Apple iPhone 5S Rumors: Release Date Set For Mid-September? iPhone 6 To Launch Weeks Later?

It's been six years since Steve Jobs debuted the original iPhone in June 2007, but for the phone's first five years, Apple had chosen to release only one new iPhone model each year, as opposed to its competitors, which have sought to release as many smartphone models as possible each and every year.

In 2013, Apple will reportedly break from tradition and release two new iPhone models for the very first time -- the sixth-generation iPhone called the iPhone 5S, and a completely new "low-cost" iPhone model aimed at emerging markets, to be called either iPhone Light or iPhone 6. But while the degree of rumors surrounding the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 indeed point to two individual release dates this year, the key question is not a matter of what or why, but when. Apple will never release product details before they're officially unveiled, but given the timetable announced for Apple's redesigned mobile operating system iOS 7, we fully expect to see Apple's big iPhone launch coincide with the release date schedule of iOS 7 -- specifically in mid-September.
Apple iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 Release Date: How Did We Arrive At This Conclusion?
Before we talk iPhone, let's quickly talk about the release date of iOS 7. In 2012, iOS 6 was introduced June 11 and saw its release date on Sept. 19 -- exactly 100 days after its unveiling. We don't think Tim Cook wants to mess with the successful Apple formula left behind by Steve Jobs, so we believe Apple will again follow this iOS release timetable by launching iOS 7 exactly 100 days after its introduction, on Sept. 18.
That said, Apple would never release its newest iOS without some new hardware to go with it. This is why we fully expect Apple to release the iPhone 5S just two days after the release date for iOS 7, on Sept. 20; the iPhone 5S would likely be introduced an event one week prior to its release (as well as the release date of iOS 7) on Sept. 10. For the low-cost iPhone 6, Apple may wait a week or two to release its cheaper iPhone alternative, on either Sept. 27 or Oct. 4 -- the latter date would coincide with the two-year anniversary of the iPhone 4S, and nearly two years to the day when Apple lost its co-founder Jobs to cancer, but Apple would simply split the release dates of its two iPhones to prevent major crowds at its retail stores.
Once Apple has all its iPhone products out of the pipeline, we believe Apple will hold another event in October to release new iPads, including a redesigned full-size iPad and an iPad mini with Retina display, but possibly some surprises too -- potentially some major changes to Apple TV, but maybe, just maybe, Apple will finally unveil its highly rumored, highly anticipated smartwatch called iWatch.
Apple iPhone 5S Release Date Coming: What's New In This Year's Model?
By all accounts, the iPhone 5S will look identical its predecessor the iPhone 5, with the exception of a few cosmetic changes. Apple has reportedly adopted dual-LED flash for its rear-facing camera, which means that circular flash is now pill-shaped, and many believe the iPhone 5S camera has been improved from the 8-megapixels in the iPhone 5, likely to 12-megapixels. Photos leaked to Apple news site MacRumors in mid-June claiming to be the iPhone 5S, which show off some of these reported features as well as unique identifiers related to the iPhone 5S components, lead us to believe the iPhone 5S photos are indeed legitimate and the phone is preparing for its September release date.
The alleged prototype of the iPhone 5S on the left, and the iPhone 5 on the right. The iPhone 5S will feature improved specs in the processing and battery departments.  Courtesy / MacRumors.com
Inside, the iPhone 5S is expected to operate just like the iPhone 5, but the specs have been modified in a number of ways to make room for new features. According to another leaked image of the iPhone 5S from the same source, the phone's logic board has a slightly narrower profile to allow more space for new components and connectors, and Apple has improved its Apple-built CPU from an A6. But since the leaked image shows a nameless Apple-built chip (likely an intentional move by Apple to prevent leaks, since the new chip would make this phone a dead giveaway), we're predicting this CPU is a new A7 chip designed by Apple and introduced for the first time on this phone. The iPhone 5S has also reportedly received an upgrade in the battery department, from the iPhone 5's 5.45 Whr capacity to a higher capacity of 5.92 Whr.
The alleged interior of the iPhone 5S features a thinner logic board presumed to make room for more components, including the rumored fingerprint sensor.  Courtesy / MacRumors.com
But the biggest new feature inside the iPhone 5S, by all accounts, is said to be the integrated fingerprint sensor embedded directly in the "home" button, which will likely replace the need for entering usernames and passwords again and again on your phone. This fingerprint sensor -- courtesy of Florida-based AuthenTec, which was urgently acquired by Apple last July -- makes a great deal of sense on the iPhone 5S: The iPhone has always had one button, so the fingerprint's sensor makes sense, but Apple knew fingerprint sensing technology would be a hit with consumers a long time ago, so the company invested millions of dollars to start implementing this technology as soon as possible.
The iPhone 5S Sounds Great, But What About That Cheap iPhone 6?
When it comes to the iPhone 6, Apple is reportedly pursuing its same strategy used for the iPod Touch, which is to release a low-end version of the popular iDevice with all of the same important features, but without some of the bells and whistles, and at a much lower price point. Apple released its cheapest, thinnest, most basic iPod Touch in May, likely foreshadowing its strategy with the release of iPhone 6.
The iPhone 6, according to iLounge editor-in-chief Jeremy Horwitz, is a "cross between the iPhone 5, the fifth-generation iPod touch, and -- wait for it -- the iPod classic." With its 4-inch screen like the iPhone 5, a tapered bottom like the latest iPod touch and a rectangular shape like the iPod classic, the low-cost iPhone 6 is said to be substantially made from plastic, but feature a hybrid chassis made of both plastic and metal. The right side of the iPhone 6 features a flat, centered SIM card tray like the iPhone 5, with the locations of the camera, microphone and rear flash in similar locations to the latest-generation iPod touch.
This leaked photo shows off the alleged "low cost" iPhone 6, which features a plastic exterior that houses older-generation chipsets and specs.  Courtesy / blog.tactus.com
But Apple's choice to release the iPhone 6 isn't about bold design; it's about an iPhone that's inexpensive to make and cheaper to sell. Apple will release the iPhone 6 globally, marketing it differently from its main iPhone line by allegedly releasing the iPhone 6 in a variety of candy colors (again like the iPod), but the company will reportedly focus on driving this phone into emerging markets such as India and China. Of the two developing markets, China is Apple's largest after the U.S., and Apple has many times tried to strike a deal with China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE:CHL), the largest telecommunications carrier in the world, with 703 million subscribers. If Apple is successful in selling the iPhone 6 on China Mobile, the iPhone 6 will be the first iPhone to release with TD-LTE frequency capabilities. Apple clearly wanted to close the deal early in 2013: On Jan. 10, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited China Mobile headquarters to meet with Chairman Xi Guohua to discuss “matters of cooperation.”

