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Switched On: Microsoft’s touchy subjects
Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
As CEO of Microsoft, Bill Gates would often talk about his dream of “information at your fingertips.” The company he co-founded, though, is now taking literal steps toward that goal. By the end of the month, Microsoft will have released three new devices or platforms that embrace or extend touchscreen support — but the impact touch will have on each varies significantly by their legacy, usage, and manufacturers.
Windows has long had touchscreen support. Such support, in fact, was the basis of the Tablet Edition of Windows XP, and Tablet PCs were proclaimed to be the future of notebooks. Early iterations were larger and thicker keyboard-lacking slates much like the new Archos 9pctablet. But this was before rampant Web browsing, streaming video, casual games and electronic books — all of which now provide relevance for a new generation of touchscreen PCs as content-consumption devices.
Continue reading Switched On: Microsoft’s touchy subjects
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Tablet PCs
Switched On: Microsoft’s touchy subjects originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Samsung rolls out Amazon, Blockbuster video store access across HDTVs, HTIBs and Blu-ray players everywhere
Just as promised, the (still SD only) Blockbuster OnDemand service is now available on a slew of Samsung hardware via firmware update, while the Internet@TV lineup (LCD and Plasma HDTVs Series 650 and above and LED HDTVs Series 7000) has a brand new toy with the Amazon VOD Yahoo! widget (which does support HD.) Both services offer a slew of rental and/or purchase options for the digital delivery fanatic, though we still hunger for the audio and quality of VUDU plus the all you can eat goodness of Netflix Watch Instantly, of the millions of TVs out there, there’s surely someone willing to sift through those menus for the ease of viewing Ghosts of Girlfriends Past without resorting to cable VOD — or getting up from the couch. The “convenience” goes both ways, since they’ll also be able to pick up compatible Samsung blu-ray players at Blockbuster stores, right next to the TiVo section — check for exact model #s supported in the PR after the break.
Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment
Samsung rolls out Amazon, Blockbuster video store access across HDTVs, HTIBs and Blu-ray players everywhere originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.