Hasta La Gadget!

With a Guinness World Record-selling peripheral in its pocket and a pretty popular console, too, we’re not sure what to expect from Microsoft at E3 2011. That doesn’t mean the company won’t have some killer surprises, however, and that’s why we’re reporting live from the show. Will we see IPTV integration? Kinect finger-tracking? Support for Windows Phone 7 games? The handheld Xbox 360 you’ve been longing for? There’s only one way to find out — follow our live coverage right here at the times below.

06:30AM – Hawaii
09:30AM – Pacific
10:30AM – Mountain
11:30AM – Central
12:30PM – Eastern
05:30PM – London
06:30PM – Paris
08:30PM – Moscow
01:30AM – Tokyo (June 7th)

Continue reading Live from Microsoft’s E3 2011 keynote!

Live from Microsoft’s E3 2011 keynote! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Electronic Entertainment Expo, the gaming industry’s biggest annual get-together, kicks off in earnest on Tuesday, June 7th. Microsoft and Sony, however, will be getting the party started on Monday with keynotes scheduled for 12.30PM ET and 8PM ET, respectively. You can check out our liveblog posts (linked below) for the particular times in your local region — oh yes, we’re going to be liveblogging the hell out of these keynotes. Considering this year’s E3 will be the place where Nintendo previews the next Wii, the other two console gaming leaders pretty much have to give us something juicy to talk about.

Engadget is live from E3: get your Microsoft and Sony keynote liveblogs right here! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

You say you want a revolution? Well, you know… . you might get one if you’re a patient Windows user. With Windows’ eighth major release (at least according to Microsoft’s math), its name is becoming metaphorical. Taking on a default look that is rooted in Windows Phone 7 — the first “Windows” to eschew windows — with a smattering of Media Center, the next major version of Windows marks an overhaul of the initial user interface. Indeed, it is even a more radical departure than Apple made between Mac OS X and iOS, which preserved a scaled-down dock and icons, or between Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X.

Apple’s and Microsoft’s approaches are similar in at least one way — each has one operating system for PCs and another for phones. Clearly, though, the longtime operating system rivals have taken different tacks with tablets.

Continue reading Switched On: As Windows loses its windows

Switched On: As Windows loses its windows originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on April 16, 2008 by CyberNet.

Back in October of 2006, Microsoft filed a patent for a new type of mouse and recently that patent was just published. Thanks to it being published, we now have a glimpse into what a future mouse from Microsoft might look like. It’s a wearable design and not only does it look kinda cool, it’s actually pretty clever and practical as well. The images below help give us an idea of what it’s all about:

Now of course Microsoft isn’t the first to try and come up with a whole new way to use a mouse, but theirs is the first that I’ve seen where it actually looks like it could be used. There’s a huge convenience and time-saver factor with this design. Just needing to raise your hand off the keyboard slightly to move the mouse would be great. Think about how much time you spend completely removing your hand from the keyboard to bring it to the moue sitting at the side, it’s probably a lot in a days time.

There are a few things worth pointing out with this design. The first is that on Figure 3, buttons 114 and 116 would be used for right and left clicking, and would be pressed with the thumb. Obviously the mouse couldn’t always be active, so a “switch” which is shown on Figure 2 as 110 would activate the mouse. You could either close your hand to activate it or grasp the mouse like a joystick.

What do you think? Could this be the type of mouse we’ll be using in the near- future?

Source: I Started Something

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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This article was written on July 08, 2009 by CyberNet.

If asked which operating systems were most popular, most of you would list the usual: Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux/Unix. Come the second half of 2010, to that list we will be able to add the Google Chrome Operating System which will be both open source and lightweight. Initially targeted for Netbooks (smart move, Google, those things are everywhere), Google’s newly announced operating system is being described as a natural extension of the Google Chrome browser which millions now use just a short nine months after its launch.

According to Google, “Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel.” The open source community will get their hands on the code sometime this year.

Microsoft and Google are seen as competitors in certain areas, and now certainly with an Operating System in the works, they will be competitors on another level. This is why the timing of the announcement is, shall we say, interesting? Between bits and pieces of what Robert Scoble has said (more what he didn’t say, apparently Microsoft has a big announcement coming but he’s embargoed) and what Long Zheng over at I Started Something said (his “sources” say Microsoft’s Monday announcement will be about an Office Web application), we’re thinking Google carefully timed when to make the announcement.

Around the web we found both those who are excited about the thought of a Google browser, and those who are a little skeptical as well. We’ll start with the skeptics: One of the biggest concerns seems to be privacy. Any time you mention Google these days, people cry “but what about my privacy, Google will have access to too much information about me.” The skeptics of the Google Chrome OS fear their privacy will be compromised. Certainly privacy is important, but it shouldn’t get confused with security when it comes to an operating system.

Now for the excitement: Those who are fans of web apps and the individuals who create them are excited about the opportunity a Google Chrome OS gives web apps to thrive. Another positive coming from this is that throwing another competitor into the OS mix helps push innovation. Sometimes it takes competition for companies to up their game.

Alright, so here are our last thoughts. A Google Chrome OS does sound like a smart move for Google, BUT, consumers won’t have their hands on it until 2010? Hopefully they will be able to keep the excitement up over the next year or so. We’re just wondering what Microsoft thinks of all this? Maybe this brings some relief? Michael Arrington summed it up best when he said “Every Chrome computer bought won’t have Windows and won’t have Office. That must send chills down the spine of the guys up in Redmond. But hey, at least they can now point to Google when the antitrust guys come knocking. Someone other than them are bundling the operating system and browser in one neat package.”

So now Microsoft, what’s this about an Office Web application? We’ll be enthusiastically waiting this Monday announcement…

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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