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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 18 Issue 02
Volume 18, Issue 02 Atari Online News, Etc. January 8, 2016
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2016
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
Fred Horvat
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #1802 01/08/16
~ Want To Run VR? Check PC ~ People Are Talking! ~ Roddenberry's Disks!
~ Running Win 8? Upgrade! ~ More Need Broadband! ~ Blizzard Buys MLG!
~ Win 10 Hits 200 Million! ~ 'Sharknado' for 2600! ~ Zuckerberg AI Butler!
~ IE 8, 9, & 10 Going Out! ~ Edge Browser in Trouble ~ Brad Fuller Dies!
-* Attacking UK's Hacking Plans! *-
-* IBM Workers Union Suspends Campaign *-
-* Apple OS X Most Vulnerable Software of 2015 *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
More Obama and his "I have the power..." speeches. It happened
faster than I anticipated, but here we have the POTUS trying to
pull rank and enact gun control legislation without going through
Congress. I could go on and on about this nonsense, but the
debate will continue elsewhere, I'm sure. But, for the record,
I'm not totally against "gun control," but I have a problem with
how and what Obama is trying to do. I think that he has far too
many other important things to deal with these days - North Korea
and its I-need-to-prove-I'm-a-powerhouse-player dictator, and
much more!
On to less serious stuff; it's only early January...
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Activision Blizzard Buys MLG To Build ëESPN of Esportsí!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Veteran Game Composer Brad Fuller Dies!
Sharknado Still Coming to Atari 2600!
And more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Activision Blizzard Buys MLG for Estimated $46M
To Build ëESPN of Esportsí
Just weeks after announcing its esports division, Activision
Blizzard has acquired the assets of live esports event organizer
Major League Gaming for an estimated $46 million. The move is part
of a larger plan to create the Activision Blizzard esports
broadcast network, or the ìESPN of esports.î
The move is a recognition of the growing importance of esports ó
where gamers become spectators of professional gamers who are
competing for increasingly large prize pools in tournaments.
Esports could be a $465 million industry by 2017. The esports
business has been nascent for a long time, but it has grown
rapidly in the past few years and the move by Activision Blizzard,
one of the largest Western game publishers, is a stamp of
approval.
The deal was first reported on Friday by Esports Observer. Of the
amount, $31 million was paid in cash, and $15 million is subject
to further conditions. Activision Blizzard did not specifically
confirm that amount, which Esports Observer reported.
This buy fits into Activisionís recent moves. Back in October,
Activision Blizzard started a new esports media networks
division, and it hired former MLG president Mike Sepso as its
senior vice president. Sepso is now able to reunite with his
former colleagues.
ìIt was great to be able to walk aback into the office and
announce this to the staff,î Sepso said in an interview. ìWe are
really at an interesting inflection point for esports as a
mainstream activity. Having the combined resources of Activision
Blizzard and MLG is a tremendous opportunity for us to move the
whole industry forward.î
Steve Bornstein, the former CEO of ESPN, is chairman of that new
division at Activision Blizzard. Itís increased the prize pools
for 2016ís championships for two of its main esports games, the
online strategy game Heroes of the Storm and the card-battler
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Rival Electronic Arts also set
up an esports division and put former chief operating officer
Peter Moore in charge of it.
Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, said in a statement,
ìOur acquisition of Major League Gamingís business furthers our
plans to create the ESPN of esports. MLGís ability to create
premium content, its proven broadcast technology platform ñ
including its live streaming capabilities ñ strengthens our
strategic position in competitive gaming. MLG has an incredibly
strong and seasoned team and a thriving community. Together, we
will create new ways to celebrate players and their unique skills,
dedication and commitment to gaming. We are excited to add
Sundance and the entire MLG esports team to our competitive gaming
initiatives.î
The announcement leaked on Friday, and the companies confirmed that
it was happening today. The eSports Observer reported that MLGís
chief executive, Sundance DiGiovanni, had stepped down from his
post and was replaced by Greg Chisholm, former chief financial
officer of MLG. But DiGiovanni said in an interview with GamesBeat
that he and the entire MLG esports team will join Activision
Blizzard.
New York-based MLG was founded by DiGiovanni and Sepso in 2002.
It holds official video game tournaments throughout the U.S. and
Canada, and it broadcasts them on both television and the
Internet. Its aim is to elevate video games to become competitive
spectator sports. It holds tournaments for games such as
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Call of Duty.
Activision Blizzard said in a press release that the move will
further its ìstrategic growth plan in competitive gamingî and it
will ìcreate new opportunities for players, fans and partners
across the global esports community.î
The esports industry has an estimated 100 million viewers
already. By 2017, esports is projected to have over 300 million
viewers, according to market researcher Newzoo. Activision
Blizzard already owns a number of competitive gaming titles, such
as Hearthstone, StarCraft, Heroes of the Storm, and Call of Duty.
