Microsoft

Sony goes into battle with its motion controller for PS3

By Paul Best

01:21 June 4, 2009 PDT

A day after Microsoft took the wraps on its Project Natal motion control system at the E3 expo in Las Vegas, Sony Computer Entertainment has followed suit, showing off its own motion controller prototype for the PlayStation 3. And while the announcements have been popularly characterized as something of a “controller wars”, they're really a signpost pointing the way gaming has been heading since Nintendo stole the show with its Wii motion-sensing game console in 2006 – the need to capture the hearts and minds of the growing gaming audience, especially the moms, dads and similar less hardcore gamers. Read More

Microsoft shows off Project Natal motion-sensing control

By Darren Quick

00:58 June 3, 2009 PDT

“You are the controller.” No, it’s not some new Zen proverb for gamers, it’s how Microsoft describes its new motion-sensing, controller-free technology code-named Project Natal. Following details leaked a few weeks ago when the US patent office released documents, Microsoft has given a demonstration of the technology that looks and behaves a little like a Sony PlayStation Eye on some serious steroids. Read More

Recently on The Mobiler

By Tim Hanlon

01:23 May 25, 2009 PDT

Over at The Mobiler, we've recently looked at Lenovo's NVIDIA ION-based IdeaPad S12 netbook, Microsoft clarifying its Windows Marketplace app sharing policy, the Android Cupcake OS 1.5 being released for US T-Mobile G1s, leaked details of Nokia's N900 Maemo tablet, Virgin Mobile offering Wi-Fi on every flight, and AT&T's subsidized netbook program going US-wide this summer. Read More

Windows 7 Release Candidate available to the public

By Tim Hanlon

06:02 May 5, 2009 PDT

If you missed out on the limited public beta release (Build 7000) of Windows 7 back in January, here's your chance to score the first release candidate (Build 7100) of Microsoft's big redeemer. This time around, there'll be no limit on the number of downloads or the number of serial numbers given out - until the end of July, that is. Read More

Microsoft wants us to hear it on the Vine

By Darren Quick

04:00 April 30, 2009 PDT

With the Facebook and Twitter social networking juggernaut rolling ever onwards, Microsoft is looking to jump on the bandwagon with its new social web app called Vine. While sites such as Facebook and Twitter use the global span of the internet to let users connect with people from all corners of the globe, Vine makes its focus local, concentrating on keeping users in touch with family, friends, activities and major events in their community, including disasters and emergencies. Read More

Ultrasound images a snap with a smartphone

By Darren Quick

23:56 April 27, 2009 PDT

Looks like smartphones are getting even smarter. We can already access our email, GPS navigate and use a wide range of business document formats, making them an integral part of a business person’s day. Now doctors might soon be packing a smartphone alongside their stethoscopes. Computer engineers at Washington University in St. Louis have coupled a smartphone with USB-based ultrasound probe technology to produce a mobile imaging device that fits in the palm of a hand. Read More

Today on The Mobiler

By Tim Hanlon

02:23 April 20, 2009 PDT

Today over at The Mobiler we've looked at Samsung's prediction that 29 percent of the mobile market will be made up by smartphones in 2012, using the iPhone as an ignition key for the Peapod electric vehicle, a custom homescreen for the BlackBerry Curve that makes it look like the Pip-Boy 3000 wearable computer from the hit RPG Fallout 3, a 3D PalmOS game running on the Palm Pre with MotionApps Classic emulator, the winner of Microsoft's Mobile Incubation Week, a launch date for Windows Mobile 6.5, and Dilbert taking on the dreaded Rebaterus. Read More

Field Tested: Lenovo's dual screen Thinkpad W700ds

By Dave Weinstein

00:32 February 16, 2009 PST

Lenovo's W700ds has an ingeniously concealed second screen built into the lid that "pops out" via a spring loaded mechanism. There's also a laundry list of features including a built in webcam, fingerprint scanner, 5 USB ports, a FireWire port, a DisplayLink port, both VGA and DVI graphics, big bright 17" 1920x1200 display, 2 ExpressCard slots, an SD card reader, and couple of features that are rather specific to high end photography and graphics design. Gizmag's Dave Weinstein has been putting the W700ds to the test, read on for his full report. Read More

