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Asus pronta ad entrare nel segmento Windows Phone 8
Bisognerà attendere il MWC 2013 per averne la certezza assoluta ma ormai tutto sembra pronto e le notizie di corridoio sono molte. Asus sarebbe pronta ad entrare in maniera forte e decisa nel segmento Windows Phone 8. Dopo aver maturato esperienza mobile con Android e aver lanciato tantissimi Tablet, nel 2012 il produttore Taiwanese non ha certo nascosto l’interesse nelle piattaforma Window 8 mostrando Tablet PC e ibridi veramente molto interessanti e potenti. All’appello mancherebbe uno smartphone ma in realtà l’attesa sembra essere finita.
Tra poche settimane Asus dovrebbe infatti svelare il primo WP8 basato su processore Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Dual Core affiancato da 1GB di RAM e con una fotocamera che, dalla indiscrezioni, dovrebbe essere da ben 13 megapixel. Un prodotto che andrà a concorrere con la fascia alta dei WP8 e in particolare con Nokia Lumia 920, HTC 8X e Ativ S. Ovviamente il tutto è da prendere come una speculazione ma gli indizi sono moltissimi e ormai tutto sembra pronto…
Xbox 720 to require an Internet connection to function?
According to gaming publication Edge, the launch of the Xbox 720 comes with some bad news for gamers. This is because the console will be an always-connected device that will require a constant connection to the next version of Xbox Live in order to function.
The games will be made available to buy through Xbox Live or in physical form using a 50GB Blu-ray disc format and a one-time use activation code. Yes, if true, the used gaming market would be dead. The leaked specs of the machine are a 1.6GHz 8-core AMD processor, 800MHz GPU, and 8GB RAM. We can also expect the next generation of Kinect hardware, but this will be a separate product gamers can buy.
This info comes from a source who has been working with the new Xbox and PlayStation, so it is likely a developer.
Source Geek
Microsoft Surface Pro: pronti un Milione di esemplari per il debutto
Il debutto di Surface Pro si avvicina; la nuova versione del primo Tablet targato Microsoft sarà infatti disponibile sul mercato a partire dal 9 Febbraio. L’azienda di Redmond, che non ha riscosso il successo sperato con la prima versione equipaggiata con Windows 8 RT, è sicura di invertire questa tendenza con la nuova release che prevede invece la versione completa del Sistema Operativo con pieno supporto alle applicazioni Desktop.
Surface Pro sarà disponibile in versione da 64 e 128 GB con prezzi a partire da 899 dollari e già non mancano le prime “critiche” (puoi leggere Surface Pro: problemi di storage a causa di Windows 8 ed altri software preinstallati).
Secondo i primi dati trapelati Digitimes e da fonti vicine “alla catena di montaggio”, nonostante il colosso del software sia molto sicuro della riuscita di Surface Pro, prevede comunque un lancio più contenuto in termini di unità. Per il 9 Febbraio infatti saranno 1 Milione i tablet disponibili, un volume nettamente inferiore a quello visto con Surface RT che si attestava a circa 3,5/4 Milioni.
Microsoft Surface Pro Arrives Feb 9th From $899
Microsoft have announced that their new Microsoft Surface Pro tablet will be launching in the US and Canada on February 9th with prices starting from $899 and rising.
The Microsoft Surface Pro 64GB model will be available for $899 and the 128GB for $999, both of which will include a pressure-sensitive stylus, but will not include a keyboard.
Keyboards for the Microsoft Surface Pro are available in two models the Touch and Type available for around $120. As well as the Surface Pro, Microsoft will also start offering a 64GB standalone version of Surface for Windows RT tablet for $599, which comes without the black Touch cover. If you would prefer to have the Touch cover the bundle is available for $699.
To re-cap the Microsoft Surface Pro comes powered by an Intel Core i5 processor, and allows users to run both Windows 8 applications, together with current Windows 7 desktop applications.
“The response to Surface has been exciting to see,” said Panos Panay, general manager, Microsoft Surface. “We’re thrilled to continue growing the Surface family with the availability of Surface Windows 8 Pro on Feb. 9 and by increasing the number of places customers can experience Surface firsthand.”
Source: Engadget
Next Generation Xbox Durango Specifications Leaked
Rumours have been circulating for quite some time with regards the specifications for Microsoft’s new next generation Xbox gaming console code named “Durango”.
But now the VGLeaks website is claiming to have a source that has provided leaked specifications for the new next generation console, that will eventually replace the existing Xbox 360 console.
