Windows 8

Acer eyes Windows Phone 8 device amid its 2013 smartphones

Hardware maker Acer, better known for its PCs and tablets, is planning to release six new smartphones next year, according to reports -- with the devices to run either Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 or Android.

Acer president Jim Wong told Taiwanese publication Digitimes:

One of the six models will be a Windows Phone 8 device and the rest will run on Android platforms, with high-end models to be built with Qualcomm's dual-core CPUs and entry-level models using chipset solutions from MediaTek.

Digitimes' report, later confirmed by other publications, also says that from next year Acer smartphones will be … Read more

At Windows 8 launch, these 40 games will be ready to go

Microsoft's Xbox team has gone public with a list of 40 casual games that will be available on Windows 8 starting the first day the operating system is commercially available.

As of October 26, Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Minesweeper, Wordament and other games will be part of the first wave of such titles available to Windows 8 users, according to an August 31 post on the "Windows Experience" blog. Twenty-nine of the listed titles are from Microsoft Studios.

"Xbox is also announcing support from Rovio, Miniclip, Gameloft, ZeptoLab, Glu Mobile, Halfbrick Studios who are also bringing … Read more

Microsoft's best Windows 8 apps

Microsoft's Windows 8 apps are a decidedly mixed bag so far. But one group of apps shows how the new environment can shine with the right software.

I haven't been too impressed with many of the apps Microsoft has created for Windows 8. Some, such as Music and Video, are designed mostly to get you to buy stuff from the company, offering only minimal support for playing your own songs and videos.

Others apps, such as Mail, People, and Messaging, aren't bad but still seem half-baked and in need of further refinements. Mail, for example, still doesn'… Read more

Reclaim storage space on your iOS device with PhoneClean

It was with great skepticism that I approached PhoneClean. I received an e-mail from the developer, iMobie, claiming that this free Windows app would magically allow me to reclaim storage space on my iPhone and iPad without jailbreaking and without deleting any apps or photos, videos, music, or other media content. As iMobie explained it, PhoneClean works its magic by removing long-term caches, cookies, and temporary and junk files generated by many apps or the result of failed iTunes syncs.

It sounded too good to be true.

However, since I have the smallest capacity iPhone 4S and iPad 2 and install many apps each week in an attempt to bring you, dear reader, reports on how to use the latest and greatest and most helpful apps, I am always up against the limit. Thus, I submitted my iPad to the mercy of PhoneClean.… Read more

What's missing in Windows 8 apps

Windows 8 ships with some absolutely gorgeous apps. Navigating through News, Travel, or Weather, it's hard to deny the rich and colorful depiction of content. While its four core productivity apps are equally pretty, they're woefully inadequate in their current state for getting things done.

First off is the all-important Mail app. This is not a service-specific tool for grabbing only your Microsoft mail but a wide net to cast for juggling all your e-mail. It currently supports Microsoft's Hotmail and Outlook, as well as Google accounts and "Other" for non-Webmail accounts It's a … Read more

Acer eyeing lackluster consumer response to Windows 8 devices

Windows 8 devices won't deliver much in the way of "explosive growth" for device makers when the new OS debuts in October.

At least, that's the opinion of Acer Chairman J.T. Wang. The chairman made his comments earlier today during a conference call to announce Acer's second-quarter earnings.

CNET contacted Acer for comment and will update the story when we get more information. But quotes from Wang obtained by Computerworld revealed the chairman's lack of optimism.

"We are still waiting for the signal of the consumers' enthusiasm," Wang said during the … Read more

How to enable touch-pad gestures on Windows 8 laptops

Installing the Windows 8 RTM (release-to-manufacturing) on my two laptops went smoothly yesterday except for one problem -- no gesture support.

Trying to navigate the Start screen and other areas of the new OS, I found that left and right clicking on the touch pad worked fine. But using two fingers or other gestures to scroll or move around had no effect.

A Web search discovered other testers and users bumping into the same obstacle. This is odd, because I ran into no such problems with the Windows 8 Release Preview. So why doesn't Windows 8 RTM handle touch-pad … Read more

Five ways Windows 8 overhauls the PC

In 2009, J.J. Abrams rebooted the fictional Star Trek chronology and franchise. In 2011, DC Comics did the same with its superheroes. But now Microsoft is about to reboot the very real Windows operating system, and it will forever change how we use computers.

Windows 8 is Microsoft's answer to the question of how to integrate mobile and desktop computing. For the most part, it succeeds, but it's an ambitious answer that will be best understood only when many people to stop thinking of desktop and mobile as discrete entities.

Touch will drive Windows 8's buzz, … Read more

Take Windows 8 for a test drive

Can't wait to give Windows 8 a test drive? Well, you can take a 90-day trial version for a spin.

The "Windows 8 evaluation for developers" is available via the Microsoft Developer Network Evaluation Center (at the link above), and the company says it's "intended for developers building Windows 8 apps and IT professionals interested in trying Windows 8 Enterprise on behalf of their organization."

The company doesn't provide any technical support for this trial version. Below, you'll find more details from the MSDN post (and you can read CNET Reviews' take on the OS here). … Read more