Zhesty.NET - Gadgets and Technology

Well well, we knew Microsoft had something in store for us at its Windows Store Preview event tonight, and it just revealed the look for its Windows 8 app-selling portal. It sports a new Metro-like UI, and comes with some new content from Disney, digital books and magazines, plus games like Cut the Rope are on tap, too. Bing's on board to index the whole store catalog and make all the fresh content easy to find, and the setup allows company websites to deep link to app descriptions in the store. There's also a mechanism for integrating app purchases from company websites built directly into the store infrastructure as well.

Is it us, or is the dream of a full Windows experience on low-power ARM tablets getting steadily eroded? We've long known that these slates would sacrifice backwards compatibility with legacy software, but now it seems the familiar desktop mode could be getting the chop too. Paul Thurrott from SuperSite for Windows says he has good insider information that this mode will be limited to x86 devices, which would rule out using the traditional keyboard-and-mouse UI on an ARM tablet and force users to stick with the Metro UI at all times. By the sound of it, though, the matter is still being argued over within Microsoft and it's unclear whether the decision will apply to ARM-based notebooks too. All Thurrott could be sure of is that "the people who don't want there to be a desktop mode [in ARM tablets] have apparently won the day." Man, and just when we thought everyone was starting to get along so nicely.

We've already been teased by a LePhone S2 moonlighting as a Windows Phone last month, but it was only yesterday that Lenovo confirmed an upcoming product featuring said OS. While boasting a mere total of 700,000 phone units sold since the original LePhone debuted in May last year (which is rather mundane compared to the Xiaomi Phone's 300,000 pre-orders in 34 hours), product manager Chen Yue told iMobile that Lenovo's now aiming to release a Windows Phone in the second half of next year. Well, that was apparently all Mr. Chen revealed -- no specs, no prices, and no mention of international launch. Either way, it looks like Nokia will have a nice head start in China with its Lumia 800. No wonder Elop's so happy these days.

The great thinkers of the world have long known a secret that we're now happy to disclose: it's not necessity that's the mother invention, but rather laziness. Fortunately, expending a great deal of effort on a project -- simply to perform a task effortlessly -- sometimes brings very cool results. A concept app known as ZuneVoice easily passes muster in this realm, which is used to control Zune software on the PC with only a standard microphone and spoken commands. As you can see in the demo video, its creator, keyboardp, is able to play individual songs, issue commands such a "pause" or "next song", and even display full-screen music videos from YouTube. The developer even crafted an app for his Lumia 800 known as PhoneZune, which serves as a remote control for times when he's away from the box. Neither application is yet publicly available, though feedback is welcome. Next, we're told to expect Kinect integration. Perhaps one day, these gems will see the light of day.

Still tempted by the fruit of another? If you're looking Microsoft's way, but aren't quite ready to toss your adoration for iOS or Android aside, the coders in Redmond are giving you an alternative to quitting cold turkey. By visiting http://aka.ms/wpdemo on one's iOS or Android browser, you'll be immediately tunneled into a emulation of Windows Phone 7. We gave it a test run here at Engadget HQ, and it seems that every tile and swipe save for Apps runs properly. Can't say the fonts and such looked as smooth on our Galaxy S II as they do on the Radar, but it's a solid effort that'll definitely serve you well if you're considering the switch. Just don't try to flip the demo horizontally -- that's clearly a no-no.

While hackers have been having their way with the Kinect on the PC for a long, long time, Microsoft itself has only recently embraced this sort of behavior. First it was with an official SDK and then, soon after, a follow-up letting things go commercial. We've been eagerly awaiting Office integration -- imagine lazily waving away every boring PPT that lands in your inbox -- but also struggling to figure out just how such a device would fit on our cluttered desks. Microsoft is now promising a PC-specific version to release sometime in 2012, able to focus on objects as close as 50cm from the lens -- quite an improvement given our current Kinect seems unhappy if we're standing anywhere within five feet. The hardware is also said to be "optimized" for desktop use and the USB cable shortened, but we're still in the dark about how exactly it will look. Might we suggest Keepon integration?

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that its Xbox 360 dashboard would be getting an upgrade "in the coming days." Today, the company has clarified that statement, declaring that the revamped interface will launch on December 6th. As we've previously noted, the update promises to bring deeper Kinect integration (including sharper voice recognition capabilities), Facebook sharing mechanisms, and a cleaner interface. Redmond also says that the fall cleanup will introduce "a wealth of new content," including live TV, music and movies, available for streaming. For now, the dashboard is still in beta, though it certainly won't be long before the masses get their hands on it.

Trudging through Windows 7's upgrade process drags users through as many as four wizards, 60 windows, and more mouse clicks than anybody at Microsoft cared to count. In a recent study covering PC upgrades, Redmond found this was simply too much of a hassle for many customers. The fix? Consolidate and streamline -- according to the outfit's Building Windows 8 blog, upgrading customers will be able to power through installing Windows 8 using a single wizard in as few as 11 clicks. The new process scans the machine for compatibility, checks for the best version of Windows to install, and prompts the user through the process. Moreover, using Windows 8's upcoming web delivery method pre-keys the setup image, freeing users from remembering a 25-digit product key. Advanced users will be able to use a new Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit to create customized unattended setup configurations for multi-boot and specialized network installations. Want to read into all the juicy details?