Fox News adopts Windows 8 and huge 55-inch touchscreen computers that dwarf humans

Fox News, the top-rated cable news channel here in the US, has recently embraced the future through their re-worked News Deck headed by Shepard Smith. The studio re-launch took a month to complete and with it, brought some massive new changes. Literally.

Found throughout the studio are BATS (big area touchscreens), which in reality are 55-inch computers running Windows 8. It’s so audacious that when Sam shared a picture of it this morning, I seriously thought it was a Photoshop job. But nope, they are real and they are being used by staff to monitor news, Twitter and various feeds for the latest information.

There’s also a 38-foot video wall that surrounds the studio, which isn’t too shabby either, and the whole studio looks like something out of Star Trek.

Fox News has evidently created some of their own custom apps for Windows 8 to manage those Twitter and incoming News feeds. Too bad we can’t get them leaked as then we can all play news reporter from our homes! No word on what exactly powers the hardware or the display resolution, though some information will probably come forward eventually.

You can see it all in action in the video tour above.

Imagine operating Windows 8 from a 55-inch “tablet” just a few feet from your face? It seems kind of crazy to us, but kudos to Fox News for pushing the boundaries. Incidently, we played with a similar setup back at CES last January: "The world’s most badass Windows 8 computer"

Fox News has always seemed to be a fan of Microsoft as they were one of the first news channels to offer a Windows Phone app, one that has continually been developed through WIndows Phone 8.

Source: TVNewser; Thanks, Patrick S., for the tip

Daniel Rubino is the Executive Editor of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft here since 2007, back when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Microsoft Surface, laptops, next-gen computing, and arguing with people on the internet.

