Nintendo's Fils-Aime: Microsoft, Sony need to react to us

" adding that the device's performance to this point is "quite comparable" to the Wii, indicating the Wii U could match what is one of the most popular consoles of all time.

In the end, Fils-Aime doesn't see the Wii U as a standalone piece of hardware, but as "a living, breathing" product that will continue to be improved over the coming years.

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Innovation vs. Magic: Why Apple and Microsoft Need James Bond

By Rob Enderle
TechNewsWorld

The Surface and Windows Phone announcement events arguably were better than the last several Apple events. It's as though Apple lost the Steve Jobs script and Microsoft found it somehow. Still, anyone who tries to read the script will be overshadowed by Jobs -- until someone with magic gets on stage and owns it.After seeing the new Microsoft offerings, Steve Wozniak recently lamented that Microsoft is nowout innovating Apple. Wozniak is the surviving founder of Apple, and his perspective clearly isimportant, but he was the guy who got the product to work. It was the other Steve who was largely responsible for creating the entity that was Apple, and it was the other Steve that made it a huge success.

Steve Jobs was moreof a packaging and marketing guy; once he got something that worked, he didn't mess with it much --he simply refined it and convinced us we loved the refinements. The products weren't truly magical,any more than a magic show is magical, but he convinced us they were something special -- and they weregood enough that we saw them through his eyes.

Apple wasn't the first with smartphones, tablets or even MP3 players. It was just the first to package a set of compelling technologies, wrap them upwith marketing, and get us to line up to buy them.

Windows 8 is innovative, but it is only part of something that makes up a whole; without the rest, it'snot magical. Surface comes close, but I think what's missing is a magician. Let me explain.

I'll close with the Dell XPS 12 tablet -- the first Windows 8 tablet I've received to review, and onewith the most innovative screens of the bunch.

Apple's Dying Magic

Thinking back on the first introduction of the iPod, what I didn't recognize at the time was that I was at an Apple magic show. Like most magic shows, the audience was filled with shills to create an atmosphere. In this case, they knew when to cheer and applaud.

Given that we mostly thought MP3 players were crap at the time, it was critical for us to see it assomething new and different. Even so, there were a lot of skeptics -- and for good reason. The iPod was awhopping US$500 in a market populated by under-$200 products that weren't selling. You'd have to havebeen nuts to believe a product would sell for more than twice-market.

However, that is what makes magic magic -- getting people to believe the impossible is possible. You need a magician, though. I kind of wonder if he could be Steve Wozniak?

Borrowed Magic: Surface/Windows Phone

Both of Microsoft's recent launches were directly out of the Apple script. They had people in theaudience who cheered at the right times, the products both were in areas where Microsoft had failedin the past, and both products were clearly very different from the products in market.

Unlike that first iPod, the Surface tablet is competitive with other products in the same size class, as are the newWindows Phones. In addition, unlike Apple at the time of the iPod launch, Microsoft is in good financialshape and isn't living under a cloud of impending failure.

Now there are some minor problems with the Surface tablet, and the Windows Phone 8 is having afew teething pains as well. But the first iPod used FireWire, had little capacity, wouldn't workwith Windows PC, and did nothing but play music. A lot of people who bought it ended up returningit, largely because they didn't realize it wouldn't work with their hardware. Yet it was thefoundation for the new Apple.

The Magician

Now part of why Jobs was a magician is that he was legendary in the valley. He was the founder of Apple andthe face of the company. He was amazing in front of an audience. It wasn't just the fact that he couldremember a script after one reading, either. He had presence -- he could touch you.

If you've ever seen a play with a famous actor and then gone back with a friend and seen the same play with an understudy, you can perhaps get what I mean. The understudy says the words right, even has the intonations right, but it just isn't as good. Part of the reason, I think, is that you know it won't be.

With Jobs, you knew the event was going to be legendary. Even if he was off his game, your braincould in the gaps and create the magic. At the end, this was likely more habit than performance -- buteven sick Jobs could outdo anyone who has succeeded him.

