MSFT Loses Again

Sometimes you have to wonder if there is any “adult leadership” at MSFT. After being fined by the European Union for their monopolistic practices and agreeing to a settlement, MSFT turned around and went back to doing business the old way again. That decision will cost them 561 million Euros, almost ¾ of a billion dollars!

MSFT introduced a Browser Choice Screen pop-up in March 2010 as part of a settlement following an earlier EU competition investigation. But they dropped the feature in a Windows 7 update in February 2011.

MSFT said the omission had been the result of a "technical error". "We take full responsibility for the technical error that caused this problem and have apologized for it," a spokesman for Microsoft said following the announcement.

That technical error is going to cast them a lot of money.

Sales of PCs

The tech research IDC has done a study that totally backs up my earlier opinion that the sales of PCs will continue to decline. They said that they expect computer shipments to drop 1.3 percent this year, worse than the prior view for a 2.8 percent rise. And that decline comes after a 3.7 percent slide in 2012.

They surveyed Emerging Markets, Mature Markets and a Worldwide combination. Here are their results:

 

Amped Wireless Powerline Network Kit

We received this press release this week:

Amped Wireless, the leading manufacturer of high power, long range wireless communication products for the home and office, today announced the PLA2 Powerline Nano AV500 1-Port Network Adapter Kit to allow consumers to extend Internet and network access to any room using existing power outlets. The Powerline AV500 standard provides speeds of up to 500 Mbps* and includes a pass-through power outlet on each adapter. The PLA2 kit includes two paired Powerline Network Adapters.                                 “

"At Amped Wireless, we strive to provide a complete solution for our customers' network extending needs. With that said, we realize there are certain scenarios where Wi-Fi may not be the best solution. For example, thick walls made with metal or concrete may interfere with Wi-Fi signals. Powerline provides an ideal, plug-and-play solution for these types of situations and can be used to easily connect A/V devices or game consoles. It can also help extend a Wi-Fi signal by pairing a Powerline adapter with our award-winning High Power Wi-Fi Access Points," said Jason Owen, president and CEO at Amped Wireless.
                               
Powerline turns any home or office electrical outlet into a network connection. No electrical wiring is needed. Simply plug one adapter into an available power outlet and connect the adapter to a router. Plug the second adapter into another power outlet and connect the adapter to a network device. With plug-and-play setup, extending network connectivity to any room is easily accomplished with little effort. The PLA2 comes secured with 128-bit encryption to protect network traffic from outside intruders.
                               
The Powerline Network Adapter Kit features an extra "pass-through" power outlet on each adapter. The additional power outlet can be used to power any electrical appliance. The compact design of the network adapter allows it to be installed discreetly and leaves room for other devices to be plugged into the same outlet.
                               
The Powerline Network Adapter Kit provide a simple and secure way to extend network connectivity to any room, garage, basement or backyard where Wi-Fi signals have trouble reaching. When used with Amped Wireless High Power Wi-Fi Access Points, the PLA2 can be used to extend Wi-Fi coverage through concrete or steel walls to eliminate Wi-Fi dead spots.
                               
Pricing and Availability:
The PLA2 has a retail price of $99.99 and is available from the Amped Wireless website immediately. It will be available nationwide from retailers and e-tailers March 11.

New High in the Stock Market

The stock market hit a new high yesterday and there has been a LOT of discussion about what this means. As our regular readers know, I am a bit of an economic pessimistic right now. Yes, there are stocks that I think will continue to grow (Google in particular) and stocks that I think are meandering (like MSFT) and stocks that I think are in free fall (like the iFruit company). I am far from a stock market expert, I’m just an observer. To be open and aboveboard, I own zero stocks so I have nothing to gain or lose in this game.

Here’s my advice on the current economy: be careful.... very careful. The problems with the US economy, not just sequester, are very serious. VERY serious. I do not see the kind of cooperation that is needed to solve our problems, just partisanship. I can honestly say that I have never seen, in my entire life, a regime in power that is so bent on keeping power. Even if it hurts everyone else, keep democrats in power!

The current executive branch and senate could care less about the law and our Constitution. They just care about staying in control.

More Problems for Apple

There is more bad news for the iFruit company. Their stock price continues to fall steadily, does anyone want to bet on when Google’s stock price is double Apple’s? My bet is some time in the next week or so. And a judge recently slashed the money award that had been from an earlier Samsung battle by.

The ongoing battles with Samsung appear to be heating up again also. It looks like there will be another round of court battles coming soon. Maybe the iFruit company wants to sit on all that cash they have to pay legal fees!! Remember, you heard it here first!

Symform Review

By George Harding

Here’s a great solution for backing up your files and keeping them backed up. You download an application (mypcbackup.exe) and install it. It will start to back up your documents as soon as the install is completed.

No action is required on your part. Not only are the files saved in the cloud, they are automatically backed up when changes are made. You have 10 GB of storage available, and it’s free!

The web site advises that you can access your files from any PC or mobile device, so you won’t need to copy files to multiple locations.

There’s a little problem, though. In my case, the program backed up 17 files, then stopped and advised me that “Your files are not protected.” What? That means that you have to upgrade to another level of program, with a monthly cost, in order to have all your files backed up. While the cost is fairly modest, as low as $4.49 per month, it seems to be a bit of “bait and switch.”

The amount of storage space is larger than anyone else currently provides. The automatic backup is a valuable feature and the sync and access features are certainly worth something.

My PC Backup by Symform             
www.symform.com                
Monthly as low as $4.49

The Disposable Computer

In the over 20 years we have been involved in the tech world there have been many, many major shifts in technology. It has been wonderful watching personal computer technology shift from big desktop machines with huge, heavy CRT monitors to the tablets of today.

My first computer was a Tandy PC from Radio Shack. It had an 8088 (not an 8086) processor, 384k of RAM, 16 color graphics, one 3.5” floppy drive and no hard drive or modem. I learned more about computer hardware and software by upgrading that computer than I ever would have guessed. By the time I sold it a few years later it had a new 80-286 processor, 640k of RAM, an additional floppy drive (a 5 ¼” drive) and a 20MB hard drive. It also ran Windows 3.3 instead of DR-DOS!! As you can imagine, I spent a lot of time inside that case!

Of course, computers back then were specifically designed to have user changeable parts. The tablets and laptop computers we use today are exactly the opposite. They are totally sealed machines that are never meant to be opened up and upgraded, or even repaired. They are designed and built to be disposable.

I still have “old” laptops and netbooks (from about three years ago) that have easily swappable batteries and easy to access hard drives and RAM modules so they can be upgraded. Every single product we’ve looked at in the past few months is totally sealed and can never be improved upon. Do you want more memory? Did your battery die (as they all do) then you have no choice but to buy a new product.

This is the price that has to be paid for the low profit margin CE products we buy today. You get what you pay for and consumers don’t want to pay very much any more.