You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
We’ve already seen Sony take a stab at a Windows 8 hybrid in the form of the VAIO Duo 11, and now a clip has appeared on YouTube apparently showing an unannounced 13-inch Ultrabook slider with a 1080p Triluminos touchscreen display. Allegedly, the video is being used for training at UK retail chain Dixons, and in addition to repeatedly collapsing and opening the slim white and silver unit, the demonstrator plays around with a stylus in Microsoft’s Fresh Paint. There are a couple of text overlays near the end of clip, highlighting the “SurfSlider design,” backlit keyboard, ClearAudio+ and ActiveSleep tech, as well as its 10 hours of battery life. NFC is also said to be on board, along with an 8-megapixel camera with Exmor RS sensor, Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD. The incredibly grainy video is embedded after the break, and although we can’t verify its authenticity, we also can’t ally it to any known product.
Update: There’s also a handful of press images — we’ve included one after the break too.
[Thanks, Aiga and Christopher]
Filed under: Laptops, Tablets, Sony
Source: YouTube, Notebook Review forums
On the fence about heading to Build? Microsoft’s annual conference is scheduled from June 26th to the 28th, and developers in attendance will likely hear quite a bit more about the latest version of Windows 8. MS will also make a public preview available during the event, Julie Larson-Green shared at the Wired Business Conference in New York City today. A final version of Windows 8.1 “Blue” is expected by the end of the year, bringing cosmetic updates and other features, such as a new side-by-side app view and Internet Explorer 11. In March, we managed to dig through pre-release build 9364 — it sounds like we’ll be able to take a much closer look at the new operating system this summer, but you can click through our gallery of screenshots for an early preview, right now.
Filed under: Software, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
For many observers, the real story for Windows 8 was never going to be the 60 million licenses sold during the holiday rush — it was always about the long term. The first indications of its post-launch impact are here, and show mixed results. In an interview on the company blog, Microsoft CMO/CFO Tami Reller says that it “recently” sold its 100 millionth Windows 8 license since the OS launched in October. That’s a healthy figure, but sales of about 10 million units a month between its January stat update and today show adoption hasn’t picked up again since the initial dropoff. The usual post-holiday lull no doubt played a part, although estimates of a much steeper drop in PC sales than usual suggest more was afoot. Microsoft doesn’t see an immediate problem however, touting both brisk Windows Store adoption — downloads of both free and paid apps surged from 100 million in January to 250 million — and the pending arrival of more affordable convertible notebooks, touchscreen laptops and all-in-ones later this year.
Oh, and about that Windows Blue update everyone’s been talking about? It’s at last official. Microsoft isn’t mentioning details beyond the Windows Blue codename, but it does promise that the upgrade should be available before 2013 is over. We’re looking forward to that extra level of personalization already.
Filed under: Desktops, Tablets, Software, Microsoft
Source: Blogging Windows
And the news just keeps on coming. Acer just made yet a third product announcement here at its New York City press event. That would be the Acer Iconia A1 tablet, the same Android tablet leaked by a French retailer a few weeks back. Well, it’s official now, and it’s going on sale in the US later this month for $169. Spec-wise, it measures 11.1mm thick, runs a 1.2GHz quad-core processor from MediaTek, and is topped off by a 7.9-inch IPS display with 1,024 x 768 resolution (hey, what’d you expect on a budget tablet?). It also has 8 or 16GB of internal storage, as well as built-in 3G, similar to the comparably priced FonePad from ASUS. As for software customizations, you’ll find Acer’s WakeApp feature which lets you launch into a designated app when you wake the tablet from sleep.
In our brief hands-on, the device felt like you’d expect a $169 tablet to feel: it’s made of plastic, and lacks any sort of visual flare, but the back cover at least feels durable, and doesn’t seem to pick up many fingerprints (especially in white). The display, too, might be the best part about the device, its low pixel count be damned: the viewing angles are wide enough that you can read the screen with the tablet lying face-up on a table. That’s all for now, but we’ve got some hands-on shots below.
Update: We’ve amended the post with full (and correct!) specs.
Update #2: Acer’s confirmed the 16GB version of the tablet should sell for about $199 in the US. It’s expected to ht shelves by the end of the month.
Gallery: Acer Iconia A1 hands-on
Acer brought a whole bunch of folks out to NYC for a global press conference and made sure the attending press got their money’s worth. In addition to outing the unique convertible R7, the company unveiled the Aspire P3 — its first convertible Windows 8 Ultrabook. The screen can be angled forward to use as a traditional (ish) laptop or completely folded down in slate mode. As you can see in the image, there’s even a place to clip on a stylus. Acer wasn’t too forthcoming with specs during the presentation, but we’ll be sure to dig up those specifics when we get our hands-on (which should be coming shortly).
Update: You’ll find impressions and specs after the break.
Gallery: Acer Aspire P3 hands-on
Filed under: Acer
Windows 7 users have been able to sneak a peek at Skype’s new Video Messaging feature since earlier in the week, but now the referenced Windows 8 version is available as well. The new tool, the service’s version of video voicemail, is still “in its early release,” so you may run into a bug or two. To that end, the team invites testers to reach out with feedback through a handful of channels. It’s all outlined at the source link below.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Source: Skype
Toshiba’s got an Ultrabook hybrid on the way for general consumption, and now it’s targeting the business-savvy Windows 8 user with its WT310 tablet (a product code borrowed from an old Windows 7 model). Running Windows 8 Pro, the 11.6-inch 1080p slate packs an unnamed Intel Core processor, SSD drive, and comes bundled with a DigitizerPen for quick note scrawling. Around the edges, you’re looking at an HDMI-out port, an SD card slot and USB 3.0 port, with standard WiFi (Intel WiDi supported), Bluetooth 4.0 and optional HSPA+ / LTE radios for connectivity. A dock that offers additional ports will also be available.
As the tablet “means business,” it comes with a bunch of pre-installed utilities for those that need a slate for more than browsing and media, including the Trusted Platform Module, as well as Intel’s Active Management Technology and Anti-Theft software. It measures 229 x 189 x 12.4mm (roughly 9 x 7.5 x 0.5 inch) and weighs in at 825g (29 ounces), with the only choice of color being “steel grey metallic.” We should find out some of the finer details, like specific CPU, RAM size and SSD capacity, closer to the UK release window of Q2 2013, which we assume will coincide with a US launch. We’re also in the dark about price, but given it’s aimed at business users, it probably won’t be cheap.
Filed under: Tablets
We were expecting a changing of the guard among tablets given the rise of several competitors throughout in 2012, and we’ve seen just that in IDC’s market share estimates for the first quarter of 2013. The research firm shows Android having almost reversed the share it held a year ago, claiming the top spot at 56.5 percent; Apple’s huge spike in year-over-year iPad sales wasn’t enough to keep it from dipping to 39.6 percent. Microsoft’s estimated performance tells a more complex story, however. Its second quarter of Windows 8 and RT sales involved a big year-to-year jump as well, but it was also starting largely from scratch — the combined Windows platform was still tiny at 3.7 percent.
The pecking order remained mostly the same among individual manufacturers, although the charts here explain just why OS share shifted so much in the winter. While Apple remained comfortably in front with its 39.6 percent, just about every rival made a dent: Samsung, ASUS, Amazon and Microsoft all gained at least a small amount, even if no one manufacturer posed a major threat. IDC is providing shipping numbers that don’t necessarily reflect the on-the-ground sales, especially when everyone beyond Apple declines to report official numbers, but they suggest that tablets like the Nexus 7 and Surface Pro have found at least a small audience.
Filed under: Tablets, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, ASUS, Google, Amazon
Source: IDC
Although Microsoft’s OneNote is virtually tailor-made for pen input, we doubt most Windows fans would splurge on the likes of a Surface Pro just for the sake of a quick doodle or two. With the latest update to OneNote for Windows 8 and RT, they won’t have to. The app refresh lets touchscreen PC users draw with their fingers using the same color and thickness options as their stylus-toting counterparts. The new input method won’t be as precise as a pen, but it should do the job for simple diagrams or dusting off those kindergarten-era fingerpainting skills. Whether or not you’re on a nostalgia kick, you can swing by the Windows Store today for the upgrade.
Filed under: Tablets, Software, Microsoft
Via: OneNote Blog
Source: Windows Store
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
