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Tablet PC Team Blog

Discussion of Tablet PC technologies in Windows XP, Windows Vista, and beyond - brought to you by the people on the Tablet PC team at Microsoft.

If you want to learn more about the history of the TIP (Text Input Panel) and handwriting recognition, then be sure to check out the latest podcast at GottaBeMobile – it features our very own Tablet PC veterans Josh Clow, Jay Pittman, and Patrick Haluptzok.

Definitely an interesting podcast for any Tablet geeks out there J

Jan-Kristian Markiewicz | Program Manager - Windows CoreUX, Touch and Tablet

Battery-conscious software development with .NET Framework 3.0June 15 2007

Battery life is a hardware problem, right? Not entirely. Software is at least as responsible as hardware, for preserving battery life on Tablet and notebook PCs.

The .NET Framework 3.0 software platform is something of a challenge, because most samples and demo apps out there are more concerned about 3D rendering and glitzy animations, than they are about battery life.

Andre Michaud is a rising star SDET here on the Tablet PC platform team. He helped deliver InkCanvas and stylus input in WPF, but wasn't satisfied that the NetFX v3.0 framework didn't do much to make writing battery-conscious applications easier.

So, he wrote a few words about how to do this. And now it's the headline article in this month's MSDN Magazine!

http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/07/07/PowerAware/default.aspx

MSDN Magazine July 2007 Great stuff.

Are you going to Tech Ed in Orlando?June 1 2007

Tablet PC will be there showcasing the Vista release. Stop by the booth (in the User Productivity section) to see some of the latest hardware, talk with people on the team, and get your hands on a great Vista Tablet. There are developer education talks and Hands on Labs also being presented focusing on Tablet PC. You can also visit with our many partners who will be represented at Tech Ed. See you there!

http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2007/default.mspx Here's the link to Tech Ed 2007.

DEV343 - Tablet PC as a Smart Client Platform

Track(s): Developer Tools and Technologies

Level: 300

Speaker(s): Francis La Vigne

Learn all about the the basics for building Smart Client applications that leverage the portability and power of the Tablet PC platform. In this session, Frank La Vigne introduces developers to the hardware, software, and development options available to building out Smart Client solutions on the Tablet PC. Adding Ink functionality can dramatically add value to existing applications without adding significant amounts of code; see just how easy it can be to take an existing application and add support for Digital Ink, handwriting recognition, and document recognition.

Shawn LeProwse

Tablet PC Team

Slight of handApril 16 2007

Hammerheads: http://www.popcap.com/launchpage.php?theGame=hammerheads

Garden gnomes: delightful creatures living in your front yard or scary overlords swathed in primary colors? In this game, garden gnomes pop out of holes and you have to bop them on the head.

This is a “whack-a-mole” type game which is perfect for touch. I recommend playing it in slate mode with the touch pointer turned off. Perhaps we could con our friends at Popcap to turn off the touch pointer automatically for this game.

I could easily cruise through the levels using two fingers. Lots of fun, but watch out for sore digits when finished!

Lindsey Noll | Windows | Tablet PC | Software Design Engineer

No gnomes were hurt in the testing of this game

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Pen is mightier than the mouseApril 10 2007

First, I must admit something. I have bad handwriting and I can’t draw. Yes, these are sometimes good traits since I can test the handwriting recognizer but, it might not help me out with this game.

Line Rider

Line Rider is a fun little physics game. You draw paths, jumps, loops, anything your heart desires and a little guy on a sled follows the path. This is a pretty pen friendly game because it is basically ink-as-ink. You are drawing things!

At first, I thought this would be the perfect “ink-a-ink” example game, but I did notice an interesting quirk. My hand shakes. This is just enough movement to make the little guy crash at times, but it does seem like something easy enough to fix depending on the physical tolerances.

Best example: Can anything beat a pirate ship? Some do come very close, but this one is my favorite.

Lindsey Noll | Windows | Tablet PC | Software Design Engineer

Buff priests