Volume 16, Issue 21 Atari Online News, Etc. May 23, 2014 Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2014 All Rights Reserved Atari Online News, Etc. A-ONE Online Magazine Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor Atari Online News, Etc. Staff Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking" Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile" Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips" Rob Mahlert -- Web site Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame" With Contributions by: Fred Horvat To subscribe to A-ONE, change e-mail addresses, or unsubscribe, log on to our website at: www.atarinews.org and click on "Subscriptions". OR subscribe to A-ONE by sending a message to: dpj@atarinews.org and your address will be added to the distribution list. To unsubscribe from A-ONE, send the following: Unsubscribe A-ONE Please make sure that you include the same address that you used to subscribe from. To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the following sites: http://people.delphiforums.com/dpj/a-one.htm Now available: http://www.atarinews.org Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi! http://forums.delphiforums.com/atari/ =~=~=~= A-ONE #1621 05/23/14 ~ What Happened to eBay? ~ People Are Talking! ~ China Warns The U.S.! ~ Happy Birthday PacMan! ~ Surface, Forget Laptop ~ Cox Plans New Speeds! ~ Bushnell on Innovation ~ ~ eBay: Change Password! -* Net Neutrality A Dumb Idea? *- -* Atari Is A Hardware Company, Again! *- -* DARPA Adds Oculus Rift Support to Cyberwar *- =~=~=~= ->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""""""" It figures. Juat as I thought that I might be turning the page (no pun intended) to find some extra time to focus more on some editorial content, I got busy again. I just can't catch a break! We're at the start of a long holiday weekend here in the States, with Memorial Day celebrations on Monday. For many, we will be celebrating the holiday; for others, it will be the celebration of the unofficial start of summer. Hopefully, you can find time for both. But, however you celebrate, please do so responsibly! Until next time... =~=~=~= ->In This Week's Gaming Section - War Games: DARPA Adds Oculus Rift! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" Atari A Hardware Company Again Happy Birthday, Pac-Man! And more! =~=~=~= ->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" War Games: DARPA Adds Oculus Rift Support to Cyberwar The Oculus Rift is a virtual-reality headset that makes wearers feel as if they're in a video game. It might also help United States military personnel feel like they're "in" the Internet. The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working on a 3D visualization of online networks called Plan X — the idea is that hacking enemy networks would be easier if the data were arranged spatially, as in a video game — and it's now adding Oculus Rift to the project, according to a report by Andy Greenberg of technology site Wired News. The idea is for Plan X to be a 3D interface that makes military personnel and contractors feel like they're within the networks they're trying to hack. The interface also gives them easy access to a number of "tools" for both defense and offense in cyber conflict. "You can look around the data. You look to your left, look to your right, and see different subnets of information," Frank Pound, Plan X program manager, told Greenberg. "With the Oculus, you have that immersive environment. It's like you're swimming in the Internet." Plan X may sound like a video game, but DARPA has plans to use this technology in real combat situations. "Say we want to turn out the lights in some place where we have boots on the ground, but it's on a subnet connected to a hospital," Pound told Greenberg. "We want to war-game that kind of situation with high assurance." Plan X is years away from being used in actual cyber-combat situations, but Greenberg did see a proof-of-concept demo that included the Oculus Rift at the Pentagon Wednesday.   The demo could easily be mistaken for a video game, with its neon blue spiderweb-like representations of computer networks and glowing icons representing different actions the user can take.  Greenberg saw DARPA employees demonstrating a series of "missions" in Plan X, in which users "entered" a network and selected from a set of "tools," such as scanning a network or searching for vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, the simulated "enemy" counterattacked with distributed denial-of-service attacks and other tactics. Pound told Greenberg the Oculus Rift Plan X demo has already been shown to members of Congress and the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff.  Happy Birthday, Pac-Man! That's right, 34 years ago Pakkuman arrived at Arcades and after capturing our hearts and imagination, it capture our quarters much like the Invaders from Space one year earlier. Namco made sure that he remains strong in today's video gaming landscape, in fact I hope to have a "First Play" video soonish for you guys to dabble. The original game also remains as one of the very few games you can play with just one hand. So here's to your good health , buddy! Keep munching on those pesky ghosts for generations to come. Waka, waka! Get Rid Of The Recipe: Innovation Advice From Atari Founder Nolan Bushnell The phone rang. He picked up. “Hi guys,” he said. “I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on the correlation between happiness and learning. Studies are finding strong correlations in both children and adults.”   No, there was no exchange of pleasantries. There was no, “Hello it’s great to talk to you again,” chitchat. Nolan Bushnell likes to jump directly into conversations about ideas. And, that’s what we love about him. Recognized as the founder of Pong, Atari, and Chuck E Cheese’s, and now an education company called BrainRush, Bushnell is obviously an innovator. But, after reading his book Finding the Next Steve Jobs, it became obvious to us that Bushnell’s ideas don’t stop in product development. He’s an innovator who understands how to find and manage other innovators (like Steve Jobs). We wanted to talk to Bushnell to ask some very pointed questions. We quickly realized he was giving us more insight than we anticipated. David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom: Many people assume that creativity and innovation are reserved for specific industries (like video games and pizza parlors with large mechanical animals that sing). How important is creativity in not-so-creative work environments? Nolan Bushnell: There is no such thing as a non-creative work environment. No matter what your job is, it’s your responsibility to find ways to improve the outcome—making it faster, better, or more desirable. Sturt and Nordstrom: What about the people who say, “My manager only wants me to follow the rules.” Bushnell: I believe that people are typically more creative than their manager allows them to be. If companies want innovation, they need to find more places to remove the opportunity for a manager to say “no.” Sturt and Nordstrom: That’s a scary concept to a lot of organizations. Bushnell: It is. But, if we don’t trust our employees, why did we hire them? Many organizations and managers spend so much time focusing on process that it makes creativity and innovation almost impossible. We all need to shift our focus to results. Let people run at results…sooner or later the results will speak for themselves . Sturt and Nordstrom: What’s your definition of process? Bushnell: Of course, all businesses create ways and habits of doing things. We figure if it worked once, it will probably work again. But, the danger is when we start to create recipes and assume that our result can’t be improved. Recipes are simply for people and companies who get lazy. Somehow a big portion of the world has made the manager believe that it’s his or her job to make sure everyone follows the recipe. Take this concept out of the office and into the classroom for a second. What if we could unburden a teacher from all the disciplinary responsibilities so he or she could focus on inspiring passion and curiosity in students. That sounds like the perfect classroom. Well, it’s what we should have in the office—because we’ve hired adults. Sturt and Nordstrom: Okay, so basically, you’re saying that a company, team, or culture that wants to inspire creativity and innovation needs to A) Focus on results, and B) Reduce process and recipes. Is there anything else? Bushnell: Yes, they need to give out Turkey awards. Sturt and Nordstrom:  …Turkey awards? Bushnell: If you focus on results, remove recipes so people can truly be their best at work, and reward them for successes, then you can predict increased innovation. But, if you really want people to empty their pockets — with all their passion and ideas—then they have to know that judicious risks are rewarded, and failure is allowed. There isn’t a business plan or strategy map that can predict every single variable. So, this is when you recognize people with a Turkey Award. Sturt and Nordstrom: Do you have an example of a Turkey Award at Atari or Chuck E. Cheese’s? Bushnell: Mr. Munch trashcans at Chuck E. Cheese’s. We thought we could make cleaning up after yourself fun for kids by turning trash cans into entertainment. The cans had a slight vacuum that would suck dirty napkins into it. And, they had a place to return your pizza tin in exchange for a token so you could play another game. It seemed like a great idea. But, it turned out to be a disaster. Families at Chuck E. Cheese’s would often order their pizza, eat some, go play games for a while and then come back and eat some more. At normal restaurants, when people leave their table, everyone assumes they are finished. So, other kids would be swooping up pizza tins to feed to Mr. Munch for a quarter. Sturt and Nordstrom: That was the unexpected variable? Bushnell: Yes, but that doesn’t mean the work shouldn’t be recognized. It was still great thinking. It deserved to be recognized. And, that’s a Turkey Award. Sturt and Nordstrom: One final question before we let you go. Steve Jobs worked for you at Atari. What was it about Steve that got your attention? Bushnell: Steve was creative. But, more importantly, he