardware of manufacturers today. Haswell’s mobile power efficiencies are paving the way for a future where tablets can offer full laptop power with none of the compromises found in the powerful slates like the Surface Pro and Razer Edge Pro.

Yes, it appears as though the old Wintel hegemony will carry over to Microsoft tablets. Hybrids may just be the future of Windows, and it’s hard to see where ARM fits in to the picture. On Monday, Acer honcho J.T. Wang told The Wall Street Journal that Windows RT won’t be “so influential anymore.”

“I think Microsoft wants to give some separation between Computex and what’s going on with Windows RT,” says Moorhead. “Because if you did a comparison today, no matter how you slice it, there will be a lot fewer Windows RT devices than Windows 8 tablets.”

Thinking smaller
Update: Tablets weren't the only mobile devices on Intel's mind at Computex. Just after this article was published, Intel introduced the first smartphone based on its "Merrifield" Atom processor, which Intel claims has 50 percent better performance and a "much improved" battery life over its predecessors. So that's where those x86-based smartphone processors went!

Intel expects the chip to wind up in high-end phones early next year.

Intel’s sudden mobile threat has prompted ARM to rattle its saber. The company unveiled a new Cortex-A12 processor, and at a Computex news conference of its own, the company claimed that its mobile processors are superior to Intel’s much-ballyhooed Silvermont Atom technology.

ARM touted its mobile superiority at Computex, though graphs tend to be more persuasive when they include hard values on their axes. Just sayin’. (Click to enlarge.)
Analysts feel that Intel and ARM are now fairly equal on the performance-per-watt front, however, and Moorhead thinks Intel’s refocusing on the mobile market—could—make things interesting going forward.

“If Intel executes on its 22nm and 14nm [processor architecture] roadmaps, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with,” Moorhead says. “Not just an ARM alternative, but in a position where you’d have to think that you may be putting your mobile product line at risk by not having Intel in it.”

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Intel’s future hinges on cracking the mobile market as the masses migrate to tablet technology. Cornering the moribund Windows slate market and achieving a handful of Android design wins isn’t anywhere near a resounding success, but Computex 2013 certainly shows that Intel isn’t just spinning its wheels. Chipzilla’s long-term plan for mobile is on the right track and gaining traction.

Sea change in Microsoft's focus may force restructure of leadership

2013-06-04T06:24:00.002-08:00

Microsoft reportedly is headed for a major organizational restructuring as the company continues its march toward becoming a devices-and-services company.

If the latest rumors are any indication, Microsoft will focus on at least three major categories in the coming years: cloud-connected services, online communications, and all things Xbox.

AllThingsD reported on Monday that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is hard at work on a significant reorganization for the company that will boost at least three execs into “more prominent roles.” The reorganization report comes on the heels of the news that Microsoft CIO Tony Scott has left the company.

Ballmer last October famously said in his annual letter to shareholders that Microsoft was transitioning from a traditional software company into a devices-and-services business. “This is a significant shift, both in what we do and how we see ourselves—as a devices-and-services company,” Ballmer wrote. “It impacts how we run the company, how we develop new experiences, and how we take products to market for both consumers and businesses.”

The three Microsoft executives supposedly headed for bigger roles in the company include Satya Nadella, president of Microsoft’s Servers and Tools division; Tony Bates, president of Skype; and Don Mattrick, who heads the company’s Interactive Entertainment division.

The Servers and Tools division includes a lot of enterprise products such as Windows Azure, the backbone for Microsoft’s online services.

If Microsoft is headed toward becoming a devices-and-services company, then it makes sense to give a more prominent position to the person responsible for making sure most of the company's online services run smoothly.

Microsoft purchased Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion and has since been hard at work integrating Skype into Office, Windows 8, Windows Phone, Outlook.com, and the upcoming Xbox One. It’s pretty clear that Skype is a big part of Microsoft’s devices-and-services future. But whether Bates would continue to head Skype or would move on to another role is unclear.

Finally, we come to Interactive Entertainment, the division responsible for the Xbox. Microsoft, over time, has turned the Xbox 360 into a living-room device that does more than just play games. It also lets the user stream movies, browse the web and do social networking.

The upcoming Xbox One will employ a similar strategy, adding all the features of the Xbox 360 as well as new features, such as integrating with your cable box to provide an overlay for your digital TV guide.

Microsoft appears to have a good shot at turning the Xbox into the all-encompassing living-room device that company rivals like Apple and Google also are trying to create.

The mythical perfect living-room box hopefully would offer gaming, DVR recording, a digital TV guide, online streaming from services like Amazon and Netflix, as well as integration with your PCs, smartphones, and tablets, and a wealth of TV-centric apps. The Xbox One has almost all of these features, minus the DVR, which may be added at a later date.

