Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

They’re billing it as the “most significant product launch in Microsoft’s history,” so why not let them have their fun? Microsoft busted out Windows Vista Business today, along with Office Professional 2007, and a slew of other business, server and enterprise-related products. The day’s festivities took place at NASDAQ, where Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer and Christopher Liddell rang the opening bell this morning, followed by a day of hyping up the offerings to prospective volume-licensees. Microsoft expects over 200 million people will be using at least one of the products offered today by the end of 2007, and no matter what your stance on Microsoft and Windows, it’s hard to argue with the impact of these softwares. So yeah, we could dwell on the considerable delays Microsoft experienced leading up to this release, or conjecture how long it’ll take for 0-day vulnerabilities to emerge in this shiny new OS, but instead we’d just like to wish Steve Ballmer and co. the best of luck with Vista, Office and all the trimmings. There, now that we’ve gotten that out of our system, let the bug-finding begin!

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Desktops, HDTV

Vista’s fun run-in with CableCARD started earlier this year when we all found out at CES that they had every intention to finally make Windows (specifically Vista Home Premium and Ultimate) work with your CableCARD setup. No more annoying, awful Motorola high def DVRs, no more ATSC tuners, no more standard def nonsense. As we all found out, however, users who prefer to roll their own Media Center box (like yours truly) will be left out of the option entirely — support will only be available for CableLabs certified boxen, which home-rolled are, of course, not. Now we come to find out some even worse news about CableCARD and Vista: not only will you not be able to re-stream your high def media to other Windows machines (sorry, Vista capable Media Center Extenders only, i.e. the Xbox 360, and not much else), you won’t even be able to transcode and sync to your PMC or other devices, as is currently possible. So, recap: no streaming, Windows Media Connect is null, and no conversion and syncing to your portable; don’t be surprised if before the cable industry and CableLabs is through Microsoft further panders by disabling the fast-forward button in the expectation that you’ll sit patiently through the recorded commercials.

[Via BoingBoing]

Read – CE Pro
Read – Chris Lanier

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

If you woke up this morning craving a bit of Merom juice in a 12.1-inch tablet then check the TravelMate C210 from Acer. Like the C200, the “Vista Premium Ready” C210 features a sliding-track to easily move from slate-style tablet to keyboard mode. Inside you’ll get a range of Intel’s new Core 2 Duo procs, 256MB GeForce Go 7300 graphics, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, up to 4GB of DDR2 memory and 160GB “or higher” (whatever that means) disk, and fingerprint reader for a bit of security when left behind at happy hour. Slap in an optical drive and 6-cell battery and you’re looking at a 5.5-pound tablet. Sorry, no ship date or price yet but you can expect this to cost about the same as the C200 it’s replacing, or about $1900.

[Via laptoping]

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Folks, whip out your credit cards, because if you haven’t already downloaded the Vista beta or a leaked copy from the internets, it looks like we may actually have a product for you to buy. Amazon shows that Windows Albatross um, Vista will be released on January 30, 2007, and they’ve been taking preorders for the last two weeks. Depending on which package or upgrade you decide to get, Vista will cost you at least a cool $159 and up to $399 for the full “Ultimate DVD-ROM.” Keep in mind that these preorder prices may be subject to change and may not reflect the actual final retail price, and may require the full written consent of Major League Baseball.

[Via I4U]

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

We should start off by saying that this could be nothing but cautionary corporate-speak, but rather than confirming the scheduled January ship date for Windows Vista — which is what everyone at the company’s annual analyst meeting wanted to hear — Microsoft exec Kevin Johnson seemingly opened up the door to fresh delay rumors by telling attendees that the beleaguered OS will be released “when it is available.” Johnson’s comments came as a response to analysts who wanted to know if Vista was still on track for a January release; instead of a simple “yes,” however, he told the group that “we are going to ship the product when it is ready, and we are going to take it milestone by milestone.” Now, what sounds like a non-denial of further delays could simply be part of a new policy to avoid making specific promises, but following Bill Gates’s recent “statistical analysis” that Vista is only 80% likely to ship in January, this development is troubling to say the least. At this point we don’t really know what to expect anymore, and since our current XP-powered setup already does everything we need it to, we’re getting pretty close to not caring if Vista is ever released at all.

