Ballmer: Windows Phone Sees Slow Sales, But the Future is Bright

Microsoft is confident that their Windows Phone operating system will conquer more hearts than other mobile platforms out there, and that it will prove one of the top OSes on the smartphone market, the company's CEO has confirmed once again. 

For the time being, however, things are not as good as Microsoft might have hoped for, with Windows Phone devices taking off shelves at a slow pace, but the future should change that, it seems. 

Steve Balmer, Microsoft's CEO, confirmed that sales have been disappointing, but he also stressed on the fact that they are making progress with the new OS release, Mango. 

“We haven’t sold quite as many as I would have liked in the first year,” Ballmer said, speaking at the company’s financial analyst meeting, AllThingsD reports.

“I’m not saying I love where we are but I am very optimistic on where we can be. We’ve just got to kick this thing to the next level,” he continued. 

Indeed, users did not rush to buy Windows Phone devices, though Microsoft has been hard at work with attracting as many developers to its side as possible. 

Moreover, the software giant worked on expanding the list of hardware partners for the platform, and managed to add Nokia there earlier this year. 

With Windows Phone Mango almost here, and with new, highly appealing devices right around the corner, it should not be all that difficult for Microsoft to boost up sales, one should agree. 

“With Nokia we have a dedicated hardware partner that is all-in on Windows Phones. They are not doing something on Android or [any other operating system],” Ballmer continued. 

The Finnish handset vendor is expected to launch its first Windows Phones in about one month, and should bring them to shelves on a country-by-country basis, Stephen Elop, Nokia CEO, stated recently. 

Companies like HTC, Samsung, Acer and others will also launch smartphones running under Mango, most probably before the end of the ongoing year, and that should help the platform even more. 

For the time being, however, all that Microsoft has to go forth with appear to be hopes, though they are in line with what analysts already predicted for the platform, namely that it will become one of the top three OSes in the world in the next several years.

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Windows 8 Reset and Refresh Make Reinstalling Obsolete

With the introduction of two amazing new features in Windows 8, Microsoft has virtually made reinstalling obsolete. 

Literally with just the push of a button, well, of a Metro option in the revamped Control Panel, and no effort at all from users, Windows 8 can either be Refreshed or Reset entirely. 

The two are different, and customers should not think of the old refresh option that came with the contextual menu when right clicking the desktop.

Refresh is about stripping down all changes that users introduced to Windows 8 in terms of settings, save for their personalization options. In this regard, Windows 8 Refresh can be thought of as a basic Reset. 

“Your files and personalization will not change. Your PC settings will be restored to all their defaults, and all of your Metro style apps will be kept, and all the other apps like malware and extra toolbars will be removed,” explained Steven Sinofsky, president, Windows and Windows Live Division. 

What’s exceptionally empowering about both Reset and Refresh in Windows 8 is that even end users with only the most basic of IT skills will be able to repair their computer from even a major failure. 

Reset allows the Windows 8 slate to be wiped clean and gets the OS to the moment after it was initially deployed. 

“Your personal files and apps will be removed, and your PC settings are restored to their defaults. It's just like your out-of-box experience,” the Windows boss added. 

Developers present in the hall where Sinofsky delivered the opening keynote address for BUILD cheered and applauded when he revealed that Microsoft would allow them to actually control this process. 

“Now, you probably immediately went, wait a minute, I do the clean install, and then I install more than Metro style apps. I'm going to install Visual Studio, I've got a bunch of tools. Well, it turns out what we've done to enable folks like you is, there's a super simple command line tool. You get everything set up, you run the command line tool, and that baseline becomes your refresh image. So, it's super easy,” Sinofsky said. 

What this means is that more advanced users will have the tools necessary for them to control the level of customization and the moment in time where Windows 8 will return after a Reset. 

They can always let the OS go back to the original state, but they can also personalize it with tools, apps, configure settings etc. and only return to a state they created and control. 

Microsoft even provides the option to Reset Windows 8 from a USB key, which means that customers will have the option to save their custom image of the operating system to a thumb drive or an external drive. 

