Microsoft has launched Windows 7 with much fanfare and is getting mixed and good reviews and it really seems that new OS version is better than the old but unfortunately one cannot say the same about their ad campaigns. For some strange reason Microsoft is sticking to old lines of ‘I am PC’ or ‘My PC’. This good old counter campaign against Apple’s ‘I am Mac’ is getting quite boring.

There can be a lot argument in favor of the new print campaign which clearly shows that Microsoft cares a lot about customer feedback and they incorporate the same in their products. All PC owners featured in these print ads clearly seem to be proud followers of the brand and identify with the brand. But these are all old storylines. These ads say nothing much about the new features of the Windows 7 which makes it a real winner. The competition between brands must be about improved features and services of the products.

Instead of using ‘I am PC’ lines Microsoft and ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky could have used this opportunity to step out of old shadows  and launched a new intelligent and fresh campaign to challenge Apple and waited for its counter-move.

Via Ads of the World

The PC keyboard is now getting made from bamboo! The bio-degradable, eco-friendly material that is otherwise popular only with furniture, is well turning out to be a great bet in innovation. Made by Brando, this is a step in the direction of eco-friendly PCs. Its mouse may not be all that easy on our fingers, but the wooden keyboard is all inviting.

It not only gives that natural look around you, but also burdens you less with that guilt when you stare at your PC and wish it were less taxing on the environment. Imagine typing away furiously at those 106 keys with that complete feel good factor of being less harmful to the environment! It comes with a package – keyboard and mouse costing all of US $ 52, and individual, the keyboard costs $ 39 while the mouse could be bought at $ 19.

Via: Brando, Dvice

If you have an antique Delco radio, you better not throw it. Somebody has just created a computer out of an antique Delco radio. This is a very creative way of not wasting the radio and to give a new life to it. You might be wondering how this whole thing works. Well, it works just like any other computers.

You can press the left button on the front of the speaker to switch on the computer, and the front light illuminates automatically. In place of the speaker, the main fan is put. The motherboard is carefully mounted with bolts while the HD, DVD Drive and PSU are mounted with a sturdy velcro, which allows the user to remove and remove components whenever required.

All the components installed in the computer are new except for the case. As of now, Ubuntu Server is installed but if you prefer any other operating system, the designer will do it for you at your request. This computer is ideal for home server, home media server or a PC. The old and rustic look of the computer adds to the vintage feel of it. You can buy this for $625 USD.

Via: Etsy

Here is a cool and sophisticated speaker called the “AURA BluNote Bluetooth Speaker”. This portable wireless speaker is suitable for your mobile phone, PDA, iPod, MP3/MP4 player, and portable game console, PC or Mac. Besides, the Non-Bluetooth® devices can also connect via a 3.5mm jack, which is already included along with this speaker. This is definitely useful and if you are a music lover then you will like it all the more.

It’s not always possible to carry around the ordinary speakers, which have never ending wires and they are sometimes cumbersome as well. This high quality speaker can be carried anywhere and everywhere you go. You can simply put it in your handbag or your jacket pocket. Its bass boost provides deep, rich, bass tones for a more powerful sound. It can also create a three dimensional soundscape with its stereo widening feature.

In case you receive a call while you are busy listening to music from it using the speaker, you can still continue to talk comfortably by using the handsfree function. This speaker runs on a 4 AA batteries, which is already included along with the AC adapter. You can store up to 8 Bluetooth profiles and you can pair them with different devices. You can buy this special speaker for $99.

Via: Spracht

Here is something that will inspire you the Xbox fans. A creative Finnish guy, an ardent Xbox fan came up with an interesting creation of using a very old Mobira Talkman cell phone kit and installing a home theater PC inside. This novel idea is in fact, very credible.

It’s a good way of re-using the ancient cell phones into a good and creative use. It’s even more interesting that this guy has cleverly fit a USB hub, Wi-Fi card, sound card, and a 128 X 128 OLED screen into the handset. This also works for VOIP calls to boot. Apparently, the entire project took about 40 hours to complete. That’s not very long to come up with an interesting creation as this.

I wish I were as creative as this guy so that I could also design something creative like this one. I have a couple of ancient cell phone and I don’t know what to do with them. If you are an Xbox fan, get creative and start up with your creative project using your ancient cell phones, instead of throwing them unused.

Via: CrunchGear\Metku

Here is good news for all you computer geeks. The All-in-One PC called “The Wind Top AE2200″ has it all to help you be in touch with a wonderful lifestyle. The touchscreen equipped Aio desktop measures 560 x 465 x 59 mm. It is a relatively taller desktop with a 21.6 inch pixels and a 5ms response time. It also has a 2.70 GHz Pentium Dual-Core E5400 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500Gb hard drive, a DVD writer, and a Mobility Radeon HD 4650 graphics card with 1 GB memory.

Besides the copious features, it also comes with additional features such as, a 1.3 megapixel camera. WiFi, two 5W speakers, a 6-in-1 card reader, a built-in TV tuner and a 200W PSU.I wonder how so many amazing features are installed in one single PC. It just looks so fascinating and, it will be great to use this excellent PC.

