Posts tagged "Microsoft"

Microsoft Kinect Could Make Its Way to Laptops

We could be seeing Kinect gesture-recognition technology embedded in laptops within the next year. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

The ability to control a Windows desktop with a simple hand gesture could become reality sooner than we once thought.

The Daily got a sneak peek at two Microsoft-developed Windows 8 notebook prototypes with built-in Kinect sensors. The system would allow for gesture recognition in portable devices for the first time. The prototypes “appear to be Asus netbooks” and “feature an array of small sensors stretching over the top of the screen where the webcam would normally be,” The Daily reported.

3-D gesture control on a laptop could offer more interactive, Kinect-style PC gaming, as well as new computer interfaces and ways to control one’s notebook.

Microsoft opened up its Kinect SDK to developers in June, and recently said it would be bringing Kinect to desktop PCs in 2012. The Xbox Kinect console itself is already in 18 million households the world over.

Although Microsoft popularized it, the 3-D gesture recognition space is rapidly becoming a hot area of innovation.

Another company, SoftKinetic, is working on similar technology aimed at the notebook market. Using a different technology than what the Kinect currently incorporates, the SoftKinetic system can sense motion as close as 5.9 inches away. And then there’s LG and Samsung, whose upcoming Smart TVs have taken a cue from Microsoft, and will incorporate Kinect-style gesture recognition, along with other forms of interface control like voice control, and touchscreen remotes.

Although Microsoft is demonstrating and testing this technology, finished Kinect-based portable products may not come straight from Redmond, but rather from developers or OEMs.

Windows 8 is set to debut in beta in February. We should start seeing finished Windows 8 products (notebooks and tablets) arriving toward the middle and end of this year.

via The Daily

View full post on Gadget Lab

Be the first to comment - What do you think?
Posted by bv - January 28, 2012 at 3:59 AM

Categories: Phone Skin Stuff   Tags: , , ,

Microsoft Kinect Could Make Its Way Onto Laptops

We could be seeing Kinect gesture-recognition technology embedded in laptops within the next year. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

The ability to control a Windows desktop with a simple hand gesture could become reality sooner than we once thought.

The Daily got a sneak peek at two Microsoft-developed Windows 8 notebook prototypes with built-in Kinect sensors. The system would allow for gesture recognition in portable devices for the first time. The prototypes “appear to be Asus netbooks” and “feature an array of small sensors stretching over the top of the screen where the webcam would normally be,” The Daily reported.

3D gesture control on a laptop could offer more interactive, Kinect-style PC gaming, as well as new computer interfaces and ways to control one’s notebook.

Microsoft opened up its Kinect SDK to developers in June, and recently said it would be bringing Kinect to desktop PCs in 2012. The Xbox Kinect console itself is already in 18 million households the world over.

Although Microsoft popularized it, the 3D gesture recognition space is rapidly becoming a hot area of innovation.

Another company, SoftKinetic, is working on similar technology aimed at the notebook market. Using a different technology than what the Kinect currently incorporates, the SoftKinetic system can sense motion as close as 5.9 inches away. And then there’s LG and Samsung, whose upcoming Smart TVs have taken a cue from Microsoft, and will incorporate Kinect-style gesture recognition, along with other forms of interface control like voice control, and touchscreen remotes.

Although Microsoft is demonstrating and testing this technology, finished Kinect-based portable products may not come straight from Redmond, but rather from developers or OEMs.

Windows 8 is set to debut in beta in February. We should start seeing finished Windows 8 products (notebooks and tablets) arriving towards the middle and end of this year.

via The Daily

View full post on Gadget Lab

Be the first to comment - What do you think?
Posted by bv - January 27, 2012 at 9:58 PM

Categories: Phone Skin Stuff   Tags: , , , ,

With CES Sendoff, Microsoft Insists It’s Still Cool

Ryan Seacrest hosted the last Microsoft CES keynote, speaking to CEO Steve Ballmer in Las Vegas. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

LAS VEGAS — We expected great things from Microsoft. After the company announced that this would be its last keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show — that it would say goodbye to fifteen years of speeches at the annual gadget-fest — we assumed it would go out with a bang.

