Windows 8 Unveiled: Good and Bad

Today, Windows president Steven Sinofsky demoed the newest version of Microsoft’s juggernaut operating system. It started out as very exciting, and then they showed the rest of it…

The Good:

- Microsoft showed off Windows 8′s new tablet-side interface. Like a super version of Windows Phone, the Metro UI really takes advantage of the real estate. All your favorite apps and information can be pinned to the Start screen, making the experience very glanceable and user-friendly. Bright and beautiful colors throughout, very thorough and realized touch interface. Whilewe didn’t think Metro UI was perfect on Windows Phone, I think it’ll definitely be an improvement here

- “Hundreds of millions of PCs can run Windows 8″, meaning that there isn’t going to be much of a system requirement leap from Windows 7. If you’re running 7 on a machine that came with it pre-installed, you should have absolutely no problem running 8.

- It looks like apps are going to be super easy to add and remove. No more Add/Remove Programs + Uninstall program?

The Bad:

- All that legacy Windows underneath. To seemingly everyone’s disappointment, the tablet-side interface of Windows 8 looks like little more than a really good skin, Sinofsky says, “[The tablet side is] not a layer, it’s Windows. It runs across hundreds of millions of PCs, and works across a vast variety of machines. It’s much more seamless than a layer, it’s not two shelves,” but we have our doubts. Enter certain apps, like Office, and all that tablet-y goodness disappears and you’re back at the standard Windows you’ve known for years. Bear in mind: you’re getting a full version of Windows here. What a bummer. (Sinofsky says that in order to avoid looking at the ‘old house’, you’ll simply have to avoid using legacy apps.) In fact…

UPDATE: A new Microsoft-delivered video shows the transition between Metro and Aero looks pretty seamless. Unlike Windows Media Center that loaded as a separate application, all of this is handled from the 3D projections that we see in Metro. Take a look below:

Apple iPhone 4S: The Good, Bad, and Unknown

After more than a year with the iPhone 4, the iPhone 4S--announced Tuesday by Apple CEO Tim Cook--seems a bit, well, underwhelming.

The hardware announced today offers no design overhaul. Apple upgraded the phone's camera from a 5-megapixel sensor to an 8-megapixel sensor, though, and the iPhone 4S will use the same dual-core A5 chip that the iPad 2 does.

4G capability? Forget it--Apple isn't going that route this time. We already knew about iOS 5 and its features for a while, but the inclusion of the Siri voice-activated software was a nice surprise.

Last year’s iPhone 4 still holds up among smartphones released this year, and the internal enhancements in the iPhone 4S, while a bit late to the game, are certainly welcome. The iPhone 4S is a good phone that has become even better, but I certainly wouldn’t call it “revolutionary.” And, on second thought, Apple didn’t either.

Design: No Changes, No Problem

The iPhone 4S has an identical design to the iPhone 4, but its guts are all new. Although that might be a disappointment to some people (no larger display, no slimmer body, no tear-shape game-friendly design), I am actually pretty happy with it. I really like the iPhone 4 design: It's still the thinnest smartphone available (despite Samsung’s claims), and it has a stylish, premium look thanks to the glass face and back.

I am a little disappointed to see that the screen real estate didn’t get a bump. I’m definitely not asking for a 4.5-inch display (which is too big in my opinion), but 4 inches or even 3.7 inches would make Web browsing, movie watching, and gaming a bit more comfortable. Ramon Llamas, IDC's senior research analyst for mobile devices technology and trends, says that keeping the same screen size is actually a benefit to consumers and developers.

“You have all these incredible apps [in the App Store]. If you do a different screen size, it will wreak havoc for the developer community,” Llamas says. A consistent screen size is one of the reasons why the App Store has such a high number of apps, he adds.

The Best Camera? Hard to Say

Apple iPhone 4S camera featuresApple isn't the only tech company that loves to tick off specs and claim its products are the first to market with a certain technology. Most companies that do so rely on consumers' failure to understand the technology or know what the specs mean. Such confusion frequently happens with camera specs, so I asked my colleague Tim Moynihan, PCWorld’s camera editor, to decipher some of the specs announced for the iPhone 4S’s camera.

Apple says that the new iPhone’s 8-megapixel camera is built around a backside-illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensor, a type of low-light-optimized sensor that debuted in Sony's cameras a few years ago. BSI sensors are now fairly commonplace in CMOS-based cameras, including both stand-alone cameras and a growing number of camera phones.

A BSI sensor is designed such that small, light-blocking wires move to the back of the sensor, making the sensor's surface a more efficient light-gathering source; as such, BSI-sensor cameras usually perform well in low-light situations without a flash. The iPhone 4's 5-megapixel sensor was also a BSI sensor, and was very good; the new sensor in the iPhone 4S is likely a higher-resolution version.

