With all the emphasis that Microsoft is giving to its redesigned Kinect sensor as a key feature of the Xbox One, it’s not surprising that the company wants to bring it to its Windows operating system as well. And sure enough, Microsoft on Thursday announced that it will “deliver a new generation Kinect for Windows sensor next year” that will deliver several improvements to the previous version of Kinect, including a higher resolution camera capable of more accurately tracking and identifying objects, an expanded field of view and improved skeletal tracking. Microsoft says it will share more details about the next-generation Kinect for Windows at its BUILD 2013 conference in June and also says that the new sensor will likely be available on Window-based devices sometime next year.
BGR took an in-depth look at Leap Motion’s revolutionary motion-control PC accessory last year, and we loved the accuracy and shocking reliability of Leap’s technology. The controller was only demoed on a Mac computer in our preview, however. In a recent post on the company’s blog, Leap showed off Windows 7 and Windows 8 integration for the controller, which it plans to finally launch on July 22nd. An accompanying video shows how well Leap’s controller works with Windows for swiping, scrolling, zooming in and out, flipping through photos, drawing and more. It’s not quite Minority Report, but we’re getting there. Leap Motion’s full video follows below. More →
It has been reported that Apple’s next-generation MacBooks will support gigabit Wi-Fi connectivity, evidence of which was discovered in a recent OS X developer build. The 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard, also known as “5G Wi-Fi,” is capable of delivering theoretical speeds of up to 1.3Gbps and is considered a major leap forward. An earlier report claimed Apple was teaming up with Broadcom to bring the technology to its 2013 Mac lineup, and now Tonymacx86.com points us to a leaked image of a Broadcom BCM94360CD PCI-E mini custom combo WLAN and Bluetooth card that supports IEEE 802.11ac, the same standard Apple is reportedly looking to incorporate into future computers. The card is similar to those found in current Mac models and is expected to be the one Apple uses in its upcoming computers. Apple is expected to announce new Mac computers at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10th in San Francisco. Images of the Broadcom card follow below. More →
Microsoft’s Windows 8 platform hasn’t exactly been the catalyst PC makers were looking for as sales continue to slide, but the new operating system does seem to be making some progress. IHS-owned market research firm Displaybank says that of the 46 million notebook computers that shipped during the first quarter this year, 4.57 million of them included touchscreens, Digitimes reported. That figure is good for a 10% share of the global market and is up a healthy 51.8% from the fourth quarter last year. Displaybank is impressed by touchscreen laptops’ relatively quick penetration considering how young the market is, but it remains to be seen whether or not Microsoft’s new platform and the touchscreens that come along with it will help struggling PC makers rebound.
Samsung on Monday announced a new super-high resolution display for laptop computers. The company revealed a 13.3-inch QHD display with a resolution of 3200 x 1800 and a pixel density of 276 ppi. The display’s pixels are packed even tighter on Samsung’s new panels than on Google’s Chromebook Pixel and Apple’s MacBook Pro with a Retina display. The Chromebook Pixel previously featured the highest laptop resolution display with a 2560 × 1700 pixel resolution and 239 ppi, while the Retina MacBook Pro features a 2560 x 1600 pixel display and 227 ppi. Samsung claims its displays are 30% more power efficiency than existing LCD displays. The company gave no details about when we may see these displays arrive in future products. Samsung’s full press release follows below. More →
One of the most intriguing concepts for the future of the PC industry we’ve heard lately has been Dell’s Project Ophelia, a USB thumb drive-sized “computer-on-a-stick” that can plug into any monitor’s USB port to transform it into a makeshift computer capable of running multiple operating systems. PCWorld reports that an early version of Ophelia that will only run Android will ship out to developers starting in July and could ship out to consumers as soon as August. The first version of Ophelia “will have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities and is aimed at users who do most of their computing on the Web,” says PCWorld, which means that monitors using Ophelia will be more like Chromebooks than traditional PCs. More →
The Raspberry Pi foundation on Tuesday announced the availability of a $25 camera module for its popular Raspberry Pi computers. The module can be purchased from distributors RS Components or Premier Farnell/Element14, and is compatible with both the Model A and Model B versions of the Raspberry Pi. The 5-megapixel camera is capable of taking pictures at a 2592 x 1944 resolution and can record full 1080p HD video at 30 frames per second. The module’s ribbon cable must be plugged into the CSi port that is located between the Ethernet and HDMI ports on the unit. The Raspberry Pi must also be on the latest firmware to recognize the camera, which can then be enabled in the configuration settings. A video demonstration follows below. More →
Earlier reports have indicated that Google and its partners are preparing to launch Android-powered notebooks that could debut later this year. Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities notes that Samsung is just one of many companies that will launch such a product within the coming months, 9to5Google reported. The analyst warns that these “AndroidBooks” won’t be announced at Google’s upcoming I/O Developers Conference due to the delayed launch of Android 5.0, however, which is meant to help further bridge the gap between computers and smartphones. More →
Acer president Jim Wong has been highly critical of Microsoft and the Windows 8 operating system over the past year. The executive previously bashed the company for its Surface tablet and failed marketing of Windows 8 devices. Microsoft recently confirmed that it is working on Windows 8.1, codenamed Windows Blue, which will be an update that includes various software changes, such as the return of the Start button. Wong believes these changes are a step in the right direction, noting that Microsoft is being more “considerate” to its hardware partners and adopting their input “at a high percentage.” More →
Windows chief Julie Larson-Green announced at the Wired Business Conference on Tuesday that Microsoft will release a preview of Windows 8.1 — also known as Windows Blue — at the end of June, ZDNet reported. The executive said that the company will release the preview at its Build developers conference that is scheduled to take place on June 26th in San Francisco. Microsoft previously confirmed that it plans to release the next version of the Windows operating system by the holiday season. Windows Blue is very likely to incorporate a lot of user feedback from Windows 8, which has proven to be a polarizing operating system that many users have complained lacks the intuitiveness of earlier Windows versions.
With the PC industry in decidedly bad shape lately, PC vendors have been looking for alternative ways to generate revenues in a computer market that’s increasingly tilted toward mobile devices. IDG News, via PCWorld, reports that Asus plans to release its first Chromebook in the second half of 2013 while hoping to continue the success it’s had so far in shipping Android tablets. Asus has no illusions that Chromebooks will be mass consumer products, but Asus CEO Jerry Shen tells IDG News that the “Chromebook is good, not on the consumer side, but it’s good in the education and government side, and some for the commercial side.” IDG notes that Asus shipped 3 million Android tablets in the first quarter of 2013, so it’s clear that the company is more than willing to look beyond Microsoft for operating systems for its devices.
A recent report suggested Windows 8 may have hurt the declining global PC market rather than helped it, and new inside data points to a continued negative trend in April. According to Digitimes’ research arm, the top-5 PC vendors in the world saw their notebook shipments plummet a combined 20% sequentially in March. The site thinks overall shipments will likely fall yet again in the second quarter as a result, and Q2 shipments could be down 15% year-over-year. HP, Acer and Lenovo saw the worst April shipment plunges according to Digitimes and excess inventory is reportedly building as vendors ready their next-generation laptop models.
