A few days ago you may have heard about a new webcam from Microsoft Hardware that does 720p High Definition widescreen video. Well… meet the new LifeCam Cinema!

 

The LifeCam Cinema records video at 720p HD in 16:9 widescreen up to 30 frames per second (fps). It uses ClearFrame Technology for smooth, detailed video and has an improved de-noiser. The improved de-noiser reduces image graininess - especially in low light. It also has a faster image-processing technology that keeps video smooth at any resolution. The LifeCam Cinema also has a high-precision glass element lens for much clearer video quality. You know how some webcams have blurry corners in videos? Yeah – not here! Other features include taking 5.0 megapixel stills, a digital noise-canceling microphone, and a flexible attachment base bends to fit on most surfaces (like the top of LCD monitors and notebook screens, or simply on your desk desk).

Through the LifeCam 3.0 software (which can be downloaded here), LifeCam Cinema users will enjoy integration with both Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Movie Maker which was released yesterday. To record video and take still photos with the LifeCam Cinema, you will need the LifeCam software installed. After recording a video, you can quickly launch Windows Live Movie Maker to edit that video and share with friends and family online. Using Windows Live Movie Maker, you can add transitions and other animations to videos recorded with the LifeCam Cinema as well as music, captions and more. When taking still photos, you can view those photos in Windows Live Photo Gallery and edit and add tags.

The LifeCam Cinema will be available starting in September 2009 for an estimated retail price of $79.95 (U.S.).

For more information on the LifeCam Cinema, click here for the press release.

I am currently giving the LifeCam Cinema a spin myself – courtesy of Microsoft Hardware. Expect to see some movies created with the LifeCam Cinema and edited with Windows Live Movie Maker in the very near future.

Microsoft Hardware announced earlier today the new Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000. Last week, I met with the awesome folks from Microsoft Hardware and they handed me a Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 to use here in my office. Several of my latest blog posts (including this one) were written using the Comfort Desktop 5000.

A “desktop” is essentially a keyboard + mouse set. The Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 comes with the Wireless Comfort Keyboard 5000 and the Wireless Mouse 5000.

The Wireless Comfort Keyboard 5000 is designed to encourage a natural wrist posture with a slight 6-degree curve. I spend a great deal of time typing on a PC so as you can imagine, having natural wrist posture is pretty important. It also features a soft-touch palm rest – with a textured design.

 

Like with previous keyboards from Microsoft Hardware, the Wireless Comfort Keyboard 5000 comes with removable feet. If you are someone that wants their keyboard tilted upward from the front, you can configure the feet for this. I personally like the keyboard tilted up from the back so this is the configuration I am running currently.

The Wireless Comfort Keyboard 5000 has low-profile quiet touch keys which make typing more comfortable.

It also features Media Keys for one-touch quick access to volume and playback controls.

The Wireless Mouse 5000 utilizes Microsoft’s BlueTrack Technology. That means this mouse can be used on more surfaces than any laser or optical mice could. The transceiver (2.4GHz wireless) for the desktop snaps into the bottom of the mouse. The design of the Wireless Mouse 5000 utilizes rubber on the sides for an easier grip. A 2 color battery life indicator will let you know when your batteries need replacing and the Wireless Mouse 5000 allows for one-touch access for Windows Flip.

The Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 takes advantage of Windows 7 in several ways. It utilizes Taskbar Favorites, which I blogged about back in June. Taskbar Favorites maps the order of applications on the Windows Taskbar in Windows 7 to the “My Favorites” hot keys on a Microsoft Hardware keyboard. The “My Favorites” hot keys are the 5 numbered keys usually at the top of the keyboard. So for example if Internet Explorer 8 is the first pinned application on your Windows Taskbar in Windows 7, it gets mapped to the #1 My Favorites hot key on the Wireless Comfort Keyboard 5000.

To utilize Taskbar Favorites in Windows 7 today with your Microsoft Hardware keyboard, click here to download the latest version of IntelliType (version 7).

This fall, Microsoft Hardware will be supporting Device Stage in Windows 7 which will include the Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000.

NOTE: The above screenshot is not final and is used as an example for this blog post.

And the Wireless Mouse 5000 takes advantage of Windows 7’s enhanced Windows Flip capabilities with thumbnail previews of running applications.

The Microsoft Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 will be available starting this month at an estimated retail price of $79.95 (U.S.).

Microsoft Hardware has a great set of products that work very well with Windows Vista and Windows 7. When Windows 7 hits stores this fall, Microsoft Hardware will release new software that will allow the current line-up of Microsoft Hardware products (mice, keyboards, LifeCams, gaming devices and notebook accessories) to take advantage of new capabilities being introduced with Windows 7 such as the new Windows Taskbar and Device Stage.

Microsoft Hardware will be releasing new software with a feature called Taskbar Favorites, specifically designed for Microsoft keyboards from Microsoft. This feature will give users a quick way to access the applications represented on the new Windows Taskbar in Windows 7. Taskbar Favorites will automatically map the order of applications on the Windows Taskbar to the “My Favorites” hot keys on a Microsoft Hardware keyboard such as the Digital Media Keyboard 3000. “My Favorites” hot keys are a series of buttons on the top of Microsoft keyboards (circled below).

And using Windows Flip, with the press of a button people will be able to see a live preview of all their open windows. This allows people to more quickly navigate between open windows and choose a desired application.

Also, all Microsoft Hardware products will be recognized and shown as actual images of the product when you open the Devices and Printers folder.

In the above screenshot, you will see that my Digital Media Keyboard 3000, Notebook Optical Mouse 3000 and LifeCam Show all show up with actual product images making it much easier to work with the hardware.

The final versions of the software for Microsoft Hardware mice and keyboard products, which will include Taskbar Favorites and Device Stage and Windows Flip support will be available June 26th at the Microsoft Hardware Windows 7 Web site. The final versions of the Microsoft Hardware software for LifeCam products will be available July 31st.

For more information, see this press release on Microsoft PressPass.

This weekend I decided to run out and pick up one of Microsoft Hardware’s new BlueTrack mice. I grabbed the Microsoft Explorer Mini Mouse which is perfect for folks who are on the go with their laptops. Both the Microsoft Explorer Mini Mouse and the Microsoft Explorer Mouse (for desktop PCs) are available this month at Best Buy stores. The difference between the 2 is the Microsoft Explorer Mouse is slightly bigger and rechargeable.

Microsoft BlueTrack Technology is a brand new technology for mice designed to work on more surfaces than both optical and laser mice. So how does BlueTrack Technology work? It uses a Microsoft-designed image sensor to generate a high contract image of the surface in which the mouse is on. This allows for greatly improved tracking accuracy. The BlueTrack “light beam” from the bottom of the mice is 4 times as large as the lasers used in today’s laser mice. Because of this, mice using BlueTrack Technology can be used on difficult surfaces such as granite, carpet, or wood.

The Microsoft Explorer Mini Mouse package come with of course the mouse and USB transceiver as well as a neat cloth carrier and a disc with the Microsoft IntelliPoint 6.3 software. The cloth carrier has the BlueTrack logo on it.

The design for the mouse is comfortable with 2 customizable buttons on the left side. The USB transceiver “snaps” into the bottom of the mouse and when it’s snapped in, it turns off the mouse so it doesn't use battery life when not in use.  Here are a few shots of the mouse.

I also compared the Explorer Mini Mouse with the Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000 and Arc Mouse.

The Microsoft Explorer Mini Mouse is certainly a mouse you should look at if you’re looking for one especially with the advantages of BlueTrack Technology.

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.