Though cheap Android craptablets were a commodity item at CeBIT 2010, that doesn’t mean we didn’t find the occasional diamond in the rough. Specifically, the Hanvon Touchpad BC10C , a sleek, multitouch Windows 7 device with specs firmly entrenched in high-end netbook territory. Thanks to our friend jkkmobile , we now know exactly what’s powering this thing — a comparatively juice-gulping 1.3GHz Celeron M ULV 743 CPU and GMA4500 graphics — and that when it comes to the US and Europe, it’ll cost a little more than we thought, hovering around $877. Mind you, that price bump might be worth it when you consider just how smoothly the 10-inch tablet performs (peep 1080p video and Microsoft Surface Globe demos after the break) but also know your YouTube surfing sessions will be limited by a simply sad 3.5 hours of battery life. For when “mobile” isn’t an important word in your vocabulary..

Adobe’s got a video out that proves the HP Slate can run Flash and AIR just fine, thankyouverymuch. To which we say: no kidding! It’s a Windows 7 device. What’s of some concern might be HP’s own marketing clip: The Adobe clip shows real-use situations with Flash, and it looks great. The HP clip, though, is totally rendered: screen, hand, everything fake. There could be lots of reasons for that, of course. But hopefully it’s not that HP doesn’t trust its Slate enough yet to film actual behavior

If you’re anxious about switching from a PC to a Mac, consider this: There are a multitude of ways you can virtualize Windows within OS X, and they all work uniquely well. Here’s how to choose the right one. There are three major virtualization products for Mac, and at their core, they’re all quite similar. Each creates a virtual machine, which is to say, crudely, a software implementation of a separate computer. When you install Windows in a virtual machine, Windows thinks it’s installed on a PC with a somewhat generic set of hardware. In fact, the hardware it thinks it’s installed on is a software construct, and any time Windows utilizes what it thinks is a hardware component, its requests are actually being passed through to your Mac’s real hardware.

Well here’s an interesting one: starting today, users of the legendary Windows 7 Release Candidate should “begin experiencing bi-hourly shutdowns,” yet we haven’t received a single tip on this annoying “feature.” We have only two assumptions: either our faithful readers have already moved on to the real thing, or you sly devils are on a hacked RC of some sort. In any event, you’ve got until June 1st to do a full reinstall (no upgrade options on RC, sadly), after which you’ll be blocked from important updates and persistently bugged by a “This copy of Windows is not genuine ” notice. Need more arm-twisting? Just picture Steve Ballmer hunting you down with a sledgehammer. Windows 7 Release Candidate starts bi-hourly hiccups today, seemingly affects nobody originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:49:00 EST

Today kicks off the bi-hourly shutdowns for anybody still running their free copy of Windows 7 Release Candidate, which will continue until June 1, when the seizures turn the OS into straight crippleware. (Or more specifically, your copy of Windows is marked as non-geniune, locking you out of any feature that requires a legit version of Windows.) [ Windows Blog via All About Microsoft ]

Want evidence for the old saying that there’s always something next to wait around for with technology? We’ve only just reviewed the most bodacious X200 Tablet from Lenovo, yet already there’s a capacitive multitouch display that promises to be that little bit better. LG’s in-cell multitouch technology places the touchy-feely parts inside — rather than as a film on top of — the LCD panel, which we’re told eliminates the loss of picture quality and brightness that regular multitouch results in. It only works with two fingers so far, but LG is still pretty pleased with itself for being the first to gain the Windows 7 Touch Logo sticker with this technology, which was previously limited to cellphone-sized displays . Mass production is set for the second half of this year, and we’ll go ahead and assume that local nemesis Samsung will be using every moment until then to offer its own competing models . Bring on the marginally better touchscreens! LG’s in-cell multitouch laptop displays get unveiled, certified with Windows 7 Touch Logo originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:24:00 EST

Those ” Windows 7 was my idea” ads only make sense if you assume the people with the ideas weren’t idiots. This take on the ads is more honest about what Microsoft would’ve gotten if they’d really crowdsourced their OS. [ CollegeHumor ]

You may have forgotten about it, but Microsoft got in to a bit of trouble with the European Commission for anti-competitive practices (including force-feeding customers IE ). Microsoft’s plea bargain was to add other browser options alongside its own. The new screen, seen here, will pop up for any European Windows (XP/Vista/7) user who has IE set as their default browser, starting around March 1st. It randomizes new choices for web browsers in an impartial manner, offering direct links to download. It’s like Microsoft is saying, “Hey, it’s cool, you can take Firefox to the dance

Even if you hate Apple, you can’t deny they set the tone. The WSJ reports that while HP announced their Slate first , they waited for the iPad unveil to make changes, like the price—which they plan to undercut. HP wants to come in under $630 for their full Windows 7 Slate . A tall order, considering that even Asus and MSI, skilled as they are in the art of undercutting, furrowed their collective brows at the iPad’s cheaper-than-expected pricing. And apparently Acer’s already backtracking on their promise not to make iPad competitors, with Sumit Agnihotry, a marketing veep at Acer telling the WSJ that working on stuff in between a phone and laptop, and that “Acer plans to introduce possibly more iPad-like devices.” Then there’s Dell, who found via consumer research what they really want is a five-inch slate for browsing. So voila .

Windows 7 Media Center and Boxee each has its own strengths, and now the Boxee Integration App gives you access to both with minimal hassle. It’s a Windows Media Center plug-in that’s simplicity itself to use. Just click on the Boxee option in the WMC main menu to close WMC and open Boxee, and when you’re done watching your content just close out to automatically bring up WMC again. Even better: the switch can be made with your remote, so you never have to leave your La-Z-Boy. You can get it as a free download now from here , but know that it’s only compatible with Windows 7 and, sadness, won’t work on your Xbox