What’s critical to underline is that both Reset and Refresh are extremely fast, with both processes completed in just a few minutes. Certainly a lot faster than the speed at which Windows 8 can be installed.

Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102.winmain_win8m3.110830-1739 Milestone 3 (M3) is available for download here.

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Apple Enables Lion Internet Recovery with Macbook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.2

Apple has released a new firmware update for owners of 2011 MacBook Pro models with the purpose of enabling a new software component - Lion Internet Recovery, as well as to fix a number of issues.

According to the technology mammoth headquartered at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California, “[Macbook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.2] enables Lion Internet Recovery which starts Lion Recovery directly from Apple servers over a broadband Internet connection if the built-in recovery is unavailable.”

Lion Recovery is a new feature introduced in Mac OS X 10.7 which lets you restore system software to your Mac without having to use install discs or drives.

Some recently discovered issues are also addressed with Macbook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.2, Apple says:

“It also includes fixes that resolve issues with Apple Thunderbolt Display compatibility and Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode performance on MacBook Pro (early 2011) models.”

For the less technically savvy user, the company further explains that “The MacBook Pro EFI Update will update the EFI firmware on your notebook computer.”

Apple instructs users to have their computer's power cord connected and plugged into a working power source as the firmware update is being installed.

Users are to expect a gray screen with a status bar indicating the progress of the update as soon as the MacBook Pro restarts.

“It will take several minutes for the update to complete. Do not disturb or shut off the power on your MacBook Pro during this update,” the Mac maker adds.

With the update successfully completed, the Boot ROM version will be: MBP81.88Z.0047.B1E.1109091244, according to Apple.

Weighing in at 4.17 MB, Macbook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.2 is to be applied to OS X Lion 10.7 and later.

Download MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.2 (Free) here

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AMD Demos Trinity Powered Notebook

Just a block away from the Intel Developer Forum, AMD is hosting its own press event, which, apart from the Radeon HD 7000 GPU series demo we reported about yesterday, also includes a notebook that is powered by an upcoming Trinity APU.

The system was showcased running Deux Ex right next to an Intel Sandy Bridge laptop, the AMD machine handling the game with a lot more ease than its counterpart, as you can clearly see from the video enclosed in this article.

AMD expects Trinity to be 50% more powerful that the A-Series Llano APUs that were launched in mid-June.

Much of this power comes from the inclusion of Bulldozer x86 CPU cores, which will be paired together with an updated DX11 GPU architecture.

The Bulldozer cores used in Trinity will go by the code name of Piledriver and, much like the current Llano processors, will lack any sort of Level 3 cache memory as AMD wanted to increase the die area available to the on-board GPU.

According to AMD, Piledriver based APUs will be divided into three main versions for specific price-points and markets. 

Trinity will be the most powerful of these and will cover the performance segment of the APU line, which is now occupied by Llano A8 parts.

Right under Trinity will come Weatherford, which covers the upper-mainstream segment and replaces the Llano based A6-series, while the least powerful of the new Piledriver APUs will be called Richland.

This will target the lower-mainstream market segment and is meant to replace the current dual-core A4-series APUs.

AMD's Trinity accelerated processing units are scheduled to be launched in 2012, should include more than 2 billion transistors, two or four computing cores and are built using 32nm fabrication process. (via AnandTech)

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Nokia's Windows Phones in Q4 2011, Released on a Country-by-Country Basis

Nokia will manage to launch its first Windows Phone-based devices before the end of the ongoing year, the company's CEO has confirmed in a recent interview.

Stephen Elop reaffirmed Nokia's commitment to make its first Windows Phone devices available for purchase before the end of the ongoing year, though he did not offer specific info on the countries that will receive these phones. 

However, he did say that the company plans on launching these phones progressively around the world, on a country-by-country basis. 

Clearly, the roll-out will stretch beyond the fourth quarter of 2011, though it remains to be seen how long it will take for these devices to arrive in most markets around the globe. 

