Meanwhile, Net Applications reported that Apple's OS X recorded its fourth consecutive month of share decline in July, losing nearly two-tenths of a percentage point, the largest single-month drop in over a year and a half.
Since the beginning of 2010, Mac OS X has lost share in five of seven months. It now stands at 5%, the same number as in February 2010 and off the operating system's peak of 5.3% in October 2009, the month Microsoft debuted Windows 7.
(ComputerWorld)
Posted
by
barry
on
8/2/10; 8:03:04 AM
Microsoft has shown off its "virtual human" that reacts to a person's emotions, body movements and voice.
Milo, as he is known, is designed for use with the firm's hands-free Xbox 360 motion controller called Kinect.
The technology is the brainchild of veteran UK games designer Peter Molyneux.
"I want to introduce a new revolution in storytelling," he told the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Global conference in Oxford.
The demonstration showed the initial stages of the game, where players learn to interact with Milo.
"After three-quarters of a hour, he recognises you," said Mr Molyneux.
"I can promise you that if you are sitting in front of this screen, that is a truly wonderful moment."
He said that the later stages of the game, which were not shown, allowed a player to explore the landscape with Milo more freely.
"There are lots of adventures - some of which are quite dark," he said.
Great story in today's Boston Globe featuring some of the senior women who work at Microsoft's New England Research and Development Center (NERD) in Cambridge. Congrats to our pals Lili and Jennifer!
Posted
by
barry
on
6/28/10; 11:16:10 AM
Here is a great article from Computerworld on how IT becomes the business at progressive companies:
Forget IT-business alignment. Vanguard and Zappos.com are two of a small number of companies where business and IT are virtually indistinguishable. Others on an admittedly unscientific short list of pioneers in IT-business convergence are The Progressive Corp., Southwest Airlines Co. and The Procter & Gamble Co.
What all of these companies have in common is that IT doesn't just support the business; it enables and continually transforms the business, often creating new revenue and profit streams.
Great article -- read the whole thing.
Hat tip to Satish.
Posted
by
barry
on
5/24/10; 10:23:00 AM
For many Americans, cellphones have become irreplaceable tools to manage their lives and stay connected to the outside world, their families and networks of friends online. But increasingly, by several measures, that does not mean talking on them very much.
For example, although almost 90 percent of households in the United States now have a cellphone, the growth in voice minutes used by consumers has stagnated, according to government and industry data.
The reason for discontinuing Google Apps, according to OIT, is the low adoption and usage rates among undergraduate students since the service was introduced in September 2009. In the eight months since Google Apps became available on campus, around 7 percent of the University's 20,000 undergrads have switched from the traditional University-provided e-mail service, UMail, to Google Apps, and "only a small number" of that 7 percent log in frequently, OIT said in the e-mail.
I think this may be the first time I've quoted my old college newspaper, the Daily Collegian.
Via POK.
Posted
by
barry
on
5/12/10; 3:29:34 PM
Office 2010, which is available today, adds Web-friendly features to one of Microsoft's most popular and profitable products. The new release includes social-networking features embedded in its Outlook email program. People will also be able to run word-processing software Word, spreadsheet-maker Excel and other applications through Web browsers and edit documents together with other users.
I am a software guy living in the glorious Pacific Northwest. My wife loves this blog because it means I don't bore her with all this.
All opinions noted here are my own and are not necessarily those of my employer, my family, my children, my coworkers, or my in-laws. They may not even be mine. So there.
