Hasta La Gadget!

This could just be a case of a CEO letting his wishful thinking out into the open, but ARM’s Warren East was apparently all too happy to talk about the possibility of Windows 7 supporting ARM processors during a recent analysts conference call, even if he wasn’t quite ready to offer much of anything in the way of specifics. He did lay out the scenario pretty well, however, leading off by saying that “Microsoft will continue to play an important part in this [netbook] space,” and that “if there was Windows support for the ARM processor today clearly it would be a very different marketplace.” To which he apparently quickly added, “perhaps there will be support in future but that’s really for Microsoft to comment on and not for us to comment on, I’m afraid.” Of course, all of this is made all the more interesting given ARM’s increasing interest in the netbook space, which is certainly a tough nut to crack without Microsoft’s assistance — Android possibilities notwithstanding.

[Via Electronista]

Filed under: Laptops

ARM CEO hints at possible Windows 7 support for ARM processors originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 May 2009 20:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whether or not Windows 7 does launch in October as previously suggested, those who have (or plan to get) Release Candidate will be happy to hear that Microsoft won’t be pulling the plug until June 1, 2010, well over a year from now and 11 months after its initial expiration date. After that, you’re gonna have to fork over the Benjamins for one of the retail SKUs if you wanna keep 7 alive. As for those still living in Redmond’s past, the company’s also extended the life of XP, at least for OEMs. Companies using the older OS will still be able to install it on netbooks for up to one year after 7’s official shape date. Seeing as the new system’s likely to have a more expensive licensing fee, it’s probably the best move if the company plans on keeping that 96% grip on the netbook OS market.

[Via gadgetmix]

Read – Windows 7 RC extension
Read – Windows XP extension

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Windows 7 RC and XP given extensions on life well into 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 May 2009 00:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As you may or may not know, Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 has been officially handed out to MSDN and TechNet subscribers today, and there are plans to unleash the heavily-hyped OS to the waiting public at large come May 5th. We had a chance to sit down with reps from Microsoft to discuss the new iteration of Windows (and the company’s current frame of mind) more in-depth, and we’ve taken the new build for a bit of a spin around the block. Read on for an exploration into a few of the more delicious Windows 7 tidbits, as well as a full complement of our (potentially) enlightening observations.

Continue reading Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 impressions, insights, and expectations

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 impressions, insights, and expectations originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sensitive Object, a French startup best known for its louche, Gitanes-smoking engineers and its love of cocktail jazz, has just announced the development of Anywhere MultiTouch, a Windows 7-compliant platform that brings touch sensitivity to glass, aluminum, and plastic, through the use of piezoelectric sensors. This product is an extension of the company’s ReverSys technology, which recognizes the precise location where an object is touched through soundwaves, with the new platform throwing in handwriting recognition and palm rejection for good measure. It looks like multitouch has finally been freed from the tyranny of the display, with developers now able to incorporate actions along the whole device. Excited? We bet you are. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Sensitive Object’s Anywhere MultiTouch extends touch sensitivity to the whole device

Filed under: Displays, Tablet PCs

Sensitive Object’s Anywhere MultiTouch extends touch sensitivity to the whole device originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Touchscreens are already a big hit with cellphone users. But PC users largely remain chained to their keyboards and mouse.  N-Trig, which provides touchscreens for HP and Dell machines, hopes to change that by putting the technology into the hands of independent software developers — the same people whose apps helped propel the iPhone to massive success.

N-Trig has introduced a touchscreen kit for software developers that can be connected to any development PC. The kit, which costs $900, allows developers to display and test programs designed for touchscreens without having to buy computers that already have one.

“The advantage of having a dev kit  is that it allows you to use the CPU on a high end workstation for compile times but lets you test the multi-touch features in a box next to it,” says Frank DeSimone, senior director of research and development at SpaceClaim, a company that makes a 3D CAD-like product.  “Or you have to compile on a consumer laptop with a touchscreen and that isn’t as fast.”

Apple’s iPhone has made touch a much-desired feature on cellphones. But in PCs, touchscreens have yet to take off. Multi-touch (which involves use of more than two fingers on a touchscreen) is expected to get a boost once Microsoft releases the Windows 7 operating system, its successor to Vista.  Windows 7 supports gesture such as pinching and fingertip scrolling. Other Windows programs, such as Paint, will also include new brushes designed for multi-touch and features such as panning across a page in Internet Explorer. Earlier this year, Microsoft led a $24 million investment round in N-Trig.

But so far developers have had to buy touchscreen computers that feature the N-Trig display. Only three PCs — the HP TX2 and two Dell PCs — currently have it.  The N-Trig dev kit allows developers to turn any of their computers into a touchscreen enabled machine.

“The N-Trig kit can connect to a very powerful desktop computer,” says Harry van der Veen, CEO of Natural Interface, a Swedish company that offers multi-touch software products for applications such as digital signage and education. “You can easily move it around and it is attractively priced. The fact that it is mobile adds a lot of value to the product.”

And as more developers take to creating multi-touch based apps, N-Trig is betting demand for its touchscreens will increase driving the company’s fortunes.

N-Trig's digitizer box aims to kick start multi-touch apps.

“We are a hardware company but the only way that multi-touch on PCs will become mainstream is if independant software developers create applications such as games and productivity tools,” says Lenny Engelhardt, vice-president of business development for N-Trig.

The N-Trig dev kit box, also known as the digitizer, looks like a tablet computer with few controls. The touchscreen on the digitizer supports both stylus and finger touch and connects to the computer using a standard USB cable. The digitizer box can be moved to any Windows-based computer, though it does not work with a Mac.

“This way the developer community can have a touchscreen without buying a touchscreen computer,” says Engelhardt.

$900 for a touchscreen box may seem expensive, but N-Trig says developer shops can use a single box across many machines. And if there is significant demand for the kits, the company can bring down the costs.

Though Windows 7 won’t be available to consumers till 2010, developers interested in multi-touch will have to start working on creating and testing applications now, says DeSimone. “To be successful to get it right you have to start now,” he says.  “If you wait till Windows 7 is out it could be too late to design around the hurdles and have a quality product.”

Photos: N-Trig