Microsoft's Skydrive

Microsoft launched the final gold version of its Windows Live SkyDrive consumer storage service on February 21.

Windows Live SkyDrive — which has been known by a variety of names, including LiveDrive and Windows Live Folders (but not FolderShare, which is something else entirely) — is a Microsoft-hosted storage service where users can save files, photos and other information.

The latest version of the service, announced today, now offers 5 GB of free storage and is available in 38 countries.

Google has been touting (quietly) its Shared Storage program (a k a GDrive) as the alternative to SkyDrive. Google was offering 6 GB of storage for $20 a year back in August 2007; not sure if Google has changed its plan since then. [computerworld] [skydrive team]

Microsoft wireless laser mice

They are the Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 and 7000. There really isn’t much new here, they have some custom buttons for Windows Vista and one of them is meant for on the go use, the other for stationary desktop use.

The 6000 is the one made for use on the go, it is a full sized mouse, but has the snap-in transceiver like that of smaller portable mice. The 7000 has a vertical recharge stand and is clearly meant for the desktop.

They both have some pretty amazing battery efficiency and they both have MS’s HD laser tech as well as the wireless tech on the 2.4GHz band for distances up to 30 feet. The extra buttons are for Flip 3D, Magnifier, and tilt wheel. These mice will be available in March for $50 and $70 respective to their numbers, or you can pre-order them now. [gearlog ]

Blu-ray For XBox360

If you’ve followed the whole HD DVD vs Blu-ray format war, you may have noticed that people are declaring a victor. While HD DVD isn’t dead yet, it might as well be. This of course means PS3 owners everywhere have something to gloat about when talking to their Xbox 360-owning friends. For now at least.

Apparently Microsoft has seen this outcome as a possibility, and knowing that they don’t want to be left behind, they’ve been secretly talking to the Blu-ray camp for some time. While their talks aren’t exactly of adding a Blu-ray player to the 360 just yet, they are trying to partner with them to integrate a piece of software called HDi, which is a key part of HD DVD’s interactivity.

This certainly indicates the strong possibility of adding a Blu-ray accessory in the future, but until HD DVD rolls over and dies, I wouldn’t expect much of a change. Besides, Microsoft is more concerned with the fact that it plays regular DVDs, as that’s what most people are watching anyway. [xbox]

Digital-Media Desktop PC

The HP Pavilion Elite M9040N has to be one PC that has helped Hewlett Packard stay in front when it comes to sales figures with Dell. This Digital-Media Desktop PC has their latest design and all of the latest hardware to make these computers both fast and reliable.

Cnet Reviews decided to put the HP Pavilion Elite M9040N through its paces to see how well it performs, and as you would expect it excelled in some areas, while being poor in others.

The processor used is the 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, memory is a massive 3GB of RAM, and storage comes from a 320GB that runs at 7000rpm. As we said what makes this computer so good are its nice design, and also a wireless network adapter. The downside is the lack of Bluetooth and too many hard drive bays. [cnet]

Maxdata Belinea s.book

Seemingly another mini-laptop based on VIA’s NanoBook reference design - and in that way joining the Everex Cloudbook and Packard Bell EasyNote XS - Maxdata’s Belinea s.book 1 differs from its low-cost cousins by having an enhanced specification, together with the enlarged price - in Germany - to match.

bigger image

The Belinea has a 7-inch, WVGA 800 x 480 touchscreen, VIA C7-M processor and VIA VX700 chipset, 80GB hard-drive and 1GB of RAM, WiFi b/g, an external DVD-RW and, most interesting, a VoIP handset that docks into a slot beside the screen. Running Windows XP, it weighs a mere 1kg but the price is heavier at around Rs 80,000

Hcl in X & Y

So there are two different low cost laptops that have been released in India by a company called HCL, I’ve never heard of them before now, so don’t feel bad if you haven’t either. Regardless they both look pretty nice for cheap notebooks, but I only have the price for the X series model
which is about Rs 13,999. [hcl x]

The X series notebook looks a lot like and Intel Classmate PC, but rebranded, it has an Intel 915GMS chipset coupled with a Celeron ULV 353 processor running at 900MHz. it runs Linux and has half a gig of RAM, and 2 gigs of flash storage, which may or may not be expandable, a 2-in-1 card reader, a pair of USB ports, built in speakers, WiFi in the b/g flavors, and a 6-cell battery that should last about 4 hours. Oh, and it only weight 1.44 kilograms with its 7-inch 800×400 color LCD

