With Microsoft’s $300 million investment, they’ll own a 17.6 percent stake in the new business (valuing the new company at $1.7 billion), while Barnes & Noble will own the remaining 82.4 percent.

The first thing on the agenda so far is a Windows 8 Nook app, as well as working on spreading and popularizing the Nook Study software on Microsoft’s platforms. Just from these two things alone, Microsoft desperately wants content on their platforms. It seems they want their own answer to Apple’s iBooks and to offer Windows users an alternative to Amazon’s Kindle Fire.

However, this could end up being a bitter mistake for both Microsoft and Barnes & Noble if things don’t go even remotely well. Microsoft has a recent history of catching up to established markets by siding with mediocre companies (their partnership with Nokia, for instance). Microsoft’s partnership with B&N, who – let’s face it – is a lesser-performing company in the e-reading market, could become a complete flop if not done right, especially when going up against powerhouses like iBooks and Amazon’s established ecosystem.

Then again, Microsoft lacks any real strategy to compete in the e-reader business in the first place, so this partnership with Barnes & Noble is certainly a good first step if they really want to compete. It will allow them to get more content onto their platform — especially Windows 8 tablets.

In any case, it’ll be interesting to see what consumers will get out of this once the competition is in full swing.

Image Credit: George Kelly

Microsoft invests $300 million in Barnes & Noble; looks to spin off Nook business is a post from Techerator.com.

Related posts:

1. Barnes & Noble releases 8GB Nook Tablet for $199
2. Barnes & Noble Announces Nook Tablet
3. Review: Nook Color from Barnes & Noble

However, did Zynga act too quickly? It turns out the rapid rise to fame has hit a plateau and is now heading in a downward direction. The past few weeks have seen a steady decline in the number of users playing Draw Something. In a month’s time, from April 2 to May 2, the game has lost almost four million users according to a report by BBC News, dropping the total number of active users down to 10.4 million.

Draw Something is a Pictionary-esque mobile game that has you draw a picture with the goal being the other person guessing correctly. Each correct answer earns you and your “opponent” coins to buy more colors and other goodies.

Frankly, I’m not too surprised by the steady decline of users playing the game. It’s the type of game that gets old quickly. For me, Draw Something lasted about a week before I deleted it off of my phone. It’s simply the type of game where it needs to be constantly updated with new features in order to keep users interested. If Draw Something stays the same old game forever, there’s no doubt that it will lose its appeal.

We’ll have to wait and see what Zynga will do to combat the steady loss of its users for Draw Something. Is it possible for them to keep the game going strong and staying relevant with frequent updates and newer features? Let us know in the comments.

Image Credit: WebMediaBrands

The Rise and Fall of Draw Something is a post from Techerator.com.

No related posts.

WWDC is one of the company’s biggest events –if not the biggest– of the year, and if you’ve followed past WWDC events, you’ll know that it’s usually where Apple announces new stuff. It’s where they announced the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, Mac Pro, and even iLife.

So then, what’s CEO Tim Cook and friends going to talk about this year? I went ahead and made a list of possible topics and products that Apple could likely announce and talk about at this year’s WWDC.

OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6

We know for a fact that this will be a talking point at WWDC. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, even said it himself. But what developments will we hear about exactly? It’s possible that they could be announcing and releasing a final version of OS X Mountain Lion, since it’s been through three developer previews already. However, it’s also possible they might wait awhile and take the time to test Mountain Lion against the company’s upcoming iOS 6 software, since Apple has been turning OS X and iOS into a more homogeneous effort nowadays.

As far as iOS 6 itself, there’s definitely been chatter going on, but very little substance to show as far what iOS 6 will be all about. It’s definitely in development and being tested as we speak, but rumors have been a little quiet in this area. WWDC 2012 will certainly be the place where we’ll see a little bit of iOS 6 light.

