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New computerized service turns tabletop into interactive shopping aide The coffee table of the distant future is helping people pick out cell phone plans in the From there, you can manipulate images and information related to that object with gestures kind of like the way you would on an iPhone. Just about a full year after Microsoft unveiled Surface as a prototype, five AT&T stores across the U.S. have become the first to use the system as a way to help customers make their next purchase. Initially, Surface will be primarily used in stores like AT&T as a high-tech sales tool, but Microsoft sees it as part of the future of home computing. Some day, something like Surface could possibly replace the home PC. Its features lend itself to home use. In one demonstration, a digital camera was placed on Surface, and the tool immediately pulled up all its pictures. “Surface computing in general is the most exciting innovation in interface design that I have seen in years,” said Lance UIanoff of PC Magazine. “This is a think/do interface and that is the future of interface design. It is thinking about what you want to do, doing it, and having it work just the way you expect it. It's basically very task-driven and it configures itself based on whatever you're doing, so I can see people saying, 'That is my computer of choice.'”
April 28, 2008 Microsoft Office Labs Looks to Make Office Better Among Microsoft Office Labs' first wares are Search Command and Community Clips
For anyone that has used Microsoft Office for a number of years, one of the biggest changes to occur interface wise was the new ribbon interface in Office 2007. Many realized finding the commands they were used to seeing in one place on older versions of Office was a bit more difficult in the new ribbon interface. To combat this problem, Microsoft has announced Office Labs, a new service that consists of a small cadre of developers headed up by Chris Pratley. Office Labs plans to test new products and ideas for Microsoft Office that may eventually make it into an Office product or may simply turn out to be a bad idea. The Office Labs site spells things out clearly, the software being offered may have bugs and it doesn’t promise to fix these bugs. Chris Pratley said in his blog post, “You might be wondering why this site isn't located on microsoft.com. One reason is simple: we didn't want to give anyone the impression that these projects are full blown Microsoft products. This site itself is also a concept test. Over time we'll be modifying it to experiment with ways to engage with you, our community.” The other initial offering is called Community Clips, which allows users to make how-to videos about Microsoft Office products sort of like an Office specific YouTube. Community Clips also includes a client application for recording screen views and voice. Listed as other interesting projects are InkSeine which allows the use of a tablet PC with an interface tailored for pen input for sketches, and writing. Task Market is an online marketplace that allows business to connect with and hire freelancers in graphic design, writing and editing.
April 25, 2008 Toshiba Refreshes M700 Tablet PCs Toshiba has announced the launch of three new Portégé M700 tablet PCs in the UK.
GBM Interview: Dell's Brett McAnally Talks Tablet In this interview with Brett McAnally, Dell's Director of Business Notebooks, we talk about the launch of the Latitude XT Tablet PC, choosing N-Trig as its digitizing partner, the potential for an Inspiron / Vostro type of Tablet, and more. Enjoy! Brett, thank you for the opportunity to talk about Dell’s Latitude XT. It has been four months since the release of the Latitude XT. How has the response been in your target market?
Talk to me about your usability research in designing the XT. What were customers telling your team about the features they wanted in a Tablet PC? What data were you seeing that led Dell to go in the direction that we now see in the XT?
April 24, 2008 PenAttention: a must for presenters with Tablet PCs PenAttention: a must for presenters with Tablet PCs
Problem solved with PenAttention, the free application Kenrick wrote to address the issue. After installing it on XP Tablet Edition or Vista, you'll have the option in your system tray to activate one of three on-screen pen modifications. You can have a highlight around the ink dot (shown), a pencil icon or a standard cursor icon. Great idea and one that would be nice to see become native on the Tablet PC editions of Windows. I might even download it just to write in ink with the little pencil. Oh, bonus points for the first person to solve for "n" in the above equation... but you have to show your work. No guesses.
