Tag Archives: GB

Microsoft Surface revenue awful on paper and in the pocketbook

Microsoft revealed Tuesday that its actual revenue for the Surface tablet for the 2013 fiscal year was $863 million, less than the $900 million charged against its profits for discounting the Surface tablet.

Technically, that means that the amount that Microsoft discounted the Surface by was more than its actual revenue for the product. The 8-K document that Microsoft filed with the SEC also reveals that Microsoft spent $898 million more in advertising for Surface and Windows 8 than it did in its previous fiscal year, when sales of the Windows division were $18.4 billion. (In 2011, Windows sales totaled $19.1 billion, when Microsoft was riding high on Windows 7.)

A writedown means that the company reports a change in the so-called “book value” of a particular piece of inventory, a tacit acknowledgement that the market value of a particular good ha decreased. One way of looking at it might be to say that a loaf of bread might be worth $5 the day it was baked, but only $3 a day later. The hope is that writing down or discounting the item in question will prompt sales, as customers perceive the item to be more in line with what they would expect to pay.

To give it an air of freshness, Microsoft cut the price of the Surface tablet by 30 percent, which apparently prompted buyers to buy up the available supply at Walmart.com. But while the site still reports the Surface RT with 32 GB of memory as out of stock, local stores reported having them on their shelves, indicating that Walmart may not be as selling as many as first thought.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Split a huge 7 GB File Based on Pattern into 4 files

By KishM

Hi,

I have a Huge 7 GB file which has around 1 million records, i want to split this file into 4 files to contain around 250k messages each.

Please help me as Split command cannot work here as it might miss tags..

Format of the file is as below

DATA
DATA
DATA
DATA
DATA
DATA
DATA


DATA
DATA
DATA
DATA
DATA
DATA
DATA


DATA
DATA
DATA
DATA
DATA
DATA
DATA

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at The UNIX and Linux Forums

Bryan Quigley: Survey Results

:)

Results from my survey on 64 bit vs 32 bit usage on Unity.    The raw survey results are also available.  Feel free to do your own analysis.

Format:  # of machines – information about them..

Out of the 32 bit only machines:

4 – that are likely 32 bit only, but didn’t provide enough information to confirm
1 – doesn’t work so well, old savage card, 700 MB of RAM, Ubuntu 12.04 (so 2d only)

*Remaining 14 32 bit only machines:
5 – with 1 GB of ram
9 – with 1.5 GB of ram or more

Ubuntu Version:
6 – 13.04
1 – 12.10
7 – 12.04

Processor:
7 – Intel Atom

From comments, 3 of these 32 bit only users find Unity slow, but usable. (All three are Atom N270/N280)

64 bit capable but:

2 – that should be 64 capable (and the users know this), but it doesn’t work..  If this is you, please file a bug!
2 – have 64 bit capable machines (and 2GB of ram) and don’t actually know it.
5 – have 64 bit capable machines, but run 32 bit Ubuntu (1 with 1 GB of RAM who mentions that the dash is slow)

Other scenarios:

1 – machine stuck at 12.04 because 12.10 requires PAE (is this true?)
1 – Parallels VM that has better performance on 32 bit from user
2 – that actually use other desktop environments cause they find Unity unusable (“Unity is unuseable because i only have 1 GIG Ram”)

Not particularly relevant:

1 – let’s not discuss this again…
1  – armv7
9 – users who have 64 bit machines that work fine and responded anyway..
1 – running Unity on servers…

Conclusion?

For some reason whenever I do a survey I expect that the results will clearly paint the way to go forward.   They almost never do, but they can be used to start discussions.  I’m particularly concerned about the 2 users with 64 bit capable machines which they can’t get to run 64 bit.

Some people have 64 bit machines with low RAM and would also be better served with a lighter option.  Others have quite beefy 32 bit machines with 4GB of RAM and a nice video card that can rock Unity.   Also some motherboard manufacturers disabled 64 bit support even though the processor supported it…  awesome.

To default to 32 or 64 bit when downloading Ubuntu?

Given the data, I think we can make a better exception case for 32 bit now..  Right now,  it says:
“If you have a PC with the Windows 8 logo or UEFI firmware, choose the 64-bit download. Read more “ 
I think it’s easier for most people to see and understand:
“If you have a 5+ year old PC,  a 3+ year old netbook, or 1 GB of ram choose the 32 bit version.” *

Thoughts?

