| The Distro Interview: Microsoft Principal Researcher Bill Buxton Apr 23rd 2012, 18:21  Bill Buxton has spent most of his career getting between humans and computers. While his initial focus was on music and digital instruments, that eventually led to an interest in human-computer interaction, and pioneering work with multitouch systems and other user interfaces. He worked with the famed hotbed of innovation Xerox PARC in the late 1980s and early 90s, and was later Chief Scientist for software firm Alias Wavefront before claiming the same title at SGI Inc. when that company acquired the former in 1995. After a time running his own Toronto-based design and consulting firm, he moved on to Microsoft Research in 2005, where he continues to serve as the organization's Principal Researcher.
We recently had a chance to pick his brain and get his thoughts on a range of issues, including state of design at Microsoft, the future of natural user interfaces, and whether we're really entering a "post-PC" era. Continue reading The Distro Interview: Microsoft Principal Researcher Bill Buxton The Distro Interview: Microsoft Principal Researcher Bill Buxton originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | HTC One X gets teardown, battery unsurprisingly dominates Apr 23rd 2012, 17:58  While some might deem the One X's combination of svelte unibody profile, quad-core power and 720p display to be downright witchcraft, we knew differently. Fortunately, there's now scientific proof to back us up, courtesy of PCOnline, which has performed a delicate autopsy on the Chinese variant of HTC's new flagship. To explore that polycarbonate shell, a narrow plastic tool to is eased in behind the screen and around the face of the device, with the majority of the phone's tightly packed innards -- including the Tegra 3 processor -- attached to the display half. Some contacts, however, were left on the inside of the unibody, including the NFC chip. Most of the quad-core thinking parts were clustered around the 8-megapixel sensor, while the battery dominated the center of HTC's big hitter. Anyone who gets their kicks from the gentle undoing of all that engineering hard work can watch it unravel in grisly detail at the source below. HTC One X gets teardown, battery unsurprisingly dominates originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  PhoneArena |  PCOnline (translated) | Email this | Comments | | SkyDrive app for Windows Phone gets 2.0 update, reduces free storage capacity Apr 23rd 2012, 17:31  Microsoft has updated its SkyDrive cloud storage and sharing app for Windows Phone -- you know, the one that offers more free storage than a certain competitor. New features include a batch-select tool to make moving files around easier while on the go, the ability to directly manage folder permissions and the quick sharing of files with approved recipients in your People Hub. Version 2.0 is currently available for download in the Marketplace -- even for low-end Windows Phones. In other news, Microsoft has revealed pricing for its just-launched Skydrive app on Windows desktops, setting you back $10, $25, or $50 a year for an additional 20GB, 50GB or 100GB. Scrapped in the process is the 25 gigs of free storage that Microsoft once offered to new users, now dropping that pro-bono capacity to just 7GBs, save for the lucky few that opted in before the company announced its new pricing structure.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in] SkyDrive app for Windows Phone gets 2.0 update, reduces free storage capacity originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Phone Arena | WP Central, Building Windows 8 | Email this | Comments | |
