Windows Experience Blog

Announcing Sculpt Comfort Mouse & Mobile Mouse

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:00:00 GMT

Today, we’re announcing two new mice designed specifically for Windows. These are the first mice from Microsoft to include a Windows button on them, giving you quick and easy access to specific features in Windows – and, in the case of the Sculpt Comfort Mouse, more advanced functionality in Windows 8.

Sculpt Comfort Mouse

The Sculpt Comfort Mouse is a perfect companion to the Sculpt Comfort Keyboard we announced last fall. The Sculpt Comfort Mouse has a touch-sensitive blue strip on its side called the Windows touch tab that makes it easy to navigate Windows 8 with just the touch or swipe of a finger. When pressed, it of course takes you to your Start screen, just like the Windows buttons on keyboards, PCs and tablets.

But it does more than just take you to your Start screen. If you swipe up on the blue strip, it cycles through all your open Windows Store apps in Windows 8. And if you swipe down, it will reveal all the open apps (on the left side of your screen) for you to select the one you want. You don’t have to worry about a tiny USB transceiver since the Sculpt Comfort Mouse uses Bluetooth to connect to your Windows PC or tablet. It also has a comfortable ergonomic design and our BlueTrack technology to be used on pretty much any surface.

The Sculpt Comfort Mouse will be available in June for an estimated retail price of $39.95 (U.S.).

Sculpt Mobile Mouse

The Sculpt Mobile Mouse is the latest evolution of the Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 – with a Windows button which works great on Windows 7 or Windows 8.

Like the Sculpt Comfort Mouse, it also has four-way scrolling – meaning you can scroll sideways by tilting the scroll wheel to the right or left in addition to the vertical scrolling you’re used to. This makes navigating the Start screen in Windows 8 or apps that scroll horizontally a breeze. The Sculpt Mobile Mouse has a compact design, a tiny wireless USB transceiver, and BlueTrack technology.

The Sculpt Mobile Mouse will be available in May for an estimated retail price of $29.95 (U.S.).

HP unveils a bunch of new Windows 8 PCs

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:53:00 GMT

HP is announcing some new Windows 8 PCs today – including a brand new portable All-in-One PC called the HP ENVY Rove 20. Most if not all these new PCs all come with touchscreens.

HP ENVY Rove 20:

The HP ENVY Rove 20 is a portable All-in-One PC designed for the entire family. It can be used as a desktop PC or can be easily moved into the living room to enjoy multi-player games, or used in the kitchen while cooking a favorite recipe using one of the many cooking apps from the Windows Store like HP Recipe Box. The ENVY Rove 20 has a unique hinged stand that allows the 20-inch diagonal capacitive touchscreen (10-point) to be positioned at a variety of angles including completely flat. The display itself is a 1600 x 900 IPS LED panel for fantastic looking graphics. It also has Beats Audio for a great listening experience.

The HP ENVY Rove 20 will be available in July.

HP ENVY 15 & 17 TouchSmart Notebooks:

These PCs come with 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch flush glass full-HD touchscreen displays with discrete graphics from NVIDIA (great for gaming) and Beats Audio for sound with quad speakers and dual subwoofer. The ENVY 15 TouchSmart comes with the all-new 2013 AMD processors or 4th generation Intel processors. The ENVY 17 TouchSmart comes with 4th generation Intel processors.

The HP ENVY 15 TouchSmart Notebook and will be available in the U.S. on June 5, 2013 with a starting price of $649.

The HP ENVY 17 TouchSmart Notebook will be available in the U.S. on July 10, 2013 with a starting price of $799.

The HP Pavilion 20 and 23 TouchSmart All-in-One PCs:

These affordable All-in-One PCs have a 20- and 23-inch widescreen diagonal display respectively with 5-point optical touch technology along with an LED backlit display.

The HP Pavilion 20 TouchSmart All-in-One PC will be available in the U.S. on June 23, starting at $619.99.

The HP Pavilion 23 TouchSmart All-in-One PC will be available in the U.S. on June 5, starting at $749.

