The world’s most popular operating system is due for its biggest overhaul in decades. Designed as a one-size-fits-all OS, Microsoft wants Windows 8 to be used in both tablets and desktops–and rather than split the difference, they simply added a new, Windows-Phone-7-like tablet interface right next to the traditional keyboard and mouse interface.

Windows 8, which is currently just a codename, is a split-brain operating system. It’ll run two totally different kinds of apps: the traditional Windows software, looking (at least at this stage) pretty much like Windows 7, and a touch-focused tablet-like interface that’s in the vein of the angular, aggressively 2-D, thoroughly modern, and quite beautiful Windows Phone 7 smartphone OS. The whole shebang is designed to be used with touch–it’ll have keyboard and mouse support, but that’s really only for what will soon be legacy Windows apps. It’d be like having your MacBook run iOS, just like your iPad–except when you need to run Mac OS X apps, at which point it turns into a typical desktop. It seems a bit disjointed, for sure, but we’ll say this: The tablet-like part looks fantastic.

Left out of the tablet game while Apple, Google, and BlackBerry (BlackBerry!) runs ahead, Windows 8 is Microsoft’s plea for tablet attention. It looks mostly like an expanded, more powerful version of Windows Phone 7: The homescreen is made up of tiles, which are somewhere in between icons and widgets in that they display some information while still acting like a shortcut to the full app. Everything is in bright colors with sharp angles, and the OS is heavily text-based, rather than image-based.

To get around, you can swipe from the right, which brings up your taskbar, loaded with the Start button, search, and settings. Swiping from the left lets you switch through apps, like an Alt-Tab command, but it’ll also let you snap two apps onto the screen for multitasking–a Twitter app could run on the side while you work in a browser on the majority of the screen, and you can resize those two apps (or swap in different ones) at will.

Microsoft wants this OS to run on lower-powered machines like tablets, so it supports ARM-based processors (like those used in tablets) and is actually more efficient in terms of power usage than Windows 7. Hopefully that means long, tablet-like battery life, something current Windows tablets struggle with. We’ll be seeing more about Windows 8 (and eventually learning its real name) in the coming months. It’s definitely promising, though we’re not necessarily sold on the idea of having a desktop interface on our tablets and a tablet interface on our desktops–the idea of having one OS for all purposes sounds great, but we don’t yet know how Microsoft plans to merge the very different sides of Windows 8 into a coherent whole. These are essentially just interface mockups–Microsoft is playing around with how Windows 8 might look and behave, and everything is subject to change.

Viennese Micro-Printer Markus Hatzenbichler and Klaus Stadlmann with their micro-printer

At the Vienna Institute of Technology, a group of engineers claims they’ve created not only the world’s smallest 3-D printer, but also one that’s so light and inexpensive that it could conceivably pave the way for truly domestic 3-D printing. Lost an earring or a cuff-link? Print one out (and congratulations on your fancy life). That’s the future, and it might not be far off at all.

3-D printer manufacturers sometimes think big, but there’s just as much of a movement to think small, to bring this sort of fabrication to the masses. Our roundup of 3-D printing dream projects includes both–Enrico Dini may want to put a 3-D printer on the Moon to build houses out of moon-dust, but Hod Lipson wants cheap 3-D printers in every classroom. This project, hailing from Vienna, is more in the second group.

The university claims this is the world’s smallest 3-D printer, designed to print with a special kind of synthetic resin that instantly and precisely hardens when hit with an intense beam of light. That gives it the ability to print very intricate as well as very sturdy objects. It uses a focused beam of light, hardening layers only a twentieth of a millimeter thick, which is delicate enough that the university says it can be used to print finicky objects like hearing aid parts.

The team says the prototype is "no bigger than a carton of milk," about 3.3 pounds in weight, and can be sold for 1200 Euros (about $1,700 USD). The size and price are both flexible, and could go down if the printer sees mass demand. No word on whether they’ll attempt any sort of mass production, but this is a pretty intriguing look at our future. It’s not hard to imagine a 3-D printer on every counter, alongside the food processor and coffee machine. In fact, it’s great fun to imagine that.

