April 26th, 2009

A color wide LCD monitor which is designed for offices and capable to detect the presence of a person with an infrared sensor, is now ready to be released.

Eizo Nanao Corp, the manufacturer,  has created this new monitor that can shift to the power saving mode when it determines that nobody is in the detection range for 40 seconds.

The product will be released in two types, the FlexScan EV2023W-H and the FlexScan EV2303W-T. The former is a 20-inch model with a resolution of 1,600 x 900, and the latter is a 23-inch model with 1,920 x 1,080 resolution.

The typical power consumption of the former model is 25W, and that of the latter model is 18W. In the power saving mode, the power consumption of the both models is 0.7W or lower.

Meanwhile, the “EcoView Sense,” a power saving function based on the presence sensor, detects objects within a 120cm range from the sensor unit by using an infrared sensor installed on the lower part of the front face of the monitor.

In order to avoid malfunction in small offices or in similar situations, the monitor checks the fluctuations in the detected values. And the monitor judges that the user has left the desk when the fluctuation in the detected value is lower than the predetermined level. To discriminate a person from a chair, for example, an object that does not move for one minute or longer is determined to be a still object even if it is in the 120cm range.

Microsoft Corp is banking on a new operating system to break out of its slump, after the software giant said Thursday that declining PC sales hurt revenue as reflected by quarterly sales that fell for the first time in its 23-year history as a public company.

The Redmond, Washington-based company said sales fell 6% from a year earlier to $13.7 billion, missing analysts’ expectations of $14.1 billion. Meanwhile, the company’s net income fell 32% to $2.98 billion, or 33 cents per share, in its third quarter ended March 31.

Results included charges totaling 6 cents per share for job cuts and investments that took place in the quarter. Without the charges, Microsoft earned 39 per share, in line with forecasts by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, which typically exclude one-time items.

In a bid to break out of its slump, Microsoft is preparing to launch a new operating system. Microsoft’s Vista operating system, which was released in early 2007, never took off like the company had hoped.

Sales in the division that produces Vista fell 16% in the previous quarter. User satisfaction has been underwhelming, and IT departments have largely opted to stick with Vista’s predecessor, Windows XP.

“Microsoft can’t point to anything in their mix of products that excites people right now,” said Allen Weiner, analyst with tech consultancy firm Gartner Research.

Early reviews of Microsoft’s new Windows 7 system have been largely positive, but the stated release date is not until late early 2010.

Besides, Microsoft has also continued to struggle to compete with rivals Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) in the online advertising business.

Microsoft’s Online Services division, which includes the online portal MSN and its Internet advertising sales, lost $575 million in the quarter, and sales in the division were down 14% from the same quarter a year earlier.