Technologizer

Windows 8: What Should Be, If You Ask Me

By Harry McCracken Thursday, May 26, 2011

Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corp., speaks about Windows 7 during his keynote address at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 5, 2011

Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg via Getty Images

What's next for Microsoft Windows? With Windows 7 now nineteen months old, plenty of people are curious about its successor, a product which everybody's calling Windows 8 even though it hasn't been officially named yet. At the moment, however, all we know for sure is that we hardly know anything at all.
Last month, for instance, the tech blogosphere was aflutter over leaked screen shots of a Windows 8 app store that looked very much like Apple's Mac App Store. Interesting stuff — except that the screens turned out to be fakes. Then an executive from chip giant Intel spoke about some of Windows 8's technical aspects at the company's investor meeting — only to have Microsoft respond with a statement that called her comments "factually inaccurate and unfortunately misleading."
Even Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer seems to be slightly befuddled. At a developer event in Tokyo this week, he talked up Windows 8, saying that it would arrive on a variety of cool PCs, tablets, and other devices next year. And then a Microsoft spokesperson said that Ballmer apparently misspoke.
The fog may start to lift next week. That's when Windows honcho Steven Sinofsky is scheduled to take the stage at the Wall Street Journal's swanky "D" conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Judging from prior behavior by Microsoft execs at past conferences, it's reasonable to assume that he'll provide a peek of Windows 8 — nothing all-encompassing, but enough to whet the world's appetite for an operating system that's likely to reach PCs in the second half of 2012. (See TIME's special report "Gadgets Then and Now.")
If Sinofsky does show off Windows 8 at D, this may be my last chance to talk about the upgrade in a state of wishful ignorance. Which is kind of fun: I don't know much yet about where Microsoft thinks Windows should go next, but I happen to be an expert on what I'd like to see. Such as...
Speed, speed, speed. Oh, and more speed. Google shook up the Web-browser business in 2008 by introducing Chrome, a browser with one defining feature: It was exceptionally zippy. People loved it — and its instant success prompted other browser makers (including Microsoft) to soup up their software. The legendary misfire known as Windows Vista proved that when a new version of Windows is too sluggish, folks will avoid it in droves. Windows 7 undid the damage, but I'm nervous that Windows 8 could backslide into bloat. And I'd cheerfully trade nearly any new feature Microsoft could come up with for, say, a 50% boost in raw performance.
Pervasive Webbiness. Windows 8 will presumably come bundled either with Internet Explorer 9 — easily Microsoft's nicest browser in years — or Internet Explorer 10. That's good. But the new era of computing calls for an operating system that blurs the line between software and services in a way you can't accomplish by cramming the entire Internet into a browser. I want to be able to work in Web apps like Gmail and Zoho and Aviary without having to think about the fact that they live on distant servers rather than on my PC. I'd also like all the photos, documents, and other files I have salted away around the Web to be as readily accessible as the contents of my hard disk. You can accomplish some of this with IE9's "pinning" feature and third-party services such as SugarSync, but Windows 8 could take the idea way further.
Signs it's been designed for modern PCs. More and more laptops are doing without a DVD burner. Some are also ditching the hard drive in favor of speedy-but-skimpy solid-state disks. Windows 7 comes on a DVD and assumes the presence of vast amounts of storage; I vote for Windows 8 being available in a version that comes on a USB drive and gobbles up as few gigabytes as possible. (Watch "Windows Phone 7 Tips and Tricks.")
Much better backup. Every Mac benefits immensely from Time Machine, Apple's brain-dead-simple backup program. I assumed that Windows 7 would include a Time Machine clone, but it doesn't — its data-protection features are still pretty nerdy, and some of them aren't available in all versions of the OS. That gives Windows 8 the opportunity to not only catch up with Time Machine but surpass it. How about a built-in feature that painlessly backs up everything to my PC's hard disk, a drive elsewhere on my home network, or an Internet service along the lines of Mozy — or, for safety's sake, to all of the above, all at once?
No pretense that you can rejigger a desktop OS into an iPad alternative. Assuming that Steve Ballmer's "misstatement" this week consisted of speaking the truth a little ahead of schedule, Windows 8 will be designed to run on tablets as well as traditional desktop PCs and notebooks. But I hope that this doesn't simply consist of slapping a few touch-oriented features on top of a user interface that cries out for a physical QWERTY keyboard and a mouse. Microsoft spent years trying to make that idea work with Tablet PCs, and failed big time. (See the top 10 Microsoft moments.)
Microsoft has a history of pitching new versions of Windows as epochal breakthroughs: The 2007 press release announcing the hapless Vista quoted Bill Gates saying it would "transform the way people work and play" and had Steve Ballmer calling it "amazing" and "spectacular." Really, though, I don't want my life transformed by an amazing operating system. Actually, I want operating systems to mostly stay out of my face. Windows 7 is one of the more pleasing Windows editions to date in large part because it's surprisingly low-key and well-behaved for a Microsoft product. And if the bottom line on Windows 8 turns out to be that it's like Windows 7 only more so, it could be an upgrade worth getting excited over.
McCracken blogs about personal technology at Technologizer, which he founded in 2008 after nearly two decades as a tech journalist; on Twitter, he's @harrymccracken. His column, also called Technologizer, appears every Thursday on TIME.com.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2074071,00.html#ixzz1NV3G01yM

