CES 2012: Vizio introduces all-in-one desktop, laptop PC line [Photos]

Vizio is hoping to find the same success it's had in the TV business in the competitive market of personal computing.

At the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, Vizio is showing off its lineup of PCs, which consists of two all-in-one desktops and three laptop computers all running Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system.

The Irvine company is planning on taking the same retail approach with its PCs that it used with its TV and home-theater products, selling its devices at lower prices than most rivals, said Jim Noyd, a Vizio spokesman.

On the laptop side of Vizio's offerings will be a 15.6-inch-screen laptop and two thin and light laptops in both a 15.6-inch screen size and a 14-inch size. The thin and light laptops will be lower-cost alternatives to Apple's MacBook Air and Ultrabook laptops from the likes of Dell, Lenovo and HP.

Desktop-wise, Vizio is planning on releasing two all-in-one models to challenge the likes of Apple's iMac. The desktops will be built in both 24- and 27-inch screen sizes.

So far, Vizio isn't offering any details on the specs of its PCs or its processor partners, though the company says it is set to release its PCs sometime this spring.

We'll go hands-on with Vizio's PC lineup later at CES, but for now check out the media photos Vizio sent to the Technology blog to see some detailed shots of how these new Windows machines will look.

Kinect is coming to Windows, but are TVs next?

We've known for months that Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing camera technology would make its way to Windows. But now we also know that Kinect on Windows won't use the same hardware as Kinect for the Xbox 360 video game system.

"Since announcing a few weeks ago that the Kinect for Windows commercial program will launch in early 2012, we've been asked whether there will also be new Kinect hardware especially for Windows," Craig Eisler, the general manager of the Kinect for Windows team, wrote in a company blog post. "The answer is yes; building on the existing Kinect for Xbox 360 device, we have optimized certain hardware components and made firmware adjustments which better enable PC-centric scenarios."

Kinect for Windows will also get its own Software Development Kit to make use of the PC-specific hardware that will deliver features and capabilities unique to the stalwart operating system, Eisler said.

So how will the Kinect for Windows differ from the Xbox hardware?

"Simple changes include shortening the USB cable to ensure reliability across a broad range of computers and the inclusion of a small dongle to improve coexistence with other USB peripherals," he said. "Of particular interest to developers will be the new firmware which enables the depth camera to see objects as close as 50 centimeters in front of the device without losing accuracy or precision, with graceful degradation down to 40 centimeters."

With the new hardware being able to see people at a closer range, Kinect for Windows will be able to be used in a wider range of environments than the Kinect for Xbox, which was designed for living rooms with wide open spaces for people to jump and move around to play games without a controller.

This so-called Near Mode was "one of the most requested features from the many developers and companies participating in our Kinect for Windows pilot program and folks commenting on our forums, and we're pleased to deliver this, and more, at launch," Eisler said.

As to when Kinect for Windows will arrive in stores, Microsoft hasn't said just yet. The current Kinect for Windows SDK is built for Windows 7, but Windows 8 is set for release sometime next year.

But it seems that the company's ambition for Kinect might extend beyond the Xbox and PCs and into TVs, according to the News Corp.-owned digital magazine, the Daily.

"Sources familiar with the subject told the Daily that the tech giant wants to aggressively push the Kinect into as many living rooms as possible, even those without its Xbox 360 gaming systems," wrote Matt Hickey, a reporter for the Daily. "Microsoft is said to be in the early stages of licensing its Kinect technology to television hardware manufacturers like Vizio and Sony."

If Microsoft were to add its motion-sensing Kinect technology into TV sets, using gestures to control the TV rather than a remote, it would place the firm in competition with Google TV and Apple's rumored eventual entry into the TV market.

If this all plays out, our living rooms and our office spaces will probably get a lot more interesting (with a lot more waving hands and arms to be seen) in the next couple of years.

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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Twitter.com/nateog

Photo: Children try out a video game that uses Microsoft's Kinect for Xbox 360 motion-sensing camera at a media event Oct. 18, 2011 in New York. Credit: Jason DeCrow / Associated Press Images for Microsoft

HP introduces Slate 2 tablet for businesses, not consumers

Hewlett-Packard has released its next tablet, the Slate 2, and it's anything but the successor to the pseudo-cult-hit that was the HP TouchPad.

In fact, the Slate 2 is actually a follow-up to HP's Slate 500, which launched more than a year ago at a price of $800, running Windows 7 and marketed to businesses and not consumers.