was a guy who didn’t think about why things couldn’t be done—even if the hurdle was so big that it seemed impossible. Think about the iPod. Sure, Apple AAPL +1.13% revolutionized the MP3 player. But, that’s not the most creative aspect of the story. Instead, it’s how Steve convinced the record labels to sell songs for 99 cents on iTunes. It’s a total shift in thinking. Of course, there are others like him. If you spend a day out in the real world, you’ll find a ton of creative minds who have been misunderstood and rejected—both by the educational system and the workforce. Creative people are squashed because their thinking doesn’t always fit into the process. But, if you listen closely to these people, they’ll feed you ideas of how something can be accomplished, as opposed to why it can’t be accomplished. Innovation and creativity are often labels that people in organizations find intimidating. If you’re still wondering where you can start innovating, remember what Bushnell said, “There is no such thing as a non-creative work environment.” The first step any one of us can take is to change up one of our tired old recipes.  Try something new, add some new ingredients, remove one you never really liked, experiment. Give yourself and others you work with permission to focus more on the result than the recipe. You might be surprised at what you discover. Learn more about the NYT Bestselling book Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love. =~=~=~= ->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr! """"""""""""""""""" 'Atari Is A Hardware Brand' New CEO Asserts The Atari brand means many things to many people, but above all else it remains a hardware brand. That’s according to new CEO Frederic Chesnais who told VentureBeat that while a successor to the Atari 2600 may not be on the cards the company does occupy a special position in the market. “It’s more than a software brand … it’s a hardware brand,” he said. “I don’t want to say it’s a hardware brand first and foremost, but it is also a hardware brand. “I’m not talking about a new console … but, like, a watch. A gamified watch. It’s not what we are going to do, but think about [something like] that. Like a new type of watch is something we ‘could do.’ A watch, branded, where you don’t have an ‘ordinary watch’. “[Atari] is a generational brand. Yes. It’s a lifestyle brand. You could never do that with a brand like THQ. I mean, back in the heydays, THQ was never a lifestyle brand. “To give you another idea of something we could do, you have a jacket. We have a plug-in so you can power your iPhone or Android. You had a solar chip on your shoulder so that you power … so that you never run out of batteries. Things like this. “Would you buy an Atari watch? Would you buy an Atari Jacket that you could plug and repower your iPhone or whatever device you are using? I think you would … I think you would. That’s what I mean by a lifestyle brand. So it’s more than just gaming. It goes beyond. …” Not that the 2600 is forgotten, of course. “We have a replica of the initial Atari 2600,” Chesnais added. “But that is also something that we want to carefully announce in the course of the next few years, which is that with new licensing with the right partners we build the brand not only in the software space but also in the hardware space.”  Atari A Hardware Company Again Frederic Chesnais is the new CEO of Atari and he's either got huge ambition or a massive sense of humour because he's said that Atari's future is in hardware. First let's let Mr Chesnais make a sensible point regarding the sheer problem of disentagingly the Atari ownership question, or problem. Over the years the company behind the iconic 2600 console (and the less iconic ST home computer) has been bought, sold, marketed and re-marketed. Right now, it's probably bet known simply as a company that sells its logo to t-shirt makers. Mr C' says, "“Yeah … that is one of the challenges we face in the next five years and we need to reposition the brand … gear it more for the future.” But what of the hardware angle? "“It’s more than a software brand … it’s a hardware brand. I don’t want to say it’s a hardware brand first and foremost, but it is also a hardware brand. So we are carefully looking at … you know … we have a replica of the initial Atari 2600, but that is also something that we want to carefully announce in the course of the next few years, which is that with new licensing with the right partners we build the brand not only in the software space but also in the hardware space.” A new console from Atari?!! “I’m not talking about a new console," he says. So, what then? "...like, a watch. A gamified watch. It’s not what we are going to do, but think about [something like] that. Like a new type of watch is something we ‘could do.’ A watch, branded, where you don’t have an ‘ordinary watch.’” Oh, right. =~=~=~= A-ONE's Headline News The Latest in Computer Technology News Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson China Warns US Cyber Charges Could Damage Ties China on Tuesday warned the United States was jeopardizing military ties by charging five Chinese officers with cyberspying and tried to turn the tables on Washington by calling it "the biggest attacker of China's cyberspace." China announced it was suspending cooperation with the United States in a joint cybersecurity task force over Monday's charges that officers stole trade secrets from major American companies. The Foreign Ministry demanded Washington withdraw the indictment. The testy exchange marked an escalation in tensions over U.S. complaints that China's military uses its cyber warfare skills to steal foreign trade secrets to help the country's vast state-owned industrial sector. A U.S. security firm, Mandiant, said last year it traced attacks on American and other companies to a military unit in Shanghai. The charges are the biggest challenge to relations since a meeting last summer between President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Sunnylands, California. Ties already were under strain due to conflicts over what Washington says are provocative Chinese moves to assert claims over disputed areas of the East and South China Seas. Beijing complains the Obama administration's effort to shift foreign policy emphasis toward Asia and expand its military presence in the region is emboldening Japan and other neighbors and fueling tension. Beijing has denied conducting commercial spying and said it is a victim of computer hacking, but has given little indication it investigates foreign complaints. "The Chinese government and Chinese military as well as relevant personnel have never engaged and never participated in so-called cyber theft of trade secrets," said a foreign ministry spokesman, Hong Lei, at a news briefing. "What the United States should do now is withdraw its indictment." The Ministry of Defense warned that the U.S. accusations would chill gradually warming relations between the two militaries. "The United States, by this action, betrays its commitment to building healthy, stable, reliable military-to-military relations and causes serious damage to mutual trust," it said. Despite the pointed language, damage to U.S.-Chinese relations is likely to be limited, with little change in trade or military links, because Beijing realizes the indictment of the five officers is symbolic, said Shen Dingli, a director of the Center for American Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University. He has close ties to China's foreign policy establishment. Beijing is unlikely to engage in tit-for-tat retaliation such as issuing its own indictments of American soldiers and probably will go ahead with plans to take part in U.S.-hosted naval exercises next month, Shen said. He said cybersecurity cooperation is likely to be suspended indefinitely, but that should have little impact because the joint group achieved little in its three meetings. "Political, security and commercial espionage will always happen," Shen said. "The U.S. will keep spying on Chinese companies and leaders, so why can't China do the same?" The Cabinet's Internet information agency said Chinese networks and websites have been the target of thousands of hacking attacks from computers in the United States. "The U.S. is the biggest attacker of China's cyber space," Xinhua said, citing a statement by the agency. "The U.S. attacks, infiltrates and taps Chinese networks belonging to governments, institutions, enterprises, universities and major communication backbone networks." Monday's indictment said the People's Liberation Army officers targeted U.S. makers of nuclear and solar technology, stealing confidential business information, sensitive trade secrets and internal communications. The targets were Alcoa World Alumina, Westinghouse Electric Co., Allegheny Technologies, U.S. Steel Corp., the United Steelworkers Union and SolarWorld. The Justice Department said the charges should be a national "wake-up call" about cyber intrusions. American authorities have previously announced details of cyberattacks from China but Monday's indictment was the first accusation to name individuals. The Justice Department issued wanted posters with the officer's photos on them. The new indictment attempts to distinguish spying for national security purposes — which the U.S. admits doing — from economic espionage intended to gain commercial advantage for private companies or industries. The United States denies spying for commercial advantage, though documents released by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden said the NSA broke into the computers of Brazil's main state-owned oil company, Petrobras. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said if that was true, then the motive would be to gather economic information. "China has already expounded its stance and is strongly opposed to stealing commercial secrets," said Xiong Zhiyong, a foreign relations specialist at Tsinghua University. "I think there is no difference between China and the United States in allowing cyberspying for national security, though there is no open announcement by the Chinese government." The defendants are believed to be in China and it was unclear whether any might ever be turned over to the U.S. for prosecution. eBay Tells Users To Change Passwords After Hack Attack The popular online merchandise site eBay is urging its customers to change their passwords after hackers managed to slip into one of its databases months ago. In a posting on the company’s website, eBay said a cyber-attack “compromised a database containing encrypted passwords and other non-financial data.” Hackers broke into the database "between late February and early March," but eBay didn't detect a problem with employee log-in credentials - which the hackers had hijacked - until about two weeks ago, the statement said. The company assured customers that it's seen “no evidence of any unauthorized access to financial or credit card information, which is stored separately in encrypted formats.” “However,” the company said, “changing passwords is a best practice and will help enhance security for eBay users.” EBay said as of its last quarter, it had 145 million "active buyers." EBay said the hackers would have had access to customer information like name, encrypted password, email address, physical address, phone number and date of birth. "[T]he database did not contain financial information or other confidential personal information," the company said. In a separate Q&A post, eBay said it “will not speculate” as to who may be responsible for the hack. If shoppers use the same password on other sites, the company urged they change those as well. “Working with law enforcement and leading security experts, the company is aggressively investigating the matter and applying the best forensic tools and practices to protect customers,” the company posting said. EBay is best known as a site for competitive bidding on merchandise, but the company said it has evolved into a "global commerce and payments company" where some 75 percent of items sold is new merchandise, "available for immediate purchase." EBay Urges New Passwords After Breach In the latest prominent breach of a company’s computer network, hackers have infiltrated the online marketplace eBay, gaining access to the personal data of 145 million customers, the company said on Wednesday. The hackers broke into an eBay database containing names, email addresses, birth dates, encrypted passwords, physical addresses and phone numbers. There was no indication that the attackers obtained financial information such as credit and debit card numbers or gained access to customer accounts at PayPal, which is owned by eBay, said Amanda Miller, a company spokeswoman. The company has not seen evidence of fraudulent activity that could be linked to the breach, she said. Still, hackers could use the stolen data for identity theft. Personal information — such as email addresses, passwords and birth dates — is regularly sold to criminals who use it for phishing or identity theft. Security experts warned that the stolen information would make eBay customers easy targets for phishing attacks, in which criminals send emails that bait victims into clicking on malicious links or direct them to fake log-in screens where they are asked to enter more valuable information like a password or a Social Security number. “Expect an uptick in phishing. Do not click links in email or discuss anything over the phone,” warned Trey Ford, a strategist at Rapid7, a security firm in Boston. EBay discovered the breach this month when the company’s internal security team noticed that some of its employees were engaged in unusual activity on its corporate network, said Mark Carges, the company’s chief technology officer. EBay contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s San Francisco office as well as an outside computer forensics firm. Working together, they found that hackers had been inside eBay’s corporate network since late February. By studying computer logs, eBay discovered that hackers had stolen the credentials of several of its employees and gained unauthorized access to eBay’s corporate network. Once inside, they were able to copy a database containing information on all 145 million of the company’s customers, according to Alan Marks, eBay’s senior vice president of global communications. Mr. Marks said eBay stored its financial data separately. Still, the company advised users with the same password for eBay and PayPal to change their passwords immediately. Though notification laws differ, most states require that companies notify customers of a breach only if their names are compromised in combination with other information like a credit card or a Social Security number. But there are exceptions for encrypted information. In eBay’s case, the company stored users’ names, email and physical addresses and birth dates in plain text but encrypted their passwords. Most states would not have required eBay to disclose the breach. But one state, North Dakota, requires companies to disclose a breach in cases where a customer’s name is compromised in conjunction with a birth date. Mr. Carges said eBay camouflaged customers’ passwords with encryption, using a process known as hashing, in which passwords are mashed up with a mathematical algorithm and stored only in encoded or “hashed” form. To make cracking more difficult, Mr. Carges said, eBay also appended several random digits to customer passwords — a process known as salting — before encrypting the passwords. Salting makes cracking them more difficult, although not impossible. Mr. Marks said that on Wednesday the company would begin prompting users to change their passwords and alerting customers to the breach. Peter D. Lee, a spokesman for the F.B.I.’s San Francisco field office, said the F.B.I. was working closely with eBay to investigate the breach and that he believed that arrests would be made soon. The breach at eBay is one of several recent hacking episodes at prominent companies. One that struck Target in December has cost the retailer $87 million in breach-related expenses, according to securities filings. Forbes: ‘Net Neutrality Is A Dumb Idea’ Where do I even begin with this one? The Federal Communications Commission voted last week to move forward with its controversial net neutrality plan, which seems to be designed specifically to ensure that the Internet is not kept neutral. Instead, the plan allows for the creation of Internet “fast lanes” so that Internet service providers can charge companies more for faster connections to end users. If you oppose the new plan, there is action you can take. The FCC’s proposal is now in a period where open comments will be taken into account before the FCC creates a final set of rules. Those who see the slippery slope created by the FCC’s proposal can make their voices heard by reading the plan and submitting a public comment that addresses specific problems with the proposal. If you support the plan, you can also be heard… by writing a column for Forbes. Gene Marks blogs for The New York Times. He also owns a technology consulting firm and writes columns for both Inc.com and Forbes. He is clearly an intelligent person, so we’re not sure exactly what happened to his latest offering, titled “Why ‘Net Neutrality‘ Is A Dumb Idea.” The FCC’s new net neutrality plan is already ruining the Internet by preventing technology startups that rely on fast Internet connections from getting funding. Imagine YouTube never came to be because its founders were unable to secure funding. If the plan goes through as-is and becomes a law, it will likely ruin the Internet in a number of other ways. Large companies with deep pockets will have a huge advantage over smaller companies that can’t afford to pay for premium connections. It will be inevitable. Consumers will also be forced to pay more for services, since these large companies will need to recoup costs associated with these fast lanes. But apparently, real net neutrality is a “dumb idea.” “Wouldn’t it be great if a two bedroom, 2,000 square foot apartment on Park Avenue cost the same as one in Queens?” Marks wrote in his latest Forbes column. “Or if a front row ticket to a Broadway show cost the same as one in the mezzanine? Wouldn’t it be great if you could buy a new BMW for the same amount as a new Hyundai? Or if the price of a Harvard education were equal to one from your local community college? These things are priced differently. They are not neutral. Nothing is neutral in a free market economy.” He continued, “Which is why ‘net neutrality’ is a dumb idea.” This is the basis for his argument, it seems. Americans live in a free market economy so nothing should be regulated, regardless of its necessity and regardless of how severely companies want to gouge their customers. Marks goes on to make a number of questionable arguments. For example, he says real net neutrality rules will hurt big companies like Comcast and Verizon, which employ hundreds of thousands of Americans. This would be a terrific argument if it were true, but alas. Comcast’s revenue grew about 14% to $17.4 billion in the first quarter this year, and its operating income climbed more than 16% to $3.57 billion. In other words, it looks like the ISP is doing just fine without fast lanes. Perhaps worst of all, Marks admits that not having net neutrality guidelines will result in increased costs for companies, and those increased costs will be passed down to consumers. But that’s ok, he explains, because it probably won’t cost consumers that much more. Shoot me. “When Netflix had its scrap with Comcast a few months ago over access and speed of delivery, they wound up paying more for the privilege,” he wrote. “Was the cost ultimately passed down to their consumers? Yes. Not to their existing customers (we pay $7.99 a month) but to new customers, who now have to suffer – brace yourself – a one or two dollar monthly increase for the service. A year’s worth of Netflix could cost a new user up to $120! What a catastrophe! If Netflix wants you as a customer they will have to justify their increased price by providing great content. And the best part: the government hasn’t been involved. It’s a free market. You choose.” Microsoft: No Need for Laptop With Its New Tablet Microsoft bills its new Surface tablet computer as a laptop replacement — and it means it this time. The Surface Pro 3 will have a screen measuring 12 inches diagonally, up from 10.6 inches in the previous model. The Pro 3 is 32 percent thinner and 12 percent lighter than October's