Instead, we were greeted with a bid for attention from a company struggling to stay relevant in an industry increasingly infatuated with newcomers like Facebook, Google, and Amazon.

Yes, Microsoft gave us a retrospective of its keynote performances over the past 15 years — a nice bit of nostalgia — but with a who’s who of the tech industry waiting intently to see what the Redmond, Washington-based tech giant has planned for the coming year, the speech from CEO Steve Ballmer failed to deliver.

Over the past decade, big-name companies are scaling back their use of trade shows for major product release announcements. Apple even departed Macworld, the show that grew up around its products in particular. Apple instead hosts launch events at its own Cupertino HQ, as well as its developer conference held in downtown San Francisco. Google followed suit, now hosting its own events at its Mountain View campus, while hosting its own developer conference at the same San Francisco conference center.

Microsoft’s continued participation at CES — a trade show that has been around for over forty years — was somewhat analogous to Microsoft’s own position in the market at the moment: Out of touch. Antiquated. Lacking innovation.

So it’s only right that the company should step aside from CES. But it could have done so with more style.

At least Microsoft wants to change. The company has rededicated its efforts in mobile in 2011, fostering a strong partnership with Finnish mobile giant Nokia, which will produce the next wave of Microsoft-powered mobile devices. Or, as Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said on Monday, “the first real Windows Phones.”

The latest initiative in mobile for Microsoft. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

The company’s effort to change is exemplified by the user interface that Windows Phone pioneered: The Metro UI. And Ballmer certainly talked it up. But that was about it.

Based on Seattle’s King County Metro system typeface, the Metro UI includes bright, varied colors, interactive tile icons lining menu screens in a live action mosaic, and a uniform, crisp font selection. By most critical accounts (including ours), it’s gorgeous — a truly impressive departure from lookalikes Android and iOS. It’s the “heart and soul” of Windows Phone, according to Ballmer says.

“You saw Metro in the phone, in Windows, in Xbox. it’s everywhere,” Ballmer said. “Metro will drive the new magic across all of our user experiences.” As we’ve been reminded numerous times now, the Metro UI will also spill over into the next iteration of the Windows PC OS, Windows 8.

The UI has been hinted at and previewed too many times to count, and during its keynote, Microsoft pulled back the curtain again ever so slightly, showing the tiniest bit of the much-awaited operating system’s skin. For one thing, there’s a clever picture-based lock-screen, which unlocks based on touching pre-determined areas of a pic of your choosing (though it sounds silly, it’s rather charming).

What’s more, Windows 8 will run on both ARM and X86 processors — and Microsoft demoed the software using a prototype Samsung tablet powered by NVidia’s new Tegra 3 quad-core chip. And finally — and most compellingly — every PC currently running Windows 7 will be able to upgrade to Windows 8. (It’s a good thing, considering over half a billion Windows 7 licenses have sold to date).

Still, we’ll have to wait for more on the new OS — Microsoft says we’ll see “the next milestone” in Windows 8 come late February, then a launch to follow at a later (as yet unspecified) date.

In the meantime, however, the company will try and jazz up PCs by bringing some of its newest and most innovative technology to them. The company’s Kinect camera technology — the popular, inexpensive motion-sensitive camera that Microsoft has sold to accompany their XBox gaming consoles — will debut for Windows PCs this February 1.

Like Metro, Ballmer said, Kinect is “a leading example of what we like to call a natural user interface.”

A Microsoft VP shows off the latest Kinect features. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Bridging that gap makes sense. Xbox and Kinect have been two of Microsoft’s popular products, having sold over 66 million XBox consoles worldwide, and over 18 million Kinects since its launch last year.
It’s brought the company back into the innovative limelight, a space it has long since occupied.