The Typescreen is a separate keyboard for the iPad, that looks and works like an old-fashioned manual typewriter

One of the criticisms of iPads is that they’re not easy enough to type on. Yes, the virtual keyboard is there, but it’s a little on the small side, and lacks any kind of tactile feedback to let users know that their finger tappings have registered. While there are Bluetooth keyboards that iPadders can purchase, there’s now something else that offers what must certainly be the ultimate in tactile feedback – the manual typewriter-inspired Typescreen.

Users just slip their iPad or iPad 2 into the Typescreen’s carriage, then start hammering away on its old school keys. As with a manual typewriter, an individual arm will fly up with every keystroke. Whereas those arms would strike an ink-containing ribbon on a typewriter, on the Typescreen they actually press the individual keys on the iPad’s virtual keyboard – it would be interesting to know if the arms always connect with the right keys.

It’s definitely reminiscent of a little something we featured last June, called the USB Typewriter. The device can be ordered or made at home from plans, and is essentially a Frankensteined-up existing manual typewriter that is wired into the USB port of an iPad, smartphone or device of your choice. From there, it simply acts as a clickity-clackity retro keyboard.

The Typescreen is made by Britain’s Spinning Hat, and the company is only making a limited number of the devices. It’s priced at GBP 35, or about US$57.

Nexus has introduced silent switching technology to the computer mouse, to rid users of those irritating click sounds

The clicking sound we hear when we press a mouse button is part of the device’s switching mechanism, that has also become a kind of audible comfort cushion for computer users. However, Dutch component manufacturer Nexus believes that in these days of notebook trackpads and tablet touchscreens, we no longer need the audible confirmation that a requested action has been performed – we can see it onscreen. The company has now discovered some silent switching technology and installed into a couple of its input peripherals, so that they operate without so much as a squeak.

First to receive the patented technology was a two-button (plus a scroll wheel) notebook mouse named the sm7000. Available in rubberized black or glossy white, the 3.85 x 2.75 x 1.45-inch (9.8 x 7.0 x 3.7-cm) optical device benefits from a switch for swapping between 1000 and 1600 dpi resolution, an auto-power-save mode, and a compartment inside the mouse to store a nano receiver when in transit. The device uses 2.4GHz wireless technology to pair with the receiver when it’s plugged into a USB port on a laptop or computer.

The sm7000 is available now for a suggested retail of US$29.95.

The company has put together a short video demonstration of this mouse in action:

Nexus has now announced that a bigger brother is to join the silent team, named the sm8000. It operates using the same wireless technology, but sports five buttons – all kept quiet by the same silent switching technology as the notebook mouse. This 4.6 x 2.99 x 1.65-inch (11.7 x 7.6 x 4.2-cm) model runs on a couple of AAA batteries. Nexus has told us that it will be available in the U.S. in the next couple of weeks, with pricing yet to be announced.

Using two interlocking flash drive-like USB sticks, iTwin allows two remote computers to access one another’s complete hard drives via a secure internet connection

A lot of us have one "mothership" desktop computer, along with a laptop or notebook that we take on the road. Many of us also use one computer at work, and another at home. Inevitably, there are occasions where we’re using one computer, but wishing we could access a file on the other. While there is remote access software that allows you to do so, the iTwin system offers what seems to be a much simpler solution – two flash drive-like sticks that plug into either computer, and let them communicate for free over a secure internet connection.

To use iTwin, after establishing a link between the two computers by interlocking the sticks, you just pull them apart and leave them in the machines’ USB ports. As long as both computers have internet access, they will have access to each other’s complete hard drives via an AES 256-bit encrypted connection.

This arrangement opens up various possibilities. When you’re on the road, you can use a notebook with relatively little memory or features, and you won’t have to debate which files to transfer onto it before leaving. Memory cards from cameras can be freed up on a daily basis, home-based music and video libraries can be accessed, and the possession of a zip or flash drive becomes less crucial. You and a co-worker can also be linked, so that changes to files can be made directly to the files themselves, and not relayed through emailed updated versions of those files.

Should one of the sticks get lost or fall into the wrong hands, it can be remotely disabled.

The creators of iTwin point out that remote access software needs to be configured on both computers, often requires a monthly fee, and passes data through a server where it could potentially be accessed by a third party. Cloud storage, they say, has some of the same drawbacks, and only allows access to whatever has been uploaded to it.

It should also be noted, however, that iTwin currently only works on Windows machines. It can also only link two computers (although a multi-machine setup is in the works), which limits its applications for collaborative projects.

iTwin can be purchased on the product website, for an introductory price of US$99.

Super Talent has announced that it is to offer its Express RAM Cache drives pre-loaded with the Ceedo Personal virtual Windows desktop

Have you ever logged onto a shared computer and wished that you had access to your own desktop, your own programs and your own files? That’s precisely what’s being offered by the partnering of Super Talent’s Express RAM Cache drive and Ceedo’s virtual Windows desktop. Plugging into the drive of a host Windows PC and launching the application is said to provide SSD-like performance for launched programs and files. As all user settings and files are saved to the flash drive, there’s no trace left on the machine used.

Super Talent sees the speed at which USB 3.0 allows storage devices to operate as blurring the lines between external and internal storage. Its USB 3.0 Express RAM Cache drive solutions feature a 32MB DRAM cache and four channel architecture that’s said to allow it to perform less like a flash drive and more like a solid state drive. For those who don’t yet use USB 3.0 technology, the setup on the drive is also claimed to vastly improve USB 2.0 speeds, too.

The company is now offering its USB 3.0 Express RAM Cache drives with the Ceedo Personal portable Windows environment pre-loaded, potentially transforming them into virtual computers.

Ceedo works with Windows XP through 7, and allows users to carry all their most frequently used programs on the drive and then run them on any Windows machine. Many Windows programs now come in portable versions and can be loaded into the Ceedo environment in User Mode without having to worry about pesky Admin rights.

After plugging the drive into an available PC and starting the Ceedo app, a taskbar appears that shows icons for all the available programs. When you’re finished surfing, creating documents, editing images or playing games, closing the app down saves all of the user created files – such as browser cookies, documents or temporary files – onto the drive, leaving no traces on the host machine. The PC is then returned to the same state it was in before you arrived.

The combination would seem to be ideal for anyone who shares a computer but wants to keep everything contained within their own private space, or for students who want to use all their favorite applications on an otherwise locked-down campus PC. Business users will be able to use hotel or conference center machines more productively with their own business tools at hand.

The Ceedo option will add US$20 to the cost of Super Talent’s USB 3.0 Express RAM Cache drives. The 16GB version will cost US$79, the 32GB US$139 and the 64GB version US$229.

Have a look at the system in operation:

i dropper this wonderful stylus pen for an intuitive connective experience on mobile devices. Gadgets like smart phones, laptops, and PDAs form the essence of our environment these days and the intuitive i dropper interface allows you to connect fast and move data between devices in a jiffy. Modeled on the eyedropper, this new-age thang allows you to “suck in” and “drop out” information such as a mobile application, text, or an image.
This easy step eliminates the complexities of existing transmission process between devices to an intuitive eyedropper method.

technology innovation

XOS-2 Raytheon-Sarcos

The XOS Exoskeleton, which was first shown off about two and a half years ago, was the first full-body suit that really evoked the sci-fi and comic fan’s dream of donning a suit that grants superhuman strength. Late last week, Raytheon-Sarcos demonstrated the newest XOS suit–the sequel, you might say.

Not so coincidentally, Paramount Pictures was on hand to talk about the suit’s connections to Iron Man 2, which comes out on DVD/Blu-ray this week. But unlike Iron Man 2, which was all about more (more villains! More length! More plotlines!), the XOS-2 is all about less: Less energy required, less heavy, and less muscle required to lift objects.

Most importantly, the ratio between actual and perceived weight lifted is much improved, going from 6:1 in the XOS-1 to a whopping 17:1 in the XOS-2. A 50-pound weight feels like only three pounds, and a 200-pound weight feels like only 12. Test engineer Rex Jameson (that name even sounds like a superhero, doesn’t it?) was able to punch through four one-inch boards strapped together, and repeatedly lifted a 200-pound artillery shell.

But the suit also requires 50 percent less energy, a major upgrade, and weighs about 10 percent less, at 195 pounds, which should come in handy in the suit’s most likely future applications, especially military and construction. The suit allows for faster, more precise, and more portable moving of heavy objects than a large machine, allowing a worker to pick up and move heavy objects all day without fatigue. One suited worker, says Raytheon-Sarcos, can do the work of two to three non-suited workers.

Though the suit weighs 195 pounds, Jameson says it feels extremely lightweight, almost like a winter jacket.

The XOS-2′s practical applications are obvious, but its funding is not. The project has received $4 to $8 million a year from DARPA, but the government hasn’t approved funding through other channels quite yet.

Laptop computers are appropriately named, as they do sit nicely on your lap. If you’ve ever tried using one down there, however, you’ll know that it’s not the most ergonomic set-up imaginable – you have to bend your head down, keep your knees up, and feel your thighs getting toasty warm from the computer-generated heat that is evidently not able to disperse into the air. In order to position laptops in other ways, various companies have offered laptop stands to put on your desk, devices for turning your lap itself into a desk-like computer workspace, gizmos that allow you to swivel your laptop over from the passenger seat of your car, or that let you use it beside your bed. If only there was one that held your laptop in front of you while you were lying on your back… there is, of course, and Hong Kong-based company Omax has a variety of them to choose from.

There are several models of Laptop Tables, but they all pretty much come down to the same thing: an easel-like stand with scissor-folding legs on either side. While the more basic models have simple air holes in the back to provide ventilation, the fancier ones have built-in fans that run off the computer’s USB port and silica rubber pad to stop your laptop sliding around.

There are a number of ways that the stands can be used. Folded almost all the way down, they can act as a simple desktop stand. Pulled up a little taller, you can put them on the carpet and sit with your legs out underneath them, or put them over your legs while sitting in a chair. With their legs pulled all the way up, you can use them while standing, or at the side of your bed. And yes, as mentioned, you can also use them in bed, in such a way that your computer is held above your face as you’re lying on your back.

The Omax Laptop Tables are constructed from aluminum and come in a variety of colors. They fold flat when not in use and can also be used for tablets, with or without separate keyboards.

Check out their website for more information.

Someday humans and computers will meld to create cyborgs. But instead of waiting for it, Martin Magnusson, a Swedish researcher and entrepreneur, has taken the first step and created a wearable computer that can be slung across the body.

Magnusson has hacked a pair of head-mounted display glasses and combined it with a homebrewed machine based on an open source Beagleboard single computer. Packed into a CD case and slung across the shoulder messenger-bag style, he is ready to roll.

A computer is a window to the virtual world, says Magnusson.

“But as soon as I get up and about, that window closes and I’m stuck within the limits of physical reality,” he says. “Wearable computers make it possible to keep the window open. All the time.”

Magnusson’s idea is interesting though one step short of integrating a machine inside the body. In 2008, a Canadian filmmaker Rob Spence decided to embed a tiny video camera into his prosthetic left eye. Spence, who is still working on the project, hopes to someday record everything around him as he sees it and lifecast it.

For his wearable computer, Magnusson is using a pair of Myvu glasses that slide on like a pair of sunglasses but have a tiny video screen built into the lens.

A Beagleboard running Angstrom Linux and a Plexgear mini USB hub that drives the Bluetooth adapter and display forms the rest of this rather simple machine. Four 2700 mAh AA batteries are used to power the USB hub. Magnusson has used a foldable Nokia keyboard for input and is piping internet connectivity through Bluetooth tethering to an iPhone in his pocket.

Magnusson says he wants to use the wearable computer to “augment” his memory.

“By having my to-do list in the corner of my eye, I always remember the details of my schedule,” he says.

The innards of the homebrewed machine are glued to a CD case. The CD case is slung across the shoulder by attaching it to a strap using velcro.