Microsoft

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

Surface Computing: Microsoft takes touch screens to the next level

By Noel McKeegan

May 31, 2007 More than four decades since the conception of the mouse, computer input devices are only just beginning to tap the promise of truly interactive technology which facilitates a two-way conversation between machine and user rather than simply reacting to a limited set of command parameters. This search for a more intuitive and efficient mode of input is now well underway with Microsoft’s ground-breaking foray into the new category of Surface Computing. The Surface is a 30-inch “coffee table” display that not only enables direct interaction with digital content, but also responds to natural gestures and physical objects. Read More

Crackdown (Xbox 360) Review

By Tim Hanlon

February 23, 2007 - If you haven't heard about this game yet, you must be living under a virtual rock. We covered the release of the demo last month, but to sum things up, you're a cop with constantly evolving superhuman abilities, cleaning up crime in a city overrun by it. Today sees the game released on shelves worldwide, and our Games Editor has had a few days head-start to determine whether the cool premise was backed up by an equally cool game. Here's the scoop. Read More

Microsoft’s new Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000

By Mike Hanlon

October 28, 2006 Given all the convergence going on, it seems those items which we cannot do without will begin attracting their share of additional powers. Accordingly, Microsoft’s four-in-one Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000 makes perfect sense. It’s still an ergonomic Bluetooth laser mouse with all the company’s signature comfort and performance features, including tilt wheel and magnifier button but it also functions as a slide presenter, a laser pointer, digital ink device and a media remote control. So you can click through the slides of a presentation, highlight a key message with the laser pointer, draw on the presentation screen or control your Media Centre PC remotely. The bottom of the mouse features all the control buttons needed for presentation navigation or media control; users can play, pause, change tracks and adjust volume, or watch a DVD and it’s compatible with RealPlayer, iTunes and Windows Media Player. All for less than a hundred (US) bucks! Read More

Microsoft goes F1 racing

By Mike Hanlon

July 7, 2006 In February this year we discussed the fascinating call by the governing body of international motorsport, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), for expressions of interest in providing the standard electronic control system for all F1 cars as part of the drive to reduce the sport's prohibitive costs. Overnight it was announced that Microsoft MES has been selected as the official ECU supplier to F1 in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Now the world's largest software vendor has had its eye on the automotive environment as one of the cornerstones of future computing for some time, recently winning Best Telematics Solution at the Telematics Detroit 2006 with its Microsoft Windows Mobile for Automotive platform, BUT ... let's hope the boys and gals from Redmond are on the ball with this one as anything less than perfect is not good enough in the world of F1 and it could prove to be the almightiest gaffe in Public Relations history if perfection isn't achieved. A large chunk of the world's population watches a Formula One race and F1 drivers are particularly unforgiving of technical failure when they get a microphone in front of them. Read More

Microsoft's backlit, rechargeable, wireless keyboard

By Mike Hanlon

June 30, 2006 Now let’s get one thing straight – we hate the QWERTY keyboard. It is 150 year old technology masquerading as high-tech and strangling the productivity of the world’s computer users. But until a viable alternative to the predominant computer input device comes along that has enough momentum to survive, we’re prepared to acknowledge the ongoing incremental improvement of this ghastly device. Microsoft is the world’s largest producer of keyboards and has offered some significant enhancements along the way, most notably the tilt wheel and the Magnifier and is set to release a wireless keyboard that is both rechargeable and backlit. It's even pretty smart for a keyboard as the ambient backlighting turns on when a room is dimly lit, and proximity sensing turns it on when the user's hand approaches. Read More

Microsoft’s LifeCam VX-6000 and VX-3000 high quality, low cost webcams

By Mike Hanlon

June 14, 2006 For a company known for its software. Microsoft is doing pretty well in the hardware stakes - it just happens to manufacture more keyboards and mice than any other company on Planet Earth. So it was significant that the upcoming availability of a new line of Microsoft webcams was announced today. Microsoft’s extensive consumer research was the reason for the new hardware development as it revealed that computer users would use webcams if they were easier to operate and provided better audio and video quality. The research showed that the world’s population is quite keen to avail itself of the personal communication possibilities of the personal computer and the global network. To counter those perceived frustrations with existing webcam hardware, Microsoft Hardware and Windows Live joined forces to develop a line of LifeCams, the first of which are the LifeCam VX-6000 and LifeCam VX-3000. Read More

Volkswagen and Microsoft display multimedia and communication automotive concept at the CeBIT

By Mike Hanlon

March 9, 2006 One of the more interesting exhibits (among thousands) at the CeBIT exhibition opening today is the Volkswagen Eos, which looks at what tomorrow's automotive multimedia and communication functions might be. Created in collaboration with Microsoft, the Eos is on display at the Microsoft stand in the new CeBIT "Digital Living" area. Based on a car PC from inperio Systems with an Intel Celeron Processor (650 MHz), a RAM with 256 MB and a hard drive with 20 GB, the user enjoys all the functions that he has at home. The data processor is centrally located in the backrests of the rear seats and two seven inch monitors are installed in the head restraints of the front seats. Read More