But sadly, we’re left wanting for more with this, Microsoft’s grand finale as the CES headliner. We wanted that Oprah moment, that pop of surprise when a host pulls an ace from his sleeve. We wanted our “one more thing.”

Ballmer and company left it back in Washington, where the company remains hard at work on the OS it hopes will change its image in consumers’ eyes and minds.

Instead, much like other exhibitors at CES press conferences on Monday, Microsoft resorted to carting out celebrities like Ryan Seacrest, and parlor tricks like a tweet-singing choral ensemble. As for our one more thing — it looks like we’ll have to wait till February.

A choir sings tweets at the Microsoft keynote. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

View full post on Gadget Lab

10 comments - What do you think?
Posted by bv - January 10, 2012 at 9:59 AM

Categories: Phone Skin Stuff   Tags: , , , , ,

Microsoft Signature: PCs Without Crapware, Just Like Macs

Microsoft’s Signature PCs remove the crapware, but what about the stickers?

Microsoft has announced the Signature, a range of PCs which come without any crapware, and “carefully [tuned] to help achieve maximum performance.”

Mac users: stop me here if this sounds familiar.

According to “industry experts” (actually, just one expert: Paul Thurrot), 95 percent of users surveyed preferred these slimmed down PCs over those bloated with junk. “Virtually all participants liked that the trialware was removed and replaced with a clean desktop and easy-to-use Start menu” says the blurb.

So far, so obvious. Of course we hate clutter and love faster computers. But doesn’t it seem like Microsoft is firing its hardware partners up into the air like clay pigeons, and mercilessly gunning them down? Here are a few samples from the promo site. For the “media lover”:

A PC with Microsoft Signature has less software running in the background, allowing your PC to focus on running smoothly or creating video files. Also, less trialware and sample software means more storage space for important things

For “the gamer”:

You don’t want your processors busy talking to a trialware offer while you’re trying to keep Sergeant Major alive during an epic firefight, do you?

And for “the busy mom”:

Your PC with Microsoft Signature means it’s ready to use right out of the box

Ouch. Take that Sony, Dell, Asus and every other PC manufacturer out there. But there’s more. Being Microsoft, there couldn’t just be one Signature range. Nope. You can also choose the $100 Signature Premium. This adds LoJack theft tracking, as well as a few other things that Mac users might find familiar.

Premium gives you one year of technical support, one session of in-store training (lord knows which store this will be in. I hope it’s not Best Buy) and “priority access” to training events. Apple users can enjoy all of these just by walking into an Apple Store.

Various models of notebooks and “slates” are available, and I wonder just how much Microsoft had to pay the manufacturers to nix the bloatware.

Microsoft clearly deserves a thumbs up for cleaning the crap off its machines, but it comes over a little like a philandering husband who wants his wife to pay him not to cheat anymore.

Signature [Microsoft]

View full post on Gadget Lab

10 comments - What do you think?
Posted by bv - January 7, 2012 at 9:58 PM

Categories: Phone Skin Stuff   Tags: , , , , , ,

CloudOn Brings Microsoft Office to iPad

Have to edit a Word document? Poor baby. At least now you can do it on your iPad

Probably the biggest thing stopping many users from switching to the iPad full time is the lack of Microsoft Office on the tablet. It might be a bloated, slow, convoluted mess that makes you want to toss your computer out the window whenever you use it, but Office–and particularly Word– are pretty much mandatory for many jobs.

Enter CloudOn, a combination of app and web service, which lets you create and edit Office documents using your iPad. It works by running Office-compatible software on the CloudOn servers, meaning you need to be online to use it. But as the server-session uses a native app as a front-end, you open mail attachments, say, with the usual “Open with” service.

CloudOn also pulls your documents in from Dropbox for editing, and sends them back when done. The free app has currently been pulled from the App Store due to overwhelming demand, but from screenshots you can see that the interface isn’t really very touch-friendly, and comes off more like a regular desktop app squeezed onto a small screen.

