Microsoft might suspend the Xbox one production

The Xbox One was released in late 2013 and 5 million consoles have been shipped to retailers since. These 5 million Xbox do not represent sales of the console since many of then are still enthroned on the shelves of shops which making Microsoft consider suspending the production of its console for some time to sell the stocks.
  

Gamasutra indicates that Microsoft is considering to slow or stop the production: The market is about to saturate and it would be pointless for Microsoft to continue to manufacture consoles; Stocks would be sufficient to take effect until the fourth quarter of this year.


Of course, the situation could change if Microsoft announces at the E3 some new games that will boost the sales of the Xbox.
 
Microsoft has released its console in 13 countries so far, but it will be available in more markets in the coming months, which will allow them to sell the stocks and re-boot the production.

Microsoft agitates the world of smartphones

Since the announcement of the "cooperation" between Microsoft and Nokia at Mobile World Congress 2011 , observers have been waiting for what looked very much like an inevitable logical sequence, with this recurring question: When will Microsoft buy the once was Finnish giant ?  
As I was struggling to sleep -it was 5 am here-, I checked twitter to find out that #Microsoft is trending. We finally got an answer:  Microsoft announced the acquisition of Nokia for $ 7.2 billion. The news were received by surprise and mockery.


In an email sent yesterday evening to employees of the firm, Steve Ballmer , CEO leaving Microsoft , announced the acquisition of Nokia 's Devices & Services business , a deal that includes smartphones and mobile division development and design teams , manufacturing units in the world, and operational teams: marketing and support. In total 32,000 Nokia employees will pass directly under Microsoft's banner.
 
Ballmer said that the transaction is " a big step for the future and is in line with the changes announced on July 11". Lumia and Asha in one basket Besides the Nokia Lumia range smartphones composed exclusively of the Windows Phone operating system from Microsoft, this purchase also covers "basic" Asha phones , which will enable Microsoft to expand its hold on mobile telephony.
A major challenge to the two companies , which have failed to negotiate in good time and in the best of their place in the great upheaval of telephony and mobile internet , especially on the smartphone market , monopolized by Apple , Samsung and Google's Android OS , which in turn has also offered another manufacturer , Motorola .  

So, what remains to Nokia? 

Three activities " software, network and services":  Their mapping service, the network infrastructure NSN and Advanced Technologies, and business license and development .  
For Microsoft , it's not big surprise. Their goal was clear, to regain the special privileges they granted Nokia to adapt Windows phone and then to end Nokia. So it is safe to say that the next phone after the latest Lumia ( to be released on the 2nd of October) will be signed Microsoft.

For the first time in 5 years, Yahoo is #1

For the first time in five years, Yahoo passes Google in web traffic in the United States. The Mountain View giant lost its number one spot in July. A surprising result, but is Yahoo able to sustain its position?
  

The figures from ComScore for July confirms it, Yahoo sites surpassed Google sites by 4 338 900 visits (196 564 000 to 192 225 100  visits for Google).  
To realize better what just happened, you must know that Google has been holding the number one spot since April 2008, while Yahoo always oscillated between the second and third place.
 
In the rest of the chart, we find Microsoft Sites in third with 179 595 visits and Facebook in fourth with 266.142 million visits. Note that these figures refer only to the United States. This is a real "tour de force" to Yahoo and its president, Marissa Mayer, who herself worked at Google in the past.  

The figures do not rely solely on search engines, but on all the sites operated by these companies. This includes for example the online messaging and blogs. ( Note that Google recently bought Tumblr from Yahoo, and is currently ranking 38th with 38 367 000 visits)

While this is great news for Yahoo, and whether it is able to hold its position or not, we cannot but wonder if Google professing the lack of privacy their users have to deal with and Microsoft's infamous campaign against them (Scroogled) - Keeping in mind,  Microsoft services mediocrity and lack of security - played a role in boosting the number of visits for the already popular site (Yahoo) in the US.  





Source: Phonandroid

Microsoft shows you how you're getting scroogled

The Competition is fierce between Google and Microsoft. The latter recently accused his rival of disguising advertisements in emails and sending them directly to the user's inbox. A technique that Microsoft has named Gspam.