Microsoft Outdid Apple

Now the Surface and Windows Phone announcement events arguably were better than the last severalApple events. It's as though Apple lost the Steve Jobs script and Microsoft found it somehow.

Still, anyone who tries to read the script will be overshadowed by Jobs -- until someone with magicgets on stage and owns it.

Wrapping Up: Skyfall

Bet you were wondering where the James Bond reference was going to go. Well, over all the JamesBonds stood Connery -- every one of them was a pale echo of the first James Bond. However, in Skyfall, Craig and the writers reset the franchise -- Skyfall is arguably the best Bond movie ever made.

That's because itembraced the Connery history and made it part of the new future for the franchise. A hand-off is what's alwaysbeen missing -- a sense of continuity or closure, if you will, and that moment is magical. I think anyone who steps into Jobs' shoes will have to take the stage like he did, accept the unpassedbaton, and create a similar form of continuity. Then we won't see a mere attempt at magic -- we'll see a truemagician.

Product of the Week: Dell XPS 12

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Microsoft Touch Cover (for Surface)

The Microsoft Touch Cover is perfect for the Surface tablet user that only needs to type some of the time, but it's not cut out for extended keyboard use.

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Microsoft Type Cover (for Surface)

The Microsoft Type Cover (for Surface) is the cover to choose if you expect to do a lot of typing and need serious productivity on the go, with tactile keys, firm construction, and a look and feel that is far more like a traditional laptop.

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Microsoft reveals early mockups of Windows 8 UI from 2010

Microsoft makes an aggressive, forward-thinking, and bold statement for the future of PCs with Windows 8, and vast security and speed improvements more than justify the $40 upgrade price.

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Microsoft smooths out some of SkyDrive's rough edges

Better mobile support and more desktop options give SkyDrive users a bit of a boost today, as Microsoft updates its cloud storage service.

The desktop improvements include the ability to share SkyDrive files with one click fromWindows 8's File Explorer (also known as Windows Explorer in previous versions of Windows,) and selectively sync folders from a Windows orMac. This can help keep small-drive devices from filing up too quickly.

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Microsoft Windows Phone 8

Windows Phone 8 (WP8) is elegant, personable, and different. It absolutely shines for those who use their smartphones for a lot of calling, texting, and Facebooking, and especially people who connect to Microsoft anything—whether that's Outlook, Hotmail, Exchange, Skydrive, Office 365, or Xbox. If iOS bores you and Android intimidates you, Windows Phone will likely dazzle you.

But pick up a Windows Phone 8, and you'll be a maverick. There's significantly less of a selection of apps here than for Android and iOS, and the apps are different. The odds are good that you'll find what you need, but the goods are odd. That makes a Windows Phone less of an easy purchase than it could be.

Launched in 2010, Windows Phone 7 wasn't much of a competitor to iOS and Android in large part because it ran on uninspiring hardware, but Windows Phone 8 will help fix that. While WP8 still only supports Qualcomm processors, at least it supports current

Qualcomm processors, along with high-resolution screens and the latest wireless specs. So Windows Phone 8 devices like the HTC 8X and the Nokia Lumia 920 will do a better job facing off against the iPhone 5  and the Samsung Galaxy S III  on power than, say, the HTC Trophy managed to pull off at the end of its long lifespan. (There's one perplexing lack, though: No decent QWERTY handsets yet.)

I reviewed WP8 on an HTC Windows Phone 8X. We'll have a full review of the phone when U.S. carrier models appear early next month, but for now see our hands-on story from when the device was announced.

If this is your first time even thinking about Windows Phone, take a look at our reviews of Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 7.5. While it's built on completely different underpinnings, Windows Phone 8 works much like its predecessors.

The Underpinnings

The familiar interface of Windows Phone 7 hides a radical change under the hood. Windows Phone 8 now runs on the same kernel as Windows 8, including the NTFS file system and the ability for third-party developers to write native code rather than having to go through Silverlight or XNA. It's still compatible with the 125,000 Windows Phone 7 apps, but it's potentially much more powerful because there are more ways to develop for it.