Still, if you really need to do some tracking of changes on the go, you might want to sign up to be notified when the app goes back in the store. I really think that the developers missed a trick by making this app free, especially as it uses some presumably expensive server-power. I’d pay $10 for it just to have it when I need it, and I hate MS Word with a passion.

CloudOn product page [CloudOn via LifeHacker]

View full post on Gadget Lab

Be the first to comment - What do you think?
Posted by bv - January 4, 2012 at 3:58 PM

Categories: Phone Skin Stuff   Tags: , , , ,

With Microsoft Out, Who Will Keynote CES 2013?

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announces plans about Xbox at CES 2010. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

A CES tradition is coming to a close: Microsoft will not appear, let alone own the keynote, at next year’s consumer electronics trade show. But with ending traditions come new opportunities, all begging the question: Who will deliver the CES keynote in 2013?

On Wednesday afternoon, Microsoft’s Frank Shaw announced in a blog post that 2012 would be Microsoft’s last year at CES. Next year, the company won’t be hosting a booth (well, it’s been more like an all-consuming Microsoft pavilion), and its run of 14 straight keynote addresses will be over.

“We won’t have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don’t align with the show’s January timing,” Shaw wrote in the blog post.

Microsoft cited a few different reasons for the decision. Shaw explained the company asked itself a few questions in order to decide the best course of action.

· What’s the right time and place to make announcements?
· Are we adjusting to the changing dynamics of our customers?
· Are we doing something because it’s the right thing to do, or because “it’s the way we’ve always done it”?

Microsoft is set to unveil the beta version of its new Windows 8 operating system in February of next year, with Windows 8 hardware debuting toward the middle and latter parts of the year. Windows 8 is designed to run on notebooks, desktops and tablets with equal proficiency, all thanks to dual-home screen interfaces: one designed for touch, one designed for traditional mouse and keyboard input.

It’s possible that we could be seeing Windows 8 move to phones as well. But for the time being, Microsoft and hardware partners like Nokia are busy introducing the next wave of Windows Phone Mango devices, many of which we’re sure to see at CES 2012.

Some sources are saying that Microsoft wasn’t acting autonomously in the decision to bow out of the 2013 keynote. Rather, the Consumer Electronics Association, the body that runs CES, was the instigator.

A Microsoft insider told GigaOm that the company was “kicked out” — it didn’t pull out. The New York Times reported that the split was mutual and amicable, but that the CEA “felt it was time for a new company to deliver the opening keynote.” The Verge says that money was the biggest factor in the keynote decision, as the CEA wanted Microsoft to pony up more dough for its keynote slot, and Microsoft decided that it just wasn’t worth the investment.

Whatever the case, Microsoft’s absence from CES 2013 will undoubtedly have an effect on the show as a whole.

“Microsoft’s decision will influence other tech vendors to look critically at the return on investment they get from the event,” Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps told Wired.com. “HP has already downsized its presence at CES substantially, and Apple does not have a booth at all.”

More than 140,000 people attended CES 2011, but it’s an expensive event, both for attendees and exhibitors. Some companies decide to hold offsite events, like DirecTV did in 2007, in order to reduce costs and mitigate the “the hype and clutter of the [show floor] experience.”

Booths and keynotes aren’t the only thing happening at CES, though. Rotman Epps notes that the “real business” at CES happens in closed-door meetings, and Microsoft will “continue to network and meet with its partners at the conference.”

But considering Microsoft is a software and platform developer, and CES is primarily hardware focused, it makes sense that it could be time that a hardware-focused company take the lead at the annual electronics showcase. What’s more, Microsoft typically has a larger presence at less broad events, such as the phone-focused Mobile World Congress and CTIA (where Windows Phone devices can shine), and the game-centric E3 (where Kinect and Xbox announcements and games can take center stage).

