CES Windows Tech Demos - Windows on ARM, 2nd Gen. Surface and More (Updated with Video!)
Microsoft wasted no time to officially share with the world on what they've been working on, even before CES 2011 starts tomorrow. Check out some of the latest mobile devices Windows 7 is enabling, a newer revision of Surface and next gen. Windows running on ARM-based systems.
Upgraded Hardware for Better User Experience
Microsoft wasted no time to officially share with the world on what they've been working on, even before the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2011 starts tomorrow. Dubbed the Windows Technology Demo session, we'll first jump straight to the brand new hardware that Microsoft is working with AMD, Intel and system builders like ASUS, Acer, HP and more.
Update: We caught some corresponding footage during the keynote speech from Microsoft, so here are some video highlights that complements what we've covered in this article in a more visual manner:-
Using the latest Sandy Bridge platform from Intel, this new dual-screen multi-touch notebook from Acer somewhat resembles the Toshiba W100 device. The Acer machine however, is a full fledged workstation and larger than the compact W100.
Note the dynamic usage of the dual touch screens as the full sized virtual QWERTY keyboard was called upon on the bottom screen almost seamlessly for serious typing.
This is Samsung's new mini notebook-cum-slate device.
Its screen can be tilted back...
... allowing you to slide it down to hide the physical keyboard and thus instantly changing it to a slate-like machine.
Check out how thin the Samsung device is! The is truly technology progression at work with better hardware at a smaller form factor, thus bringing about a better user experience on the the latest Windows 7 build.
This is an ASUS tablet notebook based on Intel's latest Core i5 Sandy Bridge processor. It comes with a wireless keyboard for proper desktop usage.
It also features palm recognition technology. This ensures the tablet doesn't register your palm pressing on the screen as a valid input.
The tablet has excellent graphics performance thanks to the new graphics engine on board the Sandy Bridge processor. To complement it, ASUS and Microsoft worked on refining the display by eliminating the extra air gap between the glass top layer of the screen and the LCD unit itself, and also incorporated the touch sensor and the digitizer input by optically bonding all of these together. The result is a much thinner device of a similar screen size and has excellent viewing angles all-round.
HP's brand new Pavilion DM1 running on AMD's Fusion platform was also showcased working with Windows 7 and in this snapshot, IE9 running a hardware accelerated graphics test to showcase the browser's capability in harnessing the graphics hardware.
Our First Glimpse of Microsoft's Surface Gen.2
We've heard from Microsoft sometime ago that they are working on a newer generation Surface technology that is more versatile and advanced than the first iteration that made a big splash. As we've pointed out in the picture below, the new generation Surface technology is no longer a big, bulky unit and is much more compact thanks to new projection technologies. It's now compact enough that it can be fitted in any place and any angle, much like flat panel TVs have been proliferating everywhere and are replacing traditional signboards and information kiosks. Not only they bulk has been reduced, but it's also more advanced as it incorporates more advanced resolution scanning and infrared sensors to detect what's placed on the surface and interact with it. As such, it no longer solely relies on touch inputs.
Microsoft's 2nd generation Surface technology has enabled the hardware to be much more compact than the first edition that occupied the entire table space beneath. Get ready to see interactive and responsive commercial touch screens using this technology in the near future.
Demoing the new edition of Surface technology...
and giving it a tougher challenge by placing a written note on the screen.
And this is what the new Surface technology actually 'sees'. That's certainly a leap from the last iteration.
The second generation Surface technology is now much more likely to be accepted and deployed for commercial usage with the advancement in the system's processing, scanning and interpretation technologies in addition to the more compact profile.
Windows on ARM - Again
This is yet another topic that has received much buzz these last few weeks with several leaks pointing out that Microsoft is embracing ARM architectures in a big way. From our demo session today, it turns out to be true and unlike past versions that run a stripped down Windows edition such as Windows CE, the next generation Windows architecture is geared for both ARM and x86 processing architectures. As such, we can expect all the familiar Windows 7 goodness to trickle down into devices of various form factors. Microsoft was very tight lipped in revealing any further timelines, interface enhancements or anything else at the moment other than acknowledging such a development. We could only wish it would come to pass sooner. As to the reasons of why supporting this architecture now, it seems like they've finally realized the growing importance of system-on-chip solutions that are becoming wildly popular in the low-cost mobile computing space and Microsoft wants to deliver a no-compromise experience on even these up and coming solutions.
The ecosystem that Microsoft is creating with the new Windows running on the ARM architecture.
Qualcomm's SnapDragon based test system seen here with Windows 7 running well.
A Texas Instruments OMAP based engine also running Windows 7. Microsoft also showed a successful driver integration as an Epson USB printer was used to print a Word document on this system.
And perhaps the star of the show was the NVIDIA Tegra 2 based test unit running a Windows 7...
... and running a Full HD Iron Man 2 trailer along with other multimedia aspects showcased.
Eventually, these clunky test systems will be shrunk down into a single chip, dubbed system-on-chip as shown here hastily.
And they will be integrated as part of complete system solution that may communicate with other auxiliary ICs on a mainboard for further functionality.
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