 We expect Apple to unveil the iPhone 6 simultaneously with the iPhone 5S in September to coincide with the release date of iOS 7, but release the two new iPhone models on two separate dates to avoid heavy lines at its physical retail stores. What do you think? Does this release timetable for iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 seem reasonable to you? Strike back in the comments section below.

Ubuntu - Operating System

UBUNTU

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution that starts with the breadth of Debian and adds regular releases (every six months), a clear focus on the user and usability (it should "Just Work", TM) and a commitment to security updates with 18 months of support for every release. Ubuntu ships with the latest Gnome release as well as a selection of server and desktop software that makes for a comfortable desktop experience off a single installation CD.

Download now

Quick Facts
Company:	Canonical Ltd.
Version:	9.10 Alpha 4
Date added:	August 16, 2009
File size:	696.4 Mb
Approx. download time:	27 h 38 min @ 56 kbps
Downloads:	5231
License:	Freeware
Minimum requirements:	Linux

Make Money with the Microsoft Ad Control (Mobile Matters)

While some developers create mobile applications as a hobby or as a way to see their names in lights, for others it’s all about the money. As you may already know, the Windows Phone Marketplace offers a simple way to get paid for your hard work by selling apps to users. However, there’s also another, complementary way for you to make money from your Windows Phone 7 applications: advertising. The Microsoft Advertising SDK makes the process of incorporating ads into your apps easy—and you’ll get paid when consumers use your app, even if it’s free to download.
This article will:

• Show you how to get started with Microsoft Advertising in your application.
• Walk you through creating an advertising-supported app using XAML or in code—going from File | New all the way to Build and Run.
• Go beyond the basics to help you improve the advertising experience for your end users and make more money.

About Advertising

The reality is that mobile users are, for the lack of a better word, “thrifty.” Many who won’t hesitate for a second to spend $4 on a double latte will agonize over a 99-cent app purchase. Advertising enables you to still make money from those users who aren’t ready or willing to spend their hard-earned pennies to buy your app. Free apps, “lite” versions of paid apps and trials of paid apps all present ad monetization opportunities. Given that downloads of free and trial apps greatly outpace those of paid apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace, showing ads in your app is simply good math.
The Microsoft Advertising SDK is a free download and the service is free to use. Furthermore, the ads shown when you use the Microsoft Ad Control aren’t just from Microsoft adCenter. Instead, Microsoft has created a real-time ad exchange where top-tier mobile ad networks bid for the right to show their ads in your app. This improves ad rates overall and ensures that advertisers are paying top dollar for ads in mobile apps on Windows Phone 7. You get paid 70 percent of the revenue the ad impressions in your app generate monthly.
As you’ll see later in this article, using the Microsoft Ad Control is easy enough that even part-time developers and students are getting into the act of building ad-supported Windows Phone 7 apps. Your mileage may vary, of course; if your app engages end users and they use it often, the money-making potential goes far beyond pocket change. Many developers have made more from advertising than they have through app sales, and Microsoft has published a couple success stories that highlight a few of these experiences (bit.ly/9RlMFW).

Getting Started

Getting started with the Microsoft Ad Control is easy and, even if you’re still a novice Windows Phone 7 developer, you can be up and running in no time. Here are the steps to include Microsoft Advertising in your application:

1. Sign up on the Microsoft pubCenter portal with your Windows Live ID. Here you’ll be able to register your ad-supported applications and the locations within those apps where ads will appear.
2. Get the free Microsoft Advertising SDK for Windows Phone 7. Today, you can download this SDK from the pubCenter portal, but later this year you’ll get it automatically when you install the upcoming version of the Windows Phone Developer Tools.
3. Add the Microsoft Ad Control to your application. Set a couple of properties in the Ad Control to identify your app and ad location, and you’re ready to submit your ad-enabled app to the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Once your app is live in the Windows Phone Marketplace and starts getting used by end users, it will automatically start generating ad impressions. You’ll get paid for showing these ads on a CPM-basis (cost per thousand views; see “Advertising 101” for more on the cost breakdown) and after you’ve hit a minimum threshold of $50, you’ll automatically get issued a check or direct deposit—your choice—from Microsoft.