Egypt turns to IMF as deficit balloons

Egypt turns to IMF as deficit balloons

WATCH THE VIDEO: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13384455

Egypt has officially asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan, the Fund has confirmed.

The IMF will send a team next week to Cairo to discuss the terms with the country's post-revolution government.
Finance Minister Samir Radwan told the BBC the situation was "very difficult", and he expected the deficit to reach 9-10% of economic output next year.
He said the country needed $2bn the rest of this financial year, and $10bn for the 2011-12 year.
Loan deals have already been agreed with the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
Elevated demands of the people after the revolution were adding to pressure on the budget, he said.
He also emphasised that while there was no going back on Egypt's free market economy, greater social justice was needed.

China 'treats foreign firms unfairly'

Some companies said they were considering cutting investment in China as a result of discrimination

A growing number of European companies operating in China believe they are being treated unfairly by the government and expect discrimination to increase, a survey suggests.

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China report found 43% of firms said Beijing discriminated against foreign businesses, up from 33% last year.
And 46% see the trend continuing over the next two years, from 36% in 2010.
China's Ministry of Commerce was not immediately available for comment.
China has in the past been accused of favouring its own companies and violating free trade pledges it made when it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.
The chamber president David Cucino called on Chinese regulators to "remove all obstacles" to create a "level playing field".
Some 20% of the 598 European companies surveyed said they were considering responding to discriminatory treatment by suspending or reducing investments in China.
Last month, the American Chamber of Commerce in China said that US companies believed China's protectionism had got worse since the financial crisis.

London 2012: Most ticket money 'debited by next week'

The ticketing system has proved to be controversial

Most of the money for the first round of Olympics tickets sales will be debited from applicants' bank accounts by next week, organisers have said.

Locog said 60% of cards would be debited by midnight on Wednesday, the "vast majority" by 31 May, and the process completed by 10 June.
The process had been due to begin on 10 May, but cards did not start being debited until at least a week later.
A different system is to be used for the second round of ticket sales.
The current system has attracted criticism from various quarters - including from consumer group Which? - for taking the cash from applicants' bank accounts before they know which tickets they have been allocated.
London 2012 organisers Locog say the system is fair.
The second round of sales, in late June, will initially offer unsuccessful first round ticket applicants the first chance to buy those tickets still available, said the organising committee.
It will take place on a 'first come, first served' basis with the money paid up front.
The general public will later be able to apply for remaining tickets.
London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said they had always intended to have a different system for the second round.
First round applicants have been receiving e-mails from the London 2012 ticketing team to say they are now taking payment from Visa credit and debit cards, as well as banking cheques and postal orders.
The process is due to be complete by 10 June. Applicants will be contacted by 24 June to confirm if they have been successful in obtaining any of the 6.6 million tickets available and if so, which they have been allocated.

London 2012 - Begin your journey here

The e-mail said Visa payments would only be taken for successful applications, and that if cards had been lost or stolen, or there were any issues with collection of payment, applicants would be contacted about it by 10 June.

