Saturday 28 September 2013

Saturday 28th September 2013: In the News this Week

It's the week of Saturday 28th September 2013 and...





Humans are to blame for Climate Change
The summary of a UN report on climate change was published earlier this week and stated that they are 95% sure that humans are to blame for global warming however Scientist are now extremely worried that people no longer care.

Scientists believe that the people who have the power to change the future are the government and they are well informed about this subject; despite this, unless they bring in a policy sea levels will continue raising and the green house effect will only get worse.

National Geographic did a feature in this months issue of their magazine about raising seal levels. They showed a world without ice and where the seas had raised by so much that counties had been submerged in water. By 2100 there are 4 possible scenarios of how much sea levels will have raised by. These have been predicted by scientists and the predictions variety from a sea-level rise of only 0.6 feet all the way to a huge rise of 6.6 feet. If the sea level did raise by 6.6 feet, the flat country of Holland would become a sea bed.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also said this week that temperatures will rise between 3.3 and 4.8 degrees Celsius by 2100.
The full report by the UN will be published on Monday where there will be more information released.


Microsoft Surface 2
This week Microsoft announced the Surface 2, a Windows 8.1 tablet with a dock, new attachable keyboards and kickstand which can support 2 angles. The Surface 2 is faster, lighter and has a longer battery life however it has many of the same problems as the original Microsoft Surface.

The target market for this device is not clear, is it businesses or normal consumers. The app store is also weak and the whole operating system inside is confusing and unappealing.

Microsoft did announce a new cover which clicks onto the bottom of the device. The cover has easy volume controls and works with a new app so you can mix songs together easily like a DJ. The cover is perfect for the app and DJs however it is going to be expensive, this will unfortunately limit the amount of people who purchase it.
It would be great news for app developers if Microsoft allowed 3rd parties to make touch covers. This would allow film editors to have a bigger track pad and more playback options, writers to have a better keyboard and programmers to have a keyboard which would give you commands easily. Problem with this is, would you want a different keyboard/cover for every app you use? Exactly.

There is a new dock which allows the Surface Pro 2 to slide in and then power up to another 2 displays. The dock is small and is perfect to have at your workstation whether your office or your study.
Overall, the Microsoft Surface Pro 2 could easily give a MacBook Air a run for its money, they both have super fast graphics and amazing processors however the operating system lets the Surface down. And the Surface RT 2 is great competition for the iPad however the app store lets it down.
Without a doubt, it is clear to see that Microsoft has built 2 new amazing Surfaces however it is now down to the marketing department to advertise it correctly (hopefully better than they did last year).