ìThereís so much opportunity, with more resources behind it,î
DiGiovanni said. ìItís an incredibly exciting opportunity for me
personally with more than a decade of experience in it.î
MLG runs MLG.tv, a premium online broadcast network for
professional-level esports, and it operates the MLG Pro Circuit,
the longest-running esports league in North America. MLG also
operates GameBattles, an online gaming tournament system across
console, PC and mobile platforms. MLG will continue to operate
MLG.tv, MLG Pro Circuit, and GameBattles.
ìWe have diversified and made ourselves a more balanced and
stronger company,î DiGiovanni said. ìIf you look at the history of
our company, we have had a tremendous amount of success and are
proud of what we built. To be able to join a company with the
resources of Activision Blizzard is great.î
ìThe larger underlying trend is that game publishers have started
to attract online audiences and are increasingly looking to
diversify their efforts across media channels,î said Joost
van Dreunen, analyst at market researcher SuperData Research. ìIn
addition, considering the current momentum behind eSports, it is
no surprise that the segment is starting to consolidate.î
Earlier in 2015, Swedish broadcasting group MTG acquired a
majority share in ESL, MLGís rival, for $64 million. And Blizzard
already acquired the assets of the IGN Pro League back in 2013.
Now, with the acquisition of MLGís assets, Activision is on a path
to further vertically integrate its effort behind competitive
gaming and bolster its position, van Dreunen said.
ìFollowing several other acquisitions and announcements from
Activision, it is clear that the firm is evolving into a media
conglomerate rather than a company that simply develops and
publishes video games,î van Dreunen said. ìThis is a consistent
trend we have also observed elsewhere in the industry, with firms
like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and Take-Two Interactive, as the
potential of ad-based revenue has come into focus.î
SuperData estimated that esports currently generates $748 million
in revenues, and it is on track to reach $1.9 billion by 2018.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Obituary: Veteran Game Composer Brad Fuller
Gamasutra has learned that veteran game composer Brad Fuller
passed away over the holidays after a long bout with cancer.
Fuller had a vibrant career in audio production, and is best
known in the game industry for his work at Atari in the 1980s
crafting the sound of seminal Atari console games like Donkey
Kong and Tetris, as well as Atari arcade games like Marble
Madness and Klax.
He spent roughly 14 years at Atari and went on to work as both a
composer and an educator, as well as a valued member of the
Interactive Audio Special Interest Group, where he served for a
time as chairman of the Interactive Composition Working Group.
Sharknado Still Coming to Atari 2600, Now New Name
It is interesting to me how much companies will go out of their way
to protect an intellectual property in certain areas. Take
Sharknado for example. AtariAge forum member, ìneotokeo2001î was
working on a game that used the name ìSharknadoî and it was
ìsimilarlyî based on the movie of the same name. I say similarly
because this is the Atari 2600, there is only so much that can be
done to replicate anything from a movie. My point is, neotokeo
had his work cut out for him if he was to even evoke similar
feelings out of gamers that the movie did with viewers.
NBCUniversal has sent neotokeo a cease and desist letter, forcing
him to rename his game to ìTwistíR-Shark.
While I understand the desire to protect your IP, sometimes it
goes too far. There needs to be a certain amount of fanfare that
is allowed to flourish. Some companies get it, while others
donít.
TwistíR-Shark, hell of a name to type out, is an overhead action
game. The gameplay will feature both fast and slow moving
targets to deal with. There is a scoring system in place so
there may be a thread eventually on AtariAge for high scores.
Graphically, this is about on par with what the Atari 2600 could
produce. There are plenty of enemies from hammerhead sharks to
electric eels and manta rays to avoid. I say avoid because in the
early game play video the weapons go right through them. This
could be an early programming situation though.
There are plans to include a mini comic with each copy of
TwistíR-Shark also.
Other movie games homebrew developers have released on the Atari
2600 include:
Legends (all-encompassing horror game) covered here on RGM
Many more over on AtariAgeís forums. Head over, check them out
and maybe tip us on some of the better ones.
TwistíR-Shark, while no longer called Sharknado, will be
available by March 2016. Follow the latest updates on the
AtariAge thread.
Atari Shuts Down the 7800 ñ Today in History ñ January 1st, 1992
A good six year run is what the Atari 7800 had in North America.
It could have been longer had Atari played their cards right in
licensing the NES. They didnít and it cost them dearly.
Interestingly, the Atari 7800 was announced a good two years
BEFORE it was released. They announced it in mid-1984 and then
released in mid-1986 for some reason. It is not quite clear why
they did that but they did. It was Atari is the only reason I
can come up with (I know, it was because the sale of the company).
Even with backwards compatibility with the Atari 2600 could not
bring financial success to the Atari 7800, especially after
Nintendo unleashed their NES.