April 23, 2008 AUTOMATIC DEFRAG MORE POPULAR THAN EVER DISKEEPER SELLS 30 MILLION LICENSES Diskeeper Corporation announced that its flagship Diskeeper® defragmenter surpassed 30 million licenses sold—making it the best-selling automatic defragmenter of all time. Businesses are increasingly recognizing that computer fragmentation1 degrades system performance, thereby affecting productivity. As evidence, 749 of the current Fortune® 1000 list companies use Diskeeper to keep their PCs and servers running at maximum speed. The newest release of Diskeeper 2008 is the most automated defragmenter ever built. Features include the ability to defrag in the most extreme levels of low free space (1%) or the highest levels of crippling file fragmentation (millions). Intelligent defrag now dynamically chooses which software engine will net the most performance gains on a given system or environment. This is all done transparently, in real time, tapping the full power of otherwise unused idle resources with an advanced background processing technology called, InvisiTasking™.
TOSHIBA ADDS FIVE NEW MODELS TO ITS SATELLITE PRO PORTFOLIO OF BUSINESS ESSENTIAL LAPTOPS Starting at $699, Toshiba’s Expanded Satellite Pro Family Now Offers a Broader Selection of Laptop Options Toshiba’s Digital Products Division, a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the addition of five new models to its affordable Satellite Pro(R) family of laptops. With a starting price of $699(1), the new Satellite Pro series offers the necessary business essentials for today’s mobile professionals and students, including a choice of display sizes and configurations to suit a broad range of computing needs. “The expanded Satellite Pro family of laptops demonstrates Toshiba’s commitment to its customers,” said Jeff Barney, vice president of marketing, Digital Products Division, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. “Listening to the voice of the customer and their requests for more computing options within the affordable Satellite Pro lineup, Toshiba is delivering five new models of Satellite Pro laptops to meet customer needs.” Featuring 13.3-inch, 14.1-inch, 15.4-inch and 17-inch displays, Toshiba’s Satellite Pro laptop family offers the latest processor technologies that provide outstanding business performance, including models with Intel(R) Centrino(R) processor technology, featuring Core(TM) 2 Duo processors(2), or AMD dual core processors(2).
Asus to replace Eee PC 900 UMPC batteries
It has not even been a day since reports came in about Asus Eee PC 900 UMPC, owners started to complain about how long their batteries were lasting. Well now it seems that Asus are all ready to get something done about the poor battery performance. When you go to the Asus website and then do a rough translation, the company posted a statement stating that they are thankful for the support of their customers business and that they are now chalking some ideas to resolve the whole battery issue. Asus has said that every single owner of an Asus Eee PC 900 in Honk Kong will be receiving a free 5800mAh replacement battery, not sure on the rest of us yet.
MobileTechRoundup show #130, Affordable HP entertainment Tablet PC and Mac OS X on a UMPC We put a small teaser in show #129 about another new device that James Kendrick has been playing with and in MobileTechRoundup show #130 his thoughts on the new HP tx2051 Entertainment Notebook were revealed. Kevin, James, and I also talked about my HP Mini-Note cancellation, the upcoming Asus Eee PC 900, and Kevin’s tinkering with Mac OS X on his Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium UMPC. If you enjoy listening to the MobileTechRoundup podcast, please vote for us at Podcast Alley. Also, please let me know if you have anything you would like us to cover and discuss on the show and I’ll try to work it into a future podcast.
April 22, 2008 Wacom(R) Introduces Major Innovations in Capacitive Touchscreen ... Wacom announced today a major innovation in capacitive touchscreen technology, called Reversing Ramped Field Capacitive (RRFC(TM)) touch, that will be publicly unveiled at the International Society for Information Display Exhibition, booth #1129, May 20 to 22, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. Wacom's patent-pending technology employs newly designed low-power circuitry and revolutionary reversing ramped electro-static fields to deliver pinpoint precision and drift-free performance to touchscreen users. The technology can be integrated into dual-input applications with Wacom's market-leading EMR(R) pen-input technology for Tablet PC OEMs or work by itself on other platforms that require only a finger touch interface. With this newly developed technology, Wacom can provide true flexibility to OEM partners seeking best-in-class interface solutions. History of Innovation in Human Interface Technology For the last 25 years Wacom has brought people and technology closer together through its natural and highly intuitive line of pen tablets and interactive pen displays. The company's electro-magnetic resonance (EMR(R)) technology, bolstered by its patented battery-free and cordless digital pen, dubbed Penabled(R), has played a significant role in the development and success of the mobile computing industry, culminating with the introduction of the first Tablet PC in 2001. As OEM and consumer demand for new and more natural input options increased, Wacom took the lead by offering electronic solutions for its pen together with 3rd party resistive touch input to manufacturers of Tablet PCs. To date, Wacom's pen and resistive touch systems can be found on some of the world's leading convertible notebook computers including, Lenovo, HP, Toshiba and Gateway. Wacom's introduction of its own RRFC touch technology continues the strong tradition of developing human interface solutions solely aimed at creating and delivering affordable, ergonomically sound, efficient and enjoyable computing experiences to both consumer and professional users.
April 21, 2008 Twist & Squeeze interface tested by Microsoft Research
A team at Microsoft Research have developed a prototype interface [pdf link] for mobile devices that responds to twisting, squeezing, flexing and stretching to control and on-screen GUI. The system, called Force Sensing, relies on very small manipulations of a handheld device - in this case a modified Samsung UMPC - with different gestures mapped to navigation and other controls. Visual feedback, such as interfaces twisting or bending, apparently decreases the learning time necessary for users to adapt to the new controls.
Saying Farewell to the HP 2133 Mini-Note Later today the pre-production evaluation HP 2133 Mini-Note gets packed up and returned to HP, thus ending my evaluation of this intriguing little entry into the -portable or -low cost market. Here are some final thoughts I’ve gathered. Keep in mind, I’m evaluating a pre-production model, so some of my experiences may be different from what you might experience with a shipping model. Make sure you check out the GBM InkShows on the HP 2133 Mini-Note. Thomasin Takes on the HP 2133 Mini-Note
April 18, 2008 Fujitsu PC’s latest LifeBook models refreshed with Intel®’s next generation processors Fujitsu PC Australia today introduces its refreshed LifeBook models, promising more power, power efficiency and unparalleled notebook performance. With full Windows Vista compatibility and an array of business-friendly features, professionals and leisure users alike will experience firsthand that power doesn’t have to come at the cost of style. Designed with the most demanding of user requirements in mind, the refreshed LifeBook notebooks and tablet-convertible notebooks are incorporated with improved technology which supports the new processor, wireless components, and graphics systems. These new models also feature dynamic acceleration technology, which makes it possible to run single threaded applications faster. Hence, as any single threaded application is being processed, the CPU can switch off one of its several CPU cores and overclock the maincore which is being used LifeBook T4220
The LifeBook T4220 Tablet PC with bi-directional hinge allows for effective mobile computing while moving around and sets the trend for mobile efficiency with its refreshed platform featuring the Intel® Centrino® Duo processor technology as well as Intel® CoreTM2 Duo T8300 (2.4GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB), Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965AGNwireless connection and Intel® GM965 Express Chipset.Why don’t you make quick notes or draw images in your own hand? With its 12.1-inch XGA display, the LifeBook T4220 works to suit your working style. Savour the best in multimedia flexibility with the Dual Layer Super Multi Writer and lets you choose between data entry via a keyboard or digitizer input
Hands on with AT&T's version of the Surface table from Microsoft
AT&T is introducing the first retail use of Microsoft's Surface table display today at its AT&T Experience Store in San Bruno. The Bay Area is one of four regions that's getting the new table first, part of a larger rollout for AT&T that -- if the initial tests go well -- will expand to all 2,200 AT&T stores nationwide. I got a chance to play with AT&T's Surface table this week and though it could use some more features, which AT&T promises is on the way, what they have so far amounts to a very fun and interactive way to engage consumers. I'm not sure it revolutionizes cell phone shopping, but it makes what can often be a tedious task of visiting a wireless store interesting and involving. The 30-inch display acts like a huge iPhone touch screen, with a similar responsive feel. The table, which uses multiple embedded cameras and sensors, is able to track your finger movements, even if you place more than one finger on it. You can even place all your fingertips down to rotate an object. The Surface table initially will provide interactive coverage maps and information on cell phones. The coverage map is pretty simple. You can pan around a national map, seeing where AT&T's voice and data coverage are strong and weak. To zoom in, place two fingers down and widen them to move in. Previously, you