Hasta La Gadget!

Continue reading Packard Bell debuts oneTwo line of all-in-one PCs

Filed under: Desktops

Packard Bell debuts oneTwo line of all-in-one PCs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We wouldn’t want to jump to conclusions, but Archos might just be onto something with its upcoming 9pctablet, which is due to launch alongside Windows 7. The Windows 7 bit isn’t an accident, since it’s really the first OS from Microsoft that makes it conceivable to use much of the OS with a finger, rather than the stylus. It’s not all there, of course: Archos had to build its own touchscreen keyboard to replace Microsoft’s woefully inadequate implementation, and there’s an optical mouse sensor on the side of the display and a stylus buried within to pick up the slack.

Overall the hardware seems very solid and astonishingly dense, and despite the recent advancements we’ve seen in thin and light laptops, it’s pretty incredible that Archos has a full Atom-based PC running inside this thin, fanless slab. What wasn’t so incredible was the resistive touchscreen, at least on the unit we were playing with. Our touches kept getting misread inexplicably as an inch below where we were tapping, and it didn’t feel like a “light touch” resistive model at all — no confusing what we felt with capacitive, though perhaps we got a faulty unit. This is probably a scenario where resistive makes sense, but we’d say Archos has a lot of work to do on the drivers or **something to make this more usable. The good news is that there will be an optional, super-slim external keyboard, which should make input on the 9 a bit less of a chore.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Archos 9pctablet hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Dying to throw a party where everyone goes home alone? Microsoft’s got you covered. Redmond’s looking for Windows 7 fans to throw launch parties from October 22-29, and if you’re chosen, you’ll get a free “Signature Edition” of Windows 7 Ultimate, free party favors, and a chance to win a PC valued at $750. Sure, you’ll have to suck up your pride and invite your friends to a party with a theme like “setting up with ease” or “family friendly fun,” but if you’re willing to throw a party where everyone is apparently supposed to sit around a laptop and then go out and buy something, well, we’re guessing you don’t have too much pride to begin with.

[Thanks, Kevin]

Filed under: Software

Get Windows 7 Ultimate for free… by throwing a party originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We had a good feeling that Microsoft might have a thing or two to announce around Windows 7 Media Center at the upcoming CEDIA show in Atlanta this September, but now we can start the official countdown. The after-hours event at ESPN Zone will help kick off the show in Atlanta at 6:30pm — the event is invite only, but don’t worry, we’ll be brining you the events live as they happen. Although the specific announcements are anyone’s guess, the invite did let us know that all of the Windows Media Center news and updates will break there, as well as the winner of the Ultimate Install Contest. So that’s just over two weeks until all your home media hopes will be fulfilled — or destroyed — depending on your perspective.

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Media PCs, Software

Microsoft’s CEDIA event September 9th to reveal what’s new in Media Center originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

If you’re keeping score at home, Microsoft needs to bring two heavies to a fight with Google, but it can lay the smack down on an AV software firm like Sophos all by itself. Richard Jacobs, chief technology officer and master of inflammatory rhetoric at Sophos, points out that Windows 7’s XP Mode makes computers vulnerable to attack due to it operating independently from the underlying OS and therefore not having the same firewall and anti-virus protection. For those who actually go to the trouble of buying and updating security software — like say, most businesses — this essentially doubles costs for each new Windows 7 machine. Microsoft has countered with the fact that big businesses will be using its MEDV management software, while smaller shops will be able to update the virtualized XP in the same fashion as they would a physical PC. Storm in a teacup, then? Absolutely, but you’ll want to give these a read if only for the passive aggressive silliness that ensues.

[Via The Register]

Read – Richard Jacobs on XP Mode
Read – MS chief security adviser for EMEA Roger Haibheer retorts
Read – Jacobs retorts to the retort
Read – MS developer James O’Neill threetorts

Filed under: Software

Sophos decries XP Mode vulnerability, Microsoft offers chill pill originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments