MSI's Mega Player 529 caught running SideShow on an auxiliary display

With the consumer release of Windows Vista growing ever closer, we're hearing an awful lot of buzz surrounding that nifty SideShow feature, which lets users take advantage of secondary displays to utilize widgets, media players, and other random (but sure-to-become-necessary) widgets, and now we're seeing a real-world implementation of SideShow on a laptop auxiliary display. According to Tech-On, MSI's Mega Player 529 portable media player has been successfully integrated into a laptop palm rest, and can utilize Microsoft's SideShow to play music, media files, open PowerPoint presentations, receive email alerts, and handle a few other basic tasks (quite literally) on the side. Purportedly relying on PortalPlayer's "preface" system, the device is said to sport a 320 x 240 resolution display, built-in DAC, 1GB of integrated memory, and a USB interface. It can also be removed from the lappie when you want to take your tunes on the go, and can reportedly last "around two to three" hours before needing a recharge, and while we've no idea how soon this gizmo (or the sleek laptop housing it) will hit the mainstream here in the States, consider our interest piqued.

[Via SlashGear]

[Intrepid @ Jan 1st 2007 8:04AM]

I am sorry... but widgets? THEY ARE CALLED GADGETS!

[Blackster @ Jan 1st 2007 8:28AM]

call it widget, call it gadget. it's the same ;)

what concerns me the most is the inconvenient place, you're resting youre hand on that thing. and it's touchsensitive, isn't it? dunno

[dpk @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:34AM]

call it widget or gadget, but don't call it a "lappie" or a "lappy". Please.

[Vinn @ Jan 1st 2007 8:52AM]

Neat. It would be a bonus if they began bundling these with new laptops for this new feature, plus it's a good selling point since you also get a media player. Battery life ain't too hot though.

[Dull @ Jan 1st 2007 10:42AM]

Great another battery hog and more cables for me to keep track of along with my phone, iPOD, PSP, camera, wii remote...

[tcc3 @ Jan 1st 2007 11:35AM]

Actually, Intrepid, they are called widgets. They were called widgets in Konfabulator before OSX integrated the idea. They were called widgets long before that when they were a third party Mac accessory.

Apple's the odd man out on this one.

[daliminator2000 @ Jan 1st 2007 2:22PM]

tcc3, I'm afraid you've been sadly misinformed.

Microsoft's actually the odd man out, since they're called gadgets in Vista. Apple's OS X calls them widgets. :S

Not that I'm knocking Microsoft, unlike so many people out there...Vista is purrrrrty.

[Hawk @ Jan 1st 2007 1:33PM]

two to three hours? lame.

[W1m37o� @ Jan 1st 2007 5:09PM]

I want that on my Powerbook. Firewire please.

[Intrepid @ Jan 1st 2007 8:24PM]

It should't appear on Apple products, as it's a Microsoft idea/product...

[shrinkydinx @ Jan 1st 2007 9:40PM]

i hope vista really does work well with multiple monitors. i have a 30" dell and $1000 worth of video cards, but i cant play crap in terms of games because i also have three other monitors hooked up to those cards...

i also cant take screen caps of single windows half the time, and have NEVER been able to take a full desktop screencap...

(if anyone has any surefire fixes for any of this crap, let me know... but ive tried at least three 3rd party screencap progs to no avail...i feel like its a limitation of the OS at this point)

[Richard Lai @ Jan 2nd 2007 12:35AM]

This SideShow thing just reminds me of Pocket PC but with better integration.

[Gordy @ Jan 2nd 2007 12:09PM]

I'm sorry, but how does this differ from a second display? I smell bullshit.

[zuneone @ Jan 2nd 2007 3:08PM]

You can see this device in action over at www.clearification.com - look for the latest video and the 2 researchers are playing with it near the end of the episode 'Demetri - The Subject'

[Spoonman @ Jan 2nd 2007 3:44PM]

shrinkydinx, what happens when you hit the Print Screen button and paste it into...for lack of a more universal option...Paint? If I do that, I get a screen shot of my whole desktop spread across three different monitors and video cards. If you want a screenshot of a single window, Alt-PrintScreen does that. So, we know it's not an OS-level issue since it works elsewhere. It could be the drivers for your cards or the screen capture utils you're using. As for games, is your primary monitor hooked up to your best video card? For complex reasons, my primary monitor has to be hooked to one of the PCI cards in my box (it's a limitation with this HP, I don't have this issue on other boxes), so I have to make sure games start up on the monitor connected to the main video card. I use Ultramon to get around these issues. Specifically, it allows me to modify shortcuts so they specify the screen they launch on every time. However, I use it mostly for the task bar it puts on the bottom of the other monitors. :)

[Mike @ Jan 2nd 2007 8:15PM]

Seems... pointless, I dont see why this is even nessisary.
It sort of reminds me of the dreamcast controller screen things..