Microsoft Shows Tiny PCs, High-Tech Remote
WinHEC Innovation Room offers a peek at tech tools to come.Arar, PC World.com
NEW ORLEANS-- Laptops the size of paperback books. PC microphones capable of crystal-clear audio. A universal remote to control computer hardware and software. These are just a few of the products of the future shown by Microsoft at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference here.
The Innovations Room at Microsoft's annual conference for hardware developers features prototypes of many products that are not yet on retail shelves--and may never be. They are not intended to represent technological sure things, but to suggest the shape of technology to come.
For example, one table features a teleconferencing device consisting of a ring of array microphones connected to a ring of Webcams. The array microphones can focus on the source of a voice rather than simply capturing everything within a specified radius. This enables them to eliminate extraneous noise and greatly enhance the quality of the voice recording.
Users can coordinate that audio with video captured by the Webcams to make recordings of meetings. During playback, the so-called "windbag filter" may come in handy--it lets you skip any contributions from anyone you identify as a chatterbox, says Microsoft's Chad Magendanz.
Remote Control
Also on display is a universal remote-like device, dubbed Xeel (for expanded wheel). The gadget is intended to simplify and standardize user interaction with a host of devices and programs that require similar navigation functions.
Microsoft's prototype features a scroll wheel (for scrolling or simply moving up and down through content) and buttons (to make a selection, switch windows, and perform other operations). Xeel could be used for Tablet PCs, Windows-Powered Smart Displays, Pocket PCs, Windows-Powered Smartphones, Media Center PCs, and other devices, according to Microsoft.
Another table features an assortment of ultraportable devices, including Vulcan Ventures' Mini-PC. About the size of a standard paperback, this Windows XP notebook has a 5.8-inch, 1024-by-768-resolution screen. An attention-getter at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, the Mini-PC shared space with a slightly larger notebook that Sony already sells in Japan.
On Display
A few tables show advanced display technologies. One technology upgrades the amount of video data a system can transmit, an improvement that would matter most in the field of high-end medical imaging. On another table, a prerelease version of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 runs on a pair of 20-inch, wide-aspect LCDs: One window shows the aircraft, while the other shows cockpit instruments. Microsoft officials say the shipping product will let users spread the aerial view across the two displays.
Perhaps the star of the Innovations Room exhibits is the Athens PC prototype. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates demonstrated the PC--announced Monday by Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft--during his morning keynote address. The unit features an ultrawide 23-inch display with clipped-on phone handset and Webcam; you can program it to manage your phone calls. Security is maintained by a USB flash token with a built-in fingerprint sensor.
Microsoft is trying to work more in parallel with vendors, says Tom Phillips, general manager of Microsoft's Windows Hardware Experience Group, which is helping show off the futuristic hardware designs.
He says better coordination will alleviate the time lag between when new hardware hits the market and when software taking advantage of the new hardware becomes available.