London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog) deputy chairman Keith Mills said they were trying to make sure the system was "fair and even" and that people were informed at the same time about whether their application had been successful.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: "One of the problems when you are doing something on this scale is if you tell one person they've got tickets, they tell their friends and suddenly we have a switchboard jammed with people - so we are trying to do this extremely thoroughly."
"It's going brilliantly well - it's very complex, but it is going brilliantly well," he added.
He added that hundreds of thousands of unsold tickets would be available to buy later in the year.
London 2012 organisers recently revealed that there had been more than one million requests for tickets for the Olympic men's 100 metres final, on 5 August next year.
They are looking to make £500m from ticket sales as part of bid to raise £2bn through private means.
The price of Olympics tickets ranges from £20 to £725 for the showpiece 100 metres final, and reaches £2,012 for the opening ceremony on 27 July.

Tata Motors sees profits triple on Jaguar turnaround

Sales at its core Indian business rose 23% for both commercial and personal vehicles

Tata Motors has reported a tripling of profits in the last year.

The Indian carmaker made total profits after tax for the last 12 months of 92.7bn rupees ($2bn, £1.3bn), up 260% from a year earlier, thanks to a 33% rise in revenues to 1.2tn rupees.
Business at its Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) subsidiary saw a sharp turnaround, with £1.1bn in profits before tax, having hardly broken even in the 2009-10 year.
The firm said it planned to expand exports by its UK subsidiary.
'Exciting new products'
Exports already drove a 51% jump in revenues at JLR in the last year, with developing markets such as China seeing the fastest growth.
The UK share of its business dropped from 28% to 24% of sales.
The firm will open its first production line for JLR in India on Friday.
The jump in the UK unit's profits - flattered by the falling value of sterling - helped it pay off debts, with net debt falling by almost two-thirds to £233m.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

John Moylan Business correspondent, BBC News

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When the global downturn hit, the motor industry felt the full force. Premium brands such as JLR suffered the most. The company even considered closing one of its plants in the Midlands.
So its turnaround is all the more remarkable. Not only is it selling more cars, but revenues increased by more than 50%. So compared with last year, it is making a lot more money per car.
How? Analysts say it is now selling cars in places like China - where a new well-heeled elite are prepared to pay premium prices. It's also selling more of its higher end vehicles - which deliver higher margins.
And with three-quarters of all sales outside the UK, it's also benefiting from the relative weakness of sterling.
Now, far from closing a factory, JLR is thought to be considering building a new engine plant here.

The result reflected "consumer confidence in our brands", according to JLR chief executive, Dr Ralf Speth.

"We have committed more than £1bn a year over the next five years to the creation of new and exciting products," he added.
The UK firm has already unveiled a new £700,000 Jaguar hybrid supercar developed in co-operation with the Williams Formula 1 team.
Mumbai-based Tata Motors bought the Jaguar and Land Rover marques from Ford in 2008.
Nano woes
Meanwhile, sales at Tata's core Indian arm rose across the board, with both commercial vehicles and personal cars up 23%.
The company said it thought increased infrastructure spending in India would stimulate further demand for trucks, while it planned to expand sales of its passenger vehicles in rural India.
However, sales of small cars lagged somewhat in the last year, perhaps reflecting difficulties with the Tata Nano, the world's cheapest car, which began production in 2008.
Tata previously reported that sales of its Nano had slumped 85% in November last year.
The company blamed customers' difficulty in obtaining loans, however analysts say that price rises, as well as publicity related to a series of fires in previously sold cars, had a role in the drop in sales.
Tata said it planned to start exporting the Nano in the coming year.
Exports by its Indian business rose 70%, led by demand in neighbouring countries, but remained a negligible part of its sales.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13558189

Entrepreneurs face global challenges

Entrepreneurs face global challenges
By Caroline Hepker Business reporter, BBC News, New York

The patent for this classic New York emblem is owned by one of the city's many immigrants

From Google to Warner Brothers, Goya Foods to Max Factor, immigrants in the US have created some impressive American businesses.

In fact, every census since 1880 shows newcomers to America are more likely than the locals to work for themselves and start a business.
In New York, companies shed 140,000 jobs during the recent recession, but many immigrant communities continued to create employment.
That is the case in Jackson Heights, in Queens, where Nirval Shah's family began its Indian food business.
Rajbhog Sweets and Snacks is located in one of the most diverse communities in New York and the US.

Outside the shop, vegetable stores jostle with Bengali music vendors and sari shops for the attention of immigrants from Asia to South America.

