Microsoft Windows 8 on 82-inch touchscreen hands-on (video)

Microsoft Windows 8 on 82-inch touchscreen hands-on (video):

We don't have 100 fingers -- theoretically the supported limit of Windows 8 on the 82-inch capacitive touchscreen display we just had a chance to go hands-on with at the company's latest OS demo at Mobile World Congress -- but things looked pretty impressive even with just 10. The display we saw is manufactured by a company called Perceptive Pixel, and it may even look familiar -- it's the same glass screen used by television news networks like CNN. But, unlike the giant touchscreens you've seen on TV, this guy is connected to a standard off-the-shelf PC running Windows 8 Consumer Preview. The glass panel is constructed of optically-bonded Gorilla Glass, so there's very little space between the picture and your hand, making for a much more realistic user experience. Naturally, this monitor is all about the visuals, so you really need to see it in action to get an accurate impression of just how slick the experience can be. Jump past the break for our hands-on.

Gallery: Windows 8 running on an 82-inch Gorilla Glass display

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Microsoft Windows 8 on 82-inch touchscreen hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Navy test-fires weaponized railgun with explosive results (video)

Navy test-fires weaponized railgun with explosive results (video):

You're about to watch a test firing of BAE's experimental railgun demonstrating why the technology isn't science fiction anymore. Load an aluminum projectile into the 12-meter barrel and one million amps will hypersonically propel it toward the target. The conflagration you'll witness is due to the metal slug burning off in the charged air. In April, General Atomics will supply its own prototype so the military can identify which one is closer to making its way aboard the battleships of the 2020's. Anyway, now you can go watch the video fully aware of what's going on, try not to sit there with your mouth open.

Continue reading Navy test-fires weaponized railgun with explosive results (video)

Navy test-fires weaponized railgun with explosive results (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows 8 Consumer Preview now available for download

Windows 8 Consumer Preview now available for download:

Sure iPhones and iPads are made by Apple, but many if not most iOS users are also Windows users, and just today Microsoft has made their next-generation operating system available for test driving via the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

It’s Windows reimagined and reinvented from a solid core of Windows 7 speed and reliability. It’s an all-new touch interface. It’s a new Windows for new devices. And it’s your chance to be one of the first to try it out.

That all-new touch interface is Metro, brought over from Windows Phone 7 and designed to make everything from ultralight slates to full on desktops are easy and fun to use as Microsoft’s mobile offerings have become.

It’s a a similar end-goal if decidedly different approach than Apple is taking with iOS and the upcoming OS X Mountain Lion — making computing more consistent and accessible to mainstream users.

Microsoft has a lot of good information — and tons of videos — up on their Windows 8 Consumer Preview website, including how to get started, rundowns of all the key features including apps, web, and the cloud, as well as an FAQ to help you out.

Windows 8 will also work on tablets, and on the same ARM-based chipsets that other mobile devices do, meaning it finally lets Microsoft field a true competitor to the iPad. Given Windows’ massive install base, especially in enterprise, that could prove interesting. More interesting, however, is the clearly consumer-centric — it’s right there in the name — focus of this preview. Microsoft is bringing the fight for mainstream computing right to Apple. And they’re doing it with style.

How well do Metro and multitouch translate to the PC? Can mobile and desktop, finger and mouse pointer, really live together with no compromises at all? If you’ve got a spare box or room for another virtual machine, get the Consumer Preview, give it a spin, and let us know.

(Also let us know how iTunes works, or doesn’t work, and how happy you are iOS has gone PC free!)

Download: Windows 8 Consumer Preview

[Direct link to video]

Whole Foods experimenting with Kinect-powered shopping carts that are smarter than you (video)

Whole Foods experimenting with Kinect-powered shopping carts that are smarter than you (video):

Here's a little secret Whole Foods doesn't like to advertise: they want, nay, demand, that a rather large percentage of residents near its highfalutin grocery stores have a college degree. Apparently you've gotta be smart to navigate its aisles crowded with over-priced organic wares and exotic condiments. Perhaps, though, the company has realized the error of its ways and wants to move in to new markets. That doesn't mean it trusts you and your high school diploma to decipher all those labels with difficult to pronounce words on them. A new experimental shopping cart is being tested by the market that puts a tablet and a Kinect in the driver's seat -- literally. Because you can't be expected to multi-task, the cart drives itself, monitors your shopping list and can even warn you if you grab the wrong item, thus protecting you from your own inability to avoid aggravating your peanut allergy. Check it out in action after the break.

Continue reading Whole Foods experimenting with Kinect-powered shopping carts that are smarter than you (video)

Whole Foods experimenting with Kinect-powered shopping carts that are smarter than you (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon Appstore proving lucrative for developers, according to new report

Amazon Appstore proving lucrative for developers, according to new report:

The Amazon Appstore is less than a year old, and still isn't officially available internationally. Despite this though, the latest report from app analytics company Distimo states that a good portion of Android developers are making decent money there. 

Of the top 110 apps appearing both in the Amazon Appstore and Android Market, the report claims that 42 of them are making more money from the Appstore. Additionally, 28 percent of the revenue from those top 110 came from the Appstore. 

The Appstore is also proving to be a popular place for paid applications. 62% of the apps are paid apps compared to just 32 percent at present in the Android Market. The Kindle Fire launch last year has played a massive part in the growth of the Amazon Appstore. 

Another interesting piece of information to emerge from this report regards Amazon exclusive applications. Distimo says that around 50 percent of Amazon's apps aren't present in the Android Market. While there isn't a clear definition on how many of these may be Kindle Fire versions of already established apps, it is still a surprisingly high percentage. 

Seems the future is bright over in the Amazon camp. There have been mixed reactions since it's inception over pricing and how Amazon controls it, and indeed how they handle compensating developers involved in the free app of the day. But it seems that there is money to be made by submitting applications to Amazon. And with their tighter control over what makes it into the Appstore, quality apps may find opportunities to shine through. Just imagine what could happen if the whole world could take advantage.

Source: GigaOM

You asked. We listened. “Smoked by Windows Phone” ads go live today!

You asked. We listened. “Smoked by Windows Phone” ads go live today!:

Last month, we kicked off “Smoked by Windows Phone” at CES as a fun way of showing the world why Windows Phone is simply faster at the real stuff that real people do on their smartphones every day. Since the show, where we won 88% of our challenges (95%, including the wins from our tour of California) against the best smartphones in the business, we’ve seen a huge swell of support for “Smoked”; the videos of the challenges have been viewed over 500,000 times on YouTube; and the #1 request on the our suggestions page is to make an ad campaign featuring the challenges.

You asked, and we listened. We’re flipping the switch on a brand new digital ad series starting today!

On your favorite sites like CNET, Forbes.com, Entertainment Tonight, Geek.com, and Daily Candy (and more) you’ll find 15 and 30 second clips of Windows Phone taking on the competition. Here’s a sample of what you’ll see:

Click through, and you’ll end up at a really great new tab on the Windows Phone Facebook Page. This is “home base” for showing the world why Windows Phone is simply faster; here you’ll be able to see all of the ads, watch longer cuts of the videos, and download “Smoked by Windows Phone” phone & desktop wallpapers. And, of course, you can – and should – share all of this stuff with your friends.

This is just the beginning. Look for more videos and fun stuff soon!

Remember to follow @windowsphone and me on Twitter to keep up with our latest news, ask a question, or just say hello.

Throttling unlimited data plans is pointless, study finds

Throttling unlimited data plans is pointless, study finds:

AT&T’s questionable policy with regard to unlimited smartphone data plan holders recently found its way back into the limelight following a new wave of subscriber complaints. The nation’s No.2 carrier no longer offers an unlimited data plan to smartphone users, though many subscribers on its network still have grandfathered plans that provide an unlimited amount of smartphone data each month. Subscribers who approach the top 5% of unlimited data users in a single billing period see their data speeds throttled, however, and countless users have found that AT&T is now beginning to throttle users after less than 2GB of data usage in a billing period. According to a new study, subscribers are right to be furious at AT&T because throttling does nothing to alleviate network bandwidth issues. Read on for more.

Wireless bill analysis firm Validas extracted data from more than 55,000 cell phone bills belonging to AT&T and Verizon Wireless subscribers from 2011, and the firm sought to determine whether or not data throttling is necessary. According to Validas’s findings, throttling may indeed simply be a ploy to push unlimited users into newer tiered plans.

“When we look at the top 5% of data users, there is virtually no difference in data consumption between those on unlimited and those on tiered plans—and yet the unlimited consumers are the ones at risk of getting their service turned off,” Validas wrote in its report. “So it’s curious that anyone would think the throttling here represents a serious effort at alleviating network bandwidth issues. After all, Sprint does seemingly fine maintaining non-throttled unlimited data for its customers.”

Verizon Wireless subscribers on unlimited smartphone data plans actually used less data on average than those with tiered plans according to Validas’s data. The opposite was the case at AT&T, however the difference was 0.78GB on average and median data usage varied by 0.53GB.

AT&T is not the only wireless carrier in the U.S. that throttles smartphone data speeds for unlimited data plan holders, of course. Verizon throttles the top 5% of unlimited data users and T-Mobile throttles its smartphone subscribers after 5GB of data usage in a single billing period. AT&T has drawn the most attention of late because it has been throttling unlimited data plan holders after less than 2GB of usage in many cases. AT&T offers a 3GB tiered plan for the same $30 per month that unlimited plan holders pay for 2GB of full-speed data or less, however the tiered plan offers 3GB of full-speed data.