New Mac Hardware

The rumors of a newer-generation MacBook Pro lineup have been exhausting to say the least. There’s been talk that Apple will oust optical drives on all of their MacBooks, except for possibly the 17-inch model. The last time Apple announced anything Mac hardware related was in 2009 when they announced the 13-inch MacBook Pro unibody to replace the white plastic model. Honestly, I would say it’s very likely that Apple will announce something new in the MacBook lineup, whether it’d be completely new MacBook Pros or an updated MacBook Air; the push towards Ultrabooks by Intel is too much for Apple to ignore.

As far as desktop Macs, a new iMac is certainly possible and it will be interesting to see if they talk about their Mac Pro lineup, since there have been talks of getting rid of the Mac towers as of October 2011, but are rumored to be updated with Ivy Bridge chips and Nvidia’s Kepler graphics this year.

iPhone 5

This one’s a tricky one, but the current stand inside the rumor mill is that the next iPhone will come out in the fall, so for Apple to announce a new iPhone in June and wait all the way through the summer until the fall to release it just doesn’t seem like their thing. I don’t see the iPhone 5 making an appearance at WWDC 2012 at all.

Overall, this year’s WWDC will be all about software (it is a developers conference after all), so I honestly think that the only talking points will be OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6, with possible announcements regarding Mac hardware, but that’s just me. Let us know what your predictions are for WWDC 2012 in the comments.

What Apple could possibly announce at WWDC 2012 is a post from Techerator.com.

Related posts:

1. Apple’s App Store Hits One Billion Downloads
2. Is Apple Turning OS X into iOS?
3. Apple Announces iPhone 4S, Adds Small Updates to iPod Line

Nine. Hundred. And. One. Million.

They dropped this little statistic in their amended S-1 filing earlier this week, along with other small statistics such as that Facebook users post 3.2 billion comments per day and upload 300 million photos per day as well. They also lay claim that 125 billion friendships have been formed so far on Facebook and 526 million of the 901 million users (over half) were described as daily active users in March. If that doesn’t get your pot stirring, note that 488 million users used Facebook on their smartphone and/or tablet during March as well.

Gregory Lyons, a senior analyst at iCrossing, predicted that Facebook would hit one billion users by August. Now that they have reached 900 million, one billion seems like a plausible number to hit by summer’s end. However, based on the most recent trends, I believe it might not be until October when we see Facebook hit one billion users.

In February, Facebook said they had 845 million users when they filed their IPO paperwork. They now have just over 900 million. So in almost three months time, the social network gained over 50 million users. Based on this, it will take Facebook roughly six months to gain 100 million users and hit the one billion mark, which would be around October of this year.

To give you an idea on just how massive Facebook is and to clarify their stance as the largest social network, Twitter (the 2nd-largest social network) currently has over 560 million users, but as of March, they say that only 140 million of those users are regularly active, compared to Facebook’s 526 million regularly active users.

You can read Facebook’s amended S-1 filing in its entirety here, but be warned: it’s really long.

Facebook Approaches 1 Billion Users is a post from Techerator.com.

Related posts:

1. Instagram goes from $0 to $1 billion in 17 months
2. Dropbox Hits 50 Million Users and Raises $250 Million
3. Facebook Releases Desktop Application, Aptly Named Facebook Desktop

This budget system will serve you well for most everyday tasks, as well as other more slightly intensive activities like some gaming, streaming movies and music from the web, and even bigger projects like editing photos and home movies.

This build assumes that you already have a mouse, keyboard, and monitor lying around to use with your new system and that you’ll only need the basic components to get up and running. Also, I’m assuming off-the-bat that you already know how to build a computer from scratch, but if you don’t (and there’s no need to be ashamed), Lifehacker has a great guide that’s perfect for the computer-building novice.

So without further ado, let’s take a look at the components that will make up this sub-$500 workhorse.

The Case and Power Supply: Rosewill R103A Mid-Tower Case w/ 350W Power Supply – $39.99

The R103A isn’t an Antec Twelve Hundred by any means, but it certainly will get the job done, and the included 350-watt power supply will give us more than enough juice to power our budget build.