Following an update of Gmail users now have a "Promotions" tab to separate the commercial emails from the rest of the electronic correspondence. The idea might seem a bit silly to you, but Microsoft accuses Google of scanning mails from its users, analyzing keywords and then sending advertising messages among the "Promotions".

Microsoft styling this technique "Gspam" and invites users to no longer be "scroogled". Indeed, the role of a mailbox is to filter spam and not to drag some more or less discreetly.

Of course, I can invite you all to leave Gmail and end my post, but it would be pointless and ridiculous since I have no better viable alternative ( Unless you are willing to try self-hosting and take full responsibility for your own security). 

However, the only advice I can give you is not to use OUTLOOK, because how could you trust the firm who released windows 8, willingly handed the NSA Skype data, and are shamelessly advertising the Xbox one (a spy in your home).

Read more about Scroogled

The next Xbox has already been snubbed by Sony!

It hasn't been unveiled yet and already largely snubbed by Sony: this is the fate of the next Xbox that, according to rumors, it's said to have an AMD Jaguar-based 1.6GHz CPU, and at a retail price of 299$. The new Xbox might be called "Xbox infinity" and not Xbox 720. It will be officially presented by Microsoft tonight at 19h and available for customers around Christmas 2013.

Sony has made its move yesterday by distributing a teaser focusing on the design of the PlayStation 4. As Microsoft prepares to unveil its new Xbox, and some of the games that make up the line-up, Sony cares, Sony and troll.

Besides its seeder disorder video, the manufacturer has not failed to laugh at Microsoft on Twitter, posting the following tweet:

Also - If you haven't seen our #PS4 teaser video, where have you been?! As it's a slow news day... here it is: bit.ly/12oYGG7
— PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) May 21, 2013

The Free Web Vs DRM in HTML5

 "The W3C has a duty to send the DRM-peddlers packing, just as the US courts did in the case of digital TV. There is no market for DRM, no public purpose served by granting a veto to unaccountable, shortsighted media giants who dream of a world where your mouse rings a cash-register with every click and disruption is something that happens to other people, not them." -Cory Doctrow.

With the death of the owners plugins like Flash and Silverlight, media groups have a problem controlling their streaming flow. For example, they wont be able to restrict a video to certain countries, or to ensure that a film is not viewed simultaneously by two friends sharing a unique Netflix account.
To address their concerns, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) provides an integrated control system (digital rights management or DRM) directly in HTML5, this update of the language through which the Web is built.  
While the measure has not yet been adopted, 27 organizations, including the April and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, wrote a letter to the consortium. Their request: "Keep the digital handcuffs off web standards."

The arguments for
Rather surprisingly, the father of the World Wide Web and W3C Director Tim Berners-Lee, who usually defends a free and open network, supports this measure. According to him, DRM is not directly integrated into HTML5. In essence, he said that HTML5 would contain hooks, and that everyone would be free to lock or not to lock.
More generally, he argues that such a system is the only solution for media groups to adopt HTML5 and  not to return to Flash.  
Netflix, the streaming giant, recently said it was ready to move to HTML5 if the W3C incorporated the famous extensions for encrypted media (EME, the barbarous name of opening the door to DRM plugin). Microsoft and Google are also in this camp.
The arguments against
"This catastrophic proposal would change the HTML so it promotes the digital handcuffs (DRM). EME is sponsored by a handful of powerful companies that are members of the W3C, such as Microsoft and Netflix. These companies are promoting DRM, both for reasons of their own and for the close relationship they have with the most important media companies", the coalition wrote.
The founder of the website BoingBoing, Cory Doctorow, is comparing it to the DVD, wanting to control the media chronology with geographical areas, media conglomerates have indirectly led users to hack. According to him, DRM is not only against-productive, they also limit innovation because they restrict the changes that can be made to content or services. While the industry has moved away DRM on physical media, including music from the iTunes store, she sees the transition to paperless cloud the opportunity to return to the charge. A story that repeats itself, in fact.

Learn more about DRM and join: Voices Against EME

My Dear old MSN..

Today, April 8, 2013, Microsoft puts an end to its instant messaging software: Windows Live Messenger as announced earlier this year. 
The MSN network will remain accessible until the beginning of 2014, and it is therefore possible to connect with another clients like Trillian or Pigdin but the Messenger software will become obsolete in a few hours.

