OEMs Introduce Innovative New PC Designs for Windows 8

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/08/31/oems-introduce-innovative-new-pc-designs-for-windows-8.aspx

Hi, I’m Nick Parker and I lead the OEM Division at Microsoft.

Many of our partners are making announcements this week at IFA so it’s a good time to showcase some of the amazing hardware innovation coming to market with Windows 8.

IFA is one of the world’s largest consumer electronics trade shows and attracts upward of 150,000 people in Berlin each year. It’s great to see the buzz and excitement for the new products being announced, especially in the PC space.

The industry is building momentum for Windows 8, and the level of hardware innovation from components and hinges to ultrathin designs and beautiful touch displays is impressive. Customers will benefit from very rich and immersive experiences made possible by the combination of the incredible new Windows PCs and tablets running Windows 8 or Windows RT along with cloud services. With devices that range from tablets and hybrids to more familiar notebooks and all-in-ones on display at the IFA conference, it is clear that consumers will have a broad range of PC choices when Windows 8 launches.

Here are some of the highlights from Berlin this week:

 

Versatility is a key theme we’re seeing with Windows PCs, allowing consumers to use the devices in a variety of ways. This is what we mean by no compromises. The new line of “transformer” PCs from ASUS, such as the ASUS Vivo Tab RT, is a good example of tablets that run the Windows RT operating system powered by ARM processors and provide an easy docking setup that makes it a snap to go from the office to the coffee shop. Also powered by Windows RT, the Dell XPS 10 brings productivity, a mobile keyboard dock with long battery life, and support for enterprise applications to business users.

Samsung also announced a docking tablet with its new line of Samsung ATIV Smart PCs, due out this fall. True to Samsung’s heritage, the Smart PCs are sleek and powerful, but the real kicker is their support for a range of touch and gesture commands, which makes them amazingly adaptable for home, professional and commercial uses.

  

Some of the new hardware designs include keyboards, blurring the line between pure “tablet” PCs and “hybrids.” Several of the PCs on display at IFA this week are being billed as desktop replacements that function just as well in either mode.

Acer’s new Iconia W510 is an incredibly small and light example, outfitted with a cradle that allows the display to be used on the desktop via keyboard and mouse input or tilted back for easier touch control. The keyboard also functions as an additional battery, giving the PC up to 18 hours of battery life. The HP Envy X2 is another detachable tablet PC with a slick aluminum chassis and an interesting physical feature for docking — magnets embedded in the PC help pull and guide the tablet into the dock, making it easy to dock the machine and get to work.

Sony’s VAIO Duo 11 is a unique hybrid design that features a surf-slider keyboard which stays with the PC wherever it goes. The Duo also comes with a stylus that is a breeze to use, allowing users to write, doodle and interact easily in tablet mode. Toshiba’s Satellite U925t is a tablet-convertible version of its more traditional U920 laptop offering and features a 12.5-inch screen that easily converts to a tablet.

  

For more traditional notebooks, Acer, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba have all refreshed their notebook and Ultrabook PCs to take advantage of touch capabilities in Windows 8 — Acer’s premium Aspire S7 and S5, HP’s Envy TouchSmart and Spectre^XT ultrabooks, Sony’s VAIO T and VAIO E, all feature classic notebook designs with powerful components and responsive touch screens. The S7 in particular is designed with extra tension in the hinges so it can open up to 180 degrees, enabling a new type of collaboration scenario.

For those that want a more familiar laptop, consider the Lenovo IdeaPad S300 and S400 laptops, which include an updated touchpad that gives users a more controlled experience when scrolling and zooming.

  

All-in-ones are becoming increasingly popular, and designs from Samsung, Lenovo, Acer and Sony are bringing the world of touch to full-tilt desktop computing.

This is just a glimpse of some of the hardware innovation coming with Windows 8, and we look forward to bringing these PCs to market together with our partners later this year.

For more high-res images of these devices, check out the Microsoft OEM Newsroom Image Gallery.

from The Windows Blog http://windowsteamblog.com/b/

Acer Aspire ZS600 AIO announced at IFA 2012: 23-inch multi-touch Windows 8 PC (hands-on)

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/31/acer-aspire-zs600-aio-announced-at-ifa-2012-23-inch-multi-touch/

As we inch closer towards that October 26th release, the glut of announced Windows 8 devices continues to grow and today is no exception. At Acer's press conference here at IFA 2012, the company unveiled its new all-in-one PC: the Aspire ZS600. At first glance, the AIO's adjustable aluminum frame enclosure didn't much strike us "contemporary" per the company's claims, as it seemed to blend into the vast array of similar PCs showcased at the booth. And without any available keyboard dock to help us navigate that vibrant 23-inch full HD display, we were left to make use of the screen's 10-point multi-touch which proved a tad frustrating, bordering on ineffectual -- at least on this demo model. We also witnessed a considerable amount of glare in our brief time testing the product, though it's worth noting we were surrounded by a multitude of showroom lighting.

Powering this multimedia-focused family AIO along is Intel's 3rd generation chipsets (up to Core i7) joined by Dolby Home Theatre 4.1 for superior sound and AcerCloud for convenient personal media streaming. The company's offering users the ability to configure it with up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 640, as well as a generous 2TB SATA hard disk. As far as optical options go, consumers can choose from a Blu-ray player or standard DVD drive. You'll have to sit tight for this fella to head to market, but rest assured you should see it on retails shelves before year's end -- we hope. While you wait, why not check out our gallery below?

Gallery: Acer Aspire ZS600 AIO hands-on

Mat Smith contributed to this report.

Filed under: Desktops

Acer Aspire ZS600 AIO announced at IFA 2012: 23-inch multi-touch Windows 8 PC (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

from Engadget http://www.engadget.com

Hisense Pulse with Google TV set-top box hands-on (video)

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/31/hisense-pulse-with-google-tv-hands-on/

Hisense announced its low-cost set-top box, the Pulse with Google TV, a few days ago, and though pricing remains vague at "less than $100," we got a chance to see the device in action at IFA today. The Android-based Pulse supports content in 1080p, and includes HDMI, USB and Ethernet connections, along with WiFi, and the double-sided remote communicates with the square-shaped box via Bluetooth 4.0. Being a Google-branded product, it also gives users access to compatible apps from Google Play.

The remote includes dedicated buttons for YouTube, Netflix, the web and Live TV, and there's a small touchpad in addition to the standard remote-control keys. It's quite difficult to navigate with this hardware: the touchpad is too small, and it doesn't support scrolling, which makes it incredibly inconvenient for viewing web pages. On the flip side of the remote, there's a full QWERTY keyboard. A booth rep told us the Pulse will drop in September, though that contradicts information from this week's press release. In any case, you can take a closer look in our video hands-on after the break.

Gallery: Hisense Pulse Google TV set-top box hands-on

Continue reading Hisense Pulse with Google TV set-top box hands-on (video)

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Household, HD

Hisense Pulse with Google TV set-top box hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 05:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

from Engadget http://www.engadget.com

Samsung Smart TV with Google TV on display at IFA 2012, ships 'later this year' (update: hands-on)

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/31/samsung-smart-tv-with-google-tv/

It wasn't a part of Samsung's IFA 2012 press conference, but Samsung is showing off Google TV hardware for the first time since CES 2011 (pictured above), and will release a Smart TV with Google TV later this year. According to its press release and a blog post by the Google TV team, it will "enhance the Smart TV experience" with premium content from its Samsung Apps services. How exactly it will be merged we should see soon, but now that ARM chips are powering a cheaper, more conventionally built experience we figure whatever hung up the deal has been squashed. We should get an eye on it if it's anywhere on the show floor soon, as well as the Google TV box from Hisense, and Sony's NSZ-GS7 which already launched in the US and UK, but is coming to Germany, France and the Netherlands soon.

Update: We caught up with working hardware at Samsung's booth, but the device was disconnected from the internet, so we weren't able to take it for a proper spin. You can take a somewhat superficial look in our hands-on gallery below, along with the video after the break.

Gallery: Samsung Smart TV with Google TV hands-on

Continue reading Samsung Smart TV with Google TV on display at IFA 2012, ships 'later this year' (update: hands-on)

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Samsung Smart TV with Google TV on display at IFA 2012, ships 'later this year' (update: hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 04:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Google TV Blog, Samsung Tomorrow  | Email this | Comments

from Engadget http://www.engadget.com

Lenovo announces IdeaCentre A520, B340 and B345 all-in-ones running Windows 8

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/31/lenovo-ideacentre-a520-b340-b345-all-in-ones/

If yesterday was the day Lenovo unveiled its new Android products, today's the day it turns its attention to Windows 8: in addition to announcing a slew of laptops, the company introduced three IdeaCentre all-in-ones, all slated to go on sale in October when Windows 8 launches. Of these, the flagship is clearly the A520, with its tilting 23-inch screen that can lie nearly flat. Included in that press release, though, you'll also find details about the B340 / B345, a smaller, more affordable desktop with a less flashy design.

Starting with the A520, it's the little brother to the A720, which we first saw back at CES. Like the A720, it has a screen that can be tilted between 5 and 90 degrees, except this particular model has a smaller 23-inch display (compared with 27 inches for the A720). That 1080p display is of IPS caliber and supports 10-point multitouch. Under the hood, it can be configured with a Core i7 CPU, up to 8GB of RAM, up to 1TB of HDD storage and an optional Blu-ray player. If you need graphics horsepower, though, you might want to skip ahead to read about those B series models, since the A520 will only be offered with integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics.

Indeed, graphics might be a good place to start when we talk about the B340 and B345, since the GPU is the one thing that really separates them. Though both will be offered with a 1GB AMD Radeon HD7470A card, only the B340 will be available with a 2GB NVIDIA GeForce 615. Otherwise, you'll find the same key specs on both models: a 21.5-inch (1080p) touchscreen display, with a choice of a Core i7 processor or AMD quad-core APU on the inside. The two are also VESA mount-compatible, and can be configured with optional TV tuners.

The A520 will sell for $999 and up, while the B series will start at $599. Again, both will arrive in October, at which point we should be neck-deep in Windows 8 PCs to review.

Gallery: Lenovo IdeaCentre A520

Gallery: Lenovo IdeaCentre B340 / B345

Continue reading Lenovo announces IdeaCentre A520, B340 and B345 all-in-ones running Windows 8

Filed under: Desktops

Lenovo announces IdeaCentre A520, B340 and B345 all-in-ones running Windows 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 03:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

from Engadget http://www.engadget.com

Windows Server 2012 Essentials Release Candidate is now available!

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/windowshomeserver/archive/2012/08/30/windows-server-2012-essentials-release-candidate-is-now-available.aspx

As we recently announced on the Windows Server 2012 Essentials blog, the Release Candidate is now available for download. Windows Server 2012 Essentials has been designed as the ideal first server for Small Business and Home Offices. Although there will not be a next version of Windows Home Server (WHS), Microsoft is combining the features that were previously only found in WHS, such as support for DLNA-compliant devices and media streaming, into Windows Server 2012 Essentials. WHS customers are encouraged to evaluate our new server offering – you will find most of your favorite WHS features, including support for add-ins, are there, along with some key improvements:

Data Protection

• Storage Spaces. Storage Spaces offers easy capacity expansion and resiliency to protect against physical disk failures, which has been a widespread request from our customers and partners. In Essentials, we have integrated this new feature of Windows Server 2012 into the Dashboard and its wizards.
• File History. File History stores previous versions of files on Windows 8 client machines and allows users to easily restore them as needed. You can use the Dashboard to configure this feature for all your client computers and store the history centrally on the Essentials server.
• Microsoft Online Backup Service. Essentials integrate with Windows Azure Online Backup, making it simple for customers to register their server and perform online backups. This provides an additional layer of protection above local Windows Server Backup mechanisms.
• > 2 TB disk support. WHS 2011 did not support disk drives greater than 2TB for backup and restore. This was a common request from customers (especially from Home Server customers) and was added in Essentials.

Anywhere Access

• Remote Web Access (RWA). In Essentials, RWA will work well on touch‑first devices, such as the Windows 8 based touch devices, the iPad and Android tablet devices. RWA now supports HTTP progressive download media streaming in additional to Silverlight media streaming. An administrator will also be able to control which shared folders appear in RWA.
• Windows 8 client app. We are building a Windows 8 client app for accessing your Essentials server. Windows 8 app enables users to quickly and easily access and control their server. This is our first client app that supports an off-line mode for people who are remote.
• Remote Client Join and Connection Monitoring. Essentials allows administrators to see who is (and has been) remotely connected to the server. It also allows client machines to join their server without having to be inside the company network.
• SDK extensibility with Web Services. This is more of a developer‑facing feature, but we are very excited about the possibilities this opens up. Essentials has a set of web services that allow developers to write a new set of apps that interact with the server. As an implementation note, we use these services inside the Windows 8 client app and Windows Phone applications.

Media support

• We enabled the core media experiences of Windows Home Server 2011 on Essentials, which brings the ability to easily share pictures as well as stream video and music from the server. Media on the server can be shared in a number of ways, including DLNA-compliant devices on the server network, Remote Web Access, as well as the Windows Phone client and the Windows 8 client app.

For a complete list of new features, please see this post. We look forward to talking to you in the Windows Server 2012 Essentials Forum.

from The Windows Blog http://windowsteamblog.com/b/

Plex launches new Web Client and PlexPass subscription, updates Media Server

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/30/plex-launches-new-web-client-and-plexpass-subscription/

Plex fans among us just got treated to a smorgasbord -- albeit one that isn't completely free. The media front-end developer hopes to boost its bottom line through PlexPass, a subscription service that amounts to a paid beta program. Shell out $4 per month and you'll get early access to in-development features, including a slate of premium-only extras during their incubation phase. One of the more ordinary (if important) features is going live today: a revamped Web Client not only rivals the native OS X app for speed but offers full media playback on top of the usual queue management. Whether you subscribe or not, you'll want to get an updated Media Server app that supports both PlexPass and the new client along with improving the server's behavior in several areas, such as lowering its memory use and supporting RTMP transcoding. We hope Plex keeps enough components on the free side of the fence as time goes on. For now, at least, we'll see the paid model as a way for loyalists to reward a company that has been powering their home theater PCs for years.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, Software, HD

Plex launches new Web Client and PlexPass subscription, updates Media Server originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 22:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Plex (1), (2), (3)  | Email this | Comments

from Engadget http://www.engadget.com

IK Multimedia announces iRig KEYS portable keyboard for iOS devices, ships this fall for $94

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/30/ik-multimedia-irig-keys/

If you prefer a set of keys to power your mobile recording sessions instead of a guitar adapter of some sort, you're in luck. The folks at IK Multimedia have just revealed the iRig KEYS portable keyboard peripheral for iOS devices and both Mac and Windows PCs. Packing 37 velocity-sensitive mini keys, the add-on touts a three full-octave range, modulation / pitch bend wheels, an input for a sustain / expression pedal and an assortment of controls for customizing your sound just so. Should you feel inclined, this iRig offering connects via USB to a computer for an "in-studio," desktop tracking experience. The unit is Core MIDI compliant and sports plug-and-play functionality alongside the outfit's SampleTank family of apps. Said software can function on its own on the PC side or as a plug-in for more robust offerings like GarageBand, Pro Tools, Cubase, Sonar and the like. Itchin' to snag one? You'll have to wait until sometime this fall, but when it arrives, the KEYS will set you back €74.99 ($94).

Gallery: IK Multimedia iRig KEYS

Continue reading IK Multimedia announces iRig KEYS portable keyboard for iOS devices, ships this fall for $94

Filed under: Peripherals

IK Multimedia announces iRig KEYS portable keyboard for iOS devices, ships this fall for $94 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 18:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  IK Multimedia  | Email this | Comments

from Engadget http://www.engadget.com

HP Z1 All-In-One: Compact Workstation

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/extremewindows/archive/2012/08/30/hp-z1-all-in-one-compact-workstation.aspx

If you are working on professional tasks related to CAD/CAM, photo editing, video editing, or 3D animation, you need a powerful PC. But what if you don't have the space for a separate tower, external displays, and all of the cables? HP has released a PC targeted at this scenario: the Z1 all-in-one workstation.

I have been using a Z1 for a while now, and have had an opportunity to run some professional Windows desktop apps on it including Adobe After Effects CS6. With a 27" 2560 x 1440 display (the same resolution as the Samsung Series 9 LPS display I recently blogged about) this PC has great screen real estate. I'm really impressed by the innovative tool-less design used by the HP team that makes the Z1 a unique all in one. By rotating the screen down flat and then opening two latches, you can access the internal components and service/upgrade without tools in many cases (see the video at the end of this post for a demonstration).

Here we see the inside view of the PC. From left: Power supply, NVIDIA Quadro 4000M graphics card, Xeon CPU and fans (top), SSD chassis (bottom), DVD drive (top), and case fan (bottom). All of the components mentioned here are serviceable without tools, and you can see how upgrading this PC would be easy (graphics, SSDs, etc). The gas strut support for the lid is a nice touch as well as it helps to support the weight of the display panel and top enclosure when opening and closing the PC.

There's also a nice assortment of ports and connections on the outside of the machine including:

• Right Side: headphones/mic, USB 3.0 (2), card reader, Fire wire
• Under Side: Display Port, USB 2.0 (4), analog audio, SPDIF audio, NIC

The integrated card reader is another excellent touch for photo/video/audio professionals that make extensive use of SD cards or similar media. I found this more convenient than having to plug in my external USB card reader.

Just because a workstation is compact doesn't mean it has to suffer in the performance department. The Z1 I'm using features a Xeon processor (quad core), NVIDIA Quadro 4000 graphics, and 16GB RAM. Performance in Photoshop CS6, Premiere Pro CS6, and After Effects CS6 was quite good. After using the Z1 and the Z820 (see write-up here) for a while now, I'm getting used to workstations with 27" displays. It's really nice to have the extra resolution and screen area when working extensively with graphics.

For more information and to read the full specs, you can visit the HP Z1 official page. If you want to see the Z1 in action (including opening up the machine), check out the quick video I put together:

from The Windows Blog http://windowsteamblog.com/b/