Windows 8 Gathering Steam As Consumers Begin To Drop XP, Now Has More Market Share Than OS X

Net Applications has just released its monthly NetMarketShare statistics, and with Windows 8.1 on the horizon, it throws up some rather interesting findings regarding adoption rates of currently available versions of the Redmond company’s platform. Notably, Windows 8 usage seems to have seen a significant upturn, with a leap from 5.42 percent to 7.65 percent worldwide during the month of August alone. Meanwhile, Windows XP, which still enjoys a healthy market share despite its age, dipped from 37.19 percent to 33.66 percent.

This is quite a significant change, and may be partly due to the fact that users are finally coming to terms with the changing face of Windows. However, it may also be largely attributable to the fact that NetMarketShare has altered the way it collects its numbers, which involves “deducting hidden pages from our usage share statistics.” Simply put, hidden pages are rendered, but because they’re never seen by the user, NetMarketShare feels that they shouldn’t be accounted for in usage share data.

By the same token, Google’s Chrome browser also saw a drop in usage, dropping from 17.76 percent to 16 percent, while its rivals, including Microsoft’s own Internet Explorer, all gained.

The methodology changes may have something to do with these apparent changes in trend, but only a look at future stats from NetMarketShare will actually confirm whether these numbers represent a minor anomaly, or actually indicate a change in trend.

If one considers that XP users are going to struggle with compatibility as time goes on – the latest version of IE, for example – you can see why users are now considering opting for the likes of Firefox, or simply dropping Windows XP altogether and going for Windows 8. This doesn’t, however, explain Chrome’s drop, and considering how quickly the browser has evolved over the past few years, are we seeing signs that the search giant’s popular Web client is faltering?

Now here comes a fun tidbit in case you didn’t notice in the graph above: the total market share of Windows 8 is now more than every version of Mac OS X ever released. This is another revelation that proves Windows 8 is doing surprisingly well, despite some lackluster reviews and views from the general user.

We’ll only know for sure once the next set of numbers are in, so we’ll keep a close eye on how things are shaping up as far as market share goes. Windows 8.1 will certainly skew the figures once more, and with a more favorable outlay when compared with the too-much, too-soon perception of Windows 8, we could see the true beginning of Windows XP’s demise – particularly in the consumer market.

Windows 8.1 release date has been officially confirmed by the Redmond giant for October 17th, with general availability to every current Windows 8 user on October 18th as a free download.

The iPhone 5S And iPhone 5C – What We Think We Know About Apple’s New Hardware

So here we are, less than two weeks away from what everyone roundly accepts to be theiPhone 5S and iPhone 5C announcement. Apple may not have officially invited anyone to a September 10th event yet, but that’s the date that all the smart money is on, and the date that the internet as a whole seems to have designated ‘new iPhone day.’

For the first time ever though, this particular iPhone announcement goes beyond simply launching a new flagship iPhone – this time, we’re going to get two handsets. Assuming all the rumors are accurate, of course.

The iPhone 5S is set to be Apple’s new top of the line smartphone, but arguably the most interesting news will be the iPhone 5C. The company’s first purpose-built budget iPhone, the iPhone 5C aims to take a chunk out of the market that is currently filled with a million and one different Android phones. Can Apple disrupt it?

iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C side by side. image credit: Tinhte [Google Translate]

Let’s have a recap of what will be announced, iPhone related, on the 10th of September. Assuming it’s not all in our heads, of course.

Apple’s iPhone 5S

Faster processor:

Replacing the current iPhone 5, the 5S is what we’ve come to expect from an ‘S’ designated release at this point. Expect new internals that amount to a speed bump with A7 chip that should see iOS 7 zip along nicely. Transitions should be more fluid, and as someone who’s been using iOS 7 on his main device since beta 1, that’s no bad thing.