The leaked specifications state that the next generation Xbox will be equipped with 8 processor cores running at 1.6 gigahertz (GHz), with each CPU thread having its own 32 KB L1 instruction cache and 32 KB L1 data cache.
Also each module of four CPU cores has a 2 MB L2 cache resulting in a total of 4 MB of L2 cache, and each core has one fully independent hardware thread with no shared execution resources, together with a hardware thread can issue two instructions per clock.
As far as graphics go the new Xbox system will be equipped with a custom D3D11.1 class 800-MHz graphics processor, with 12 shader cores providing a total of 768 threads and each thread preforming one scalar multiplication and addition operation (MADD) per clock cycle.
Other features include : 50 GB 6x Blu-ray Disc drive, 8 gigabyte (GB) of RAM DDR3 (68 GB/s), 32 MB of fast embedded SRAM (ESRAM) (102 GB/s), Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct.
As with all leaked information these specification have yet to be official confirmed by Microsoft, but the Eurogamer website has performed a little research into the source of the leaked information and confirms it could very well be legitimate. As soon as information comes to light we will keep you updated as always.
Xbox 720: nuovi rumor direttamente dalla Cina
Dopo il filmato mostrato riguardante il progetto IllumiRoom mostrato durante il CES 2013, Microsoft è senza dubbio la società al centro dell’attenzione, soprattutto per quanto riguarda la nuova Xbox, la quale non ha ancora un nome definitivo.
Che sia Xbox 720,Durango o altro ancora, la macchina della prossima generazione targata Microsoft continua a destare una sana curiosità tra i videogiocatori, che ogni giorno sperano di poter venire a conoscenza di nuovi dettagli, soprattutto in ambito hardware.
Pare che poche ore fa, un presunto insider di Ubisoft abbia postato su un forum cinese alcune specifiche tecniche riguardanti proprio la tanto attesa nuova Xbox, che ovviamente riportiamo di seguito.
Anche se la fonte fosse certa, sarebbe comunque da prendere in considerazione che, molto probabilmente, gli sviluppatori di terze parti stanno già lavorando sulle nuove macchine, però basate sul kit di sviluppo e non sulla versione finale della console.
Ecco le specifiche indicate dal misterioso utente:
- AMD Radeon 8000
- CPU 8-Core (Jaguar 1.6GHz)
- 8GB di Ram
- 640 GB Hard disk
- Windows 8 Kernel
Rimaniamo in attesa di nuove comunicazioni, sperando di venire a conoscenza al più presto di ulteriori dettagli.
IllumiRoom: la nuova frontiera del gioco per Microsoft
Microsoft ha presentato al CES di quest’anno uno stravolgente e brillante progetto, stiamo parlando di IllumiRoom un’idea nata da un team di ricerca Microsoft composto da solo quattro persone.
Per il momento è solo un prototipo che sfrutta un proiettore e un Kinect per Xbox 360 per rendere l’intera stanza uno schermo a tutti gli effetti.
“Il nostro sistema utilizza l’aspetto e la geometria della stanza (catturato da Kinect) per adattare le immagini proiettate in tempo reale senza la necessità di pre-processo personalizzato la grafica.”
Queste sono le parole dette dal team per introdurre la presentazione di IllumiRoom, la quale è stata acclamata dal pubblico che ne è rimasto entusiasta.
Durante la presentazione è stato anche riprodotto un filmato che mostrà il programma in funzione. Il sistema Kinect lavora in simbiosi con il proiettore scannerizzando la stanza prima di entrare in funzione, subito dopo possiamo vedere il TV diventare un tutt’uno con la parete. Colpi sparati, effetti climatici e quant’altro iniziano a intravedersi come per magia proiettandoci praticamente nel titolo in cui stiamo giocando.
Nulla spiegherà meglio quello di cui si sta parlando apparte il filmato in questione, godetevelo e fateci sapere cosa ne pensate! Ricordiamo che per il momento IllumiRoom rimane un prototipo, non siate troppo severi con le critiche.
Microsoft Trying Out New Xbox Live Account Regional Transfer
Microsoft has started testing a new web service that will allow Xbox Live subscribers to switch their region in a much less frustrating fashion. Most Xbox Live features, like gamer tags, gamerscore, subscription level and achievements are eligible for migration, but region-locked services like TV subscriptions or Xbox Music are not. Unsurprisingly, no refunds will be issued for ineligible services.
Nevertheless, this seems like a huge improvement over the current six week transfer period and the international call fees customers dealing with Microsoft rack up trying to sort out account migration issues. Not a bad start Microsoft, but if you truly want to do away with customer frustration related to Xbox Live, you might want to look at Microsoft Points.