had to either view a brochure map or a slow-moving computer map that worked off of addresses. With Surface, it's nice to be able to see quickly where AT&T's coverage is best and be able to even follow your route to work, to understand what potential holes await you. The other task is offering up information on select phones. Right now, there are eight phones that the Surface table will work with. Place one of them on the display and you get specs, features, information about plans and accessories. You can also drag a color icon over to the phone to see what it would like in a different shade. The features of the phone appear like photographs spilling out on the table. Each feature window offers up a video on one aspect of the phone. The cool action happens when you place two phones on the table at the same time. Surface pulls up side by side comparisons of the devices. For example, this one might have GPS, but it doesn't have a Windows operating system. The table is also waiting for upgrades that will allow it to load up content like ringtones by just dragging icons on to the phone. Another feature AT&T is working on will allow you to simply transfer over contacts and content from one phone to another. There's no time table for when Surface will incorporate the tutorials and the upgraded features, though they're coming in the next phase, AT&T officials said
Latitude XT Tablet PC - 15% Off Refurb Prices A GBM reader just passed along a great tip for those interested in buying a Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC: Go Refurb! He just picked up a 1.2 ghz, LED, Vista Business, 120 gb hard drive, 1gb RAM XT for $1535 (including shipping and Media Base ). Head over there now and check out the inventory. You can save some big money. Use this coupon code: S14NHZ$JG?3$0R to save an additional 15% off those refurb prices. I'm not sure how long the coupon code will last, but it is a fantastic deal.
April 17, 2008 Getting in Touch With Andy Wilson Another highlight of our visit with Microsoft Research was getting to know the man behind Microsoft Surface - Andy Wilson. His office is full of adaptive interaction - a dream for people who love touch, pen, multi-touch, speech, and more. I can't share a lot of what he showed us, but this video demonstrating rough terrain, video object interaction with real objects shows quite nicely the kind of work he's doing. Along those lines, this video of two people playing checkers just blew me away. Be sure to peruse the rest of his site for a lot nuggets. I would love to be a fly on the wall just watching Ken Hinckley, Raman Sarin, and Andy Wilson work. It excites me tremendously to think about what lies ahead in the natural input / adaptive technologies we talk about frequently here. By the way, you can check out the fruit of Andy's work by checking out some of the AT&T stores where Surface is now deployed.
Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium Loaded with Mac OS X It's not quite the same thing as getting a true-to-life Apple Tablet PC, but this is probably as close as you're going to get any time soon. Kevin at jkOnTheRun has decided to run a little experiment wherein he will load Mac OS X onto his UMPC. More specifically, he has installed the Apple operating system onto his Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium.
HTC Shift Review After spending a week with the HTC Shift we really got a chance to see what it can do. This tiny tablet is quite the power house. I had no problems surfing the Internet with it or navigating through applications. It sports a Intel A110 800MHz processor and has a 40GB hard drive. The touchscreen was practically flawless and I enjoyed using my finger more then the pen. Although, the pen was helpful for more intricate navigating.
Windows XP SP3 RTM Details Confirmed The information on the upcoming Windows XP service pack 3 was broken by Tech ARP. Now they have announced the confirmed features and Released To Manufacturing dates for XP SP3. Unfortunately, it’s been confirmed that Windows XP Media Center Edition and Windows XP Tablet Edition will not be available in an integrated release. PC gamers running either of these versions of the OS will only be able to update via Windows Update.
