Hasta La Gadget!

We all know that Microsoft is set to launch Windows 8 later this month. The software giant will certainly be spending huge amounts of money on advertising trying to lure buyers to purchase the new version of the operating system or buy a new computer that has the operating system installed. If you’re curious about Windows 8, you may find these four new videos that have leaked interesting. They appear to be ads for the operating system.

These videos may be just the thing for people who aren’t interested enough in Windows 8 to download public version of the operating system to try on their own machine, but might upgrade down the line. Each of the four videos are slightly under a minute and show off different aspects of the operating system. The videos show touch interaction along with the operating system running on traditional laptops and desktops.

I doubt these are all the ads that will run for Windows 8. Odds are there will be ads for the Surface tablet and the Windows RT devices alone. I have to wonder about these videos being called ads. Ads to me mean commercials and typical commercials run 30 seconds, with some longer commercials spanning 60 seconds.

I can see these ads being stretched with opening or closing sequences to the 60-second mark. There’s also no confirmation that these are official Microsoft videos, but they certainly look official. Watch them all below and see what you think.

[via Neowin]

Windows 8 videos leak showing how to use the OS is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has heaped extra emphasis on the company offering hardware rather than just software, describing “a fundamental shift” that could pave the way for more own-brand gadgets like Surface. Writing in a letter to shareholders, Ballmer suggested that “there will be times when we build specific devices for specific purposes” and portraying Microsoft “as a devices and services company.” The comments are unlikely to deter increasing rumors that Microsoft plans to launch more Windows 8 hardware of its own, and potentially a Windows Phone 8 range.

‘Last year in this letter I said that over time, the full value of our software will be seen and felt in how people use devices and services at work and in their personal lives. This is a significant shift, both in what we do and how we see ourselves — as a devices and services company” Ballmer writes. “It impacts how we run the company, how we develop new experiences, and how we take products to market for both consumers and businesses. The work we have accomplished in the past year and the roadmap in front of us brings this to life.”

Microsoft surprised its OEM partners with the unveil of Surface earlier this year, a pair of tablets – one running Windows RT, the other Windows 8 and adding in extra digital pen functionality – described as delivering the company’s vision for what a Windows slate should be. Although publicly welcomed as a vote of confidence in the platform, manufacturers are believed to have privately resented Microsoft stepping into their territory, particularly with the minimal notice the company gave about Surface’s launch.

Until that point, Microsoft had been content to leave phone and PC hardware direction pretty much up to OEMs, although it took a more directive approach with “appliance” style devices like Xbox. Wading into tablets, however, potentially paves the way for more Microsoft-branded hardware, something Ballmer hints at.

“There will be times when we build specific devices for specific purposes, as we have chosen to do with Xbox and the recently announced Microsoft Surface” the CEO points out. “In all our work with partners and on our own devices, we will focus relentlessly on delivering delightful, seamless experiences across hardware, software and services. This means as we, with our partners, develop new Windows devices we’ll build in services people want.”

Microsoft has repeatedly denied it has plans to launch its own Windows Phone 8 smartphones, instead selecting HTC’s new range as its “signature” handsets for the updated platform’s promotion. Nonetheless, there’s more possibility than ever that such a strategy could change if the company believes manufacturers need some Nexus-style motivation to take Windows Phone in the direction Microsoft wants.

Microsoft’s Ballmer teases more hardware: “Fundamental shift” underway is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Logitech has outed a new trio of peripherals for Windows 8, including a twinset of finger-friendly mice and a standalone touchpad. The Logitech Touch Mouse T620 and Zone Touch Mouse T400 each include stroke-sensitive surfaces for easier navigating around your Windows 8 PC, while the Logitech Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650 has a glass top plate for you to flick the new Microsoft gestures around.

The Touch Mouse T620 has a full touch surface, including around the edges of the peripheral, with laser tracking. It has a dedicated shortcut to the Windows 8 start screen, and uses Logitech’s Unifying Receiver; battery life is up to six months with two AA batteries, or you can ditch one of the batteries for a lighter mouse, and get up to three months runtime.

Touch Mouse T620 demo:

As for the Zone Touch Mouse T400, as the name implies the touch-responsiveness is limited to certain portions of the peripheral. In fact, the zone is limited to where the scroll-wheel might normally be expected to find, with a rubberized, textured surface. The same Unifying Receiver is used, and battery life is up to 18 months.

Zone Touch Mouse T400 demo:

Like Apple’s Magic Trackpad of 2010, Logitech’s Touchpad T650 pulls the touch-sensitive square normally found in a laptop’s wrist rest out onto the desktop as a standalone peripheral. It supports thirteen Windows 8 gestures, and can be recharged via USB; a full charge is good for up to a month’s use.

Touchpad T650 demo:

The Logitech Touch Mouse T620 and Logitech Zone Touch Mouse T400 are up for preorder now, priced at $69.99 and $49.99 respectively. The Logitech Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650 is priced at $79.99.

Logitech outs wireless Touchpad T650 and two touch mice for Windows 8 is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Just a week after Acer’s announcement of their Windows 8 Iconia W700, the company announced yesterday in the USA the Iconia W510 another Windows 8 Tablet but this time powered by an Intel Clover Trail Atom Z2760 CPU! the Iconia W510 will come in four different flavors (see details below) with a price starting at $499.99 USD and sold without its docking keyboard (That also includes an internal battery). By default the Iconia W510 will come for all models with an Atom Z2760, 2GB of RAM, …

Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system is being prepared for a release later this month, and Microsoft has just released a major Windows 8 update that will hopefully see its core applications such as Mail and Calendar to keep up with the Joneses at the very minimum – we’re talking about the previous standards set by Apple and Google, of course. Patch Tuesday is no more, and it will now be known as Update Tuesday – at least for the moment. The update to Windows 8 Release to Manufacturing (RTM) will improve the previously solid performance in Windows 8, where this update is made available for all Windows 8 machines the moment they boot up this coming October 26th and afterwards.

A Microsoft executive said, “By developing better test automation and test coverage tools we are happy to say that Windows 8 will be totally up to date for all customers starting at General Availability.”

This is a shift in the way things are done, where Microsoft has released unobtrusive and yet important updates the moment they are hot and ready, instead of biding their time by saving “the best for the last”, proverbially speaking, in the form of service packs. Nipping things in the bud are always the best policy, methinks. How about you? Are you excited about the Windows 8 release yet?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Microsoft sponsoring free WiFi in San Francisco and New York as part of Windows 8 marketing campaign, Windows 8 event on Oct 25, Microsoft rolls out invitations,