Samsung Unveils Windows 8 and Android Hybrid ATIV Q

Back in May, Samsung announced the company was planing on bringing a notebook display to market with a resolution even greater than Apple's Retina devices. Today, Samsung has officially announced the first application of the panel, used in the new ATIV Q. Boasting a 3200 x 1800 qHD+ display, the hybrid is capable of running both Android and Windows 8, reports Engadget.

During an event in London on Thursday, Samsung showed off the ATIV Q, which is capable of use in four setups: tablet, typing, stand, and writing. The 13.3-inch screen is apparently setup with a non-reflective glass for outside use, according to Samsung, and offers an up to 178 degree viewing angle. The hybrid ATIV Q also takes advantage of S Pen support.

The ATIV Q runs on an Intel Core i5 Haswell processor and weighs 2.84 pounds. Switching between the Android Jelly Bean or Windows 8 operating systems does not require a reboot of the ATIV Q, you only need to press the start button. While Samsung's new hybrid will allegedly launch sometime later this year, there's no word yet on pricing.

How to Search Apps in Windows 8

When Microsoft first revealed its plans for modernizing the Windows 8 operating system, many users balked at the idea of having to learn new ways of doing the same things that they’d done in previous versions for years. Understandably, many users freaked out. Even more purchased new devices running the operating system only to realize that had no idea how to do any of the things they’d relied on the Start Menu for. Chief among the things people still have a hard time understanding is how search works in Windows 8.

Just as with most actions, Microsoft has broken up the functionality of the Start Menu into two elements. The first, the Start Screen, is the new default user interface for Windows 8. It’s that touch and keyboard friendly area with Live Tiles that is featured whenever a user hits the Start button on their device. The second area is the Charms Bar. Unlike the Start Menu there’s actually no persistent visual element that lets you know it’s there. Instead Microsoft requires users to simply know how to access them after a short video tutorial.

Here’s how to use that Charms Bar’s search function to find what you’re looking for in your favorite Windows 8 applications, like Netflix, and for files stored on the device you’re using.

From any area on your computer swipe from the right if you’re using a tablet or place the mouse curser in the right hand corner of your screen if you’re using a keyboard and mouse.

The Charms Bar will appear, presenting you with ‘Settings’, ‘Devices’, ‘Start’ ‘Share’ and finally ‘Search’. Click on the Search Charm.

By default, Windows 8 will treat all searches as if you’re looking for apps. If you are searching for an app, type in the name of the application until you see it on the left and click on it or tap it. If you are looking for a setting select Settings just underneath the field where you’re seeing the keywords you are searching for. Once you’ve found that setting hit or tap enter. The same process goes for any files that you’ve stored on that Windows 8 device as well, just tap files underneath the Search field.

You’ll also find a list of apps that you can search using this system as well. To search apps, simply type the name of the thing you are looking for, and click on the application in the search menu that you wish to search through. In our example, we’re search the Xbox Music application for ‘Britney Spears.’

Again, this method also works for files stored on your computer. Above, we’re searching for all the Britney Spears songs downloaded to our Windows 8 Device.

Since the Charms Bar is available at all times, users can search directly from any application installed as well. To do so, just enter the application and hit the Search Charm.

Microsoft once again uses Siri to hawk Windows 8 tablets

In 30 seconds, Microsoft's ad pitches some of the benefits of owning a Windows 8 tablet over an iPad running iOS, such as the ability to pinch to zoom to see more apps on the home screen, built-in SD card compatibility, running two apps on the same display, and a lower price. Redmond not only enlists Apple’s intelligent virtual assistant to push their own product in this ribbing ad, it also mimics Apple’s own advertising style, showing two tablets side by side against a backdrop of white.

The commercial begins with Microsoft pointing out that users can’t pinch on the home screen to see multiple pages of apps.

“I’m sorry, I can’t zoom like that,” says the soon-to-be updated Siri, in a robotic monotone.

The Dell tablet user then slides in an SD card from their camera, while the same action on the iPad prompts Siri to protest, “You can’t put an SD card there, or there, or there.”

She then compliments Windows 8’s ability to run two apps on the same screen before lamenting about the iPad's $599 price tag, which is $200 more than the Dell XPS 10’s current special offer price of $399. What the ad doesn’t mention is that the XPS 10 normally starts at $449 when it’s not on sale.

These parody ads are becoming common for the Microsoft, which has not only mocked Apple and Siri, but also Android and Samsung in its take on the smartphone war, a fight in which Windows Phone is all but absent.

The timing of the most recent commercial is particularly interesting.

Microsoft released Office 365 Mobile for iPhone earlier today, but left both the iPad and Android devices in the cold. This can be been seen as an attempt to drive more Windows 8 tablets sales which, as seen in a previous and similar ad, is capable of running PowerPoint.

There’s also the old argument that Windows 8 only boasts a library of 65,000 apps or so, while iOS carried more than 250,000 as of July 2012. What Microsoft wants customers to remember, of course, is that Office can’t be found in Apple’s expansive collection.

