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Back in September, Microsoft offered students the ability to purchase Windows 7 for only $29.99. I am sure that there were gobs of students who pre-ordered the OS to be digitally delivered via Digital River when the OS launched last week. PC World reports that "hundreds" of Windows 7 buyers who purchased digital copies are getting errors when they try to install.
Weeks are flying by and it’s time for another week in review. Monday we learned that a new hack was available from the iPhone Dev Team that adds MMS to first generation iPhones and tethering to 3.1.2 OS for the later iPhone models. We also found out that Microsoft is set to issue a new update for the Xbox 360 that will break unauthorized storage devices. That means that some gamers will be unable to access the saved game data after applying the new update.
French MID/UMPC manufacturer eviGroup have released a few preliminary images of their upcoming Pad touchscreen tablet, and while we’re far from making up our minds about the Windows 7 slate yet, it’s looking reasonably attractive in a “digital pictureframe” sort of way. The eviGroup Pad has a 10.2-inch 1024 x 600 resistive touchscreen, WiFi a/b/g and integrated 3G, and bundles a new “AI UI” called Seline which promises less pecking with a finger or stylus and more straightforward access to data.
In case you missed it, Microsoft announced that Amazon have developed a version of their ebook app for the PC. Kindle for PC will be a free download and, like the iPhone, iPod touch and standalone Kindle ebook readers, allow users to purchase titles from Amazon’s online store.
It feels like its been a long path to Windows 7; close to a year ago today we were looking at early screenshots of Vista’s replacement, and the months in-between have been punctuated with test builds, broad RC distribution, eight million beta testers and tentative enthusiasm. Now, October 22nd 2009, Microsoft have officially launched Windows 7, along with a number of partnerships integrating the OS with CBS, Netflix, Amazon and more.
Today marks what is likely to be the biggest and most important software launch in the history of Microsoft with Windows 7 becoming officially available. With the new OS now available for consumers, HP has announced that Windows 7 is now available on its entire range of computer systems.
The Archos 9 PCtablet has been somewhat overshadowed by its smaller, Android-based sibling, but the French company would like to remind you that, with the debut of Windows 7, the 9-inch touchscreen “future of netbooks” is now available to buy. £449.99 ($748) gets you a resistive touchscreen, Atom Z515 processor and integrated WiFi and Bluetooth, all in a device 800g and just 1.7cm thick.
Live Archos 9 hands-on gallery after the cut
Dell’s latest all-in-one is yet to show up on the company’s US pages, with Japan sneaking a lead, but we expect the Windows 7 desktop to make its North American appearance in short order. The Dell Inspiron One 19 lacks any sort of fancy multitouch support for the new OS, but does squeeze in a choice of 2.6GHz or 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors, up to 4GB of RAM, up to 500GB storage and a DVD burner, all hiding behind an 18.5-inch 1366 x 768 LCD display.
Dell Japan have officially announced the Dell SX2210T multitouch-capable touchscreen display, first spotted floating around the company’s support pages earlier this week. The SX2210T is a 21.5-inch display running at native 1920 x 1080 resolution, 2-megapixel webcam, 50,000:1 contrast ratio and support for one or two fingered gestures.
Lenovo’s latest IdeaPad ultraportable has finally got the official nod from the company’s Japanese arm. Yet to show up on the company’s US site, the Lenovo IdeaPad U150 has an 11.6-inch 1,366 x 768 glossy display, 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU2300 processor, 2GB of DDR3 memory (8GB max) and a 250GB hard-drive; there’s no 3G option, at least not in Japan, but you do get WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and gigabit ethernet.
JP