* Theoretically we could even provide instructions for our users to figure this out.  Add a “Not sure?” in that case.

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Planet Ubuntu

Time Your Back-to-School Shopping for Maximum Savings

By Matt Brownell

Save on back-to-school supplies

Filed under: , , ,

Shopping around at various stores and websites is a great way to make sure you get the best price on everything on your back-to-school shopping list. But just as important as where you shop is when.

Different classes of products rise and fall in price at different points of the year. And since your shopping list might include everything from laptops to pencils to jeans, it’s unlikely that everything on it will be at its cheapest at the same time. So instead of trying get it all done in one weekend, we recommend shopping over the course of the summer as your target items hit their lowest price of the season.

To find out the best way to time your back-to-school shopping, we turned to deal site Dealnews, which pored through its historical data to determine when different merchandise tends to see the biggest discounts. Here’s how the site’s experts recommend you time your shopping.

What to Buy Now:

o. Laptops: Louis Ramirez, who covers technology items for Dealnews, says that the current standard for laptops is a 15-inch screen, a dual-core processor, a 500 GB hard drive and at least 4 GB of RAM. Based on that standard, he says now is a great time to buy: Right now, we’re seeing deals that put those laptops at all-time low prices. For AMD processor laptops, you’re looking at prices at $225 and up; Intel processor computers are starting around $299.

o. Tablets: Tablets are less essential for most college students, but Ramirez says that we’re also in the midst of some great Android tablet deals right now; they can be found at places like Walmart, Best Buy and Staples.

o. Clothing (Especially Jeans): Dealnews staff writer Marcy Bonebright says that sales on clothing have started appearing earlier than usual. “Most back-to-school sales and discounts pop up in August, but last year they began in mid-July and kept appearing until the second week of September,” she says. That’s especially true of jeans: She says the best jeans sales are happening this month, so get moving if you want some fresh denim when school starts this fall.

What to Buy in August:

o. Dorm Furniture: While markdowns on individual furniture items can be found year-round, your best bet is to shop in August. According to Dealnews, last summer’s first big dorm furniture sale took place at Target (TGT) in mid-July — but it was followed by a better sale at the beginning of August. There were also good sales on dorm furniture at OfficeMax (OMX) and Walmart (WMT) in early- to mid-August, so it might be best to wait a few weeks to make the most of your shopping around.

Once you’ve got your futon, here are some tips on <a target=_blank href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/09/17/from-drab-to-fab-dorm-decorating-on-a-budget/" …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

SD Cards

By gastorms1

I have an older digi camera, Nikon L2 from 2006, and need a new SD card for it. My question is will a SDHC card work in it and what is the GB limits for this model? I got a 2 pack of 2GB SDHC cards this morning and want to be sure they’ll work before I open them rendering them unreturnable. I looked at the L2 manual a little online and did not see any guidance in there. Thanks for any advice!

…read more

Source: DoItYourself.com

Manchester United: 10,000 Times Better Than the Green Bay Packers

By Rich Smith, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

On Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013, the Green Bay Packers lost their chance at the Super Bowl. Playing before a sellout crowd at Candlestick Park against the San Francisco 49ers, the Packers gave up a playoff record 579 total yards, succumbing to a team that went on to claim the NFC Championship but eventually lost the Super Bowl to the Baltimore Ravens at an eventful game in New Orleans.

Three months later and an ocean away, another “football” team, British soccer club Manchester United , had a different story to tell. On Monday, April 22, 2013, Man Utd claimed their 20th league title, beating Aston Villa 3-0 to win the English Premier League Championship .

Man Utd now enters the hunt for a place in next season’s European Champions League, while the Packers must go back to the drawing board, and start again at 0-0 in the race for Super Bowl XLVIII. That fact alone tells you why Man Utd is probably a better “football” team than the Packers.

But here’s the real revelation: Manchester United is also a better investment than the Packers.

Football fans vs. profits fanatics
That’s right. Manchester United and the Green Bay Packers aren’t just “football teams” that you can cheer for. They’re also “companies” that you can invest in. But they’re very different kinds of companies.