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see an Asian firm like Samsung or LG step up to take the keynote spot in Microsoft’s absence,” Rotman Epps says.

Samsung, in particular, would be a natural fit given the company’s dominant position in the Android space. Samsung has built Google’s flagship Android smartphone two years in a row, with 2010’s Nexus S and 2011’s Galaxy Nexus. And with Google TV now including Android apps and Samsung reportedly inking a Google TV deal, we could be seeing the company branch deeper into the Android space over the next few years. These developments only add to Samsung’s copious stable of electronics, including TVs, computers, cameras, and even home appliances.

But perhaps the CEA might want to go in a completely unexpected direction in picking its next keynote player.

Amazon has a staggering online presence and has ventured (with varied success) into the hardware space with its popular e-readers and not-so-great tablet. Some think that Amazon’s Steve Bezos has the charisma and vision to be the next Steve Jobs.

Google, too, could be an interesting company to helm CES in future years — although, like Microsoft, it has its own events, such as Google I/O, and already has a strong presence with its Android products at mobile conferences.

Some might posit that now is a great time for Apple to swoop in and take the keynote of the large-scale electronics event — but that’s an unlikely prospect. Apple already has tremendous influence over CES, even though it hasn’t physically been present at the show in many years. Indeed, there’s really no need to invest vast sums of money in a CES presence when Apple already owns the technology news cycle three or four times a year when it runs its own events.

Regardless of who steps in to fill Microsoft’s shoes, CES will doubtlessly survive if not prosper.

“CES is bigger than Microsoft — it has become the most important place for partners in the tech ecosystem to connect and do business,” Rotman Epps says.

So despite the fact that CES has become bloated and expensive to attend in recent years, it’s unlikely to lose its influence over the consumer technology space any time soon, even if it’s lost a key participant.

View full post on Gadget Lab

3 comments - What do you think?
Posted by bv - December 23, 2011 at 9:59 PM

Categories: Phone Skin Stuff   Tags: , ,

Microsoft Makes Keyboard for iPad

Why make a tablet when you can turn any tablet into a PC?

Who needs to make a successful tablet, or even a successful tablet OS when you can just make a tablet-compatible keyboard? That seems to be the thinking over at Microsoft these days–the company has just announced a portable Bluetooth keyboard called the Mobile Keyboard 5000.

As is usually the case with Microsoft peripherals, the 5000 looks smart and well made, if a little businesslike. From the sci-fi retro name on, there’s a lot to like. First, it’s a good size, measuring 355mm (14 inches) long, which compares to 280mm (11 inches) for Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard. That’s not very portable (the Logitech iPad 2 keyboard case is even smaller at 245 mm [9.7 inches] long), but that doesn’t seem to be the point here.

That point is comfort, and the 5000 is designed for notebooks as well as tablets. The keyboard features an ergonomic curve, and is an easy-to-reach 15.9 mm (0.6 inches) thick.

So, you decide: Do you want a compact, portable keyboard perfect for your iPad? Then pick the Logitech/Zagg case. Do you have an iPad and a Mac? Then use the Apple case, with extra media keys for both. Do you want a full-sized keyboard, and are happy to carry it around in your ugly, oversized nylon laptop bag? Get this. Bonus: it costs just $50.

Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000 [Microsoft. Thanks, Kelly!]

View full post on Gadget Lab

4 comments - What do you think?
Posted by bv - December 18, 2011 at 9:59 AM

Categories: Phone Skin Stuff   Tags: , , ,

Microsoft Launches Xbox Live App for iPhone, iPad

My Xbox Live brings a little Microsoft flavor to iOS. Images: Microsoft

Microsoft released an Xbox Live app for iOS devices on Wednesday, bringing features of Microsoft’s gaming service to Apple devices for the first time.

My Xbox Live lets users edit their 3-D avatars, chat with Xbox Live friends and revel in their achievements. You can also check out more information about the newest apps and games on Xbox, as well as gaming tips and breaking news.

