Windows 8 setup to be easier and faster, designed for online delivery

News

  • November 21, 2011 at 4:29 pm

0

Windows 7 vs. Windows 8 time to upgrade

I still wake up at nights running cold sweat from nightmares of past Windows setup experiences. Installing Windows was an extremely time-consuming and painful experience, especially if you wanted to keep your files or settings instead of doing a fresh install. Although the process has been improving with each new version of Windows, with Windows 7 making the experience much easier, it’s still very time-consuming and you need to keep a tech-minded person handy for help.

Microsoft has been keeping us deeply involved in the Windows 8 development process through an official blog, and their latest post deals with improvements made in the setup and upgrade process. Microsoft promises that the new install process will be easier, faster and extremely stable.

Microsoft faces a huge challenge when it comes to managing the install and upgrade process for a new version of Windows. Windows is designed to run on personal computers with millions of different configurations. Users’ demands may also vary widely, someone might want to do a clean and customized install whereas another would just want to upgrade a previous Windows installation with the least user interaction.
continue reading

HTC confirms Vivid, Sensation, Rezound, EVO 3D and others to get Android Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades in early 2012

News

  • November 7, 2011 at 6:13 am

0

HTC Sensation

Aren’t software upgrades a wonderful thing? One day your smartphone is sporting a lowly Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, and the next, it receives a free update to the shiny, new, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). If you don’t know why you would want ICS on your phone, check out our Android basics column, and our complete guide of all the new features and improvements in ICS.

With all that on the table, it’s pretty normal that any current Android user, would want to get the Android 4.0 update, while HTC had been quiet on its update schedule since ICS was revealed.

Well, the company has now confirmed its upgrade plans on the company’s Facebook page. Obviously HTC’s latest handsets will be getting the upgrade, with the HTC Vivid, HTC Rezound and the HTC Sensation, Sensation XL and Sensation XE all getting Ice Cream Sandwich in early 2012. The HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G and HTC Amaze 4G are also getting ICS. HTC will continue to assess its current line for upgradability, so don’t despair if your device isn’t included in this first wave of upgrades.

There is also no mention of any of the company’s tablets, like the Flyer or the Jetsream yet.

You can find HTC’s statement after the break.
continue reading

MacBook Pro range upgraded with faster processors, better graphics and more storage

News

  • October 24, 2011 at 6:25 am

0

Apple MacBook Pro range

Apple has upgraded the MacBook Pro laptop range with faster Sandy Bridge processors, better graphics and more storage. The changes are internal rather than cosmetic, and prices remain the same, you just get more for your money.

The entry level $1,199 13-inch MacBook Pro gets a dual-core Core i5 2.4GHz processor and 500GB hard drive as standard, while for $1,499 you can bump the processor to a dual-core Core i7 2.8Ghz and storage to 750GB. The $1,799 and $2,199 15-inch models come with Core i7 2.2GHz and 2.4GHz processors, with 500GB and 750GB hard drives respectively; the latter gets a new AMD Radeon HD 6770M 1GB GDDR5 graphics card as well. Finally the $2,499 17-inch MacBook Pro gets a Core i7 2.4GHz processor, 750GB and the new Radeon HD 6770M 1GB GDDR5 graphics card.

The MBPs however haven’t received the expected bump to Bluetooth 4.0, that the 2011 Mac Mini, the MacBook Air and the iPhone 4S have received.
continue reading