While Microsoft appears to be planning for a future where Xbox plays a major role, some analysts are calling for the company to sell off its gaming platform/set-top box. Recently, Nomura Equity Research analyst Rick Sherlund called for Microsoft to sell Xbox and Bing .

Where are the devices?
But in Microsoft’s purported Azure-Skype-Xbox future, where do devices like the Surface come in?

Even though Windows is struggling to gain popularity among users, Microsoft’s Surface is far and above the most popular Windows tablet there is. Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets made up half of all Windows slate sales during the first three months of the year, according to IDC (full disclosure: PCWorld and IDC are both owned by International Data Group).

Those sales also catapulted Microsoft into fifth place among the top tablet vendors worldwide.

With that kind of moderate success to build on and a proclaimed “devices-and-services” future, it makes sense to have somebody heading the devices sector of your company.

Perhaps under Ballmer’s final plan, Mattrick and Nadella will head up the devices-and-services divisions, with Bates playing a significant role within the services sector.

Or maybe the three execs will be on equal footing, with a fourth person heading up devices like the Surface.

What about Windows?
The big question, however, is where Windows fits in under all of this. That appears to still be under debate, according to AllThingsD.

Windows is still a key component of Microsoft’s business, and the desktop OS can’t really make the jump to becoming an online service the way Microsoft has done with Office 2013.

Then again, there were rumors about a cloud-based version of Windows for businesses that could make its way to consumers in the coming years. So maybe thinking of Windows as a service isn’t such a far off idea after all.

Windows Blue hides 4K display support, tons of new features, developer says

2013-05-24T11:12:00.004-08:00

For all the controversy surrounding Windows 8, it's a solid OS under the hood. And based on a list of API clues discovered by a former Nokia and Silverlight developer, it should only get better with the Windows Blue update.

Based on an extensive examination of the software APIs found within Windows Blue (now offically called Windows 8.1 by Microsoft), developer Justin Angel compiled a lengthy list of more than 25 features that he says will be included in the updated OS: the possibility of ultra-HD "4K" screen support, lock-screen calls, HDR photo support, better multi-screen formatting, and much more.

Angel teased out the new features by examining the APIs he found in the leaked build of Windows 8.1 (version 9385), which appeared online at the beginning of May. Other Microsoft watchers have installed and played around with the leaked OS—Paul Thurrott published a thorough examination of its forward-facing features—but Angel's API deep-dive reveals even more hidden secrets.

Microsoft representatives declined to comment on what they called rumors and speculation. Angel is no stranger to diving deep into Microsoft products. Last December, he made news when he discovered a method to pirate Windows Store downloads by turning trial versions into full-version apps.

Assuming Angel's latest findings bear out, the new APIs reveal a number of undisclosed capabilities in Windows 8.1, which is expected to be officially unveiled at Microsoft's BUILD conference in San Francisco. The developer release, expected on June 26, will include changes based on customer feedback, including the possible return of the Start button from Windows 7 (though Angel's API analysis doesn't confirm that detail).

It should be noted that Angel confined his examination to Windows 8.1 RT, and not the more conventional Windows 8.1. Windows RT, of course, hasn't had the warmest of welcomes.

The sexy stuff: cameras, resolutions, and lock screens
Microsoft has already said that it will support high-resolution screens with Windows 8, to the point that Windows hardware could support screen resolutions exceeding the "retina" displays found in Macintosh products. Angel's investigation would seem to confirm this, finding support for 225 percent scaling, far exceeding the 180 percent scaling found in Windows 8. In essence, pixel densities for Windows hardware could jump from 240 DPI to 300 DPI.

"It’s possible we’ll see Win8.1 WinRT tablets sporting screens with much higher DPI then Apple’s retina even going all the way up to '4k' resolution," Angel wrote on his blog, justinangel.net.

And if developers want that content projected on a second screen, with a different view, they can do so via the new ProjectionManager class.

"Imagine watching a video on your Win8 Atom-based tablet and plugging it into your TV," Angel wrote. "The tablet could duplicate the content on the TV, but it can’t choose to show one view for the TV and another view for the tablet screen. That for example is the experience for the Netflix iPad app. In Windows 8 Metro apps were spectacularly single screened and only had one single active view. It seems that in Windows 8.1 developers can opt-in to create additional alternate views for projection displays."

As has been previously revealed, apps can now set the lock screen background image. But while the Windows RT device is locked, Angel said, Windows 8.1 users should also be able to at least respond to incoming Skype calls from the lock screen, without having to input a password, unlock the PC, and accept the call. The LockScreenCallActivatedEventArgs API class should also display information about the call.