HP Pavilion 11 TouchSmart PC:

This is one of HP’s most affordable laptops yet. It comes with an 11.6-inch 10-point capacitive touchscreen. With quad-core performance and multiple ports including USB and HMDI – this PC is perfect for both work and play.

The Pavilion TouchSmart 11 Notebook will be available in the U.S. on June 26, 2013 with a starting price of $399.

HP Pavilion 14 TouchSmart Sleekbook:

This is a new touch-optimized Sleekbook with AMD discrete graphics and up to 2GB of memory on select models. A full selection of ports including HDMI and USB and up to 1TB of hard drive storage and premium DTS Sound+ audio. A PC great for entertainment.

The HP Pavilion TouchSmart 14 Sleekbook will be available in the U.S. on June 5, 2013 with a starting price of $479.99.

You can also check out HP’s announcement from last week on the HP Split X2.

The ASUS Transformer Book TX300 now available

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:01:19 GMT

ASUS just passed along the note that the Transformer Book TX300 is now available at Amazon, B&H, BestBuy.com, CDW, Excaliber PC, PC Connection, and Tiger Direct starting at $1,499 (U.S.).

The Transformer Book TX300 is a laptop with a detachable keyboard “station” so it can be used as a tablet. ASUS has incorporated a slick looking all-metal design for the PC with a spun metal finish for a sleek profile great for being on the go. The PC comes with the latest generation Intel Core processors – all the way up to a Core i7. It has a 13.3-inch IPS HD (1920 x 1080) touch display – great for 178-degree wide viewing angles - and comes with either 64GB or 128GB SSD options. And you get up to 5 hours of battery life as a laptop and up to 8 hours just as a tablet.

The keyboard station actually comes with additional storage for the tablet when connected – either a 320GB or 500GB hard drive. The keyboard is backlit and comes with two USB 3.0 ports, an Ethernet port, mini DisplayPort and micro HDMI ports, and a SD card reader.

For more on the ASUS Transformer Book TX300 – click here.

Tech Tuesday Live Twitter Chat – Acer #winchat

Kristina Libby — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:35:51 GMT

As some of you know, I use an Acer Aspire S7 and love it. It’s a great device that has travelled from event to event, city to city and work place to fun place and back again. It’s why I’m thrilled to be joined by Acer for this week’s tech chat as they talk about the new Acer Aspire R7 (one of a few new PCs recently announced by Acer). This device is a touch notebook with an inventive hinge that allows your screen to be manipulated at multiple function points – this makes reading, sharing and playing more enjoyable. With an optimized series of positioning points, you can be more effective and more comfortable.

To participate in the Tech Tuesday Live Twitter Chat and be eligible to win an Acer R7, please do the following!

Join us from 12-1 PT (3-4 ET) on Twitter
Follow the hashtag #winchat
Follow @windows, @kristinalibby, @aceramerica, @microsoftoem and @windowsblog to make sure you get the whole picture.
For full legal terms and conditions, click here.

Major League Soccer and Windows partner on exclusive app, fan and stadium experiences

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:03:00 GMT

Soccer fans tend to bring a lot of enthusiasm to the sport with the chants, team spirit and gusto. The global appeal of soccer, which in much of the world is called Football, gives us all a common sport to know and discuss. Today we’re excited to share our multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer (MLS). We know sports fans love using technology to enhance and expand the experience on the field and soccer fans rank high in wanting to know and share their club’s latest stats and highlights!

Together, MLS and Windows are bringing the game to you with unique in-stadium and online experiences for soccer fans. The Major League Soccer app for Windows 8 lets fans follow the entire season from anywhere at any time.

The app features exclusive content and this season’s schedule, standings, highlights, play-by-play, roster lineups, game stats, goals, cards and substitutions. In addition, with live tiles - fans are able to customize their experience to get updates on their favorite club’s news right on their Start screen.

So, go download the app from the Windows Store or go to www.mlssoccer.com for more information on your favorite team or where to stop-by for a demo in a stadium near you this season!

New themes and wallpapers: Alaska, New Zealand, Sweden and sweets!