April 16, 2008 TabletKiosk Sahara Slate PC i440D
With convertible PCs dominating the Tablet PC market in recent years, only a handful of manufacturers specialize in the pure slate design, and for the most part, these companies understand the platform’s use cases very well. While most business users prefer the flexibility of an attached keyboard, stylus-only computing fits some vertical niches such as health care, construction, and design. The Sahara i440D demonstrates that the company knows what slate customers want. While far from a convertible, the Sahara i440D does include a small folding keyboard that attaches to the unit as well as a plastic stand for setting the display on a table. It also comes with a light and very handy folding stand that helps turn the slate into a laptop-like configuration. Pushing the Right Buttons
Good Dual-Mode DisplayBecause a stylus can be inconvenient to pop out for simple menu or window clicking, some tablets, including the Sahara i440D, now have dual-mode displays that combine a digitizer for both the precise action with a stylus and touch sensitivity for simple finger presses. The i440D is the first model we have seen, however, with which the user actually switches modes via one of the tablet launch buttons. Touch-Sensitive mode required more of a fingernail tap than a finger press to activate the cursor, but the unit comes with a very extensive and detailed calibration and adjustment tool for customizing sensitivity Sahara Slate PC i440D VerdictIf you’re in the market for a slate, the $2,295 Sahara i440D is a good choice. It’s comfortable to use for long stretches, and we appreciate the versatility and responsiveness of the dual-mode display. It’s evident that TabletKiosk understands how Tableteers actually use these unique devices.
April 15, 2008 Kingston Technology DataTraveler BlackBox USB Flash drive Kingston Technology Company, Inc.,
The winners of the 2007 Engadget Awards! Tablet PC of the Year
Touch On The HP tx2051 Tablet PC - Wow! I've been playing with the HP tx2051z eval that Warner brought with him, and I have to say I'm even more impressed with it than I was at CES 2008. The touch experience, combined with the Wacom active digitizer, is really, really good. Like the Lenovo X61 MultiView / MultiTouch Tablet PC, it does have a very thin layer on top of the screen to provide the touch experience. However, it is a much better touch experience than the X61. It is as soft and accurate as the Latitude XT. Not including the upcoming multi-touch support, the Latitude XT does have a couple of edges: Auto Mode - being able to manually turn touch on / off at will; and, the screen on the XT is also much clearer, brighter, and has a wider viewing angle than the tx2051z.
April 14, 2008 Toshiba Portégé M700-S7002 The M700's built-in optical drive, a rarity in the tablet space, gives you the ability to burn DVDs, watch DVD flicks, and install software. In shopping for a tablet, you have to ask yourself how important these capabilities are to you. The best part about convertible tablets is their ability to expose a keyboard with one swivel of the screen. In the M700's case, the full-size keyboard is very pleasant to type on. As for other not-so-conspicuous enhancements, the Portégé R400's latchless design is carried over to the M700. The rotating screen is locked into position by two pegs near the hinge, in place of a locking mechanism in the front bezel. According to Toshiba, this design will beef up the hinge by 35 percent, holding the screen steady at multiple angles. In addition to the Wacom digitized screen, the M700 also incorporates touch-screen capabilities. If whipping out the digitized pen (stored near the system's base, on the left side) is too much of a chore, your fingers can take its place. For pen input, the combination of Vista's tablet platform and Wacom technology is unmatched. Touch sensitivity on the screen is terrific for navigating, but the handwriting recognition and the pen-on-paper feel take advantage of the digitized screen and pen. The two different functions don't interfere with one another, either: Once you place the pen against the tablet's surface, touch capabilities instantaneously take a back seat.
On The Road and Mobile Again: The Tablet PC Software Toolbox I’m heading out tomorrow for the Microsoft MVP Summit in Redmond and I thought it would be a good time to update on what applications I’m lugging around in my Tablet PC Toolbox. These applications (with one or two exceptions) are applications that allow me to Ink on the Tablet PC. It has been awhile since I’ve done so (see this post) and while we certainly haven’t seen a great deal of new Tablet PC software, there are some new additions and some subtractions. Most of those subtractions are due to apps that didn’t make the transition to Vista, which is what I’m using, for better or worse. So, here’s the update.