Windows Phone users have had Xbox Live services packaged into their mobile experience for a while now, but now iOS users can get a piece of the action. And whether they like it or not, iOS users who download the app are also getting a screen similar to a Windows Phone-style user interface.

The iPhone app features the horizontal bar across the bottom of the screen that houses the same sort of circular icons you’d find in a Windows Phone 7 app. Also included: a clever browser-based demo that lets you virtually explore the UI of a Windows Phone from your Android or iPhone handset. While you may already be on a phone of a different OS, it has potential to lure potential defectors over to Microsoft’s mobile platform.

It’s been a good week for Microsoft. On Tuesday, the company unveiled the details of its upcoming Windows Store for Windows 8, the newest version of the world’s most popular desktop platform. And on Monday, the company announced that the Xbox was getting a user interface refresh, with dozens of new content channels and the addition of a Windows Phone app you can use to control your Xbox. Microsoft’s iOS apps are now icing on top of the cake.

Now when are we going to get those Microsoft Office apps on the iPad?

My Xbox Live is available free for download on the iPhone and iPad in the App Store.

My Xbox Live on iPad. Image: Microsoft

via Techcrunch

View full post on Gadget Lab

7 comments - What do you think?
Posted by bv - December 8, 2011 at 9:58 AM

Categories: Phone Skin Stuff   Tags: , , , , ,

Apple, Microsoft Reported to Include NFC in 2012 Smartphones

Samsung’s Nexus S is one of the few smartphones capable of NFC transfers in the U.S. Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…again. The holidays are coming, yes, but we’re talking about the biggest gadget-related event of the season coming in a little over a month: The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. And of course, we’ve got to deal with the obligatory wave of speculation that precedes the slew of new products we’ll see in January.

Tuesday’s rumor du jour? Near-Field Communications chips, and the phones that (potentially) love them. Apple and Microsoft may both begin shipping NFC-capable phones beginning in 2012, according to the occasionally accurate Digitimes. A number of Apple patents relating to NFC and mobile payments also give credence to the report.

“We have been predicting this for a long time,” Gartner’s Ken Dulaney said in an email. He expects Apple’s next iPhone will include NFC (as well as a larger screen size and 4G LTE network capability) come June or July.

Some expected Apple to embrace NFC technology with this year’s iPhone 4S, but the phone’s release came and went, and the predictions missed the mark. Nokia has embraced NFC with its devices, and after teaming up with Microsoft to develop Windows Phone products, it’s not out of the question that NFC could become a part of Microsoft’s 2012 smartphone plan.

NFC, of course, is a technology that allows you to basically wave your device to make a purchase or get information on a product or service. It works using an NFC antenna that is housed inside your phone that reacts to a pre-programmed SD card or SIM that’s a few feet away.

“I do expect that the iPhone 5 — whenever it arrives — will include NFC technology,” Forrester analyst Charles Golvin said via email. “One factor is simply timing: By next summer or fall, when I expect the next iPhone, a significant portion of competing smartphones will include NFC.”

We’ve seen the first NFC-enabled devices in the last two flagship Android phones, the Nexus S and the Galaxy Nexus. Google’s Wallet app lets you make purchases using an NFC enabled phone at point-of-sale machines, enabling you to leave your old, bulging leather wallet at home.

Golvin says the benefits of NFC go way beyond payments, though. It can be used in device-to-device pairing, like Nokia has demonstrated with its N9 and Bluetooth headphones and speakers. It can also be used in marketing applications, so you can see an advertisement or additional information for a product you might be interested in buying.

“In particular, adding NFC could enable some richer scenarios for iAd,” Golvin said. And if Apple combined NFC’s payment applications with user’s iTunes accounts, it’d be dead-easy for customers to make app, iBooks or other purchases on a whim.

