CrunchGear

CrunchGear

Link to CrunchGear

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer On “Moving The Needle”

Posted: 28 Sep 2009 05:09 AM PDT

Last week we showed the highlights and 10+ minutes of video footage of an exclusive hour-long TechCrunch interview with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Now for the rest of that interview. The video was just a teaser. I spoke with Ballmer for another 50 minutes on the record, doing a deeper dive into five key areas of Microsoft's product strategy: Big Opportunities, Operating Systems/Browsers, Mobile, Search and Developers. This post is about big opportunities at Microsoft beyond their dual cash cows of Windows and Office. Microsoft generates around $20 billion a year in pre-tax profit, and spends nearly $10 billion on research and development. When Microsoft thinks about increasing (or sustaining) those profits, they have to think big. And they have to think long term. Ballmer says he thinks about new business opportunities in three buckets: expanding current businesses (short run), building things from scratch (long run), and big aquisitions (short cuts).


Panasonic develops 50-inch full HD 3D plasma TV for Blu-ray movies

Posted: 28 Sep 2009 04:01 AM PDT

panasonic_3d_plasma

Panasonic has been toying with the idea of bringing 3D TVs to our homes for quite a while now, and today the company announced they will be showcasing a 50-inch full HD plasma TV [press release in English] that’s capable of producing high-quality 3D pictures. End consumers will have the chance to test the TV out during next week’s CEATEC 2009.

Panasonic says the TV is the result of tests they did with a 103-inch 3D TV prototype presented last year (it’s pictured above). The company also says it went for 50 inches because it expects this size to be the standard for TV screens in homes. You’ll need to get a Blu-ray player and discs that support the 3D format though.

panasonic_3d_tv

The 3D TVs from Panasonic will hit stores in the US, Europe and Japan as early as next year.

CrunchGear Week in Review: War Is Hell Edition

Posted: 28 Sep 2009 12:00 AM PDT

Join the TechCrunch/CrunchGear meetup in Taipei on October 5

Posted: 27 Sep 2009 08:20 PM PDT

I'll be in Taiwan next week and am delighted to announce that TechCrunch / CrunchGear are holding a meetup with our partner and co-organizer Chili Consulting, a local innovation strategy firm. The TechCrunch / Chili Consulting Party will take place in Taipei, on October 5 (Monday) and is invitation-only. Details after the jump.


A word-based clock that I actually want – a lot

Posted: 27 Sep 2009 06:00 PM PDT

wordclock
Usually, design-y clocks with the time spelled out on them try to hard and aren’t practical. This one, however, is not only cool-looking as all hell, but is intuitive to read. Top to bottom, right to left. Unfortunately, it’s not exactly a super-simple thing to put together — though using an LCD screen as a background would probably simplify things. But if you’ve got a hundred LEDs sitting around and a way to cut a stencil out of a metal sheet, you’re halfway there.

Check out the instructions here. In case you’re wondering, yes the names Megan and Doug are on there to fill in space. You could also put in something like “ALARM” or “WORK” in there and have custom times to have them illuminated. It’s up to you, chief.

[via Hack A Day]

CrunchDeals: Watch nerd stuff with free shipping and a free polishing cloth

Posted: 27 Sep 2009 05:25 PM PDT

29setBoston Watch Exchange, the place I picked up some red and green polishing compound for stainless steel – it buffs out the mess on stainless steel pieces – is offering a free Horosafe polishing cloth and free shipping on orders over $40. I know you’re probably not amazingly interested but who doesn’t want a 29 piece watch repair kit for $300?

Not you? Then the Wii is $199 now. Go buy that.

Apple played critical role in creating Intel’s “Light Peak” interface

Posted: 27 Sep 2009 05:13 PM PDT

Intel Chip
While there are certainly fewer interfaces around today on the average computer than there were a decade ago, there are still too many. It’s all just data, why should it matter what kind of pipe it goes down? As long as it goes both was and can handle the bandwidth you need it to, you’re golden. Intel’s pushing down that road with Light Peak, though the ultimate end of it is, obviously, obsoleting the USB standard that they helped establish. In an interesting wrinkle, however, it appears that no one less than Apple (king of irritating alternative interfaces) has been prodding Intel into action for years now.

The idea of a single connector for your display, network adaptor, hard drive, and mouse seems crazy, but that’s only because we’re so used to the jungle of I/Os on the back of our machines. At 10Gbps, the optical Light Peak interface is faster than the latest SATA, and has the potential to go much faster. Hopefully it’s powered; there’s nothing on that at Intel’s site, but it’d be easy enough to adapt the consumer interface to include a power cable running parallel, I think.

In any case, Apple’s been pushing on Intel to make this happen, probably because they want to be the first to put it into use. They’ve collaborated for a while; Engadget has more of the history if you’re interested. I’m excited to see more of this technology

Walmart is now selling the Palm Pre for only $79

Posted: 27 Sep 2009 03:48 PM PDT

walmart-pre
So ya think that the Pre is still overpriced at $100 from Amazon, eh? Well, if you’re willing to buy the Pre at Walmart and deal with mail-in rebates, you can snag one for only $79.99.

This deal is of course for new subscribers that sign a 2-year agreement, but the end price is the cheapest we’ve seen yet. With prices this low, it kind of makes you wonder how much the Pre’s little brother, the upcoming Pixi, will be when it’s finally available. [Walmart via everythingpre]

How long will we be playing the Xbox 360 and PS3?

Posted: 27 Sep 2009 09:30 AM PDT

qms

Questing in Kalimdor, I received word that, yes, the Wii has dropped in price to $199. After I logged out, I got to thinking: how long can this last? Like, the Wii (and the PS3) came out three years ago, and the Xbox 360 came out four years ago. Given how quickly consumer electronics evolve, how long we can expect to play these systems?

We pretty frequently hear rumors of a "Wii 2," or whatever you want to call it, but that could well be because the Wii is only slightly more powerful than the GameCube, itself eight years old. How long can you expect people to play a GameCube with a fancy controller? (That’s not a knock against the Wii, of course, but it’s been a little while since we saw all those IT PRINTS MONEY articles.) That said, when was the last time you read something alluding to a PS4 or new Xbox? Heck, you can make the argument that the PS3 is just now starting to find its legs, what with the success of the PS3 Slim. Microsoft, for its part, seems to be clinging onto Xbox Live as a place where you’ll find its innovations.

Then you’ve got the fact that both Sony and Microsoft are tacking on motion control to their respective systems, and you get the feeling that neither company is looking to rush into the next generation. Nope, they’re gonna squeeze as much life out of these guys as they can.

And is there anything wrong with that, maximizing the current crop of systems before tossing them aside?

And let’s not forget that a significant number of people are still playing their games on a small, non-HD TV (probably with the TV’s built-in speakers, too), so these people aren’t even taking advantage of the current generation, let alone some crazy Future Techno gigaflops and whatnot.

I don’t know, I guess the point is: how long do you think the Xbox 360 and PS3 will last? You have to assume that Microsoft and Sony are already working on their next systems, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be playing them any time soon! And if we’re looking at another three years with the same systems, does that bother you? To me, the answer is "no," it wouldn’t bother me to keep playing these systems (never mind that I mostly play WoW these days) for several more years. (Apologies if this seems disjointed, I’m writing this with one foot out the door.)

It’s Wii-Day! The Wii is $199

Posted: 27 Sep 2009 07:23 AM PDT

wii
Amazon, a company that sells things, is now selling the Wii for $199 and this price should appear across the board.

We reported this last week and it’s finally here. Thanks to reader Brandon for sending this in.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)