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Xi3's Piston modular PC runs a custom UI on top of Windows, we go eyes-on (video)
There isn't much mystery left surrounding Xi3's modular gaming PC: we know it'll run Windows 7 Embedded, and we know it'll go on sale November 29th for $1,000. But there's one lingering detail that's continued to confuse us: what's the user interface like? So far, we've only gotten a brief look at some custom UI running on top of Windows, and even that wasn't final software. Finally, though, we caught up with the Xi3 team and had a chance to see the still-unnamed UI in action. By default, the Piston boots straight into this custom interface, as opposed to Windows. As promised, it hooks into various web services like Netflix and iTunes (to name just two examples), so if you click on "Hulu" or something like that, you'll just need to enter your login credentials to run the "app," as it were. Additionally, you can pin your favorite games to the main menu so that you can get at them with one click, without having to dig deeper into the menus. Conversely, you can remove items from the menu entirely if they're not relevant to you, as well as reorder them. Oh, and if you're ever using Windows and want to get back into the custom-UI side, you can just double-tap the Start button on your keyboard. It's very simple, really (the whole point is to stay focused on gaming), but you know what they say: a picture says a thousand words. Check out our demo video below if you want a better feel for how the whole thing works.
Ceton previews DVR companion apps on Android and iOS, teases Echo beta 'soon'
A quick stop by the Intel pavilion here at NAB 2012 revealed our friends from Ceton hiding within, and even though we just saw the Q DVR and Echo companion extender on our last trip to Vegas a few months ago, there's a few new items to show already. As shown above, the mobile companion app that we had only seen so far on Windows Phone 7 is also up and running on Android and iOS. While the apps are still very early in their development they're already running smoothly with metadata provided by Rovi and the usual set of features for DVR scheduling and management. Each one is designed specifically for the platform it's running on, rather than pulling the same UI from one device to all. This seems like a good approach to us, but Ceton's looking for feedback from potential users about what they might prefer. Speaking of potential users -- all those interested in this hardware should keep an eye out as we're told that the plan is to have a beta for the DTS-compatible Echo extender "soon", likely within a few weeks.
Pioneer's Discussion Table gets a thumping $37,000 price tag, taken for a spin (video)
We thought the latest version of Microsoft's Surface was pricey at $7,600, but it's cheapo IKEA compared to Pioneer's WWS-DT101 Discussion Table. We just reported that this beast is due to hit the Japanese market in July, but now we discover you might need as much as ¥3million (around $37,000) plus van hire before you can cart it away. Acknowledged, it has a bigger screen and better all-round specs than Microsoft's SUR40, and it looks pretty damn responsive judging from the video after the break. But it's still an unlikely amount to spend on a piece of furniture that can't even play Dungeons and Dragons.
Holocube scales up with life-sized, 70-inch, HC70 holographic projector (video)
First they were little, then they added touchability, now Holocube's holograms in a box are going big time -- in that the company's latest model is physically much larger than the others. It's the HC70, a new version with a 70-inch transparent screen that can be viewed from both sides. It's powered by a Windows 7 Embedded machine with 40GB of flash storage from which it can loop between eight and 18 hours of video, displayed via 1080p projector. You can see it in action below showing a... slightly mesmerizing collection of random bits of footage. Let us know if you can find the hidden meaning.
Pioneer's Discussion Table is the Surface competitor your business can't live without (video)
We'd all like our tables to be a little smarter, and anyone who works for a company would surely like their meetings to have a bit more intelligence, too. Pioneer is hoping to kill two birds with one rather sizeable piece of furniture: the Discussion Table, due sometime next year. Interestingly it's simply a Core i7-based PC running Windows Embedded Standard 7, with minimal custom coding on top of that. Users can bring their mobile PCs nearby and share documents to the table or remote desktop right into their machines from it, showing their docs and displays in scalable and rotatable windows. The Windows underpinnings handles the multitouch details, also offering what must surely be the biggest virtual keyboard ever seen in the wild. The Table has a single-sheet scanner built in the side and even offers TransferJet, so that everyone can download pictures of Boss's drunken holiday party antics wirelessly.
