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All posts tagged "touch"


Monday, April 5, 2010

HP Slate Specs Leaked?

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 08:00 PM

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/05/...5-hour-battery/

"Well, well -- what's this? We just got our hands on what looks like an internal HP Slate presentation given to cool down some of the iPad hype amongst HP employees, and it just happens to have specs and pricing details on the elusive Windows 7 tablet."

This looks official enough, but anyone with moderate skills can mock up nearly anything, so I'll hold off on believing this 100%...but there's nothing on here that's difficult to believe. An Atom Z530 CPU makes sense, as does 1 GB of RAM (I wish it were 2 GB though) and everything else makes sense. It's nice to see they didn't cripple it with Windows 7 Starter edition - what with its non-background changing and all - and the two cameras are a nice addition. The hardware addresses many of the things that the iPad lacks - but the Slate clearly falls short in the battery life department when stacked up against the iPad. So what do you think? If the HP Slate comes out at $549, will you buy one?


New HP Slate Video Looks Amazing

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home News" @ 10:22 AM

http://h20435.www2.hp.com/t5/Voodoo...ence/ba-p/54735

"Up to now, we've given you only tiny glimpses of the HP slate device coming out later this year. You saw it first in a video we released during CES and most recently in videos demoing its Web experience and Adobe Flash and Air support. We've also blogged about the evolution of the slate category and our history in the space. So far, almost everything we've shared showcases how you'll consume media with the device. And by media we mean all types of digital content, whether it's a story from a major news outlet or videos and photos you've shot. But we also believe that media consumption is only half of the ideal mobile experience."

One word: WOW. I've been cautiously optimistic about the HP Slate, and what was holding me back was the fact that Windows 7 isn't a touch-focused operating system, or is it an operating system that tends to work really well on low-end hardware. While I can't speak to the performance yet (and frankly I'm a bit worried about that), if the work that HP has done on this custom UI goes fairly deep, I could see spending most of my time inside this software suite. It's hard to judge the final product based on a slick marketing video, but I see a lot of things here that I like.


Saturday, March 6, 2010

Engadget Has the Scoop on Microsoft Courier

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 11:36 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/05/...ictures-and-de/

"We've been dying to know more about Microsoft's Courier tablet / e-book device ever since we first caught wind of it last September, and while our entreaties to Mr. Ballmer went unanswered, we just learned some very interesting information from an extremely trusted source. We're told Courier will function as a "digital journal," and it's designed to be seriously portable: it's under an inch thick, weighs a little over a pound, and isn't much bigger than a 5x7 photo when closed."

Courier is shaping up to be a really interesting product - I was initially pretty hesitant about how real it was when I saw the first leaks, but this is looking pretty legitimate. Engadget says that it will run on Tegra 2, and use the same OS as the Zune HD and Windows phone 7...meaning Windows CE 6 at the base, and a custom UI on top. I think that's fantastic, because Windows 7, as much as I like it, simply isn't made for a great tablet-type experience. Courier on the other hand, seems built to function radically different than any other computing device we've seen - the dual screens and the ability to flick items between the screens is like geek sci-fi. If Courier turns out to be real, it will blow the iPad away in terms of sheer functionality in my opinion. There's so much we don't know yet, but I'm fascinated by what we're seeing - and to lend an air of credibility to this whole thing, one of the videos says it was created at Pioneer Studios...that's the same group at Microsoft that created the Zune HD and Windows phone 7. Interesting, no?


Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Make Your Netbook A Bit Touchy

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 03:00 PM

http://www.popularmechanics.com/tec...to/4339778.html

"If the buzz is to be believed, 2010 will be the year of the touchscreen tablet PC, with multiple major manufacturers lining up products that they claim will give us a carry-anywhere way to read e-books, watch movies and surf the Web. And while I suppose I could just buy one of these machines, I thought it’d be more fun to make my own touchscreen PC out of last year’s “it” computer: the lowly netbook."

Netbooks have been 2009's hot product, but one thing they have been lacking are touchscreen capabilities. Touchscreen tablets have been rumored for quite some time with some buried in mystery like the mythical Apple Tablet and others steeped in drama, such as the CrunchPad turned Joo Joo. Fortunately, you do not have to wait for these anymore, since with a low cost upgrade and a few hours of work, you can easily turn your existing netbook into a touch friendly computer. Popular Mechanics shows you how, but one thing I would warn you about before joining the touch revolution is that at least with most current netbooks, they are far from touch optimized. So consider adding touch as a fun weekend project, not as a way to revolutionize the way you'll use your computer, because right now, the way the interfaces are, it definitely will not.


Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Sony Touch Walkman Materializes

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 08:30 AM

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/arch...tos-surface.php

"Incorporating a wide 3-inch OLED touch screen, the display delivers a picture with extremely high contrast, exceptional color reproduction and a rapid response time. Usability is also enhanced with this model as the device utilizes both touch panel operation and a hybrid button system to improve upon the navigation experience."

Sony revealed its rumoured touch-enabled Walkman at CES 2009. The NWZ-X1000 strikes back against Apple's iPod Touch and is armed with several new features to do this. It includes digital noise cancellation, an OLED touch screen and Wi-Fi connectivity with web browsing and YouTube support. The walkman itself is also smaller than the iPod Touch, making it very pocketable. The interface looks fairly slick, and the hardware buttons are a nice touch, however will it be enough to act as a strong competitor to the iPod empire? Without a direct analog to the iTunes store, I'm not holding my breath.


Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Microsoft Surface: Your Mobile Shopping Experience Changes on April 17

Posted by Darius Wey in "Pocket PC News" @ 12:55 AM

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=2604

"AT&T (NYSE: T) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) today announced a collaborative alliance that will transform the way consumers shop for mobile devices. AT&T will become the first company in the world to bring Microsoft Surface to life in a retail environment, giving customers the ability to explore their mobile worlds using touch and device recognition technology. Microsoft Surface is the first commercially available surface computer from Microsoft. Beginning April 17, customers can experience Microsoft Surface in select AT&T retail locations, including stores in New York City, Atlanta, San Antonio and San Francisco. Based on the success and learning from these initial pilot deployments, plans for further expansion across AT&T’s 2,200 U.S. retail stores will be determined."



By now, you should be well aware of what Microsoft Surface is and what it's capable of. Contrary to popular belief, this touch-based do-it-all table is far from vapourware. Come April 17, it's set to pull off a world first by invading AT&T stores in Atlanta, New York, San Antonio, and San Francisco. The 30" display will recognize your touch, your gestures, and the placement of compatible devices (including the BlackJack II), allowing you to learn and explore the products available, check out AT&T's wireless coverage and plans, and of course, purchase and subscribe to whatever tickles your fancy.

Read the rest of the post to see which stores will benefit from Surface on April 17. There's also eye-candy after the break. And who doesn't like eye-candy? ;) Read more...


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