Home button with fingerprint sensor:

More interestingly, rumors of a fingerprint sensor being built right into the Home button may have had some foundation after all. Being able to unlock a device without having to enter a PIN code but also having some security at the same time is something that will appeal to many, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for that. The talk on the street is that the sensor is also going to play an important role in some sort of mobile payment system that Apple may or may not also be working on. We’re less convinced about that, but we’ll find out soon enough.

Camera:

Fans of iPhone photography will also note that the iPhone 5S is set to launch with a dual-LED flash arrangement similar to that found on other high end smartphones, too. The phone is also expected to sport 12-megapixel sensor with better low-light performance.

Design + new color options:

When it comes to looks, the 5S will largely resemble the iPhone 5 you may have in your pocket right now. The main exception is the possibility of a new champagne/gold color that has shown up in plenty of photos. Love it or hate it, the idea of Apple offering a third color option is one that has our interest piqued.

The champagne/gold iPhone 5S. image credit: SonnyDickson

Additionally, if more rumors are to be believed, a new addition to the mix will be ‘graphite’ color option for iPhone 5S.

Storage:

Fans of apps, games and media will also be pleased to hear that the iPhone 5S is expected to offer storage options all the way up to 128GB, also.

Availability:

Based on prior years’ release date, the iPhone 5S is expected to launch in U.S. and some other countries on Friday, September 20th.

Price:

Same as the current iPhone 5.

Apple’s iPhone 5C

To us, the iPhone 5C is possibly the most interesting of the two iPhones expected to be announced by Tim Cook and co. on September 10th. The fabled ‘budget iPhone,’ the 5C – c for ‘color, presumably’ – will replace the currently shipping iPhone 5. Usually, when Apple announces a new iPhone the older version becomes the new budget alternative, but not this year.

Internals:

Coming in a plastic shell, the iPhone 5C’s innards are going to be a mix of iPhone 5 and 4S, with more taken from 5 than 4S, so expect performance to be on a par with that device. That’s no bad thing, because the iPhone 5 handles everything you can throw at it and with minimal fuss. For a budget device, the iPhone 5C with a 8-megapixel camera is set to be quite the powerhouse.

Outer design:

It’s that plastic shell that will get everyone’s attention, though. Available in a range of colors, the iPhone 5C will resemble an iPod in that it will come in a bright, shiny chassis that is sure to stand out from the crowd. If you’re walking around with a bright blue iPhone 5C, people will notice!

Image of claimed budget iPhone 5C packaging.

Color options:

White, yellow, blue/cyan, red and green.

iPhone 5C – color options. image credit: SonnyDickson (Twitter)

Availability:

Same as iPhone 5S.

Price:

Rumors so far are putting the price of iPhone 5C to be between $300 to $400 for the unlocked version.

Whether you’re looking to splash the cash on a new monster iPhone or would rather be a little more frugal and upgrade to an iPhone 5C from, say, an iPhone 4S, Apple should have you covered. The iPhone 5S might not have all the bells and whistles of a brand new, redesigned iPhone, but the 5C should certainly be enough to get people into Apple Stores regardless.

Leaked iPhone 5C Manual Shown In New Spy Photos

If it seems like you can’t go more than three clicks without being bombarded with new iPhone news, then we’re going to have to apologies right here, and right now; this post isn’t going to offer any respite.

Hot on the heels of leaked photographs of all manner of bits and pieces pertaining to either the iPhone 5S or iPhone 5C, it’s the latter that is the latest to grab the limelight after photos of what appears to be the product’s manual showed up online.

If there was ever any doubt about whether that iPhone 5C name was accurate, then it’s all but gone now thanks to the new spy shots, with the moniker clearly visible atop the thin paper manual that will ship with each of Apple’s newest addition to its product line. It’s still yet to be officially announced of course, but unless these photos and indeed all the other information leading to this point prove to be false, we’re fairly confident in saying that the iPhone 5C will be hitting retail shelves in an Apple Store near you soon enough. We’re just going to go ahead and assume that the ‘C’ stands for color until told otherwise, too.

