As per plan, Microsoft announced the launch of Windows Vista and the 2007 Office System to consumers.
That these are the most innovative and widely tested software products in the company's history has been oft repeated. According to Microsoft, Windows Vista and 2007 Office will "wow" consumers with their new user interface (UI), greatly enhanced security, integrated search, and improved overall performance.
Venkatesan informed that nearly 1 billion hours of user feedback has gone into the final versions of the two products.
Earlier released to business customers on Nov 30, 2006, Windows Vista and Office 2007 will now be available through retail stores across 30 countries, including India. In India, OEMs such as HCL, HP, Lenovo, Sahara, Wipro, and Zenith will be launching a range of Vista compatible personal computers for consumers.
Windows Vista will be available in four consumer editions; namely, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Home Basic, and Windows Vista Starter. And, it will be available in more than 18 languages, including Hindi. Support for 13 more Indian languages, including Telugu and Marathi, is expected by early 2008.
Meanwhile, Office 2007 will ship in two consumer editions; namely, Office Home & Student 2007, and Office Basic 2007.
Speaking at the launch, Managing Director of Microsoft India, Ms Neelam Dhawan, said, "We are excited about the support we have received from our partners. There are already more than 1.5 million devices and peripherals on the market that work with Windows Vista, including more than 2,000 that are Windows Vista Certified. This is an unprecedented momentum within the ecosystem, and we will continue to invest in the community, so that partners and customers can benefit from the myriad opportunities offered by Windows Vista and the 2007 Office System."
What contributes to the "wow" factor? For one, an innovative user interface that adds to visual appeal, while making the products easier to use. New capabilities that make creating and sharing digital content easier and more fun. And, entertainment possibilities, plus enhanced communication and productivity.
Advances that need mention are the Parental Control Panel, which allows parents manage their children's Internet and computer access; as also Windows Defender, which offers real time protection against spyware and malicious Web sites.
What are the minimum hardware requirements of Windows Vista? A modern processor (at least 800MHz1); 512 MB of system memory; and graphics processor which is DirectX 9 capable.
What about pricing? Windows Vista prices are comparable with those of Windows XP. Meanwhile, PCs loaded with genuine Windows Vista will retail in the country, for prices starting at Rs 22,000. Microsoft 2007 Office editions will ship for prices starting at Rs 6,000.
Will Microsoft Windows Vista succeed in replacing Microsoft Windows XP?
A confident Doug Hauger, Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft India, said that if they could get just 30 Windows Vista minutes with each Windows XP consumer, that consumer would never go back to using Windows XP. Hauger went on record, saying that already there are about 2,00,000 Windows Vista licenses plus around 8,50,000 Office 2007 licenses.
There are four editions of Windows Vista available for consumers, so here?s a breakdown: * Windows Vista Home Basic, $199/$99.95 (full/upgrade) Provides a basic platform for home users who want to keep tabs on email and Internet activity. Comes standard with Vista's new Search Explorer, Sidebar and Parental Controls. * Windows Vista Home Premium, $239/$159 Builds on Home Basic by adding the Windows Aero interface, Windows Media Center functionality, Windows Tablet PC technology and integrated DVD burning. * Windows Vista Business, $299/$199 Supports the Aero user interface, offers improved document managing and Windows Tablet PC functionality. * Windows Vista Ultimate, $399/$259 Vista Ultimate combines the functionality of Vista Home Premium and Vista Business. Likewise, there are five editions of Microsoft Office 2007 available to general consumers: * Microsoft Office Home and Student, $149/NA (full/upgrade) Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Word 2007, OneNote 2007 * Microsoft Office Standard 2007, $399/$239 Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Word 2007, Outlook 2007 * Microsoft Office Small Business 2007, $449/$279 Excel 2007, Accounting Express 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Publisher 2007, Word 2007, Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager * Microsoft Office Professional 2007, $499/$329 Excel 2007, Access 2007, Accounting Express 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Publisher 2007, Word 2007, Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager * Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007, $679/$539 Excel 2007, Access 2007, Accounting Express 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Publisher 2007, Word 2007, Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager, InfoPath 2007, Groove 2007, OneNote 2007.
Google News - Sci/Tech
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Windows Vista & Office 2007 Launched..