Source NeoWin
ASUS ZENBOOK Touch U500VZ: ecco le specifiche complete
ASUS ha reso disponibile sul proprio sito web il nuovo notebook Zenbook Touch U500VZ, presentato qualche settimana fa e ora svelato in tutte le caratteristiche. Si tratta di un notebook Windows 8-based equipaggiato con pannello IPS Full-HD Touchscreen e caratterizzato dal classico design con scocca in alluminio che ha reso celebri i primi modelli della serie. ZENBOOK Touch U500VZ è un notebook da 15,6 pollici che misura 380 x 254.5 x 6/20 millimetri per un peso massimo di 2,16 Kg.
Tobii REX USB Device Adds Eye Tracking Control To Windows 8 Systems
Tobii the eye tracking specialists who’s devices allow you to control your hardware using just your eyes, has this week announced the launch of a new product, in the form of the Tobii REX.
The Tobii REX has been designed to add eye tracking controls to Windows 8 systems, and takes the form of a USB peripheral that can be added to any existing system running Microsoft’s latest Windows 8 operating system.
The USB Tobii REX sits under your screen and has been designed to augment rather than replace your traditional mouse and keyboard inputs, says Tobii.
Tobii is hoping to offer 5,000 REX units to consumers before the end of 2013, and a REX SDK kit has been created for developers which is available from today for $995. For more information jump over to the Tobii website.
Source: Engadget
Windows 8 Store passes 35,000 total apps
Microsoft’s better late than never Windows 8 app store continues to grow, having added 14,557 apps in the past 35 days alone, according to tracking website MetroStore Scanner. With that number, the Windows 8 app ecosystem has a total of 35,167 apps. 22,000 of those are available in the US market.
This may be far behind Apple and Google, but the new figures have to be encouraging for Microsoft as the software giant struggles to stay relevant and compete. The Windows 8 store debuted with 10,000 apps on October 30, growing to 13,000 within a week. Windows 8 is currently adding about 415 apps a day, which puts the OS on track to hit the 50,000 app mark on February 1.
That’s not bad growth for a late comer.
Source Electronista
HP ElitePad 900 Windows 8 Tablet Now Available To Pre-order For $649
HP first announced their new HP ElitePad 900 Windows 8 tablet back at the beginning of October this year which is equipped with a 10.1 inch, 1280 x 800 resolution display and an active digitiser. But be aware that Windows 8 does require a 1366 x 768 resolution or higher for some features to work as designed.
Now HP has unveiled that the new Windows 8 ElitePad 900 tablet is now available to pre-order for $649 for the 32GB version and $699 for the 64GB ElitePad 900 tablet.
The ElitePad 900 is powered by an Intel Atom Z2760 Clover Trail processor supported by 2GB of RAM and comes supplied running Microsoft’s latest Windows 8 Pro operating system.
Other features of the HP ElitePad 900 tablet include 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, an 8MP rear camera, 1080p front-facing camera and micro SDHC card slot.
Source: Liliputing
Nokia Lumia 920 e 820: firmware PR 1.1 da oggi in USA e Canada. In Italia nel 2013
Nokia ha ufficializzato l’avvio della distribuzione dell’aggiornamento PR 1.1 destinato ai Lumia 920 e 820. Si tratta di un aggiornamento che era stato già avvistato presso Navifirm e che ha iniziato a raggiungere nella giornata di oggi i terminali Windows Phone 8 di Nokia.
La disponibilità dell’aggiornamento è limitata ai modelli commercializzati da AT&T in USA e da Rogers in Canada. L’appuntamento con i device distribuiti nel nostro paese è rimandato al 2013. Nokia ha contestualmente confermato le principali novità che sono state introdotte con l’aggiornamento e che possono essere esaminate dopo l’interruzione.
CyberPowerPC All-in-one Zeus Touch Desktop Series Unveiled
CyberPower PC has taken the wraps off a new range of PC systems which have been specifically designed to use Microsoft’s new Windows 8 operating system, in the form of the CyberPowerPC All-in-one Zeus Touch series.
The CyberPowerPC All-in-one Zeus Touch systems include the Zeus Touch 1000, 2000, and 3000, and all have been constructed with a “minimalist tablet-like design” in mind says CyberPower PC.
The CyberPowerPC Zeus Touch features a a 21.5-inch (1920×1080), ten-point touch LED display, and is powered by 3rd-generation Intel processors (any of the three models can be configured with up to an Intel Core i7-3770S), H77 Express motherboards, 24x DVD+/-R/RW optical drives, and Intel HD 2500 or 4000 graphics.