The Atari 7800 was nothing if not ambitious. General Computer
Corporation, the developers of the Atari 7800, had a lot of great
stuff in the works. Stuff that never saw release. Under the hood
is a CPU that is not unlike that of the one in the Nintendo
Entertainment System and an unused port (again, like the NES, at
least in North America). There was a planned keyboard and disk
drive that would have turned the 7800 into a computer, much like
what Nintendo did with their NES in Japan - the Famicom. There
was even a planned Laser Disc player attachment and a hi-scores
saving cartridge. All of those were scrapped when Atari changed
hands to Jack Tramiel.
For more information on the legal situation, names and different
companies that carried the name ìAtariî please check out Atari
Book and Atari Museum. They detail all of the twists and turns
quite well.
The Atari 7800 was held back from day one really. Atari
mishandled the development, launch and then support of the
console. Somehow that was accomplished under the ownership of
two different entities. Development of new games was still going
on up into mid-1993 when the plug was pulled to focus on the
Atari Jaguar console. Over on AtariAge forums, members are still
supporting the console with homebrew releases, updates to
commercial games and hacks. Fans wonít let it die.
While not the last Atari console to hit the market, the 7800 was
definitely the most storied of them.
The Atari 7800 may be dead but over on Ebay you can still score
some great games for great prices.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Apple, Google, Microsoft Attack UK Governmentís Hacking Plans
Tech companies including Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook
have criticized plans by the UK government for a new law that
would allow law enforcement to hack computer systems to access
data.
The equipment interference provisions in the draft Investigatory
Powers Bill would allow the intelligence and security services,
police and the armed forces to hack into devices to obtain data,
such as communications, when they have a warrant to do so. The
government argues that the hacking provisions - part of the wider
internet surveillance legislation - are needed so that law
enforcement can intercept the communications of criminals even
when they are encrypted.
However tech companies have warned that the plan would set a
dangerous precedent that would be followed by other countries,
will damage trust in their services and may be impossible to
implement anyway.
In a combined submission to the committee of MPs examining the
legislation, technology giants Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter
and Yahoo! warned this provision would be a step in the wrong
direction: ìTo the extent this could involve the introduction of
risks or vulnerabilities into products or services, it would be a
very dangerous precedent to set, and we would urge your government
to reconsider,î they said.
They warned that the legislation doesnít currently contain any
requirements to protect network integrity and cyber security or
any requirement for agencies to inform companies of
vulnerabilities that could later be exploited by others.
ìWe urge the government to make clear that actions taken under
authorization do not introduce new risks or vulnerabilities for
users or businessesî they said.
In its submission Apple said the plans would put tech companies
in a very difficult position. ìFor the consumer in, say, Germany,
this might represent hacking of their data by an Irish business on
behalf of the UK state under a bulk warrant - activity which the
provider is not even allowed to confirm or deny. Maintaining trust
in such circumstances will be extremely difficult.î
It said there is a need for much greater clarity as to how the
powers in the bill will be applied especially because this
legislation will set a precedent ìwhich, if followed by other
countries, could endanger the privacy and security of users in the
UK and elsewhere.î
Mobile operator Vodafone warned that equipment interference
elements are perhaps the most contentious of all the powers within
the scope of the draft bill.
ìThe obligations relating to equipment interference have the
potential to significantly undermine trust in the United Kingdomís
communications service providersî, it warned.
It said equipment interference amounts to a ìmajor imposition on
the freedom of an operator to design and operate its services in
the way it sees fitî and said that under the powers in the bill,
service providers could be ìunder secret obligations to operate a
backdoor in the equipment or services provided to customersî, and
questioned whether such an ìintrusive powerî is necessary at all.
Vodafone adds that any equipment interference requirement should
not force companies to reduce their own security standards,
something important in an environment where operators face regular
attacks from third parties. It warned ìany weakening of our
network or service defences, which protect critical national
infrastructure and attempt to maximise the availability of
essential services, would be highly undesirable.î
The telecoms operator also warned that the legislation as it
stands could be used to require an operator to be actively
involved in an equipment interference operation. Instead of simply
providing data or implementing an interception warrant, this could
mean companies would be required to ìactively seek out
vulnerabilities for exploitation, or to develop vulnerabilities
and exploitsî, it warned.
ìTurning network operator employees into spies and hackers is
manifestly inappropriate, and the framework should be modified to
expressly limit the requirement to assist to exclude this type of
requirement,î it said.
Firefox maker Mozilla warned that the ìbulk systems intrusionî
provisions in the bill could be used to ìcompel a software
developer, like Mozilla, to ship hostile software, essentially
malware, to a user ñ or many users ñ without notice.î
The company said this is ìproblematicî from both philosophical
and practical perspectives. Because Mozillaís products are open
source any user has access to the source code, and may freely
modify and redistribute it, which means changes to its software
are public. ìWere we compelled to create a version of Firefox
that was modified to permit surreptitious intrusion subject to a
government order, the modifications could and would be discovered
by the Mozilla community,î it warned.
But the issue of hacking is not the only concern raised about the
proposed legislation.
Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo! also said they
were concerned that the UKís insistence that its laws should
apply to companies based in other countries could create
conflicting legal obligations and that an ìincreasingly chaotic
international legal system will leave companies in the impossible
position of deciding whose laws to violateî. The UK should make
it clear that no company would be required to comply with a
warrant if doing so would contravene its legal obligations in
other jurisdictions, they said.
In its submission the United Nations human rights rapporteurs
warned that the draft bill could result in mass surveillance ìthat
lacks adequate independent oversight and transparency that will
ultimately stifle fundamental freedoms and exert a chilling effect
on the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association.î
IBM Workers Union Indefinitely Suspends Organizing Campaign
Communications Workers of America Local 1701, a union dedicated
to IBM employees, said in a statement that it will officially
suspend its organizing campaign.
The Alliance@IBM chapter had 400 members at its height, according
to an article from Computerworld, though that number has
contracted to about 200 currently. Lee Conrad, a former IBM
employee who has led the effort since 1999, told Computerworld
his group's website could see more than 140,000 visitors during a
major layoff.
"In an email sent to Alliance members we announced that the union
organizing campaign at IBM has been suspended. Years of job cuts
and membership losses have taken their toll," read a post on the
group's official Facebook page.
The statement further said that union membership was never enough
"to change the working conditions or stop the massive job cuts at
IBM." On its website, the union said its ultimate goal was a
collective bargaining agreement with IBM, though it focused mainly
on the company off-shoring jobs and worker layoffs.
Alliance@IBM said on its website ñ which the chapter's statement
said would stay live but would not be updated ñ that the company
had 230,000 workers in the U.S. during the mid-1980s compared to
about 71,000 now.
However, it's not clear how the group came up with that figure.
Computerworld pointed out that IBM stopped publishing its
U.S.-based workforce five years ago, so it is hard to tell how
many of its positions have been eliminated or moved abroad.
Still, recent mandatory filings by the company seem to present a
bleak picture about its global workforce.
From a global point of view, the company and its subsidiaries
reduced its total workforce from 431,212 in 2013 to 379,592 in
2014, according to the company's 2014 Annual Report filing to the
Securities and Exchange Commission. With a greater reliance
industrywide on manufacturing abroad and as-needed contractors,
there's a good chance some of those jobs lost were in the U.S.
Surprise, Appleís OS X Comes Out As Most Vulnerable Software of 2015
In a study conducted by CVE Details, the most vulnerable software
of the previous year has been identified as Appleís OS X and the
tech-giant is also the company with most bugs.
With 2016 coming, people in all sectors have been busy summarizing
2015 with reports and lists of who have been the winners and who
have been the losers. The tech experts and security personnel have
been at it too, with CVE Details producing a list of most
vulnerable software of the past year.
Many would have expected the list to be topped by Adobe Flash, for
the software had reported a number of zero days right from the
beginning of 2015. However, the final list took everyone by
surprise, for it was Appleís OS X that came out as the most
vulnerable software of 2015. What was more shocking was that Adobe
Flash didnít even make it to second place, for that spot was taken
by iOS, another Apple product.
CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) is a vulnerability
identifying the body which is used by app developers, security
researchers as well as security firms all over the world. The list
produced is based on reports filed by cyber-security firms,
independent researchers, as well as the software creators, who
asked for CVE identifiers.
The list was published by CVE Details, which is a website that
serves as a repository of security vulnerabilities according to
their CVE identifiers. Their report also shows Apple was the
company in whose products the highest number of bugs (654) were
discovered in 2015. IBM, the leader of this not-so-lucrative race
in 2014, has improved markedly, as it fell down to the 7th place
this time around.
The news comes as a shock to people all over the world, be it
Apple developers and researchers, Macbook and iPhone users, or
the rest of the world. Appleís OS X and their iOS have always
been marketed as highly immune to threats and attacks. However,
one of the foremost authorities on finding out security
vulnerabilities in software says otherwise, with Appleís OS X and
iOS being the most and second-most vulnerable software of 2015
respectively.
The OS X reported a staggering 384 bugs this past year while
Appleís iOS reported the next highest number of bugs with 375.
Adobe, everyoneís expected leader, sits safely at 316, much
behind OS Xís tally. So much for Appleís security reputation.
Still Running Windows 8? Time To Upgrade, Or Else
Microsoft's support lifecycle for every Windows version is a
generous 10 years from the date it was launched. That means even
those still clinging to Windows Vista can count on more than a
year of security updates, until April 11, 2017, and anyone running
Windows 7 can do so with confidence until January 14, 2020.
So Windows 8, which was released in October of 2012, should be
supported until well into the next decade, right?
Nope.
Thanks to a quirk in the support lifecycle, Windows 8 users are
about to be cut off from security updates. When the first Patch
Tuesday of 2016 rolls around on January 12, it will represent the
last batch of updates for Windows 8.
If you're still running Windows 8, it's time to update to Windows
8.1 or Windows 10 or risk exposing your PC to unpatched security
risks.