Windows 8 touch ultrabooks see price cuts at Microsoft Store

 

Touch ultrabooks are seeing decent price cuts at the Microsoft Store, making these expensive models a bit more affordable.
Touch-screen laptops are generally priced significantly higher than non-touch models, as the screens have been expensive to procure.
The well-received Acer Aspire S7 has seen one of the steepest discounts, falling to $1,299 from $1,649.
The S7 features a 256GB solid-state drive, a 13.3-inch 1,920x1,080 resolution display, and a 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U processor.
Next up, Sony's Vaio T Series 13 has been reduced to $999 from $1,299. That 13.3-inch touch model packs a 256GB solid-state drive, 8GB of memory, and a 2GHz Core i7-3537U processor.
And the lower-end Vaio T Series (SVT13136CYS) model has been cut to $799 from $899.
Hewlett-Packard's Pavilion TouchSmart Sleekbook (15-b154nr) is now $599, reduced from $699.
HP's Spectre XT TouchSmart (15-4011nr) ultrabook has also seen a modest cut to $1,249 from $1,349. (See CNET's Spectre XT TouchSmart review.)
The Spectre XT boasts a 1,920x1,080 resolution 15.6-inch touch display, 8GB of memory, and a 1.9GHz Core i7-3517U chip.
The Microsoft Store has also been reducing prices on tablets with some now priced as low as $399.

Microsoft Reinvents Start Button In Windows 8 Update

Microsoft heard a lot of complaints when it ditched the Start button in its latest version of Windows. Now, it’s kind of bringing it back.

Windows 8 is designed for touch, but since most of us still point-and-click our way through the day, the lack of a Start menu meant a learning curve.

“The Start button is back. Not in the way people may have been expecting,” says Engadget senior reviews editor Dana Wollman.

Wollman says in the update, 8.1, Microsoft adds an always-on Windows logo to the bottom left.

“Anyone who is expecting the old start menu with those fly out menus to come back is going to be disappointed,” Wollman explains.

Clicking it brings up customizable tiles to fill with most-used appsand live updates.

You can boot to the old-school desktop — though there’s still no traditional start menu.

Microsoft is adding personalization options and a richer search when a free upgrade, for existing Windows 8 users, comes out later this year.

Forget Windows 8: XP users have options, says Ovum

Businesses using Windows XP don't have to move to Windows 8 once Microsoft withdraws support - they should consider other "innovative" options such as tablets, Chrome OS and virtualisation, Ovum has said.

Microsoft will stop providing security updates or patches for Windows XP from April 2014, potentially leaving the many businesses still using it more vulnerable to attacks, as well as without official support.

The research firm suggested IT managers should consider cheaper options to dodge hefty upgrade costs to Windows 7 or Windows 8.

"The cost of upgrading hundreds or thousands of desktop and laptop computers to a new operating system is significant in terms of time and money, so organisations should consider how their IT budgets might be invested in more innovative projects," said principal analyst Richard Edwards.

Ovum said IT managers could give employees Android tablets or an iPad in place of Windows XP laptops, noting that they are cheaper to service and support.

It also recommended switching to a web-based system, namely Google Chrome OS, or else desktop virtualisation to bring machines back under central control.

However, that tactic was questioned by IDC analyst Al Gillen. "Using virtualisation along with what amounts to a thin client is an acceptable strategy for replacing some ageing desktops, but it is not a universally correct answer to Windows XP replacements," he said.

"Remember that if you go to a client virtualisation scenario, you still have to run the applications that were running on the XP desktop (assuming they are still needed) somewhere, on some OS," he said. "So you are not really avoiding the OS update issue, you are really just moving it elsewhere."

Ovum’s comments may come as a blow to Microsoft, which is attempting to push its customers to newer systems ahead of XP's end of life next April. Microsoft is currently offering discounts on Windows 8 in a bid to drive up interest among SMBs, but many could be leaving it too late to migrate from the OS, with fewer than half of small firms making a start.

One in five managers are planning to keep using XP once the April deadline has passed, Ovum said.

Although XP users have only a year left of support, it is still the second most popular OS behind Windows 7, according to Net Applications, with 39% of all PCs running XP, and 45% running Windows 7, while only 3% run Windows 8.

How to display the Windows 8 product key

If you have bought a PC that shipped with Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system preinstalled you may have noticed that it did not ship with a product key label that your previous PCs shipped with. The reason for this is that manufacturers have started to embed the product key of the operating system in the BIOS of the system instead. While it is no longer necessary to enter the product key during re-installations of the operating system on the same computer system, it may cause issues at times under certain circumstances.

One scenario where this is working against the user is the following: say you bought a PC with Windows 8, the standard version of the operating system. If you now try to install Windows 8 Pro on the PC you will run into issues as the original Windows 8 product key is used automatically during installation.

While there are ways around this, for instance by entering the new product key in the system control panel after clicking on "Get more features with a new edition of Windows", it does not resolve other situations where you may need the product key.

Several applications are capable of displaying the Windows 8 product key even if it is stored in the Bios of the system. Belarc Advisor can reveal the product key no matter where it is stored, but if you are looking for a straightforward simple program to do so, I suggest you check out the Windows 8 Product Key viewer that is available for download at the My Digital Life forum.

Note that you need an account to download the file from there. The latest version is 1.4.7 but since it gets regularly updated, it may change in the near future. I have uploaded the latest version to my Dropbox account. Just click on this link to download it.

To use the program, simply run it after you have unpacked it on your system. You may need to select the MSDN key option first before it becomes visible though. Note that the program works under all recent versions of Windows, not only under Windows 8. You can click on the copy button next to the product key to copy it to the clipboard.