Lenovo’s Official Statement about the Superfish Incident; List of impacted systems

Advertisement

There is no doubt over the last 24 hours or so you have heard and read a lot about this entire Superfish malware incident with Lenovo.

Also read: My Take on Lenovo, OEMS and Junkware on new computers and Microsoft vs. SuperFish here at the SuperSite for Windows.

Lenovo has released a few different statements over that same period of time plus they have been active on social media eventually taking ownership of the poor decisions that were made. In addition, they have promised to move the discussion forward within the industry relating to what is pre-installed on consumer computers.

Of course, as a couple of commenters have said on our site and social media, Lenovo’s actions will speak louder than any apology they offer.

The following is an official statement from Lenovo about the incident and wraps all the different sources up into one bundle.

At Lenovo, we make every effort to provide a great user experience for our customers. We know that millions of people rely on our devices every day, and it is our responsibility to deliver quality, reliability, innovation and security to each and every customer. In our effort to enhance our user experience, we pre-installed a piece of third-party software, Superfish (based in Palo Alto, CA), on some of our consumer notebooks.

We thought the product would enhance the shopping experience, as intended by Superfish. It did not meet our expectations or those of our customers. In reality, we had customer complaints about the software. We acted swiftly and decisively once these concerns began to be raised. We apologize for causing any concern to any users for any reason – and we are always trying to learn from experience and improve what we do and how we do it. Superfish technology does not profile nor monitor user behavior. It does not record user information. It does not know who the user is. Users are not tracked nor re-targeted. Every session is independent. Users are given a choice whether or not to use the product.

We stopped the preloads beginning in January. We shut down the server connections that enable the software (also in January, and we are providing online resources to help users remove this software. Finally, we are working directly with Superfish and with other industry partners to ensure we address any possible security issues now and in the future. Detailed information on these activities and tools for software removal are available here:






http://ift.tt/1EbkvOY



http://ift.tt/1EbBD72







To be clear: Lenovo never installed this software on any ThinkPad notebooks, nor any Lenovo desktops or smartphones. This software has never been installed on any enterprise product — servers or storage — and these products are in no way impacted. And, Superfish is no longer being installed on any Lenovo device. In addition, we are going to spend the next few weeks digging in on this issue, learning what we can do better. We will talk with partners, industry experts and our users. We will get their feedback. By the end of this month, we will announce a plan to help lead Lenovo and our industry forward with deeper knowledge, more understanding and even greater focus on issues surrounding adware, pre-installs and security. We are eager to be held accountable for our products, your experience and the results of this new effort.

I am disappointed there is not anything in this statement about the certificate which was installed and allowed Superfish to monitor secure sessions on the computer. That by-passing of security with a bad certificate is a major concern in this situation.

Lastly, just in case you wanted to see if a Lenovo product you purchased may have been affected we have been provided this list by Lenovo:

G Series: G410, G510, G710, G40-70, G50-70, G40-30, G50-30, G40-45, G50-45



U Series: U330P, U430P, U330Touch, U430Touch, U530Touch



Y Series: Y430P, Y40-70, Y50-70



Z Series: Z40-75, Z50-75, Z40-70, Z50-70



S Series: S310, S410, S40-70, S415, S415Touch, S20-30, S20-30Touch



Flex Series: Flex2 14D, Flex2 15D, Flex2 14, Flex2 15, Flex2 14(BTM), Flex2 15(BTM), Flex 10



MIIX Series: MIIX2-8, MIIX2-10, MIIX2-11



YOGA Series: YOGA2Pro-13, YOGA2-13, YOGA2-11BTM, YOGA2-11HSW



E Series: E10-30

Now that you have another read on Lenovo’s official stand does it change what grade would you give Lenovo's response to the Superfish situation?

But, wait…there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.

Read More

Dropbox App on Windows Phone receives a timely update

Advertisement

Timing is everything.

