Several weeks ago I had blogged about HP’s all-in-one PC with amazing touch capabilities – the HP TouchSmart PC. Specifically, I discussed the IQ500 series HP TouchSmart PC models (the IQ504 and IQ506). The IQ500 series HP TouchSmart PCs were considered the 2nd generation HP TouchSmart PCs. The original HP TouchSmart PC made its debut in January of 2007. Just recently, HP has announced the IQ800 series HP TouchSmart PCs – the IQ804 and IQ816.

So what’s new with the IQ800 series HP TouchSmart PCs? The IQ800 series HP TouchSmart PC is 25 ½” versus the IQ500 series models which were 22”. Just like the IQ500 series HP TouchSmart PCs, the IQ800 series sports ambient lighting that shines on your keyboard. This can be very useful in low lighting. However the IQ800 series allows you to change the color of the ambient lighting. The IQ800 series also comes with a pocket media drive bay for user’s portable media (the HP MediaSmart Connect has a pocket media drive bay so you can take media between the two devices). The IQ800 series (both the IQ804 and IQ816) come with built-in TV Tuners for Windows Media Center awesomeness.

The IQ800 series HP TouchSmart PC is also wall-mountable as well!

There are some differences between the IQ804 and IQ816 HP TouchSmart PC models. The IQ816 comes with a Blu-ray drive for HD movies. The IQ804 comes with a 500GB harddrive while the IQ816 comes with a 750GB harddrive. The chipset and graphics for the IQ816 is a bit higher than the IQ804. If you’re looking to maximize your investment in the HP TouchSmart PC – the IQ816 is top-of-the-line.

The IQ800 series makes a worthy addition to the HP TouchSmart PC Family. I hope to blog more about the HP TouchSmart PC this fall!

Under the TV + Movies menu in Windows Media Center, you may have noticed a new tile: MSNBC News Beta. The MSNBC News Beta tile will begin appearing in Windows Media Center for users in the United States and Canada running Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate. Users don’t need to download anything to enable MSNBC News Beta in Windows Media Center. MSNBC News Beta gives users quick access to the latest election news, top stories and weather all from one screen.

Directly within Windows Media Center, users can browse Editor Picks and Most Popular videos (which are selected by viewers). I discovered that when I click on a specific video, a “+” icon appears. When this “+” icon is clicked, it gets added to a custom news video playlist. There are quite a few videos to choose from which is nice.

I was able to quickly browser through a bunch of MSNBC’s Decision ’08 videos and add them to a custom news video playlist to watch all at once.

I was also able to browse other categories such as Business, Sports, and Entertainment which all have videos I can either watch as I go or add to a custom news video playlist. MSNBC News Beta also sports some pretty neat search functionality that lets me search for stories with specific keywords.

And the 5-day weather forecast (available for any ZIP code in the United States) is impressive too!

As a heavy Windows Media Center user myself, I for one will be using MSNBC News Beta to stay on top of not only the upcoming U.S. Election but all the latest news.

For more on MSNBC News Beta and Windows Media Center – click here!

Esther is back with a brand new demo focusing on another cool feature in Windows Vista - Snipping Tool.  Snipping Tool is really handy for anyone who needs to capture and/or send an image of their screen, a web page or document - really any time where the visual explains more than a description. 

We've heard great things about the other videos we did (on Previous Versions, Live Icons and Instant Search), so our plan is to continue providing content like this.  Leave a comment and let us know what you think of the video, and if you have suggestions for tips and tricks we should cover in future videos!

Also, just a reminder that you can still get the Windows Vista Product Guide - a great resource on all things Windows Vista - for FREE in paperback.  All you have to do is pay for shipping.  Order your copy here!  The paperback guide doesn't include the new stuff in Windows Vista SP1, but you can download all of that information here

While this blog is committed to bringing you the latest info on Windows Vista, I wanted to take a moment to take a look at what everyone's been talking about today: PDC, WinHEC and Windows 7.

The Professional Developer Conference (PDC) , taking place in Los Angeles Oct. 27th - 30th, is an event designed for leading-edge developers and software architects that are interested in the future of the Microsoft platform. If you're responsible for the technical strategy in your organization, or you're a highly skilled developer who likes to delve deep into the heart of the platform, then PDC is for you! You can register today for PDC by heading over to http://www.microsoftpdc.com/. Hurry, spots are filling fast!

The Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), taking place in Los Angeles Nov. 5th - 7th, focuses on designing PCs, servers, and devices that run and interface with Microsoft Windows with a focus on Windows 7. WinHEC brings together engineers, developers and testers, and product planners giving them a opportunity to stay aligned with Microsoft technology roadmaps and new product opportunities. To register for WinHEC - click here (register before Oct. 3rd and save $400!).

At each event you will hear from lead Windows Engineers including Steven Sinofsky, as well as see firsthand the next Windows OS. Just announced today - at both shows we will handing out a pre-beta build of Windows 7. By attending these events, you will be one of a select few to receive a pre-beta build of Windows 7 to take with you. If that's not incentive to head to these events, I don't know what is ;-)

I caught this bit of news tonight from Redmond Pie’s awesome Web Slice for IE8 Beta 2 which shows their latest headlines: Microsoft Live Labs has released a really neat Color Picker Gadget for Windows Sidebar.

Download: Color Picker Gadget from Microsoft Live Labs

Essentially the Color Picker Gadget gives users quick access to RGB color hex codes. This could be extremely handy when working with several apps or doing website development and you’re needing to utilize a palette across the board. This Gadget allows you to create and save your own color palettes and search palettes from the website COLOURlovers. This was a side project of Live Labs Designer Jeff Weir. For more information, check out this post on the Microsoft Live Labs Blog.

A few weeks ago, Chris Pirillo (of Lockergnome fame) launched a brand new community website – called Geeks! - designed to give geeks of all ages a place to socialize on the web. On Geeks! – folks can sign-up to become members on the site and create photo albums, add videos, and even create a blog – all for free! The best part essentially is interacting and socializing with fellow geeks with the same geeky interests as you. Being a geek myself – I’ve signed up on Geeks! and if you’re a geek – you should too!

To help attract more geeks to Geeks! – the awesome Microsoft LifeCam folks at Microsoft Hardware have donated 10 Microsoft LifeCam VX-5500 webcams to Chris for a giveaway. These are the brand spankin’ new webcams just announced earlier this month.

This is how you can be entered to win one of these new Microsoft LifeCam VX-5500 webcams:

1. Microsoft Hardware group on Geeks!

Once Geeks! hits 7,500 members – Chris will randomly draw 10 names for the 10 Microsoft LifeCam VX-5500 webcams from the list of members in the Microsoft Hardware group. You are required to be a member of the Microsoft Hardware group to be entered for the giveaway. As of the writing of this post – Geeks! currently has 5,040 members. So sign-up and tell your friends!

I own both a Microsoft LifeCam VX-5000 and VX-7000 and both offer excellent quality video as well as impressive video conferencing capabilities via Windows Live Messenger. You can also use the brand new LifeCam 2.0 software to add video effects to your webcam video and images. Microsoft’s LifeCams (including the VX-5500 being given away) are also compatible with AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Microsoft Office Communicator, and Skype.

Click here to view Chris’s announcement of the giveaway.

After you sign-up on Geeks! – feel free to add me as one of your geek friends!

This post was written using the new Beta of Windows Live Writer now available on download.live.com. I used Chris’s YouTube video to test Windows Live Writer’s ability to insert videos from YouTube. In the past I’ve only inserted videos from Soapbox on MSN Video. For a more complete list of what’s new with the Windows Live Writer Beta – click here.