That's mostly potential, though, because Microsoft didn't release the Windows Phone 8 SDK to most developers in advance. So far, it's hard to find Windows Phone 8-only apps that use the new development strategies. Hopefully, they'll start showing up soon.

I'm very excited by an invisible feature called Data Sense, which works like our Editors' Choice Android and iPhone app Onavo Extend. It compresses your data using Microsoft servers, letting you get more out of limited data plans. It also keeps you updated on how much data you've used.

Unfortunately, until sometime next year it's a Verizon exclusive. In the name of "carrier differentiation," consumers won't likely be able to get what they want. Want a Nokia Lumia 920? It's AT&T only. Want a phone with data compression and monitoring? Verizon only. Want a Lumia 920 with Data Sense? Nope.

Windows Phone 8 also backs up your settings, data and apps into the cloud, just like Android and iOS do. You can find, lock, or erase a phone remotely, too. That makes it easy to move between Windows Phone devices or to restore a lost or stolen phone.

The Lock Screen, Tiles, and Hubs

To understand why you would want to use Windows Phone 8, you have to understand tiles. Like icons, but not quite, tiles are squares you plonk on the home screen representing the items you want to access easily. Apps, sure, but also contacts, places, collections of apps called "hubs," media items, or Web pages, among other things. Right now I have a map to my hotel and a FlightStats page about my flight pinned to my home screen, for instance. You can do that on Android, but it's not nearly as simple.

Tiles can be "live," which means they flip around automatically to show new information. Your Me tile is constantly pinging you with new social-networking updates. A FlightAware tile would flip around if your flight were, say, cancelled; a Photos tile usually shows the latest pictures you've taken. (None of this seems to affect battery life much.) You can make tiles in three different sizes, 20 different colors, and snap them together in various ways, so what you end up with is a visually coherent but constantly shifting landscape of relevant data. 

The Lock screen is "live," too. Apps can feed data to the Lock screen, ghosting the latest news, weather, or your travel information behind the standard date and time. You can also set which apps send alerts to the lock screen.

The result is just as configurable as Android, but much more visually striking. Live tiles display information the same way widgets do, but the enforced visual uniformity makes a Windows Phone 8 home screen look smartly configured, rather than like a yard-sale jumble.

Along with tiles, Microsoft's second central concept is Hubs. The People hub, Games hub, Photos hub, and Music & Video hub are places where content, apps, and social networking all come together. In the Photos hub, for instance, you see not only your gallery but your friends' galleries and any photo-editing apps you might have. In Music & Video, you see not only your own videos, but YouTube and Vevo content. The new Wallet hub combines real credit cards, loyalty cards, and local deals. It's all more natural than Apple's fragmented system of apps and activities.

Microsoft's very attractive parental control system, dubbed Kid's Corner, is excellent for small children. Kid's Corner lets you select a certain set of games, music, videos, and apps for your kid to use; they then show up as bold, non-resizable tiles. Kids can't use the phone, browser, or messaging, so it's really more for handing your device over to a smaller child, than for offering a sandboxed experience for tweens. But it's simple, clear, and good-looking.

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Microsoft Sculpt Touch Mouse

By Ahmer Kazi

The Microsoft Sculpt Touch Mouse is a compact wireless mouse that connects via Bluetooth and has been designed with the touch-centric tiled user interface of in mind. To that effect, it features a touch-sensitive strip in lieu of a traditional scroll wheel that's capable of horizontal and vertical scrolling as a means of navigating through Microsoft's new operating system. It's also useful for those without Windows 8, as it's compatible with Windows 7 and, lo and behold, Macs. Factor in an ergonomic, ambidextrous design, and you've got a solid choice for a mouse that works for lefties and righties alike.

Design and Features

The Sculpt Touch strikes a nice balance between portability and ergonomic soundness. Measuring 2.56 by 3.76 inches, it's roughly 75 percent the size of a traditional mouse, so while it's not nearly as tiny as the Wedge Touch Mouse, it's still small enough to slip into your pocket or your bag. Unlike other portable mice, like the Targus Ultralife Wireless Mouse , its profile isn't low to the point where it doesn't comfortably fit in the palm of your hand. The plastic chassis is sports a tasteful pewter finish, which is complemented by touches of silver in a strip around the perimeter and the touch-sensitive strip. The only departure from its all-plastic construction is the black rubber material on the sides that serves as a grip. A light directly beneath the touch-sensitive strip, meanwhile, indicates when the battery's running low or when the Sculpt Mobile is in pairing mode. It's no coincidence that the face of the Sculpt Mobile is symmetrical, as its ambidextrously designed to work with right- and left-handed folks alike, unlike, say, the HP Wi-Fi Touch Mouse X7000 , which is geared solely towards righties.

The Sculpt Mobile uses two AA batteries, which Microsoft asserts will last up to nine months. For obvious reasons, we weren't able to independently verify this claim, so we'll have to take it at face value. At any rate, an on/off switch on the underside helps preserve battery life. Alongside the on/off switch are a Bluetooth connection button and two glide pads to ensure smooth movement. The glowing blue light emanating from beneath the Sculpt Mobile signifies Microsoft's BlueTrack technology, which gives the mouse the ability to track movements on a wider range of desk surfaces since its light beam is markedly larger than the laser beam used in standard mice.

Additionally, the Sculpt Mobile is compatible with Bluetooth-equipped Mac computers, wherein its touch-sensitive strip functions as an ordinary scroll wheel would. Given its ambidextrous design and cross-platform capability, it's one of the more versatile mice you'll find in the market. The Sculpt Mobile is covered by a three-year warranty.

Performance

Despite its small size, the Sculpt Mobile fits comfortably in the palm. Moreover, its combination of BlueTrack technology and glide pads made for an exceptionally smooth experience. As is the case with the Wedge Touch Mouse, sliding a finger vertically or horizontally across the touch-sensitive strip, lets one cycle though the tiles on Windows 8 desktop.  A nice touch (no pun intended) is the matter in which the strip simulates the tactile sensation one gets from a typical scroll wheel, as sliding gestures produce a haptic feedback that feels akin to spinning the famed The Price is Right

wheel. Within a program, like Internet Explorer, the touch-sensitive strip allows for horizontal and vertical scrolling, as well as hyper-scrolling, both of which can be stopped simply by a gentle tap on the strip. Additionally, clicking the strip over a link opens it up a new tab.

The Microsoft Sculpt Touch Mouse is a solid mouse in nearly every respect. Its compact size doesn't come at the expense of ergonomic comfort, and its ambidextrous design and ability to work in Windows and Mac operating systems makes it quite a versatile performer. Within Windows 8, it especially shines. That said, however, our current Editors' Choice for touch mice, the Microsoft Touch Mouse , retains its title not only for its full gesture support but also for the fact that it will soon receive a free software update that will make it fully compatible with Windows 8. Users with that mouse, then, should stick with it, and anyone in the market for a new touch-sensitive mouse would likely benefit from its greater functionality.

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Report: Microsoft working on 7-inch Xbox Surface gaming tablet

The Verge has reported today that Microsoft is creating a 7-inch gaming tablet called the Xbox Surface.Sources supposedly confirmed the plans, with the company already in development of the tablet.

The tablet will run a version of Windows 8, but not Windows 8 Pro since the tablet will be based on an ARM SoC. It is unclear whether the tablet will pack Windows RT, however.

Specifications of the alleged tablet are an ARM-based Texas Instruments processor with 288MB of RLDRAM 2 and a resolution of 1280 x 720. The rest of the supposed specs are posted below.

Adds Tom Warren of the Verge:

Microsoft has developed a secret hardware production process for its Surface tablets that is separated from partners that traditionally manufacturer the company's Xbox console. We're told that the Xbox Surface will likely be manufactured in the same factory, but that any future "Xbox 720" console will be manufactured in mass quantities by companies like Pegatron or Foxconn.