The Motherboard: ASUS P8H61-M LE/CSM Micro ATX Motherboard – $70.99

Asus is certainly a trusted name in motherboards and the P8H61-M is no exception. It’s a budget board that will serve you well throughout the life of your machine. It sports six USB ports, four SATA ports, a PCI Express slot (for a future graphics card), and DVI and VGA ports for the integrated graphics.

The Processor: Intel Core i3-2105 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor – $134.99

I went with Intel for this budget build, but you’re free to substitute in AMD if you choose. However, the Core i3-2105 is quite a bang for the buck. The 3.1GHz dual-core chip is a solid processor that will certainly be able to keep up with most tasks you throw at it, and the HD 3000 integrated graphics will play most basic games that you’ll want (From my experience, the HD 3000 graphics play Portal 2 without a hiccup).

The RAM: Crucial 4GB DDR3 1333 Dual Channel RAM – $27.99

4GB is the sweet spot for memory in most budget builds, but it’s so cheap nowadays that you’re free to upgrade to 8GB if you so choose, just be aware that the motherboard I chose only has two DIMM slots, which shouldn’t be too much of a problem here — 2x4GB memory kits are very common.

The Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB Hard Drive – $74.99

Unlike RAM, hard drives are ridiculously expensive right now, but prices should go back down to normal before year’s end. I obviously would have gone with a larger hard drive if the budget was a little higher, but 320GB is enough room for the main system files, all of your programs, and a selection of media files.

The Optical Drive: Samsung 22x DVD Burner – $16.99

Selecting an optical drive is pretty simple and they’re really cheap: Just select something that works for your needs, but because of the low prices, there’s no reason not to go for an all-out DVD burner just ’cause.

The OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit – $99.99

A bulk of the price for the budget build is from the operating system. I chose Windows 7 by default since that’s what most of you will probably run, but feel free to save yourself $100 and use Linux or try your hands at a Hackintosh with a $30-copy of Mac OS X Lion.

Total price of the budget build: $465.93

Conclusion

As you can see, we have a bit of room to work with as far as our $500 budget. There’s $34.07 left over. That’s not a lot of money, but you could use it to upgrade the hard drive to a higher capacity or double the amount of RAM like I mentioned earlier.

Obviously, don’t take my word for everything I suggested here. I know everyone has their own opinions on what should have been included and excluded. Also, don’t feel obligated to use only Newegg/Amazon to buy your components. Feel free to use another e-tailer, especially if you can find the components cheaper there.

If you have any questions about your own budget build, you can leave a comment below or you can visit the many online resources available to you. Tom’s Hardware Forums is just one place that can provide you with a lot helpful feedback.

Image Credit: Iwan Gabovitch

Build it on a Budget: A sub-$500 get-work-done rig is a post from Techerator.com.

No related posts.

Before we begin, be sure to think about what room you want your podcast studio in. Think about room acoustics, as well as ancillary noise — try not to be close to anything that will be relatively loud (such as the laundry room), and if your room is particularly “echo-y,” hang up some blankets on the walls to dampen the noise and make it more soundproof. Other than that, feel free to do what you see fit to the room, just as long as you have the essentials — a desk and a couple non-swiveling chairs that aren’t squeaky.

Microphones

This is obviously the most crucial piece of equipment that you need, and there are literally hundreds of mic options ranging from low-end models at discount retail stores all the way up to really-expensive models from Shure, AKG, and Neumann. Ideally, you’ll want to look for a large-diaphragm condenser mic, since those are the best for voice recording. They give you a deep, rich sound that will be great for your podcast.

MXL 990 Condenser Microphone – $59.99
Audio-Technica AT2020 Condenser Microphone – $99.99

Pop Filter/Screen

Since condenser mics are very sensitive to mouth noises like “P” and “Sh,” it’s important to get some kind of pop filter or screen. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on this — you can find decent ones for under $20.

Musician’s Gear 6″ Pop Filter – $14.99

Mixer

The mixer is what will allow us to fine tune the volume, bass, treble, etc. of each mic. It will also act as a device to connect your XLR microphones to your computer. You don’t need anything too outrageous here — a 4-channel mixer will do just fine for your podcasting needs. Just make sure whatever you pick has the same number of XLR connectors as the number of microphones (or more). It should also have phantom power to power your condenser mics.