pubCenter Setup

Your first step in working with ads from Microsoft is to sign up at the Microsoft Advertising pubCenter portal at pubcenter.microsoft.com using your Windows Live ID (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 The Microsoft Advertising pubCenter Portal
You’ll be asked to enter some information about yourself or your company, then you can jump right in and register your first application and “ad unit.”
In order to define a new application in pubCenter, all you have to do is give it a friendly name. Later on, if you have more than one ad-supported application, you’ll be able to break out the statistics to see how the ads in each of your applications are performing.
On the same screen, you can also define your first ad unit. Each ad unit has a name and represents a location in your app where advertising will be shown. Ad units can be associated with up to three categories that best describe the content surrounding them (see Figure 2).
Figure 2 Registering Your App and Creating an Ad Unit
The categories you select will be one of the many factors that determine which ads are displayed in your app.
Once you click Save, you’ll see a summary of the information for your new pubCenter account and also the IDs for the application and ad unit you just created. When you’re ready to go live, you’ll use these values with the Ad Control to identify your app to the Microsoft Advertising servers.
At this point, you’re done with pubCenter for the time being and are ready to dive into Visual Studio. You can return to pubCenter at any time to define more applications or ad units, see in-depth advertising reports and configure advanced settings such as competitive exclusions.

Adding Ads with Visual Studio

If you’re not using the latest Windows Phone Developer Tools yet, you can download the newest version of the Microsoft Advertising SDK from pubCenter. This SDK includes the Microsoft Ad Control as well as documentation and code samples to help you get started. The June 2011 version of the Ad Control offers rich media support and an improved API set. Make sure you have it installed so that you can follow along. Let’s look at how to use it from the Visual Studio Designer.
Start by creating a new Windows Phone 7 Silverlight project with File | New, and opening up the XAML surface where you want to show ads. Pick a suitable spot where the ad can be frequently shown, but won’t annoy the user; typically, the bottom or top of the screen is best. Drag the AdControl (note: “Ad Control” refers to the Microsoft product, while “AdControl” refers to the class or object) directly from the Toolbox pane to add it directly to a Grid control (see Figure 3).
Figure 3 Placing the AdControl
Once the AdControl is on the page, you need to set some properties for it to work correctly in your application. First, you’ll need to double-check the width and height of the AdControl. It’s recommended to keep the control at the standard dimension of 480 x 80 pixels for mobile ads. Setting a smaller size will prevent standard-sized ads from being displayed on your page. Setting a larger size will mean that there will be some empty space between where the ad is rendered and the border of the AdControl.
Next, you’ll need to link the AdControl with the Application ID and Ad Unit ID you created in the pubCenter portal. It helps to have the portal Web page open so you can copy and paste these values into the Visual Studio window.
Finally, there are two properties you’ll want to set to meet your app’s needs. If set to true, the IsAutoRefreshEnabled property automatically shows a new ad every 60 seconds. This enables you to increase the number of ads a user sees, which should lead to better revenue for your app (see “Advertising 101” for more on ad revenue). Set the IsAutoCollapseEnabled property to true if you want the AdControl to automatically hide itself from view before an ad is downloaded.
The XAML generated by the Visual Studio Designer should look something like this:

<Grid x:Name="ContentPanel" Grid.Row="1">

  <my:AdControl

    Height="80"

    Name="adControl1"

    Width="480"

    IsAutoCollapseEnabled="True"

    IsAutoRefreshEnabled="True"

    AdUnitId="test_client"

    ApplicationId="Image480_80" 

  />

</Grid>

Now hit Run to see your first ads.

AdControl API

If you’re finding that you want to do some fancier things, such as controlling the hiding or showing of ads, or you want to have a bit more control over when the ad shows in your application, you can chose to instantiate the AdControl directly in your code.
But before we get there, let’s start by dissecting how the AdControl works (see Figure 4). Behind the scenes, when your app starts and the AdControl gets initialized, it requests an ad from the Microsoft Advertising servers. The request is formed with the Application ID and Ad Unit ID that you specified in your code.
Figure 4 How the AdControl Works
It’s critical that this information matches what you copied from the pubCenter portal or to the test IDs provided in the documentation. The request also contains some other useful information about your app, such as the region to which ads will be matched.
If the ad it receives back uses images or HTML-based rich media, the AdControl will reconnect with a Web server to download the advertising content (such as JPEG, GIF, HTML or PNG files). Once the user has seen the ad, the AdControl may connect again with the server to record the ad impression. This whole cycle repeats when the ad gets refreshed and a new ad gets downloaded.
There isn’t much in the way of rocket science when it comes to the code required to use the AdControl. You’ll need to start by adding the Microsoft.Advertising.Mobile.UI assembly as a reference in your project. You’ll also want to add a using statement for the Microsoft.Advertising.Mobile.UI namespace. And in your page’s constructor, you’ll place the code to create the AdControl. You’ll then need to add the AdControl instance into the page’s visual tree. In this case, we’re adding it to a grid that we have in our layout (see Figure 5). With the code in Figure 5 in place, your app should be ready to build and show ads using the code you’ve written.
Figure 5 Adding the AdControl to the Visual Tree

using Microsoft.Advertising.Mobile.UI;
 
 
 
// Constructor
 
public MainPage()
 
{
 
  InitializeComponent();
 
 
 
  AdControl adControl = new AdControl();
 
 
 
  // Add the control to a grid control
 
  Grid grid = (Grid)this.LayoutRoot.Children[1];
 
  grid.Children.Add(adControl);
 
 
 
  // Insert real values from pubCenter before
 
  // submitting your app to Windows Phone Marketplace!
 
#ifdef SHOW_TEST_ADS
 
  adControl.ApplicationId = "test_client";
 
  adControl.AdUnitId = "Image480_80";  
 
#else
 
  // Use your real Application ID and Ad Unit ID here
 
  adControl.ApplicationId = "12ab456c-de7f-89ab-0123-4567890c1d23";
 
  adControl.AdUnitId = "12345";
 
#endif
 
 
 
  // Make the AdControl fit the standard 480 x 80 dimension
 
  adControl.Width = 480;
 
  adControl.Height = 80;
 
 
 
  // Let the AdControl collapse and refresh automatically
 
  adControl.IsAutoRefreshEnabled = true;
 
  adControl.IsAutoCollapseEnabled = true;
 
}

Tips and Tricks

Here are a couple of important things to keep in mind when working with the AdControl in your app, and a few ways—such as targeting— that will help you maximize the value of the advertising in your app.
First, always make sure you can see both “test” and “real” ads running in your application. To view test ads, set the ApplicationID to “test_client” and Ad Unit ID to a standard test value such as “Image480_80.” A well-placed #ifdef can come in handy here. You should use test ads while developing and testing your app, but once you’re ready to release, it’s critical you set this back to your pubCenter-issued Application ID and Ad Unit ID. However, testing with your own app IDs is important because it ensures your application works with “real” live ads.
Next, to get the best ads, it’s important to provide as much information as possible to the ad system. The AdControl often gets this information automatically, so your application manifest must have the following capabilities:

• ID_CAP_PHONEDIALER
• ID_CAP_NETWORKING
• ID_CAP_WEBBROWSERCOMPONENT
• ID_CAP_IDENTITY_USER
• ID_CAP_MEDIALIB

If it makes sense for your application, it’s also recommended to use the ID_CAP_LOCATION capability. Enabling location-based advertising improves the quality and relevance of the ads that your users will see.
The AdControl.PostalCode and AdControl.Country properties allow an app to update the user's location.  In the following example, a Beverly Hills movie star app would generally know that its users are around that location:

using Microsoft.Advertising;
 
// Make sure the AdControl is created
adControl.Country = "US";
adControl.PostalCode = "90210";

Similarly, it might also be useful to handle a few things about the ad experience in your code. If you’ve set the IsAutoRefreshEnabled property to false, then you’ll be able to refresh ads manually. Call the adControl.Refresh method to bring a new ad into view, but make sure not to call it more than every 30 seconds in order to give users enough time to click on ads they might be interested in.
If you’ve set the IsAutoCollapseEnabled property to false, you can listen for an ErrorOccurred event. This event will fire whenever an ad fails to download or display. You can use this event to collapse the AdControl and reclaim that space for use by your application’s other UI elements. When the AdRefreshed event fires, you’ll know a new ad is ready to be seen and you can restore its visibility (see Figure 6).
Figure 6 The AdRefreshed Event

public void AdControl_AdRefreshed(object sender, EventArgs args)
 
{
 
  AdControl ad = (AdControl)sender;
 
 
 
  Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(() =>
 
  {
 
    ad.Visibility = System.Windows.Visibility.Visible;
 
    Debug.WriteLine(
 
      "ad control '" + ad.Name + "' got ad, visibility = " + ad.Visibility);
 
  });
 
}
 
 
 
public void AdControl_ErrorOccurred(object sender, AdErrorEventArgs args)
 
{
 
  try
 
  {
 
    AdControl ad = (AdControl)sender;
 
 
 
    Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(() =>
 
    {
 
      ad.Visibility = System.Windows.Visibility.Collapsed;
 
      Debug.WriteLine(
 
        "error in ad control '" + ad.Name + "': " + args.Error.Message);
 
      Debug.WriteLine("ad control '" + ad.Name + "' visibility = " + ad.Visibility);
 
    });
 
  }
 
  catch (Exception e)
 
  {
 
    Debug.WriteLine("oh no! " + e.Message);
 
  }
 
}

As you’ve seen, using the AdControl in your application is easy. And if you run into trouble, there are generally only a few things that can go wrong and cause ads not to be shown:

• No network connectivity
• Typo in Application ID or Ad Unit ID
• The user is in a location where ads from Microsoft Advertising aren’t available
• The AdControl is set to a dimension that’s too small
• Missing capabilities

Finally, if you’re writing a game and want to use XNA, look at the Microsoft Advertising XNA advertising game component that’s also part of the Microsoft Advertising SDK. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough space to go in-depth on XNA in this article, but there is documentation available online at search @ google or bing.
Now go add some advertising and start getting paid for all that hard work you put into your application!