The reason for this odd state of affairs is that Microsoft is
treating Windows 8.1 as a service pack to Windows 8. The rules
allow you to hold off on installing that service pack, but only
for two years. Here's the formal policy, which I've stitched
together from two separate documents:
Unlike service packs that are typically just a collection of
fixes, Windows 8.1 has new features and enhancements. We designed
Windows 8.1 to give customers an ability to deploy this update in
a manner that is similar to how customers deploy service packs,
therefore we are applying the existing service pack support
policy to Windows 8.1.
[For] Windows 8, support ends 24 months after the next service
pack releases or at the end of the product's support lifecycle,
whichever comes first. If you are using software without the
latest service pack you won't be offered any new security or
non-security updates, although preexisting updates will continue
to be offered.
And that time is now up.
The good news is that upgrading to Windows 8.1 pushes the deadline
out significantly. Windows 8.1 reaches the end of its Extended
Support phase on January 10, 2023, and there won't be any
additional service packs to complicate that deadline.
Upgrading to Windows 10 extends the lifecycle even further, to
October 14, 2025.
Windows 8 might seem like a historical footnote at this point.
However, as of the end of December 2015, three analytics sources
I track calculated the percentage of PCs running Windows 8 (not
including 8.1) at between 2 and 3 percent of the total installed
base of desktop and laptop PCs and Macs. That small percentage of
a very large number (about 1.5 billion by most estimates) still
adds up to between 30 and 40 million PCs.
The upgrade from Windows 8 to 8.1 is unlike any other Windows
upgrade; it requires a trip to the Windows Store rather than the
normal Windows Update route. The update is free for almost all.
The one exception: Any enterprise with a Windows 8 Volume License
that doesn't include Software Assurance has to pay extra.
I suspect that most of the devices still running Windows 8 are
consumer PCs, purchased by technically unsophisticated users
who've never been to the Windows Store and ignored any prompts
they might have seen to upgrade. Starting next week, they're
living very dangerously indeed.
Microsoft All Set To Pull The Plug on IE 8, 9 and 10 Next Tuesday
Microsoft is set to retire Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10 for most
versions of the Windows operating system next Tuesday, according
to a support page from Microsoft. What this means is that
Microsoft will cease security updates for the aged browsers,
putting people still using them at significant security risks.
Microsoft warned of the change last year. The only exceptions to
the planned retirements will be for Windows Vista, Windows Server
2008 and Windows Server 2012. The first two will see Internet
Explorer 9 still supported, while Internet Explorer 10 will
continue to be supported on Windows Server 2012.
Organizations that are on Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 have nothing
to worry about, given that they come with Internet Explorer 11
installed. Of course, Microsoft is probably fretting over
Windows 10 and the dismal adoption rate of its new Edge browser
on that front.
The completely rebuilt Edge browser was slated to replace Internet
Explorer, though it is floundering badly. Indeed, a report this
week on Computerworld pointed to a continual dip in user share
over the last three months, according to data from three analytics
firms. Still, Microsoft is finally supposed to begin supporting
extensions soon and that should help boost the popularity of Edge.
For now, organizations that are still running soon-to-be-retired
versions of Internet Explorer on unsupported platforms are well
advised to upgrade as soon as possible. While any existing patches
or updates will still be released as part of Microsoft's monthly
Patch Tuesday release next Tuesday, continuing to use them beyond
Tuesday will put them in a position of increasing risk.
Web Metrics Vendor Reports Major Decline
in Microsoft Edge's Browser Share
Microsoft's Edge browser is in trouble.
That's the conclusion drawn from data published Friday by a U.S.
analytics company, which portrayed a plummeting user share - a
measurement of unique visitors to websites, and one of the few
proxies for real-world adoption - of the browser amongst
Windows 10 users last month.
According to Net Applications, Edge's share of the global
Windows 10 user base fell to 23% in December, dropping eight
percentage points from the month before.
One of three analytics sources report that Microsoft's Edge lost
a big chunk of share in December, but the remaining two say the
default browser in Windows 10 held steady or gained a small amount
of ground.
Although Net Applications had charted the decline of Edge since
Windows 10's late-July introduction, December's drop was nearly
three times the largest prior single-month contraction.
(Because Edge works only on Windows 10, it's relatively easy to
calculate the percentage of Windows 10 users who run the browser.
That's not the case with other browsers, including Internet
Explorer (IE), Google's Chrome or Mozilla's Firefox, which run on
other editions of Windows or on rival operating systems, such as
Apple's OS X.)
Another pair of data sources put Edge's situation in a different
light, however, showing that the new browser had stayed stable
or even gained ground, if only slightly, in December.
Irish metrics vendor StatCounter tapped Edge's worldwide share
of Windows 10 for December at 13%, and the U.S.-only share at
18%, the same numbers as for the month before. (StatCounter's
figures are dramatically different than Net Applications' in part
because it tracks usage share by counting page views tallied for
each browser, making its measurements akin to browsing activity,
not the fraction of users running a specific browser.)