Last chance to download the Windows 7 beta

By Tim Hanlon

18:50 February 8, 2009 PST

If you're interested in downloading the Windows 7 beta, but haven't found the time to do so yet, we recommend you do so right now, as Microsoft will be closing the beta program within a few days. Read More

How Sony's R&D budget subsidized the Xbox 360 processor for Microsoft

By Tim Hanlon

23:58 January 1, 2009 PST

When Sony entered into a partnership with Toshiba and IBM to design the Cell processor for their PlayStation 3, they agreed that IBM would eventually sell the Cell to other companies. What they didn't know was that parts of the Cell would be sold to their major competitor Microsoft for use in the Xbox 360 processor - before the Cell was completed. Read More

IBM introduces Linux-based Virtual Desktop

By Darren Quick

03:32 December 8, 2008 PST

While Linux erosion of Microsoft’s desktop dominance hasn’t really reached the mainstream yet, the popularity of the open source operating system has seen a steady increase as variations become more user friendly. Recognizing that rise in popularity IBM, along with its business partners, Virtual Bridges and Canonical has released a Linux-desktop solution that is designed to drive significant savings compared with Microsoft-desktop software by amplifying Lotus collaboration software and Ubuntu to a larger user base through virtualization. Read More

Microsoft's fold-up mouse

By Darren Quick

00:03 October 20, 2008 PDT

No-one would deny that laptops are wonderful things. They’re portable, powerful and give us something to do on boring train rides or plane trips. But, like everything, they have their downsides and relying on a trackpad or micro-sized portable mouse to shift the mouse cursor around the screen is one of them. Now Microsoft, who makes some pretty decent keyboards and mice it has to be said, has introduced the Arc Mouse, which it says combines the comfort of a desktop mouse with the portability of a notebook mouse. Read More

eMachines’ powerful mini-desktop PC the size of a dictionary

By Darren Quick

02:03 October 14, 2008 PDT

Thankfully the days of the big, beige box seem to be well and truly behind us. Now PCs are available in all shapes and sizes with eMachines EL1200 Desktop series opting for the popular smaller end of the spectrum and at a budget price. With PCs making their way out of the study in recent years the compact eMachines EL1200 Desktop Series PCs are designed to fit neatly into main living areas such as kitchens, family rooms, family den, studio apartments, dorm rooms, smaller bedrooms and home offices. Read More

Iomega eGo Helium portable hard drive

By Noel McKeegan

19:49 October 2, 2008 PDT

Iomega is looking to provide a partner in style for the MacBook Air with its latest portable hard drive release. The 320GB eGo Helium is a 0.63 inch (16 mm) thin, 7 ounce (200 gram) unit wrapped - naturally - in an anodized aluminum shell that includes drop protection for mishaps up to a height of 51 inches (1.3 meters) on to industrial carpeting. Read More

First Gates/Seinfeld Microsoft commercial airs

By Noel McKeegan

01:18 September 8, 2008 PDT

The new Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld advertisement has received a somewhat bemused and (understandably) confused response after hitting the airwaves late last week. The main point of contention, apart from the sheer awkwardness of the clip, seems to be the lack of direct hard-sell on Microsoft products... Read More

Game Console Online Content set to boom

By Jack Martin

20:58 September 4, 2008 PDT

It’s a wireless world we are living in, and the next decade will see countless changes in the way we access, consume and pay for what we want. Further evidence of this arrived today in the form of Parks Associates’ forecast revenue streams for online content and services for Internet-connected game consoles. The research company expects the three game console manufacturers (Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo) to be generating over US$8 billion in global revenue by 2013. The anticipated increase in revenue is expected to come from digital video distribution, downloadable games and content, virtual worlds and avatar-based microtransactions, multiplayer gaming services, and dynamic in-game advertising. Read More

HTC Shift: ultra-compact, dual-interface mobile computing

By Noel McKeegan

00:30 April 23, 2008 PDT

April 23, 2008 With a form factor that sits somewhere between a fully-fledged laptop and a pocket-size PDA, the light weight HTC Shift mobile PC offers a full QWERTY keyboard and a 7-inch "slide-‘n-tilt" touch-screen interface backed by Wi-Fi and HSDPA/3G connectivity, a 40-gigabyte hard drive, two days standby battery life and a handy "always-on mode" that allows access to emails and other features without the need to fully boot up the device. Read More

