 |
 |
| ActiveWin | Anonymous | Create a User | Reviews | News | Forums | Advertise | Career Portal | Users Online: 200 |
|
|
|
|
|
User Controls |
|
New User |
|
Login |
|
Edit/View My Profile |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Active Network |
|
ActiveMac |
|
ActiveWin |
|
ActiveXbox |
|
Careers |
|
DirectX |
|
Downloads |
|
FAQs |
|
Interviews |
|
MS Games & Hardware |
|
Reviews |
|
Support Center |
|
TopTechTips |
|
Windows 2000 |
|
Windows Me |
|
Windows Server 2003 |
|
Windows Vista |
|
Windows XP |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
News Centers |
|
Windows/Microsoft |
|
Apple/Mac |
|
Xbox/Xbox 360 |
|
News Search |
|
XML/RSS Newsfeeds |
|
Pocket PC Site |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ's |
|
Windows Vista |
|
Windows 98/98 SE |
|
Windows 2000 |
|
Windows Me |
|
Windows Server 2003 |
|
Windows XP |
|
Windows 7 |
|
Internet Explorer 6 |
|
Internet Explorer 5 |
|
Xbox 360 |
|
Xbox |
|
DirectX |
|
DVD's |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Latest Reviews |
|
Xbox/Games |
|
Fable 2 |
|
|
|
Applications |
|
Windows 7 |
|
IE 8 |
|
|
|
Hardware |
|
Microsoft Arc Mouse (Red) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Latest Interviews |
|
Mike Swanson |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Site News/Info |
|
About This Site |
|
Advertise |
|
Affiliates |
|
Contact Us |
|
Default Home Page |
|
Link To Us |
Sponsors:
SEO
Search Engine Optimisation
exterminator
lawn care
SEO
Search Engine Optimisation
Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Marketing
PPC Management
Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimisation
search engine optimisation
Cheap Web Hosting
Webanalyse
online credit card processing
Lenovo Laptops
Text Links
Business Gifts
SEO Services
SEO
cheap websites
Search Engine Optimization
Promotional Pens
 |
ActiveWin.com Exclusive: Microsoft Hardware 2004 Fall Lineup Photos and Descriptions (plus Fingerprint Device Photos) | |
|
||
| Time: 01:00 EST/06:00 GMT | News Source: ActiveWin.com | Posted By: Robert Stein | ||
|
You heard it first here...We have posted multiple photos, descriptions, etc. for the complete Microsoft hardware fall lineup, which includes two fingerprint reader devices. The devices are to be released September 9th. Here is a complete list of the hardware included:
| ||
|
Write Comment
Return to News |
Displaying Comments 1 through 14 of 14 |
The time now is
10:44:05 AM
ET.
Any comment problems? E-mail us |
| #1 By RedAvenger (1148 Posts) at 8/16/2004 12:32:20 AM |
|
Where is my Natural (Split Ergonomic) Keyboard???!?!?!
Man I hope MS didn't discontinue them... The bluetooth version looks to have a slight curve but I don't know if it will feel the same. Peace, RA |
| #2 By Halcyon-X12 (4953 Posts) at 8/16/2004 7:24:07 AM |
|
With all those stories about using gelatenous bear candy to defeat fingerprint mechanisms, I wonder if their products fall victim to this general flaw or not?
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,103535,00.asp The most damning criticism came from researchers: one set from Germany, and another at the International Telecommunication Union, a global industry standards group. Tsutomu Matsumoto, researching the security of thumbprint readers for the ITU, demonstrated the relative ease with which a thumbprint pressed into a soft plastic material could be used to mold fake fingerprints out of a gelatin similar to the composition of gummy bear candies. Smith also explained how to defeat another kind of thumb scanner, a device that uses capacitive resistance technology to read a fingerprint. It can be thwarted simply by pressing a plastic bag filled with water against the thumb reader after someone else has used it, the German researchers discovered. Simply blowing on the reader generates enough of a pattern from latent oil left on the capacitive surface to trick the sensor into making a false-positive match. |
| #3 By TechLarry (3649 Posts) at 8/16/2004 8:10:49 AM |
|
#2,
Well, I dunno. If someone asks me to stick my finger into their Gummy-Bear, I'll probably be suspicious. I'll probably ask them to pull my finger instead... :) TL |
| #4 By RMD (1839 Posts) at 8/16/2004 10:44:56 AM |
|
Does anybody else absolutely hate when the arrow keys on keyboards don't line up with the rest of the keys?