Jennifer Shepherd — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:15:39 GMT

Many years ago, I spent a week visiting my brother in Alaska. At the time, he was working on a fishing boat out of Homer, and I spent several days on the boat enjoying the sights of Kachemak Bay and the Kenai Peninsula. The impression that struck me immediately as my flight descended toward the tarmac, and that stayed with me throughout my visit, was just how huge and near the mountains looked; in fact, every aspect of nature seemed larger, closer, and more vivid. That’s one of the things I like about the photographs of Kyle Waters, featured in our new Alaskan Landscapes theme—the immensity and immediacy of Alaska’s natural landscape really comes through.

On the subject of great landscapes, in my previous blog post I promised you more of Ian Rushton’s HDR photography, and I’m pleased to be able to follow through with not just one, but two new themes. The first is a tour of Queenstown and the surrounding landscape, including the shores of Lake Wakatipu and views of the Kawarau and Shotover rivers.

The other, and my new favorite, is a walk through the lush greenery of One Tree Hill Domain and the adjoining Cornwall Park, in Auckland, New Zealand. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what song I hear in my head when looking at these images!

Fans of our Swedish seasonal themes might have noticed when we published the Swedish Autumn, Swedish Summer, and Swedish Winter themes several months ago, that something was missing. You’ll be relieved to know that we’ve finally filled in the missing season with Swedish Spring.

For a total change of pace from landscape photography, I’m pleased to present a theme featuring the quirky artwork of illustrator Karyn Servin. The Delectable Designs theme’s cartoony cupcakes, popsicles, and other goodies will bring a cheerful pop of tasty color to your desktop.

If you have an older version of Windows that can’t use themes, or if you prefer to use a single desktop background, be sure to check out the fresh wallpapers. Here are just a few:

We also added a new tab to the Desktop backgrounds page, specifically for panoramic wallpapers. If you have Windows 8 or Windows RT, these wallpapers will automatically extend across dual monitors that have the same resolution setting. But you can also enjoy them on an older version of Windows or on a single monitor. And as I explained in an earlier post, you can use wallpapers on your Windows 8 or Windows RT lock screen, as well.

By the way, you can control how wallpapers fit to the screen in the Desktop Background section of Personalization in Control Panel. To see the full width of a panoramic image on a single monitor, choose Fit in the Picture Position menu. The image will be scaled down to fit the width of your monitor, and you'll see black above and below it. To fill your entire monitor but see only the middle of the image, choose Fill in the Picture Position menu. This will fit the image to the height of your monitor, and crop off the right and left edges.

As always, keep checking back on the Personalization Gallery – we’ll have even more new themes and wallpapers for you next month.

Adobe Photoshop Express for Windows 8 now available in the Windows Store

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:50:56 GMT

Adobe Photoshop Express for Windows is now available for download from the Windows Store. Photoshop Express for Windows 8 comes with a variety of features to quickly edit your photos on your Windows PC or tablet.

You can do the basic photo enhancements such as crop, straighten, rotate, flip, or remove red-eye. You can adjusts color, contrast, and brightness all at once. And you can use “slider controls” to enhance contrast, exposure, and white balance, or let the app auto-correct it for you.

But my favorite feature are the quick one-touch filters – called “Looks” – to add different effects to your photos. The app comes with 15 free “Looks” with additional premium “Looks” available for purchase from Adobe.

And of course once you’re done editing your photo, you can quickly share your photo out to folks on your favorite social networks or save to your PC.

App roundup: 7 apps for better health

Kirsten Ballweg — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:00:00 GMT

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m a writer for Windows by day, and a musician by night. Musicians don’t always have the best health habits. Late nights, hanging out in smoky clubs, and getting paid in drink tickets have taken their toll on my health. So I decided to take a look at some apps that might get me back on the health wagon.

Heart Age

Before starting an exercise regimen, I thought it might be a good idea to figure out if my heart could handle it. Heart Age is a free app that estimates your heart's "true age" based on info like your height, weight, frequency, and intensity of exercise, cholesterol, and blood pressure.