ASUS' Intel CE4100 Companion Box with Windows Media Center Embedded, there and back (to the ether) again
Seriously, blink and you might've missed it. ASUS had its own Intel CE4100-powered companion box on display running what our memory recalls was Windows Media Center Embedded. We'd love to confirm for the 5 percent of our brain that's uncertain, but by the time we went back for pickup shots of the adjacent (and awesome) Acer box, it was already gone. (Did the RevoPad scare it of that badly?) At any rate, this ASUS device has no drives, but it does boast an ATSC antenna, component and composite video. It's slated for the first half of next year, though representatives weren't willing to talk price just yet. Some more pics in the gallery below. %Gallery-102066%
Engadget Podcast 199 - 06.04.2010
Conferences. Trade shows. Exotic locales. Special guests. Tablets. Fish legs. Tablets. Fish balls. Tablets. You know the drill.Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul MillerGuests: Joanna Stern, Darren MurphProducer: Trent WolbeMusic: Boys Don't CryHear the podcast00:02:38 - Engadget dines at Taipei's Windows 7-themed restaurant (video)00:06:05 - Windows 7 tablet roundup from Computex, nay Tabletex00:07:03 - Microsoft's Guggenheimer dismisses Android on tablets as 'an experiment'00:09:05 - Microsoft reveals Windows Embedded Compact 7 at Computex, hosts heaps of tablets00:10:40 - Microsoft Windows Embedded Compact 7 explained, trial download now available00:12:10 - Microsoft: Windows Phone 7 not planned to hit tablets, Courier was always a concept00:13:00 - NVIDIA CEO says Android is an OS to 'unite behind,' will be better tailored to tablets this Fall00:13:40 - Microsoft Windows Embedded Compact 7 tablet prototype preview00:14:20 - Samsung Galaxy Tab revealed00:17:10 - MeeGo Moorestown-powered tablet preview00:18:40 - Pixel Qi introduces tablet-ready screens, we go hands-on (video)00:23:40 - Exclusive: LG UX10 tablet preview at Computex00:39:46 - Intel demos Android 2.1 on Moorestown smartphone (video)00:41:45 - Qualcomm ships first dual-core Snapdragon chipsets clocking 1.2GHz00:45:47 - Labor practice protest goes down at Computex, Steve Jobs called an 'OEM profit bloodsucker'00:54:40 - Steve Jobs live from D801:02:57 - Steve Jobs' D8 interview: the video highlights (updated)01:03:38 - Steve Jobs on Foxconn: 'We're all over this'01:05:52 - Steve Jobs on lost iPhone 4G prototype: it's an 'amazing' story01:14:45 - Steve Jobs on TV: 'no one wants to buy a box'01:24:55 - Steve Ballmer and Ray Ozzie live from D801:25:06 - Jobs: The PC is a truck. Ballmer: There's a reason they're called 'Mac' trucks.01:27:00 - Steve Ballmer at D8: the video highlights (updated)01:38:38 - Kno dual-screen tablet appears at D8, we go hands-onSubscribe to the podcast[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune MarketplaceDownload the podcastLISTEN (MP3)LISTEN (AAC)LISTEN (OGG)Contact the podcast1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget
Microsoft reveals Windows Embedded Compact 7 at Computex, hosts heaps of tablets
We know, you're probably eager to brush off yet another "embedded" operating system, but here at Computex, Microsoft is giving the naysayers a reason to think twice with the official debut of Windows Embedded Compact 7. Showcased along with a number of Windows 7 handhelds and slates at the company's monstrous booth, the public community technology preview of the new OS is being made, with the goal to get this onto lightweight ARM-powered devices that either aren't powerful enough for a full-fledged copy of Windows 7, or are simply aimed at a different market. Put simply, it's yet another product that Microsoft can offer up and coming device makers who may otherwise consider MeeGo, Android or a plethora of other mobile OS options. We've got an interview session lined up with Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice president of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Division, for later today, but we just couldn't wait to show you all of the Windows 7 and Windows Embedded Compact 7 tablet PCs that were impossible to avoid. Hit the gallery below (or video past the break) for specs and the like, and don't blame us for those plastic covers -- Microsoft wasn't about to rip 'em off, as a fair amount of these are super early beta units.%Gallery-94141% %Gallery-94140%
ITG xpPhone functioning at Computex, we go head-on (video)
We've been hearing about / poking fun of ITG's xpPhone since June of last year, but amazingly enough, we'd yet to actually see one in the flesh until today. Slyly stuck in the back corner of Microsoft's Computex booth were a trio of xpPhones, at least one of which was shockingly functional. As the story goes, the company has decided to axe Windows XP in favor of a much more lightweight version of WinXP Embedded, and responsiveness seemed suitable enough given the circumstances. And by "circumstances," we mean "the outrageous size." You see, we've no qualms making and receiving calls on an ultra-sleek Dell Streak, but this bad boy was pushing a solid inch in thickness. Sure, there's a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, optical sensor and integrated Bluetooth, but that hardly makes it viable in a world where smartphones are thinner than wallets and full-fledged laptops are rolling in at under 10mm. During our time with the device, we found the display to be surprisingly crisp, and while our finger presses were easily recognized, the omission of an accelerometer, the tremendous size, inexcusable weight and the tremendous size kept us from falling head over heels. We will say, though -- it'd make a darn good weapon should someone pull a fast one in the alley, and we'd probably buy one for kicks at under $150. Comedy ensues after the break.
Is this the first Windows 7 Media Center embedded set-top box?
We've never heard of this German company Reycom before, but from the looks of it this could be the very first embedded Windows 7 Media Center. The Reycom Entertainment Solution is marketed to content providers in Switzerland and Germany, is powered by an Atom processor and is small and slick. All the user interface images on the site should look familiar to Windows 7 Media Center fans, but the newly announced embedded version of Windows 7 isn't mentioned by name -- even the image on the about page has a women holding a Media Center remote. Of course this doesn't mean much for those of us State side, but this is exactly the type of box we had in mind when we first heard of an embedded version of Windows Media Center.
Windows 7 Media Center coming to embedded devices
We love Windows 7 Media Center, but at the end of the day we'd never give one to our mom and expect it to just work the way an embedded DVR like a TiVo or a Moxi would. But dependability isn't the only concern about using a PC as a DVR, there is noise and how it looks in the living room to consider as well. The compromise before us might just be a thing of the past as Microsoft has announced that Windows 7 Embedded has been released to manufactures and includes many of the great features of the regular Windows 7 family, like Windows Media Center. At this point there aren't any announcements from manufactures leveraging these new found features, but in the press release Microsoft is certainly bolstering the broadcast TV and other media features in a set-top box. AOpen is the only manufacturer mention by name that we're familiar with, which also makes good small-form-factor PCs, but that won't stop us from dreaming of the best, easy to use and dependable whole house DVR ever. Update: Video of Media Center on an embedded device in action after the jump.