LucidTouch – the see-through mobile device

By Mike Hanlon

21:26 March 6, 2008 PST

March 7, 2008 Touch is a compelling input modality for interactive devices, but fingers get in the way on the small screen of a mobile device. Microsoft held its annual Techfest earlier this week, showing a range of new technologies certain to play a role in the future of mankind. One that jumped out at us was the LucidTouch, a mobile device that addresses this limitation by allowing the user to control the application by touching the back of the see-through device. The key to making the LucidTouch usable is pseudo-transparency: by overlaying an image of the user’s hands onto the screen, Microsoft has created the illusion of the mobile device itself being semitransparent, allowing users to accurately acquire targets while not obscuring the screen with their fingers and hand. Read More

Consumer version of Microsoft Surface PC flagged

By Noel McKeegan

22:36 February 26, 2008 PST

February 27, 2008 Announced last year in a commercial format for use in public spaces, Microsoft's Surface computing technology could soon be available in a consumer version according to a report from InformationWeek. Read More

Microsoft's Mobile Memory Mouse 8000

By Noel McKeegan

23:30 December 6, 2007 PST

December 7, 2007 Microsoft’s new USB rechargeable Mobile Memory Mouse 8000 frees up extra USB ports by incorporating 1GB of Flash memory into the transceiver and features magnetic connectors that allow you to continue your work while your mouse is charging. Read More

Entering the era of integrated communications

By Emily Clark

00:57 October 25, 2007 PDT

October 25, 2007 Internet based telephony is nothing new with applications like Skype becoming firmly established in recent years, but fresh initiatives from Microsoft and new approaches such as Voxio’s Flash-based system indicate the continuing expansion of integrated communications into the mainstream.. Read More

Xbox 360 Arcade console announced

By Tim Hanlon

23:57 October 23, 2007 PDT

Microsoft has officially announced another of their worst kept secrets - the Xbox 360 Arcade unit - some time after the units first appeared in stores across North America. The new entry-level bundle will replace the aging Xbox 360 Core bundle, and while it remains hard drive-less, it includes a much smaller Memory Unit - which isn't big enough for downloading high-definition TV episodes from the Xbox Live Video Marketplace, but will suffice to save your progress in games, and download new titles from the Xbox Live Arcade. Read More

Surface computing meets home automation: ROSIE Coffee table touch-panel

By Emily Clark

23:42 September 4, 2007 PDT

September 5, 2007 Surface computing is moving full steam ahead and this latest release from Savant is another reminder that even the wireless mouse is becoming an outmoded piece of technology. The ROSIE Coffee Table Touchpanel Controller offers an easily accessible interface for home automation coupled with interactive multimedia capabilities, connecting to iTunes, digital cameras, IP network cameras, business card readers and various high-tech devices around the home. Read More

Smart video advertising at the petrol pump – rolling out in 115 countries globally

By Loz Blain

July 26, 2007 Pay-at-the-pump petrol is a great convenience for drivers, but it sucks profit away from the retailers who derive the majority of profit from convenience store sales. Petrol buyers are the perfect target for point-of-sale advertising – they’re already out of their car, and what’s another five dollars of snacks or coffee on top of a $50 fill-up? To combine the best of these scenarios and catch more of these disposable dollars, a global partnership between three market giants is about to target every petrol customer in 115 countries with a sophisticated video advertising campaign right at the pump, and it promises to change the gas station experience for good. Read More

Your desktop on any PC: the web application revolution

By Loz Blain

June 21, 2007 Why do we still store all our applications and data on our local PCs? It ties us to our machines, leaves our files vulnerable, and frankly it's such a last-millennium way to do things. Thankfully, since the advent of broadband, companies are starting to take real steps toward a world where accessing anything on your hard-drive will be as versatile as checking your webmail. Disk storage, applications, processing - everything could eventually be moved off your local PC, which would become merely a display terminal - and the model holds a lot of advantages. Gizmag takes a look at where we're at with the Web Application revolution. Read More