Microsoft is betting the farm on Kinect

Who needs touch anyway

 

Technology review has uncovered that the denizens of Microsoft are knocking together a cunning plan which will replace touch screens with Kinect. A programme called Kinect for Windows, which aims to put the arm waving technology wherever Microsoft's ubiquitous operating system is found

Peter Zatloukal, head of engineering for the Kinect for Windows programme was quoted as saying that Microsoft wanted  developers to create a whole new class of app controlled by gesture and voice. They have been doing so since Kinect came out but if Microsoft's plan comes off Kinect could be the replacement for touch. Zatloukal said it is all part of the evolution of computers that started with keyboards, then the mouse and GUIs. He said that the progression will now be to voice and gesture. Health care, manufacturing, and education are markets where Zatloukal expects to see Kinect for Windows do well

This is because a conventional keyboard, mouse, or touch screen can be difficult to use in classrooms and hospital wards, or on factory floors. Kinect for Windows equipment went on sale in February for $249 and is now available in 32 countries. But it is still short of killer applications

More here

Windows 8 $39.99 upgrade starts on 26th

Enterprise and base upgrade later

 

We didn’t quite get Microsoft and the upgrade path for Windows 8 and therefore we went online and contacted one of their sales representatives to clear up a few things out for us

Once you go to the Microsoft store, the only option you get offered Is the $69.99 physical disc option and we know that there will be a $39.99 upgrade path, but it’s still not publically available. Microsoft’s representative was kind enough to confirm that upgrade gets available as download on the 26th of October 2012 and apparently this happens after 00.01 Pacific Standard Time

Everyone who has a valid license of Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 you get to upgrade to Windows 8 PRO. At later date Microsoft will let us all upgrade directly to Windows 8 Enterprise of Base versions but this will be communicated at later date. We didn’t get any additional pricing and availability details

This is enough information to get you warmed up to the idea of a download upgrade to Windows 8 PRO for $39.99. The download offer should go live on the first minutes on the 26th, Pacific Standard Time and we are not sure if this means that Europe and rest of the world gets the same upgrade offer as of 26th, but we will look into it

Biostar launches Celeron 847 motherboard

€67 worth of ITX fun

 

ITX motherboards have gone through a renaissance of sorts, as both Intel and AMD started to churn out cheap and cheerful Atom and Brazos parts

However, if an Atom just doesn’t cut it for you, Biostar is offering a rather interesting board based on Intel’s new Celeron 847, a dual-core 1.1GHz part with 2MB of cache and a 17-watt TDP. The board feature’s Intel’s NM70 chipset, two DDR3 slots, one PCIe 2.0 slot, along with VGA and HDMI outputs. SATA 6Gbps support is also on board, but sadly there is no eSATA or USB 3.0.

The asking price is €67, not bad compared to Atom and Brazos boards that have dominated the market for the last couple of years. So, it is an interesting alternative, but we don’t know the exact performance just yet, although it should outpace any Atom board out there

OEMs showing more interest in hybrid drives

WD readies designs for 2H 2013.

 

Western Digital is seeing increased interest in hybrid hard drives and it hopes to introduce its hybrid drive lineup by the second half of next year

WD President Stephen Milligan claims all major OEMs have already shown “strong interest” in WD’s 5mm and 7mm designs, unveiled last month

WD’s hybrid drives differ from the competition in that they use multi-level NAND memory and utilize tiered storage, which helps manage NAND storage and focuses on frequently accessed data, while at the same time reducing NAND wear, allowing WD to use cheaper MLC NAND. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work

At just 5mm, the new drives are bound to end up in quite a few ultrathin notebooks next year. Although SSDs are catching up in terms of price, they still have a very long way to go and hybrid drives seem like the perfect stopgap measure

Businesses are going to be slow on Windows 8 takeup

Some are still sticking to XP

 

It seems that Reuters is getting ready for Windows 8 to be a big turkey by dusting off an old yarn about how the OS will fail because businesses are not going to be early adopters

“There was once a time when the launch of a new Windows operating system was a huge deal for the technology departments in many businesses. Not anymore. Microsoft Corp's release of Windows 8 on Friday is likely to be a non-event for most companies -- and some experts say many may never adopt it,”  a Reuters hack tapped onto his iMac. They have a point, businesses will be slow to adopt Windows 8 and a large chunk of them will stick to Windows XP until you prise it from their cold dead hands