Bing (formerly Live Search, Windows Live Search, and MSN Search)

Bing (formerly Live Search, Windows Live Search, and MSN Search) is a web search engine (advertised as a "decision engine"^[2]) from Microsoft. Bing was unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on May 28, 2009 at the All Things Digital conference in San Diego. It went fully online on June 3, 2009,^[3] with a preview version released on June 1, 2009.
Notable changes include the listing of search suggestions as queries are entered and a list of related searches (called "Explore pane") based on^[4] semantic technology from Powerset that Microsoft purchased in 2008.^[5]
On July 29, 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo! announced a deal in which Bing would power Yahoo! Search.^[6] All Yahoo! Search global customers and partners are expected to have made the transition by early 2012.^[7]
In October 2011, Bing announced it is working on new back-end search infrastructure, with the goal of delivering faster and slightly more relevant search results for users. Known as “Tiger,” the new index-serving technology has being incorporated into Bing globally, since August 2011

History

 MSN Search

MSN Search homepage in 2006

Windows Live Search homepage

Live Search homepage, which would help to create the Bing homepage later on.

MSN Search was a search engine by Microsoft that consisted of a search engine, index, and web crawler. MSN Search first launched in the third quarter of 1998 and used search results from Inktomi. In early 1999, MSN Search launched a version which displayed listings from Looksmart blended with results from Inktomi except for a short time in 1999 when results from AltaVista were used instead. Since then Microsoft upgraded MSN Search to provide its own self-built search engine results, the index of which was updated weekly and sometimes daily. The upgrade started as a beta program in November 2004, and came out of beta in February 2005. Image search was powered by a third party, Picsearch. The service also started providing its search results to other search engine portals in an effort to better compete in the market.

 Windows Live Search

The first public beta of Windows Live Search was unveiled on March 8, 2006, with the final release on September 11, 2006 replacing MSN Search. The new search engine used search tabs that include Web, news, images, music, desktop, local, and Microsoft Encarta.
In the roll-over from MSN Search to Windows Live Search, Microsoft stopped using Picsearch as their image search provider and started performing their own image search, fueled by their own internal image search algorithms.^[9]

 Live Search

On March 21, 2007, Microsoft announced that it would separate its search developments from the Windows Live services family, rebranding the service as Live Search. Live Search was integrated into the Live Search and Ad Platform headed by Satya Nadella, part of Microsoft's Platform and Systems division. As part of this change, Live Search was merged with Microsoft adCenter.^[10]
A series of reorganisations and consolidations of Microsoft's search offerings were made under the Live Search branding. On May 23, 2008, Microsoft announced the discontinuation of Live Search Books and Live Search Academic and integrated all academic and book search results into regular search, and as a result this also included the closure of Live Search Books Publisher Program. Soon after, Windows Live Expo was discontinued on July 31, 2008. Live Search Macros, a service for users to create their own custom search engines or use macros created by other users, was also discontinued shortly after. On May 15, 2009, Live Product Upload, a service which allowed merchants to upload products information onto Live Search Products, was discontinued. The final reorganisation came as Live Search QnA was rebranded as MSN QnA on February 18, 2009, however, it was subsequently discontinued on May 21, 2009.^[11]
Microsoft recognised that there would be a brand issue as long as the word "Live" remained in the name.^[12] As an effort to create a new identity for Microsoft's search services, Live Search was officially replaced by Bing on June 3, 2009.^[13]

 Yahoo! search deal

On July 29, 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo! announced that they had made a 10-year deal in which the Yahoo! search engine would be replaced by Bing. Yahoo! will get to keep 88% of the revenue from all search ad sales on its site for the first five years of the deal, and have the right to sell adverts on some Microsoft sites. Yahoo! Search will still maintain its own user interface, but will eventually feature "Powered by Bing™" branding.^[14][15] All Yahoo! Search global customers and partners are expected to be transitioned by early 2012.^[16]

 Market share

Before the launch of Bing, the marketshare of Microsoft web search pages (MSN and Live search) had been small but steady. By January 2011, Experian Hitwise show that Bing's market share had increased to 12.8% at the expense of Yahoo and Google. Bing powered searches also continued to have a higher "success rate" compared to Google, with more users clicking on the resulting links.^[17] In the same period, comScore’s “2010 U.S. Digital Year in Review” report showed that "Bing was the big gainer in year-over-year search activity, picking up 29% more searches in 2010 than it did in 2009."^[18] The Wall Street Journal notes the 1% jump in share "appeared to come at the expense of rival Google Inc".^[19] In February 2011 Bing beat out Yahoo! for the first time ever in terms of search marketshare. Bing received 4.37% search share while Yahoo! received 3.93% according to StatCounter.^[20]
In March 2011, Bing-powered search accounts for over 30% of US searches, up 5% over February. In the same period, Google fell 3%.^[21]
Counting core searches only, i.e. those where the user has an intent to interact with the search result, Bing achieved a market share of 14.54% in the second quarter of 2011 in the US.^[22][23]
In December of 2011, Bing search queries overtook Yahoo for the first time ever. Bing's share of searches was 15.1% in December 2011, as compared to Yahoo's, which fell to 14.5%. ^[24]

 Features

 Interface features

• Daily changing of background image. The images are mostly of noteworthy places in the world, though it sometimes displays animals, people, and sports. The background image also contains information about the element(s) shown in the image.
• Video homepage for HTML-5 enabled browsers on occasional events, similar to the daily background images.
• Images page shows the main picture from that day and four searches that refers to that image with three preview pictures per search term.
• Left side navigation pane. Includes navigation and, on results pages, related searches and prior searches.
• Right side extended preview which shows a bigger view of the page and gives URLs to links inside of the page.
• Sublinks. On certain search results, the search result page also shows section links within the article (this is also done on other search engines, including Google)
• Enhanced view where third party site information can be viewed inside Bing.
• On certain sites, search from within the website on the results page.
• On certain sites, Bing will display the Customer Service number on the results page.