On some of those keyboards the arrow keys are slightly lower than the rest of the keys on the keyboard. I HATE that. I also hate when the Insert,Home,PgUp,Del,End,PgDwn keys aren't in a horizontal rectangle. Drives me nuts! That thumbprint keyboard looks pretty cool. And it has the correct layout! |
| #5 By stubear (574 Posts) at 8/16/2004 10:58:17 AM |
| Still no updates to the Intellimouse Explorer Trackball :( |
| #6 By sodablue (5245 Posts) at 8/16/2004 11:27:01 AM |
|
#1. Ahh, finally someone at Microsoft realized those split keyboards are yucky!
#2. "gelatenous bear candy"? You mean Gummi Bears. 'Gummi' is German for Rubber. #4. You get used to it. I now find the old style Ins/Del to be screwed up. I like the one on my optical desktop elite keyboard. |
| #7 By magilla (30 Posts) at 8/16/2004 1:45:04 PM |
|
Some of us like those "yucky" keyboards. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that everyone else agrees.
They are leaving the split keyboards off again, which really really sucks. |
| #8 By sodablue (5245 Posts) at 8/16/2004 2:14:43 PM |
| Keyboard Veterans for Truth has condemned split keyboard as being yucky! They unfairly create a divide between the G and the H keys! |
| #9 By Halcyon-X12 (4953 Posts) at 8/16/2004 2:46:09 PM |
|
#4 yup! Can't stand those L-shaped "enter" keys, I'd rather have my backslash be a larger key above the "enter" key instead of hogging the space where my "backspace" key should be. I cannot stand the vertical pgup/dn etc layout either, or when they add "power / sleep" etc keys above them to lower the normal position.
I bought a MS Internet Pro keyboard because the layout is 100% suited to me, the extra keys add functionality (I love the volume mute/up/down and track selection keys) and don't get in the way of the standard keys, and the keys are a lot quieter than other similar models I've tried such as Logitech brand keyboards. USB on the back of the keyboard is great. The detachable wrist rest is a plus too. http://www.1960pcug.org/~pcnews/2002/07/ms-internet-keyboard-pro.htm The only problem is they don't sell them anymore. Their Multimedia Keyboard is the closest thing, and it has that crappy vertical layout. If I had to buy a keyboard today I guess I'd get the normal "Internet Keyboard" and re-map the browser buttons for my volume and multimedia keys. |
| #10 By stubear (574 Posts) at 8/16/2004 4:15:36 PM |
|
#9, The Internet Pro Keyboard is indeed one of the bets ones Microsoft made. Sadly they discontinued this one. One of the feet broke on mine and I wound up buying a newer Multimedia Keyboard just for the feet (wrong color but right shape). I like the muleimedia function buttons on the IPK better than the newer ones and I like the overall key layout on this one better than the newer ones.
Sadly it appears that Microsoft is also neglecting the Trackball like of mice too. I Love my Intellimouse Explorer Trackball but there have been two or three generations of updated mouse hardware designs and the Trackballs were all forgotten. Luckily you can still buy these but I'd probably be wise to buy two or three just to have a couple in reserve just in case my current one dies. |
| #11 By Halcyon-X12 (4953 Posts) at 8/16/2004 5:28:10 PM |
| Another subject, I've seen some keyboards recently with integrated trackpoint, it's great for people who want to keep their hands on the keyboard. I wish more keyboards had this option, I end up skipping over keyboards with this installed because the rest of the features and layout usually suck. |
| #12 By PhilH (3 Posts) at 8/16/2004 8:35:36 PM |
| I like the look of the new keyboards but don't think i will ever buy another MS one - as long as they have the Insert/Delete etc keys laid out vertically like that. I bought one a while back with the new layout thinking i would get used to it - but threw it away soon after in frustration. As a programmer I use those keys all the time and don't understand why they screwed with the std layout. |
| #13 By Halcyon-X12 (4953 Posts) at 8/17/2004 12:15:25 AM |
| I was thinking MS probably doesn't cater to programmers since they assume they're smart enough to make good decisions by themselves, but I thought that might be a market MS is missing. With their increased developer support, perhaps some of their upcoming hardware will be designed to give programmers an advantage, i.e. programming shortcuts labeled on the keys and for FLock-type keyboards, stuff like that. Who knows what would/could be useful, I don't think anyone's popularized a peripheral with a programmer in mind before. |
| #14 By lketchum (3101 Posts) at 8/17/2004 3:11:03 AM |
| #13 - what a great idea! The Delta Data 7000-T was cool as it got opposite C - it was a huge double screen beast though. Still, the colored groupings of keys made life a lot easier. |
|
Write Comment
Return to News |
Displaying Comments 1 through 14 of 14 |
The time now is
10:44:05 AM
ET.
Any comment problems? E-mail us |