A third source, the Digital Analytics Program (DAP), depicted
Edge's share as improving by a slim margin. DAP pegged Edge's
share of Windows 10 for December at 23%, up one point from
November. In the four months from September to December, DAP has
recorded Edge's share in a tight range from 22% on the low end
(November) to 25% on the high (September).
DAP collects and collates visits to more than 4,000 websites on
over 400 different domains maintained by U.S. government
agencies, including some, like the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS), that attract non-U.S. residents.
The bulk of the traffic DAP measures, however, is domestic.
(DAP's visits-based methodology is a tweener metric, halfway
between visitors and page views in the analytics world: One
person visiting a site over two days, for example, who looked at
four pages each day, would generate one unique visitor for the
month under Net Applications' methodology, two visits for DAP,
and eight page views for StatCounter.)
Edge's lackluster adoption flies in the face of concerted
efforts by Microsoft to promote the application, including
swapping Edge for rival browsers during an upgrade from
Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 unless the user intervenes.
Microsoft has been largely silent about Edge's adoption, spending
more of its messaging time touting technical and feature
improvements - or in the case of the still-missing support for
extensions, announcing the postponement - than on how its uptake
has been going.
Among a list of factoids that Microsoft revealed about Windows 10
on Monday, the Windows group's head marketing executive said that
Edge had been used a total of 44.5 billion minutes (about 742
million user-hours) by Windows 10 owners in December. Without
context, however - metrics such as the average time online per
month for all Windows 10 users, or a corresponding user-hour data
point for non-Edge browsers - the statistic is meaningless.
Microsoft was able to tally time spent on Edge because
Windows 10's compulsory data collection policy, the default
setting in the OS, as well as the less-intrusive "Enhanced"
option, collects "how frequently or how long you use certain
features or apps and which apps you use most often," according to Microsoft.
Reality Check: Your Computer Is Most Likely
Too Weak To Run VR Headsets
Most computers don't have the processing muscle to adequately
power virtual reality headsets like the Samsung Gear VR, Nvidia
warns.
If you had your heart set on experiencing some of the adventures
promised by virtual reality, you may have to shell out some more
money before you begin your journey.
This year has been teased as the big coming out party for virtual
reality, with several companies planning software and hardware
releases that will transport goggle-wearing users to other 3D
worlds. But to fully enjoy that journey, the graphics processor
in your computer is going to have to be a lot stronger to render
VR images - about seven times stronger than the average power
found in gamers' PCs today, according to Nvidia, the world's
largest maker of stand-alone graphics chips.
Only 13 million PCs worldwide will have that kind of power in
2016, according to the Santa Clara, California-based graphics chip
maker. That is less than 1 percent of the 1.43 billion computers
expected to be in use this year, according to research firm
Gartner data cited by Bloomberg.
"From 3D gaming to product design, to cinematic experiences and
beyond,virtual reality promises to change the way we experience
everyday things," Nvidia said in an emailed statement.
"Delivering VR is a complex challenge, especially since immersive
VR requires seven times the graphics processing power compared to
traditional 3D applications and games."
Once confined to the realm of science-fiction movies like Walt
Disney's "Tron," virtual reality is expected to be a top
attraction at the Consumer Electronics Show next week in Las
Vegas. So far only two headsets,Google's Cardboard and Samsung's
Gear VR, are being offered to consumers.
Oculus Rift, Sony PlayStation VR and HTC Vive - all of which are
focused on high-end VR games and videos - are expected to be
released this year, when industry watcher Juniper Research
expects about 3 million headsets to be sold. By 2020, Juniper
expects that number to hit 30 million.
The lack of adequate processor power isn't likely to temper the
enthusiasm of fans hyping the devices or curtail the flood of
developers creating all sorts of content. Major streaming
companies Hulu and Netflix work with the devices, while game
makers like Microsoft, Harmonix and Sony are preparing to offer
games.
But the power warning appears to reinforce lowered expectations
for how quick the uptake will be for VR devices first voiced by
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who pushed Facebook to buy Oculus
last year for $2 billion.
"This is going to grow slowly," he warned in September. "If you
think about the arrival of computers or smartphones, the first
units shipped did not ship tens of millions in their first year.
But they proved an idea and made it real."
Gene Roddenberry's Floppy Disk Stash Decrypted After 30 Years
Files from a collection of nearly 200 floppy disks belonging to
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry has been recovered after three
months of work from data recovery specialists DriveSavers. The
floppies reportedly contain notes, story ideas and even scripts,
all of which are thought to have been produced in the 1980s. While
these disks contain just 160 kilobytes of data each, theyíre
likely to be of great interest to fans of the series and of
Roddenberry himself. However, it seems that there are currently no
plans to share the files at present, as the contents of the disks
are still under the possession of the Roddenberry estate. The
floppies were found several years after Roddenberryís death in
1991. For years, the data contained on the disks was inaccessible
thanks to a quirk of their ownerís computing habits; rather than
using a standard PC, he wrote on a custom-built computer with a
custom-programmed OS, according to a report from Ars Technica.