Both the iPhone 5C and the more premium iPhone 5S are expected to be announced at an Apple event on September 10th, with a probable release of the pair coming ten days later on the 20th. We’ve got a sneaky suspicion that Apple’s more budget-targeted iPhone 5C will be particularly popular, especially amongst those not taking out new contracts that would otherwise drive the cost of a new iPhone down. Of course, we don’t know what either model of iPhone will retail at right now, but the iPhone 5C would need to be available at a low enough price point as to make the whole thing worthwhile.

We’ll just have to see how customers vote for either iPhone using their wallets.

(source: Weibo | via: 9to5Mac)

Want To Delete Yourself From The Internet? New Web App Helps You Do Just That!

We all spend so much time online these days that we’ve got accounts and online presences all over the place. Whether it be a Dropbox or iCloud account, a RunKeeper account or a place to call our own on Twitter or Facebook, the number of websites where we have a username and a password is quite a scary thought when you sit down and ponder it.

Every so often it’s a good idea to have a think about just which accounts you need and which you created just to check out that fancy new online service that you never actually took to. We’ve all done it, so we’re not going to judge you here.

The problem is, closing these accounts isn’t always the easiest thing to do. Some sites are notoriously difficult to get to delete your account. Amazon, for example, is one that likes to get its claws into you and never let go. Others are obviously more amenable to letting users remove themselves from a web service, but they are few and far between.

Now a new website created by UK developer Robb Lewis aims to take some of the guesswork out of closing accounts by detailing which services make it easy and which make it difficult. In fact, it will even tell you if it’s impossible to close an account at all.

The site goes one step further, too, by offering direct links to the pages that you’ll want to visit in order to kick the whole process off. Awesome!

JustDelete.me highlights the services that you might want to get your data removed from and offers a rating of anything from impossible to easy based on how many road blocks people need to navigate in order to close their account. The site is free to use, and is a good starting point for anyone trying to disappear from the internet.

Just don’t expect it to be an easy process, especially if you’re signed up to Amazon, Evernote or DHL.

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This Website Will Tell You How Rich You Are Compared To The Rest Of The World

This Website Will Tell You How Rich You Are Compared To The Rest Of The World

There’s much made about the so called 1%. Vilified by the press and the vast majority of the United States, the 1% represent the ‘haves’, with everyone else firmly in the ‘have not’ column.

With the 25th anniversary of The Times Rich List on the horizon, Poke London is launching itsGlobal Rich List website, designed to tell you, the average Joe, where your worth lies within the grand scheme of things. Sounds creepy? Carry on, we know you want to, still.

Despite what everyone may believe, and almost what they want to believe, the chances are they’ll actually come a lot higher up the ladder than expected. In fact, according to Poke London, the average American family consisting of five people living just above the poverty line will actually, technically and of course, using Poke London’s metrics, be part of that much loathed 1%.

Interesting, no? But there’s more.

Well, before we all start getting overly confused and re-evaluating our world view, it’s worth remembering that not all factors are taken into account by the folks at Poke London, such as high volumes of debt. Still, regardless of what’s missing or not, the point should not be missed that people may not be as poor as they think, at least when compared to the rest of the planet for that matter. Remember, there are millions upon millions living in huts, and they’re certainly not lining up for the next iPhone, mind it!

What we find really interesting here is the fact that a website could potentially change the way real people evaluate their self worth. There’s a long standing joke that you can’t believe what you read on the internet, and while we all know it’s not quite so black and white as that, we’d love to know what everyone thinks of the results kicked out by Poke London’s stats.

If you want to see where you stand in the world -  in terms of wealth, of course -  then simply point your browser to GlobalRichList.com and get started. Of course, you can always make stats say whatever you want if you work hard enough!

But the question remains; are you one of the 1%, or not? Either share it, or hush it.

Samsung Galaxy Gear Smartwatch Details And Images Leak Out Ahead Of September 4th Event

If the smartphone was the biggest growth market in technology over the last five years, then wearable technology is quite possibly going to be in the same boat from this point forward, especially if all the rumored devices do actually see the light of day.

