All Hopes on Windows 8.2 for a Full-Featured Start Button

Windows 8.1 is just around the corner and it’s pretty obvious by now that Microsoft’s new Start button won’t do anything else besides taking users to the Start screen.

Windows 8 adopters, on the other hand, call for Microsoft to either bring back the traditional Start button and a Start Menu, or improve the existing version. Of course, all hopes are on the next Windows 8 update, presumably called Windows 8.2, which could feature several other major improvements. “The designers of the ‘reintroduced’ Start button must have realized they weren't really giving us what we had asked for. I half suspect they purposefully left out a "hide Start button" option so that when we inevitably ask for the option to go back to the Windows 8 design, they can say told you so,” one user wrote on the Microsoft Community forums. “We've been requesting this feature since Preview. Plus, it was the start menu, not the start button that we wanted and MS only give us the useless start button? Now, we want it gone. How hard can that be?” another one adds, asking for Microsoft to bring a feature to completely disable the 8.1 button.

Others, on the other hand, want the tech giant to continue work on the Start screen, as they find the Start Menu replacement a much more helpful feature. Microsoft has been saying the same thing for months, but the company has tried to show customers that it really cares about their opinions by bringing back a rather basic Start button. “I didn't ask for the start menu back, I think the start screen is better. You have all the wrong ideas about what i want. I want the start button gone! Why is it so hard to remove that darn useless thing? Windows 8 was so much better!” one user noted.

Windows 8.1's Start button only gets users to the Start screen
Image credits to Microsoft

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Market Availability of Exynos / Snapdragon Galaxy Note III Models Leaks

Galaxy Note III, the upcoming large smartphone that Samsung Electronics should add to its popular Galaxy Note series, is expected to land in various markets out there with a different processor inside, depending on the local connectivity options.

To be more precise, Samsung is expected to announce one handset model with a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 processor inside, as well as one with the Samsung Exynos 5420 Octa-Core CPU. This is not something new to Samsung, as the company made a similar move with other flagship devices before Galaxy Note III, packing them with specific processors depending on the market they were targeted at. According to a recent article on SamMobile, specific details on countries that will receive the different handset models has leaked online, providing users with a glimpse at what they should be looking for in the not too distant future. Thus, the news site claims that Galaxy Note III SM-N900, with 3G connectivity and the Exynos 5420 CPU, will also feature an ARM Mali-T628 MP6 GPU, and 3GB of LPDDR3 RAM, while being aimed at a great deal of countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.

Some of the most notable markets on the list include France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Middle-East, Italy, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, and Vietnam. The SM-N9005 Galaxy Note III model, which packs LTE connectivity, a Snapdragon 800 CPU, Adreno 330 graphics and 3GB of RAM, will be widely available across Europe, while also set to land in Australia, US and UK. The smartphone model will be launched in markets in Africa (South Africa) and Asia (Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines and Singapore) as well. Furthermore, Samsung will also launch a certain Galaxy Note III Duos SM-N9002 flavor of the device, exclusive to the market in China, packing it with the Samsung Exynos 5420 CPU and ARM Mali-T628 MP6 GPU.

Samsung Galaxy Note III market availability unveiled
Image credits to Samsung

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ASUS MeMOPad, a Quad-Core High-End Tablet

When it comes to the tablet market, there are a lot of competitors and a lot of tablets of all sorts of shapes, sizes, specifications and so on.

Manufacturers such as Samsung or Apple are fighting quite a battle for supremacy through operating systems, specifications, form factor and so on. Deciding to enter the fray is ASUS, with its new MeMO Pad FHD 10 LTE, that will be joining the high-end device class and probably price range. While looking quite similar to the MeMO Pad FHD 10, which comes with a dual-core processor, this particular device has LTE connectivity, a quad-core CPU and a 1920 x 1200-pixel IPS display.

As far as the operating system goes, it will be coming with Google's Android OS, version 4.2.2. Other specs include a rear 5-megapixel camera and of course, a lot of accessories. There’s no word as of yet regarding its pricing or launch date.

The Asus MeMO Pad LTE as shown by ASUS
Image credits to blog.laptopmag.com

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