The premise of Microsoft’s newly-released music making application is simple – you just sing into your PC’s microphone and Songsmith analyzes your song’s notes to create a background track. If you’d like to see all the ways you can use this power for evil, watch the video after the jump.
Many of us long time gamers have grown very use to the Sony PlayStation controllers. Sometimes it is very irritating not being able to use the same controller when playing on a different console or PC. Now thanks to a Japanese software programmer, we can use the PlayStation 3 controller to play PC games.
Designed by MotionDSP for the NVIDIA CUDA, vReveal is a very easy to use software for Windows customers that allows just about anyone to easily make dramatic improvements to the quality of their videos with unrivaled enchantment software technology.
Windows XP has been granted another stay of execution, as Microsoft once again extend the licencing terms of their old OS. Originally due to be axed on January 31st 2009, the company has now agreed to deliver licences up until May 30th; however orders for the OS still need to be placed by the January deadline. The move is being seen as a response to OEMs stockpiling XP licences to offer either as downgrades from Vista or for installation on netbooks.
Lenovo’s IdeaPad U8 MID usually only gets to play with its own Linux-based OS, but there’s no reason why its 800MHz processor and 4.8-inch WVGA touchscreen shouldn’t be stressed with Microsoft’s Windows XP. UMPC Fever forum member “ideapadu8″ obviously thought so, promptly putting both XP and the aigo MID Linux OS onto his ultraportable.
Video demo of XP on the IdeaPad U8 after the cut
Apple have released a new driver for the multitouch trackpad on the late-2008 MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. The software attempts to address the poor responsiveness and general performance experienced when running Windows XP and Vista via Boot Camp, where users found dragging and clicking to be erratic. However initial reports suggest that while the update has addressed some aspects of the problem, it has shifted problems onto other areas of Windows functionality.
Acer and Toshiba have revealed that more than 90-percent of their netbooks – the Aspire One and the Satellite NB100 – are sold with Windows XP rather than one of the compact Linux builds that are offered on the budget ultraportables. Dell, too, have confirmed that Windows XP sales have achieved similar dominance in netbooks as they have in the traditional PC space, while ASUS has shifted its Eee PC development priorities in response to the consumer demand.
Trigem (TG), Averatec’s parent company, have taken the wraps off of their latest MID, the 4.8-inch touchscreen Lluon Mobbit. Unlike most Mobile Internet Devices we’ve seen, the Mobbit uses Windows XP rather than Linux; Trigem have given it a finger-friendly GUI overlay. Specs include the 1.3GHz Intel Atom Z520 processor, 1GB of RAM, a choice of 30GB HDD or 16GB SSD and WiFi, Bluetooth and WiBro.
When first announced back in September, the Sony VAIO LV-series was described as a High-Definition PC/TV. That blurring of distinctions between computer and entertainment gives a good idea of how the company envisages their all-in-one slotting into your lifestyle; a relatively rare HMDI input, allowing external sources to use the LV as a 1080p-capable display, helps single the system out even further. Are TV tuners, Blu-ray and Dolby Digital surround sound enough to let the VAIO LV replace your current HDTV?
One of the more topical claims from Microsoft during the PDC was that Windows 7 would have no problems running on lower-spec hardware such as netbooks. Of course, there’s nothing like a challenge to get geeks motivated, so we’re starting to see the first installs of the upcoming OS on today’s budget ultraportable hardware. Laptop Mag picked the ASUS Eee PC 1000H, while DavGerm4 used his MSI Wind (you can see the video after the cut; via jkkmobile); both are tentatively positive about the experience.
SlashGear Japan
