Microsoft Windows 8 Launch

Event Started! 

After months of waiting, the launch of Windows 8 is imminent, and Microsoft is streaming its event in New York City. We’re there for any news, but if you want to see the whole thing yourself, you can watch on Microsoft’s site here. It’s just started, and we expect to see not only fanfare for the new touch-focused version of Windows but some new showcased apps. If you’re interested in the OS itself, it’s going to be generally available on Friday, October 26th.

In case you haven’t noticed, today is Windows 8 day! Microsoft is officially launching its newest operating system and it’s looking to make a bang as big as possible.

Not that we don’t already know quite a bit about Windows 8, but the software giant obviously wants to do this the right way – with a dedicated event in NYC, where we expect it to talk about some new details about the OS, as well as its key features which we already know. As far as devices go, we aren’t really sure if there’s going to be something new that will get unveiled, but there’s still a good chance that there will.

The event is scheduled to start at 11:15 AM EDT | 10:15 AM CDT | 08:15 AM PDT | 05:15 PM CET | 03:15 PM GMT | 06:15 Pm KSA / Beirut Time.

Microsoft unveils its own tablet: the Surface

The Windows-makers have just unveiled a new slate called the Microsoft Surface.

Described as a “tablet that’s a great PC, and a PC that’s a great tablet,” the Surface looks to be much more than an iPad competitor. It has a 10.6-inch display, magnesium casing, and weighs in at just 1.5 pounds…

Other features of the Surface include a full-sized USB 2.0 port, 9.33mm profile, and a built-in kickstand. And Microsoft has also introduced an interesting accessory for the slate, a multitouch keyboard with a built-in trackpad.

It looks like the Surface will be available in two varieties: one, built on the ARM architecture, running Windows RT tablet software. And a Pro version, which uses Intel CPUs, and runs a full version of Windows 8.

Obviously, you’ll have to make a few trade-offs when going with the Surface Pro. It’s thicker, at just over 13mm, a bit heavier, and has onboard fans. But you also get the benefits of a higher-res display and the added power.

So far, there’s no word on pricing outside of “it’ll be competitive with other tablets,” and nothing regarding a release date. Microsoft did, however, say that the Windows RT version will be available in 32GB and 64GB models, and the Pro version will have higher capacities.

Overall, this looks like a strong, bold play from the Redmond company. And we’re interested to see how well the Surface does with consumers. If nothing else, it’s intriguing that Microsoft is now in the hardware business.

The New Nokia Tablet ?!

We’ve heard so many rumors of Nokia jumping on the tablet bandwagon that we are not sure what to believe anymore, but this latest bit sound rather plausible. The Finns are reportedly working on a 10″ slate running Windows 8, which should arrive to the market by the end of the year.

The Nokia tablet will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset, featuring a couple of Krait CPU cores. The production of the device itself will be outsourced to the Taiwanese company Compal Electronics and initial volumes are said to be the rather modest 200,000 units.

The latest batch of rumors comes from the often reliable DigiTimes and the usual upstream component suppliers sources they quote. We’ll know if it’s true or not when Nokia World starts in September – it would certainly be the place for Nokia to announce its entry to the tablet market.

UPDATE : 

Nokia tablet project confirmed by design chief

Prepare to act surprised. The Nokia head designer Marko Ahtisaari reportedly confirmed that his company is working on a tablet. What’s more, Mr. Ahtisaari says that he has dedicated no less than a third of his working time to the project in order to make the device stand out in the crowd.

Reuters reports that Nokia still hasn’t joined the tablet party due to the company’s wish to offer a product that’s easy to differentiate. The Finnish company is said to have taken a completely different approach to the whole thing, which explains why it took them so long.

According to previous rumors Nokia will launch its first tablet towards the end of this year and it will be running the upcoming Windows 8 platform.

Microsoft Windows 8 .. Say Goodbye to the ” Start ” Button !

Say goodbye to the Windows ” Start ” button ! Microsoft has gotten rid of it from the latest build of Windows 8.

Hitting the Web over the weekend, screenshots of the new Windows 8 build display the “super bar,” but without the start button orb on the left, according to The Verge. Build 8220 will be the final version released before the beta, now known as the Consumer Preview, debuts before the end of the month.

Until its untimely (or timely) death, the Windows 8 start button located in the Metro UI offered access to the search, share, devices, and settings panels. The Windows start button in the desktop simply returned you to the Metro UI.

To replace the start button, Microsoft will reportedly turn that space into a hot corner, sources told The Verge. Hovering your mouse or swiping your finger over that spot will bounce you back and forth between the Metro UI and the desktop in an attempt to offer a more consistent experience between the two environments.

Fans of the traditional start button may not be happy. But The Verge believes the move is final given that Microsoft has been chewing on this decision for awhile. On the plus side, the super bar will retain its Windows 7 functionality as home to pinned shortcuts for launching your favorite desktop applications.

Windows 8 will also sport an enhanced “charms bar,” a group of transparent icons that provide access to key features, added The Verge.

The charms bar can actually fill in as a replacement for the defunct Metro UI start button by offering links to the search, share, devices, and settings panels.

A number of Microsoft users have expressed concern over Windows 8’s reliance on the Metro UI and touch-based input. PC users in particular have complained that the new UI doesn’t lend itself as easily to navigating via conventional mouse and keyboard, at least as seen in the current Developer Preview.

Acknowledging the concerns and tweaking some aspects of Windows 8 in response, Microsoft has promised that the new Consumer Preview will be more user friendly for traditional desktop users.