Windows 7

Software
April 12, 2011
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Microsoft may reveal Windows 8 during September developer event

By on April 12, 2011 at 8:34 PM.

Microsoft may reveal Windows 8 during September developer event

Microsoft will hold a Professional Developers Conference (PDC) event from September 13th through September 16th, Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft’s Windows Chief, said Tuesday. According to Business Insider, Microsoft may introduce its latest Windows 8 operating system during the event — an OS that will cater better to touchscreen tablets and lower powered processors. A September introduction could mean that Microsoft is gearing up for a launch sometime next year, a time frame that’s in line with earlier rumors. Microsoft may already be shipping the operating system to some of its OEM partners, and some reports have suggested that the Redmond-based company will show off early tablet designs in June. The report remains a rumor, however, as Microsoft has not gone on the record to say when it will lift the curtain on Windows 8. More →

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mobile
April 5, 2011
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Dell’s 10-inch tablet pushed back to fall

By on April 5, 2011 at 10:27 PM.

Dell’s 10-inch tablet pushed back to fall

Dell’s 10-inch Windows 7 tablet may not launch until this fall, a company source speaking to Forbes said Tuesday. Dell revealed in February that it had plans to launch a 10-inch tablet, although the company never publicly announced a release date. The site’s source did not indicate why Dell has decided wait to launch until September. The month is arguably the tail end of back-to-school season, and other tablets from competitors — like the HP TouchPad — will be widely available, but it sounds like there are some internal delays happening. In its defense, Dell has said that its Windows 7 offering will be a “business tablet” aimed at quelling the needs of the mobile work force — as opposed to students or the everyday consumer — so the back-to-school season may not be a priority. More →

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Tablets
March 9, 2011
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Acer says demand for its tablets is too high, report claims

By on March 9, 2011 at 3:31 PM.

Acer says demand for its tablets is too high, report claims

According to a report on Wednesday from industry watcher DigiTimes, Acer is seeing higher than expected interest in its upcoming line of tablets. Demand is so high, the report claims, that it exceeds the initial supply Acer has ordered from its manufacturing partners. The strong demand comes from various cellular carriers around the world that are seemingly eager to bundle Acer’s upcoming devices with data plans. According to the report, Acer plans to launch four devices between now and April: The 10-inch Windows 7-powered Iconia W500, which will launch mid-March; the 10-inch Tegra 2-equipped Iconia A500, which will run Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) when it launches in late March; the 7-inch Android-powered Iconia A100, which will launch in April; and the supersized 4.8-inch Gingerbread smartphone dubbed Iconia Smart, which will also launch in April. Acer noted that initial limited inventory  is due to a short supply of key components, such as touchscreen displays. More →

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Tablets
March 7, 2011
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ViewPad 10 dual-boot tablet now available from ViewSonic

By on March 7, 2011 at 9:34 PM.

ViewPad 10 dual-boot tablet now available from ViewSonic

ViewSonic announced on Monday the immediate availability of its unique dual-boot tablet, the ViewPad 10. First announced this past November, the ViewPad 10 is an Atom-based tablet that features a 10-inch 1024 x 600-pixel touchscreen display, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom processor, 2GB of memory, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera for video chat. Most notably, however, it features a dual-boot configuration that allows users to boot either Android 1.6 or Windows 7 on demand. ”The lines of professional and personal life are blurring, which creates a need for devices that are suited for both sides,” said Adam Hanin, vice president of marketing for ViewSonic Americas, in a statement. “The ViewPad 10 delivers just that by enabling users to merge business productivity with personal enjoyment anywhere, anytime.” The ViewPad 10 is available immediately for $599 (16GB SSD, Windows 7 Home Premium) or $679 (32GB SSD, Windows 7 Professional). Hit the break for ViewSonic’s full press release. More →

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Tablets
February 21, 2011
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Sony readying dual-display Android tablet, sliding Windows 7 VAIO tablet for Q4

By on February 21, 2011 at 9:03 PM.