The Y series model has the A110 800MHz processor from Intel and a 945GU Express chipset from the same. It also has 1GB of RAM, an 80GB HDD, 3-in-1 card reader, a pair of USB ports, 1.3MP webcam, WiFi in the same b/g flavors, a 7-inch 1024×600 touchscreen LCD, and runs Vista Home Premium (barely, if I had to guess). It weighs even less than the other model at 960 grams, and has a UMPC/tablet look about it, its also my personal favorite of the two, price Rs 29,999. [hcl y]

Dell Latitude XT Tablet

There aren't many Tablet PC fans around, but Dell's upcoming Latitude XT Tablet PC may just bring some more people into the club. We got a tip from reader William that the tablet is going to be launching in this year, a fact he got from some covert ops and a half hour of flirting. The specs are after the jump. Good job Will, now go find out when the Apple Tablet is coming.[dell]

Windows 7

One of the test engineers working on Windows 7, Hilton Locke, dropped a post today pimping Dell's Latitude XT that also contained this little nugget:

'I will say that if you are impressed by the "touch features" in the iPhone, you'll be blown away by what's coming in Windows 7. Now if only we could convince more OEMs that Windows Touch Technology is going to drive their sales.'

Multi-touch is obviously a given—it's actually possible in Vista, anyway. We're probably talking about way more in-depth input options and other more complicated interactions using multi-touch (versus the iPhone). However, more complex doesn't necessarily translate to more intuitive or better, and touch interfaces might be a case where less is more. How much of a "step up" from the iPhone or say, Microsoft's Surface venture is really a step forward before it turns into a stumbling block? [wiki]

Amtek iTablet

When Amtek are not taking the piss out of Gizmodo writers, they are usually busy cranking out tempting UMPCs. Their latest effort, the iTablet T221, packs in some great features, including a 12.1-inch LCD touchscreen (1024 x 768), Intel Core Duo (1.2Ghz), GMA 950 graphic chipset, 60GB HDD, 2GB RAM and supports 802.11a/b/g wireless networks.

The UMPC will run Windows Vista, but there is no pricing or shipping information at present. Naturally, we would be excited, but our morbid obesity is so severe, we can no longer sense our emotions. Yeah Amtek, we know we are fat, but even we have feelings, you know. We'll go drown our sorrows in a high sugar content soda.

HP MediaSmart Server

The Skinny: The mv2120 Media Vault, a junior Linux-based server with the Photo Webshare and iTunes server functionality of its big brother but a much lower cost. (They'll start at $300.) As for the big guy, he's getting some much needed updates come February, including server-side anti-virus software from McAfee; improved media streaming to Media Center Extenders thanks to Packet Video, and support for 64-bit Vista.

Windows Mobile 7

InsideMicrosoft just got a gigantic scoop of Microsoft's Windows Mobile 7, due to be released in 2009. This isn't Windows Mobile 6.1—which we've seen leaks of recently—but the next full version of Windows Mobile that fixes a bunch of problems we've seen with the platform. The huge changes are multi-touch gestures (including flicking, swiping and drawing on the screen), motion gestures (shaking the phone), Windows Vista-like redesign of the entire UI, better finger-based navigation and a desktop-like Internet Explorer browser. It's totally amazing, and fixes a bunch of the complaints we had with the platform. InsideMicrosoft has the full details.[insidemobile]

Desktop Evolution

Since Windows 95 dropped more than a decade ago, our desktops have evolved to no end. Having recently had a fresh Leopard install on our Macs, we thought we would take a look back, with a side-by-side comparison of Windows and Mac operating systems by visual interface alone. All the major releases are here, and it is interesting to see the general progression made by even just the UI. Jump for our ridiculously large and awesome image, put together by our new intern,

Click for large Image

The breakdown shows Windows to be making major aesthetic development around the release of Windows 2000. Mac OS took off a little later, with OS 9 looking like a gimped UI in comparison. Mac OS X saw Apple make a large step up in the graphic pants department. The eye candy at present seems pretty level between the two. Perhaps Apple has the slight edge? However, functionality is an entirely separate ball game.

Free Xbox Live Game : Undertow

That free Xbox Live Arcade game Microsoft promised in compensation for the extended service downtime? It's going to be Undertow, a game that popped last November. We feel for the poor developers who worked on this game, seeing as it's being given away as a consolation prize.[Gamerscoreblog]