Although not everyone wants to take pictures with his tablet (does anyone?), the new 8.1 APIs support low-lag picture-taking, which, as Angel notes, could be used for two things. First, a low-lag camera could be used to eliminate shutter delay—the time between when the shutter button is clicked and when the picture is actually recorded. Second, the low-lag feature could be used to take a few, quick shots that could be stitched together. Shooting a few shots at different exposures and then digitally combining them is the basis for high-dynamic-range (HDR) photography, which Windows 8.1 could support.

Metro apps will also now be able to read and write to the camera roll, saved pictures and playlists, Angel wrote.

Support for new devices
Scanners might not be the sexiest of devices, but they were a hole in Windows 8's vaunted driver support. In general, drivers tend to be provided by the manufacturer themselves, not built inside the OS. But that should change with the release of Windows 8.1. Using the new Windows.Devices.Scanners namespace, apps can automate scanning and customizing documents from flatbed and feeder scanners, Angel wrote.

Enterprise users should also benefit from the additional support of smart cards, used for both mobile payment systems and for identification purposes. Windows 8.1 even supports the destruction of those cards. (Don't lose your PIN!) The new OS also includes an API called ClaimedBarcodeScanner.DataRecieved, which Angel says will allow support for both magnetic-stripe readers and barcode scanners.

The Windows 8.1 APIs also now indicate support for both Bluetooth 4.0 as well as Bluetooth Low Energy devices. Angel found support for both the RfComm bluetooth protocol and GATT Bluetooth profile, which are the core of Bluetooth 4.0 support.

"One of the big limitations of Win8 WinRT apps is their lack of ability to interact with connected and built-in devices unless previously exposed by WinRT," Angel writes. "It seems that’s about to change in Windows 8.1 with the introduction of the new Windows.Devices.Usb and Windows.Devices.Custom namespaces. Both of these namespace provide IOutputStream and IInputStream to any USB or IO device. It’s fair to assume it’ll be heavily gated by permissions, but it’s still a great feature that opens up new avenues for Win8.1 apps."

General utilities (hello, search!) and other improvements
You know the Search charm within Windows 8? Congratulations, you're one of the few. But Angel found support for an inline SearchBox control—which, as the name suggests, now supports in-app searching. This means that developers won't necessarily have to force users to use the charm to actually search, but can add a more familiar search box instead.

In general, Metro apps stutter and sometimes stop when a VPN is introduced. Angel's sleuthing reports that will come to an end with Windows 8.1.

And although alternative PDF viewer apps are fairly common within the Windows Store, virtually none take place within the Metro environment. That should change with Blue, which now includes support for all apps to render PDF documents.

Windows 8.1 will also support "geofencing," or the ability to launch an app when the user enters (or, presumably leaves) a designated area. For example, an app could alert a user if his Windows tablet is stolen. Apps just need to set a center point and a radius.

Apps will also be to add appointments to the general Windows calendar via the new AppointmentsProvider, a feature that probably should have been included with the RTM release of Windows 8. Local text-to-speech is now enabled, too.

Angel also discovered a number of other, less important features in his lengthy runthrough.

While users tend to focus on the new, revamped Start Screen and other aspects of Windows 8, some of the best aspects of the new OS lie under the hood. If Angel's discoveries are correct, and Microsoft includes them in the final version of Windows 8.1, then we'll have a better sense of the direction in which Microsoft is moving.

How to prepare your business for Windows 8

2013-05-20T16:48:00.001-08:00

Windows 8, released to the wild last October, seems stuck in a no-win situation.

On the one hand, it is not catching on with Android- and iOS-loving consumers turned off by the Windows 8 tile-based interface and the Windows App Store, which by Android and Apple standards, is anemic and disorganized. And these days, consumer technology is frequently a precursor to enterprise technology as shown by the BYOD (bring your own device) phenomenon.

On the other hand, the situation for Windows 8 isn't any better in the enterprise. IT decision-makers interviewed for a new Forrester report don't see the Windows 8 experience as an improvement over the stable and well-liked Windows 7, mostly due to confusing behavior between applications running in the "Metro" touch interface and those running in the traditional desktop mode.

In the report, entitled "IT Will Skip Windows 8 as the Enterprise Standard," IT professionals reveal that a top concern about Windows 8 is the "potential for significant user training and support and the need for application redesign to take advantage of the new Windows 8 interface."

Businesses still working on deploying Windows 7
Also working against Windows 8 adoption: Most large businesses are too caught up in Windows 7 migrations to focus on Windows 8. According to a separate Forrester survey of more than 1,200 IT decision-makers in the U.S. and Europe, 48 percent of current PCs are running Windows 7 and 76 percent of new PCs being deployed in the enterprise are running Windows 7.

"This doesn't mean enterprises will lock out Windows 8," writes report author and Forrester analyst David Johnson. "Some will support it for specific segments of employees, but it is not likely to displace Windows 7 as the platform standard."