You may recall how, Green Bay announced in December of 2011 that it was opening up its team to new buyers, offering to sell up to 880,000 Packers shares to the public for $250 apiece. Well, less than a year later, Man Utd decided to open itself up to public ownership as well, holding an initial public offering of its stock at an offer price of $14 a share.

Eight months later, those Manchester United shares sell for nearly $18 apiece — a 28% gain. Not bad … but get a load of how Packers shares have performed. Since their third public offering back in 1950, shares of the Packers have increased in price 10,000 times, from a split-adjusted price of $0.025 per share, to the 2011 asking price of $250. That looks like a pretty hefty profit. It looks like the Packers are outperforming Man Utd.

But looks can be deceiving.

The problem with Packers, according to its prospectus, is that despite the rise in value of the team, and of its stock, investors in Green Bay “should not purchase [GB] stock with the purpose of making a profit.” Why not? Because each share of the Green Bay Packers comes burdened with “transfer restrictions and redemption rights.”

The effect of these rights is to prevent anyone who bought a Green Bay share back in 1950 from ever realizing a dime of profit on the 10,000% appreciation of that share’s value today. Any time a Green Bay shareholder tries to sell a share today, “the Corporation has a right of first refusal to repurchase [GB] Stock at a price of $0.025 per share.”

In

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

'HTC First' Facebook Phone Launches Friday

If you’ve been eager to replace your start screen with a scrolling Facebook feed, your day has finally come.  The HTC First is the first smartphone with deep enough Facebook integration to be dubbed the “Facebook phone.”  It uses an Android OS primed with Facebook’s baby-blue interface, sending you directly to the familiar news feed, photo service, and messaging system that used to hide in a dedicated app.

Reviews for the HTC First “Facebook phone” started appearing on the web today, with largely positive reactions.  Its specs are on par with what smartphone users expect, and some have expressed an appreciation for the way it puts Facebook front-and-center without making it difficult to use other Android programs.

Early comparisons to the Samsung Galaxy S4 are pitting the HTC First against stiff competition, and showing serious promise for the fledgling smartphone.  Although not full 1080 HD like the S4, it does run at 720p on a 4.3-inch screen.  A 5 MP primary camera and 1.6 MP secondary camera, 16 GB of storage, and Jelly Bean 4.1 OS run on a cutting-edge Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor, with an Adreno 305 GPU and 1 GB of RAM.

Since a Facebook app has been available for a long time, the HTC First doesn’t have an entirely unique selling point, except that Facebook comes preloaded and dominates the interface.  The appeal may lie mostly with extremely active Facebook fans, but with Facebook reporting more than 1 billion active users, that may be more than enough. 

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2033841/htc-first-facebook-phone-launches-friday.html#tk.rss_all

Taking stuff apart

Last Saturday, I took apart an old and broken laptop of mine: a Sony Vaio VGN-TZ31XN. That was once a top of the line executive laptop. I bought it in 2009 when the model had just been discontinued and superseded by a new one, so it wasn’t too expensive.

The laptop had an 11″ 1366×768 screen, a 1.2 ghz Core2duo, 2GB of ram and 120 GB hard drive. The reason I paid 1000 Euro for such lowly specs is that it had a weight of 1.25 kg, doing about 6 hours on a battery charge.

Impressive piece of tech

I’ve been wanting a new laptop since I started to bump into performance issues during 2011. 2 GB of ram is not sufficient in a time of HTML5 – there are web pages which eat several hundreds mbs of ram. And unfortunately the Linux desktop isn’t getting lighter either (it’s part of why I decided to help Will and Klaas with Klyde for hackweek). And I’ve been doing some light video editing lately as well as more image editing. So when the screen of my laptop finally gave beginning of last year, I simply ordered my new Samsung Series 9. That Series 9 was actually more expensive than the Sony (prices have gone down since then). It is a step forward, but it is sad that it took the IT world over 5 years to finally eclipse what Sony did in 2007. And not even on every level – my Sony included a DVD burner, 3-antenna wifi, TWO card readers, mini-PCI-express, 120 GB spinning rust, FULL ethernet and VGA ports, Firewire and a removable battery in barely 100 gram more!