The Slate 2, again, isn't a consumer tablet, HP says, noting that it envisions the gadget "for business and vertical markets such as education, healthcare, government and retail, where jobs frequently take users away from a traditional desk." So don't go expecting to see this device showing up in you local electronics retailer.

The new HP tablet for businesses will sell for $700, and like the Slate 500, the Slate 2 will weigh in at 1.5 pounds, feature an 8.9-inch touchscreen and make use of an optional stylus. On the Slate 2, a software update will enable users to also use an on-screen swipe keyboard, HP said.

The Slate 2 will run on Intel's 1.5-gigahertz Atom Z670 processor, offer up to six hours of battery life and encrypt data on the device's hard drive. A VGA camera is built into the front of the Slate 2 while a 3-megapixel camera is on the back and the tablet has 2 gigabytes of RAM, a hard drive of up to 64 gigabytes and one USB port -- the same as the Slate 500's setup.

As far as looks, the Slate 2 looks pretty much exactly the same as the Slate 500 and retains the same dimensions, and both tablets run Microsoft Windows 7. This is an update -- not a whole new device. In fact, even the press image HP offered of the Slate 500 last year and the Slate 2 this year look identical, except for the simulated graphic on the screen (see above).

So, when will we see another consumer tablet from HP? It might be a while. The company has said that it will produce Windows 8 tablets next year sometime and that its WebOS plans are still up in the air.

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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

twitter.com/nateog

Image: Hewlett-Packard's Slate 500 (left) and the Slate 2. Credit: Hewlett-Packard

Microsoft security tools deleting Google Chrome from Windows PCs

Hundreds of Google Chrome users (at least) found their Internet browser of choice removed from their Windows PCs on Friday after Microsoft deleted the Web-surfing app.

And no, Microsoft didn't start pushing out Chrome because it's gaining market share and posing a threat to Internet Explorer.

Microsoft said in an emailed statement that the Chrome removals took place due to a mistake on the part of its Microsoft Security Essentials software for Windows.

The Times has found that not only Microsoft Security Essentials but also Microsoft's Forefront Endpoint Protection software can remove Google Chrome as a malware threat. This matches up with reporting from the website ZDnet, which broke news of the Chrome problems Friday morning.

The software errors wrongly spot Chrome as malware to be removed from PCs. For affected users, who have included a couple of Times staffers, simply trying to reinstall Chrome doesn't solve the problem. Instead, Microsoft's software removes the browser again.

The Windows-maker, however, said that an update to Microsoft Security Essentials' software has been pushed out to the Web and it's working on making everything well again.

Here's the explanation from Microsoft:

On September 30th, 2011, an incorrect detection for PWS:Win32/Zbot was identified and as a result, Google Chrome was inadvertently blocked and in some cases removed from customers PCs. We worked quickly to provide an updated signature (1.113.672.0) at 9:57 am PDT to fix this issue.  Affected customers should manually update Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) with the latest signatures. To do this, simply launch MSE, go to the update tab and click the Update button, and then reinstall Google Chrome. We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused our customers.

Google, for its part, published a blog post on the matter, explaining to Chrome users in a series of steps how to reinstall the browser after Microsoft's mistake.

It's also working on releasing an update to Chrome to help protect the browser from the buggy version of Microsoft Security Essentials.

From Google's blog post:

Earlier today, we learned that the Microsoft Security Essentials tool began falsely identifying Google Chrome as a piece of malware ("PWS:Win32/Zbot") and removing it from people's computers.

If Chrome is working correctly for you, then there's no need to take any action.

We are releasing an update that will automatically repair Chrome for affected users over the course of the next 24 hours.

So were you affected? If so, did you see the problem with Microsoft Security Essentials or Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection? If Chrome was removed, but you're back up and running in Chrome now, are your bookmarks and other data still around or wiped out? Sound off in the comments.

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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Twitter.com/nateog

Image: A screen shot of Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection wrongly identifying Google Chrome as malware in its "Win32/Zbot" error. Credit: Paul Olund / Los Angeles Times

HTC's Windows Phone lineup: the Radar and the Titan

HTC announced the Radar and the Titan, two new smartphones running Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system, on Thursday.

Both phones will run Microsoft's latest mobile OS, Windows Phone 7 Mango, and hit U.S. carriers before the end of the year, after launching in Europe and Asia first, HTC said in a statement.

The Titan will feature a large 4.7-inch touchscreen, which HTC said will be its largest screen size to date. The Radar will be a bit smaller, with a 3.8-inch display, and both phones will make use of aluminum bodies, the hardware maker said.

