Mighty Gadget Blog: The latest technology news & reviews in the UK

Quite possibly the best thing i’ve heard this year and if it’s true i may actually wet myself. The Zune is Microsoft’s answer to the iPod. Despite the Americans getting every version we here in the UK seem to keep missing out on the PMP. Now it’s rumoured(quite strongly) that Microsoft will be bringing out a phone equivalent and hopefully this will be revealed at Mobile World Congress in a fortnight.

NVIDIA have supposedly confirmed that they will be attending the the Congress with Microsoft (reports come from MuyComputer). Now NVIDIA make the TEGRA chip which powers the latest Zune HD. Also it is believed that Windows Mobile 7 will be launched at the congress too so it certainly looks promising.

Taking into account what the Zune HD does you’ll be looking at a very good phone, depending on Windows Mobile 7 software being good, but should pack a lot of features better than what any current iPhone could achieve. The UI of the Zune HD is easy to use and will look great on the low power, sharp OLED capacitive touchscreen (Multitouch oooo yeah!). Powered by the TEGRA chip HD content and multitasking will be done effortlessly and can be shipped to your TV via its HDMI out. If it’s planning on going into the gaming world like the iPhone, Zune is already a part of Xbox Live and that would mean a very large market of gaming enthusiasts with access to content and massive multiplayer functions.

Will keep you all updated if and when i learn more.

Microsoft and Nokia joined forces today and had a brainstorm. The software and mobile giants have confirmed they will bring a mobile version of Microsoft Office to Nokia’s Symbian powered smartphones.

A few of Nokia’s phones already use Microsoft software (Exchange ActiveSync) so its no big surprise they’re coming together again. Next year will see the phone’s packing Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile. Not the catchiest of names but basically will allow to find work colleagues, instant message and something called “presence information”(ideas anyone???)

Further into the future mobile versions of your favourite office programs, Word, PowerPoint, Excel etc so you can view, edit and send documents from your mobile.

Source : Electricpig

Today Microsoft has revealed official release dates and for its forthcoming OS. The release has been set for October 22nd so not long now till we get the opportunity to ditch Vista (yay!)

Like Vista, 7 will be coming in a Home Premium package for £149.99, a Professional package at £219.99 and Ultimate at £229.99. Don’t worry though you wont have to pay the full amount as Microsoft are offering an “upgrade” price up until 31st December. You can upgrade upgrade to Home Premium for £79.99, Professional for £189.99 or Ultimate for £199.99 (not a massive saving but better than nothing).

However if you pre-order Home Premium you can pick it up for £49.99 or Professional for £99.99. This offer starts on 15th July and Ends on August or “whilst stocks last” (can’t see the world suddenly running out of discs in a hurry) also if you buy a Windows Vista PC after June 26, you’ll get a free upgrade to Windows 7.

We already new that Windows 7 would be released in 2009 and we have previously speculated it would be available on 23rd of October, but now Microsoft has given us an official date of October 22nd.

This is one version of Windows I think we will all be happy to upgrade too.

The senior vice president of the Windows Business at Microsoft, Bill Veghte, has confirmed that Windows 7 will be available to customers in time for the holiday shopping season. He said:

We're tracking well to deliver Windows 7 in time for holiday availability based on the groundswell of feedback we received from the partner ecosystem, customers and through our own internal testing from pre-beta to now.

Microsoft have been coy about the release date of Windows 7 and have only stated that Windows 7 would be available no later than three years after the general availability of Windows Vista - 30th January 2010.

Many people seem to believe these dates to be quite conservative. The beta of Windows 7 was released in January and it was the only Beta to be released. The beta has been widely praised with many users commenting that it was faster and more stable than its predecessor even in its beta stages.

The Release Candidate has recently been released which will be the only RC release unlike the usual 2 or 3. The RC release has improved on the beta even further (obviously) with most of the bugs ironed out and new features made available.

Acer also previously leaked that the Acer Z5600 all-in-one PC, which is due for launch on October the 23rd will be bundled with Windows 7.

Microsoft will start offering a free upgrade to Windows 7 on new PCs shipping with Vista.

I have to say I am quite excited about Windows 7, I think most people agree that it looks like it will be the best Windows release for a long time. RC1 has been teasing us even more with some cracking new features such as XP Mode and streaming your library over the net. So it is no surprise we are all a little eager to find out when Windows 7 will be released!

Well good news according to Bobby Waltkins, marketing director of Acer UK, the Z5600 all-in-one PC, which is due out on October 23rd, will come pre-loading with a genuine copy of Windows 7.

Granted this isn’t confirmed by Microsoft but we can hope it is true.

Microsoft have officially announced you will be able to get your hands on the legit Windows 7 Release Candidate 1.

The release candidate will also have 2 new features that should help win over more fans.

You will now be able to stream your library over the Internet with Windows Media player

This is a fantastic little feature, though perhaps not quite as easy to set up as you would like. Windows Media Player's Remote Media Sharing will let you access your media library from anywhere over the internet. You need a Windows Live ID that you associate with your Windows 7 user account using a tool you have to download. You will also need the same version of WMP on both computers.

Once it is all set up you will be able to view the library under “Other Libraries” in the navigation panel.

Windows XP Mode: Windows XP virtual environment

For users running Windows 7 Pro, Enterprise and Ultimate you will be able add Windows XP functionality via an additional download for free. Unlike the compatibility mode in Vista the Xp mode should is a proper virtual environment using Microsoft's Virtual PC which should avoid any possible compatibility problems for older software.

Below Windows XP Mode running Word 2003 under XP and Word 2007 under Windows 7 via SuperSite Blog.

The release candidate of Windows 7 was originally pencilled in for the end of this month however it has been announced that this will now be April 10th.

The RC release should be the first major stepping stone on the way to a commercial release well before year's end..

Microsoft has also revealed that the recently closed beta programme resulted in over half a million suggestions from testers about fixes and changes to the new operating system.

Interestingly MS are releasing updates for Windows 7 on Tuesday, 24 February that will not actually contain any updates or fixes. They are simply to test the updating system.

The users who've installed Windows 7 Beta will have to download and install these updates manually from the Windows Update control panel.