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TECHNOLOGY A23
Tuesday 8 September 2015
Wave of new Windows 10 devices on show at Berlin tech fair
FRANK JORDANS In this Sept. 2, 2015 photo visitors look at Acer laptops that run Windows 10 at the Acer company with a separate keyboard.
Associated Press booth, during the first press day for the International Consumer Electronics Fair ‘IFA’, at the exhibi- Microsoft is urging software
BERLIN (AP) — Computer tion grounds in Berlin. designers to embrace its
manufacturers are unveil- Universal Application Plat-
ing the first big batch of Associated Press form, so that desktop soft-
devices running Windows ware and apps designed
10 at the IFA home elec- Before that, buyers may dows 10 is remarkably toler- upgrade,” said Aunkofer. for other operating systems
tronics show opening in have simply been uncon- ant of old hardware, and “But there’s a big base will run on Windows 10.
Berlin on Friday. vinced that upgrading upgrades are free. Micro- of machines that’s 5 to 7 This strategy demonstrates
The industry has seen slug- their devices for Windows soft says Windows 10 has years old and those will be one way in which Microsoft
gish sales in recent years 8 — widely seen as more of already been installed on replaced.” has learned from its recent
as consumers opt to spend a cosmetic enhancement 75 million devices since its The trend, he said, is toward missteps in the smartphone
their money on smart- than a real improvement debut at the end of July. so-called two-in-one devic- market. A lack of apps
phones and tablets in- — was worthwhile. “Many people who have es which can serve as lap- and the relative novelty of
stead, so many companies One problem for computer a computer that’s 1 to 3 tops or tablets, such as the its operating system have
are pinning their hopes for manufacturers is that Win- years old will go for the free Satellite Click 10, or tablets been cited as a hurdle to
a revival in the PC market consumer uptake, com-
on the latest version of Mi- pared to more estab-
crosoft’s operating system. lished smartphone systems
Among them is Toshiba, such as Apple’s iOS and
which launched its new Google’s Android.
Satellite Radius 12 this Nick Parker, vice president
week, priced at 1,449 eu- of Microsoft’s OEM division,
ros ($1,627) in Europe. The said the free upgrade for
12-inch laptop comes with older Windows computers
a 4K screen designed to should help stimulate inter-
make the most of Windows est across devices, since
10’s graphics ability. It also it’s designed to look the
features a special micro- same on laptops, tablets
phone and a dedicated and smartphones.
button for Cortana — Mi- “Windows 10 lets you try
crosoft’s voice-controlled new things and maybe ac-
digital assistant — as well celerate purchase of new
as infrared cameras to hardware,” he said.
identify users by their faces. The same might be true
“We expect to see lots of for one of the low-cost
new sales from October educational computers
onward thanks to Windows launched at IFA this week.
10,” said Tony Alderson, a Acer’s Aspire 1 Cloudbook
senior product manager is a fully functional PC for
at Toshiba. The Japanese the price of $169, giving
company also launched Windows 10 the chance to
its new Satellite Click 10, take back market share in
whose screen can be de- the sub-$200 segment from
tached and used as a Google’s Chromebooks.q
tablet. It, too, is optimized
for Windows 10 and will ‘Slave Trade’ video game altered after social media backlash
appear on shelves next
month for about 499 euros. DERRIK J. LANG cate people — not to get slavery with the stacking to defend “Slave Trade”
Experts say the bet on Win- AP Entertainment Writer sidetracked discussing a segment. Serious Games against the controversy be-
dows 10 could pay off, as LOS ANGELES (AP) — An small 15-second part of the founder Simon Egenfeldt- fore deleting his account
consumers finally loosen educational video game game.” The scene was also Nielsen took to Twitter Tuesday.q
their purse strings. has been edited following removed from the official
“Last few years, many peo- a social media backlash trailer for the title, which This photo shows the educational video games, “Playing History:
ple bought Android tablets over a scene depicting was originally released by The Plague,” “Playing History: Slave Trade” and “Playing History:
instead of buying a new slaves being packed into a Copenhagen-based de- Vikings,” on a computer screen Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, in
computer, but that market ship. The creators of “Play- veloper Serious Games In- Los Angeles.
is saturated now,” said Ru- ing History: Slave Trade” teractive in 2013.
dolf Aunkofer, global direc- removed a level Monday “Slave Trade,” which is in- Associated Press
tor IT at consumer research which featured black slave tended to teach children
firm GfK. “At the same time characters being dropped ages 11 to 14 about slav-
laptops are getting quite into a ship similar to the vid- ery in the 18th century,
old, so Windows 10 is likely eo game “Tetris.” casts players for most of
to kick off a wave of re- “Apologies to people who the game as a young slave
placements.” were offended by us using steward named Putij, who
Aunkofer said the drop in game mechanics to un- serves on a ship crossing
sales seen in recent years derline the point of how in- the Atlantic Ocean.
may have been exacer- humane slavery was,” read The game captured atten-
bated by Microsoft’s an- a statement posted on the tion last week when it went
nouncement about the game’s page on Steam, on sale on Steam and was
new operating system, an online store. “The goal promptly chastised on so-
which prompted some was to enlighten and edu- cial media for trivializing
consumers to hold back.
