Microsoft unveils Windows 8
Microsoft unveiled the design for Windows 8 at the All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California on Wednesday. The next version of Windows will resemble Windows Phone 7 a lot, though fans can expect the familiar PC design to be still there under the hood. The demo revealed a Windows 8 with colorful tiles and finger-swipe gestures from the Windows Phone operating system and expands them to a larger screen. The system lights up to a “lock screen,” (like a smartphone) and has some alerts and diagnostic information set atop a background picture. Inside, small squares represent each app containing snippets of information. A menu of buttons for functions like search, sharing and a shortcut to the home screen can be opened with a finger swipe on the right side of the screen while swiping on the left side switches between open apps.
However, Windows division president Steven Sinofsky said that Windows 8, which may not be the final name for the operating system, won’t be available in stores this fall, as optimists had predicted. Analysts expect it to be released next year. Microsoft plans to provide a more extensive demonstration at a conference for application developers in September.
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Google Launches +1
Google announced Wednesday that its content recommendation plugin, +1, is now available to embed on third-party sites. The +1 button started rolling out in Google search results and ad at the end of March, allowing users, with a single click, to select websites to recommend to friends and other contacts. Google is now finally offering a +1 button to sit alongside the ubiquitous Facebook and Twitter share buttons on any website.
As part of the +1 launch, Google partnered with the following media and retail companies: AddThis, Best Buy, Bloomberg, The Huffington Post, Mashable, Nordstrom, O’Reilly, Reuters, Rotten Tomatoes, TechCrunch, The Washington Post. The +1 button will also be expanding from Google search to the company’s other Web properties, including Android Market, Blogger, Product Search and YouTube.
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HTC reaches out to developers with HTCdev
HTC has announced a new developer initiative called HTCdev, which would offer mobile app developers with various tools and resources to build apps tailor made for HTC Sense phones. HTC made the announcement at the Uplinq conference in San Diego, and also said this initiative will kick start in summer 2011 and will support developers across the industry, right from individuals to large enterprises all over the world.
HTC also added that it would be releasing the Open Sense SDK which contains all the required APIs, sample code and plug-ins for building apps with HTC Sense 3.0 experience along with an extensive resource of tutorials, best practices, documentation and support in next few weeks. This SDK will also contain sample code and API access for HTC’s 3D display and the pen accessory which was launched with HTC Flyer.
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Twitter Announces Own Photo-sharing Service
According to a report by TechCrunch, Twitter is getting ready to launch its own photo-sharing service soon. Currently Twitter users can already share photos on their Twitter streams via Twitpic and Yfrog. According to the report though, Twitter’s photo sharing service will be built-in, something that would have a significant advantage over competing apps. The site is also reportedly close to acquiring AdGrok, a platform for bidding on keywords on Google AdWords, for less than $10 million, according to a separate TechCrunch report citing multiple sources.
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HP recalls another 162,000 laptop batteries
Hewlett Packard is in the process of recalling a further 162,000 lithium-ion batteries after the discovery of a product model series that was missed in last year’s worldwide recall. Affected products are the new model series HP Compaq 6520s and one of its HP Pavilion series. Shipped with laptops that were sold between July 2007 and May 2008, the batteries “can overheat and rupture, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers,” the US Consumer Product Safety Commission warned late last week.
The 162,600 lithium-ion batteries being recalled adds to the 54,000 recalled last year and the 70,000 units recalled the year prior. Consumers with HP Pavillion, Compaq Presario, HP and HP Compaq notebooks are advised to check HP’s list of affected series, available through HP or the safety commission. Consumers are also advised to immediately remove the batteries from their notebooks and contact HP.
