Windows 8 Versions

Windows 8 RT:

Basic version of windows 8. Not available to open market, yet its good to know. It is suitable for ARM processors but not suitable for Intel and AMD processors. Many legacy apps fail to run in this version of windows which means that it can not run x86 programs. If it is loaded to a tablet, it is sure that it provides good battery life.


Windows 8 Enterprise:

It is loaded with special features for system administrators. Hence suitable for customers with volume licencing.


Windows 8:

Ordinary version of windows, machines powered with this version lacks the encryption power.


Windows 8 Professional:

Most admired and booked version. If you feel to upgrade your old windows powered machine, then certainly its your choice of preference. Only thing lacking in this version is that for enterprise customers. 


HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS:

1GHz or faster processor, 1GB RAM (32-bit) or 2GB RAM (64-bit), 16GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20GB (64-bit), DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver. For Modern UI apps a screen with a resolution of 1024x768 pixels is mandatory.

Buying Windows 8:

3 ways are available:

1. If you are with a system or laptop purchased after June 2 of this year, then you can get it at Rs.699/- (Offer valid only till January 31,2013)

2. If you are the user of any of versions after xp (xp,vista,7) then you can download windows 8 from microsoft website at Rs.1999/- (Offer valid only till January 31,2013)

3. Retail box is available at the cost of Rs.4000/- (Offer valid only till January 31,2013). Then after sources say, it may reach up to Rs.11000/-

How to Get Microsoft's Windows 8

Microsoft's revamped Windows 8 operating system is finally ready for primetime. Redmond started selling digital downloads of the new OS at 12:01 a.m. local time this morning, shortly after it opened up the doors to its holiday pop-up store in New York's Times Square.

But how do you get it? There are a variety of options, from upgrades to entirely new systems. Read on for how to snag Microsoft's latest operating system.

Upgrade your existing PC online: PC users running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 can upgrade their PCs to Windows 8 Pro via a $39.99 download from now until Jan. 31, 2013. First, Microsoft will run the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant to make sure your computer can handle Windows 8. If you're in the clear, you will be walked through the upgrade process. Those with Windows 7 will have their files, apps, and settings automatically transferred to Windows 8 Pro (though it's always good to have a backup). If you have a PC with XP or Vista, you will have to reinstall apps.

New buyer upgrade: If you purchased a Windows 7 PC after June 2, 2012 you can get a Windows 8 Pro upgrade for $14.99. Microsoft started accepting upgrade registrations in August, but you can sign up now via windowsupgradeoffer.com. Starting today, Microsoft will send out promo codes via email. When you upgrade via Windows.com, Microsoft will display the $39.99 price for general upgrades; enter the promo code on the confirmation page to get the $14.99 price. Users have until Feb. 28, 2013 to use their promo code. For more, see Microsoft's FAQ.

Buy boxed software: If you're a little wary of upgrading your PC online, you can still buy a boxed version of Windows 8 Pro for $69.99. It's available from Amazon, Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, and the Microsoft Store.

Buy a new PC: If your PC is ready for an upgrade, why not kill two birds with one stone and get the new OS and a new computer at once? This time around, there are a few more options when it comes to hardware, though. Do you want a traditional Windows-based laptop, a super-fast ultrabook, a Windows RT tablet, or a convertible tablet/laptop combo? Whatever you choose, Windows 8 will come pre-loaded on the device, so you don't have to worry about upgrading or installing the OS on your machine. To help you make up your mind, check out 5 Windows 8 PCs Worth Waiting For.

original content is posted in http://www.pcmag.com

Russia builds its first realistic female android

A few months ago, the Russia 2045 movement unveiled the first realistic Russian android head, based on its founder Dmitry Itskov. He's a big believer in the prophetic technological singularity, and claims that by 2045 we will have developed the means to transplant our minds into computers and android bodies. His android surrogate, built and programmed by Moscow-based Neurobotics, has been dismantled and turned into the country's first female android.

Alissa's face may look somewhat realistic at first glance, since the silicone mask was made from one of Neurobotics' employees. However, unlikeother android heads which can have more than 30 points of articulation, Alissa has only eight. This works out to be just enough to add movement to its eyes and mouth, which are controlled with a standard game pad. The head is mounted to a mannequin, which stands on a wheel base for mobility.

Alissa has some basic AI thanks to the company's conversational software, which synchronizes the mouth movements to the words spoken by its speech synthesizer. "The pseudo-AI is very basic, providing simple question and answer type interactions. The voice recognition doesn't require training for specific people, but it is sensitive to pauses and speech volume," explained Mikhail Shcherbakov, who recently visited the lab. The lab work is still in its early stages.

In telepresence mode, the operator uses Skype to communicate with the outside world. The cameras in Alissa's eyeballs provide a video feed, while the operator uses a headset. The company is experimenting with a relatively simple EEG (electroencephalography) set-up to allow the operator to drive the robot's base using thoughts alone.

Neurobotics is working closely with Russia 2045, which claims androids will be commonplace by the end of the decade. However, given the humbling reality of the current state-of-the-art in countries like Japan, such predictions should be taken with a heavy grain of salt. You can see Alissa in action in the following video.

source: http://www.gizmag.com/

New app that can hack your smartphone camera and spy on you

US military experts have demonstrated a new smartphone app that can turn your mobile's camera into a spying tool for cyber criminals, secretly beaming images of your house, chequebook and other private information back to them.

The software can even build up a 3D model of your house, from which the hackers can inspect your rooms, potentially gleaning information about valuables in your home, calendar entries as well as spying on you.