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Filed under: Storage

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

If you’re one of the many folks eagerly awaiting the January release of Windows Vista, then there’s a small-but-not-insignificant chance that you may be in for a letdown — a 20% chance, actually, according to outgoing Microsoft CTO, lifelong Engadget reader, and occasional video pirate Bill Gates. During a presentation in Cape Town, South Africa, Mr. Gates informed his audience that although there’s an 80% probability that the next-gen OS will ship as scheduled, “we’ve got to get this absolutely right,” and stressed that “if the feedback from the beta tests shows it is not ready for prime time, I’d be glad to delay it.” Now, we can’t imagine that anyone would want to purchase buggy software, so it’s reassuring to see that Microsoft is committed to only pushing a polished product out the door, but we have to say that Gates’ choice of words here makes him come across as just a little cavalier. Because if he’s “glad” to continue frustrating us with these tragi-comic delays, then there’s probably quite a few people out there who will be just as glad to stick with their copies of XP out of spite — or even worse, make the dreaded leap over to Leopard or Linux.

[Thanks, Matt and Oliver O.]

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Filed under: Desktops

Filed under: Gaming

Making it perfectly clear that even the mightiest CEOs sit up at night fretting over their competitors’ products, his highness Sir Howard Stringer recently confessed to having an “obsession” with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 after inadvertently mentioning the PS3-rival in an interview with the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg. Stringer’s admission followed what can only be described as a classic Freudian slip, in which he substituted the words “Xbox 360″ for “X-Men III” when bragging about the success of Sony Pictures’ The Da Vinci Code. After some prodding from Mossberg, Stringer even went on to pay Microsoft founder Bill Gates something of a backhanded compliment, admiring Gates’ ability to put a positive spin on setbacks like the constantly-slipping Vista release date while still managing to take shots at the PS3 for its own delayed arrival. So, the obvious question that now presents itself is: who would win in a fight, Gates or Stringer? Comments are on and awaiting your thoughtful analysis.

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Add another item to the list of lustworthy products that are contingent upon the eventual (we think) release of Windows Vista: the Niveus Media Center Denali Edition featuring…wait for it…built-in CableCARD support. It’s not surprising that the manufacturer of such high-end HTPCs as the K2 would be chosen by Microsoft to debut the Windows-CableCARD integration, as Niveus’ products have always sported cutting-edge features like 1TB hard drives, multiple analog and digital tuners, and whatever Intel’s latest speed demon processor happens to be. Consumers who are willing to shell out the $6,000+ that this box will likely cost will become the proud owners of what HDBeat is calling “the ultimate HD machine,” because along with receiving HD programming over cable, they’ll also be able to watch high-def flicks thanks to the included HD-DVD drive. [Warning: .doc link]

[Via HDBeat]

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

We have to admit to occasionally sharing in some of the schadenfreude that surfaces on the internets every time Microsoft announces yet another Windows Vista delay. However, this time we're willing to cut them a little slack. While headlines have been screaming about a new delay all day today, most of them seem to be based on some fairly ambiguous comments by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Speaking with NEC execs in Japan, Ballmer commented that "We think we are on track for shipping early in [2007]. We've talked about the month, but we get a chance to critically assess all of the feedback we'll get from this beta release then confirm or move [the launch date] a few weeks." Ballmer also commented that he was looking forward to feedback from "hardware partners" about "when would they really like it." Now, a cynical take on Ballmer's comments would be that he's using the recently announced second beta of Vista, along with possible requests from hardware vendors, as an excuse to set the stage for a forthcoming announcement that Vista will indeed be delayed beyond January 2007. However, we'll look at the glass as half-full this time: Ballmer is truly interested in hearing from the beta testers and computer manufacturers, and really wants to factor their findings and needs into Vista's launch date. Besides, the thing is so late already; what's a few more weeks between friends, right?

Filed under: Laptops, Storage

No surprises here: we’ve known since last WinHEC that Samsung was working on a so-called ReadyDrive hard drive that sports a 128MB flash buffer for enabling lower laptop power consumption, and just as we suspected, they’ve unveiled a working prototype of the technology at this year’s conference. Also on hand with their own ReadyDrive was Seagate, who, like Samsung, plan to release their model when Vista finally starts shipping, as only the next-gen operating system will have the proper ATA driver command sets to allow for such a large buffer. PCMag was on the scene for one of Samsung’s demos, and claim that a laptop running an office apps script only needed to access the hard drive every three to four minutes, which could result in ReadyDrive-equipped laptops sipping up to 40% less juice than models with those outdated, perpetually-spinning HDDs.