Pro 2. The company said it customized more than 100 parts and worked closely with chipmaker Intel Corp. to maximize performance in a slim device. Microsoft had also billed the Surface Pro 2 as a laptop replacement, but Surface executive Ben Reed said technological advances and customer feedback over the past several months led to the device unveiled Tuesday. The Surface Pro 3 will go on sale this summer, in five configurations ranging from $799 to $1,949. Microsoft will start taking orders Wednesday. Older models will still be available. The starting price of the Pro 2 is $100 more, at $899, but it has a faster processor than the Pro 3's starting model. A keyboard cover to make the tablet feel like a laptop costs $130 more. The Surface is an important part of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's mobile-focused strategy. The company is trying to boost sales of Windows tablets and phones to stay relevant with consumers as computing habits change. Microsoft executives spent much of an hour-long presentation in New York comparing the Surface with Apple's iPad and MacBook Air laptop and tried to make the case for the Pro 3 to replace both. In an interview, Reed said he believes people want to lighten their bags by carrying a single Surface instead of separate tablet and laptop computers. Microsoft also faces competition from Samsung Electronics Co., which has a line of large-size Android tablets aimed at professionals. The first Surface came out in late 2012 to lackluster sales. The debut of second-generation devices last October came with a greater marketing emphasis on tasks people normally tackle on laptops, such as creating documents and editing movies. In the January-March period, revenue from Surface devices grew more than 50 percent from the year before to about $500 million. But that figure pales in comparison with Apple's reported $7.6 billion in iPad revenue for the same quarter. In a research note, analysts Daniel H. Ives and James Moore of FBR Capital Markets said the new Surface is progress for Microsoft, but "we continue to believe Microsoft faces an uphill battle versus the likes of Samsung and Apple." The analysts said Microsoft "has been late to the game on the tablet front, and Surface's impact has been underwhelming thus far." The Surface line is notable for its built-in kickstand. With the Pro 3, the kickstand can be adjusted to a range of positions, much the way a laptop's screen can be opened at various angles. The Surface line puts Microsoft in competition with some of its own partners — the makers of tablets and laptops that use Microsoft's Windows operating system. Nadella sought to quell concerns by saying the company's goal was to create demand in new types of products and boost the entire industry. "We are not building hardware for hardware's sake," Nadella said. "We want to build experiences that bring together all the capabilities of the company." The vision of the Surface, he said, was to design a product that "takes the best of the tablet and the laptop" and enable people to read, create, write, watch and enjoy. Cox Plans Gigabit Internet Speeds in Three Cities Cable company Cox Communications says it plans to boost Internet download speeds to 1 gigabit per second starting in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Omaha, Nebraska, late this year. That is dozens of times faster than typical broadband plans. The move will bring its service in line with Google's fiber rollout in cities such as Kansas City and Provo, Utah, and Austin, Texas; and an AT&T rollout in Austin. Cox also said it plans to add 1 Gbps Internet speed to any new residential construction project in its footprint nationwide in places such as San Diego; Providence, Rhode Island; Orange County, California; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Tucson, Arizona. It plans to spread the faster rate to the rest of its service area by the end of 2016. The company also plans to double the most popular tiers of Internet service for all its customers this year — boosting those with 25 Mbps to 50 Mbps and those with 50 Mbps to 100 Mpbs. The two tiers represent 70 percent of all Cox's customers. Privately held Cox serves about 6 million customers. It is the third largest U.S. cable company. =~=~=~= Atari Online News, Etc. is a weekly publication covering the entire Atari community. Reprint permission is granted, unless otherwise noted at the beginning of any article, to Atari user groups and not for profit publications only under the following terms: articles must remain unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of each article reprinted. Other reprints granted upon approval of request. Send requests to: dpj@atarinews.org No issue of Atari Online News, Etc. may be included on any commercial media, nor uploaded or transmitted to any commercial online service or internet site, in whole or in part, by any agent or means, without the expressed consent or permission from the Publisher or Editor of Atari Online News, Etc. Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or of the publishers. All material herein is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing.