Windows8 video

So finally some Windows 8 videos of the CES 2012 Microsoft keynote have hit YouTube.
You get a chance to watch Steve Ballmer and Ryan Seacrest do their Cheech and Chong act.

If you didn't get a chance to watch it before, here it is again.
It's a 2 part video but it's in High Def so that's good.

Using Your Eyes To Control Windows 8

There are many reasons to get excited about Windows 8, from the new touch-friendly Metro interface to its changes that speed up the OS in general.

I also feel that one of the greatest parts about the new OS is that it is changing the way we interact with our PCs.

Right now most of us have a keyboard and mouse, maybe even a webcam. We use the keyboard/mouse for all navigation most likely too, the webcam is just for communicating over the net.

Some do have microphones but most of us don't use Windows 7 voice commands at all.

With Windows 8 we finally see a push to new navigation in the form of touch, voice, and motion.

New technologies like “Kinect for Windows” will take Windows 8 to a new level allowing easy navigation with just a few movements of the hand.

The innovation doesn't stop there though. A company named Tobii that specializes in eye-tracking technology has just developed new software that works with Windows 8.

Using the “Eye Control Device”, which is basically just a special webcam, the software for Windows 8 can tell which parts of the screen your gaze is focused on with enough accuracy and precision to detect which app you want to launch.

Beyond this functionality, Tobii says that their technology can emulate every swipe motion available on Windows 8 too, all while using eye tracking.

This makes the most sense for touch-screen desktops and laptops because you won't have to reach out as much and dirty up your monitor.

While pretty cool of an idea, the ideal futuristic Windows 8 Desktop Machine is starting to look like a pretty cluttered place.

You have an awesome touchscreen monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, a Kinect, and now an “Eye Control Device”.

Considering the ECD is pretty much a webcam, I wonder how hard it would be for Tobii to eventually release a version of their software that instead uses the Kinect?

This would save on deskspace and cost. Of course it could also cut into Tobii's profits and so it might not be an option for the company.

I could certainly see the development of some kind of clone software that does the same job though.

I'm really starting to like the way Windows 8 and the future of the desktop is looking. I can just imagine in a year or two, putting together a new desktop machine.

It will have Kinect, maybe some kind of eye tracking system, and voice. The one thing that is missing is a high quality “Personal Digital Assistant” like Siri for iOS or perhaps the newWindows Phone “Ask Ziggy”.

While I realize these kinds of assistants are built with mobile in mind, I think they could still benefit the PC user experience.

This is even more true if you had a smarthouse-technology system that had speakers throughout your house that could root inquires back to your PC. How cool would that be?

Probably not cool enough to justify the cost of putting together such an expensive configuration, but still.

Here's a video showing more.

What kind of unique PC experience, both interface and input ideas, do you hope to see in the next few years?

Or do you think that things like Kinect, EDC, and touch are more 'novelty' items that will never truly see success on the desktop scene?

Acer and Lenovo to Join the League of Windows 8 Tablet in Q3 2012

It’s been a while since we last posted about upcoming Windows 8 tablets slated for launch in the second half of this year.Earlier we reported about Dell,Asus and even HP for that matter planning on bringing the Windows 8 tablet along with Samsung.

According to recent reports from Digitimes two more biggies from the computer industry will be joining the league for the Windows 8 tablet in Q3 2012,Lenovo and Acer would probably bring the Intel’s Clover Trail platform based Windows 8 tablet in the later half of this year,if their upstream Supply Chain sources are to be believed.

According to the sources,

Intel is set to unveil its Medfield processor, designed specifically for Android-based smartphones and tablet PCs, in the first half of 2012. But as Medfield is eclipsed by ARM-based processors in terms of performance and power saving, PC players are putting more hope on Intel’s Clover Trail platform.

So it’s believed that the PC makers would bank on the Clover Trail platform to bring the Windows 8 tablets into the market which is currently held by Apple’s iPad in terms of tablet marketshare.So the launch of Windows 8 with multiple biggies like Dell,Acer,Lenovo,Samsung war of the Tablets is on the Horizon.

[Rumor] Windows 8 Beta Build 8175 Signed Off !

A few days ago we reported about some of the recent screenshots of the pre beta build of Windows 8 and along with that the Windows 8 beta build is nearing its completion by the end of the month of December.

Now as reported by Win7Vista via WZor the Windows 8 Beta build has been signed off  and the final windows 8 beta build will be 6.2.8175.winmain.111217 -1215.The build is already doing the rounds on the devices of small close circle of testers from Microsoft.So there’s a chance that we might get a glimpse of it at the CES 2012 event if Microsoft decides to showcase the beta build to the attendees.

In a recent event when Microsoft revealed the Windows 8 store also revealed the tentative Windows 8 beta release slated for February 2012 along with the Windows 8 Store release,but now with this news of Winodws 8 beta already being prepared  we might very well see the leaks floating around the web sooner rather than later.

Source: Windows8Italia