 Media features

• Video thumbnail Preview where, by hovering over a video thumbnail, the video automatically starts playing
• Image search with continuous scrolling images results page that has adjustable settings for size, layout, color, style and people.^[25]
• Advanced filters - allow users to refine search results based on properties such as image size, aspect ratio, color or black and white, photo or illustration, and facial features recognition
• Video search with adjustable setting for length, screen size, resolution and source

 Instant answers

• Sports. Bing can directly display scores from a specific day, recent scores from a league or scores and statistics on teams or players.
• Finance. When entering a company name or stock symbol and either stock or quote in the search box Bing will show direct stock information like a stockchart, price, volume, and p/e ratio^[26] in a webslice that users can subscribe to.
• Math calculations (e.g., 2 * pi * 24).^[27] Users can enter math expressions in the search box using a variety of math operators and trigonometric functions^[28] and Bing will provide a direct calculation of the expression.
• Advanced computations. Using the WolframAlpha computational engine, Bing can also give results to advanced math problems (e.g. lim x/2x as x->2) and other WolframAlpha related queries (e.g. calories in pizza).
• Package tracking and tracing. When a user types the name of the shipping company and the tracking number, Bing will provide direct tracking information.
• Dictionary. When "define", "definition" or "what is" followed by a word is entered in the searchbox Bing will show a direct answer from the Encarta dictionary.
• Spell check. Will change frequently misspelled search terms to the more commonly spelled alternative.
• Best match (plus similar sites)
• Product shopping and "Bing cashback"
• Health information
• Flight tracking
• Translate. Auto translation of certain search phrases, often with phrases including "translate" or "in English." For example, to translate "me llamo" from Spanish to English you would simply type "translate" me llamo in english and you will be redirected to a search results page with Bing Translator with your translation from Spanish to English.

 Local info

• Current traffic information
• Business listing
• People listing
• Collections
• Localized searching for restaurants and services
• Restaurant reviews
• Movies played in an area. When a current movie title is entered in the search box Bing will provide listings of local theaters showing the movie. When a city is added to the search box, Bing provides the movie listings localized for that city.
• City hotel listings. When 'hotels' and a city name is entered in the search box Bing can provide hotel listings with a map. The listing leads to a detail search page with the hotels listed that holds extended information on the hotels and contains links to reviews, directions reservations and bird eye view of the hotel. On the page with the listings the list can be refined by settings on ratings, pricing, amenities, payment and parking

 Integration with Hotmail

• With Hotmail’s "Quick Add" feature, users can insert derivatives of Bing search results such as restaurant reviews, movie times, images, videos, and maps directly into their e-mail messages.^[29]

 Integration with Facebook

• Bing's search results can display one's Facebook friends when a Facebook account is linked with Bing via Facebook Connect.
• Users have the option to send messages to their friends in the search results.

 International

Bing is available in many languages and has been localized for many countries.^[30]

 Languages in which Bing can find results

Albanian Arabic Bulgarian Catalan Chinese (Simplified and Traditional scripts) Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English (American and British) Estonian Finnish French German

Greek Hebrew Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Italian Japanese Korean Latvian Lithuanian Malay Norwegian Persian Polish

Portuguese (Brazil) Portuguese (Portugal) Romanian Russian Serbian (Cyrillic) Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swedish Tamil Thai Turkish Ukrainian Vietnamese

 Languages in which Bing can be displayed

Basque Bulgarian Catalan Chinese (Simplified and Traditional scripts) Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English (American and British) Estonian Finnish French Galician

German Greek Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Italian Japanese Korean Latin Latvian Lithuanian Malay Norwegian Polish

Portuguese (Brazil) Portuguese (Portugal) Romanian Russian Serbian (Cyrillic) Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swedish Tamil Thai Turkish Ukrainian Vietnamese

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.
Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs).^[2] Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal computer market, overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced in 1984.
The most recent client version of Windows is Windows 7; the most recent server version is Windows Server 2008 R2; the most recent mobile version is Windows Phone 7.5.

Versions

See also: List of Microsoft Windows versions

The term Windows collectively describes any or all of several generations of Microsoft operating system products. These products are generally categorized as follows:

