The Tablet Is Over, and so is Windows

The affair is over -- will someone please clue in Microsoft, though it may already be too late for Windows after Windows 8 tried to force everyone to use a touchscreen tablet OS interface --
Tablet market grows more slowly than expected as Apple regains share | Technology | theguardian.com: "The tablet market didn't live up to expectations in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to early data from IDC, as sales growth to consumers slowed with mature markets approaching saturation."

Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over | Re/code: " . . . What I realize now is that it has been the phone all along. What we are witnessing today is a merger of phones and tablets, not just at Netflix but everywhere, which is why this decade’s attempt at tablets is nearing its death — just four years after Jobs launched the original iPad. It comes down to size. The vast majority of the hundreds of millions of people who use tech every day are just fine with having two primary computing devices: One for your pocket and one for your desk. Tablets are trying (and failing) to be portable enough to go everywhere, yet large enough to be multipurpose. Despite all the keyboard origami and elaborate ways to make your tablet into a laptop, it isn’t one...."

What the Heck is Happening to Windows? | Windows 8 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: " . . . . Windows 8 is not well-designed. It's a mess. But Windows 8 is a bigger problem than that. Windows 8 is a disaster in every sense of the word. This is not open to debate, is not part of some cute imaginary world where everyone's opinion is equally valid or whatever. Windows 8 is a disaster. Period ... I had found out from internal sources immediately that the product was doomed from the get-go, feared and ignored by customers, partners and other groups in Microsoft alike. Windows 8 was such a disaster that Steven Sinofsky was ejected from the company and his team of lieutenants was removed from Windows in a cyclone of change that triggered a reorganization of the entire company. Even Sinofsky's benefactor, Microsoft's then-CEO Steve Ballmer, was removed from office. . . ." (read more at link above)

Microsoft lists 'Office Online' as replacement for Office Web Apps
PCWorld
A Microsoft Web page currently lists “Office Online” as one of three Office 365 options, a name that will apparently replace Microsoft's current Office Web Apps. ZDNet and Livesino.net noted the Microsoft page, which lists the three personal options ...

Expri Editor's Note: eventually we will have Windows in the Cloud -- the only surviving aspect of Windows, which will be akin to Chrome OS. Microsoft blew billions of dollars, alienated OEMs and customers, and, in essence, destroyed its own ecosystem with Windows 8. We are now in the era of cloud-centric computing ecosystems. Take your pick--Google, Apple, or Microsoft. There is no going back.

MediaTek's new octa-core processor to compete with Qualcomm over the premium LTE smartphone market: "MediaTek tells us that its new chips, known as the MT6595, are actually meant to be featured in premium devices and will square off directly against Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 and 805. "

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Shop on Amazon by Taking Pictures of Items with New "Flow" App: Big Deal or Not?: " . . . It's easy to visualize where this technology is headed: An app where you click on a product and all the places where you can buy it turn up, complete with prices, Amazon, or wherever. The deflationary pressures of such a device are immense. People like bargains, and if they think a store is not offering enough of them, they will shop elsewhere. That's a big deal. And it will further pressure price margins across the board at all box retailers."

Sprint Rethinks Acquiring T-Mobile After Antitrust Officials Oppose Move Publicly - WSJ.com: "Justice Department, FCC Officials Expressed Strong Opposition to a Deal"

Sprint's the only major US carrier yet to lose money this quarter, despite record subscribers | The Verge: "Sprint's struggles continue, and it's the only major carrier that's reported its Q4 earnings in the US to not turn a profit this quarter (T-Mobile will issue its Q4 report later this month). ..." (Sprint's LTE network is still far behind AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile -- source supra)

BlackBerry BBM shakeup as EVP gone from company | BGR: "BGR has learned from multiple sources that Executive Vice President Andrew Bocking is no longer with the company. What is unconfirmed, however, is whether Bocking was fired or decided to leave on his own accord. One source of ours tells us he was let go and that BlackBerry is rolling up the BBM group into the enterprise unit and that Andrew was displeased with BlackBerry as whole, replacing his personal phone with an Android phone instead of using one of BlackBerry’s products...."

Blogger paid Facebook to promote his page. He got 80,000 bogus Likes instead.

Exclusive: Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Says App 'Gone Forever' Because It Was 'An Addictive Product' - Forbes: "In mulling whether to pull Flappy Bird, Nguyen said that it was guilt – atop the fact that “my life has not been as comfortable as I was before” – that motivated him. “I couldn’t sleep,” he said. He added that his conscience is relieved; he spent the past few days, Internet-free, catching up on slumber."

Scary Bitcoin Glitch Revealed but Does It Go Beyond Mt. Gox? - MoneyBeat - WSJ: "....“Basically, we think [Mt. Gox is] overstating it a bit,” said Gavin Andresen, chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation, a not-for-profit organization funded by bitcoin-related businesses that’s charged with acting in their collective interest. “It’s really an unfortunate interaction between what is arguably a flaw in the protocol – I would could it a quirk, not a flaw — and Mt. Gox’s [digital] wallet and their customer support procedures.”"

Google strikes big ad measurement deal with comScore
USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Google signed a major advertising deal with comScore to help the world's largest Internet search provider win more business from big brands like Kellogg.Google is integrating comScore's Validated Campaign Essentials, or vCE, ...

Microsoft adds critical IE, XP fixes to Tuesday's patch slate
Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft on Monday unexpectedly added two more critical security updates to the list it will deliver tomorrow, including one for all versions of its Internet Explorer (IE) and another that will affect the soon-to-be-retired Windows XP ...

Google subsidiary to run nearby federal airfield
Washington Post
SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. government has picked a Google subsidiary to run and renovate a federal airfield that is frequently used for the personal flights of the Internet company's billionaire executives. The decision announced Monday clears the way ...

Apple loses latest bid to block e-books antitrust monitor
Reuters
In a brief order, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said that monitor Michael Bromwich may continue to examine Apple's antitrust compliance policies while the company pursues a broader appeal seeking to remove him altogether. However ...

Microsoft PowerBI puts Web and internal data on the map
PCWorld
Slightly less than a year ago, Microsoft began outlining its plans to overhaul Office documents with live data, culled from the Web. On Monday, Microsoft made those plans reality, shipping PowerBI for Excel and Office 365. PowerBI, as its name suggests ...

Apple gets breathing room, for now
MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Apple Inc. may have avoided a proxy spat with activist investor Carl Icahn for now, but the company is still under pressure to deliver new products that will take the focus of investors away from its enormous cash pile.

Google Deal Machine Ramps Up to Pass Intel in Top Spot
Bloomberg
Google's strategy is in contrast to that of Apple Inc., the only Silicon Valley company with more cash on its balance sheet. The iPhone maker has only taken part in 12 deals in the past three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and has been ...

Galileo's optical illusion explained by neuroscience
Fox News
A light-colored object on a dark background appears larger than a dark object on a light background, as shown in the image above, but until recently, no one knew why. Now, a study suggests that a difference in how the brain's cells respond to light and dark ...

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