Roddenberry apparently owned two of these customized computers ó
one was sold at auction, and one had since broken down.
DriveSavers were given access to the non-functional computer and
the collection of disks, and after three months had developed a
piece of software capable of reading the data. However, this was
only the first step in a longer process. Reading through the work
proved to be a tedious and time-consuming task in its own right,
and it would take almost a year for the team to transform the
data into documents that could be read by human eyes. All
entities involved are remaining fairly silent about what exactly
was found on the disks ó but that might not be the case for very
long. DriveSaversí director of engineering Mike Cobb has teased
that more details might be on their way, given that 2016 marks
the 50th anniversary of the Star Trek franchise.
Files from a collection of nearly 200 floppy disks belonging to
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry has been recovered after
three months of work from data recovery specialists DriveSavers.
The floppies reportedly contain notes, story ideas and even
scripts, all of which are thought to have been produced in the
1980s.
While these disks contain just 160 kilobytes of data each, theyíre
likely to be of great interest to fans of the series and of
Roddenberry himself. However, it seems that there are currently no
plans to share the files at present, as the contents of the disks
are still under the possession of the Roddenberry estate.
The floppies were found several years after Roddenberryís death in
1991. For years, the data contained on the disks was inaccessible
thanks to a quirk of their ownerís computing habits; rather than
using a standard PC, he wrote on a custom-built computer with a
custom-programmed OS, according to a report from Ars Technica.
Roddenberry apparently owned two of these customized computers ó
one was sold at auction, and one had since broken down.
DriveSavers were given access to the non-functional computer and
the collection of disks, and after three months had developed a
piece of software capable of reading the data.
However, this was only the first step in a longer process.
Reading through the work proved to be a tedious and
time-consuming task in its own right, and it would take almost a
year for the team to transform the data into documents that could
be read by human eyes.
All entities involved are remaining fairly silent about what
exactly was found on the disks ó but that might not be the case
for very long. DriveSaversí director of engineering Mike Cobb has
teased that more details might be on their way, given that 2016
marks the 50th anniversary of the Star Trek franchise.
Microsoft's New Tally for Windows 10: 200 Million
Microsoft today updated its Windows 10 claim, saying that the new
operating system is on more than 200 million devices that have
been used at least once in the past month.
The number included not only personal computers and tablets, a
company spokesman confirmed, but also Xbox One video game consoles
- the box got Windows 10 in November - and smartphones now running
a preview of Windows 10 Mobile.
"As of today, there are more than 200 million monthly active
devices around the world running Windows 10," asserted Yusuf
Mehdi, Microsoft's lead marketing executive for the Windows and
devices group. Mehdi tossed out several other upbeat statistics
in a post to a company blog Monday.
"Windows 10 adoption is accelerating, with more than 40% of new
Windows 10 devices becoming active since Black Friday," Mehdi
said, referring to the shopping day after the U.S.'s Thanksgiving
holiday. "In fact, Windows 10 continues to be on the fastest
growth trajectory of any version of Windows - ever - outpacing
Windows 7 by nearly 140% and Windows 8 by nearly 400%."
Mehdi also announced that 22 million of the 200 million-device
total - or about 11% - were in enterprises and educational
organizations, a number likely derived from tallies of Windows 10
Enterprise and Windows 10 Education, the editions available only
to businesses, schools and universities.
Today's data refresh was the first from Microsoft in three
months: On Oct. 6 a different company official said that 110
million users were then running Windows 10.
It's impossible to corroborate Microsoft's claims using data from
outside the company - the "monthly active" framing of the
200-million measurement implied that Microsoft was tallying unique
connections to the Windows Update service, which polls Redmond's
servers only when a device is on - but third-party statistics hint
that fewer devices are running Windows 10, and that the OS has
fallen slightly behind Windows 7's uptake tempo in its first five
months.
On Friday, U.S.-based analytics vendor Net Applications pegged
Windows 10 with an overall user share of 10% - an estimate of the
fraction of the global users who went online in December running
the OS - and indicated that Windows 10 accounted for 10.9% of all
Windows-powered personal computers.
Net Applications' user share represented almost 164 million
Windows 10 PCs worldwide, assuming a total of 1.5 billion Windows
systems in use. (Microsoft has frequently cited the latter figure
when it has touted revenue opportunities for developers of
Windows software.) The 164 million, however, does not include
tablets, smartphones and Xbox One consoles running Windows 10.
Nor did Net Applications' numbers support Mehdi's assertion that
Windows 10 is "on the fastest growth trajectory of any version
of Windows - ever."
While that was true earlier in the post-launch lifecycle of
Windows 10, an adoption slowdown has now put it behind
Windows 7's same after-release point. With five full months of
availability, Windows 10 - which launched July 29 - held a 10.9%
user share of all Windows PCs. At the same mark for Windows 7,
that OS accounted for 11.2% of all Windows machines. (Again,
there was a difference between Net Applications' metrics and
what Microsoft measured, since the latter tossed in tablets,
game consoles and smartphones.)