Yet it would be a mistake for IT decision-makers to let Windows 8 slip off the radar. Despite IT trepidation, employees are more interested in Windows 8 than you might think.

Forrester's Forrsights Employee Survey in Q4 2012 showed that 38 percent of employees would prefer to use Windows 8 on their work computers, compared with 35 percent for Windows 7. Windows 8 may have a confusing user interface, but it is unquestionably more modern than the three-and-a-half-year-old Windows 7.

"Windows 8 opens up entirely new use cases for Microsoft customers," writes Johnson, "which will only gain momentum as the app ecosystem ramps up development and hardware vendors offer new designs that blend the lines between tablets and traditional PCs."

In short, IT should give employees freedom to work on Windows 8 PCs as the BYOD trends continues. Here are five ways business IT departments should prepare, according to Forrester.

(1) Complete those Windows 7 upgrades: Microsoft is ending extended support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014, so Forrester recommends that IT pros ignore the Windows 8 hype for now and finish enterprise-wide Windows 7 migrations.

"Rest assured that this laborious effort will ultimately pay off with greater compatibility if or when your organization decides to support Windows 8," writes Johnson. "If you're already on Windows 7 today, then consider adding incremental support for Windows 8 and new devices, starting with pilot groups to better manage the change."

If your organization is still on Windows XP and hasn't begun the migration to Windows 7, then a Windows 8 migration is worth a look, but you must consider the broad effect it will have on your employees and applications, writes Johnson.

"If you find it's manageable, then moving to Windows 8 will put you ahead of the curve."

(2) Get a formal BYOD policy in place: Whatever Windows 8 adoption demand there is, it's coming mostly from employees, so it's a good idea to formalize your BYOD policy and begin with a pilot program that helps you figure out which employees are the best fit for a BYOD initiative.

"Early BYOD programs focused exclusively on smartphones and tablets, but it's inevitable that they extend to Macs and PCs, and Windows 8 may serve as the start for PC inclusion," according to Forrester.

(3) Move your apps to the cloud and embrace open web standards: Most of the cost and labor of an OS migration involves taking inventory of all your apps and testing for compatibility. If application developers shift apps to the cloud quickly, it will reduce future migration efforts while providing employees with better access and more devices.

Forrester also encourages the development of apps on open web standards such as HTML5 instead of for specific browsers like IE, Chrome, or Firefox.

(4) Expand use of app and desktop virtualization: Client virtualization technologies--hosted and local--can speed up BYOD programs by allowing IT to provide a managed environment on personal devices. App virtualization also takes incompatible legacy applications out of the picture by detaching them from the hardware and OS and putting them in a virtual machine, thus giving employees more flexibility.

(5) Organize a pilot program to test Windows 8 hardware: Begin with a small pilot group of workers, each of whom represents the company's different business units. Forrester recommends that companies buy and distribute all the different Windows 8 devices such as tablets, Ultrabooks and all-in-ones. Match the form factor with specific worker needs and collect feedback sooner rather than later.

Microsoft Names First Female Finance Chief

2013-05-09T16:56:00.003-08:00

Microsoft named Amy Hood, an executive at the company, as its chief financial officer, the first woman to hold the top finance job at Microsoft.

Ms. Hood, 41, joined Microsoft in late 2002 and was most recently the chief financial officer of Microsoft’s business division, the unit that oversees its lucrative Office suite of applications. She replaces Peter Klein, Microsoft’s chief financial officer who announced recently that he was resigning to spend more time with his family.

A number of women have risen to Microsoft’s top ranks, but like most technology companies, its senior leadership is still dominated by men. One exception is Lisa Brummel, who, as chief people officer, runs the company’s human resources department. Late last year, Microsoft appointed two women, Julie Larson-Green and Tami Reller, to run the engineering and finance operations of the company’s Windows division, one of its most important units.

As chief financial officer, Ms. Hood will play a bigger role in helping Microsoft adapt to major changes in its business, most notably the shift to mobile devices from PCs and the transformation of traditional software into cloud services. In a sign of these changes, for the last six months, Steve Ballmer, the chief executive officer, has begun talking about Microsoft as a devices and services company.

Ms. Hood will also serve as Microsoft’s ambassador to Wall Street, which has for years looked skeptically at the company’s efforts to enter new businesses like Internet search. After a recent solid earnings report from Microsoft, investors have become more bullish on the company’s prospects. Its shares now trade near their 52-week high.

In an e-mail to Microsoft employees on Wednesday, Mr. Ballmer said Ms. Hood had helped lead the change of Microsoft Office into a cloud service. He said that he worked closely with her on two big acquisitions, that of Skype and Yammer, and that her critical thinking would be an important skill in her new job.

“Amy is a great collaborator with a history of successful cross-group projects, and I am looking forward to having her as a member of my leadership team,” Mr. Ballmer wrote.