The app 'PlaiceRaider' was created by US military experts at Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana, to show how cybercriminals could operate in the future, the Daily Mail reported.

The creators even demonstrated how they could read the numbers of a cheque book when they tested the Android software on 20 volunteers.

As long as the app could be installed on the users phone, it can instantly begin beaming back images from the phone when it senses the right conditions, and software on the other end can then re-construct maps of the visited room.

The team gave their infected phone to 20 individuals, who did not know about the malicious app, and asked them to continue operating in their normal office environment.

The team said they could glean vital information from all 20 users, and that the 3D reconstruction made it much easier to steal information than by just using the images alone.

Researcher Robert Templeman said their app can run in the background of any smartphone using the Android 2.3 operating system.

Through completely opportunistic use of the phone's camera and other sensors, PlaceRaider constructs rich, three dimensional models of indoor environments.

"Remote burglars can thus "download" the physical space, study the environment carefully, and steal virtual objects from the environment (such as financial documents, information on computer monitors, and personally identifiable information)," researchers said.

PlaiceRaider will silently take photographs, recording the time, location and orientation due to the sensors within most modern smartphones.

It will then delete any blurred or dark shots, before sending the rest back to a central server, which can reconstruct the user's room, based on information such as phone orientation.

Then the hacker can explore the user's property at will - for instance, scanning the room for calendars, private details on computer screens, and cheque-books or card details.

"We implemented on Android for practical reasons, but we expect such malware to generalise to other platforms such as iOS and Windows Phone," Templeman said.

source: www.indianexpress.com

Emulation Vs. Simulation

There is a vast number of computer systems in use today. From the computer on our desktops and the phones in our pockets, to the electronic brains within our cars, ATMs, airplanes, the number of different architectures is constantly growing. These systems require programming and training, which involves the use of either a simulator or an emulator. Though similar in their use, simulators and emulators are two different styles of providing an imitation of another system.

Purpose of Simulation and Emulation

• Simulators and emulators share a common purpose: the imitation of one complicated system with another complicated system. There are a variety of needs for these systems. For example, a programmer needs to create the software for a variety of devices on a desktop computer, and uses emulators and simulators to mimic the device before installing the new software. Another example is the use of simulators for training purposes, especially when the activity is dangerous to do untrained. Even modern gaming consoles will use emulators to allow gamers to play games from older systems on newer devices.

Definition of a Simulator

• A simulator is a software or hardware system that mimics another complicated system, with a varying level of reality. A lot of simulators are software-based. A large subset of video games are simulations, such as city simulators, war simulators and flight simulators. While video game simulators are not very realistic, highly realistic simulators like airline training simulators not only include ultra-realistic physics and details in the software, they also usually include hardware with realistic controls and feedback.

Definition of an Emulator

• Emulators are limited to imitating computer hardware systems. In short, emulators are computer system simulators. For example, there are emulators for just about every kind of phone that runs on desktop computers. These emulators allow programmers to write software for the emulated system without needing the hardware in hand. This saves time and money in development. Other uses include legacy support. Modern video game consoles use emulators to mimic the hardware of their previous incarnations. As computers evolve, emulation is required to run software that was written for older systems.

Other Uses for Simulators

• Simulators have a myriad of uses. Public organizations use simulations to model the growth and spread of disease in various settings and the effects of disasters, such as flooding and tornados. Scientists use simulations to model physical systems to the point that computational science is a growing field with its own journals. Manufacturers use simulations to model and design products before money is spent making them. Artificial intelligences use simulation to learn and build their database of knowledge. Simulation and emulation has proven itself an important tool in this modern age.

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  Emulation

  • Emulation is making one computer act like a different computer. One of the most popular applications of emulation technology is using an emulator program to run gaming software from outdated computers, like the Commodore 64, on new PCs. Gaming emulators can also make PCs run games from older consoles like Nintendo or Sega Genesis. Another practical application of emulation software is to emulate the OS, or operating system, of a different computer. An emulator can be used this way to make Mac software run on a PC or vice-versa.

    Legality

    • Emulators that allow computers to run software from other types of computers, or even gaming consoles are perfectly legal. Many emulators are freeware and open source, meaning anyone can download them and anyone has access to the actual programming code. But many of the games that can be played through emulators are illegal. The read only memory games, or ROMs, are usually copies of copyrighted software. Those are illegal to distribute or download.

    Other Devices

    • 

      Emulators aren't only made for computers. Emulators are available for iPods, iPhones, Blackberries, Google's Android and other "smart" devices. Most of these emulators are designed primarily for game play. Some of them are fully and legally licensed and some are more homemade versions available for free.

    Simulation

    • Simulation is also a from of mimicry, but it is different than emulation. A simulation is a computer recreation of a particular scenario. Simulations are designed to act like an authentic system or situation. Simulations are popular in the gaming world, one of the first being Microsoft's Flight Simulator. Many other games allow users to recreate theme parks, restaurants or historical battles. The Sims series is just a simulation of everyday life.

    Other Uses

    • 

      Simulations are valuable scientific tools. They are common in physics, biology, chemistry and engineering. They can allow scientists to study virtual scenarios that may be impossible to actually create. Simulations are also used in economics, mathematics, sociology and other fields. Simulators are also an integral part of flight training programs for pilots. Microsoft's Flight Simulator is just a game, but real flight simulators create a realistic, but perfectly safe experience for pilots in training.

      
      

      source: www.ehow.com