Microsoft rolls out Vista hardware
Microsoft finally got its Windows Vista software out the door.
Now comes the hardware.
The Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 combines a Bluetooth keyboard with Microsoft’s first rechargeable mouse. Both can work up to 30 feet from the USB transmitter in the computer.
The $150 unit was designed for Vista, but it works with Windows XP. Dedicated keys call up the Windows Vista start menu, the Windows Live instant-messaging system and Windows “gadgets” – desktop programs that offer weather, news, calendars and other functions.
The keyboard, featuring a thin, curved design, is geared to multimedia use. The left side has what amounts to a remote control for all the devices that are connected through Windows Media Center.
The included software adds Vista visual functions. A click on the mouse’s scroll wheel displays large thumbnails of all the open windows. And the small right button can be used to magnify a portion of the screen – ideal for reading the fine print in user agreements. – Stephen C. Miller, The New York Times
PowerPoint goes wireless
If the Three Stooges were around in the age of PowerPoint, one can only imagine the result. But a small piece of hardware from NewSoft can allow any threesome of presenters to get through a meeting with nary an eye-gouge.
The NewSoft WMS100 Image Wireless Projector Adaptor connects to any VGA-compatible projector. With the included software, called Presto, up to three computers can control a presentation and capture and display their own screens at any time.
The device itself ($280 at www.newsoftinc.com) looks like a walkie-talkie with an antenna on one side and a VGA/XVGA connection. It is compatible with three Wi-Fi standards (802.11a, b and g), and the software even enables slides to be exchanged among participants, bypassing the screen entirely.
The WMS100 works with Windows and Macintosh computers.
With the right material, the adaptor could help make a three-way presentation knucklehead-proof. – John Biggs, The New York Times