Apple also says the iPhone 4S has a five-element lens that offers 30 percent more sharpness. According to Moynihan, the lens specs sound good, but we'll need to test Apple's claims of improved image sharpness in our labs. The iPhone 4S's F2.4 lens has a wider aperture than most phone cameras do; coupled with the low-light-optimized sensor, it should perform well in low-light situations and at quick shutter speeds. The T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide's F2.2 aperture is still a bit wider. (The HTC-made MyTouch 4G Slide is PCWorld's top-ranking phone camera right now.)

More Pixels Make It Better?

When Apple says that the iPhone 4S camera has 60 percent more pixels than the iPhone 4 camera, it means that an 8-megapixel camera is technically 160 percent of the resolution of a 5-megapixel camera. So really, it doesn’t translate directly to improved image quality, as more megapixels aren't an indicator of better image quality on small-sensored cameras. The higher megapixel count does mean that you'll be able to print out images at a bigger size without losing resolution, or to crop images without the cropped area losing resolution.

According to Moynihan, unless the sensor size is also 60 percent bigger, the added resolution could translate to worse image quality when compared with that of the iPhone 4. When you pack a sensor of the same size with more pixels, you can end up with a lot of noise and artifacts. Again, this is something we’ll have to test when we get the iPhone 4S in.

Steve Jobs dies

Steve Jobs, the mastermind behind Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes, has died, Apple said. Jobs was 56.

"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," read a statement by Apple's board of directors. "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."

The homepage of Apple's website this evening switched to a full-page image of Jobs with the text, "Steve Jobs 1955-2011."

Clicking on the image revealed the additional text: "Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

Jobs co-founded Apple Computer in 1976 and, with his childhood friend Steve Wozniak, marketed what was considered the world's first personal computer, the Apple II.

Shortly after learning of Jobs' death, Wozniak told ABC News, "I'm shocked and disturbed."
Industry watchers called him a master innovator -- perhaps on a par with Thomas Edison -- changing the worlds of computing, recorded music and communications.

In 2004, he beat back an unusual form of pancreatic cancer, and in 2009 he was forced to get a liver transplant. After several years of failing health, Jobs announced on Aug. 24, 2011 that he was stepping down as Apple's chief executive.

T-Mobile CMO: We want the iPhone

Just because T-Mobile is the underdog of the litter doesn't mean it relishes its place as the runt of the litter, especially when it comes to the iPhone.

The carrier's chief marketing officer, Cole Brodman, made that plain enough when addressing attendees at the Mobilize conference today in San Francisco. "We've made public our desire to have the iPhone," he said.

T-Mobile faces the reality of being the odd man out when the iPhone 5 comes around this fall. AT&T and Verizon already have relationships with Apple and currently carry the iPhone 4. While Sprint hasn't yet made it official, all signs point to Sprint being the next to get a version of the iPhone.

That leaves T-Mobile, that of an uncertain future and a fight to get acquired by AT&T. While the carriers, states, and feds duke it out over the fate of AT&T's T-Mobile buyout, it's been business as usual, with T-Mobile continuing to introduce new rate plans and devices, including two high-end Android smartphones today.

Even if the merger fails, Brodman said, T-Mobile is in a good position for customers. And even if they never get the iPhone, says Brodman, "our devices are on par, and better in many ways."

Does T-Mobile want the iPhone? Sure. "But the ball really is in [Apple's] court at this point.

Apple blocks sale of Samsung tablet in Europe

Apple won a significant victory on Tuesday in its campaign against Samsung Electronics over alleged intellectual-property infringements.

Samsung has been ordered to remove the Galaxy Tab 10.1, a touchscreen tablet computer that runs Google's Android software, from stores in Europe as part of an ongoing legal dispute between its creator and Apple, which makes the iPad.

The preliminary injunction from a Dusseldorf, Germany, district court extends to 26 countries that belong to the European Union, excluding the Netherlands. Certain laws in the Netherlands differ from those in the other nations, but Apple has filed a separate lawsuit in courts there, Florian Mueller, an analyst covering intellectual-property law, wrote on his blog.

"Preliminary injunctions in Germany take immediate effect, though an EU-wide one may require additional registrations in other countries," Mueller wrote. While the decision could be reversed, the ban on sales of the Galaxy Tab could last more than a year, he said.

The block only affects the Samsung tablet with a 10.1-inch touchscreen, not the various 7-inch versions. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has panned 7-inch tablets, calling them "tweeners," and saying, "We think the 10-inch screen size is the minimum screen size required to make great tablet apps."

An Apple spokeswoman confirmed that the company had received notice of the injunction ruling. A Samsung spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

"It's no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging," Apple has said. "This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple's intellectual property when companies steal our ideas."

Apple requested a similar injunction against Samsung in an Australia federal court a week ago. As a result, Samsung postponed the launch of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 there.

"A Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 for the Australian market will be released in the near future," Samsung said in a statement. "Samsung will continue to actively defend and protect our intellectual property to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communication business."

Apple is also pursuing its infringement claims in other countries, including in U.S. courts.

In addition to the legal victory in Europe, Apple received more good news on Tuesday. The Cupertino, California, computer maker briefly surpassed Exxon Mobil in market capitalization to become the most valuable public company in the world.