Monday, January 29, 2007
Dell Starts Shipping PCs with Vista
MotoRAZR MAXX V6 Ferrari
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Skoar 2007 27th January(Day 2)
Me to the right,Ramit in the center with Patrick'fOrest'Lindberg of Team Fnatic(Photo courtesy:Adhish Sharma)
Sooo,I finally went to Skoar 2007 at Pragati Maidan on the second day of the event. I was supposed to go on the third day also i.e.28th Jan but i my school practicals are going on .. so couldn't the last day..I was there for about 1 hour or sooo.. and i completely enjoyed the time i spent over there..This Event made me finally feel that GaMiNg in India is progressing towards the positive side... There were all sorts of people over there trying to know more about the gaming industry..
There were more than 30 Xbox 360's on dispay for the crowd over there.There was a lotta rush in getting a chance to play a game on the 360... I had to wait a lot to get a chance to play over there.. Some of the games running on the 360 were PGR3,Gears Of War,Fight Night,NFS Carbon,NBA Live 07 and many more...There were also many gaming PC's on display by HCL,Samsung.These PC's had a high end configuration . Games like Fifa 07,Cricket 07 were the games available to play on the PC's..
Also the finals of the Game Box 2007 were at held at Skoar 2007 which was sponsored by Reliance Web World. Game box went across all over the world to find the best gamers. The Game Box Counter Strike Finals were won by a team from Mumbai named 'ATE',a 17year old from Mumbai won the finals of NFS Underground and Warcraft Finals were won by a 23 year old also from Mumbai. Mumbai ruled this event..
AND Most importantly me and my friend met the members of the 'Team Fnatic' the best counter strike playing team in Europe and possibly the World...The members of these teams looked cool,straight forward and did not show any attitude towards the public , the public which did not know what is Team Fnatic...lol.Me and my friend ramit also met Patrick'fOrest'Lindberg--the world's best counter strike playing player...It was a memorable moment for me which i can't forget all my life...To know more about the 'Team Fnatic' you guys can visit their web site www.club.fnatic.com.
In all Skoar 2007 was a sucessful event. I would give it 7/10...
Saturday, January 27, 2007
World's First built-in Noise Cancelling Walkman...
Built-in Noise Canceling Function
Clear Stereo/Clear Bass/Virtual Phone Technology
3 Line Organic EL Display
3 Minutes charge for 3hrs Playback
Upto 50hrs. Battery Stamina
Direct Encoding (with optional cradle or cable)
ATRAC/MP3/WMA/AAC/Liner-PCM Playback
Built-in FM Tuner
Dimensions: 27.5x88.1x17mm (wxhxd)
Price range from 11,990 to 15,990..
Friday, January 26, 2007
Fastest of the 7600GT series...
While the card does not deploy a standard fan, it still cools with more efficiency due to passive distribution of heat from the GPU to the aluminium fins behind the card. Besides, as air and dust are not forced through the heatsink, there is lesser worry over clogged heatsinks causing overheating in some time. The 7600GT Fatal1ty Professional Series Video Card features high-definition video playback; is Microsoft Windows Vista ready; and with True High Dynamic-Range (HDR) Rendering, makes for incredibly life-like PCI-Express graphics. According to XFX, the card offers mind-numbing speed, graphics, and optimizes performance silently and effectively. Speaking at the launch, Sunny Narain, VP of Sales and Marketing, XFX Hong Kong, said, "We are excited with our tie-up with Johnathan Fatal1ty , the world's No 1 professional gamer, who is known worldwide for his gaming skills & speed which perfectly merges with the XFX culture of gaming. Infact the tag line this year for XFX is Play Hard." "We at XFX identify ourselves as gamers and we have a complete range of graphic cards for all segments. Now with the launch of 7600GT Fatal1ty and 8800GTX, we plan to further tap and increase XFX market share in the premium segment," Narain said. The XFX Geforce 7600 GT Fatal1ty is available at a suggested end user price of Rs 12,900; and the XFX GeForce 8800GTX is available at a suggested end user price of Rs 46,000 at all 48 Rashi Peripherals branches over India. All XFX graphic cards from Rashi come with a 3 year warranty
Samsung Ultra Edition 5.9
But don't be fooled into thinking it has shed some of its features to make it slimmer. The Ultra 5.9 has a 3.2-megapixel camera, 80MB of internal storage, tri-band, Bluetooth, and a media-player, which is a lot in such a slim phone.
No word on the price or availability till now, but we had to put this up for you folks. It's set to be released in March, 2007
LG FM37 Touch-screen MP3 Player
The price of the 1GB/2GB/4GB is $159, $192, and $256 respectively. No word on the availability in India yet as it has just been released in Korea.
Palit 7900 GS
Since the GPU and memory are very well covered by the HSF, we were expecting some good amount of overclocking performance. Other features include support for DirectX" 9.0, Shader Model 3.0, and True high dynamic-range (HDR) lighting support. It also features Intellisample 4.0, CineFX" 4.0 Engine, ForceWare Unified Driver Architecture (UDA), nView multi-display technology, and supports Dual dual-link DVI supporting two 2560x1600 resolution displays.
Dell's All Terrain Notebook...
Besides, it includes a 14.1-inch display with ambient light sensor (ALS), glass overlay, and anti-reflective coating. The company says the LCD is nearly 1" times brighter than that of most mainstream corporate notebooks. Latitude ATG provides hard drive image compatibility with Latitude D620. It is also compatible with all D-family wireless and security products, as well as accessories like docks, port replicators, and power adapters. The notebook includes a lead-free motherboard and chassis; is RoHS compliant; and designed for energy efficiency in multiple customer environments. Prominent specifications are: 500 NIT LCD with non-reflective coating; 14.1-inch WXGA screen (1,280 X 800 resolution); support for up to 4GB3 DDR2 SDRAM; ATG task lights for keyboard lighting; shock mounted-hard drive and LCD; Intel Core 2 Duo processors; and Microsoft Windows Vista Capable. Speaking at the launch, Rajan Anandan, Vice President & General Manager of Dell India, said, "The Latitude ATG is a prime example of Dell's commitment to customer-driven innovation. We have heard from customers loud and clear that a tougher, highly protective notebook with a screen that is easy to see outdoors is necessary in many lines of work. We're glad that we could meet that customer request with a product distinguished by industry-leading features." The notebook is immediately available for prices beginning Rs 106,163, along with a three-year next business day on-site service standard warranty.
Your Face your Password...
Seagate-Hitachi announce 1TB HardDisk Drive...
“Seagate’s 1TB hard drive will be our second generation 3.5-inch hard drive to feature capacity-boosting perpendicular recording technology, and it will use fewer heads and discs than similar-capacity products we expect to see from our competitors. It is clear that fewer heads and discs, along with our proven perpendicular technology, can increase drive reliability, and also reduce operating temperatures, power consumption, noise, and weight.”
Not wanting to lose out, Hitachi has also announced that it will be coming out with its 1TB drives within the first six months of 2007.
But, Hitachi’s will supposedly run on five platters, whereas Seagate’s will supposedly run on less, making the Seagate better in performance and more reliable.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Call of Duty 3.....
In Call of Duty 3, new close-quarters battle mechanics bring you face-to-face with your enemy. Fight hand-to-hand, disarm traps, improvise explosive devices and execute a host of other battlefield challenges that require cunning and swift reflexes. Next-generation level design provides multiple attack routes that let you decide how to confront the enemy. Each choice you make requires you to use special tactics, from sniping and demolition to straight out frontal assaults. And in online multiplayer battles of up to 24 players, gamers battle it out as a variety of player classes, including riflemen, infantry, scouts and others. Multiple-occupancy vehicles let you coordinate attacks with friends, driving while they fire a mounted machine gun from the turret.
Halo 3...its awsum.....
Halo 3 will pick up where Halo 2 left off. The Master Chief is returning to Earth to finish the fight. The Covenant occupation of Earth has uncovered a massive and ancient object beneath the African sands - an object who's secrets have yet to be revealed. Earth's forces are battered and beaten.
The Master Chief's AI companion Cortana is still trapped in the clutches of the Gravemind - a horrifying Flood intelligence, and a civil war is raging in the heart of the Covenant. This is how the world ends...
Another feature of the Vista...
Intended to enable a secondary display on laptops—which could show CD/DVD information, RSS feeds, email, and more—the SideShow feature has led to the development of actual peripherals, not just extra embedded screens.
Rumors of new Xbox on the way...
The HDMI port would allow the system to get full 1080p resolution, and "remove" any worry about digital rights protection getting in the way in the future. This is something important to note since that protection could be added (and likely will be added) at anytime on HD-DVD movie discs. The larger hard drive will also be necessary as the Xbox Live will allow for downloads of movies and TVs in the near future. That 20GB hard drive is suddenly feeling mighty small.
Sony Ericsson W950i
Apple iPhone
iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.