Microsoft Announces New Hardware for Windows 8

Microsoft  announced new keyboards and mice optimized for tablets and laptops running the Windows 8 operating system.

The new devices are lighter and more mobile, and will work with tablets running the latest versions of Windows 8 and RT, which are due for release on October 26. The new mice and keyboards are wireless and connect to devices using Bluetooth, cutting the dependence on USB ports.

Microsoft's new mice and keyboard will be released around the time of the Windows 8 launch, Microsoft said in a statement. The company will release its Surface tablet with Windows at around the same time.

The $79.95 Microsoft Wedge Mobile Keyboard is a full-size keyboard designed for tablet users, and has specific hot keys for Windows 8 that provide quick access to search, system settings and the Metro user-interface in the Windows 8 OS. It uses Bluetooth to communicate and comes with a cover that when used turns off the keyboard to increase battery life. The cover can be used as a tablet stand, as well.

The $49.95 Microsoft Sculpt Mobile Keyboard, has a six-degree curve, much like Microsoft's ergonomic keyboards. The keyboard has many of the specific Windows 8 hotkeys, and offers ten months of battery life on active usage.

Earlier this year, Microsoft's Hardware division announced that the Touch Mouse would get updated to include new touch functionality specifically designed for Windows 8, including support new gestures that will help make navigating easier.

The Microsoft Sculpt Touch Mouse, also priced at $49.95, has a four-way touch scroll strip, which makes it easier to navigate through the Windows 8 start screen. By swiping the finger on the panel, users can easily navigate through multiple panels on the Start screen. The mouse also enables easier navigation through documents. Similarly, the $79.95 Microsoft Touch Mouse incorporates finger swipes and movements to navigate screens, switch applications or zoom in and out.

The $69.95 Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse can shut down when a tablet goes into sleep mode, extending the battery life of the mouse. It is smaller than a traditional mouse, and is designed for mobile use as it can fit into a pocket and work on any surface. The device provides "four-way" touch scrolling, Microsoft said.

The new accessories will work with devices based on Intel processors, and also with Windows RT devices based on ARM processors. The new keyboards and mice are also compatible with Windows 7, Vista and Mac OS, though some advanced features may not work, according to Microsoft.

PC-Plus Era vs Post PC Era: What's your opinion

IBM Declares the End of the PC Era

Are we living in a "post-PC" world? Steve Jobs thinks so, and he often refers to the iPad as a "post-PC" device. Now an IBM executive has added fuel to the fire--its chief technology officer for the Middle East and Africa region, Mark Dean, says that the company did the right thing in getting out of the PC business.

August 12 marks the 30th anniversary of the IBM 5150 PC, whose debut was widely considered to mark the beginning of the PC era. IBM, for years, led the way in ensuring a PC in every home, a campaign that in turn spurred an industry that now sells hundreds of millions of units each year.

Jobs and Dean: Strange Bedfellows

Considering that Dean was on the team that helped shape IBM's PC business, his commentary is stunning. He lauds the company forselling its computer business to Lenovo in 2005.

"While many in the tech industry questioned IBM's decision to exit the business at the time, it's now clear that our company was in the vanguard of the post-PC era," Dean wrote in a blog postWednesday.

Whoa, did he really just say that? Yes he did, and he goes on to say that he himself has moved beyond the PC. Without disclosing which brand he's using, Dean admits his primary computing device is now a tablet.

The PC is no longer at the leading edge of computing, and Dean argues that services--not another computing device--are leading the way.

His argument makes sense: Look at the rise of social networking. The service itself is key, not the hardware it's running on. This is true across a range of other computer industry sectors as well.

The PC-Plus Era, Not the Post-PC Era

Obviously not everyone agrees. In a separate blog post, Microsoft corporate communications chief Frank Shaw says that he likes to think of the current state of computing as the "PC-plus" era. He adds that more than 400 million PCs will be shipped in 2011 alone.

"We'll continue to lead the industry forward in bringing technology to the next billion (or 2 billion or 6 billion) people on our planet," Shaw writes. "We'll do that as we always have, by working with our partners to deliver amazing experiences to individuals and businesses."

That certainly sounds to me like Microsoft thinks that the PC as a platform will be around for a long, long time.

I happen to agree with Jobs--and now Dean's--position. The PC as we know it is done. As our computing lives move onto the cloud, raw computing power becomes less and less important. The intense computing is happening on the server side and not on your home computer.

This is indeed turning our computing world upside down. But in an ever more interconnected society, is it all that surprising?

What do you think, computer World readers? Is the PC era over? Are we moving to a whole new frontier in computing? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments, and I'll use them in a future story on the idea of the "post-PC era."