The classic Windows logo, used until the release of Windows XP in 2001

Early versions

Main articles: Windows 1.0, Windows 2.0, and Windows 2.1x

Windows 1.0, the first version, released in 1985

The history of Windows dates back to September 1981, when Chase Bishop, a computer scientist, designed the first model of an electronic device and project "Interface Manager" was started. It was announced in November 1983 (after the Apple Lisa, but before the Macintosh) under the name "Windows", but Windows 1.0 was not released until November 1985.^[3] The shell of Windows 1.0 was a program known as the MS-DOS Executive. Other supplied programs were Calculator, Calendar, Cardfile, Clipboard viewer, Clock, Control Panel, Notepad, Paint, Reversi, Terminal, and Write. Windows 1.0 did not allow overlapping windows. Instead all windows were tiled. Only dialog boxes could appear over other windows.
Windows 2.0 was released in October 1987 and featured several improvements to the user interface and memory management.^[3] Windows 2.0 allowed application windows to overlap each other and also introduced more sophisticated keyboard shortcuts. It could also make use of expanded memory.
Windows 2.1 was released in two different versions: Windows/386 employed the 386 virtual 8086 mode to multitask several DOS programs, and the paged memory model to emulate expanded memory using available extended memory. Windows/286 (which, despite its name, would run on the 8086) still ran in real mode, but could make use of the high memory area.
The early versions of Windows were often thought of as simply graphical user interfaces, mostly because they ran on top of MS-DOS and used it for file system services.^[4] However, even the earliest 16-bit Windows versions already assumed many typical operating system functions; notably, having their own executable file format and providing their own device drivers (timer, graphics, printer, mouse, keyboard and sound) for applications. Unlike MS-DOS, Windows allowed users to execute multiple graphical applications at the same time, through cooperative multitasking. Windows implemented an elaborate, segment-based, software virtual memory scheme, which allowed it to run applications larger than available memory: code segments and resources were swapped in and thrown away when memory became scarce, and data segments moved in memory when a given application had relinquished processor control.

Windows 3.0 and 3.1

Main articles: Windows 3.0 and Windows 3.1x

Windows 3.0, released in 1990

Windows 3.0 (1990) and Windows 3.1 (1992) improved the design, mostly because of virtual memory and loadable virtual device drivers (VxDs) that allowed them to share arbitrary devices between multitasked DOS windows.^{[citation needed]} Also, Windows applications could now run in protected mode (when Windows was running in Standard or 386 Enhanced Mode), which gave them access to several megabytes of memory and removed the obligation to participate in the software virtual memory scheme. They still ran inside the same address space, where the segmented memory provided a degree of protection, and multi-tasked cooperatively. For Windows 3.0, Microsoft also rewrote critical operations from C into assembly.

Windows 95, 98, and Me

Main articles: Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me

Windows 95, released in August 1995

Windows 95 was released in August 1995, featuring a new user interface, support for long file names of up to 255 characters, and the ability to automatically detect and configure installed hardware (plug and play). It could natively run 32-bit applications, and featured several technological improvements that increased its stability over Windows 3.1. There were several OEM Service Releases (OSR) of Windows 95, each of which was roughly equivalent to a service pack.
Microsoft's next release was Windows 98 in June 1998. Microsoft released a second version of Windows 98 in May 1999, named Windows 98 Second Edition (often shortened to Windows 98 SE).
In February 2000, Windows 2000 (in the NT family) was released, followed by Windows Me in September 2000 (Me standing for Millennium Edition). Windows Me updated the core from Windows 98, but adopted some aspects of Windows 2000 and removed the "boot in DOS mode" option. It also added a new feature called System Restore, allowing the user to set the computer's settings back to an earlier date.
Windows Millennium Edition is often confused with Windows 2000 (because of its name), and has been said to be one of the worst operating systems Microsoft ever released.^[5]

Windows NT family

Main article: Windows NT

The NT family of Windows systems was fashioned and marketed for higher reliability business use. The first release was NT 3.1 (1993), numbered "3.1" to match the consumer Windows version, which was followed by NT 3.5 (1994), NT 3.51 (1995), NT 4.0 (1996), and Windows 2000, which is the last NT-based Windows release that does not include Microsoft Product Activation. Windows NT 4.0 was the first in this line to implement the "Windows 95" user interface (and the first to include Windows 95's built-in 32-bit runtimes).
Microsoft then moved to combine their consumer and business operating systems with Windows XP that was released on October 25, 2001. It came both in home and professional versions (and later niche market versions for tablet PCs and media centers); they also diverged release schedules for server operating systems. Windows Server 2003, released a year and a half after Windows XP, brought Windows Server up to date with Windows XP. After a lengthy development process, Windows Vista was released on November 30, 2006 for volume licensing and January 30, 2007 for consumers. And its server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 was released in early 2008. On July 22, 2009, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 were released as RTM (release to manufacturing) while the former was released to the public 3 months later on October 22, 2009.

64-bit operating systems

Windows NT included support for several different platforms before the x86-based personal computer became dominant in the professional world. Versions of NT from 3.1 to 4.0 variously supported PowerPC, DEC Alpha and MIPS R4000, some of which were 64-bit processors, although the operating system treated them as 32-bit processors.
With the introduction of the Intel Itanium architecture (also known as IA-64), Microsoft released new versions of Windows to support it. Itanium versions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 were released at the same time as their mainstream x86 (32-bit) counterparts. On April 25, 2005, Microsoft released Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions to support the x86-64 (or x64 in Microsoft terminology) architecture. Microsoft dropped support for the Itanium version of Windows XP in 2005. Windows Vista was the first end-user version of Windows that Microsoft released simultaneously in x86 and x64 editions. Windows Vista does not support the Itanium architecture. The modern 64-bit Windows family comprises AMD64/Intel64 versions of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008, in both Itanium and x64 editions. Windows Server 2008 R2 drops the 32-bit version, although Windows 7 does not.

Windows CE

Main articles: Windows CE and Windows Phone

The latest current version of Windows CE, Windows Embedded Compact 7, displaying a possible UI for what the media player can look like.

