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Can Microsoft thrive if just 20 percent of devices run Windows?

In the PC era, Microsoft's Windows dominated with more than 90 percent market share of systems, including desktops and laptops. It was a virtual monopoly, and Microsoft was able to attract the best and brightest talent and developers. With the massive shift to mobile devices, however, Microsoft has fallen behind where the market is heading.

But reports of the death of the PC are premature. According to Net Applications, Microsoft is still the king of the desktop, with about an 83 percent share of the desktop market.

However, that market is in steep decline, with PC sales falling nearly 14 percent … Read more

Android invasion on the PC

CNET Update has a split-personality PC:

In this episode of Update:

- Prepare to find Android on more computers. The Asus Transformer Book Trio runs both Windows 8 and Android, and Acer's new all-in-one desktop comes loaded only with Android.

- Play rough with the scratch-resistant Asus Zenbook Infinity with Gorilla Glass 3.

- Pick your size for the new Galaxy Tab 3. The new Samsung tablets will come with screen sizes of 7, 8, or 10.1 inches.

- Crank up the iRadio rumors before WWDC, as Apple reaches a deal with Warner Music.

- Watch the Vine … Read more

CamFind turns your iPhone camera into a search engine

Your iPhone's camera is good for a lot more than just snapping photos. For example, it can translate foreign-language signs, menus, and other printed materials in real time. And grade the foods at your grocery store. And scan documents on the go.

CamFind turns your camera into a search engine, allowing you to look up information just by pointing the lens at any real-world object or location. And it's pretty darn cool.… Read more

How to use your voice to search with Chrome on iOS

Google on Monday released a small update to its Chrome app for iOS users. The update, which brings faster Web page rendering for slow or unavailable networks, also adds the ability to run a search on Google using your voice. And depending on the search, you may just get an earful back from Chrome with the answer.

To search with your voice in Chrome for iOS, make sure you've updated to the latest version, 27.0.1453.10, from the App Store. Once you've downloaded and installed the update, activate the omnibox as you normally would when you … Read more

Chrome for iOS finally finds its voice

As Chrome usage grows on mobile devices, the latest iOS version of the browser finally arrived Monday with the same voice search feature that its cross-platform siblings have.

Chrome 27 for iOS (download) incorporates voice search, which uses Google's own voice-recognition database and not the Nuance-driven Siri.

As with other Google services that use its voice search, including Google Now for iOS, voice search in Chrome for iOS will read back to you your query as it pulls up the familiar blue-link list of Google search results.

One interesting difference between voice search on Chrome for iOS and Chrome … Read more

Latest iPod Touch rates poorly on repairability, iFixit says

iFixit's latest teardown takes a look at Apple's new iPod Touch and finds that despite internal changes, the device received the same repairability score as its higher-capacity counterparts.

Apple quietly introduced its latest iPod Touch last week. The fifth-generation, 16GB iPod Touch features the same 4-inch Retina Display and dual-core A5 processor as the 32GB and 64GB versions but loses the rear-facing camera and LED flash.

The 16GB iPod Touch's slimmer design weighs about 3 ounces, is 4.86 inches tall, and is 2.31 inches wide. The gadget costs $229, less than its higher-end counterparts at $… Read more

Apple owes France $6.5 million in unpaid taxes

Apple appears to be delinquent on a hefty tax payment in France.

SACEM, a French society that controls royalties paid to authors, composers, and publishers, said on Friday that Apple owes 5 million euros ($6.5 million) in royalty taxes from iPads sold in France in 2011. The tax, known in France as a copie privee, is levied against all vendors of digital devices that use copyrighted content, according to French blog site The Rude Baguette.

That tax then goes to SACEM, which divvies out the money among the various authors, producers, and other creative folks.

Apple passed on the … Read more

Apple plans to bring AirDrop file-sharing to iOS -- report

Apple's AirDrop tool, which allows OS X users to share files between computers quickly and efficiently, is on its way to the company's mobile platform, a new report claims.

Apple is currently in the process of testing AirDrop on iOS 7, 9to5Mac is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of its plans. According to the site's sources, AirDrop is currently embedded in the iOS share menu. It's possible that it could allow for sharing to Macs, though right now, it's focused on sharing between iOS devices.

Apple is expected to show off iOS … Read more

Acer's new Haswell PCs include S3 and S7 ultrabooks, 8-inch Iconia W3 tablet, and new Z3, V7, and V3

(Updated 11 pm PT June 3 with additional PCs and Intel processor specs)

The time has come for PC manufacturers to start unveiling new hardware in association with Intel's forthcoming fourth-gen Core i-series "Haswell" processors, and some are doing it earlier than others.

Acer, recently busy with its "Star Trek"-inspired Aspire R7 unveiling, has announced even more PC products: a new 8-inch Windows 8 tablet, a second slim S3 ultrabook to accompany the also-updated S7, and a refreshed Aspire Z3 all-in-one desktop PC. Some of them feature Intel's newest fourth-gen "Haswell" … Read more

Dear Apple, is wearing a watch really natural?

Most of us spend our lives sliding on a scale between impossible and gullible.

We're sometimes persuaded so easily, yet, at others, even the most accepted pieces of information can't penetrate our obstinacy.

No, I'm not thinking about global warming, Sharon Stone, or the New York Yankees. I'm musing on this supposed iWatch that Apple may or may not ever create, produce, market or give away as a free gift at Christmas with the purchase of two pink iPhones.

In his epically stoic performance at D11, Apple CEO Tim Cook offered that while Google Glass was &… Read more