Sony readying dual-display Android tablet, sliding Windows 7 VAIO tablet for Q4

An unconfirmed report on Monday suggests that Sony is working on two unannounced tablets slated for release later this year. Struggling electronics giant Sony has been noticeably absent from the tablet tsunami coming our way this year, but it looks like the company has plans to change that in time for the holidays. Sony is already rumored to be working on a PlayStation certified S1 tablet, and now two new slates are supposedly in the works as well. The first, codenamed S2, is set to be a clam shell Android device with dual 5.5-inch displays, a Tegra 2 processor, Wi-Fi, embedded 3G and a modified version of Google’s Honeycomb OS designed to take advantage of two screens. The other rumored tablet is said to be VAIO-branded. It will allegedly run Windows 7 and feature a 9.4-inch display, an Intel Atom processor and a sliding QWERTY keyboard. Sony is said to be targeting a $699 price point with the S2, and the Windows 7-powered VAIO tablet will cost $799 or more. Both devices are rumored to be scheduled for launch ahead of the 2011 holiday season. More →

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Software
February 4, 2011
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Mexican drug cartel sells counterfeit Microsoft software to fund kidnappings, drug trafficking

By on February 4, 2011 at 11:27 AM.

Mexican drug cartel sells counterfeit Microsoft software to fund kidnappings, drug trafficking

Sales of illegitimate copies of Microsoft programs may be doing more than just lining hackers’ pockets. According to Microsoft’s lawyers, notorious Mexican drug cartel La Familia Michoacana is selling counterfeit Microsoft software to help fund kidnappings, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and other criminal activities. David Finn, Microsoft’s Associate General Counsel dealing with Worldwide Anti-piracy and Anti-counterfeiting, wrote about the problem in a blog post on Thursday. “An important theme that resonated among the international groups is the number of organized criminal gangs that rely on the profits gleaned from pirated software to fund other crimes,” Finn wrote on a Microsoft blog. “Sophisticated criminal syndicates and drug cartels are building large scale counterfeiting operations and selling illegal software to consumers. These illegal enterprises have generated astronomical profits that the gangs funnel toward violent crimes such as drug trafficking, arms and weapons trafficking, kidnapping and extortion.” Finn went on to cite a study conducted by Mexico’s Attorney General stating that the Familia cartel earns more than $2.2 million each day — over $800 million annually — from sales of counterfeit goods. More →

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CES
January 7, 2011
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Samsung prepping dual-core phones, tablets for MWC

By on January 7, 2011 at 4:39 PM.

Samsung prepping dual-core phones, tablets for MWC

We’re still deep in day two of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show and apparently Samsung has already moved on. Speaking at CES on Friday, Samsung’s president of mobile J. K. Shin discussed the company’s big plans for Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. “We will continue to keep our technology leadership this year. In terms of dual-core applications, we already have a program, and next month at Mobile World Congress we will unveil it,” Shin said at the show. Shin went on to note, “In February at MWC, we will unveil our next-generation tablet device portfolio in detail.” According to the exec, Samsung’s 4G strategy will soon begin moving toward 4G. The company will release new smartphones and tablets, and both WiMAX and LTE devices will be included in Samsung’s future portfolio. Shin also stated that new Windows Phone 7 smartphones would be announced at MWC next month, along with both 3G and 4G tablets. More →

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CES
January 4, 2011
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ASUS unveils Eee Pad MeMO, Eee Pad Transformer, Eee Pad Slider and Eee Slate EP121

By on January 4, 2011 at 7:31 PM.

ASUS unveils Eee Pad MeMO, Eee Pad Transformer, Eee Pad Slider and Eee Slate EP121

On Tuesday, ASUS introduced four new tablet devices ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Eee Pad MeMO, Eee Pad Transformer, Eee Pad Slider and Eee Slate EP121 are the first of many tablets that will be introduced this week, and the gauntlet has been thrown down. ASUS’ offerings are stylish, functional and well spec’d, giving customers an array of choices to suit a variety of needs. Hit the break for all the juicy details including pricing and availability. More →

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CES
January 4, 2011
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Microsoft to demo Windows TV product at CES

By on January 4, 2011 at 11:16 AM.