Opening up

When you open up the Sony, it becomes apparent how they managed to cram so much functionality (essentially everything a ‘normal’ laptop offers) in such a thin enclosure: they must have worked with the assumption of an unlimited budget. Seriously, it is clear why this laptop was over 2K: the target user group seemed to be entirely unwilling to compromise on features. This thing is far more complicated inside than modern ultrabooks. My Samsung S9 is mostly battery inside: it has a single, laptop-wide motherboard with 2 boards (wifi and mSATA) attached to it.

Nothing compared to the Sony: taking it apart reveals a square motherboard, a battery-power related board inside a casing, wifi board (the usual), blue-tooth board (tiny), audio board (2 chips & capacitors, audio in/out, 2 speakers, microphone all attached), 2xUSB+card reader board, touchpad board (the touchpad itself also has logic, of course), quick function keys board, 2 more small board I can’t identify. Then the DVD burner has its own internal boards (2) and one on the outside, apparently to interface between the mobo and the dvd burner. Oh, and of course, memory is separate and can be replaced. The webcam also has its own 4 cm long/half wide/double sided board.

Crazy, huh? All that is connected via a

From: http://blog.jospoortvliet.com/2013/04/taking-stuff-apart.html

Understanding prstat

By abohmeed

Hello
We have a SPARC box running Solaris 10. We have 32 GB of physical memory, 32 GB of swap. Now i want to monitor memory usage for performance tuning. The box is running Sybase database. When I type prstat i get the following

Code:

PID USERNAME SIZE RSS STATE PRI NICE TIME CPU PROCESS/NLWP
16736 root 155M 11M sleep 59 0 0:50:08 1.7% java/50
20973 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 60 0 13:29:25 1.5% dataserver/248
21039 sybase15 20G 14G cpu17 31 0 12:10:08 1.4% dataserver/136
21037 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 52 0 13:02:50 1.4% dataserver/264
19546 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 58 0 31:49:14 1.2% dataserver/205
20976 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 60 0 14:23:36 1.0% dataserver/114
21042 sybase15 20G 14G cpu22 0 0 13:15:58 1.0% dataserver/264
20986 sybase15 20G 14G cpu14 32 0 14:56:42 1.0% dataserver/204
20967 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 60 0 15:36:49 1.0% dataserver/110
21043 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 52 0 15:23:22 0.8% dataserver/264
21040 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 59 0 12:51:42 0.8% dataserver/264
20966 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 59 0 14:24:24 0.8% dataserver/264
20964 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 55 0 16:36:37 0.8% dataserver/260
20963 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 60 0 19:20:25 0.8% dataserver/264
21038 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 59 0 12:49:25 0.7% dataserver/238
21031 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 55 0 11:38:24 0.7% dataserver/168
20979 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 52 0 13:52:33 0.7% dataserver/246
21001 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 53 0 11:48:09 0.7% dataserver/185
20965 sybase15 20G 14G sleep 54 0 16:04:59 0.6% dataserver/264
21036 sybase15 20G 14G cpu29 0 0 12:54:52 0.5% dataserver/264
12795 root

Source: FULL ARTICLE at The UNIX and Linux Forums

Dell's Alienware X51 on Ubuntu may aim for Steam Box status

Dell could be angling for “Steam box” status with the Alienware X51, a living room-friendly, small form factor gaming desktop that is now available with the Ubuntu Linux operating system preinstalled.

Alienware has been selling Windows-sporting versions of the X51 for more than a year now at $699 and up, but only recently began offering a Ubuntu-powered variant. The Linux-based PC promises 1080p gaming at a base price of $599, in a compact tower design that can stand upright or lie flat. With Ubuntu installed, the basic X51 is $100 cheaper than a comparable Windows configuration.

Base specs for the Alienware X51 include a 3.3GHz Intel Core i3 processor, a 1GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 645 graphics card, 6 GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and a DVD drive.

More expensive configurations include up to an Intel Core i7 processor, a 1.5GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 660 graphics card, 8GB of RAM, and a 2TB hard drive, with the price maxing out at $1100. However, due to a current sale on higher-end Windows systems, the Ubuntu version is actually $50 more expensive for the high-end model with 2TB storage option.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Reformatting a file for biological purpose

By paolo.kunder

Dear ALL,
I would really appreciate if you could help me in reformatting a file in this way:

The file refers to a list of genetic coordinates, each lines has a score value and the associated chromosome is listed in the line starting with chrom .