But that is what always happens. Corporates are rarely bleeding edge adopters of any operating system. It does not mean that Windows 8 is going to be a turkey, it might well be Microsoft's next Vista, but you are not going to tell by looking at corporate adoption

A corporate who rolls out a new operating system before it has bedded in is asking for a shedload of headaches it does not need. Windows 7 is stable enough for most businesses and those who do upgrade from XP do have a place to go. Where Reuters gets things right however is that Microsoft it its bid to push into the consumer market might have left out businesses from their equation all together

Doug Johnson, head of risk management policy at the American Bankers Association, whose members are among the world's biggest technology buyers is quoted as saying that Windows 8 is more of a consumer platform than it is a business platform, so it's not something that makes any sense from a business perspective

AMD Hondo gets first design win

Fujitsu sticks it in enterprise Windows tablet

 

AMD recently introduced its new Hondo APU, the company’s first chip specifically designed for tablets, namely Windows tablets

Today AMD announced the first Hondo design win, a Windows tablet by Fujitsu. The Stylistic Q572 tablet is a 10-inch device with an IPS 1366x768 display, digital pen input, 5-megapixel camera, HDMI, SD slot and two USB 2.0 ports

Of course, AMD’s new Z-60 APU runs the show and the tablet has a few geeky features, like an integrated fingerprint sensor, TPM, SmartCard reader and even a removable battery. It seems Fujitsu is targeting businesses and big IT departments with this device, so don’t expect it to come cheap – it’s not a toy designed to chuck around suicidal birds

The new Stylistic will be available in Windows 7 and Windows 8 flavours, another indication that it means business, since it will cater to enterprises stuck on Windows 7.

Assassin’s Creed film on the fast track

Ubisoft partners with New Regency

 

The Motion Pictures division of Ubisoft has partnered with New Regency to develop a film based on the Assassin’s Creed title. The project is being fast-tracked, and development of a screenplay will start immediately

With the franchise continuing to be so popular, it was a no brainer to get this deal done and to get started working the release of this film.  The news of the New Regency partnership comes following rumors that Michael Fassenbender is or will be associated with the project

Ubisoft Motion Pictures has been busy, as the company is also working on feature-length films based on the Ghost Recon franchise, as well as the Splinter Cell franchise, both of which are Tom Clancy franchises. In addition to the films, Ubisoft is also working on a TV series that will be based on its Rabbids franchise for kids

Motorola releases list of phones that won't get Jelly Bean

To get US $100 upgrade discount

 

Motorola has revealed which smartphones will not get the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update. The company has also set up a page that will help current owners with the upgrade process and has given the US $100 gift card for the upgrade

The list includes a total of 13 different models, including the Droid 3, Droid X2, Atrix 4G, Atrix 4 and many others. Unlucky owners are eligible for a US $100 rebate that can be used for purchase of the new Razr lineup as well as Atrix HD, Electrify 2 and Photon Q devices

Previously, Motorola announced that Droid Razr M, HD and Maxx HD will be getting the Jelly Bean update by the end of the year while Droid Razr and Droid 4 will also get it eventually

You can check out the upgrade site here

Microsoft Touch Mouse gets Windows 8 support

With Mouse and Keyboard Center 2.0

Microsoft promised its Touch Mouse will be getting Windows 8 support eventually and has delivered on its promise with the release of the Mouse and Keyboard Center 2.0.

This brings a variety of multitouch gestures in Windows 8, which include two finger slide movement for app managing and Windows 8 charms display

Unfortunately, the new Mouse and Keyboard Center 2.0 does not bring support for Wedge Touch Mouse that will still be limited to scrolling gestures

More here

via TheVerge.com

MSI officially launches the GTX 660 HAWK

Factory OC and Twin Frozr IV cooler

Although it leaked a while back, MSI now officially launched the new GTX 660 HAWK graphics card

The new GTX 660 HAWK graphics card uses a custom PCB with 10-phase VRM and, despite earlier rumors, will end up clocked at 1085MHz for the GPU with 1150MHz GPU Boost clock. The rest of the specs include 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 6GHz and paired up with a 192-bit memory interface

The card will ship with MSI's GPU Reactor that should provide additional stability to the voltage in case you want to push it even further. It features two DVI, one HDMI and one DisplayPort output. As noted, the card uses MSI's Twin Frozr IV Cooler with four heatpipes and two fans

The new MSI GTX 660 HAWK should be available in the upcoming weeks with a price set at around US $250/€220.