<IT WORLD> A glimmer in the eighth Window
By Martin J Young
HUA HIN , Thailand - The past few weeks have seen snippets of information and
rumors emerging about Windows 8. This will delight those who are bored of
reading about iPhones, which have dominated news and tech websites recently.
However, the anticipation is likely to be short-lived.
Microsoft has had a lot of success with Windows 7, with an estimated 150
million units sold to date, making it the fastest-selling operating system of
all time. It was not difficult to better its predecessor, the much-maligned
Vista, which often slowed even top-end hardware to a crawl.
The company will hope that the eighth iteration of the world’s most used
operating system, projected to be released in late
2011 or early 2012, will continue that success, and that everybody hasn't
switched to cloud computing in the meantime and that the good old desktop lives
on.
Although there is very little on Microsoft's own website and the company is
keeping mum about it, a number of blogs and journals dedicated to the operating
system reveal some leaked slides and screenshots of Windows 8 that show new
features, including faster startup times and a re-installation mode that may
help to alleviate that state of sluggishness that all computers eventually
succumb to over time.
More cloud integration, facial recognition and support for handheld slates were
also in the blurry mix of leaked details.
It is highly unlikely that Microsoft will officially announce Windows 8 until
it is in a beta version as doing otherwise might hinder adoption of Windows 7
which, so far, has been very good.
Telecoms
Contrary to the hype and public relations from Apple, the company's new iPhone
4 has had its fair share of problems following the product launch last month.
Simply typing "iPhone 4 problems" into Google will yield a staggering number of
results, the main points of contention being about poor reception with the new
integrated antenna.
Just like in a good golf swing, grip is everything, and it appears this also
applies to the new iPhone. Apparently when a user holds the phone with
five-finger contact on the metal band antenna or by the left corner, the signal
strength drops dramatically, often dropping calls and data connections.
Unless Apple can fix this, it is likely to have a lot of irate customers. The
response so far from chief executive Steve Jobs has been to hold the gadget a
different way!
Apple has also recently come under the ever-scrutinizing eye of the European
Union, which is targeting the US company and any others over lack of
interoperability between smartphone firms.
This is not just about Microsoft or any big company like Apple, IBM or Intel.
The main challenge is that consumers need choice when it comes to software or
hardware products. That could be a tough one to enforce, especially with the
"closed door" philosophy widely practiced by some of the bigger players in the
industry.
Industry
South Korea-based LG Electronics has announced plans to release an
Android-based tablet by the fourth quarter. There were no technical or pricing
details in the press release, only the news that Windows 7 and Android tablets
would be available by the end of the year.
The company also announced two smart-phones; the LG Optimus One and LG Optimus
Chic, which will run on Google's Android 2.2, also known as Froyo. HP, Dell and
Samsung are following suit in an effort to catch the runaway iPad, which has
sold an estimated 3 million units so far.
Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC has enjoyed significant profit increases on
the back of the success of Android. A 58% increase in the second quarter over
the same period last year was posted by the company this week, resulting in a
total of US$1.9 billion. The previously obscure company created the first
Android phone, the G1, and has since produced some of the biggest-selling
units, including the Evo 4G and Droid Incredible; it has a total of 12 Android
smartphones.
Internet
Asia is embracing cloud computing, with more companies offering services to
large numbers of people who do not own computers. Indian Internet service
provider Sify Technologies is offering cloud-based applications through its
1,200 Sify branded Internet cafes across the country. The company is also
launching online booking, shopping and payment systems that do not require
credit cards - the transactions will be made on the premises.
Many people are uncomfortable with online payments or simply don't have credit
cards, so the service is likely to be successful with some of India's estimated
52 million urban Internet users.
Taiwan is also getting in on the cloud act as the country's largest
telecommunications company, Chunghwa Telecom, signed an agreement this week
with laptop maker Quanta Computer to jointly develop cloud-computing software,
hardware and services specifically for the Asian market.
The two companies will focus on Taiwan first, offering web storage,
applications and services to businesses and government offices in an effort to
lead enterprises further into cloud computing.
Martin J Young is an Asia Times Online correspondent based in Thailand.
(Copyright 2010 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
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