The devices also will come loaded with an app called HTC Watch, which offers a selection of the "latest premium movies and TV shows right at your fingertips" and HTC Photo Enhancer which can be used to "quickly touch up pictures and upload them to Facebook, tagging your friends as you go using automatic face detection built into Windows Phones."

A first for Windows Phone, Mango will enable handsets to take advantage of front-facing cameras for video calls, and as such, the Radar and Titan have cameras up front. Out back on both phones, a still and video camera can be found, each capable of shooting up to 720p video.

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Image: The HTC Titan, left, and the Radar, two new smartphones running Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Mango operating system. Credit: HTC Corp.

Microsoft talks cloud, mobile and Windows 8 at big conference in L.A.

Microsoft Corp. is doing a little show business in L.A.

The Redmond, Wash., software giant is firing up the spotlight downtown this week for its annual conference of business partners.  The event, held at the convention center, has attracted about 15,000 attendees, and boosters say it will bring tens of millions of dollars in revenue to the city.

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer kicked off the event Monday with a keynote that touched on Microsoft's current strategy, which is largely focused on moving its business into the computing cloud.

"It's going to be one of the most beneficial transitions for all users of information technology around the planet," Ballmer said, noting that Microsoft has more than 40,000 partners that identify themselves as cloud-ready.

Last month Microsoft unveiled Office 365, a cloud-based version of its popular office software.

Ballmer also hyped the company's mobile handset offering: Windows Phone. Though he acknowledged that Microsoft hadn't yet won many mobile customers with the product ("We went from very small to very small"), he said the offering had plenty of potential. For one thing, he said, mobile phone giant Nokia cast its lot with the Windows Phone.

"Nokia -- who had a choice this year to bet on themselves, Android or Windows Phone -- said for their bet-the-company strategy, they're going with Windows Phone," he said. 

Microsoft also touched on Windows 8, the next version of its popular operating system, slated for a 2012 release. Windows 8 will be tailored to work on the smaller computing chips found in smartphones and tablet computers, as well as traditional PCs.

"Windows 8 is a true reimagining of Windows, from the chip to the interface," said Tami Reller, who leads business and marketing for Microsoft Windows. "We designed Windows 8 from the ground up to be excellent for touch-only tablets -- and to work well with the keyboard and mouse."

Later Monday, Ballmer was slated to host a reception for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other L.A. city officials for the presentation of a "Microsoft Week in L.A." certificate.

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Photo: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer addresses the crowd at the 2011 Microsoft partner conference in Los Angeles. Credit: Microsoft

Microsoft releases Kinect for Windows SDK

Microsoft released a new Kinect for Windows software development kit on Thursday that works with the company's Windows 7 operating system.

The new Kinect for Windows SDK offers developers a set of tools to build applications and games for PCs using Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing controller, which launched for the Xbox 360 gaming console last November and has sold more than 10 million units so far.

"The Kinect for Windows SDK opens up a world of possibilities to developers," said Anoop Gupta, an engineer at Microsoft Research, in a statement. "We can't wait to see what this community will create as we work together to build more natural, intuitive computing experiences."

The developer SDK, which can be downloaded for free, follows Microsoft's February release of a Kinect for Windows SDK to academics, which also enabled the camera-equipped device to be used with PCs.

Already, some have used the Kinect to build various programs controlled by motion gestures and voice commands -- and the Kinect has been hacked for PC gaming and a few non-Microsoft-approved apps.

Microsoft said on its Kinect for Windows website that the new "SDK is designed for non-commercial purposes only," and that a commercial version is on the way.

At E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, in Los Angeles last week, Microsoft pitched Kinect as a device useful to hard-core gamers. So far, the device has been used mostly for family-minded and group gaming.

Both efforts, with Kinect for Windows and core gamers, are attempts by Microsoft to broaden the appeal of the Kinect, and of hands-free motion control in its products.

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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

twitter.com/nateog

Photo: Attendees of E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, in Los Angeles play the video game Dance Central 2 for the Xbox 360 Kinect on June 7. Credit: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Influential investor says Microsoft's Ballmer should step aside

Microsoft Corp. chief Steve Ballmer should surrender the throne, a well-known hedge fund investor said in New York on Wednesday.

David Einhorn, the manager of the Greenlight Capital fund, said Ballmer, who has been at Microsoft since 1980 and was the first business manager hired by Bill Gates, should "give someone else a chance."

"His continued presence is the biggest overhang on Microsoft's stock," Einhorn said at an investment conference, according to a report from Reuters.  Ballmer has been Microsoft's chief executive since Gates handed him the reins in 2000.

Einhorn and his fund are substantial investors in Microsoft, owning close to 9 million shares of the company, or approximatly 0.11% of its shares.

Although Microsoft continues to reap huge profits from sales of its Office and Windows software that runs on hundreds of millions of computers around the world, the company's stock has remained notoriously static, hovering between about $25 and $30 a share for much of the last decade.

Last year, Apple Inc., a longtime Microsoft rival and once a tiny upstart in comparison, became larger than Microsoft in terms of market value.  And on Tuesday, IBM -- also a rival that Microsoft famously overtook in the PC business in the 1990s -- caught and passed Microsoft by market value.  (Microsoft, which has seen a 2.5% increase in stock price Thursday, is back in front of IBM for now).

Microsoft has been playing catch-up in several markets, including search with Bing, its competitor to Google, and its Windows Phone.  The company announced a new version of the phone's software earlier this week.

Updated, 1:43 p.m.: Reuters is reporting that the Microsoft board of directors still backs Ballmer, according to "a source close to the board.  The report did not offer any other detail.

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Image: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at CeBit in Hanover, Germany, in 2008. Credit: Kay Nietfeld / European Pressphoto Agency

Microsoft CEO promises Windows 8 in 2012, 500 new features for Windows Phone 7

Windows 8 for desktop computers and tablets will ship in 2012, and an upcoming Windows Phone 7 update will include 500 new features, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Monday at a developers conference in Japan.

Ballmer made the announcement in a speech, shortly after expressing his condolences to Japan about the earthquake and tsunami that struck the nation in March.

"It's been 18 months since my last trip in Japan, which in my whole 30 years of working for Microsoft is the longest period of time between visits in Japan," Ballmer said in his speech. "Microsoft is very committed to Japan. We're celebrating 25 years this year, 25 years of Microsoft business in Japan. And to all of the developers in the room, I say: Thank you very much for the support and for the partnership."

Ballmer said that Japan is home to Microsoft's second-largest subsidiary and that Microsoft is looking to Japan to help the company be competitive in areas where it "is committed to investing and innovating and leading."

One of the areas Microsoft wants to lead is "natural user interface" -- using speech, gestures and touch to control computers. Microsoft has had success with its Kinect motion-sensing camera for its Xbox 360 video game console, but it has yet to release a major consumer tablet offering, which would rely on a touch-screen-oriented version of Windows.

Ballmer expressed frustration about having released Windows Phone 7 to the market last fall.

"Another big sort of effort for us in terms of transforming the future of communication is the Windows Phone," he said. "We came to market with Windows Phone about a year later than I wish we had, shame on us.

"But we're moving forward very actively. We launched Windows Phones last November. We've done a set of upgrades. We have a release that will come to market later this year in Japan. Not only is it a new release that is now much more global, but we've added over 500 new features to Windows Phone."

Not long after that, Ballmer turned his attention to what Microsoft is doing on Windows 8.

"Windows 7 PCs will sell over 350 million units this year," Ballmer said. "We've done a lot in Windows 7 to improve customer satisfaction. We have a brand-new user interface. We've added touch and ink and speech. And yet, as we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there's a whole lot more coming. As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors."

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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

twitter.com/nateog

Photo: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in San Francisco on May 10. Credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Intel is getting into the tablet market with its Atom Z670 processors

Intel is getting into the tablet business with a new line of its Atom processors called the Z670 series.

The microchip giant announced the new processors Monday and said the Atom Z670 chips would make their way into tablets and other portable devices by the end of next month.

So far, companies such as Asus, Fujitsu and Lenovo have signed on to build devices using the new processors. Intel said the Z760 line would offer "increased battery life, enhanced performance especially around video, and several other new features" and be ideal for use in "mobile clinical assistants, ruggedized industrial tablets and portable point-of-sale systems."

Among the first devices to run using a Z670 processor will be the Asus EeePad Slider, which has a 10.1-inch touch screen and a slide-out keyboard; a new tablet from Evolve that will run on Windows 7; and the upcoming Lenovo Ideapad Slate tablet.

The Samsung Series 7 tablet, announced at CES in Las Vegas in January (and which also features a slide-out keyboard) will also run on a 1.66-GHz Z670 processor and Windows 7.

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Image: The Asus EeePad Slider. Credit: Intel / Asus