The price is yet to be announced for the Wind Top AE2200. Considering the umpteen special features it provides, its price tag will equally be heavy. Whatever its price may be, I will definitely grab this one for myself.

Via: TcMagazine

Bill Gates is arguably the number one business leader that the past quarter-century has produced. An instinctive innovator and incurable entrepreneur for most of his life, he started what would be a long career in programming computers at the tender age of 13. He quit Harvard in his junior year to develop what would eventually be Microsoft, co-founding it with Paul Allen in 1975.

His unfailing vision made him see the better future of software. He bought DOS for only a few thousand dollars and instantly transformed it into a bestseller for Microsoft. He went on to produce other bestselling Microsoft products. In 1978, Microsoft became a one million dollar company. Nearly twenty-five years later, the company has become the market leader in the software industry with assets of close to $30 billion.

What Bill Gates clearly saw was technology leading the future, if technology is systematically controlled. He, thus, made MS-DOS and Windows the universal standard for personal computing, controlling a significant chunk of the market up until the Internet dictated such technology.

The impact of his leadership is seen in the very homes of millions of Microsoft users. Gates put the PC in ordinary homes, and created the ease of personal computing that has become second nature to modern man. If billions of people across the globe now know how to use a computer, and if practically every modern home has a PC, this is because of Gates’ legacy to the software industry.

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Via WIRED/Ask Rea Maor

Apart from his legendary entrepreneurial skills and seemingly permanent inclusion in ‘world’s richest’ lists, history sees Bill Gates as a determined technological innovator, dogged entrepreneur, astute businessman, and philanthropist of late. No one can deny his visionary leadership. Everybody recognizes the fact that he founded the software industry. But people, likewise, cannot forget that, while Gates is an innovator, he is hardly an inventor. For the most part, what he did was improve on already existing products such as DOS which he bought during his early years for a few thousand dollars.

Bill Gates has been judged by recent history as the ‘world’s computer genius and innovator of the PC who missed the Internet train’ (Turner, 2007). He did not succeed in making Microsoft an Internet star. His Net contribution in the form of a browser has been dislodged by the giant Mozilla Firefox browser, for instance, as a more Internet-friendly innovation. He ‘missed to see the impending possibility that PCs will work within networks that connect them.’

If Gates was not an inventor of products, he certainly was a discoverer of marketing strategies and developer of new markets. Gates’ strength has always been in knowing people’s needs. What he did was to know the needs of the markets so well, and fashioned the products being churned out by his software development team to fit those market needs that he came to know about. In the end, Gates is remembered more for his business savvy than his technological innovations. He laughed/still laughs all the way to the bank as he has created an ecosystem that put a desktop in almost every home on the majority of the planet.

But his sights are not very much in IT anymore. He has stepped down from managing Microsoft on a day-to-day basis. Bill Gates vision is now focused on the real and threatening dangers of the world. Nowadays, Bill Gates is known more for his philanthropy, with his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Among other things, he helps fund vaccine research for AIDS and other infectious diseases, as well as helping Africa be more sustainable in terms of food production. According to the Foundation’s website, he now wants to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty.

From his old concepts of ‘kinder capitalism’ and ‘creative capitalism,’ Bill Gates is now revolutionizing the world with his concept of ‘philanthrocapitalism.’

He is still, though, very much into knowing and fulfilling people’s needs.

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Via TED

Here’s is a cool all in one PC – The X 5000TA with a touch screen from Shuttel Europe! You might just get tempted by its copious features. It comes with a touch screen of 15.6 inch in size. Besides the already built in webcam, wifi, microphone and speakers, the 5000TA also comes with an Intel dual-core Atom 330 processor (2x 1.6 GHz). It has 1GB memory and the thickness measures just 3.6cm.

The 5000TA is a blend of energy saving technologies and an innovative operating design. You can also mount this super cool PC on the wall. The Shuttle X 5000TA is available from specialist retailers or via the Shuttle Systems Configurator in Europe now, with an MRSP of €499 ($651) excluding VAT.

If you purchase the complete system, you can also claim the 24 month warranty, pick up and free return service and also a Europe-free telephone hotline. Apparently, Shuttel Europe is developing different sizes, feature sets and OSes, which will hit the market in the near future. Let’s just hope that these would come in the market with bigger screens and better functions.

Via: SlashGear

Art PC Ryou is a unique concept that brings the art to the computers. These products come with the latest technology but also have the added attraction of being some of the most artistic machines ever built by man.

Art PC Ryou is made of only organic materials and the PC cases are made of the best quality of wood available.

The reason wood is used in the PC is because it is something close to the human evolution. As a hunter man used to hunt with wooden and stone weapons. In order to bring that flavor, the company has used wood in the PC cases.

Woodworkers, engravers, lacquerers, designers and other professionals alike gold relief artists and system engineers together have come to build this unique and stylish art PC.

There are many different customizations available and mane different specifications as well. You would need to contact the manufacturers and browse through their catalogue in order to decide which on suits your needs the best.

These are customized for your needs and hence, technical specifications and even designs can be done according to your needs and wishes.

This is a unique concept and certainly one of the most luxurious I have ever come across. The computers will no longer be something cold and technical, but it would become part of the artists’ landscapes.

Via: Ryou