Posts in PC & Peripherals
Windows 7 demo at D6: Really? That's it?
Rafe Needleman | May 28, 2008
During the joint Gates/Ballmer opening interview at the
D6 conference on Tuesday, the audience
was treated to an early look at Windows 7, which, according to Ballmer, will
ship to customers in late 2009. The demo showed a full-screen multitouch
interface embedded in the operating system. We saw a demo of a Surface-like app
for organizing photos, and what appeared to be the Windows 1.0 Paint app, except
that you can now draw with all your fingers at once. Also, a digital globe app,
where the two-handed interface makes good sense. And a piano app, on which,
thanks to multitouch, you can now play chords.
Aside from a glimpse at a touch-enabled Windows task bar, that was it. The interface. The coat of paint on top of the multitasking engine, the file system, the security, the device drivers... the foundation that the UI is built on top of.
After the demo, I ran in to Bill Gates and asked him why he showed just the UI and didn't discuss the underpinnings. His explanation: "It's hard to show more in only 5 minutes... the security, the speed..." Then he took his plate of shrimp and left. And Ballmer had said, earlier in the evening, that the biggest pushback Microsoft got on Vista from customers was not around its security systems or its drivers, but rather on its interface.
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Windows 7, Windows Mobile on PDC docket
Ina Fried | May 28, 2008
Windows 7 and its multitouch interface will be a key topic at the Professional Developers Conference, which hasn't been held since 2005, when Vista was still in development. Microsoft also plans to show where it is headed in mobile, which probably means a look and Windows Mobile 7, although the company wouldn't say that for certain.
Ray Ozzie is giving the keynote at the event and the company is expected to have a broader beta of Live Mesh and offer a clearer picture of its overall services push.
Microsoft revealed a sampling of the sessions, including several cloud services tracks such as "Developing and deploying your first cloud service" and "Scalable, Available Storage in the Cloud". That last one sounds like a pitch for a service where Microsoft offers cloud storage to developers, now doesn't it?
There's also "Live Platform: Building Mesh Applications" and "Live Platform: Mesh Services Architecture Deep Dive".
The Windows 7 tracks give a few hints about that product as well. Seven-related panels include "Web services in native code", "Optimizing for energy efficiency and battery life" and "Touch computing". The Windows Mobile tracks include "Location, Location, Location" and "Optimizing Web development for devices".
The event will be followed a week later by a Microsoft conference for computer makers, the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), which is also set for Downtown Los Angeles.
Via CNET News Blogs
ASUS Ebox set to debut in June at Taipei show
Rory Reid | May 28, 2008
Today, our sources have confirmed the Ebox--formerly known as the Eee DT--will have a 160GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, and run the same Linux operating system found on the Eee PC. We won't know whether it'll use an Intel Atom CPU until ASUS lifts the lid at the Computex show in Taipei on June 3, but we're betting it'll use some form of mobile CPU.
Hardware-wise, the Ebox looks like it was dropped off by the same stork that delivered the Nintendo Wii. It's ever-so-slightly more lovely, however, thanks to some delicate patterns in the side, and a very contemporary aluminium-effect stand. So far, we only know about black and white models, but if the Eee PC is anything to go by, other hues should make an appearance in due course.
Pricing is unconfirmed, but expect it to be cheap---cheaper than an Eee PC, in fact. Stick around and we'll give you all the unmissable details.
Via CNET Crave UK
Microsoft to add multitouch interface to Windows 7
Ina Fried | May 28, 2008
In an interesting but perhaps unsurprising move, Microsoft plans to add multitouch interface to Windows 7, CNET News.com has learned. The interface will be shown in just a few minutes as part of Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates' keynote at the D6 event in California.
Update: Ballmer says it will come in late 2009. Julie Larson-Green demos the multitouch technology, painting with several fingers at the same time to show how it can process not just touch, but multiple simultaneous input.
"It's much faster to do certain tasks than using a mouse," Larson-Green said. She also showed rotating photos by pinching and rotating, much like Microsoft's surface or Apple's iPhone.
Microsoft had previously hinted that the touch gestures would find their way into Windows. In an interesting twist though, the new technology will work with existing touch screens, Microsoft said. They showed it running on an existing Dell laptop.
Via CNET News Blogs
Bill Gates to demo Windows 7
John Chan | May 28, 2008Ex-CEO of Microsoft, Bill Gates, is expected to talk about Windows 7 at the D6 conference hosted by The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. Some of you may remember the historical interview of Gates with Apple head honcho Steve Jobs last year at a similar conference. This time around, we still have Bill and Steve, but it's Steve Ballmer, not Jobs. The interview is currently ongoing and we haven't gotten to the part about the new version of Windows. Check out News.com's live coverage of the event right now.
Image credit: All Thing Digital
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