Posts by Malcolm 1

Inside Intel's Haswell: What do 1.4 BEELLION transistors get you?

Re: No bigLITTLE

I saw an analysis somewhere (might have been Anandtech or Semiaccurate - can't remember now) indicating that Intel were of the opinion that their new power management tech was now sufficiently good that this type of approach was unnecessary.; "Hurry Up and go to sleep" - ramping up to maximum power doing the work in the minimum amount of time and then ramping down again to practically zero power drain is more efficient than powering up a lower powered core for longer.

Remains to be seen whether this is true in practice though, but it sounds plausible.

Smartwatch face off: Pebble, MetaWatch and new hi-tech timepieces

Re: Micro USB charging

I wonder how long before it becomes possible to power a smart watch using either solar or Seiko Kinetic type technology - on of the best things about my watch is that it never needs charging (unlike my phone).

Re: Tools

Maybe, although some of the appeal in watches is the extreme variety - if everyone has the same watch then it may lose quite a lot of that appeal.

Deep inside Intel's new ARM killer: Silvermont

Re: Goalposts.

x86 instruction translation is not a significant factor and hasn't been for years. Intel started from a position of performance at all costs whereas ARM started at the opposite end of the power/performance spectrum. We are finally reaching the point of crossover where A15 cores can be as power hungry (and performant) as x86, and x86 can play in the low power realm.

Serious competition should be good for everyone.

Coke? Windows 8 is Microsoft's 'Vista moment'. Again

Re: Will they ditch the awful flat interface AND CAPITALISED MENUS?

Windows 8 boots up and is usable an order of magnitude faster than XP. Although replacing your boot drive with an SSD also gives you 80% of this benefit.

Next Xbox to be called ‘Xbox Infinity’... er... ‘Xbox’

Xbox Infinity + 1

obv.

Will Google's rivals swallow the 'labelling remedy' pill?

This does seem to be the obvious solution. In much the same way Android permits you to select different providers for many components, search engines (or your browser?) could too. Google has been trying to promote the browser as the operating system for years now - this is a natural conclusion.

Yahoo! drops! size! limit! on! email! attachments! with aid from Dropbox

Re: Just because you CAN do it, doesn't mean its a good idea

In which case this should be a good development - the file is stored on Dropbox's servers and will only be downloaded on demand - rather than being foisted upon you in a massive email attachment.

Paying a TV tax makes you happy - BBC

There will no longer be anything worth watching however as it will all be commercial dross.

Intel's Centrino notebook platform is 10 years old

The main problem with old laptops is the batteries become worn out and are expensive (or impossible) to replace, rather than the performance (especially if you can fit an SSD and RAM upgrade).

Throttled customers rage over Virgin Mobile UK's tight cap

Of course T-Mobile wouldn't be capping transfer speeds to make their EE 4G offering more attractive

Meet the stealthiest UK startup's app Swiftkey - and its psychic* keyboard

Re: INteresting that something so *apparently* simple is still capable of improvement.

I still find talking to inanimate objects somewhat uncomfortable. On the very rare occasions that I've needed to make a call when driving I've prodded the appropriate button on the steering wheel and announced "Call <whoever>" and it does work (and keeps my hands on the car controls). Still don't like it though.

Google's JavaScript assassin: Web languages are harder than VMs

VM

I would have thought a language-agnostic browser VM (something like LLVM, CLR etc) would be better than another language. Write in whichever language you fancy and compile to the VM's instruction set and off you go.

Why do Smart TV UIs suck?

Display only

I'd much rather my TV focussed on offering a superlative display rather than attempting to integrate all manner of supposedly valuable services (read: filler). I expect my TV to last 5 - 10 years, which is probably at least five times longer than these services will be supported - the smart services are much better provided by a cheaper box or tablet which can be replaced more frequently.

With the possible exception of Sony's XMB why do all AV User Interfaces look like they were designed in 1995 with a copy of Macromedia Director?

Microsoft's OWN tests on Kin 'social phone' foretold its doom

Re: This was the problem with my last Windows Mobile phone

Not wishing to turn this into an off-topic flame war but this type of behaviour from my current Android handset is severely tempting me to try Windows Phone 8 when my contract is up for renewal. Nothing more frustrating than inconsistent responsiveness.

How can UK TV product placement do better, asks report

Re: None on the BBC?

The BBC is heavily populated by Apple fanbois (and girls) so I'm not entirely surprised. I have noticed that the iPad has become the accessory du jour for history documentary presenters to present historical documents, but it's fairly practical I guess. Until recently using the only non-apple alternatives would probably have involved something unnecessarily clunky (windows) or laggy (android) which would have detracted from the point somewhat.

Word wonks insist GIFs are really JIFs

Re: One could always ask Doc Brown

"jiggawatts" is an archaic pronunciation so is entirely plausible for a aged mad inventor such as Doc Brown.

Brit 4G live TODAY: At last you can bust your data cap in 5 minutes

Re: Data Caps

That's quite impressive - you'd need to be downloading at 1 Mb/s without interruption for the whole month!

Renault Clio IV and R-Link Android console hands-on preview

MirrorLink

What I really want is MirrorLink (or similar) to become a standard. Keep the intelligence in the phone and use the car as a dumb terminal. Built in data connection, personal apps, music etc and available in any car suporting the standard.

I just LOVE Server 2012, but count me out on Windows 8 for now

Re: Metro on 2012 suicidal

I thought Microsoft's preferred position for Server 2012 was no UI at all on the server, with management via Server Manager.

Microsoft Surface priced up for Blighty

Re: Magnetic power supply...

MS and Apple have an extensive patent cross licensing agreement.

Amazon's Bezos confirms content pays for Kindle

Platform agnostic

I think that the Kindle's success can also be attributed to the wide platform support for the Kindle software. If Amazon decided to stop developing for iOS, Windows, Android etc in favour of their own hardware I suspect people would be less keen.

Sony Vaio T13 Ultrabook review

Re: 1366 x 768????

There's a similarly sized Asus Zenbook Prime with 1080p resolution, but it's £1500 in the UK. Ouch.

Thank Freeview for UK 4G by mid-2013 - NOT the iPhone 5 nor EE

Re: WCML

It was National Express that ballsed up the East Coast Mainline, not First Group, was it not?

Microsoft issues IE 10 Flash flaw fix for Windows 8

Re: Great...

The default server 2012 install has no UI components at all AFAIK (all administration tasks are performed remotely). However if you are setting up a terminal server or need to run a UI dependent service then UI services can be installed. Don't know if IE is mandatory in this circumstance however.

Nokia CEO: No shift from Windows Phone

I'm quite likely to join the Nokia party later this year - getting remarkably hacked off with Android's general lagginess.

Curiosity needs OS upgrade before getting down to science

Re: Wow

It may be fast by residential standards but I'll bet the latency sucks.

Apple mulls over investment in Twitter

I thought this had been largely debunked as being "old news":

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443343704577553953443264394.html

http://www.theverge.com/apple/2012/7/28/3198148/dont-believe-the-apple-invests-in-twitter-hype

http://allthingsd.com/20120728/neverland-no-twapple-and-no-twoogle-or-facetwit-for-now-but-happy-thoughts/

4G? Pah! Boffins charge up the dial to 5G data EXTREME-band kit

Re: Does anyone remember

I'm quite looking forward to purchasing a "Tremendo-book" in the not-to-distant future.

WinPho to eke out 4% of US smartphone biz

Re: The whole "can't upgrade to WP8" issue

I don't believe there's a technical reason why it's not possible for microsoft. However, the main benefits to be gained from the change from WinCE to the WinNT kernel are support for multiple processor cores, higher screen resolutions, enterprise management facilities and native code support. With the exception of native code support all those are pretty useless to existing owners.

Most of the obvious UI improvements are going to be made available via the 7.8 update so I really don't think it's as big a deal as it's been made out to be. A typical Lumia 800/900 owner looks to be in a much better place upgrade-wise than their equivalent Android owner stuck on Gingerbread for instance.

Upgrading unofficially seems like a complete no-go - unless you're a HAL programmer (although XDA Devs have surprised me in the past).

Microsoft sets October date for Windows 8 release

Re: So let's get this straight

It's an early adopter offer (although the end date is currently undefined). You get Windows 8 Pro for $39.99 and you can also download the Windows Media Center for free too.

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/07/02/upgrade-to-windows-8-pro-for-39-99.aspx

YouView: The long march to... er, where exactly?

Will probably be getting one

While I can understand the criticisms of this device, it's almost custom designed to my current requirements. Allow me to explain:

We used to have Virgin Media and their TiVo box and it was great - did everything we needed very competently. This would probably still be our ideal televisual solution however, we moved house and managed to select one of only about 4 houses in the area unable to get a Virgin Media connection - which was really quite frustrating (especially as it took about 5 weeks for VM to send a man round to establish this fact).

Sky is verboten for several reasons, mainly Rupert Murdoch and the need to bolt a dish to the front of the house.

Fortunately we live about 300m from the telephone exchange so internet connectivity is not a problem.

We've been surviving on a diet of PS3 & Xbox iPlayer/4OD services but they're a bit of a faff what with having to flip from one app to another to see what's available. Also we can't use these to pause live telly.

YouView seems to scratch many of these itches far better than any other solution I've seen - it's a bit of a TiVo light but if you are unable to unwilling to subscribe to VM or Sky it seems to be the most user friendly choice. I've seen lots of bitching about the cost, but all the equivalent vanilla Humax FreeviewHD DVR is £250.

Why I love Microsoft’s vapourware tablet

Re: The Crash

Exising Ultrabooks (eg the Toshiba z835-p330) with previous generation i5 processors (32nm vs 22nm) and comparable battery capacities supposedly last 7 hours plus in real life, so 5 hours would be a little disappointing.

Microsoft takes on tablets with keyboard-equipped Surface

Re: HP and Dell?

It seems like the Microsoft equivalent to the Google Nexus products - not a high volume device, more to act as "encouragement" to their OEMs to raise the bar and show what they should be doing rather than churning out lowest common denominator junk.

Looks really nice - I want one!

Windows Metro Maoist cadres reach desktop, pound it flat

Re: I like Aero

It's only the theme that has changed I think - the benefits of the Desktop Window Manager are intact.

Quite like the Metro look myself, but change always divides opinion..

LG pitches £7k 55in OLED TV, again

Re: None more black

That was my immediate thought. Which makes the value somewhat meaningless as it could be really really dim and still have an "infinite" contrast ratio.

Nvidia Kai to enable cut-price Android tablets for all

Re: NVIDIA: support Linux with Optimus drivers or GTFO

Does the Linux driver model actually permit that? When it was released the argument that only the WDDM (Windows Vista/7 driver model) had the required functionality. I'm not sufficiently familiar with the Linux driver model to make that assessment.

Re: Yeah, right...

For starters you've forgotten to add VAT.

Everything Everywhere activates top-secret erections

Seems to work

Previously reception at my desk was pretty dire (although apparently not weak enough to force my phone to roam to T-Mobile). Today I have 2 bars of HSPDA access. Nice.

Nokia on 'brink of failure', warns analyst

WP8 compatibility

Microsoft have stated unequivocally that WP8 will run all WP7 apps:

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2012/04/05/windows-8-and-the-windows-phone-sdk-pt-2.aspx

They've even emboldened the relevant bit!

Aliens Blu-ray disc set

Re: No making-of docu?!

Clearly that version will be along in time for Christmas when they've finished drip feeding the basic versions of all the movies on blu-ray. After that will be the box set with all the films in it. Then the 3D version in time for the 40th Anniversary in 2019. Which is when Blade Runner is set if I recall correctly - I look forward to collecting it in my flying car.

Browsium rescues HMRC from IE6 – and multimillion-pound bill

Re: Really a fix?

Their previous product UniBrows used IE6 behind the scenes. Ion doesn't if their website is to be believed: http://www.browsium.com/ion/

End of the first paragraph: "...it does not include the IE6 engine used in our prior solution UniBrows."

Arcam rDock

Why do all "off the shelf" remotes look so cheap and nasty? It seems somewhat ironic that they tend to be most prevalent with otherwise high end and nicely designed AV equipment.

El Reg user forum opens to public, HTML for all (mostly)

Re: I'm happy enough using HTML but...

I knew El Reg was influential, but I didn't know they invented HTML.

Sun belches wonking solar flare

Re: Any chance of times in GMT?

I find Wolfram Alpha very handy in these circumstances: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=march+6th+7pm+eastern+time

Sony Xperia S NXT series Android smartphone

Sony (Ericsson) have been pretty good (probably the best of any manufacturer actually) with software updates for their 2011 series of phones - they've all received numerous software updates since release and all (including the Xperia S) are to receive ICS in Q2.

Re: Flagship phone 12 months ago maybe

Nobody has managed to ship a device with the ICS yet apart from Google. I think people generally underestimate the work required to get a new OS up, running, fully tested and certified on new (or existing) hardware. And remember google don't do their OEMs any favours - the source code was only released in November - no "partner previews" or "developer previews" like Microsoft tend to provide in advance of the public release of a new OS.

So you get a code drop in November - you have to update or rewrite your HAL and device specific drivers along with any custom software components. It then has to be run through an absolute barrage of basic quality, regulatory, and carrier tests and certifications. And only then you can get it to market - 5 months doesn't really sound like a lot of time to me. And anyway, Sony have already committed to an ICS upgrade in Q2.

Sub-£400 svelte lappies hurled in Ultrabook preemptive strike

Will they all still look like a cheap rip-off of a Macbook Air?

Asus peddles three-in-one smartphone, tablet, netbook

Pen headset

Actually they've thought of that - the capacitive stylus doubles as a bluetooth headset!

Pic here of the Asus CEO demoing it:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/27/2827554/asus-padfone-mwc-announcement-gallery#3057493

Somewhere between genius and insanity. I'm not sure which.

Facebook denies poaching your text messages on Android

Re: reticulating splines

Nope - that's just the default notification tone. Change it or turn it off entirely in the Facebook app settings ("Notification ringtone")