Microsoft wants Windows Phone 7 users to have it fast and fun. The new mobile operating system swaps static homescreen icons for "live tiles" - self-updating buttons that aim to speed up phone interactions. All Windows Phones will have a dedicated hardware Bing Button, another intended time-saving tool. The Bing screen has three search options - Local, Web and News - for specific and fast queries.

Themed hubs collect "related content from the Web, applications and services into a single view to simplify common tasks." These hubs are titled as follows: People, Pictures, Games, Music + Video, Marketplace, and Office.

These hubs are filled with intuitively relevant content - People provides live feeds from social networks, and a central updater for Facebook and Windows Live. Pictures shares images and video with social networks and connects with the Web and PC.

Continue Reading »

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Usually when we think about human-machine interaction, we imagine robots acting like regular people but without any emotions. Science fiction has tried to define what the future of these machines that might one day replace humanity will be, but that event doesn’t actually seem possible in the next few years. But one industry could be very interesting for the future of human-machine interactions: video games.

We had the example of the Wii, released in 2006, which captures your movements with controllers and reproduces them on screen. What Microsoft revealed at last year’s E3, the Natal Project, is simply a game changer: with some basic hardware (sensors with infrared signals, HD video camera and microphone), users no longer need controllers to play videogames. What is the trick? As Scientific American revealed a few days ago, there are algorithms developed by Microsoft research in Cambridge, England, that can recognize gestures “by extrapolating from experience” like a human being. The article offers very good insight into the technological challenges of the project. The Natal release is planned for the 2010 holidays and will be the big event for the entire industry. But not only that.

Continue Reading »

The PC industry has been hit hard this year, but it has fared better than initially predicted.

Gartner, which in June forecasted a 6 percent fall in PC shipments this year, reports that the actual total will be 2 percent, with 285 million PCs shipping in 2009.

“Mobile PC shipments have regained substantial momentum, especially in emerging markets, and the decline in desk-based PC shipments is slowing down,” said Gartner research director George Shiffler.

In the first half of 2009, sales were down 4.4 percent year-over-year.

Gartner’s predictions have gotten increasingly positive as 2009 has progressed. In March, the research company projected an 11.9 percent drop in sales, the worst-ever industry decline.

Continue Reading »

Microsoft is offering college students a drastically reduced price for its new operating system - Windows 7. The promotional Web site, win741.com announces that eligible college students can purchase the OS for $29.99, quoting an estimated retail price of $119.99.  Students can begin advance purchase this month, though download will not be available until the general release date of October 22. The special price offer ends January 3, 2010 at 12:00 am CST.

The site is fun and may be informative once all the content is live - there are sections dedicated to videos of an OS tour, the offer beginning and ending dates, as well as a “741 demo trial area” that will be set up at 11 college campuses this fall to document students learning about Windows 7 features. Additionally, user generated content and a section with “exclusive Family Guy content” are coming soon.

Continue Reading »

As part of its Bing service roll-out, Microsoft launched Bing Travel this morning. Combining the functionality of airfare comparison, Farecast’s airfare and hotel deal forecast tools with MSN Travel’s news and editorial content, the Redmond, Washington-based company hopes to gain an edge in niche search.

Hugh Crean, general manager of Bing Travel, wants to make at least one part of the travelling process easy - security and luggage are such hassles, “researching and booking travel should be simple and easy…”

Continue Reading »

Steve Perlman founded Rearden with the purpose of taking risks on wildly disruptive new business ideas. His newest may change the destinies of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.

This idea is called OnLive, and was unveiled at the Game Developers Conference this week in San Francisco. Perlman (picture right) plans to whip up the technology necessary for recent video games to be accessed through a conventional broadband connection. The results: the latest title on any television, PC or Mac.

This includes old and otherwise limited-purpose computers, while a television requires only a palm-sized “microprocessor” to access the service. Gaming systems, whether tricked-out CPU/GPU multi-processor madness or a five hundred dollar proprietary console are rendered obsolete.

Continue Reading »

Outside of Windows 7 going beta, by far the biggest attention getter at CES in Las Vegas has been the Palm Pre, the smartphone that many in the media are saying will save the struggling company. Gizmodo calls it “maybe the most important handset to be announced in two years.” Ubergizmo has a great review of the Palm Pre.

Speaking of phones, the LG Watch Phone also got a lot of buzz and raised the level of Dick Tracy references to a height not seen in decades. “Our new 3G Touch Watch Phone is stylish, sophisticated and the height of technology, but it’s also undeniably fun. How else can you reenact those scenes from your favorite sci-fi or spy movie?” said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.

Something else getting considerable attention is wireless USB. Wireless USB works at up to ten meters’ distance, and it looks like a lot of vendors will be using it soon in notebooks, hubs, and phones.

Continue Reading »

After the comitragedy that was The Vista Experience, Microsoft this week begins the Windows 7 era. While we will continue to be battered with “I’m a PC” ads, the beta release of Windows 7 marks the (legal) debut of the successor to the Redmond, WA, company’s much-maligned operating system.

“We are on track to deliver the best version of Windows ever, we are putting in all the right ingredients — simplicity, reliability and speed and working hard to get it right and to get it ready,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer during his CES keynote.

So far, reviews have tended towards the positive. Windows 7 is by all accounts faster and less intrusive than Vista, with the annoying User Account Control interrupting your actions much less frequently; it is now also scalable. Windows 7 is also apparently more forgiving of lower-end systems than Vista was. It is also more energy efficient – shutting off ports when not in use – and kinder to battery life.

Continue Reading »

The end of the first day of the Consumer Electronics Show has already left us with developments in several categories. The show continues until Sunday in Las Vegas, showcasing Wireless, Emerging Technology, Digital Imaging, Gaming, Audio, Home Networking, In-Vehicle Connectivity and Home Theater. Some highlights are distilled below.

CEO of Sony Sir Howard Stringer delivered a keynote address mindful of the projection that the consumer electronics industry will see negative growth this year. His guidelines to sustain the industry stress convergence of IT, consumer experience and entertainment. CNET interprets them as a newly developed mission statement for his own company, but the strategies carry over: focus on customer service, support open technologies, embrace social content, go green.

As for more consumer based plans, Microsoft will release a public beta of Windows 7 this week. After 2.5 million downloads, Microsoft will cap the beta, according to PC World . The official ship date remains early 2010.

Continue Reading »

Three years already that the U.S. team of Atelier is attending the Consumer Electronic Show held in Las Vegas. Life is tough! But we aren’t here for fun - because we do not see the day light very often here - but to cover this annual trade show (aka. CES for the insiders), the great mess of the electronics industry which has being held for over 30 years in the sin city.

This was Bill Gates who was until now addressing the opening session. This year, it will still be Microsoft, but it will be Steve Ballmer’s turn to take Gates’s place. At least he’s a real speaker. As we say, this is a page that is being turned. We will follow this course for you and keep you updated. Despite a background of crisis, a rich program is waiting for us: the Presidents and CEOs of Ford, Sony, Intel and Cisco will set the tone for the year. It is being said that it will be very, very green-oriented and also low cost. We will tell you all about that. So stay tune.

Original post here. [credit photo: L'Atelier BNP Paribas]