April 11, 2008 jkOnTheRun- First impressions of the HP tx2000 Entertainment Notebook This is by no means a full review but I'm hearing from so many interested parties about
GBM InkShow: Latitude XT Ink and Touch Video Review Dell's entry in to the Tablet PC space was a highly anticipated one. Being so late to the game, they needed something to set themselves apart from their competition. That differentiator is the N-Trig digitizer allowing for capacitive touch + ink with the promise for multi-touch. So how did they do with the Latitude XT Tablet PC? In my opinion, it the best touch + pen experience on the market. It is smooth, soft, and accurate, allowing for a more intuitive user experience than currently available in passive or other dual-mode offerings. In this InkShow, I focus on the pen and touch experience of the Latitude XT, demoing the various input modes, as well as comparing it to the Lenovo X61 Multi-Mode touch Tablet PC. Stay tuned for more upcoming InkShows on the Latitude XT where I cover the various features more indepth, the software, accessories, and more.
April 10, 2008 The Tablet PC Price Point Premium: The Niche Gets Smaller James Kendrick raises an interesting discussion topic in his post this morning about the premium Tablet PC users pay for Tablet functionality, especially now as the move to Ultra-Low-Cost PCs (ULCPC) is in full swing. JK describes himself as an unusual Tablet PC owner in that he is dependent on taking notes all day. I ride in that same boat using my stylus as an oar. Inking on a Tablet PC is crucial part of my work flow, and like JK, I’ve been reasonably content to pay a premium to take advantage of what Tablet PCs offer me. JK’s point is a simple one and it is has echoes my pleas for OEMs to pay attention to the Inkers out there for the UMPC platform, which is now headed to the dead pool. If you don’t need the Inking capability of an active digitizer Tablet PC, or at least a touch screen with good Inking capability, then why spend the extra dough if what you are after is a mobile solution? While those of us who have been bitten by the Tablet PC bug, know that Inking is a big part of the picture, mobility is just as big a factor, if not more so. I can certainly attest to the fact that the new HP 2133 Mini-Note could serve many a mobile warrior’s need, if they don’t need an Inking solution.
April 9, 2008 Just in time to make a perfect gift for Mother’s Day, WD® (NYSE: WDC) today introduced “Our striking new color selection gives our customers an opportunity to express their unique style, while securely storing and carrying the massive amounts of rich content generated by higher resolution cameras, HD videos and music,” said Jim Welsh, vice president and general manager of WD’s branded products and consumer electronics groups. WD Sync software allows consumers to easily synchronize essential personal files from their desktop PC to their My Passport drive. Features at a glance include: Ten colors to choose from
· USB powered for ease of use · Western Digital Synchronization software (Windows only) · Secure with 128-bit encryption (Windows only) · Stylish, slim design weighing less than five ounces · Comes loaded with Google Desktop Search and Picasa photo organizer · Available in 160GB ($119.99), 250 GB ($149.99) and 320 GB ($179.99) capacities
UMPC squeezes in optical drive Singapore-based Kohjinsha has announced an ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) that features an Kohjinsha's SR measures 9.2 x 7 x 1.3 inches and weighs 2.4 pounds, and seems to be one of the smallest portable computers ever to include an optical drive (right). The drive both reads and writes CDs and DVDs, and is compatible with double-layer DVD+R and DVD-R media. The Windows Vista-based SR's convertible design provides it with a standard keyboard and touchpad, plus a seven-inch touchscreen display. The screen has 1024 x 600 resolution, LED backlighting, and pivots to fold down over the device's keyboard. At that point, the UMPC can be operated via stylus alone.
Tablet PC- what's that premium worth? I am an unusual Tablet PC user, I know that. I am totally dependent on taking ink notes in my work and why the Tablet PC is so critical for getting my work done. In addition to the inking ability the other criteria that is vital to me is mobility and since Tablet PCs usually come in thinner and highly mobile forms they work well for me. The Fujitsu P1620 I am using now is a highly mobile inking machine and I love it. It makes my work better and easier and that's worth a premium to me.
April 8, 2008 Small scale PCs that are truly usable are a rare commodity and the The HP 2133 Mini-Note PC is comfortable to type on and easy on the eyes which makes it very usable. Weighing in at just 2.6 pounds with a 8.9 inch screen and spill resistant keyboard the new HP 2133 Mini-Note PC is designed for the education market, but will work equally well for casual business users and those those who want to travel light and want to stay connected.
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