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Filed under: Displays, Misc. Gadgets, Home Entertainment, Peripherals

Microsoft seems to have big plans for their SideShow auxiliary display technology -- besides the laptop and remote control implementations we've been expecting, they're also using the software for products that we didn't even know we needed, such as digital photo frames that overlay the picture with IMs and Outlook data. The frame, which is being manufactured by a company called A Living Picture, was one of three devices that Microsoft's senior project manager for Windows Client Greg Graceffo showed off at today's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), along with a modified Logitech G15 gaming keyboard and a universal remote from Exceptional Innovations. EI's remote, which will launch at the same time as Vista (whenever that is), looks particularly promising, as it allows the user to view program guides, RSS feeds, and other infoswag on the same gadget that can control both home theater equipment and home automation devices. As for the keyboard, well, keep reading if you're interested in seeing what an Outlook appointment looks like on a three-line LCD...

Filed under: Storage

We first heard about Samsung's and Microsoft's hybrid hard drive (HHD) over a year ago at last WinHEC 2005, and according to the Korea Times it would appear that after a year of waiting for the drive (and the operating system intended to run it -- Vista), it will be launched at this year's WinHEC. The world has yet to see what adding a 128MB buffer solid state storage area to a hard drive will offer in terms of performance and battery life when used in conjunction with Microsoft's Windows ReadyDrive (i.e. sleep / hibernation quick boot and suspend support), but we're all waiting with bated breath because anything to start moving us away from this whole spinning hard drive thing is fine by us, thanks.

[The Inq]

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

hspace="4" border="0" align="right" src="http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/03/3060000000054243.jpg" alt="" />Given
Microsoft’s recent woes — the company seems to be under attack by everyone from Wall Street analysts to Google — the
last thing the company needs is a rumor that Windows Vista won’t be available by its recently href="http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/21/vista-delayed-until-early-2007/">revised January launch date. But that’s
what Redmond is getting hit with today, in the form of a research note from Gartner, which predicts a delay until at
least June for the consumer version of the program. According to Gartner, the new OS is “too complex” to be
ready by January. Microsoft has responded by saying that Vista is on target to make the launch. Gartner also says that
a delay until the spring is “nowhere as bad” as the slip from fall to January, which will result in a
Vista-free holiday season. Somehow, we suspect that beleaguered PC makers hoping for a sales bump from Vista upgrades
might have a little trouble taking solace from that argument.

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Filed under: Portable Audio

Chip vendor PortalPlayer has been dealt a severe blow by Apple, as the computer company has apparently decided not to use PortalPlayer's media processor in some next-generation iPod models. PortalPlayer has been working on a successor to its PP5021 chip, but the company says Apple will not be using it in new high-end and midrange flash models. However, PortalPlayer expects (or is that hopes?) that Apple will continue using the PP5021 in other models. There's no word yet on whose chips Apple will be using in the next iPods, though we expect rumors to start flying furiously very soon. Meanwhile, in an indication of the power of the iPod ecosystem, PortalPlayer's stock plummeted over 40% in about 10 minutes of trading today -- not a major surprise, perhaps, given that the iPod accounts for a whopping 90% of the company's revenues. But, hey it's not all bad news: PortalPlayer has plans to provide chips for auxiliary displays on Windows Vista-based computers. Which should provide some relief in about two or three years, once such computers actually start shipping.

Filed under: Laptops

If you like it big and light (but not too powerful) then listen up son, 'cause Averatec just announced their 7100 series of laptops said to be the lightest 17-inch widescreen infotainment laptops available. Ok, considering all those 20-inchers dropping lately, they're not that big, but at 7.2-pounds and just an inch-thick they manage to pack in a 1.8GHz AMD Turion 64 ML-32 processor, dual-layer DVD/CD burner, up to 100GB disk, 2GB DDR RAM, 802.11b/g, and a healthy dose of USB, FireWire, PCMICIA, PC Express, and memory card slots for expansion in addition to that 1440 x 900 pixel display supported by an ATI Radeon Xpress 200M graphics card. These Microsoft Windows Vista Capable machines may not be the most powerful on the market, but at street prices from $849 to $1,199 (depending upon config) they're worth a look for the budget minded.