If more coordinates are found, the start refers to the start plus n lines:

original file

Code:

chrom=chr1 start=3000306
0.006
0.010
0.014
chrom=chrX start=40000306
0.014
chrom=chr9 start=80000306
0.1
0.2


I would like to obtain a file like this

Code:

#chr #start #end #score

chr1 3000306 3000307 0.006
chr1 3000307 3000308 0.010
chr1 3000308 3000309 0.019
chrX 40000306 40000307 0.014
chr9 80000306 80000307 0.1
chr9 80000307 80000308 0.2


Let me know if you can help me, the original file in up to 1 GB and is impossible editing my hand,
Thanks,
Paolo

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at The UNIX and Linux Forums

Weekend's Best Deals: Walmart, Best Buy Offer Big iPad Discounts

By Matt Brownell

Filed under: , , , ,

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Welcome back to our weekly deal roundup, where I scour the internet for the best deals, sales and freebies you can get over the weekend. If you come across an excellent deal that you think everyone should see, feel free to get in touch — my email address is at the bottom of the article.

There are two major retailers offering discounts on iPads this week. Best Buy (BBY) is taking big discounts on its entire stock of the third-generation iPads; the 16 GB, wifi-only iPad can now be had for just $315; it was originally price at $500 when it came out last March. Keep in mind that this is not the most recent version of the iPad, as it was succeeded by the fourth-generation model less than a year after release. Also note that it’s not available for delivery — you have to pick it up at the store.

Sponsored Linksadsonar_placementId=1505951;adsonar_pid=1990767;adsonar_ps=-1;adsonar_zw=242;adsonar_zh=252;adsonar_jv=’ads.tw.adsonar.com’;

Meanwhile, Walmart (WMT)is discounting the 16 GB, wifi-only iPad Mini: Originally priced at $329, it can now be had for $299. Note that these sorts of discounts on older-generation Apple products tend to mean that we’re getting new versions soon, so don’t be surprised if we see new iPads in the next month or two.

RetailMeNot alerts us to a $10-off coupon for Domino’s Pizza (DPZ). It will be available on Friday only, and there’s a limit of 10,000 uses for the code, which must be used for an order on Dominos.com. Most notably, there’s no minimum purchase requirement, which means you’re in for some very cheap — possibly free! — pizza. Head over there and enter your email address to be notified as soon as the coupon code becomes available.

Finally, there are a few food freebies taking place over the weekend and early next week. FreebieFindingMom alerts us that Tuesday, April 9 is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s locations; just stop by a participating location to get your free ice cream cone. Meanwhile, Pinkberry is promoting its new Greek-style offerings; show this Facebook post at Pinkberry on Friday or Saturday to get a free blueberry almond Greek yogurt, and stop by between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. every Wednesday this month to get any regular sized pinkberrygreek offering.

Matt Brownell is the consumer and retail reporter for DailyFinance. You can reach him at Matt.Brownell@teamaol.com, and follow him on Twitter at @Brownellorama.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

ASUS Chooses Groupon Goods for Exclusive Launch of New Tablet

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

Filed under:

ASUS Chooses Groupon Goods for Exclusive Launch of New Tablet

ASUS MeMO Pad Available Exclusively for Groupon Goods Subscribers April 6

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Groupon (NAS: GRPN) (http://www.groupon.com) has partnered with ASUS to launch a brand new ASUS MeMO Pad. The ASUS MeMO Pad with 7-inch display and 10-finger multi-touch will be available exclusively on Groupon Goods April 6. Sweetening the deal, the ASUS MeMO Pad comes bundled with a Wilsons genuine leather case for $159.99; a 20% discount on the MSRP of the combined items. The deal will be available at http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-asus-memo-tablet-with-leather-case.

Screen shot of Groupon deal: ASUS MeMO Tablet with Leather Case, available April 6, 2013 at Groupon Goods. (Photo: Business Wire)

“We’re one of the global leaders in flash sales because we personally curate and offer great deals on high quality products every day,” said Faisal Masud, head of Groupon Goods. “Partnering with ASUS to give our U.S. customers exclusive access to this top-notch tablet is a perfect fit for Groupon Goods.”

