Samsung planning modified Windows 8 Series 7 slate for late 2012

Samsung revealed on Wednesday that it is preparing a modified Windows 8 Series 7 slate for release in the second half of 2012.
The device will be a modified version of its existing Series 7 slate, currently available with Windows 7 installed. The device in its current form features a 11.6-inch wacom enabled gorilla glass screen, i3 or i5 processors and 4GB of RAM. Not shy on specs, Samsung also bundles in dual cameras and WiMAX and HSPA+ support. Uhm Kyu Ho, head of sales and marketing at Samsung, revealed the company’s plans in an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday.
The new slate will run Windows 8 and is expected to arrive in the second half of next year, around the time that Microsoft is expected to ship Windows 8. Microsoft handed out over 5,000 devices to a range of developers at its BUILD conference in September. Developers reacted with cheers and whoops during the Windows 8 keynote as Microsoft unveiled its special developers tablet. The Samsung device is similar to the recently announced Samsung Series 7 Slate device but it also includes a number of new and upgraded components:

• Newer firmware (04WJ.M005.20110826.LDG, 8/26/2011)
• An Option (GTM67x) chip for WiFi, phone and GPRS connectivity.
• A Silicon Labs (CP210x) chip for USB<->UART-based scenarios
• A Trusted Platform Module (1.2)
• NXP’s Near field Communications chip (NFC)
• A Bluetooth LE chip
• A gyroscope
• An ambient light sensor

Microsoft has yet to confirm exactly when Windows 8 will ship for Slate and Tablet devices. Early rumors this year suggested that the company could be planning to ship the ARM version of Windows 8 earlier than the typical x86 offering. Samsung could be paving the way for a number of new Windows tablets in the near future that will be upgradeable to Windows 8. The company confirmed they plan to partner with Microsoft on Windows 8 upgradeability plans, suggesting that Microsoft could be preparing a Windows 8 upgrade plan for existing Windows slates and tablets.
The big OEMs, including HP, Dell and ASUS are all reportedly preparing Windows 8 tablets for Q3 2012. Microsoft is expected to unveil the final version of Windows 8 during the Summer months of 2012 in preparation for a holiday push of new tablets and form factors.

WinLaunch: Download Mac OS X Lion “Launchpad” for Windows Vista and 7

We all know about "Launchpad" which is a new application launcher introduced in Apple's Mac OS X Lion. It provides iOS look-like home screen view in Mac OS X Lion.
We have shared a similar application launcher for Windows in past which is called "JumpPad".
Today we are going to share a new application launcher for Windows which looks very close to Mac OS X Lion's "Launchpad".
"WinLaunch" is a free and portable utility for Windows Vista and 7 created by "MrC0rrupted" @ DA which provides Mac OS X Lion look-like Launchpad in Windows.
When you launch WinLaunch, it starts as minimized and you can bring it to screen using "Shift+Tab" keyboard shortcut. It shows the main screen of this new app launcher which looks like following:

To add items to this launcher, you need to press "F" key and then simply drag-n-drop the desired files/folders to its window. You can swipe between pages with a simple drag of your right mouse button. To launch a shortcut, you just need to single-click on it.
This app launcher also comes with a secret mode which is called "Jiggle mode". You can access this hidden mode by holding the mouse down on an item. In Jiggle mode, you can move or delete items and create new folders.
You can also create a folder by simply drag an item on top of another one. You can repeat this process to create another one.
To move an item out of a folder, drag it up or down until the folder closes. To close a folder, you can click outside of it.
Keyboard Controls List:

• ESC -> Exit WinLaunch
• F -> Toggle full screen / window mode
• Left/Right -> Switch between pages
• F3 -> Toggle Jiggle mode
• Space -> End Jiggle mode

If you want to change the startup hotkey to something else, you can change it using WinLaunch Settings.
One more thing! If WinLaunch hangs and you cannot access it, you can use the secret panic hotkey "CTRL+WIN+ALT+F12" to bring it up in window mode and edit your settings.
You can download WInLaunch using following link:
Download WinLaunch
You'll need to install Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 to use it.
Thanks to our reader "minimum" for sharing it...