According to ZDNet, Microsoft will be launching the Windows 8 Consumer Preview on February 29th.
The date, which happens to be the last day of February (which just about meets Microsoft’s promise of being released “late” February) coincides with the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona.
More news when we get it!
There has been another beta build from CoveCube! StableBit development marches on – now its beta M4 build 5669.
Here is how CoveCube describes this application:
This version’s change log:
1.0.0.5669 ———-
* [D] Fixed compatibility issue with volume shadow copy service (for non-pooled drives). It is a good idea to reboot BEFORE upgrading to this version, just in case VSS is locked up. If VSS is locked up while upgrading, the upgrade will lock up: In that case, Reboot -> Dashboard -> Remove DrivePool -> Reboot -> Install latest build.
* Fixed M4 migration issue causing “Access denied” error.
* [D] Workaround for issue in rdbss (bug?) that denies a flush on a read-only handle. This incorrectly returns access denied errors for non-write operations. This only affects files accessed using a UNC share path, locally on the server. Accessing shares from remote or from the local drive letter does not trigger this problem.
* [D] When cloning directories, clone the owner properly.
* [D] Improved performance / accuracy of file size tracking.
Get More Information About the Beta Here Download Stablebit Drivepool build 5669 here
Apple has just released an EFI firmware update for 2010 model MacBook Air, Pro and iMac’s.
This is what it contains:
This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection on MacBook Pro (Early 2010) models.
This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection on MacBook Air (Late 2010) models and addresses an issue where the system could restart if the power button is pressed immediately after waking from deep sleep.
This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection on iMac (Mid 2010) models.
Today Microsoft announced the release of OneNote for Android on the Android Market app store.
With this release, the OneNote mobile apps are available across a variety of platforms — including Windows Phone 7, iPhone, iPad, and now Android . The release allows users to effortlessly collect, share, and find all of the information they want to keep track of, using a variety of features from simple lists and pages to full-fledged notebooks that can be shared with friends, family, co-workers, or classmates.
OneNote 1.0 for Android supports the following features:
• Text formatting, images, and bulleted lists in any note
• Checklists and To-Do lists
• Quick photo capture with a phone’s camera
• Quick access to recent notes
• Store and access multiple OneNote notebooks
• Sync to your free SkyDrive account for access anywhere
• Offline access to notes
• Option to sync notebooks only over a WiFi connection
• Built-in spell checker
• Support for external hyperlinks
• Table editing
• Free technical support
OneNote for Android is free to download and use for up to 500 notes. When users have reached this limit, they can upgrade OneNote for Android for a one-time fee of £2.99 for unlimited use.
Download OneNote from the Android Market
Jerry Wade has just released version 3.02 of his Home Server Status add-in.
We first mentioned the AT200 back in September, and today Toshiba UK announced the ultra-thin AT200 tablet is now available online, and will be available in UK stores from 15th February 2012, exclusively from Carphone Warehouse.
Available with 16GB or 32GB storage, the Toshiba AT200 is just 7.7mm thin and runs Android™ 3.2, Honeycomb, offering an intuitive and customisable experience. A 25.7cm (10.1”) touchscreen, multiple connectivity options and up to eight hours battery life are housed in a lightweight, brushed metal design, delivering a stylish, portable tablet that can be enjoyed all day or on the move.
Android Market and Toshiba Places give users access to a world of downloadable content, including thousands of apps, games, movies, music and TV shows on-demand. With Adobe® Flash® 10.3 pre-installed, the Toshiba AT200 also provides complete web browsing, straight out of the box.
A selection of essential ports and wireless options make it easy to connect the Toshiba AT200 to a host of devices. Micro-USB and micro-SD card ports allow users to access content from external drives or expand storage, while a micro-HDMI® port connects the AT200 directly to HDTVs, monitors or projectors for big screen playback. Wi-Fi connectivity ensures fast, wireless internet access and Bluetooth® lets users connect to compatible devices.
The high resolution LED backlit screen displays high-definition video, photographs, games and web content with exceptional clarity and detail, while advanced audio features and stereo speakers deliver rich audio for full-bodied portable sound.
The Toshiba AT200 is available exclusively from www.carphonewarehouse.com and in Carphone Warehouse stores from 15th February 2012.
AT200 specifications
· Android™ 3.2, Honeycomb
· 7.7mm thin
· High resolution 25.7cm (10.1”) capacitive touchscreen with LED backlight (1,280×800), 16:10
· Multi-touch support
· Micro-USB, Micro-HDMI® and Micro-SD, Bluetooth® and Wi-Fi™ (802.11b/g/n) connectivity
· Docking port
· Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 processor (1.2GHz)
· 1GB DDR2 RAM
· Adobe® Flash® 10.3 support pre-installed
· GPS, 3D Accelerometer, gyrometer, electronic compass, ambient light sensor
· 5.0MP camera (rear), 2.0MP camera (front)
· Stereo speakers (2x 1.5W)
· Toshiba Media Player supporting a wide selection of video, picture and audio formats
· Weight: 535g
· 256mm x 176mm x 7.7mm
· Battery life (backlight 60nits): 8h (100% video playback). 8h (65% web browsing via WLAN 10% video playback 10%; 25% standby)
· 16GB – £399
· 32GB – £449
For those of us waiting for the Star Wars Kinect game for the Xbox 360, the wait is almost over – it is launching 3rd April!
I had the pleasure of playing the game last and it was great!
So, mark your calendars for the 3rd of April, and it will cost £39.95. At least they didn’t wait until the 4th of May to launch it (think about it!)
Expect a full review soon.
In the next article on Windows 8 from Microsoft, they talk about Improving power efficiency for applications.
This is how the article begins:
Minimizing the power consumption of your PC while maximizing the responsiveness and utility (making it “fast and fluid”), is a significant engineering challenge. While it starts with the work we do in Windows to provide support for the right level resource usage, this work requires developers to take resource utilization into account as they develop their apps. Power efficiency applies to all form factors and all usage scenarios—using less power is the right thing to do for everyone. This is an area of significant innovation for Windows 8 PCs, and builds on the foundation of the new runtime model in WinRT—it is not the sort of thing you can retrofit onto existing desktop applications while still maintaining functionality and compatibility. Much like state migration and setup that we talked about earlier, power consumption is an area of Windows that has been reimagined for new scenarios. With your existing x86-based PC, all of the existing support is still there, and all of the work you do on the desktop continues exactly as it has before (and of course, has been improved, as we have seen). As we see new hardware across all supported SoC hardware (including Intel) this level of power efficiency will be more broadly available. Though we will discuss some of the work we’ve done to improve the power consumption of desktop apps, to enable the all-day, always-connected scenarios we’re going to see new apps written to WinRT that run on a new generation of hardware that supports new power management capabilities.
To read the rest of the article, click here.
And not long now until the beta, or should we say Consumer Preview.
Today Nokia announced a white version of it’s popular Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone.
Nokia today announces the latest addition to its Lumia Phone range with the introduction in March of the Nokia Lumia 800 in a stunning glossy white finish.
With Windows Phone 7.5 software, the white Nokia Lumia 800 features a head-turning design matched with the best social and Internet performance, with one-touch social network access, easy grouping of contacts, integrated communication threads and Internet Explorer 9.
“Since we began selling it late last year, the Nokia Lumia 800 has received rave reviews around the world,” said Ilari Nurmi, Vice President of Product Marketing, Nokia. “Now in white, the Lumia 800 brings with it a more premium look and feel with its gloss finish, and is packed with power and performance underneath its sleek body.”
The Nokia Lumia 800 in white features a 3.7-inch AMOLED ClearBlack curved display that blends seamlessly into the body, and is packed with power with its 1.4 GHz processor with hardware acceleration and graphics processor. The Nokia Lumia 800 provides an instant-share camera experience based on leading Carl Zeiss optics, HD video playback, 16GB of internal user memory and free SkyDrive storage for keeping images and music.
Lumia smartphones include signature Nokia experiences optimised for Windows Phone, including Nokia Drive, which delivers a fully-fledged personal navigation device with free, turn-by-turn navigation and dedicated in-car user interface; and Windows Marketplace also provides Lumia users with more than 55,000 apps to choose from.
To celebrate the launch of the white Lumia 800, new and existing Lumia users can find a special ‘White’ selection on Nokia’s unique music service, Mix Radio, featuring free music from the likes of White Stripes, Barry White, and a whole host of ‘white’-themed and influenced hits.
Available to pre-order from Phones 4u today, the Nokia Lumia 800 in white will be available FREE from £20.50 a month on a choice of networks from early March.
The QOOQ Tablet is designed for use in the kitchen, and it’s coming to the UK later this year.
The QOOQ tablet is a designer 10-inch Wi-Fi touch tablet which accompanies you
throughout your home and offers you all the multimedia functionality of standard
touch tablets:
Designed specially to be used in a kitchen (splash-proof, non-slip, etc.), the QOOQ tablet also allows access to the QOOQ digital platform of culinary content and services :
The price for the QOOQ France is 349 Euros but to you will also need a subscription to access the subscription content mentioned above.
The QOOQ should be able in the UK during the 2nd half of this year.
Today Microsoft revealed that Microsoft Flight would be launched on February 29th 2012.
This is what they said:
Prepare for takeoff! On the heels of a successful beta, we’re excited to announce that “Microsoft Flight” will be available to download worldwide for free starting February 29, 2012, right here at www.microsoftflight.com. In addition, the Hawaiian Adventure Pack – which includes the remaining Hawaiian Islands, a new plane and 20 new missions – will be available to purchase the same day through Games for Windows—LIVE.
Microsoft Hardware UK today announces a search to find the designer of the future in partnership with the internationally renowned institute of design, Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design.
The competition will unearth new ideas and insights into the future of man-machine interaction and challenge students to look at the possible components in the future of interactive technology.
Working within the MA Industrial Design course, Microsoft has tasked the students to delve into the future and conceptualise ideas which demonstrate new thinking in how users could interact with computers in the future. Students are challenged to find an alternative to the mouse and keyboard, or technologies similar to those that are emerging today in the field of gesture, voice and facial recognition.
Scott Smith, Principle Designer at the Microsoft User Experience and Industrial Design department which specialises in the field of interaction and input, commented: “At Microsoft, we invest a lot of time and resources on research which examines how users are changing their interactions with technology, whether its input devices, user interfaces, touch, voice or gestures. Central Saint Martins provides a great platform to bring in fresh insights and ideas from a group of 25 students who hail from a diverse mix of backgrounds and nationalities.”
The results of this sponsored project will be unveiled at a showcase event at Central Saint Martin’s College in April this year, with students likely to present a range of creative hardware and user experience design solutions to an invited audience of design luminaries and media. One student will also be awarded the first Microsoft UK Design Award which comes attached with a cash prize.
Nicholas Rhodes, Course Director of MA Industrial Design at Central Saint Martins, adds: “We are excited to be able to provide students with the experience of working with a prestigious global brand and thought leader such as Microsoft. It will equip them with skills and knowledge that will stand them in good stead for future job roles and careers.”
Microsoft have updated their Surface 2.0 SDK and runtime bits to include improved support for Windows Touch Enabled devices.
This is what Microsoft said about the update:
There were some issues in the Microsoft Surface Input Stack handling of reports sent by a digitizer in serial mode. These issues caused the input stack to not report all touches reported by the digitizer reliably. The new build handles input from serial and parallel/hybrid digitizer more robustly.
We encourage you to use this update, especially if you are building applications that will run on Windows 7 touch enabled PCs. With the Microsoft® Surface® 2.0 SDK, you can easily create applications to take advantage of the next generation Surface computing device. The applications you create can be adapted for other Windows 7 touch-enabled devices as well.
You can find the bits at http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=26716
Last week we brought you the exclusive unboxing of the Riley RU8 and our exclusive review of the Riley CP30 Storage Processor. Today we bring you our exclusive review of the Riley SU8 Storage Unit.
![UWHS-Review---Tranquil-PC-Riley-Wind[3]](https://i0.wp.com/moviesgamesandtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/UWHS-Review-Tranquil-PC-Riley-Wind3.jpg?ssl=1 "UWHS-Review---Tranquil-PC-Riley-Wind[3]")
This is how Tranquil describe the Riley server:
The Riley Server is possibly the finest server design ever created, it is now available. Hewn from a single billet of aerospace grade aluminium, and then hand finished to a soft satin texture, the Riley SU8 is simple and beautiful.
From their website:
Tranquil PC, a UK based family company, was formed in the early part of 2003, by Managing Director, David Thompson. David is a passionate designer and entrepreneur, who has always committed his time and invested his skills into developing innovative products and building business to supply new markets. He started his first business at 16 years of age and went on to win the prestigious Queens Award for Enterprise in 1982. Tranquil PC is now a world leader in the field of low energy IT systems. The move to brand new premises in 2007, and the appointment of new technical / sales staff has broadened the range of products and services offered.
The box is very well packaged, and comes in a very sturdy black box and everything is seated nicely inside.
![UWHS-Review---Tranquil-PC-Riley-Wind[5]](https://i0.wp.com/moviesgamesandtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/UWHS-Review-Tranquil-PC-Riley-Wind5.jpg?ssl=1 "UWHS-Review---Tranquil-PC-Riley-Wind[5]")
Along with the Riley SU8 there is power supply and an eSATA cable.
![UWHS-Review---Tranquil-PC-Riley-SU8-[12]](https://i0.wp.com/moviesgamesandtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/UWHS-Review-Tranquil-PC-Riley-SU8-12.jpg?ssl=1 "UWHS-Review---Tranquil-PC-Riley-SU8-[12]")
![UWHS-Review---Tranquil-PC-Riley-SU8-[16]](https://i0.wp.com/moviesgamesandtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/UWHS-Review-Tranquil-PC-Riley-SU8-16.jpg?ssl=1 "UWHS-Review---Tranquil-PC-Riley-SU8-[16]")
