Microsoft officially releases Windows 8 and Windows RT

Today Microsoft stepped on stage and released its Windows 8 and Windows RT to the tech world in what was largely conceived as the biggest Windows release ever. Availability starts today and active Windows 7 customers can upgrade starting from $39.99.

Microsoft talked OS features, integration along a wide variety of devices, the services that are launching alongside the OS and demoed all of them.

Windows 8 is released with a couple of services in tow. Those are Xbox Music, Videos, Games and also Skype. All Windows 8 users will get unlimited streaming of music via Xbox Music free of charge.

Microsoft’s speakers (CEO Steve Ballmer included) were keen tp repeating that the Windows 8 PCs are the “Best PCs Ever”. There are around 670 million PCs currently, which are compatible with Windows 8 and Ballmer expects around 400 million to come out with Windows 8 out of box.

The Windows 8/RT store was also a big part of the event. Currently there are around 7000 apps available, which isn’t as good as Apple’s numbers but Steven Sinofsky pointed out that the Windows Store has the most number of apps for an app store on its launch day.

A big part of the Windows 8/RT release was the emphasis on touch – the fact it can support a mouse and hardware keyboard but that it was ultimately designed to work as a touch-only OS. pre-Win8 ultrabooks as well as post-Win8 tablets and notebooks were used to demonstrate that.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Netflix to add closed captions to all videos by 2014

Ideal for the hearing-impaired community, Netflix plans to finish adding closed captions to online video within the next two years.

Settling a recent lawsuit over the availability of closed captions when watching video on Netflix Instant, company officials with Netflix agreed to make sure 100 percent of all video content includes closed captioning by September 30, 2014. The lawsuit was brought against Netflix during 2010 by a deaf Massachusetts resident named Lee Nettles in addition to the Western Massachusetts Association of the Deaf and Hearing-Impaired as well as the National Association of the Deaf. According to the documentation, Netflix has already added closed captions to 82 percent of video content on the streaming service and will hit 90 percent by September 2013.

Regarding the agreement, Netflix chief product officer Neil Hunt stated “We have worked consistently to make the broadest possible selection of titles available to Netflix members who are deaf or hard of hearing and are far and away the industry leader in doing so. We are pleased to have reached this agreement and hope it serves as a benchmark for other providers of streaming video entertainment.“

In addition to adding captioning to existing content, rules have been put in place for future content additions. During the first year following the 2014 deadline, Netflix will need to add captions an average of 30 days after the video has been made available on Netflix Instant. That figure decreases to fourteen days in the following year and just seven days beyond September 30, 2016. The deal also indicates that the court will continue to check up on Netflix over the next dour years in order to evaluate the company’s progress with adding captions to both movies and television shows.

The agreement was put in place this week after a judge ruled that Netflix was subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act. It’s highly likely that the case will be referenced if more lawsuits are filed against other streaming video services like Hulu Plus or Amazon Instant Video. In order to see all video content that currently offers closed captions on Netflix, users can use the term “Subtitles” within the search function.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

iOS 6 update hits 100 million installs

Today Apple announced the iPhone 5 broke a new record – 5 million units sold in the first three days of its market availability. The press release contained some statistics about the iOS 6 updates as well.

According to the issued statement the iOS 6 landed on more than 100 million devices already, excluding the iPhone 5 units.

The iOS 6 update is available for the iPhones 3GS, 4 and 4S; iPads 2 and 3 (a.k.a. the new iPad); and iPods Touch 4 and 5. It started seeding on September 19 and 100 million iDevices are already running it. Surely there are a few million more to come, since not every iOS users is eager to update (they either don’t know there is an update or they just don’t want to get lost with the Apple Maps).

So while this is an impressive number, it’s not a surprising one considering the huge iOS user base and the global availability of the update.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Google Nexus 7 available in the Netherlands, Italy and Japan, on pre-order in Taiwan

The availability of the Google Nexus 7 tablet continues to expand. Last week France, Germany and Spain got it, now it has reached Italy and the Netherlands too. It’s also cropping up halfway across the world in Taiwan and Japan too.

People in the Netherlands can grab a Nexus 7 16GB for €250 right now (16GB/€250 is the deal other Euro countries got too). We only managed to find the deal in a MediaMarkt brochure, but if you find it elsewhere, we’d appreciate a link.

MediaWorld Italy (which is part of the same chain as MediaMarkt) also has the 16GB tablet in stock for the same price. The Italian Asus Store on the other hand has the Asus-made tablet on pre-order with September 17 listed as the expected shipping date. Fnac.it is taking pre-orders with a September 14 shipping date.

Amazon Japan has both the 8GB and 16GB versions of the Nexus 7, but the smaller version is priced at 26,200 yen ($335). The 16GB version costs 30,500 yen ($390). Both are in stock, but there’s only a few of them left.

Taiwan Mobile is taking pre-orders for the 16GB Nexus 7 and expects to ship the tablets on September 12. It’s priced at NT$8,990 ($300).

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Google advertises the Nexus 7 tablet on its homepage

With the slate’s availability expanding even further, Google has featured an ad for the Nexus 7 on its homepage. The ASUS made tablet joins the likes of the T-Mobile G1, Nexus 1, Nexus S, Motorola Droid, as well as the Google Chrome browser as part of the elite club of products, which have been advertised on Google.com.

The ad for the Google Nexus 7 is quite catchy. For about a second after you open Google’s main page, nothing happens. Then the tablet pops up from the page’s bottom, revealing its top end.

With the Nexus 7 already selling like hot cakes, we can reasonably expect that having one of the prime advertising spots on the world wide web will bode even better for the tablet’s commercial success. What do you think?

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Google Nexus 7 now available in France, Germany and Spain

Google has expanded the availability of their Nexus 7 tablets to three additional markets. Users in France, Germany and Spain will now be able to purchase the Nexus 7 from the Google Play Store.

The 8GB model is priced at €199 ($249) and the 16GB model is priced at €249 ($312), which, as you can see, is a bit higher than what it costs in the US. Also, it doesn’t seem like you will get any extra credit, such as the $25 you get in the US. Lastly, the Play Store in these other countries also doesn’t have some of the contents such as magazines that you will find in its American counterpart.

Despite that, these are still good prices and many people will be glad that they now have the option of purchasing the tablet officially, extra credit be damned. Hopefully, Google will expand to other markets shortly.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com