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Microsoft took a big gamble with Windows 8 when they based the operating system around the concept of touch. Given the prevalence of touchscreen devices over the past couple of years, it is only natural to expect that the market for touch is growing. Tapping into this growing market was the objective of Microsoft when they came up with the Windows 8 hybrids. Merging the functionalities of a tablet and laptop, the hybrids carried solid novelty appeal but it seems like the end of the road for them has come.
As it turns, people do love using the keyboard and mouse and aren’t simply inclined to abandon the conventional computer experience for touch devices. This is epitomized with the latest round of discounts announced by leading Windows 8 hybrid devices’ sellers. Some of the discounts run so deep you would be surprised. It is no secret that Windows 8 has failed to set the market on fire the way Microsoft was expecting it to. The discounts for the hybrids further propel this notion.
According to some reports, people interested in buying a Windows 8 powered hybrid, not that there are many, can enjoy discounts of up to 35%. The greatest discount you will find is the 35% slashed off the price of the Toshiba Satellite U925T-S2130. The Convertible Ultrabook can be yours for a price much lower than being quoted in the market. Even the most ardent of Microsoft supporters would have a hard time finding a positive aspect to the price cuts being made by the suppliers.
And it is not just the hybrids where Windows 8 is failing to make an impact. Touted by many to be a savior for the declining PC market, Windows 8 hasn’t exactly lived up to that billing. Though it was released near the end of the year when affecting the market significantly is not possible, Microsoft’s new OS couldn’t help turn the slide around. The PC market fell by 3.7% during 2012. Even after that, the market experts were optimistic about its future.
However, their optimism turned out to be false. Maybe they too were pinning their hopes to the performance of Windows 8 and had assumed that it would be widely accepted by PC users in quick time. Well, that didn’t happen and the PC sales keep on dwindling since the beginning of the year. The sales for Windows aren’t growing by more than 0.5% per month which is simply not acceptable given the state of the market.
The initial predictions for the PC market in 2013 were that it would grow by close to three percent. With just one quarter gone by, the projections have been changed drastically and now it is being expected that the market would contract rather than expand. The decline is projected to be around 1.3%. So whether it is touchscreen hybrid devices you talk about or PCs, Windows 8 isn’t performing well in either market. PCs are here to stay but the writing on the wall seems to have emerged for hybrids.
[Image via HP]
The post Possible End of the Road for Windows 8 Hybrids appeared first on TechBeat.
In a world where almost everything about our lives, from personal information to financial data, is on the internet, the need for strong online security is ever greater. We all know that no password is unbreakable, no matter how secure. UC Berkely School of Information researchers have come up with a solution: to replace manually entered passwords with brainwave-based computer authentication.
In their study, the scientists used a NeuroSky MindSet brainwave-reading headset connected to the left frontal lobe of the subjects and to a computer via Bluetooth technology. The results of the research were surprisingly accurate, with error rates of less than one percent, proving that a “mind-controlled” computer concept is not really the stuff of science-fiction and can actually become reality in the immediate future.
How it works
The computer uses sensors to analyze electroencephalograms and recognize brainwaves, thus allowing you to log into your online accounts using passthoughts instead of a traditional password that contains a sequences of numbers, letters or other characters. More specifically, you just have to think your password and the website you want to log into will unlock by the power of your brainwaves.
This study marks a significant breakthrough in efforts to make online authentication more secure. The idea of using brainwaves and EEG sensors has been around for some time now, but the technology required to make this happen has been rather invasive and expensive. The MindSet from NeuroSky is more affordable and easy to use, as apart from a small sensor, it looks just like an ordinary headset.
Researchers insist that the use of brainwave authentication would be a secure and effective method that has a high degree of accuracy and can successfully replace traditional password systems. With this innovative technology, not only will you be able to stop having to memorize dozens of different passcodes for all the sites you access, but your online information will be completely safe from hackers or scammers!
[Image via ContentFy]
The post Passthoughts – Replace Passwords with Brainwaves appeared first on TechBeat.