We've learned that part of the Xbox Surface is being developed at Microsoft's offices in Silicon Valley. The software giant recently locked down several Xbox-related buildings, limiting employee access to the company's Interactive Entertainment Business division. The lock down is likely related to Microsoft's increased testing of the tablet, providing a way for other parts of the Xbox team to build games and software for the device. Providing the project doesn't get killed in favor of a full 7-inch Windows tablet, in the same way Microsoft axed Courier, expect to see the Xbox Surface debut ahead of Microsoft's future Xbox console.

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Microsoft Windows Phone 8

I reviewed WP8 on an HTC Windows Phone 8X. We'll have a full review of the phone when U.S. carrier models appear early next month, but for now see our hands-on story from when the device was announced.

If this is your first time even thinking about Windows Phone, take a look at our reviews of Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 7.5. While it's built on completely different underpinnings, Windows Phone 8 works much like its predecessors.

The Underpinnings

The familiar interface of Windows Phone 7 hides a radical change under the hood. Windows Phone 8 now runs on the same kernel as Windows 8, including the NTFS file system and the ability for third-party developers to write native code rather than having to go through Silverlight or XNA. It's still compatible with the 125,000 Windows Phone 7 apps, but it's potentially much more powerful because there are more ways to develop for it.

That's mostly potential, though, because Microsoft didn't release the Windows Phone 8 SDK to most developers in advance. So far, it's hard to find Windows Phone 8-only apps that use the new development strategies. Hopefully, they'll start showing up soon.

I'm very excited by an invisible feature called Data Sense, which works like our Editors' Choice Android and iPhone app Onavo Extend. It compresses your data using Microsoft servers, letting you get more out of limited data plans. It also keeps you updated on how much data you've used.

Unfortunately, until sometime next year it's a Verizon exclusive. In the name of "carrier differentiation," consumers won't likely be able to get what they want. Want a Nokia Lumia 920? It's AT&T only. Want a phone with data compression and monitoring? Verizon only. Want a Lumia 920 with Data Sense? Nope.

Windows Phone 8 also backs up your settings, data and apps into the cloud, just like Android and iOS do. You can find, lock, or erase a phone remotely, too. That makes it easy to move between Windows Phone devices or to restore a lost or stolen phone.

The Lock Screen, Tiles, and Hubs

To understand why you would want to use Windows Phone 8, you have to understand tiles. Like icons, but not quite, tiles are squares you plonk on the home screen representing the items you want to access easily. Apps, sure, but also contacts, places, collections of apps called "hubs," media items, or Web pages, among other things. Right now I have a map to my hotel and a Flight Stats page about my flight pinned to my home screen, for instance. You can do that on Android, but it's not nearly as simple.

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Two More Teardowns Look Inside Microsoft Surface and Amazon Kindle Fire HD

Now, on to the Kindle Fire HD. (Seen in its exploded view at right; click to make bigger.) Recall that the last Kindle Fire to get the tear down treatment came in with a cost estimate of $202 (later revised down to about $187) against a retail price of $199, meaning that Amazon was close or near to losing money on the hardware, and was hoping to make it back on the sale of content from its digital store, and even on sales of physical goods from its retail store. One estimate earlier this year suggested that Amazon makes more than $100 off each Kindle Fire. It’s probably pretty close to break even  if slightly profitable this time around, Rassweiler told me. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has said the devices are sold at cost.

Like the old one, the new Kindle Fire HD sells for a starting price of $199, and carries a combined cost of components of $165, according to IHS estimates. Key suppliers are LG Display, which made the screen; Texas Instruments, which repeated its role as the supplier of the main processing chip, plus power and video chips; and Samsung, which provided the memory.

At this point, it’s probably worth looking back at a few more teardowns we’ve written about in recent memory, though its worth pointing out that the cost of components come down over time. In fact, manufacturers depend on that, because a product becomes more profitable as the parts used in them get cheaper. Anyway, here are a few previous teardowns: Apple’s iPhone 5; Samsung’s Galaxy Note Tablet; Google’s Nexus 7 Tablet; and Apple’s iPad with Retina display, circa March of this year.

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