Microsoft recommends at the same time to use the other instant messaging software, Skype. Recall that if two applications were not the basis for the same purpose, they are now identical in many aspects. Like Messenger, Skype makes it possible to chat live with friends and family via text, audio or video, share files, etc.. And fortunately it is possible to import the list of MSN contacts within the Skype application.

For fans of the application, there is no doubt that today, by the end of Windows Live Messenger, a page turns. Launched in 1999 by Microsoft, the application has seen many variations on all media. Will be most remembered for all it emoticons and the silly teenage conversations we used to make...

And finally, with no words left to say, I dedicate my tears and this song to you :

 

Fine of 561 million euros for Microsoft!

The European Commissioner for competition will be fined € 561 million to Microsoft. This is based again on anti-competitive practices and non-compliance of the giant on its Internet Explorer browser.
 

The story goes back to July 2012. The European Union opens an investigation because they suspect Redmond not to let the 28 million users of Windows 7 SP1 choose their web browser. The giant then admits a technical problem prevents BrowserChoice.eu to display, that allows you to select the browser. 
However, this "technical problem" is contrary to the Commission's requests.

So, again, this giant is mind-numbingly trying to outsmart anyone who stands in their anti-competitive practices.

Audacity.

For those who follow this blog regulary, don't worry this is still a tech related post; for the others, well, I don't really care about you. Unless you're planning to become a regular.

In this post we'll be talking about a behavior that really bugs me, which is audacity.
First I'm going to define it, then I'm going to show you some examples.

Definition: Rude or disrespectful behavior.


First example:

"She had the audacity to pick up the receiver and ask me to hang up".

Our second example will be "Scroogled"

When we talk about lack of security, vulnerability, spyware, malware and viruses the first thing that comes to you mind is Microsoft.

Microsoft, the mother of the infamous IE which seems to constantly be in the news for its security issues and vulnerabilities (take a look IE wiki page);
Microsoft the mother of the newly born windows 8 surface that sends data to Microsoft about each application that is installed in Windows 8, which is a very serious privacy problem.
(The process is well described by canadian security researcher Nadim Kobeissy )


Now, this Microsoft that earned its reputation is starting a campaign agaisnt google privacy (gmail to be more specific) just to promote their outlook.com, which, it happens, that also display ads.

This is audacity.

Our Third and last example is of course Google:

Google does read your sent and recieved mail. I just wanted to make clear this up. And here's Google Chairman Eric Schmidt.

"We don’t need you to type at all. We know where you are, with your permission; we know where you’ve been, with your permission; we can more or less know what you’re thinking about." - Google Chairman Eric Schmidt at the The Atlantic Washington Ideas Forum in 2010.

If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place.
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt on Consumer Privacy.

You all know, that google has this browser named Chrome. And what you might not all know is that chrome, like any other browser have a private surfing mode or "incognito" as Google named it.
Now when start you chrome with incognito mode, this is the message that will be displayed :

This is like me, trashing new readers at the beginning of my post and bitching later about how no one is following me.

And finally, I know this post might not be interesting for the most of you; but I think that "Audacity" is the word of this century and I wanted to have some fun with it.

What's hot today?

Well, since most of my readers are from the US and there is a huge time span, the post title to you should be what was hot yesterday.

Anyhow, since today I'm too lazy to figure out what to write about and I don't want to just write anything, I decided to spare you some time and bring you the hottest topic in the technology blog sphere today.

And this is a reminder to myself so you can skip it : (today is January 4th)



So here's the top 5 topics/news online for today: 

Bill Gates , Steve Jobs and Linus Trovalds

Written by h20 on 14 dec 2012.

Three names that shined over the years because of their contributions to technology in general 

and to computers specifically, here's the timelines of each one of them.

Who had the most influence ? you be the judge.