According to the test, I have the heart of a 28 year old. That sounds good to me! I ♥ Heart Age!

Bodeefit

Want a quick but brutal workout? Bodeefit has workout plans based on time (most are around 10-15 minutes) or number of rounds (the time these take depends on how fit your “bodee” is). The equipment you need is minimal—basically a floor, a wall, a box (for diabolical box jumps), and a bench (for dips and possibly for jumping over). There’s something reassuring about the video clip examples in this app. Watching a guy jumping on the box made me think that I could actually do that too. I was wrong. Box jumps are hard! But the videos make it fast and easy to figure out how to actually do the exercises—a lot easier than reading a description on how to do each move.

With workouts named Furious 10, Fire Breather, and Sit, Sit up, Crawl! I'm strangely looking forward to seeing what new form of torture awaits me next.

If you want to save your results, you can sign up for a free Bodeefit account (or upgrade to a Pro membership for additional benefits). With the free membership, you’ll get daily workouts sent to your email address, and a paleo recipe from PaleOMG once a week. The paleo diet, if you haven’t heard of it, is based on what Paleolithic man might have eaten. So basically: meat, fish, certain vegetables, and no sugar, carbs, or dairy. The recipes actually look delicious and include banana bread, brownie trifle, and cake (with substitutions for ingredients not allowed on the diet). Those cave men ate a lot better than I thought!

BallStrike

Taking a workout and disguising it as a game is sheer brilliance. There’s no Mario or Ms Pac Man character in the game of BallStrike, though. Through the magic of your webcam, you’re the main character. Balls appear on the screen, and it’s your job to twist, turn, kick, hit, and jump around to destroy the balls. Just watch out for those pesky bombs. You want to destroy them, not the other way around.

At the end of your session, you can share photos of yourself on Facebook, through email, and on other sites.

The first few levels of the game are completely free. To get the full version of the app (complete with 12 levels of ball-striking fun) it will cost you US$3.49, but that seems a small price to pay if you like to kick and punch things as much as I do.

MyPlate Calorie Tracker from LIVESTRONG.COM

Losing weight, I’ve been told, is mostly about what you put and don’t put into your mouth. Exercise certainly helps and is very important for overall health and fitness, but as far as actual pounds go, it’s all about the food.

The MyPlate Calorie Tracker has become my favorite app for tracking what I’m eating. It’s easy to add foods. Tap or click the + button under the meal you want to record, and then start typing. Then just pick from the results and, if necessary, adjust your serving size. With a database of more than 1.3 million food items (including many popular brands and restaurant items), you’re bound to find the foods you’re eating. Foods you eat often are shown in a list of recently eaten foods, so it’s easy to add them.

You can also track the amount of water you’re drinking and how much and what type of exercise you’re doing.

When you first start the app (after you sign in or create a free account), you decide how much weight you want to lose each week. MyPlate Calorie Tracker crunches the numbers for you. You can see how many calories you have left to consume, and how many you’ve used each day. I’m going to try using this for a full week. Hopefully the scale will say 2 pounds lost by next Friday.

HealthVault

Insurance info, health history, doctor info – HealthVault brings them all together in one place. I signed in, and then plugged in my info. Not only does Health Vault help track calories and weight, it can keep track of any health conditions you want to enter (oh, my aching back!).

Many popular exercise or heath devices (like pedometers, blood pressure monitors, blood glucose monitors, and even some scales) work with Health Vault, so you can save all your data in one place. There are over 200 devices that are compatible, and the list is growing. Have a Fitbit? You’re golden.

If you use other health apps, they can plug into HealthVault too. So if you have prescriptions at Walgreens, CVS, or various other pharmacies with apps, HealthVault can pull in your prescriptions so all of your health info is in one place.

You can also track health information for your family. So if you have kids or aging parents, HealthVault can help you out.

KinectHealth

When it comes to working out, I’m motivated by competition. The KinectHealth app is perfect for people like me. It offers virtual training videos that use your webcam to monitor your activity level. Then, the app shares info about your workout with your friends who also use KinectHealth, so you can all stay motivated.

