Book N Tech

Friday, June 1, 2012

Windows 8 Upgrade Offer??

Well we have been hearing some specualtion about a Windows 8 upgrade and now it has come out on microsoft's website for $15.00 you get Windows 8 pro on your Windows 7 PC.  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/upgrade-offer Now this is plain dirt cheap for a Pro version of Windows. https://windowsupgradeoffer.com/en-US/ will let you sign up before next February and you get Windows 8 pro for $15.00!!  

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Samsung keeps on Innovating

Samsung has a long list of innovations such as the Smart tv, smart appliances (you can listen to music with your refrigerator) biggest smart phone aka phablet, dual screen camera, smart camera, and now the do it all Samsung Galaxy One with a built in projector. This is the first tablet to feature a built in projector but not the first Windows prototype device to feature one. The LG EXPO was a Windows Mobile 6.5 (not Windows Phone 7 same platform different UI and market) and was to be featured on AT&T. It did come out and was not a very big hit even though I only remember it because of the funny commercial they made for it. The Galaxy brand is very classic of Samsung to brand their devices flagship or second generation design (Samsung Nexus became Samsung Galaxy Nexus). The importance of Samsung entering the tablet market for Windows 8 (also featuring the flagship Samsung Series 7) is that even though Microsoft has a lot of money they can not only take the burden of advertising alone. Samsung to date is the largest cell phone maker followed by Nokia and Apple with LG and HTC gaining traction. Samsung has already dabbled in the Android tablet market and has had some moderate success especially with the Verizon 4G market. Also we already know they have an excellent legal team so when Apple goes for round 100 Samsung will back up their devices and win. This prototype device is actually a really beautiful designed tablet. As shown is the many functions that can be made with this device. It looks to have two cameras and has a dual featured pop out stand to use for the projector, for watching a movie, preforming normal Office functions, and what ever rocks your boat. The screen looks like it is 11.6 or 12.1 inches and with the projector included it is pretty thin. 
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The stand concept is not new to the mobile market and HTC the Taiwanese smartphone giant has quite a few smartphones with kickstands which were not really good at their jobs. This stand looks firm and solid and should be able to stand up to pressing your finger against it in any spot and what ever other torture you do to your tablet. 
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This shot to me is very controversial since it depicts Windows 8 with a Start button which the recent Consumer Preview does not have. The start button was what Metro was built on and has been a very big argument since most power users have essentially cried about not having a button that when they swipe from one side of the screen or move their mouse into the bottom right or left corners brings up the charms bar. Samsung-Galaxy-One-Concept-07
One of the biggest things we use our tablets for is reading. Now what I see is all newspaper no interference which is very uniform for Metro. The good part that Microsoft learned Apple hasn't is a uniform design that is hardly seen. Also the amount of Apps is not as good as quality apps. Apple may have over 500,000 apps the most hardcore Apple fanboy will tell you there is a lot of junk apps. I believe Microsoft will be able to get all of the good quality apps into the Windows 8 Marketplace without the more junkier apps. Samsung-Galaxy-One-Concept-08
Now the lucky couple who hopefully gets to keep their Samsung Galaxy One is watching a 1080p movie with their tablet no tv screen required. Of course a clean white wall would be the best to fully enjoy your movie. Also the tablet can efficiently project images up to 8 feet which is great for sitting your device down on a coffe table like this couple did. Also the projector  is more than a novel concept, but a valuable money saver in the working/student environment. Samsung-Galaxy-One-Concept-09
Like I was saying perfect for meeting were you do not have an overhead and are trying to deliver a cutting edge power point. The coolest point about this picture is the tablet is projecting itself showing off the goods of a Metro interface. The current Samsung Windows tablet the Windows 8 flagship device did not have a stylus holder and this looks like it has that hole covered no pun intended. Samsung-Galaxy-One-Concept-10
Here we have two Galaxy Ones using the Remote Desktop app. Of course an Ipad could never pull this off by itself unless helped by a great immortal device with Splashtop Streamer and a projector like the Galaxy One. What this just did is have the one Galaxy One turn the other into a desktop, keyboard, and multi gesture touch pad. I wish I could do that!!Samsung-Galaxy-One-Concept-13
Another innovation is that the projector can rotate which can be very helpful depending on your environment.Samsung-Galaxy-One-Concept-14
Now this is what I call multi-tasking. Instead of having a large monitor showing you your Skype conversation just use the projector  while you chat with whom ever you choose. 
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Angry Birds Space is a very popular game and can be a large factor if an OS has any success. Since Angry Birds Space is not yet available for Windows 8 Marketplace it must have been used using Bluestacks the Android emulator that can run any Android app on your home computer. Samsung-Galaxy-One-Concept-16
I know some friends who love to draw and the pen would be a great advance over buying an additional stylus with an Ipad and not being able to accurately draw since it does not have an active digitizer layer. 
The presence of the Galaxy One if it ever gets out of the drawing room (and the hands of a select few testers) will be a great help to Windows 8 and my words to Samsung is keep on innovating and I want one of these really bad!!
 
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