“Microsoft looks at new ideas, they don’t evaluate whether the idea will move the industry forward, they ask, ‘how will it help us sell more copies of Windows?”  – Bill Gates

Bill Gates enters Harvard	Bill entered Harvard with the intention of getting his pre-law majors, but quickly switched to technology and graduated with max level mathematics and science courses.
Gates calls MITS	Bill called MITS from his dorm room asking them if they would let him develop software for their computers.
"Microsoft"	Gates and Allen register the trademark "Microsoft". Gates writes a letter to computer hobbyists.
Leaving Harvard	Gates leaves Harvard and sets up Microsoft in Albuquerque N.M. where MITS is headquartered.
Money made from Microsoft in one year!	at the end of the year of 1978 Bill Gates's "Microsoft" had already made 1 million$. Gates Gains a huge reputation for being tough.
Microsoft relocates	Microsoft Headquarters relocates to Bellevue, Wash. near Gates's hometown.
Microsoft’s investments	Microsoft buys the rights to the operating system "DOS" form Seattle Computer Products. Microsoft modifies the "DOS" and renames it "MS-DOS".
Knighthood	Queen Elizabeth II bestows an honorary knighthood on Gates for his contributions to the United Kingdom. Time names him a “Person of the Year” along with Melinda Gates and Bono
Retirement	Gates retires from day-to-day duties at Microsoft on June 27 2008, but stays in the role of chairman and adviser on important development projects. He tells the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that he plans to pour the same amount of energy into his foundation that he did into Microsoft. He stated in 2006 that his intentions,  is to spend more time working with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“Picasso had a saying. He said 'Good artists copy, great artists steal.' And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas” – Steve Jobs

Buddhism	He quits his first job at Atari to backpack across India, take psychedelic drugs, convert to Buddhism, and shave his head . . . experiences that he credits with shaping his creative vision.
Apple	STEVE JOBS and STEVE WOZNIAK form Apple Computers and build their first personal computer . . . in Jobs’ parents’ garage.
Apple II	Apple releases the Apple Two, which becomes the first widely-used personal computer in the world.
Macintosh	Apple launches the Macintosh 1984, a desktop computer with the screen built in.  One year later, Jobs would leave Apple.
Out of Apple	Jobs ousted from Apple and founds NeXT
Pixar	Jobs buys Pixar Animation Studios for $10 MILLION.  In 1995 they release “Toy Story”, the first movie made entirely with computer animation.  It changes animation forever.  When Pixar goes public, Jobs becomes a billionaire.
Return to Apple	With Apple dying and about to be sold or killed off, Jobs returns, and becomes CEO.  He takes a salary of $1.
iProducts	1998- iMac for 1,299$ 1999- iBook 2003- iTunes Music store and iPod 2007- iPhone 2007- Apple TV 2008- Macbook Air 2010- iPad 2011- iCloud

“Really, I’m not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect”

“Talk is cheap. Show me the code” – Linus Trovalds

Why linus?	Torvalds was named after Linus Pauling, the Nobel Prize-winning American chemist, although in the book Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution, Torvalds is quoted as saying, "I think I was named equally for Linus the Peanuts cartoon character", noting that this makes him half "Nobel-prize-winning chemist" and half "blanket-carrying cartoon character"
In the army	His academic career was interrupted after his first year of study when he joined the Finnish Army, selecting the 11-month officer training program to fulfill the mandatory military service of Finland. In the army he holds the rank of second lieutenant, with the role of a ballistic calculation officer.
His own os	Linus Torvalds, a 21-year-old student at Helsinki University, decided to write his own computer operating system.
Why linux?	Initially, Torvalds wanted to call the kernel he developed Freax (a combination of "free", "freak", and the letter X to indicate that it is a Unix-like system), but his friend Ari Lemmke, who administered the FTP server where the kernel was first hosted for downloading, named Torvalds' directory linux.
Why the penguin?	The penguin was trovald’s personal mascot nicknamed Tux, which has been widely adopted by the Linux community as the mascot of the Linux kernel
Top innovator	In 1999 he was named by the MIT Technology Review TR100 as one of the top 100 innovators, under the age of 35, in the world
More good news in 1999	In 1999 Red Hat and VA Linux, both leading developers of Linux-based software, presented Torvalds with stock options in gratitude for his creation. That same year both companies went public and Torvalds' share value temporarily shot up to roughly $20 million.
2006	approximately two percent of the Linux kernel was written by Torvalds himself
2012	his own personal contribution is mostly merging code written by others, with little programming. Torvalds remains the final authority on what new code is incorporated into the standard Linux kernel
Currently	Currently, the Linux Foundation sponsors Torvalds so he can work full time on improving Linux.

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