Behringer XENYX 802 Mixer – $64.99
Behringer XENYX 1202FX Mixer – $108.99

Stands

You’ll obviously need microphone stands to hold up the mics. If you have enough room on your desk, you can get shorter stands that sit on your desk. This is a cheaper option, but if you don’t want to sacrifice desk space, you can get regular boom mic stands.

Musician’s Gear Low Profile Die-Cast Mic Stand – $10.99
Hercules Stands EZ Clutch Mic Stand – $49.99

Cables

You’ll need XLR cables to connect the microphones to your mixer and you’ll also need a cable to connect the mixer to your computer. This type of cable tends to be a 1/4″ cable with male connectors on both ends with a 1/4″ to 3.5mm adapter to plug into your computer’s sound input. However, some mixers can connect to computers via USB, so be sure to check the outputs of your specific mixer.

Musician’s Gear Lo-Z Microphone Cable – $4.99
Live Wire Advantage Series 1/4″ Straight Instrument Cable – $4.99

Software

The software that you use to record your podcast with is completely up to you. Budget-minded podcasters would most likely go for the free open-source audio program Audacity, but others may choose a paid program like Adobe Audition or Apple’s Logic Pro.

Accessories

The only accessory that you’ll really need is a pair of headphones so that you can monitor the audio. They also come in handy if you’re podcasting with someone over Skype — you don’t want sound coming out of your speakers to be picked up by the mic. It doesn’t really matter what headphones you use, just as long as you have something over your ears.

Conclusion

This article is meant to get you headed in the right direction and get started setting up your podcasting studio. Don’t feel that you must take my recommendations whole-heartedly. It’s just what worked for me and it may be different for someone else. Also, keep in mind that the more people you want on your podcast, the more money you’ll have to pay for microphones and such. In any case, good luck and have fun!

Image Credit: Christine Young

Set up your own professional podcast studio for less than $175 is a post from Techerator.com.

Related posts:

1. How to Create an Audio Podcast with Professional-Quality Sound
2. Turn Your Digital Media into Web Video with Stupeflix Studio
3. How to install Microsoft’s FxCop for Visual Studio 2010

On April 10, Facebook acquired the San Francisco-based startup for a whopping $1 billion. At the time of the acquisition, Instagram’s iOS app has been downloaded over 30 million times. The Android app, which was recently released, saw over 5 million downloads in six days.

One of the interesting tidbits of the acquisition is that a week before Facebook bought Instagram, the startup was valued at $500 million. So in a week’s time, the value of Instagram apparently doubled.

The $1 billion price tag has definitely raised some eyebrows, and for good reason: The company is only 17 months old and has a measly 13 employees. They also haven’t generated any revenue whatsoever. Some people even compared Instagram’s worth to the New York Times, noting that the 116-year-old national newspaper company is worth less than a 17-month-old photo app. It’s also worth noting that, in the same year, Kodak filed for bankruptcy while Instagram gets bought for $1 billion; the times they are a changin’.

Large Silicon Valley acquisitions aren’t uncommon, but it is indeed strange for such a small company to be offered ten figures. Then again, we kind of knew what Facebook was really acquiring: Instagram users — 30 million of them. The extremely large user base is what Facebook really wants (and I suppose the resources and features of the Instagram app don’t hurt either).

In any case, the Facebook acquisition has not stopped the influx of new Instagram users, even though many current users are jumping ship now that the social-networking giant has a hold on the app. The iOS version hit the number one spot in the iTunes App Store for the first time ever this week.

It’ll be interesting to see what Facebook does with the photo app. Will they leave it as is? Will they use the visual-filter features on their own photo-sharing web interface? Will they completely shut it down like they did with Gowalla (probably not)? We’ll have to wait and see.

Instagram goes from $0 to $1 billion in 17 months is a post from Techerator.com.