Windows 7 also had another seven days to accumulate its
five-month user share, and inherited other advantages, including
a much more robust PC market and the prime before- and
after-the-holidays sales season. Windows 10 only got the former.
Another analytics company, Ireland-based StatCounter, also tapped
Windows 10 as slightly slower on the uptake in its first several
months when compared to Windows 7. StatCounter pegged Windows 10
with a usage share - an indication of online activity because
it's based on website page views - of 11.8% for December, but
Windows 7 at 11.9% for March 2010, that OS's fifth month after
launch.
Microsoft has not yet parked its Windows-10-or-bust wagon: It's
planning to expand the OS's user base, perhaps dramatically so,
in the near future by adding the Windows 10 upgrade to Windows
Update on eligible Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 devices. That
scheme, which has riled some users since it was disclosed in
late October, will first place the Windows 10 upgrade on the
list as an optional download, but soon thereafter flip the switch
to make it "recommended," which means most consumer and small
business PCs will automatically download and kick off the upgrade
process. Users will be able to abort the upgrade after it starts,
however.
By all evidence, Microsoft has not yet begun that Windows 10
upgrade seeding via Windows Update.
The Government Says Internet Service Isnít Expanding Fast Enough
Think that access to broadband should be growing faster? The
government agrees with you.
A new report from the Federal Communications Commission finds
that while providers have done a decent job building out
high-speed Internet, as many as 10 percent of Americans ó
roughly 34 million people ó lack access to what the government
considers broadband.
As a result, the FCC has concluded that the expansion of
broadband isn't happening in a "reasonable and timely" fashion,
and the agency says the law calls on the FCC to "take immediate
action" to speed things up.
"Broadband," by the agency's definition, is Internet service
that enables download speeds of 25 Mbps and upload speeds of
3 Mbps.
"Advanced telecommunications capability is not being deployed in
a reasonable and timely fashion to all Americans," according to
an FCC factsheet.
From all this, you can expect the FCC to put more pressure on
Internet providers to step up their efforts. You can also expect
the industry to push back.
The FCC's broadband definition is politically controversial
because the agency last year took the opportunity to revise its
standard upward, from the previous broadband definition of
10 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up.
Critics of the agency said then that the FCC would use the higher
standard to justify imposing more aggressive requirements on
Internet providers. And indeed, Internet providers themselves
slammed this week's report, saying it "lacks credibility."
"This annual process has become a cynical exercise," the trade
group US Telecom said Friday, "one that Ö is patently intended
to reach a predetermined conclusion that will justify a
continuing expansion of the agencyís own regulatory reach."
On the heels of this report, the government is expected to take
a series of steps to push broadband deployment forward. Some of
these include reforming a low-income telephone subsidy program
to allow poor Americans to buy home Internet, and disbursing
millions of dollars in federal money to support Internet
providers' construction projects.
Mark Zuckerberg Aims To Build Own AI Butler, a la 'Iron Man'
Mark Zuckerberg has ambitions of living more like Tony Stark, the
alter ego of superhero Iron Man.
The Facebook CEO revealed in a Facebook post Sunday that he is
planning to build his own artificial-intelligence assistant that
can help him around the house and at the office.
"You can think of it kind of like Jarvis in Iron Man," he writes,
referring to the robotic butler in the popular Marvel movies.
Zuckerberg said he plans to begin by boning up on existing
technology teaching it such skills as understanding his voice to
control functions in the house, such as lighting, temperature
and music. One product that impresses him already is the Amazon
Echo, an Internet-connected wireless speaker wrapped around a
digital personal assistant named Alexa that he says allows him
to control music while both his hands are occupied with Max, his
newborn daughter.
He then plans to move on to more ambitious tasks.
"I'll teach it to let friends in by looking at their faces when
they ring the doorbell," he writes. "I'll teach it to let me know
if anything is going on in Max's room that I need to check on
when I'm not with her. On the work side, it'll help me visualize
data in VR to help me build better services and lead my
organizations more effectively."
This isn't the first time the chief of the Menlo Park,
California-based company has given himself a challenge designed
for personal growth. In past years, Zuckerberg has challenged
himself to learn Mandarin, read two books each month and meet a
new person every day.
Research in AI, a term used for the ability of a machine,
computer or system to exhibit humanlike intelligence, has been
dominated lately by large tech companies such as Google and
Facebook. The goal is to create machines that can perceive their
environment and complete a wide array of every day tasks
previously performed by humans.
Although many futurists envision a more human-beneficial
application, some industry watchers, including SpaceX CEO Elon
Musk and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, have grown concerned
with how far AI can go and its potential dangers. In August
2014, Musk expressed fears that AI could be more dangerous than
nuclear weapons. Even famed physicist Stephen Hawking has voiced
reservations about AI.
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