New Look for Windows Explorer in Windows 8 is... cluttered

A friend offered me a link to a blog named "Developing Windows 8" which turns out to be the blog of the team developing Windows 8. It provides in detail what the new operating system will look and feel like when it comes out.

This edition of the blog features a detailed explanation of Windows Explorer. The team trumpets that it will improve the Windows experience of the user because it will offer a more streamlined user interface.

Now look at this picture from the same blog and tell if this is streamlined. No, you are not looking at the command bar of MS Office Word or Excel. That is how Windows Explorer will look like soon. I think it is a bit cluttered.  With all those menus and buttons, the average might end up pining for the old menu bar.  I think it's more simple and streamlined

My Apple Fanboy friend told me that he's surprised that Microsoft is releasing all of this information in advance. Could it be that the developers are testing the waters and want to know how their target (or captured as my friend calls us) clients will react to it? Perhaps they don't want to make a mishap of giving their clients what they don't actually want.

Watch the video here to listen to Alex Simons of the Windows management team explain what they've been doing with Windows Explorer.

Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO

from apple.com

The biggest news of the day in the techworld is the resignation of Steve Jobs as Chief Executive Officer of Apple.  Tim Cook who has heretofore served as Chief Operating Officer has been elected as Jobs's replacement.  Don't be sad though, Apple fans. Steve will stay on with the company as its "Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee."

In his resignation letter addressed to the Apple Board of Directors and Apple Community, Jobs wrote "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come."  

The online community believes that it has something to do with his health.  Jobs filed a medical leave of absence in January this year but has made an appearance at the WWDC in June to introduce the upcoming iCloud service.  He was also present during the event to introduce the iPad2 earlier this year.  In 2004, he took a 6-month leave of absence and underwent a liver transplant.

Although the shares of the company dived by as much as 7 percent after the announcement, industry analysts believe that the company will continue to dominate the IT industry under the helm of Tim Cook who has been considered heir apparent as Apple's top man.

Under Jobs stewardship, Apple released some of the most innovative products in the industry.  These include the iconic iPod and its companion application, iTunes which revolutionize the way we listen to and buy our music; the iPhone which raised the bar on what a smartphone should be; and of course the iPad, which still in unrivaled in the tablet industry.

Many IT experts also believe that the company will go ahead with Steve's plans for the company's hardware and software projects.  The iPhone 5 is scheduled to be released next month and the next generation iPad is expected to come out in 2012.  The iCloud service and the next iteration of the iOS is also due to debut this fall.

Steve's resignation letter is available here.

LYTRO: The Future of Photography?

An exciting revolution is about to happen in the way we take pictures.  A start up company in Silicon Valley called LYTRO is set to release a new kind of camera to the consumer market.

They call it the light field camera and what it does is it uses the power light to help you capture life's precious moments.  The secret is in the sensor which captures all the light rays in the scene.  Unlike conventional cameras, this new sensor records the color, intensity, and direction of the ray of light.  A special software inside the camera will process all these information to allow the viewer to switch focus points.  

Thia means there is no need to worry about focusing your shot anymore or whether the auto-focus function in your camera actually focused on your intended area.  In fact, the company's slogan is "Shoot now, focus later."

You can give it a try with the photo below.  Click on Elvis and see what happens.

Want to try more of this? Then head off to the company's website and have fun with their Picture Gallery.

No Need to Take Out 11-inch MacBook Air at Security Check in US Airports

from apple.com

Here's another reason to get a Macbook Air: the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the US said that the 11-inch MacBook Air need not be removed from bags at airport security checkpoints.

The TSA told CNN that the device got the special exemption because it is "smaller than the average-sized laptop" just like a netbook.  OK, do I hear Steve Jobs screaming "The MacBook Air is NOT a netbook!".  Of course it isn't.  We all know that internally, I mean, the technical specifications of the MBA are far superior than any netbook out there.  However, the security people in the US are more concerned of the size of the gizmo than its power.  Anyway, the iPad gets similar privilege from the TSA so let's just say that the 11-inch MBA belongs to the same category as the iPad per TSA standards.

There's no word though whether the 13-inch model gets the same exemption.    TSA requires that bigger portables be screened separately because they are harder to see in a bag with other contents. Although it has the same internal components as its smaller sibling, it is about the same size as most notebooks computers. This could result to the 13-inch MBA not getting the same special entitlement.

Coming in Summer 2011: Mac OS X Lion

It wasn't only the MacBook Air that Steve Jobs announced in yesterday's Back to the Mac event.  The main subject, in fact, was the next iteration of the Mac OS X operating system, Lion.  If the pundits are to be believed, this will be the last of the big cats and they saved the last for the king of the jungle.

Steve Jobs said in his keynote address that "Lion brings many of the best ideas from iPad back to the Mac, plus some fresh new ones like Mission Control that Mac users will really like."

Some of the features of the upcoming operating system include:

• The Mac App Store works the same way as the App Store and you may purchase applications using your iTunes Account.  It promises to revolutionize the way we Mac users install our software and more.  Applications may be installed in every Mac a user owns and then updated regularly.  Jobs announced that the Mac App Store will be available within 90 days.

• The Launchpad gives instant access to all your apps with just a click on its icon on the dock.  Open windows fade away and apps are displayed in full screen just like in the iPad.  A swipe will show multiple pages of apps and these may be arranged according to the user's preference.

• The Mission Control gives us a bird's eye view of what is happening in our Mac.  It works almost like the Expose and Dashboard combined with Spaces thrown in.  With a swipe gesture, the user will see all open windows grouped by apps, other full screen apps as well as other Spaces.

Lion will also employ the multi-touch experience of the iPad.  Instead of the screen, however, we will be using the trackpad to pinch and swipe.  The applications will also open in full screen, just like in the iPad.  User could pinch to adjust the size of the display.

Indeed, Apple brings back to the Mac the technology it has developed for its iPod, iPhone and iPad through the Mac OS X Lion.  I'll surely upgrade once it is available.

The New Mac Book Air

photo from apple.com

 Steve Jobs revealed the much anticipated MacBook Air refresh at the Apple's Back to the Mac event this morning. The thinnest Mac ever now comes in two variants, 11-inch and 13-inch.

The new MacBook Air models come with flash storage so anyone who uses iPhone or iPad already should be familiar with this type of storage. Both models have Core 2 Duo processors, NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics cards, and 2GB RAM that can be upgraded to 4GB from Apple's online store.

Apple claims that battery life is up to 7 hours for wireless web browsing on the 13.3-inch model while 5 hours on the 11.6-inch model, and up to 30 days for both sizes when in sleep mode.

The new MacBook Air also comes with Multi-Touch trackpad that lets the user pinch, swipe, or rotate to adjust an image, zoom in on text, or advance through a photo album. There is also a FaceTime camera that will allow the user to make video calls through the Internet. FaceTime for Mac is still in Beta though.

Since the new MacBook Air has no internal optical drive, it comes with a "Software Reinstall Drive" that will be used to restore Mac OS X and iLife.

We checked the Apple Store Philippines and found out that the new models are now available and ship within 2 business days. Prices are as follows: For the 11-inch models, PhP51,990 with 64GB storage and PhP61,9990 with 128GB storage; For 13-inch models, PhP67,9990 with 128GB storage and PhP83,990 with 256GB storage.