Related posts:

1. Google To Acquire Motorola Mobility For $12.5 Billion
2. What Twitter’s Acquisition of Posterous means for Bloggers
3. Draw Something, the fastest-growing social game ever

All of this can wreak havoc on your machine’s speed and agility, but I’ll be listing off some tips and techniques for getting your PC back to how it should be.

Note: This guide is mostly geared towards novice computer users. However, I mention different tools and apps that still might be helpful for the geeks, and it also won’t hurt if you print this page out right now and lay it on a relative’s computer desk.

Delete Temporary Files

Files that are out of sight are definitely out of mind. Most likely your computer has tons of unused temp files just sitting there doing nothing. CCleaner is my favorite tool for cleaning up the unnecessary clutter. It’s extremely user-friendly and even if you don’t know what all the settings are, CCleaner automatically selects what is recommended, so all you have to do is press the big green button.

You’ll notice that CCleaner has a feature that will clean your PC’s registry, but it’s not necessary to utilize it. A lot of users think that cleaning up the clutter in the registry will increase your PC’s performance, but it actually doesn’t affect it all that much and you won’t notice a huge difference. Plus, messing around with the registry is pretty risky business anyway; one wrongly deleted registry file and your PC could start having some issues.

Programs-Be-Gone

Get rid of any programs that you no longer use. That nifty greeting card creator that you used to make your Mom’s birthday card two years ago isn’t going to delete itself. For Windows XP, simply navigate to Start>Control Panel>Add or Remove Programs. For Vista and 7, go to Start>Control Panel>Programs and Features. For Mac OS X, Simply drag-and-drop an application from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Deleting any unwanted programs you might have will most likely free up a lot hard disk space that you never knew you had. CCleaner can also delete any of your unwanted programs, and I personally believe that it does a better job at it than the Windows method. If you’re not sure what something is, it’s best to just leave it alone and not delete it, but a simple Google search will most likely let you know what it is and what it does.

Organize, Organize, Organize

I believe this is a key component to having a clean PC and ultimately a clutter-free mind. Organizing all your files and maintaining your frequently accessed folders is not only essential to having a clean machine, but also makes it easier for you to find stuff in the future. It’s also said that removing the tons of files and icons on your Mac desktop can speed it up a bit.

There are several tools that automate the organizing process like Hazel for Mac and Belvedere for Windows, but I personally like to organize manually. I put all of my music in the Music folder, all of my movies in the Movies folder, and all of my docs in the Documents folder. Sure, it takes longer and can be monotonous at times, but at least I know where I’m putting all of my files, and seeing where I put all of them helps me remember where they are for future reference.

Update Those Relics

Some of your programs most likely have an auto-update feature or give you a notification when a new version is available for download, but not all have these handy features or it’s even possible that auto-updates are turned off. Back when I ran Windows, I used FileHippo’s Update Checker to make sure all of my programs and drivers were up to date. What it does is check what programs and hardware your PC has installed and then checks its own online database of programs and drivers to see if it has a newer version than what you’re running. After it finishes checking, it’ll send you to FileHippo’s website where you’ll be presented with a list of all the programs and drivers you need to update, along with a handy download link for each.

For Mac users, a good alternative to FileHippo’s Update Checker is AppFresh.

As for updating Windows itself, most users have auto-updates enabled, so that’s not too much of a problem, but if you’re not sure what your update settings are, you can simply navigate to Start>Control Panel>Automatic Updates in Windows XP and Start>Control Panel>Windows Update>Change Settings in Vista and 7. I personally tell Windows to notify me of updates, but let me choose when to download and install them.

Mac OS X users can go up to the top-left corner and click on the apple icon, then click Software Update. From there, Apple will automatically search for system updates that need installed.

Shun Your PC of All Evil

We’ve all heard the V word before (“virus” for those who didn’t catch on). While it’s more than likely that you’ll know if you have a virus simply by the way you’re PC is acting up, several other forms of maliciousness are a different story. These little fellas can stake out on your PC for weeks before you even notice. Viruses and other malware alike, there are numerous programs out there that are great at getting the job done. You should definitely have an anti-virus program running at all times in the background. AVG offers a free version of their anti-virus program that’s just as great as the other programs that you usually would pay for.

Microsoft’s own Security Essentials is another free solution that can get the job done, but of course, the number one preventive measure for a malware-free computer is simply safe web browsing and common sense.

Defrag Your Hard Drive…Or Not?

Defragmentation is basically the process of squishing all data on your hard drive together into a tight space, that way seek times are reduced. With older operating systems, like Windows XP, it was pretty much required to defragment your hard drive every once in a while, but today’s operating systems do it automatically. The same goes for solid state drives. SSDs don’t need to be defragged, whether it’s on an older OS or newer. However, do make sure TRIM is enabled on your SSD if you’re running Windows 7.

If you happen to still be using Windows XP and need to defrag, go with a free, third-party program like Defraggler. It does a way better job than Windows’ built-in defrag utility.

Conclusion

So there you have it. You should now be staring at a refreshed computer that has been given quite an internal makeover. If you have any questions or other suggestions for spring cleaning a computer, please feel free to leave a comment.

Image Credit: awjmfotos

How to give your computer a good spring cleaning this year is a post from Techerator.com.

No related posts.

You’ve probably heard that this can pose a problem for app developers trying to cater to every Android device. It’s not just a problem though, it’s downright confusing and frustrating.

I’m sure you know how it is: Android phone manufacturers have tons of different phones. It’s to the point now where it’s getting hard to keep track of new models that release. I can certainly attest to this when I tried to follow all of the news coming out of this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. So many new devices were announced and unveiled that I felt extreme remorse for all tech journalists who were assigned to cover the event.

Phone makers get so caught up on pure sales and numbers that they start to lose focus on…well…focusing. All of these manufacturers don’t just have a few Android phones in their lineup, they have dozens.

This wasn’t the plan, though, when Android was beginning to come into fruition in 2007. Google had planned to only make one device that would be refreshed every year or so and push it to all carriers, similar to Apple’s current strategy with the iPhone. Obviously, this didn’t work out too well. Yes, Google still makes their one device (the Nexus), but other manufacturers have jumped on board with not only one device, but many.

A similar situation is happening (and has always been happening) with Windows computers. Manufacturers like HP, Dell, Toshiba and Asus have dozens of models of computers, all slightly different from one another. They even go so far as to give them ridiculous model names. Asus’ Eee netbook series is extremely guilty of this. They have numerous netbook models, all with a ridiculous model number (T101MT is one of them). This makes it extremely confusing and frustrating when it comes time to shop for a laptop and I totally don’t blame those that give up and just buy a MacBook Air instead.

Options are great, don’t get me wrong, but it’s counter-intuitive when someone puts thirty different choices in front of my face and tells me to pick only one. Wouldn’t it be much easier and more helpful if those choices were narrowed down to a more-manageable four or five?

Image Credit: Matthijs via Flickr

Android phone manufacturers just don’t get it is a post from Techerator.com.

No related posts.

If you don’t know what Draw Something is, it’s a two-player-only game where you…yes…draw something and your opponent tries to guess what you drew and vice versa. It’s sort of an interesting twist on Pictionary. You can also earn coins and such, and there’s different settings that you can change and cool statistics that you can look at. It’s the type of game where you have to play it yourself to truly understand it.

Developer OMGPOP surprisingly hasn’t spent a dime on marketing the game since it’s launch on February 1st. The free, ad-supported game is apparently generating revenue of six figures every day. It’s so popular and is generating so much revenue that Zynga, developer of many popular Facebook games including FarmVille, decided to scoop up the game, as well as the entire OMGPOP developing studio last week for a cool $180 million. Twas a smart move on Zynga’s part if I do say so myself. Look for them to be milking the social drawing game for all it’s worth and then some.

The story of Draw Something and developer OMGPOP is quite a remarkable one, going from an almost-broke start-up to an overnight millionaire of sorts. It just goes to show you what the internet and its users are capable of.

Draw Something, the fastest-growing social game ever is a post from Techerator.com.

No related posts.