View full post on Gadget Lab

Be the first to comment - What do you think?
Posted by bv - November 22, 2011 at 9:59 PM

Categories: Phone Skin Stuff   Tags: , , , , ,

Microsoft Video Envisions a Touch-Based Future

Just relaxing with a paper-thin tablet and smartphone, at some point in the theoretical future. Image: Microsoft

How do you see yourself living a decade from now? For many of us, it’s difficult to picture how technologies will change and evolve in that time span. But for some folks at Microsoft, it’s their job to figure out where technology is headed, and how to make it happen. And a recently released video shows just what they envision.

The video, titled Productivity Future Vision, shows us a world much like our own, but cooler. Microsoft sees touchscreens and holographic displays dominating our daily experiences. Flat surfaces of any kind are transformed into useful, interactive displays as well.

“The video explores what productivity experiences might plausibly look like five to ten years in the future,” David Jones, director of Microsoft’s Envisioning Team, told Wired.com in an interview. The concepts presented in the video don’t necessarily communicate plans for future Microsoft products, though.

In an interview with GeekWire, Microsoft GM of technical strategy Chris Pratley said, “It would be relatively trivial to do a kind of Hollywood thing, where you just say what would be cool, and you whip it up and put it on the screen. But everything in the video, we could footnote everything about where it’s coming from, who’s working on it, why we think it’s going to happen.” Essentially, Microsoft’s video isn’t just a bunch of hot air.

The video was produced by the Microsoft Office team, and is a follow-up to a “Microsoft 2019″ video that the company created in 2008. It builds on several themes established in the earlier video, even using a few of the same actors.

Microsoft heavily emphasizes how thin they think future displays will be. Smartphones, tablets and desktop monitors all measure in at wafer-like thicknesses, slabs of white, blank slates that images and video can be pawed, swiped and manipulated.

On-screen images can be holographic, so tilting the angle of your phone, for instance, could show you a 3-D rendition of a bar graph. And images aren’t confined to the dimensions of the touchscreen you’re using.

And the technology goes even further in the kitchen: A tap on the refrigerator door reveals its contents, and tapping on a food item can bring up recipes relating to that item.

“Many of the technologies in the video, such as stereoscopic-3D displays … speech recognition, real-time collaboration, and data visualization are already part of products available today,” Jones told Wired.com. The video just expands on their capabilities to where they could be sometime in the next decade.

There’s one big thing that’s missing from the piece: Paper. A woman peruses a magazine on a large legal-pad sized tablet. A child seated at a kitchen table draws and plays a game on another touchscreen device. A dad moves a virtual Post-It note from one spot to another on an interactive wall calendar. Hand gestures pass data from a slate to the countertop. For all intents and purposes, papyrus is virtually extinct.

There are also a number of user experience aspects in the video that would also make our computing experiences more comfortable. For example, around the 3:30 mark, a man at a desk opens up a video (or video chat) with a woman, and as he scoots his chair back, her image enlarges proportionately. This could feasibly be accomplished using facial recognition and some IR sensor technology to measure the distance of the face to the screen.

“In the future, productivity software will work to extend our human capabilities, transitioning from the role of a passive tool to that of an active assistant,” Jones said.

Active assistant, eh? That sounds familiar.

And Microsoft isn’t the only one who’s released conceptual videos of what the future could be like. In the late 80s, Apple famously released a set of videos illustrating a concept called Knowledge Navigator, a concept we’re moving closer to these days with Siri and touchscreen iOS devices.

“Microsoft understands the vision of what consumers need in the post-PC era. What they need to demonstrate is that they can execute this vision before their competitors do,” Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said of the video via email.

The video is below if you want to check it out. Would you enjoy this world? Is there anything missing? Sound off in the comments.

View full post on Gadget Lab

Be the first to comment - What do you think?
Posted by bv - October 28, 2011 at 3:58 AM

Categories: Phone Skin Stuff   Tags: , , , ,

Next Page »