Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Microsoft Preview Party

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A few weeks back Microsoft hosted a cocktail party to showcase some of the latest tech gadgets, including Windows PCs, Windows Phones, XBOX Kinect and more – all under the same roof. It was a bit of a unique event because they collaborated with Heather Clawson of Habitually Chic to create a look into how tech can be sleek and how it can fit into your lifestyle and home. Jeff and I checked out the scene at the Metropolitan Pavilion after work.

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They created 3 rooms of a pre-teen girl, a teenage boy and a college aged girl and showcased some of the products that they might need. 

For the pre-teen girl who likes to chat online with friends and use Facebook and Twitter – the free tool Windows Live Family Safety was recommended to protect her for potential online predators.  Her room was complete with fashion cutouts from all her favorite magazines.

For the teenage boy who is into gaming and music, they showed a 17” power gaming computer and Smart DJ by Zune are always by his side.  Honestly his room looked a bit suspiciously too neat, save for the loose running shoe, and I think I actually wouldn’t have minded if it was my room.

For the college aged girl, they equipped her with 2 computers - an ultra portable netbook for taking notes and a powerful multi-funtional PC for getting work done and watching TV & movies in her spare time. She would keep her files synced using Windows Live Mesh and Windows Sky Drive which lets you store and share up to 25 GB of documents and photos for free.  No more forgotten USB keys necessary. You can access your files from any computer hooked up to the internet.

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After munching on some candy and delicious lime chili popcorn I headed over to the CafĂ© scene set up to try some of the new Windows phones.  I’ve been an android user for quite a while and it was a definitely different experience trying a Windows phone.  It seemed very intuitive and very fluid.  I ran into some lovely blogger friends but since I missed the previous Microsoft Cocktail party due to crazy hail stones I was on a woman on a tech discovery mission.

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Later on I got to test out some of the new hardware for Microsoft including this touch Lazer Arc Mouse – a  seriously sexy mouse.  Not only does it look chic but it works with great precision and it folds flat to turn off and to pack away for easy portability.  Arcing the mouse actually activates the mouse and makes it ready to use – there are no switches.

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I also had a chance to check out some of Microsoft’s Mobile Mouse – Artist Edition which add some graphic personality to a portable mouse.

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I was also super impressed by the amazing quality HD Webcam I got to play with.  The quality seriously puts to shame any webcam I’ve ever owned with it’s 1080p HD picture and TrueColor technology.  Last but not least I checked out the Xbox Kinect station and although it looked super fun, since I lack in both gaming skills and co-ordination I probably would only try this in the privacy of my own home.

Overall a fun night and thanks to a Twitter contest, I ended up winning my very own Artist Edition mouse!

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