Nearing the
half-year mark as CEO, Satya Nadella issues a call for change. But he
tells CNET News, one thing that won't change is the future of Xbox at
Microsoft.
Microsoft CEO Satya NadellaIn case you still had any doubt, it's no longer Steve Ballmer's Microsoft.
Nearly six months into his tenure, CEO Satya Nadella issued a broad-brushed call for change at Microsoft in a 3,100-word note he sent to employees Thursday morning urging the rank-and-file to improve the corporate culture and "obsess" over customers.
Although
his memo did not offer specifics, Nadella also promised that Microsoft
would "flatten the organization" while creating "leaner business
processes."
That's for another day. More immediately, think of
this as Nadella's most visible attempt to publicly stamp the direction
of the company he began leading last February.
"I used this as a
good opportunity for me to just mark the passing of one fiscal year
into the next and make sense of the changes," Nadella said in an
interview with CNET, during which he described the need for Microsoft to
redefine, if not expand, the concept of user productivity.
"The
real emphasis for us is what's our soul and contribution in this
mobile-first, cloud-first world. And that's where redefining
productivity and rethinking platforms is a core sensibility we have,"
he said, adding that he wants Microsoft to think about it more
ambitiously.
"At the end of the day, it's all about culture -- you
kind of eat your strategy for lunch if you don't have a culture that
reinforces what you want to have done," he said.
The following is an edited transcript of the interview. Q: I think you missed your true profession. You wrote one hell of a lead, as we say in journalism.Satya
Nadella: I want the least number of decision makers. We want to empower
people to get more things done and also give permission to question
orthodoxy. So it's not about being static, or here are a few changes and
that's it. I want us to be able to say, "Look we can change. And we
should change and don't be beholden to any of our past." Because the
nature of work is changing.
At
the core of the products we build, I want to think about productivity
centered around people. I don't want to think about OneDrive and
OneDrive for Business as two things. I want the system to think about it
on behalf of me. There are some documents that are my personal
documents that should go to OneDrive; there are documents that are Word
documents that should go to OneDrive for Business. That should all be
quote-unquote, auto-magic. That's the kind of innovation we should be
able to contribute to, and that's what we're pursuing Your note also seems to be a declaration that Xbox isn't going anywhere, that it's staying with Microsoft?Nadella:
I wanted to be very, very explicit about how a large company -- and a
successful, large company -- like ourselves can have a core and should,
in fact, have a core and also have ambition to do a few other things
where we can have high impact. And to me, I'm so glad to have Xbox as a
franchise, especially at a time when gaming is becoming even more
important -- as a digital life category and in the mobile world. The
most time spent? Games. The most money spent? Games. Xbox is one of the
most revered, loved brands in games. I look at that and say I want that
team to be super ambitious about gaming...It doesn't matter that it's
not core to productivity. In fact, there's so much technology transfer
that actually happens. Take all the speech recognition that we have in
Skype. It came because of Kinect on Xbox. But that's not the reason that
I'm in Xbox. We're in Xbox because we want to win in gaming, delight
customers in gaming, and want to grow that fan base. I wanted to make
that explicit because I think it's OK for a large company like ours to
be proud of things where we are having a high impact outside of the
core. Are you still thinking over whether to keep Bing?Nadella:
Bing to me is a core part of task completion and productivity...A lot
has happened underneath Bing where a lot of Bing technology is now a
significant part of a lot of what we do in Azure and Office 365, so
that's what I wanted to reference (talking about it) as part of the
core. You're coming up on six months on the job. I think a
lot of people would be curious to know: What's been your biggest
surprise so far?Nadella: The thing that I've found is this
hunger for being clear on what is it that is our soul, our core, and
that unique contribution and sense of purpose that we can make -- and
have a bold ambition around it. There were a lot of things. It's not as
if we're suddenly doing things completely differently. But the cool
thing is, I love the fact that people are getting galvanized and much
more clear about "Oh wow, yeah that's right; we can think about
platforms and productivity differently." We should not, in fact, think
about our own efforts in fractured ways, but let's put the user in the
center and bring things together so that we harmonize it for the user.
We
have a lot of work ahead of us. At the end of the day, I'm not a
believer in memos but a believer, obviously, in products that draw
inspiration from what we said we would do. And I see good progress in
the last six months about work that was started even before I started as
CEO . That's been good, and now I'm feeling great about our pipeline. What's your sense: Do you think Microsoft's ahead or behind in each of the categories where the company operates?Nadella: Think about it. We're 39 years old and here we are on Techmeme
every day, every week. There's something right about this place. How
does one be relevant in such a broad way across digital life and digital
work? There are so many new competitors. In my own 22 years at
Microsoft, I started competing with Novell and Lotus. It's just
different. Now we have new competitors. It's great. I have a lot of
respect for these new competitors. Some places we're ahead, some we're
behind -- but we're in it. We're in the mix. And we're a profitable
company. So I'll take our hand any day of the week. But at the same
time, like I always say, this industry has no respect for any past. So I
want us to be on our toes and forward-looking and aggressive and
ambitious. But I feel it's our time when it comes to thinking broadly
and ambitiously about productivity and platforms.
The search giant's plight reveals the challenges inherent in trying to comply with a controversial and complex law.
Google
is having a tough time dealing with a new European law that requires it
to remove links to search results upon user request.
In a column published Thursday for The Guardian, Google chief legal officer David Drummond said that since May when the "right to be forgotten" ruling went into effect, the company has received more than 70,000 takedown requests
encompassing 250,000 individual webpages. In most cases, Google's team
is reviewing the requests from users who provide limited information and
not much context.
Recent videos claim to show the supposed sapphire screen withstanding some intense abuse -- but it's not invincible.
This supposed iPhone 6 screen is tough but not invincible. Earlier this week, I nearly had an anxiety attack over the prospect that the expected iPhone 6 would sport a sapphire screen impervious to even the most creative methods of torture-testing, which has became a passionate hobby of mine in recent years.
This excited panic was brought on by a video showing a purported iPhone 6
sapphire screen taking all sorts of abuse from big blades without
showing so much as a scratch. Frequent Apple leaker Sonny Dickson also
posted a video earlier this week that allegedly shows a rather flexible
sapphire crystal display destined for the iPhone 6.
I envisioned
having to journey to the ends of the Earth or get reacquainted with the
harsh handshake of battery acid in order to really push Apple's next big
thing to its limits. (Check out my previous pondering post on the iPhone 6 screen to understand what I'm rambling about. )
A new video surfaced Thursday, this one apparently out of Hong Kong,
that appears to show iPhone 6 screen panels standing up to similar
forms of torture, including a direct flame. Eventually the video show a
sapphire screen shattering when driven over with a car tire -- reminding us that an iPhone 6 sapphire screen would be tough but not invincible.
You can watch this latest torture test below. Assuming these videos are accurate, which an expert recently said could be possible, I'm open to heading to Hawaii or Guatemala to do an extreme heat test on one of these with the help of a local volcano. Let me know how else in the comments you'd like to see a rumored iPhone 6 sapphire screen stretched to its limit.
This quick and simple tip will help you charge your Android, BlackBerry, iOS, or Windows Phone device faster.
We
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a half hour. To make matters even worse, the battery on your smartphone
is in the red. Surely you don't have enough time to charge your device
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The GoodWhile minor, the small upgrade to the stock CPU in Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air results in improved performance. The multitouch trackpad is still the industry's best, and even better, the 13-inch Air now starts at $999, which is $100 less than the previous model.
The Bad Newer features such as touchscreens and higher-resolution displays are still missing. The ultrabook competition is catching up, in terms of design.
The Bottom LineIf you own a MacBook Air from the past couple of years there's really no need to upgrade, but a small spec bump and minor price cut make the most-current Air even more attractive.
The now-familiar MacBook Air hasn't seen a design overhaul in several generations, and the small update to the 13-inch and 11-inch models released in April 2014 does nothing to change that.
The current MacBook Air models differ from the 2013 versions in that the base model uses a 1.4GHz Intel Core i5, an upgrade from the previous 1.3GHz processor. More significantly, the 11.6-inch MacBook Air now starts at $899 (from $999) in the US and at £749 (from £849) in the UK, while the 13.3-inch version now drops to $999 (from $1,099) in the US and to £849 (from £949) in the UK. List prices in Australia are AU$1,099 for the 11-inch and AU$1,199 for the 13-inch model.
We've tested the new 2014 versions, and found their performance to be slightly improved. (Some have seen different results, owing to Apple using SSDs from multiple manufacturers in Airs, but our tests all fall in line with expectations from this small CPU uptick.) There's certainly no reason to upgrade if you have last year's MacBook Air. Instead, the price cut is the big news here, making this an even more viable option for midprice laptop shoppers.
While the lower price is a plus, the lack of significant performance improvement and the static physical design remind us that the Air is overdue for a more radical overhaul. Balancing out those two factors, our rating remains the same, and the remainder of this review is essentially unchanged from the 2013 version. Both the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Airs are still universally useful laptops that are largely frustration-free, but that also lack some of the latest bells and whistles (edge-to-edge glass, touchscreens, higher display resolutions) you may be looking for.
Like the 2013 Air, this model has an Intel Haswell-generation CPU, and also Intel's improved HD5000 graphics. It's still not anything like having a discrete GPU, as in the 15-inch Retina Pro , but with game services such as Steam and EA's Origin now being Mac-compatible, it may make some small inroads for OS X gaming.
The 2013 Air also added 802.11ac Wi-Fi , a new standard that will slowing working its way into wireless routers, as well as Apple's AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule hardware. If you have an 802.11n router, which is a much more likely scenario, this may not help you, but it's a nice piece of future-proofing.
Battery life remains a big selling point, and when you consider the cost of the base model has come down from $1,199 to $999 in two years, the 13-inch MacBook Air is, despite not being the newest design on the block, still one of the most universally useful laptops you can buy.
PC GEEKBOX
Apple MacBook Air (11-inch, 2014)
Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, 2014)
Lenovo Yoga 2 (13-inch)
Price as reviewed
$899
$999
$899
Display size/resolution
11.6-inch 1,366 x 768 screen
13.3-inch 1,440 x 900 screen
13.3-inch 1,920 x 1,080 touch screen
PC CPU
1.4GHz Intel Core i5 4260U
1.4GHz Intel Core i5 4260U
1.6GHz Intel Core i5 4200
PC Memory
4GB 1,600MHZ DDR3 SDRAM
4GB 1,600MHZ DDR3 SDRAM
4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz
Graphics
1,536MB (shared) Intel HD Graphics 5000
1,536MB (shared) Intel HD Graphics 5000
1,792MB (shared) Intel HD Graphics 4400
Storage
128GB SSD
128GB SSD
500GB+16GD SSHD
Optical drive
None
None
None
Networking
802.11a/c wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
802.11a/c wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
Operating system
OSX 10.9.3 Mavericks
OSX 10.9.3 Mavericks
Windows 8.1 (64-bit)
Design and features
The MacBook Air keeps the same external look as the previous couple of generations, a look that still rivals the newest ultrabooks, although some systems, such as Sony's Vaio Pro line , are getting thinner and lighter without sacrificing much in the way of productivity.
Both the 11-inch and 13-inch versions of the MacBook Air still have the same thickness, ranging from 0.11-inch to 0.68-inch. Spread over the larger footprint of the 13-inch chassis, the 13-inch version still feels satisfyingly thin.
The Vaio Pro 13 next to the 13-inch MacBook Air.
As with previous versions, the rigid aluminum construction makes the Air feel sturdy enough to just throw it in a bag and carry it along with you without a protective case or sleeve, and it's interesting to contrast the aluminum unibody construction here with the lighter carbon fiber in the aforementioned Vaio Pro. I'd still trust the Air and its unyielding lid more in a throw-in-your-luggage field test.
The backlit keyboard and trackpad are the same as on the previous models, and the trackpad especially remains the standard by which all others are judged. Many other laptop makers have moved to larger clickpad-style touchpads, but we have yet to find a touchpad that comes close to this for multitouch gestures. The pad is again hinged at the top, allowing the entire pad to click down, and we strongly suggest going into the Preferences menu and turning on all of the tapping options for further ease of use.
It will be interesting to see how Apple's user interfaces develop in the face of bothWindows 8, which tries (not always successfully) to reinvent the entire concept of working with a computer OS, and the upcoming OS X Mavericks update . For now, flicking around with three-and-four-finger gestures on the MacBook trackpad remains the most seamless way to swap between windows and applications, at least in my experience.
Unlike the 11-inch MacBook Air, the 13-inch screen is still not a 16:9 display. The screen area also lacks the edge-to-edge glass over a black bezel found in theMacBook Pro; instead the screen is, as in previous years, surrounded by a thick silver bezel.
On the positive side, the native resolution of the display is 1,440x900 pixels, which is slightly better than the 1,366x768 you find in many 13-inch laptops, although even midpriced models are quickly switching over to 1,600x900 or even 1,920x1,080, and premium systems are adding higher-than-HD displays.
The GoodThe LG G3 has a great camera, a brilliantly sharp display, a snappy quad-core processor, and a flat UI that makes Android 4.4 look good. LG's flagship has also improved on the previous model -- the new G3 comes with a removable battery and microSD card slot, both things the G2 lacked.
The Bad The new QHD display with its 2,560x1,440-pixel resolution is quite a power-hog, so the phone will barely last you a day without a charge.
The Bottom LinePossessing the right blend of features and design, the G3 finally gives LG the right phone with which to challenge Korean rival Samsung.
starsLG has always played second fiddle to Samsung in the smartphone market, especially in Korea, but it looks like its latest flagship, the G3, could cause a major upset. Early reports from Korea show the G3 selling like hot cakes, outdoing Samsung's Galaxy S5 by three times in the initial launch period.It's not hard to see why. Unlike the Galaxy S5, which shows a more conservative approach in its design, LG's G3 goes bold with a new high-resolution QHD (2,560x1,440-pixel resolution) display, as well as adding a laser-guided autofocus for the camera.That's not to mention the other design changes that address the issues of the previous flagship, such as the addition of a microSD card slot and removable battery. With a cleaner, toned-down redesign of the UI (it's running a reskinnedAndroid 4.4 KitKat), the LG G3 has what it takes to be a top-ranked flagship smartphone for 2014.
The G3 is set to debut globally soon in the UK, US, and Australia. In the UK, the phone will be available on July 1 with a likely price of £490. In Australia, the 16GB version of the phone will go for AU$799, and in Singapore, the 16GB model will retail for S$868 (around AU$690, £410) without contract, while the 32GB will go for a slight markup of S$928 (AU$740, £440). We'll update this review when we have information about availability and prices in the US.
Design Sporting the same rounded corners and slim bezel as the G2, the LG G3 keeps the same buttons on the rear as well. Instead of the glossy plastic found on the G2, though, LG has given the G3 a metallic-looking back.
LG says the rear cover is mostly plastic (to allow wireless charging to work), but it added a metal film to give it that shiny, polished look. The result is a very premium finish, and Samsung should pay attention here. While the dimpled rear cover of the S5 was a marked improvement over the glossy finish of the S4, the G3's back cover conveys a more luxurious feel that you normally get from metal phones such as theHTC One M8 or the Apple iPhone 5S.
Unlike the LG G Flex, though, its surface has no healing capabilities, so if you accidentally scratch the rear, you'll have to live with the battle scars.
As mentioned earlier, the power button and volume rocker are all found on the back. LG has done this for a few phones now, and while it takes some getting used to, it's actually a pretty good tweak. The keys have a textured pattern that differentiates them from the rear cover. It's also easy to reach the buttons when holding the phone with one hand. There's no need to stretch your fingers to power off the device (especially if it's on the top).
The 13-megapixel camera is located right above the rear buttons, and on the left is the Laser Auto Focus feature, which uses an infrared laser beam to measure the distance between the camera and the intended subject of your picture. On the right is the dual-LED flash.
The best part of the G3, however, has to be that there simply aren't any buttons. Unlike the S5, which has a physical home button, the G3 uses onscreen keys instead. This means that the 5.5-inch, 2,560x1,440-pixel-resolution screen grabs all of your attention, and the superthin bezel enhances that experience, making the phone appear to be "all screen."
Design
The G3's display has an eye-popping 538 pixels per inch (ppi), while the iPhone 5S stops at 326ppi. That's 65 percent more pixels than Apple's handset, by the way. But does this really matter? In short, no. You'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between a normal full-HD display and the QHD of the G3. The only time you could really see the difference would be if you were to put a drop of water on the screen and take a close-up shot. I did that with the Oppo Find 7, which has a 5.5-inch 2,560x1,440-pixel resolution display, and compared it with an Oppo Find 7a, which is a Find 7 with a 1080p screen. Thus, the difference in this shot is similar to what you'd see between an LG G3 and a regular full-HD phone -- barely perceptible to the naked eye.
On the right is the Oppo Find 7a's display: at 100 percent crop, you can see the pixels. You can barely make them out on the Find 7 on the left, and the Find 7 is the G3 equivalent here with a 2,560x1,440-pixel display.
But as CNET editor Andrew Hoyle found in his in-depth look at the G3's display, the G3's QHD screen has more natural color tones than the S5's screen (which has a warmer color cast). In the end, though, having a 1440p display is more about bragging rights for marketing than any actual visual improvement.
Located above the display is a 2.1-megapixel camera for taking selfies. (LG has also included a few features to make that process easier, but more on that later in the review.) LG has borrowed a page from Apple's book of tricks: the 3.5mm audio jack is located at the bottom of the phone, next to the Micro-USB jack.
Overall, I found the build quality to be pretty solid; the phone is easy to grip. The 8.9-millimeter-thin phone sits comfortably in the palm, but because of the width of its 5.5-inch display, it's often easier to to type with both hands.
Software features
The G3 comes with a redesigned Android 4.4 user interface (UI) that's very clean and flat. This new look is very familiar -- I've seen similar UIs from Asus and HTC, but that's not to say that LG's efforts are copies. According to LG, the G3's UI has been tweaked to keep things simple; instead of adding more features with each iteration, LG has decided to pare it down somewhat.
The new UI is clean and flat.
For example, instead of having 16 camera modes, LG checked its data and got rid of the modes that were used less than 1 percent of the time, leaving just four of the more frequently selected ones.