Family enterprise
Inside the shop, Mr Shah serves Indian dosas and drops sweet dessert balls into cartons for his customers.
He says it has not been easy. The whole family often works 14 hours a day, seven days a week, and they have been doing so since the 1970s.
But Rajbhog Sweets now employs 150 people. One couple have come from Dallas, Texas, having heard about the colourful ethnic desserts, made from honey and nuts.
"This is where we started as a mom-and-pop store and today we are a chain, a franchise all over the country," Mr Shah explains.
It is business owners such as Mr Shah who are increasingly seen as the spark-plugs of the US economy.
Jonathan Bowles, from the Centre for an Urban Future, says there has been an explosion of new immigrants in New York City in the last two decades.
"Today they are starting about half of all of the new businesses in the city," he says.

Mr Shah says his family has built a franchise all over the US

With millions still out of work in the wake of the recession, policymakers and experts are seizing on dynamic immigrant firms that can boost economic growth.
President Barack Obama says that America reaps incredible economic rewards "because we remain a magnet for the best and brightest from across the globe".
Creative engines
But opening the doors to greater immigration is a bone of contention here.
President Obama has signalled he wants a change in immigration policy to allow more potential entrepreneurs into the US.
Opposition Republicans and others have called this an amnesty on illegal migration.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg supports fixing a "broken immigration system".
Mr Bloomberg has called for more visas for bright entrepreneurs and foreign students.
Hard-working immigrants are seen as creative engines for the economy.
Figures from the US Patent Office, for example, show that immigrants patent twice as many inventions as non-immigrants.

Ms Rasamee enjoyed instant success with her Pany Silk Flowers shop

Moreover, almost half the self-employed people in Mayor Bloomberg's city are immigrants, people such as Mimi Rasamee.
Petite, with dark hair, Ms Rasamee came to New York from Thailand in the 1980s and opened Pany Silk Flowers in Manhattan's 28th Street flower district.
'A miracle'
Standing by a wall of pink amaryllis, red roses and giant African lilies, Ms Rasamee explains she was not planning on staying in America.
On her first day in business, though, a customer bought her entire stock.
"It was a miracle," she explains.
"After she left, I was just sitting down, I couldn't believe it. I thought, this is not a bad thing to do in New York."
Now the exotic plants in her Pany stores have even inspired Hollywood, appearing in the blockbuster film Avatar.
But there is a downside for newcomers.
Many are shut out of traditional careers and businesses also fail.

Mr Chung says the souvenir business is very fashion driven

Mr Bowles says that many immigrants starting up a business are isolated and receive poor advice.
Yet many immigrants are driven to overcome all challenges.
Jay Chung is one of them.
Turning point
Wearing a suit and tie in his packed showroom on 27th Street, Mr Chung picks up some of the hundreds of samples on the shelves.
It is a miniature bell with "I (heart) New York" - he owns the patent for this classic New York emblem - then a souvenir bag and an Empire State Building magnet
The souvenir business is very fashion-driven, Mr Chung explains, so his company, Jay Joshua, has constantly to create new designs for the millions of tourists visiting New York.
Mr Chung's first big break came with an order from department store Macy's, but he remembers the night he decided to go into business.
"When I had my second son, in the night-time, my second son [was] crying. I don't have the money for the milk. That was a turning-point night for me in my life."
Mr Shah, Ms Rasamee and Mr Chung say the American dream has worked for them.
They say the energy and diversity of New York City inspires them.
And for a nation still struggling out of a severe downturn, they and people like them inject some much needed dynamism.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13546175

US economic slowdown confirmed by growth figures

Corporate profits unexpectedly fell in the first three months of the year

US growth slowed in the first three months of 2011 to an annualised rate of 1.8%, which is a 0.4% quarterly rise, the Commerce Department has confirmed.

This compares with an annualised growth rate of 3.1% in the final three months of 2010.
The slowdown was blamed on corporate profits unexpectedly contracting for the first time in more than two years.
Many analysts had been expecting the growth figure to be revised upwards to about 2%.
'Soft patch'
US GDP is expressed as an annualised rate, or annual pace, which shows what the three months' economic activity would mean if it carried on for a year.
Growth in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of US GDP, was revised down from 2.7% to 2.2%.
That was balanced by an upward revision to the amount of money businesses were spending on restocking, which was increased from $43.8bn (£26.8bn) to $52.2bn.
"There is no doubt the economy has slowed. We will call the first half of 2011 as a soft patch," said Robert Dye at PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh.