Dying for a new desktop or laptop with a fresh, factory-installed copy of Windows 7 on it? We all know the official start date for the Win 7 era is October 22, but some small custom PC makers are claiming they'll start shipping systems with the new OS as early as October 13.
Puget Systems, a custom PC maker in Seattle, says the following on its Web site:
Customers who place orders for a full personal computer system, and who select Microsoft Windows 7 as their OS of choice, will be immediately placed in queue for shipment which will begin in earnest on October 13, 2009.
According to tech news site Ars Technica, Puget was told by Microsoft that "the earlier date only applies to system builders that buy the operating system through distribution channels," meaning small PC makers, and not the big OEMs like Dell and HP.
However, Puget and other custom PC makers may be a bit too optimistic. A Microsoft spokesperson explains, "October 12 is the date that Microsoft enables our Authorized Replicators to begin shipping Windows 7 to Microsoft OEM Authorized Distributors... So, while in theory a System Builder could get Windows 7 product pre-GA (general availability), based on supply chain analysis, the intended timing for customers to receive Windows 7 PCs from System Builders should be close to GA, on October 22nd."
That means the copy of Windows 7 on your system from a custom PC maker would leave the DVD replicating facility on October 12 and get shipped to a distributor, which would then send it to a company like Puget. After that, your system still has to get built, tested, and shipped. If one is very optimistic, this could get you hooked up a few days early, but realistically, this puts you in the same general October 22 ballpark as everyone else.
But if you're determined to be the first person on your block with a Windows 7 PC, all is not lost. While the official release date of October 22 is a Thursday, we've heard from several sources that certain big brick-and-mortar retail stores are going to start advertising Windows 7 systems in the weekend newspaper circulars that hit on Sunday, October 18.
The implication is, if you drop by a retail store that Sunday, there's a good chance they'll have Windows 7 versions of some laptops and desktops in the store already, and there's a good chance you'll be able to walk out with one.
(Credit:
Exhibitor Online)
A new study from Nokia predicts that by 2012, a quarter of all entertainment will be created, edited, and shared within peer groups rather than being generated by traditional media.
Jointly conducted with the trend research firm The Future Laboratory, Nokia's study asked trend-setting consumers from 17 countries about their digital behaviors and lifestyles. The company also used information gathered from its 900 million customers as well as views of leading industry analysts.
"From our research we predict that up to a quarter of the entertainment being consumed in five years will be what we call 'circular.' The trends we are seeing show us that people will have a genuine desire not only to create and share their own content, but also to remix it, mash it up, and pass it on within their peer groups-- a form of collaborative social media," says Mark Selby, vice president of multimedia for Nokia. Nokia pinpoints four emerging trends that propel this kind of "circular entertainment": immersive living; geek culture; G tech; and localism.
Selby continues, "We think it will work something like this: someone shares video footage they shot on their mobile device from a night out with a friend. That friend takes that footage and adds an MP3 file--the sound track of the evening--then passes it to another friend. That friend edits the footage by adding some photographs and passes it on to another friend and so on. The content keeps circulating between friends, who may or may not be geographically close, and becomes part of the group's entertainment."
Tom Savigar, trends director at The Future Laboratory, adds, "Consumers are increasingly demanding that their entertainment be truly immersive, engaging, and collaborative. Whereas once the act of watching, reading, and hearing entertainment was passive, consumers now and in the future will be active and unrestrained by the ubiquitous nature of circular entertainment. Key to this evolution is consumers' basic human desire to compare and contrast, create and communicate. We believe the next episode promises to deliver the democracy politics can only dream of."
Of course, you have to take surveys sponsored by big brands with a grain of salt. Nokia's intent is obviously to ride the wave of a powerful current and promote its mobile devices as the venue where that new kind of "circular," convergent entertainment will take place. Moreover, user-generated content (and user-generated entertainment in particular) is neither a breathtakingly new phenomenon, nor is it beyond any dispute that the traditional networks will just sit and watch their dominance wane.
Nokia's study also ignores the fact that the distinction between traditional and "circular" entertainment is becoming increasingly difficult. In times of professional mash-ups, amateur reality TV, and 24/7 life-casting, where does original content end and recycled content start? What if traditional entertainment becomes a micro-format within user-generated entertainment and vice versa? Naturally, the two intermingle, and it may not even be too bold a statement to forecast that at some stage of a highly fragmented and collaborative distribution chain, all entertainment will be "circular" in 2012.
(Credit:
Wolf King)
As sick as it undoubtedly seems, we're all about keyboards here at Crave, whether they be of the computing or musical variety (or both). And we're particularly fond of those that aren't afraid to break the mold, figuratively and literally.
Wolf King's new gaming keyboard falls somewhere in between those last two categories. Proposed in FCC filings, the weird creation has seven hotkeys and blue backlights but has a relatively small 14.3- by 3.4-inch footprint, according to Gizmodo. The gear maker is no stranger to unusual designs, but this one goes disturbingly further than previous models with two circular key layouts side by side.
Although we have no idea how it would perform, it would be a fine addition to our museum.
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