Microsoft to demo Windows TV product at CES

According to an unconfirmed report in The Seattle Times, Microsoft is preparing to demonstrate a new home entertainment product set to combat Apple TV and Google TV. The rumored service will supposedly be demonstrated this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Said to be powered by a “stripped-down version of Windows tailored for set-top boxes and connected TVs,” a customized version of Windows Embedded is the likely candidate for this type of product. The devices are also said to feature a UI similar to the Windows Media Center interface, and will include a “polished and familiar TV-program guide that makes it easy to blend and navigate both online and broadcast content.” While no manufacturing partners were revealed in the report, an initial round of Windows TV boxes will apparently go on sale later this year for around $200. More →

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Tablets
December 29, 2010
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IEK: Tablet shipments to total 48 million units in 2011; 25% will run Android

By on December 29, 2010 at 5:28 PM.

IEK: Tablet shipments to total 48 million units in 2011; 25% will run Android

Tawain’s Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) said Wednesday that global tablet PC shipments in 2011 are expected to total 48 million units. The number sharply contradicts figures reported earlier today by DigiTimes, which suggest Apple will sell 65 million iPad tablets alone next year. The IEK is part of Taiwan`s government-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute, which issued a report regarding the potential impact of tablets, smartphones, smart TVs and 3D displays on the Taiwanese economy in 2011. The report notes that Apple’s iPad will be the firm leader in worldwide tablet sales next year, though Android will account for 25% of global sales, or 12 million units. The IEK also states that Android-powered smartphone shipments are estimated to total 270 million units in 2011 — six times the projections for 2010. More →

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Tablets
December 28, 2010
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ASUS Eee Pad models teased ahead of CES

By on December 28, 2010 at 10:28 AM.

ASUS Eee Pad models teased ahead of CES

Images of three upcoming Eee Pad tablets from ASUS have leaked via Techinstyle.tv, possibly in a fashion similar to the controlled “leak” from HTC last week. The images appear to show three different Eee Pad models, each with a 10-inch touchscreen display. While little can actually be gleaned from the photo set, we know at least one model will be powered by Android due to the presence of touch sensitive Android-style menu buttons. This model also appears to have a convertible QWERTY keypad. Another Eee Pad model appears to feature a physical keypad as well. According to previous rumors, one of these tablets should run Windows 7 and sport Intel’s Oak Trail processor, while the other two tablets may run Android atop NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 CPU. Hit the jump for more images of ASUS’ upcoming Eee Pad tablets.

UPDATE: As noted by BGR reader Bob, at least one of ASUS’ tablets will feature a USB 3.0 port, as indicated by the blue strip above the port opening in one of the images seen below. More →

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Software
December 22, 2010
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AirPlay comes to Windows thanks to AirMediaPlayer

By on December 22, 2010 at 7:42 PM.

AirPlay comes to Windows thanks to AirMediaPlayer

We knew it wouldn’t be long before a simple solution brought Apple’s AirPlay streaming media functionality to Windows, and today the deed is done. Independent developer Apostolos Georgiadis has assembled a neat little Windows application called AirMediaPlayer that allows Apple’s iOS devices to stream music and video via AirPlay to a Windows PC. The player is compatible with Windows 7, Vista and XP, and requires .NET framework 3.5, Bonjour and Quicktime to operate. Once those installations are taken care of, AirMediaPlayer is free to use and is compatible with any AirPlay-equipped iOS device. Hit the break for a video of AirMedia Player in action, and then hit the read link to download the app. More →

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Tablets
December 8, 2010
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Samsung Gloria to be a Windows 7 tablet with sliding keyboard

By on December 8, 2010 at 9:42 AM.

Samsung Gloria to be a Windows 7 tablet with sliding keyboard

According to an unconfirmed report on French enthusiast blog Blogeee.net, Samsung is currently developing a Windows 7 tablet PC with a slide-out keyboard. Citing multiple sources, the blog says that a forthcoming tablet from Samsung — codenamed Samsung Gloria — will feature a 10-inch touchscreen display and a slide-out keyboard. The concept seems less than ideal; a device that large with a keyboard that slides out and remains parallel to the display would basically be a nightmare to use. While the blog’s mock-up of the device, pictured above, shows a landscape slider, we can only see this working if the keypad slides out in portrait orientation — unless Samsung has managed to develop an adjustable display mechanism like the one found on the HTC Touch Pro. On a device this large, however, such a mechanism would likely cause the device to topple over. But Blogeee.net is convinced the device is destined for market, and our interest is definitely peaked. According to the report, the Samsung Gloria will be released some time in March or April 2011.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in More →

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