We already learned that there might be only six European countries included in the initial launch area, and that countries like Australia, Portugal or the United States might not receive Nokia's new handsets until next year, but confirmation still has to emerge on this. 

In addition to confirming Q4 launch plans for Windows Phones from Nokia, Stephen Elop also took the time to offer some info on what these devices should include, as the video embedded below shows (via WMPoweruser).

Apparently, the company was focused on coming up with a great experience for customers who will choose Nokia Windows Phones, as well as with a series of applications and services that are powered by Nokia, such as Maps. 

When asked whether Symbian users will be attracted to Nokia's new Windows Phones, he seemed pretty confident that these devices will conquer their hearts:

We believe that the quality of the experience with the new Nokia devices will be very attractive to existing Symbian customers, as well as to customers of other operating system environments. 

We have done some surveys of early customers of people using out new products (they've seen our new products in a private setting), and the feedback we get from them relative to the other environments is very positive.

As well, we'll be doing some things to help Symbian users move certain information to a new Nokia device, to help them with that transition.

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Intel Shows Off Its Sandy Bridge-E Liquid Cooler

Intel's next line of Sandy Bridge CPUs may not have totally impressed onlookers when they got previewed, but at least the coolers meant for them will turn some heads once they ship. 

Intel intended to ship the Sandy Bridge-E line of central processing units before the end of the ongoing year (2011) but a delay was uncovered not long ago. 

It also appears that the chips might not exactly live up to the hype they stirred, at least according to previews. 

Whether or not any of the above is true, there is something certain about the upcoming units, and this extends to more than their use of the LGA 2011 socket. 

What Intel decided some time ago was that it will no longer ship coolers in the same bundle as the CPUs themselves. 

Instead, the Santa Clara, California based corporation will develop own-brand coolers that will ship separately. 

Considering the fact that buyers of high-end CPUs, especially overclockers, usually get a different cooler anyway, this wasn't too great a shock. 

On the other hand, no real information existed on just what cooling products one could expect to see, something that has finally changed. 

Among other things, the IT player will sell an own-brand, closed-loop liquid cooler, one that goes by the name of RTS2011LC. 

The closed-loop nature means that it is completely self-contained, so that one needn't set up complicated liquid pumps and tubes step by step. 

The cooler, thus, has a pump of its own, flexible but strong tubing and a radiator assembly (reservoir and blue LED-lit fan). 

It should be able to cope with the heat generated by chips with a TDP (thermal design power) of up to 130 W. 

It should probably be mentioned that, though this is an Intel-branded cooler, the product was actually developed by Asetek. Finally, in addition to Core i7 LGA 2011, LGA 1366 chips are supported by it.

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Nokia to Launch Its First Windows Phone in One Month

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is reportedly set to launch its first handset running under Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system in about one month, with limited availability around the world.

Apparently, the handset vendor is on track to launching a Windows Phone in mid-October, and also plans on making it available for purchase before the end of the ongoing year, yet confirmation on this still has to emerge. 

However, the new device will be released only in a handful of European countries in the beginning, some of the latest reports on the matter suggest. 

Nokia is expected to have its first Windows Phone available in a number of around six markets in Europe in the beginning, though no specific info on the matter emerged for the time being. 

Specific details on the device lack as well, though chances are that the Sea Ray prototype that Nokia showcased a few months ago might turn out to be the company's first commercially available Windows Phone.

Previously, Nokia said that they would be planning the release of more than just one Windows Phone in 2011, and it remains to be seen whether that is still in the books. 

Names like Nokia 703 and Nokia 800 already popped up in relation to Nokia's plans for Microsoft's OS, but nothing has been officially confirmed on the matter until now. 

Next year, however, things will change for Nokia, as the company should kick off mass production for its Windows Phone devices. 

Also, the Finnish giant is expected to work hard on expanding the availability of its new devices to more countries around the world. 

Recently, the company was said to plan the release of its new mobile phones in Australia only in the first quarter of the next year, and countries like Portugal or the United States are expected to receive these handsets during the same time frame as well.

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AMD Showcases Working 28nm Radeon HD 7000 Series GPU

AMD seems to be making great progress with its upcoming Radeon HD 7000 series of graphics cards as the company has recently showcased a system powered by a next-generation Southern Islands GPU, to demonstrate that is on-track to deliver its first 28nm graphics chips by the end of this year.

The system presented during AMD's media event is based on a notebook development platform and uses a yet-unnamed GPU.

"Today, we provided an early look at our upcoming 28nm next-gen notebook discrete GPU, driving Codemasters’ cutting-edge driving simulator, Dirt 3, demonstrating that we have working 28nm technology in house and already delivering a great gaming experience," reads an AMD statement cited by Xbit Labs.

The company chose not to disclose any additional information about the Radeon HD 7000 chips, but it did state that its 28nm GPUs are fully functional and that they are getting ready to formally introduce them.

However, thanks to all the leaks that found their way to the Web, we now know that AMD's Radeon HD 7000 product family will use two different architectures.

The first solutions to arrive will use the VLIW4 shader arrangement introduced with the Radeon HD 6900 series, while 2012 will mark the introduction of the company's first graphics cards based on the Next Generation Core (NCG) architecture.

We talked about this new arch in detail in some of our previous articles, so we are not going to get into this now, but the key aspect of NCG is that it will improve the performance and functionality of GPGPU computing.

Together with NCG, it is rumored that AMD will also introduce support for XDR2 memory in its graphics cards. Developed by Rambus, this memory should be able to double the bandwidth of GDDR5 while using 30% less power.

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Intel Hasswell 22nm CPU Will Enable 10-Day Battery Life

As CPUs transition to more advanced manufacturing processes and architectures, they are bound to gain power efficiency benefits, not just performance boosts over their predecessors, and Intel's Hasswell project appears poised to prove this.

Intel, as always, has a more or less clearly cut roadmap, one that extends to several years in the future.

This means that the Santa Clara, California-based company already knows what it can and wants to achieve with not just the upcoming next-generation CPU line, but the other successors down the line as well.

In 2013, the Hasswell architecture is scheduled to take center stage, and though the time is a bit far off, Intel still talked about it.

Apparently, in addition to the expected performance boosts, the chips will have a considerable advantage on the power efficiency front.

Currently, laptops are having trouble lasting for more than a few hours on a single battery charge, especially high-end ones.

Hasswell, based on the 22nm technology, promises to let one enjoy constant computing for a whole day (chips will use 30% less power during operation compared to Sandy Bridge) easily, though it is standby life that really takes the cake.

According to Intel, a laptop should have what it takes to last for 10 days on standby, because idle platform power will be reduced by about 20 times compared to the current offer.

Needless to say, Ultrabooks will benefit most from all this, especially with the implied performance advantages.

Unfortunately, Intel didn't actually say anything about how strong and fast the Hasswell is expected to be.

Then again, this isn't overly surprising, considering that the immediate focus is still on the Ivy Bridge, whose own presence in the media is not lacking in the slightest.

Ivy Bridge ultrabooks have already been mentioned, as were the 60% graphics boost, the configurable TDP and the unfortunate possibility that existing mainboards might not support the CPUs after all.

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ESET NOD32 Offline Update 6461 (20110913)

ESET NOD32 Offline Update 6461 (20110913) | 40.3 MB

Update your NOD32 without internet connection.

Compatable with:
 - NOD32 Smart Security (all versions)
 - NOD32 Antivirus (all versions)

Steps To Offline Update:
 - Extract to any folder. You should get a folder called "eset_upd" along with the update files inside.
 - Move that folder to the C:\. (You should have "c:\eset_upd")
 - Open up the NOD32 Control Center by clicking on the system tray icon.
 - Open the "Update" screen and click on "Setup"
 - In the "Server" dropdown list, choose the last item which should point to C:\eset_upd.
 - Click OK to close the update setup window.
 - Back at the update screen, click "Update now"

Download here or here

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