“Groupon is a very well recognized and respected company in the world and we are proud to be their partner,” said Steve Chang, President of ASUS Computer International. “Today, consumers want innovative and compelling mobile products. We’re excited to partner with Groupon as we focus our combined energies serving customers with industry-leading notebook and tablet solutions. The business relationship represents a powerful opportunity for ASUS to expand our presence in the U.S. market and the potential is limitless for both companies.”

The ASUS MeMO Pad has a seven-inch screen with 10-finger multi-touch (1024×600, 169 PPI) and uses Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Other features include 7 hours of battery life for all-day computing, front HD camera, 16GB storage, a micro-SD slot with support for up to 32 GB of extra storage and ASUS WebStorage to store and share files with your friends and family anytime and anywhere. The ASUS MeMO pad is also 12.6 ounces light and .44 inches thin.

To celebrate this exclusive deal, Groupon is featuring a wide range of ASUS products today, Friday and Saturday, including the ASUS Nexus Tablet with free case, TF300 tablet with dock, 14″ laptop, 15.6″ laptop and 17″ laptop, ASUS desktop computers and an ASUS projector. More information about these and other ASUS deals can be found at http://www.groupon.com/goods.

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Verify 4 GB Limit is overcome in 64 Bit Processor

By allanbm

We are moving from a 32 Bit PA-RISC processor to 64 Bit Itanium processor based System.
I am aware that 64 Bit processor allows for memory (RAM) addressibility beyond the 4 GB memory (RAM) limit imposed by a 32 bit processor

I have been asked to prove that the new systems are capable of addressing RAM beyond 4 GB

Is there any utility that I can use to prove this or UNIX command or script

Any input / help on this would be great!

Thanks in advance.

-Allan

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at The UNIX and Linux Forums

AT&amp;T Clarifies Samsung Galaxy S4 Pricing

By Evan Niu, CFA, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Shortly after Samsung unveiled its new flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone, wireless carrier AT&T said it would price the device at $250 with a standard two-year contract, with pre-orders beginning on April 16. The company has now clarified that the $250 price point is for a 32 GB model, while a 16 GB model will be available for $200 on contract.

Most high-end smartphones start at $200 on contract, making the initial pricing seem high relative to other devices like Apple‘s iPhone or the HTC One that was just priced at $200 on contract yesterday. The HTC One offers more storage at the same $200 subsidized price.

The Galaxy S4 and One promise to be the top Google Android smartphones this quarter.


 

The article AT&T Clarifies Samsung Galaxy S4 Pricing originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Apple and Google. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Microsoft slashes prices on Windows 8 hybrids and tablets

Now’s a good time to buy a Windows 8 tablet or hybrid for cheap, with Microsoft slashing prices on several PCs in its online store.

The Microsoft Store’s reduced prices apply to standalone tablets, hybrid PCs with detachable keyboards, and convertibles with built-in keyboards. And these are full Windows 8 devices, unlike the Windows RT tablets whose prices have also been falling.

Here’s a list of the deals through the Microsoft Store:

Also keep in mind that these are “Microsoft Signature” devices, meaning that they ship without any pre-installed bloatware.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Microsoft launches special Chinese version of Surface Pro aimed at home users

Microsoft is hoping to build momentum behind its Surface Pro tablet in China by launching a special edition including Office Home & Student 2013—but with Windows 8 Standard, rather than Windows 8 Pro.

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 128 GB version goes on sale in the country this Tuesday. But along with it, the U.S. tech giant is also releasing an exclusive “Surface China Edition,” with an x86 processor like its Pro cousin, the company announced.

Unlike the Surface Pro tablet, the China Edition comes with the standard Windows 8 OS rather than the Professional version. In addition, it only supports the simplified Chinese language. But the tablet also contains Office Home & Student 2013, a product suite Microsoft excluded from its Surface Pro tablet in favor for a one-month trial of Office 365 Home Premium.

The Surface China Edition will be available in 64 GB and 128 GB versions for 6588 yuan (US$1050) and 7388 yuan (US$1178), respectively. The Surface Pro will be priced at 7388 yuan.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld