Halt And Catch Fire: Episode One

I didn’t intend to watch this. I’d never heard about it. And when I did, I had no real desire. I thoroughly hated the first episode of HBO’s Silicon Valley — so much so I didn’t waste electrons on a post here — and I wasn’t in any mood for more of the same.

But this fell into my lap today and I had some time to watch it.

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Xiaomi’s Product Launch Video

Someone managed to rip from Youku the Xiaomi presentation that introduces their 4K TV, soundbar, and MiPad.

I don’t know if stitching it all together (the ripping site I used split it into several parts, so I abandoned my own effort) caused some glitches, but it seems the cuts are rough and the sound goes a bit out of sync.

Still, it’s interesting to watch — and a mini-crash course in spoken Chinese.

The MiPad introduction begins at 30 minutes in but I recommend watching the entire video, which is after the break.

No Surface Mini

I watched the Microsoft live video (it didn’t require Silverlight — points to Microsoft!) of the new Surface introduction.

And there was no Surface Mini introduced.

So, it’s dead?

I wouldn’t be surprised. Who would want to buy an RT-only eight-inch device when you can get full Windows in an eight-inch device like the Onda V819i?

I guess Microsoft woke up to the threat of China and the wisdom of letting people roll their own cheap Windows tablet. There will be several coming from China in a few weeks.

What I saw of the Surface 3 pro impressed me. I like the new 2:3 aspect ratio. I’d really like to try one at Best Buy — and they’d better have them set up so I can do my Google Books PDF test!

China: Nvidia Answers Questions About K1 CPU

Nvidia held a conference with select members of China’s tech press to discuss the new Tegra K1 CPU used in the Xiaomi MiPad [Google Translate].

The first question is skeptical about the power draw of the K1:

I remember at CES on general release Tegra K1 yellow when once the Xbox 360 and PS3 comparison, was released five watts of power, but just said is less than 2 watts of power requirements we know that the phone is generally 2-3 tile, flat is less than 5 watts, the data which is due to the difference between the recent debug? Or are there any technological breakthrough?

Nvidia replies:

Tegra K1 beginning of the design is to include mobile phones, tablet computers, laptops, gaming devices and automotive multi-shape design, the power consumption is also based on different forms of specific products have specific segments. And we are talking about 2 watts before that is the main GPU power consumption, while the 5-watt power consumption of the entire system. The performance will be based on Tegra K1 power limiting cases can be adjusted.

Boldfaced emphasis added by me.

iFive Mini 3GS: Second Review, First Impressions

cngadget has a brief first impressions report of the iFive Mini 3GS.

The AnTuTu 4.x score is no surprise.

What’s surprising is this:

The iFive mini 3GS is running on Android 4.4.2 KitKat with a custom launcher, and despite the Octa Core CPU you will notice a slight lag in the UI transitions as the retina display needs extra CPU to power the extra pixels.

Boldfaced emphasis added by me.

Not Even China Can Save Microsoft, Part Two

China has banned the use of Windows 8 on government computers [Google Translate] and re/code: China Bans Use of Microsoft’s Windows 8 on Government Computers.

“China’s decision to ban Windows 8 from public procurement hampers Microsoft’s push of the OS to replace XP, which makes up 50 percent of China’s desktop market,” said data firm Canalys.

Wow.

China just drone-striked Microsoft.