On Thursday Rod wrote about Microsoft extending 100GB of OneDrive storage to verified users of Dropbox as a gift for signing up and installing OneDrive on their devices/systems.

I was even able to get this 100GB of additional storage, which is only valid for a year, for my OneDrive account by signing up for Dropbox and then validating that brand new account.

Well this offer of storage was sent out by Microsoft on Thursday and then Friday morning Dropbox released a big update to their Windows Phone app. Coincidence or coordination?

Maybe is it just good timing but the update to the Dropbox app is a solid one plus getting 100GB of additional cloud storage on OneDrive is never a bad thing is it?

So go ahead and install the Dropbox app on your Windows Phone, sign up for a new account and the free 2GB of storage they offer then grab some bonus OneDrive storage and see the benefits of having additional storage which is accessible wherever you might be.

Let’s take a look at the updated Dropbox app – first the new features:

- Ability to create, access and manage shared folders directly in the app including unshare the folder and editing folder members.



– Shared folders can now be pinned to your Windows Phone Start Screen for quick access



– Improved non-English language support

Of course they also mentioned the ubiquitous fixed our most common bugs.

The app itself has a very clean and intuitive interface which is easy to navigate and adheres to the Windows Phone app design principles we are used to including tap/hold for context menus and pivots to swipe between pages of the app.

Dropbox Main Page

Dropbox Settings Page

Dropbox Context Menu

Dropbox Camera Uploads Folder

Dropbox Create Folder Menu

Dropbox Share Menu

Trivia: Did you know that this app is developed and maintained by the very well known Windows Phone developer Rudy Huhn?

Download Dropbox for Windows Phone (Version 1.1)

But, wait…there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.

Read More

Windows Apps Weekly for 22 February 2015 – Nextgen Reader

Advertisement

This week’s featured app is another universal app that is on both Windows and Windows Phone and for me is the center of all the sharing of links and news that I do each day.

In July 2013, when Google shut down their Google Reader service, I decided to move all of my RSS feeds over to one of the new substitutes that popped up in Reader’s place – Feedly.

Feedly had a solid web based interface and was very flexible but I really wanted to have that service available in an app on my platforms. Luckily, Feedly soon opened up a program that gave app developers early access to an upcoming API and one of the apps that got that access for Windows/Windows Phone was Nextgen Reader.

The developer of Nextgen Reader, Gaurav Kalra, actually built the app for himself initially as he shared when he was recently profiled on the Lumia Conversations blog about his experience developing for the Windows platform. I am glad he shared his work!

Nextgen Reader allows you to share items from your Feedly RSS feeds to all the popular social media sites as well as OneNote and email. For me the OneNote sharing is how I collect items together for my weekly Observed Tech podcast and since it is set as my favorite tool I can do that sharing with one button click.

Download Nextgen Reader App for Windows

Download Nextgen Reader for Windows Phone

But, wait…there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.

Read More

What if Two Factor Authentication fails with your Microsoft Account?

Pixabay

Advertisement

Two weekends ago I decided to try out the XDA method of installing Windows 10 on my Nokia Lumia 1520 to see Windows 10 on my unsupported handset. It took me several cycles of trying the hack and included resetting my 1520 to factory defaults a few times.

The hack became so popular that Microsoft eventually closed the door to that hack by updating the Windows Insider app on Windows Phone.

So it was in the course of that weekend of testing that I ended up resetting and revalidating access to a few of my Microsoft accounts multiple times as I moved my 1520 between the Windows 10 for phones technical preview and Windows Phone 8.1.

I lost track of how many times I had codes sent to my phone to verify my identity on those accounts but I use the same cell number, as many of you do, as my primary number for those accounts. Of course, with two factor authentication enabled I also use a secondary email address to get those codes.

At some point late on that Saturday I started to see an error when I asked for a code to be sent by SMS to my phone for validating one of my three main Microsoft Accounts I access daily. It simply read There was an error sending that message, try again later.

Without much to work with in the error department or any further explanation of how to resolve this error, I was stuck with being unable to validate one account with an SMS. I was also unable to validate my identity using the secondary email address because I could not remember what email address I had used.

When presented with the options to validate your Microsoft Account you see the phone number and are asked to verify the last 4 digits so the SMS can be sent. Of course that threw the mysterious error now and was unusable on any of my Microsoft Accounts.

If you have also setup a secondary email account for two factor authentication then that is also presented but only the first 2 letters and the full domain of that email address is shown on screen. You are required to type in the entire email address to get the code sent to you for validation. Of course, the resulting screen does not confirm or refute that you used the right email address – it just says if you entered the correct email address a code would be sent.

Normally validating an account using this method is not a problem but I had used an obscure variation of an email address and despite the two letter hint I could not remember the secondary email address at all. Couple that with the inability to get a security code via SMS and I was dead in the water with this one Microsoft Account.

So what is one to do at this point? Luckily, I could still receive email from this account because it was working on my other devices so while it was frustrating to be unable to set the account up on my 1520 it was not the end of the world either. I figured I could wait for the timeout period to pass so that I could once again get security codes texted to my phone for validation.

You would be amazed at how hard it was to get an answer to that question though. I tried through Microsoft Account support, both via Twitter and directly chatting with them through the support site, and the only answer I received was about 24 hours.

I must add here that I was very impressed with how Microsoft handles locked out accounts that use two factor authentications. No matter how much I asked to verify my identity using other methods, they have a lengthy form you can fill out to provide details of recent emails on your account to help unlock the account, or explained my circumstances on what happened they never budged on the fact that since my account was enabled with two factor authentication they could not immediately unlock it.

My options were to validate it with the text or email method, which as explained earlier, were both unavailable to me or to submit a request to validate my identity and change one of my authentication methods. The only issue with changing one of my authentication methods was that it would take 30 days to make the change. This was intentional to dissuade those who may be trying to hack your account.

So I was suitably satisfied that Microsoft had my accounts safety and security protected even though it was my own actions that locked me out in the first place. However, I was still stuck and unable to add this account to my phone.

I dutifully attempted to validate the account each day and received the same cryptic error everytime however, on the 7^th day I was once again able to send security codes to my phone and got into the accounts settings and had it working again on my phone. So if anyone ever asks how long does it take for SMS codes to reset after being used too much in a short period of time for security codes – the answer is one week.

Now during my lock out I was tweeting about the situation and received a few helpful suggestions.

One of them was to use Windows Phone Authenticator app to get a generated code to validate your identity. This works great and I have it setup on my primary Microsoft Account but it requires that you access your advanced security settings for your Microsoft Account to establish the connection between that account and the Authenticator app. Since I could not get a code to my phone or remember the email address I had selected as my secondary option this was not possible. After regaining access to my account settings I did set this up on that account immediately.

Another suggestion was the last resort recovery code on the account. This is another one that works very well however, it is also one you must prepare for as it requires that you access those advanced security settings and print out/save a unique recovery code to regain access to that account. This is another option that I took advantage of as soon as I was able to fully access my account settings.

Of course, when I got back into the advanced security settings of my Microsoft Account I was also able to see that obscure secondary email address I had selected. Immediately after shaking my head in disbelief that I had not remembered it, I changed it to something much more memorable to prevent that from happening again.

So bottom line here is two-fold.

First – Microsoft will not break when it comes to protecting your account if you cannot properly validate your identity using the two factor authentication options selected.

Second – there are ways to back up your two factor authentication methods if they become unusable or inaccessible but they require being setup before that access is lost.

So to stay safe and maintain access to your Microsoft Account be prepared for all contingencies.

But, wait…there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.

Read More

Product Review: Inateck BTSP-10 Plus Bluetooth Speaker

Advertisement

I love pleasant surprises. My most recent one came in an Inateck-branded box.

I've reviewed a bunch of Inateck products over the past couple years, which you can find here on Supersite and also over on WindowsITPro. Inateck products are sometimes hit-and-miss and I've blasted them when it was required. But, when they're good, they're great. And, such is the case with the Inateck BTSP-10 Plus Bluetooth Speaker.

I've had the speaker for about a week, but only got the chance to really test it out the last three days. Color me impressed, but this speaker is clearly one of the best.

Construction

The speaker is solidly constructed. I don’t make it a habit to drop my devices on purpose, but the speaker looks and feels like it could take a tumble or two. It's solid inside and out. The plastic that wraps the speaker is very rigid and strong. The bottom of the speaker sports four non-skid, low profile legs, making it extremely difficult to knock around or slip off a surface.

I have no qualms just tossing this into a backpack and I fully expect it to survive a trip anywhere. The speaker does come with a drawstring carry bag to help eliminate nicks and dings, but I'll never use it. And, I really don't believe its necessary, considering the solid construction.

Battery Life

I've not tested the full range of battery life yet, but I will this week. The wife and I are headed out of town to a remote cabin to celebrate our 25^th wedding anniversary. Inateck says the battery will last a full 10-15 hours. 10 or 15 is quite a discrepancy, but I plan to run it until it chokes. Fortunately, the speaker gets its recharge power from a standard USB connection, so I can use any of my multitude of chargers. This means I can also charge it in the car if it comes down to that.

I've not used it constantly during my three days of testing – just an hour here and there – but so far it's holding up and I didn't even take the time to charge it yet. It went from its box directly to operation.

Ease of Use

This is truly a dummy's device. Connecting to through Bluetooth is pretty simple. If you've had trouble with Bluetooth connections in the past, the simplicity of this speaker eliminates that. Bluetooth discovery is almost immediate, and pairing takes only a few seconds. And, then each time you want to reconnect, simply tap the Bluetooth button on top of the device and it relinks automatically. I've yet to have one of those quirky situations we've all experienced with Bluetooth, where it just won't connect despite connecting just fine a few hours earlier.

Once connected and sound starts streaming, the Bluetooth button doubles as the pause/play button. Also conveniently placed on top (next to the Bluetooth button) sits separate volume up and volume down buttons.

One thing to keep in mind…this is a speaker – just a speaker – though a very excellent one. A year or so ago I purchased a Braven 600 for around $149 (you can find that full product review on myITforum.com). The Braven is also a Bluetooth speaker, but it also provides hands-free con-call operation and mobile charging.

The Braven has been a good traveling companion. But, while it does offer features other than just sound, I've really never found a great use for them. I thought I would, but it never happened that way. Instead, I've counted on it for delivering sound in hotel rooms for music and movies. I can say this with confidence: I will be retiring the Braven for the Inateck. The sound quality difference is just too vast. It's almost the difference between listening to AM radio versus having a live orchestra in the room with you.

Ports

I noted earlier that the speaker charges using a standard USB charging port. Additionally, if you don't want to use Bluetooth for some odd reason, it does also offer a line-in AUX port. All of the provided ports, including the power button, sits on right-hand side of the speaker and they are recessed so you can't accidentally turn it off.

Sound

Ultimately, the value of any speaker comes down to the sound. I have one word that could adequately describe this speaker: LOUD. I guess it has to do with the double 3-watt precision-tuned drivers, multi-band compressors and high performance composite diaphragm. But, I need to give it an additional accolade. The clarity of sound is fantastic. Sound is just as clear at low volume as it is at the top level. And, that top level is almost ear shattering. As I mentioned already, it puts my Braven to shame.

Bottom Line

The Inateck BTSP-10 plus is a wonderful speaker. Bluetooth works flawlessly. It's solidly constructed and the sound is amazing (LOUD and clear). It doesn't have a gaggle of features beyond just providing sound, but if you only need a good speaker to travel with, you'll find that this is a great one.

You can find it on Amazon for around $50: Inateck Portable Hi-Fi Wireless Bluetooth 4.0 Speaker

[Want to discuss this further? Hit me up on Twitter, on Google+, or LinkedIn]

Read More

Three generations of Intel HD Graphics tested

Intel’s introduction of the first modern Core processor in 2008 was a major change in direction, and not just because of its break away from the Netburst architecture behind which powered Pentium 4. The company also made a pledge to take graphics performance seriously, and it made good on that promise. When the first Intel HD Graphics showed up in 2010 alongside the new Core mobile chips, it more than doubled performance over the preceding Intel Graphics Media Accelerator in some games.

Today, five years later, Intel’s crusade for improved integrated graphics continues. Each new generation of Core brings a much bigger boost in graphics performance than per-core processor performance. Nowhere was this more apparent than with the fifth-generation Core launch, as Intel’s own slides claimed a mere four percent boost to productivity, but a 22 percent surge in gaming.

But these impressive gains have occurred in the face of more demanding games and ever increasing display resolution. Over the past five years, laptops have leaped from a typical resolution of 1,024 x 768 to 1080p, and premium models push 4K.

To find out what this means for real-world performance, we rounded up five different models of Intel HD graphics spanning three generations; HD 4000, 4200, 4600, 5500 and 6000. Let’s see what progress looks like.

The hardware

We used a variety of hardware to perform this test. An Apple Macbook Air running Boot Camp with fully updated Intel graphics drivers served as our stand-in for third-generation Core processors with Intel HD 4000.

Related: Check out the details of Intel’s fifth-generation integrated graphics

Next up we have the fourth-generation chips, represented by the Acer Aspire Switch 11 and Zotac Zbox Oi520, which offer Intel HD 4200 and 4400, respectively. The latter is particularly important, as it’s the most common IGP from the outgoing family. Most Intel-powered notebooks sold over the last year have HD 4400 inside.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Dell’s XPS 13 (2015) and Intel’s NUC with Core i5 processor, with HD 5500 and HD 6000, respectively, carry the banner for the fifth and most recent generation. Aside from the Iris 6100, which not a common choice, HD 6000 is the quickest graphics solution currently available with Core processors.

Obviously, it’s impossible to conduct an absolute apples-to-apples test. The Veriton’s Core i5-3337U is not as quick as the NUC’s Core i5-5250U, so processor performance will be in play here, as well. It’d be ideal to test each IGP with the same processor, but ultimately the point is moot, as Intel HD Graphics can’t be used independently of the processor it’s paired with.

3DMark

Futuremark’s 3DMark is essentially the industry standard among graphics benchmarks, and it provides a generalized look at performance that usually translates well to real-world games. Let’s dive right in and see how Intel has matured over the years.

These results are not difficult to interpret. Intel’s HD 4200, the low-power IGP for the thinnest and lightest fourth-generation Core systems, is the obvious loser. Second-worst is Intel’s HD 4000, the headliner of third-generation mobile graphics, which is just slightly beaten by HD 4400, the most common fourth-generation IGP.

3DMark BenchMark

Cloud Gate/Fire Strike score – Higher is better

The new kids in town, HD 5500 and HD 6000, quite easily defeat HD 4400, but the difference between them is less than expected. It’d be reasonable to think doubling execution units would lead to a major performance bump, but that’s not what’s happening here. Instead we see HD 6000 offer an extremely modest gain of just under five percent.

An improvement that slim might not be noticeable in games, but it’s possible 3DMark’s results aren’t entirely on target. Let’s see what happens when we test real games.

World of Warcraft

Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard’s famous massively multiplayer game is over 10 years old, but it’s not a cinch for modern hardware to handle. The game has been updated significantly over the years with new areas, new textures and, most recently, new character models. There’s also been a general increase of stuff in the game, from foliage to particle effects to larger areas. Can today’s Intel HD hardware handle this evolving title?

World of Warcraft

The improvement between each generation of hardware is harder to see here than you might expect, particularly in the leap between HD 4000 and HD 4400. It turns out the mid-range integrated graphics most people actually have in their fourth-generation Core notebook isn’t much quicker than the best third-generation graphics solution.

We were surprised by the scores, so we re-tested HD 4400 with an Acer Aspire R13, which we’d just received from Acer. The story didn’t change. Intel HD 4000 and HD 4400 are virtually tied in this incredibly popular MMO.

Intel HD 4000 and HD 4400 are virtually tied in this popular MMO.

The new IGPs offer a significant leap in performance, though the size of that leap depends on the level of detail selected. At the low preset, Intel’s HD 6000 is no more than 10 percent quicker than HD 5500, but at high detail the difference grows as large as 40 percent.

Clearly, the added execution units in HD 6000 have an impact, but it’s arguably a futile effort. The HD 6000’s average framerate of 25 in World of Warcraft at high detail and 1080p is barely inside the envelope of what can be called playable, but our test was not conducted during a raid, which would surely turn the game into a slideshow. Even a brand-new notebook will prove most comfortable at medium or even low detail if 1080p the resolution desired.

Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth

Firaxis

The latest title in the Civilization series, Beyond Earth is built on the same engine as the incredibly popular Civilization V. These two games have consumed more player hours than any strategy franchise on Steam in 2014. Both games can be demanding in late-game scenarios because large numbers of units, cities and improvements appear at once.

We tested the game using the built-in benchmark, which is represents a very harsh late-game environment. In the real world, the game will run more smoothly than these numbers suggest, but testing in a worst-case scenario is a good idea. Being forced to abandon a late-game scenario over performance issues can cause serious nerd-rage.

Though it failed to soar far above 30 frames per second on any hardware at any level of detail, Beyond Earth proved playable on all Intel graphics tested, HD 4200 aside. The game doesn’t look great at minimum detail and 1,366 x 768 but, at an average of 27 FPS on Intel HD 4000, it was manageable.

Kicking resolution up to 1080p knocked HD 4000 and HD 4400 off the playable pedestal even at minimum detail, but the new HD 5500 and HD 6000 solutions maintained their composure.

Civilization: Beyond Earth

When we fired up the game at high detail and 4x MSAA, though, Intel struggled. None of the integrated graphics solutions provided a playable experience at either resolution; not even close.

It’s worth noting that, once again, Intel HD 4000 and HD 4400 are essentially neck-and-neck: in fact, HD 4000 slightly won in three of the four benchmarks. HD 6000’s improvement over HD 5500 also proved minimal, so much so it’s hard to say the former offers a meaningfully better experience. Most gamers are not going to notice a few extra frames per second.

Battlefield 4

DICE/Electronic Arts

The latest game in DICE’s famous shooter franchise is no longer at the absolute cutting edge of graphics, but it’s still quite demanding, particularly at high detail. Even low-end desktop video cards chug on it at 1080p resolution. Does that mean it’s absolutely too much for Intel HD to handle?

In summary; yes. None of the solutions managed better than 30 frames per second on average, even at low detail and 1,366 x 768 resolution. The closest, predictably, were the two newest, HD 5500 and HD 6000, though even they were three frames shy of the 30 FPS standard. Minimum framerates hit the upper teens. That means noticeable chop occurred in gameplay on both IGPs.

Battlefield 4

Turning detail up to high at 1,366 x 768, or going to 1080p, resulted in an essentially unplayable experience. At 1080p and high detail all five IGPs became slideshows, making the game almost impossible to play.

Battlefield 4 reaffirmed the essential tie between Intel HD 4000 and HD 4400, its supposedly more advanced cousin. It also cast further doubt on the effectiveness of HD 6000. In this game it performed essentially the same HD 5500, which begs the question; what are the 24 extra execution units doing? Perhaps there’s a driver-level issue at work here, as this is the only benchmark that saw HD 6000 offer no benefit at all.

Conclusion

These tests produced interesting results.

Our first surprise came from the competition between HD 4000 and HD 4400. We expected that the latter would provide a marginal boost over its predecessor, but in fact the two are virtually tied. While it’s true that HD 4400 was not the quickest fourth-generation mobile graphics chip, it’s also true that HD 4400 was by far the most commonly encountered, as it shipped with the widely used Core i5-4200U (and its close siblings). It appears the fourth generation’s graphics performance was, in practice, more of a side-step than a leap forward.

Intel’s fifth generation is a definite leap forward, even in HD 5500, which appears to be the new mainstream graphics champion. The boost in speed over HD 4400 approaches 40 percent in select Battlefield 4 test loops, and exceeds 20 percent general. Those figures are enough to make a noticeable different in games. Beyond Earth can be enjoyed at 1080p and minimum detail on the HD 5500, for example, while HD 4400 struggles to handle the same load.

Even Intel HD 6000 failed to serve up more than 30 FPS in World of Warcraft at high detail and 1080p.

We’re more suspect of HD 6000. The version we tested was in Intel’s NUC; we haven’t encountered it in a notebook yet. We have no reason to think the NUC would perform worse than a mobile system, though, and the latest drivers were installed. Given the rise in execution units from 24 to 48 we expected to see major boosts in speed, but instead HD 6000 offered gains of around 10 percent over HD 5500.

Related: Civilization: Beyond Earth review

There’s reason to think it’s a moot point, anyway. Even HD 6000 failed to serve up more than 30 FPS in World of Warcraft at high detail and 1080p resolution, and it just barely exceeded 30 FPS at the same detail and 1,366 x 768. No Intel graphics solution came close to 60 FPS in Beyond Earth or Battlefield 4, and the latter title wasn’t playable above 1,366 x 768 and low detail even on HD 6000. It is technically possible to enjoy new games on Intel integrated graphics, but the experience is not ideal.

Yes, Intel does offer quicker versions, such as Iris 6100, but its high-end solutions are found in a vanishingly small fraction of the systems. Most buyers end up with HD 4000, HD 4400 and HD 5500, and these IGPs continue to struggle with modern games at 1080p resolution. Intel hasn’t been resting on its laurels; the leap between HD 4400 and HD 5500 is substantial. Yet it’s not enough to keep pace with increasing game quality and improving panel resolution.

The answer to the question “Can Intel HD play this game?” remains the same as ever: “Probably. But you won’t enjoy it.”

Read More

50% Windows Phone Developers Make At Least $500 Per Month

App development on Microsoft’s platforms has been a pressing issue for a while now, but some new statistics show that Windows Phone developers are finding notable success.

Well, most of them are anyway.

VisionMobile conducted a survey involving some 8,000 mobile app developers, which placed the Windows Phone platform squarely in third place when it comes developer appel. Android led the chart with 71% share, while iOS took in second place with 54%.

But a total of 30% of developers are now building applications for Windows Phone, a steady increase from the 28% in third quarter of 2014 and 26% in first quarter of 2014.

In fact, all mobile platforms experienced growth here — even the under fire BlackBerry had positive numbers to report, posting an increase from 11% in Q3 2014 to 13% in Q1 2015.

When it comes to money, though, there is more good news.

Some 50% of developers on Windows Phone are making up to $500 every month, 14% of them get as much as $5,000 during the same timeframe. A lucky few, 4% of them make between $50,000 and $200,000 every month.

Real success here.

Microsoft is betting on the concept of universal apps on Windows 10, allowing the same app to run on both desktops and mobile devices. This is sure to provide app developers with even more opportunities.

Hopefully the issue of lack of apps on Windows Phone will be addressed in the coming years.

MobileStatisticsStrategyWindows PhoneWindows Phone 10

Read More