Windows CE (officially known as Windows Embedded Compact), is an edition of Windows that runs on minimalistic computers, like satellite navigation systems and some mobile phones. Windows Embedded Compact is based on its own dedicated kernel, dubbed Windows CE kernel. Microsoft licenses Windows CE to OEMs and device makers. The OEMs and device makers can modify and create their own user interfaces and experiences, while Windows CE provides the technical foundation to do so.
Windows CE was used in the Dreamcast along with Sega's own proprietary OS for the console. Windows CE is the core from which Windows Mobile is derived. Microsoft's latest mobile OS, Windows Phone, is based on components from both Windows CE 6.0 R3 and the current Windows CE 7.0.
Windows Embedded Compact is not to be confused with Windows XP Embedded or Windows NT 4.0 Embedded, modular editions of Windows based on Windows NT kernel.

Future of Windows

Screenshot of Windows 8 Consumer Preview startscreen (as of February 29th, 2012)

Bootable Windows To Go USB flash drive

Windows 8, the successor to Windows 7, is currently in development. Microsoft posted a blog entry in Dutch on October 22, 2010 hinting that Windows 8 would be released in roughly 1 year.^[6] Also, during the pre-Consumer Electronics Show keynote, Microsoft's CEO announced that Windows 8 will also run on ARM CPUs. This Windows version will also be more suitable for tablets and netbooks, featuring a more touch-friendly interface. Several new features will also be introduced, such as support for USB 3.0 and the ability to run Windows from USB devices (like USB Hard Disks or USB Flash drives) with Windows To Go.

History

Main article: History of Microsoft Windows

The first version of Microsoft Windows, version 1.0, released in November 1985, lacked a degree of functionality, achieved little popularity and was to compete with Apple's own operating system.^{[citation needed]} Windows 1.0 is not a complete operating system; rather, it extends MS-DOS. Microsoft Windows version 2.0 was released in November 1987 and was slightly more popular than its predecessor. Windows 2.03 (release date January 1988) had changed the OS from tiled windows to overlapping windows. The result of this change led to Apple Computer filing a suit against Microsoft alleging infringement on Apple's copyrights.^[7][8]

The Windows family tree.

Microsoft Windows version 3.0, released in 1990, was the first Microsoft Windows version to achieve broad commercial success, selling 2 million copies in the first six months.^[9][10] It featured improvements to the user interface and to multitasking capabilities. It received a facelift in Windows 3.1, made generally available on March 1, 1992. Windows 3.1 support ended on December 31, 2001.^[11]
In July 1993, Microsoft released Windows NT based on a new kernel. Windows NT 3.1 was the first release of Windows NT. NT was considered to be the professional OS and was the first Windows version to utilize preemptive multitasking.^{[citation needed]} Windows NT would later be retooled to also function as a home operating system, with Windows XP.
On August 24, 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95, a new, and major, consumer version that made further changes to the user interface, and also used preemptive multitasking. Windows 95 was designed to replace not only Windows 3.1, but also Windows for Workgroups, and MS-DOS. It was also the first Windows operating system to use Plug and Play capabilities. The changes Windows 95 brought to the desktop were revolutionary, as opposed to evolutionary, such as those in Windows 98 and Windows Me. Mainstream support for Windows 95 ended on December 31, 2000 and extended support for Windows 95 ended on December 31, 2001.^[12]
Next in the consumer line was Microsoft Windows 98 released on June 25, 1998. It was followed with the release of Windows 98 Second Edition (Windows 98 SE) in 1999. Mainstream support for Windows 98 ended on June 30, 2002 and extended support for Windows 98 ended on July 11, 2006.^[13]
As part of its "professional" line, Microsoft released Windows 2000 in February 2000. During 2004 part of the Source Code for Windows 2000 was leaked onto the Internet. This was bad for Microsoft as the same kernel used in Windows 2000 was used in Windows XP. The consumer version following Windows 98 was Windows Me (Windows Millennium Edition). Released in September 2000, Windows Me implemented a number of new technologies for Microsoft: most notably publicized was "Universal Plug and Play". Windows Me was heavily criticized due to slowness, freezes and hardware problems.
In October 2001, Microsoft released Windows XP, a version built on the Windows NT kernel that also retained the consumer-oriented usability of Windows 95 and its successors. This new version was widely praised in computer magazines.^[14] It shipped in two distinct editions, "Home" and "Professional", the former lacking many of the superior security and networking features of the Professional edition. Additionally, the first "Media Center" edition was released in 2002,^[15] with an emphasis on support for DVD and TV functionality including program recording and a remote control. Mainstream support for Windows XP ended on April 14, 2009. Extended support will continue until April 8, 2014.^[16]
In April 2003, Windows Server 2003 was introduced, replacing the Windows 2000 line of server products with a number of new features and a strong focus on security; this was followed in December 2005 by Windows Server 2003 R2.
On January 30, 2007, Microsoft released Windows Vista. It contains a number of new features, from a redesigned shell and user interface to significant technical changes, with a particular focus on security features. It is available in a number of different editions, and has been subject to some criticism.
On October 22, 2009, Microsoft released Windows 7. Unlike its predecessor, Windows Vista, which introduced a large number of new features, Windows 7 was intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the goal of being compatible with applications and hardware which Windows Vista was not at the time.^[17] Windows 7 has multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows shell with a new taskbar, referred to as the Superbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup,^[18] and performance improvements.