Fiat and Microsoft launch Blue&Me in-car communications & entertainment system

By Mike Hanlon

February 2, 2006 Fiat and Microsoft will launch Blue&Me based on Windows Mobile for Automotive at the 2006 Geneva Motorshow later this month, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of in-car communication, infotainment and entertainment systems and providing all vehicles in the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Fiat Commercial Vehicle ranges with a competitive advantage. Blue&Me will be the first product seen from the long-term strategic partnership inked in July 2004 with the objective of co-designing innovative automotive telematics systems. Blue&Me is an all-new system which will be software upgradeable and compatible with most mobile phones, digital media players and other mobile devices so they can be replaced without compromising compatibility with the car. The voice-activated system, the complete integration of steering wheel control buttons and information on the dashboard display will allow users to utilize any Bluetooth-based mobile phone. Thanks to a modern voice-recognition system, no preliminary voice training is needed, and even incoming SMS messages are read aloud to the driver. Among audio functions, it is possible to listen to music stored on a mobile phone, in the newest smart phones, and in MP3 readers or USB removable sticks via a USB port in the glove box. Read More

Palm and Microsoft Join to Bring the Palm Experience to Windows Mobile

By Mike Hanlon

September 27, 2005 Palm and Microsoft have announced a strategic alliance to accelerate the smartphone market segment with a new device for mobile professionals and businesses. Palm has licensed the Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system for an expanded line of Treo smartphones. The collaboration gives customers more choices by offering the Treo on the software platform favoured by many businesses. Treo smartphones combine the hallmark Palm experience of a full-featured mobile phone with email, messaging, web access and organisational software. The new Treo smartphone takes advantage of the Windows Mobile 5.0 platform in multiple ways, offering Outlook Mobile, Office Mobile and Internet Explorer Mobile built into the smartphone, as well as direct access to Exchange Server 2003 for mobile access to information.In addition, the new Treo will operate with Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess service, the largest high-speed wireless broadband network in the United States. Verizon Wireless expects the new Treo smartphone to be available to its customers in early 2006. Read More

Field Tested: Logitech and Microsoft Media Centric Keyboards

By Mike Hanlon

September 13, 2005 As society enters the next phase of embracing the computer - welcoming it into our loungerooms - every computer manufacturer and peripheral maker is dreaming up new ways of how they're going to break into the entertainment and consumer electronics business. Logitech and Microsoft are no exception, they have just released media center devices to help you transform your PC into the media hub of the future. Interestingly, though Microsoft is far better known for its Windows operating system, it has more than 200 people working in hardware development at redmond - which makes it the world's most focussed developer of keyboards and mice. Last year it conducted research across the world looking at how the world is using computers and the media centric keyboard is the result of that research. Dave Weinstein looked at both keyboards and concludes that Microsoft's research is beginning to show ... Read More

ADVERGAMING: Microsoft plans to turn gaming into marketing and audience generation opportunities

By Mike Hanlon

May 31, 2005 Microsoft's next generation gaming console has been designed not just as a gaming environment but as a new kind of marketplace. Microsoft's new Xbox 360 console game system has been engineered to accommodate and advance advergaming concepts as never before and the company's global audience of gamers will be sold aggressively to marketers when the product hits the stores in Q3, 2005. Picture this. At the start of the season, 250,000 people sign on at US$10 a head to play a head-to-head 30 race series. The prize - US$1,000,000. Coming to the final rounds, the global audience watching the racing on-line could be measured in the millions, particularly if the events are promoted using Microsoft's media savvy. Synthetic Formula 1 indeed!! Read More

Microsoft Living Room PC concept

By Mike Hanlon

April 20, 2005 One & Co is a technology design consultancy of the first order, having designed many important products for companies such as Nike, Palm, Timex, Dell, Plantronics and Sony. The company recently released information on some work it has been doing with Microsoft in envisioning the Media Center PC that defines a new paradigm for computer hardware in the home. “The Microsoft Living Room PC concepts on our site are just that - concepts,” said One and Co’s Jonah Becker. “It was a project to visualise the media center PC as its own niche within the PC market, with unique functional and stylistic requirements. Microsoft uses such design references to encourage their hardware partners (Dell, HP, etc.) to innovate.” Read More

Global Weather Application for Microsoft Windows Mobile-Based Smartphones

By Mike Hanlon

April 12, 2005 The weather report has long been one of the most critical information services for humankind. Most people check it every day to decide what they will wear, how they will manage their schedule and in some areas, how they will prepare in order to survive. Despite a comprehensive set of Government-run weather forecasting services around the globe, more and better-delivered weather information is now shaping as one of mobile’s killer applications. Get set for the complete hand-held weather information service via your mobile phone - instant live local weather, severe weather alerts, forecasts, radar, camera images and international weather conditions from 200 countries are all about to become available via Windows Mobile-based Smartphone mobile phones. Read More

Microsoft Unveils Windows XP Media Center

By Gizmag Team

October 29, 2004 The inevitable PC invasion of the lounge room began in earnest when the world's largest software manufacturer (Microsoft) began rolling out its updated multimedia-oriented operating system (OS), Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 in ealy October. Most significantly, the new system supports multiple TV tuners, (so you can watch one channel and record another), and the facility to schedule TV recording via the Internet. Read More

Microsoft unveil aesthetic and functional hardware

By Mike Hanlon

Microsoft makes great hardware. It’s true! Whatever your opinion of the company and it’s software, it’s a simple fact that Microsoft keyboards and mice are very user friendly. The company has just unveiled a new range of hardware products that focus on reducing fatigue and improving the man-machine interface – and offering enhanced secutiry via fingerprint recognition. Read More