[Via MobileTechReview]

 

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

src="http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/04/vaiohtype.jpg" align="absBottom" vspace="4" border="0" />

Now that we’ve got Sony’s href="http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/12/sonys-new-vaio-l-series-all-in-one-desktop/">brand spankin’ href="http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/12/sonys-vaio-rc300-series-with-blu-ray-disc-get-official/">new Vaios out of
the way, we can move on to the rest of the 40-odd models the company announced in Japan today, most of which represent
spec bumps to existing boxes. Most of the Vaio laptop lines,
including the multi-hued F, href="http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/24/sony-adds-vaio-f-tv-laptop-for-video-on-the-go/">F-TV and S series get
Core Duo processors (or Core Solo for the lower-priced models). Most also get that coveted "Windows Vista
Capable" sticker, which you can proudly display until you can actually run Vista. The F-TV model also gets a new
display with improved brightness and darker blacks, along with an enhanced sound system. Meanwhile, the desktop V and H
(shown above) lines get processor bumps (up to a P4 641 at 3.2GHz on one model) , analog and terrestrial digital tuners,
and new LCDs with resolutions up to 1366 x 768. The 20-inch version of the LCD also includes DVI-D for HD input. So, how
does this add up to over 40 new and updated models? Well, if you add up all the display and processor permutations (and,
of course, the different colored cases on the F series and V displays), you’ll hit a number up around there. But unless
you’re a Japanese retailer or hate your job so much that you’ll do almost anything else to avoid it, we suggest
skipping that exercise.

Read – V/H Series
Read – href="http://tinyurl.com/jlwyj">F/F-TV/S Series

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

We didn't think it was anything but a matter of time, but hey, for those closely monitoring the progress of Windows on Macs, it looks like peeps on the OSx86 Project forums have fully done the deed with Vista on an iMac. We're not about to suppose we could fully get into the nitty gritty right here and now, but it sounds like the trick is to get Vista to stop trying to kill the OS X partition when installing with Boot Camp, an urge which it sounds like can kept at bay by taking out the 200MB EFI partition. But if you're the type of person how wants to go for the gold and not just read about this stuff (which you probably are if you've gotten this far), we suggest actually looking into this a little further before knocking around partitions on your Mac just to get a beta Microsoft operating system up and running, mkay?

[Thanks, Mike and Jon]

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

alt="" src="http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/04/cringely.jpg" />You’ve got to love the pundit on their soapbox,
don’t you? This week Cringely, whose previous insightful predictions have rung true in href="http://www.engadget.com/2005/06/10/cringely-predicts-intel-to-buy-apple-dethroning-microsoft/">Intel buying
Apple and Apple
quitting their iPod business, in his usual roundabout prose blames OEMs like Dell or HP for Vista’s delay. He
connects the two by asserting that Microsoft must not have anticipated the buffer / test period required by their
larger OEM partners to get the OS running stably on their boxes before release; thus, since Vista had to go gold long
before launch — and MS wasn’t ready for release to OEMs — they had to delay so as to give their partners the time
necessary to confidently release Vista boxes. (All of which kind of invokes the hysteron proteron fallacy of the
unproved premise supposing its conclusion). But Cringley’s not done: after we’re all integrated and settled with our
Macs with Boot Camp either as beta or in Leopard, he’d like us to believe Apple will become a Windows OEM and start
selling Macs with Vista and OS X out of box "if it will help sales." Um, ok, but there are lots of things
Apple could do to increase sales. And what’s more, he goes on to suppose Apple will again fork their processor platform
by going to 64-bit Intel chips, which they’ll use as a ploy to sell a standalone 32-bit version of OS X to Windows users
for installation on their non-Apple PCs (since you’ll no longer be able to get 32-bit Apple boxes). Whoa, Cringely,
you’re gonna have to slow things down next week, ok? So many absurd suppositions at once are making our heads hurt a
little.

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Filed under: Features, Gaming, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Podcasts

The Podcast is back! We've been out of the action for a couple of weeks but we aren't going anywhere -- except to Vegas next week for CTIA. But we're catching up this week on all the video game news and rumors surrounding the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Revolution (or should we say Go?), the first new TiVo we've seen in, well, a while, and Microsoft's latest delay for Vista, which puts us squarely back to January 2007. We also decided to snag a couple of those emails you've been sending in and give 'em some air time, so listen in to the latest ep, we'll do our best to make sure it's worth your wait.

Get the podcast
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[Vote] Vote for us on Podcast Alley!

Hosts
Peter Rojas and Ryan Block

Producer
Randall Bennett

Music
J J J - 'Suits' in Japan

Format
45:45, 20.9 MB, MP3

Program
01:50 - Vista delayed (for consumers) till early 2007
08:42 - Dell buying Alienware for undisclosed price
13:35 - Nintendo Revolution = Nintendo GO?
18:30 - Sony confirms PS3 controller redesign
22:32 - Dual tuner TiVo pic spotted?
25:27 - Cablevision to rollout remote-storge DVR service
31:58 - Palm's 10th anniversary
35:30 - Listener email

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Contact the podcast: 1-888-ENGADGET, Engadget (Gizmo Project) or podcast at engadget dawt com