With various memory and storage configurations available to suit your requirements, with the Zeus Touch 1000 and 2000 models starting with 8GB of RAM with a 1TB 7200RPM HDD and 8GB RAM with a 2TB 7200RPM HDD, respectively, while the Zeus Touch 3000 sports 16GB of RAM and a 2TB 7200RPM HDD.
The CyberPowerPC All-in-one Zeus Touch Touch 1000, 2000, and 3000 systems are priced starting at $899, $1099, and $1199, respectively.
Source: Hot Hardware
Nokia 620 Windows Phone 8 Smartphone Announced (video)
Nokia has announced a new addition to their range of smartphones today with the unveiling of the new Nokia 620 Windows Phone 8 handset.
The Nokia 620 is fitted with a 3.8-inch TFT screen sporting a WVGA resolution of 800 x 480, and is powered by a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4, supported by 512mb of RAM.
8GB of internal storage is provide but can be increased by 64GB with the use of the included microSD card slot. Other features of the Nokia 620 include 5 megapixel camera complete with LED flash.
Microsoft Adding Direct Media Playback To SkyDrive?
It has been rumoured for some time that Microsoft has been considering adding its own media player within its new cloud storage service SkyDrive.
But this week the Liveside website has discovered snippets within the code of the newly streamlined SkyDrive service applications which indicate that Microsoft may be launching a direct media playback feature within their SkyDrive storage.
Earlier this year Microsoft announced their new Xbox Music service, which fuelled speculation of integration with SkyDrive once again.Microsoft followed that by officially announcing that the cloud storage would be available next year on their Xbox console, stating:
“Cloud Storage. Available in the coming year, a scan-and-match feature will take you beyond the 30 million tracks globally offered through Xbox Music. It will add all the music you own to your Xbox Music cloud catalog, including music acquired through other services. This means you can add almost any content you have to your personal Xbox Music collection, even if it’s not available in the Xbox Music catalog.”
The integration of a direct media playback feature within SkyDrive has yet to be officially confirmed or denied by Microsoft, but as more information becomes available we will keep you updated as always. For more information on the snippets discovered in the code jump over to the Liveside website.
HTC Windows Phone 8S Not Coming To The US
When HTC announced its new Windows Phone 8 smartphones, the HTC Windows Phone 8X and the HTC Windows Phone 8S, we thought that both handset would be available in the US as well as Europe.
Now it would appear that HTC does not plan to launch the cheaper HTC Windows Phone 8S in the US, you can see an official statement from HTC below.
“The Windows Phone 8X by HTC is our signature Windows Phone available at AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless in the U.S. With our focus on the Windows Phone 8X by HTC, the Windows Phone 8S is not currently planned for distribution in the U.S. market.”
We would have thought that it would have been a good move for HTC to also launch the HTC 8S in the US as well as the HTC 8X, as it would give people who wanted a cheaper option another choice of a Windows phone 8 handset.
If HTC is unable to offer the device with the various carriers on contract, they could at least offer the HTC Windows Phone 8S as a SIM free option in the US.
Source Engadget
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Getting Software Update Today
Microsoft has announced that they are releasing a new software update for their Xbox 360 console today, the update will be available for your console when you sign into Xbox Live.
The update is designed to fix a number of bugs with the Xbox 360, as well as offering some performance enhancements and also some new features, you can see more details below.
In this update, we are correcting some issues such as displaying the incorrect playlist name when launching a playlist from Xbox SmartGlass to the console, an error with Xbox Video closed-captioning and an error with Xbox Music that some were experiencing.
You can find out more information about the software update for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console over at the Major Nelson Blog.
Windows 8: un aggiornamento causa il blocco all’avvio
Alcuni utenti Windows 8 stanno lamendando un problema relativo all’utilizzo del nuovo Sistema Operativo dopo aver gli ultimi aggiornamenti disponibili. Il problema non ancora identificato, visto che l’aggiornamento prevede diversi hotfix e quindi è eseguito in automatico, ma pare compaia dopo qualche giorno di utilizzo successivo all’update.
Agli utenti in questione risulta impossibile utilizzare il sistema una volta avviato il sistema e arrivati al desktop, insomma come si dice in gergo molto poco tecnico il computer “si impalla” con un errore che suggerisce di trovare la soluzione in una recente modifica hardware. Neanche Microsoft fino ad ora ha risposto agli utenti per risolvere il problema, sembra quindi che per tornare alla normalità si debba ripristinare il Sistema Operativo a una data precedente a quella dell’aggiornamento. Vi terremo aggiornati su eventuali novità; nel frattempo potete commentare la notizia anche a questo indirizzo.