When you watch a workout video, you'll see your trainer on the main part of the screen, and on the left, you’ll see a video of yourself working out, with your stats. At the top of the screen are friends and trainers who've taken the training already. As the video plays, you can see how your friends were doing at that specific point in the video. Your friends don’t need to be doing the same video at the same time—KinectHeath saves their data and just replays it back to you. You’ll see how many calories they burned and if they were calm (a purple circle on their profile picture), active (a green circle), or hyper (a red circle).

There were a good variety of video workouts available when I started the app (including yoga, Pilates, cardio, and strength). I decided to try out the Legs are Burning video, with the trainer, Jason. This workout delivered. As I did my squats and lunges along with Jason, my PC webcam monitored my activity. By the end of the training I was in the hyper zone.

As you reach your fitness goals, your progress is shared with friends (and vice versa) so you can cheer each other on, or at least get guilted into working out more. Effective!

Digital Health Scorecard

From Johnson & Johnson, the makers of a lot of health-related items from baby powder to Nicorette®, comes the Digital Health Scorecard app. Plug in some numbers (the app walks you through 7 questions) and you’ll get your overall health score, based on The World Health Organization’s “Global Burden of Disease” data.

The lower your score, the higher your chances of developing chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, or cancer.

On the results screen you can see how various changes in your overall lifestyle might affect your score by using the “What if?” button.

If you’re currently a smoker, you can see how your score would change if you quit. Or if you regularly enjoy a martini or two at lunch, you can drop your weekly drink number and see how much your score goes up. Making the comparison can be pretty motivating. But there’s no way I’m completely giving up my martinis. I like olives too much. And olives aren’t bad for you, at least in moderation, right?

Here’s to your health! (Clink!)

- Kirsten

Pre-order the Lenovo Yoga 11S today, available in June

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:42:36 GMT

Starting today, you can now place orders for the IdeaPad Yoga 11S Ultrabook from www.lenovo.com and pre-order from Best Buy. Various models of the Yoga 11S will be available in Best Buy stores starting on June 23. The estimated retail price for the Intel Core i3 model is $799.99 (U.S.).

The Yoga 11S follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, Lenovo’s Yoga 13, and boasts an 11.6-inch HD IPS screen with 10-finger touch support. And like the Yoga 13, the Yoga 11S converts into four modes, including “tent,” as shown in the above photo. It can be used as like a laptop or folded and flipped to be used like a tablet.

For more on Lenovo’s Yoga PCs – click here.

HP announces the HP Split x2

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:50:17 GMT

Today, HP is announcing the HP Split x2. The Split x2 is a two-in-one detachable PC that can be used as a high-performance laptop or a tablet.

The Split x2 comes with a powerful third-generation Intel Core processor and a 13.3 diagonal HD touchscreen display. You can get the device with an optional hard disk in the base (the keyboard) that gives you expanded storage capacity. And it has dual-batteries – one in the tablet and another in the base. The design of the Split x2 features a “soft-touch” coating for a comfortable hold and apparently protects against fingerprint smudges. It has Beats Audio for fantastic audio and a trackpad that allows for multiple finger gestures (they call it the HP ClickPad).

For more on the HP Split x2, click here.

The HP Split x2 is expected to be available in the U.S. in August with a starting price of $799.99.

How to import iTunes playlists into the Music app

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:08:23 GMT

If you have spent a great deal of time building out playlists in iTunes, you probably don’t want to have to rebuild those playlists. With the Music app in Windows 8, you can import those playlists into your collection.

If you are on a Windows 8 PC with iTunes installed and your music collection physically downloaded on the PC, you can follow these easy steps to add your iTunes playlists into the Music app.

Step 1: Open the Music app.

Step 2: Tap or click on “my music”.

Step 3: Under “my music”, tap or click on “playlists”.

Step 4: Bring up the app commands by either swiping from the bottom or right-clicking.

Step 5: Tap or click on “Import playlists”.

Step 6: The Music app will then look for playlists in your Music library on your PC and playlists created in iTunes. Just click “Import playlists” to import them in!

The end result is you should see your iTunes playlists in the Music app – as seen here with my iTunes playlist called “iTunes Stuff”.

If you have an Xbox Music Pass, you can sync your music to the cloud. The Music app can automatically scan your music collection and match the information to music from the Xbox Music Store. If a match is made, that music is tagged and available for streaming on your Windows 8, Windows RT, or Windows Phone devices and your Xbox 360 console.

In order to make sure you have cloud sync enabled:

Start the Xbox Music app in Windows 8 or Windows RT.
Swipe from the right or go to the upper-right or lower-right corner to bring out the charms.
Tap or click on the Settings charms, and then tap or click Preferences.
Make sure Xbox Music Cloud is set to “On.”

If you want to import your iTunes playlists on a Windows RT device – you will first need to move all your music files from your Music library on the PC that has iTunes installed (including the “iTunes” folder in your Music library) and all your music to your Windows RT device and then follow the steps outlined above to import your iTunes playlists.

App roundup: More news apps

David S — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:00:00 GMT

I’ve already mentioned some of the news apps I like in a previous post, but there are actually a few more I'd like to tell you about.

One of the most distinctive memories from my childhood is of my parents disappearing behind the daily newspaper (back when even a small town had both a morning and evening paper), emerging only to read something funny or amazing to each other. The distinctive rustle a paper makes in a quiet room is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

There are trade-offs involved in swapping physical media for the electronic variety, but in my view, the trade-offs are worth it. A good full-screen app can reproduce that disappearing-into-the-paper sensation, and also that sense of discovery when you’re reading one thing and stumble onto something else. Plus, I'm no longer limited to the worldview of my local newsroom. And I definitely don’t miss the clutter of daily papers piling up in the corners.

The Wall Street Journal

It’s important to note that the Wall Street Journal app is free, but without a subscription, you get access to only some of the content. For non-subscribers, you can still see a lot of the articles and the whimsical little illustrations that give the WSJ such a memorable look. The familiar dot drawings are supplemented with plenty of videos and other rich content.

The New York Times

As with the Wall Street Journal app, you need a subscription for full access to the New York Times app, too. But stories in the Top News section are free, as is a lot of the other world-class content. Eschewing the single-picture-plus-wall-of-text format of some news sites and apps, many articles here are carefully laid out with images embedded within them, leading the eye along. The paper has long been a leader in digital content, and it really shows here, in not only the rich media content, but in every detail, from the icons denoting each section to the beautifully designed navigation.

NBC News

The NBC News app is rock solid. It may be your basic mix of video and text (I prefer to read more than watch, so I love that every video comes with a write-up), but it simply feels good to browse. Going as deep as you can into each sub-section, there’s still plenty to explore. Beyond just stories from the NBC newscast and clips from TODAY, there are also pretty decent blogs on technology, entertainment, and other topics.

Engadget

Befitting its role as a technology news source, Engadget delivers a fun and fast browsing experience that feels a little different from the apps that come from more traditional media outlets. With images and video, there seems to be less of an effort to find the one perfect picture. It’s not careless so much as loose and fun. It feels younger. The content is served up with the most recent stories first, and is also browsable by whatever type of technology you’re most interested in.

These news apps not only deliver content efficiently, they also make consuming the news a pleasurable and aesthetically pleasing experience. Even without that papery rustle.

David S.

Sony introduces the VAIO Fit

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:04:39 GMT

Sony today is unveiling a brand new VAIO line – the VAIO Fit.

Sony’s VAIO Fit is designed with students and business users in mind – great design and performance at an entry-level price point. The VAIO Fit will be available in 14-inch and 15-inch models. VAIO Fit laptops uses weight-saving aluminum materials in its construction to be thin and light – making it a great PC for someone on the go. In terms of performance, VAIO Fit laptops will come with third generation Intel Core processors, up to a Core i7, optional NVIDIA Graphics with up to 2GB of VRAM, Hybrid Hard Drive and Solid State Drive (SSD) options, and optical drives (including Blu-ray Disc writing options as well). So with regards to performance, the VAIO Fit has you pretty set.

VAIO Fit laptops ALSO come with high resolution displays. The VAIO Fit 15 comes with full HD (1920 x 1200). The VAIO Fit 14 comes with what Sony is calling “HD+” (1600 x 900). The VAIO Fit comes with an optional capacitive touchscreen and the display itself is LED backlit (as well as color enhancement technology) that gives the laptop excellent picture quality but conserves battery life.

The VAIO Fit includes a full-size backlit keyboard. The VAIO Fit 15 also comes with an integrated number pad.

And the VAIO Fit also comes with Near Field Communication technology (NFC) that allows people to quickly send content such as website URLs by simply touching any compatible NFC to the VAIO Fit.

For audio, the VAIO Fit uses audio technology called ClearAudio+ for the entire line. This technology gives a “virtualized” surround sound experience. The VAIO Fit 14E and VAIO Fit 15E have “big box speakers” and the VAIO Fit 15E has its own subwoofer.

The Fit 14 and 15 are available in Steel Black, Steel Pink and Steel Silver for about $649 and $699. The Fit 14E and Fit 15E are available in Black, Pink and White for about $549 and $579.

Sony is also announcing updated to their current All-in-One (VAIO Tap 2) and Ultrabook (VAIO T Series 15 and VAIO L Series 24) lines. For their Ultrabooks – think touch!

For more information on the new Sony VAIO Fit laptops and updates to some of their current PC lines – click here.

Tech Tuesday Live Twitter Chat – Microsoft Hardware Artist Series Mice #winchat

Kristina Libby — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:39:06 GMT

It’s not a hidden secret that I love art. I go to the Seattle Art Museum at least once a month, check out the MOMA every time I can and even occasionally pretend that I can make art on the Fresh Paint App. In the end, though, there is a huge gap between myself and the experts. That’s why I’m always excited when a new line of Artist Series mice debuts.

Designed by artists all over the world, these mice are unique and fitting for all types of different artistic interests. Today we will be joined by my friends on the team to discuss this cool new line up of mice and the artists behind them.

You can find more details on the new Artist Series mice here. We are also thrilled to be giving away a few of the new Artist Series mice to three people who answer Q1-Q4 during our weekly chat!

To participate in the Tech Tuesday Live Twitter Chat:

Join us from 12-1 PT (3-4 ET) on Twitter
Follow the hashtag #winchat
Follow @windows, @kristinalibby, @msfthardware, @daniellaycock, and @windowsblog to make sure you get the whole picture.
For full legal terms and conditions, click here.

HP announces new Windows 8 PCs for SMBs

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 06 May 2013 23:51:14 GMT

Today, HP has announced new PCs that are designed for small and medium businesses (SMBs) with the goal to balance the need for high performance with mobility.

HP ProBook 400 Series

The HP ProBook 400 Series laptops are designed for the cost-conscious SMBs who want to have amazing performance and slick design without compromising on price. The ProBook 400 Series is offered in 17.3-inch, 15.6-inch, 14-inch, and 13.3-inch models featuring processors from Intel and AMD. And the new ProBook 400 series laptops are up to 36% thinner than the previous models. They also come with a new hybrid hard drive option that offers the responsiveness of an SSD with the capacity of a traditional hard drive, connectivity options that include 4G WWAN and are Skype-ready and feature DTS Sound+ for excellent audio. And the HP ProBook 450 has a touchscreen option as well.

HP 200 Series

The HP 200 Series laptops are offered in 15.6-inch and 14-inch models with a range of wireless options and processors from Intel and AMD. HP 200 Series laptops come with an HDMI port so people can connect to a larger HD display – perfect for having a second monitor at a desk or doing presentations. And it also comes with an Altec Lansing speaker too.

The HP ProBook 400 series and HP 200 series laptops are expected to be available in the U.S. later this month. Pricing for the HP ProBook 400 series starts at $499. Pricing for the HP 200 starts at $249.