The first of the so-called smartwatches to really get anyone’s attention beyond a few Kickstarter projects like Pebble is the Samsung’s unannounced Galaxy Gear. Expected to be announced next Wednesday, September 4th, at Samsung Unpacked 2013 event at IFA, the Galaxy Gear is Samsung’s preemptive strike at its current nemesis, Apple. The Cupertino outfit is widely tipped to be beavering away behind closed doors, aiming to make an iWatch a reality as soon as early next year. If someone wants to get into the market before then, they could potentially have things sewn up before that even happens.

Which brings us back to Samsung’s Galaxy Gear. Even though it’s not yet announced,VentureBeat’s Christina Farr has apparently had some hands-on time with one of the company’s prototype devices thanks to an anonymous source. Photos are hard to come by, but there are images taken from what was apparently a promotional video for the device – and they show what seems to be an oversized watch-type device with the familiar Samsung logo. No great surprise there, then.

The Galaxy Gear has a 3-inch square screen that seems to be just big enough to be too big. It’s got WiFi built in, which means that it doesn’t need to be paired with a smartphone in order to function, which may come as a surprise to some. It’ll also potentially force the price of the shipping product a little too far North for some people, but we’ll have to wait and see on that.

Camera-wise, there’s a 4-megapixel shooter built into the strap, so if you want to go around taking photos with your wrist then you should be good to go.

From the information provided by Farr, it certainly appears that Samsung is set to cater for the health market with its Galaxy Gear device. Health monitoring and tracking seem to be the order of the day, with the device able to monitor heart rates and movement in a similar way to existing wrist-worn devices.

One potential worry is the claimed 10+ hours of battery life. It’s not clear whether that number is standby time or actually usage time, but if the thing needs charging 10 hours after it is taken off charge, then it’s arguably dead in the water. Hopefully that’s the kind of answer we’ll get in a few days.

If Samsung and Apple really are set to move their smartphone war to the wrist, we could see some real innovation over the coming years, and we do like a spot of innovation here atRedmond Pie.

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• Alleged Screenshots Of Samsung’s Galaxy Smart Watch Leaked [IMAGES]

Alleged Screenshots Of Samsung’s Galaxy Smart Watch Leaked [IMAGES]

Although the notion of Samsung joining the growing list of big-name companies purportedly delving into the smart watch market is not exactly news, yesterday, it was revealed that such a device could debut alongside the Galaxy S IV, whenever that may be. As a follow on from that story, SlashGear has caught wind of a few screenshots floating about a Korean message board which, it is claimed, offer an insight into the supposed smart watch, which is naturally being dubbed the ‘Galaxy Watch’.

The talk of Apple releasing an ‘iWatch’ has been around for as long as any Cupertino rumor one could care to mention, but with the release of the Pebble smart watch creating something of a storm, the murmurings of Apple, Samsung and others joining the Pebble craze has gained a significant amount of traction.

In this latest leak, the device the screenshot has been taken from is called the Samsung Galaxy Altius – Altius being a codename traditionally associated with the Galaxy S IV. It would appear as though the device has some kind of data plan, a 500×500 LCD display, and runs on a variant of Android. The slider indicates the device will likely be a touchscreen, and although this could well be pure fiction, it does, in theory at least, looks like an appealing device.

At this point in time, it really is hard to tell for certain whether Samsung, or indeed Apple, have any plans to release a smart watch device in the near future. A team of as many as 100 individuals are said to be dedicated to the task of bringing such a product to market for Apple, and as we’ve seen increasingly during the last few years, Samsung and Apple tend to copy each other shall we say, release similar products at similar times?

Although I have yet to be well and truly convinced by the idea of a smart watch, most of the products Samsung and Apple have brought to market over the past few years have been undeniable, often unprecedented success stories, so it will be interesting to see these two titans embattled in yet another duel.

Do you like the idea of a Galaxy Watch / iWatch? Share your thoughts via the usual mediums below!