261 Comments

Remember, we're talking about computers here, not Fox News...play nice!
Damn, there went all my comments:P
Lol, i just wanted to start.
But seriously, those touchscreens look grotesque. If a thing looks so weird it has no future.
Have you played a science fiction game or seen a sci-fi movie? These puppies are exactly what the future is supposed to have.
This is my vision of what a MS world would look like. Bring back Nokia!
Yeah but they should have just made a deal with Apple for extra large ipads
Hahaha... Yeah, we all know how flexible and powerful IOS is. :)
whats wrong with them using microsoft products. may be that works for them
They need to do work so Microsoft is the right tool. If they are paid to play Angry Birds then large iPad will do.
Well there goes my comment, thanks Daniel.
They are going nuts today with deleting comments. First AT&T 920 GDR2 update and then this. Damn Republicans!!!! :P
I like Fox News. CNN too. Whats the problem that you have to make a statement like that? That's weird. Bad ass studio set up.
You must be new here...and by here I mean the Internet, lol
K that was just funny
BWAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ha ha ha
You like fox news? smdh
I like Fox News and CNN too. BTW, CNN was first to use these Perceptive Pixel computers before Microsoft bought the company. I love that both networks are using all of this technology. Oh and it does look like the deck of the USS Enterprise. I fully expect Shepard Smith to blast off into space on a future broadcast.
Sure, but really "top-rated cable news channel" you are just asking for backlash Daniel.
Damn, the only bad comment I had was about FOX "news".
I dont get it. Whats the problem with Fox News? :/
Well, for the sake of avoiding that which Daniel was alluding to, ill try to be entirely objective in explaining. Fox News is one of many cable news networks in the U.S. Some would argue that while most news networks are overwhelmingly liberal in their slant, Fox News is an attempt to provide news with a conservative slant. Fox News tends to take a lot of backlash online on certain websites, especially tech websites, which may or may not be related to these websites being aimed at tech-savvy users, who also tend to be more educated than the average person. Studies show that with high education levels, people tend to lean more towards the liberal point of view, which could explain why Fox News is slammed so often on these sites.
If Rush limbaugh had a "news" station, this would be it.
If Rupert Murdoch had a "news" station... Oh wait.
Unfortunately, you've grossly oversimplified the matter.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/2000vote/general/exitpoll_hub.html
Liberals tend to be more educated at the upper most levels, and less educated at the lowermost. I'm well educated (BSEE, MBA, MHA) but consider myself a conservative because I tend to put fiscal policy ahead of social policy (I'm socially liberal). I think the mistake that people make on both sides is the mistake that you've just made - trying to apply a term to a group as if the group is, somehow, homogeneous in its beliefs. Similarly, I'm a fan of Microsoft products because they offer me a solution, not for all areas, but for those areas I find most important to me. I'm very comfortable praising Android and Apple for things they got right, and don't dislike fans of either ecosystem, even though they're clearly wrong about everything ;-).
Thank you Gary... I consider myself in the top 10% of educated persons, yet I lean more towards the conservative side. I believe Winston Churchill said it best, "if your 20 and not a liberal, you have no heart. If your 30 and not a conservative, you have no brain." I'm a healthy mix, but as I said, I lean towards the conservative, and can appreciate the views fox brings to the table, that the rest tend to plainly ignore. If I were to classify myself politically, it would be mostly libertarian.
The problem with Fox is not that it is conservative. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely that, but I'd argue it's less concervative than MSNBC is liberal.
No, the problem is that it's insultingly crass. Nobody, and I mean nobody, brings the derp like Fox. It's actually a pretty good antidote for being an intellectual conservative. If I ever want to induce a crisis of personal beliefs, there's no more effective trigger than a few minutes of Fox.
Nicely said.
"most news networiks are overwhelmingly liberal". Wow, I wonder how you would characterize the CBC then lol.
And Fox news "a conservative slant". "slant!" That is one wicked slant.
Well that's a load of crap...
“It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.”
I believe there is a passage in proverbs that mirrors that statement quite well.
Nice Samuel Clemens quote there.
People are afraid of the truth
I'm more afraid of people who believe there is a truth ;)
Nah, I'm harmless.
You mean to say, that the truth isn't out there?
So you're saying the truth is arguable? That explains a lot about the left...
But they are top-rated. They are the highest rated cable news channel. He wasn't insinuating anything other than fact. This studio set up looks pretty sweet. Curious to how their staff likes it.
There is a big difference between "top rated" and station with the highest ratings (mostly because there is only major one station for the far right).
It's factually correct. The fox news channel has the highest rating of all the news channels. That's why people who disagree with the political commentary on the channel hate it so much. If fox had the rating of MSNBC, no one would care enough about it to hate it.
It's actually the highest rated CABLE news network. Not the highest rated network. More people still watch their local news networks than Foxnews by far.
Well it is the top rated cable news channel
Foxs News just went from Cool, to Freaking AWESOME. That room is rocking it.
that is an awesome setup. It will be great to see it in action and Shep is absolutely right. The other networks have some catching up to do.
I seen the 55 inch touch on my local fox news at night that's crazy and I thought the Acer 27" touch screen was big I take it back WOW that's all I can say.
If you thought 55inch was big, your sadly mistaken you want this beast of a tv (80 inch) with touch instead lol. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja2__Q52GAU
Holy cow, those are huge. I want one
+ 1020
I saw this on the verge, and you can only imagine how the comments went. Its like the Huffington Post over there, a cesspool of 99% liberalism, that includes the writers of the site
Since Fox News is the number one offender on fact checker websites, can you blame them?Why can't there be a high rated conservative news network that doesn't twist the truth for their wn gain? Lord knows the democrats screw up enough where it isn't necessary. And they are also the most negative news organization that I have ever seen which fosters anger....anger sells.
haha I was just getting scrolling down to flame fox news hehe. Well back to surfing ^^
MSNBC and FOX news no thanks.
Some of you people are so shallow; all that matters here is that they've invested in windows 8. The more people that adopt it, the more developers will pay attention!
BATS are the onair staff at Fox, not the computer screens. And that is playing nice.
Hope you say the same thing Daniel for CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC and CNN!
Mr Chekov, get ready for warp.
Witter, Witter . . .
LOL... I got this...
Shut up! You don't eat anything! You eat like a bean then you're done!
Actually....it's...Wicter Wictor two...
Nerd!!! Lolol! ;)
And proud of it! Lol StarTrek all the way!...it's better than star wars!
You'd better watch out. Us Star whores are very sensitive to that kind of talk, lol.
Star Wars is good before you are 10. After that, if you want to stay in nerdland you gotta go with Start Trek. Star Wars is for kids.
Shepard Smith should get a captains chair. And get JJ Abrams to direct the show
Collective narcissism in the context of 'values' is an oversimplification of our unique beliefs.
...I thought it was kirk and spock at 0.42s ;gold and blue
Very cool
Now they can fit more BS on the screen!
LMFAO!
Apparently not, look at the lousy screen resolution! Unless they just have it dialed down I think I see more on my 12" screen than they have on their 55's!
Yeah... "BATS" stands for Big "Area" Touchscreens .... Sure...
BFG
BFD!
Big azz tiddez
55 inch touch screen computers. I want one!
I think it is a pretty cool concept! I like it.
But really, who thinks they are called Big Area Touchscreens? They were definitely conceived as "Big Ass Touchscreens" but I think Fox toned it down, lol
Well, it's Fox. You expect it to be Family Friendly ;P Also...they're already running W8.1 I guess? Since they get completely white backgrounds.
They better, so they can have more than 2 apps open at once. Only having 2 apps open on a 55 inch screen would suck.
You mean work! C'mon it Ms.(spell check proof positive).
I think its regular W8, since all the non-Modern UI apps are all the same colour on the start screen
The makers of Big Ass Fans would probably sue. www.bigassfans.com
Hey, I saw those in Ikea and was surprised by the name. They are big though.
For a second I thought it meant, "Big Ass Titties"
Republicans (FOX) vs Democrats (MSNBC)..........3...2...1...... GO!
I'm Australian so I don't watch either of them :P
+1 communist party
That doesn't make any sense at all
Yeah wtf, me too. Nice set up though, good advertising.
Neither, whatever happened to unbiased news reporting. Maybe HBO should make a real newsnight program in the spirit of their The Newsroom TV series.
Yeah, because that show is unbiased. *rolls eyes*
HBO is as liberal as MSNBC.
Do you hear the crickets sing? That's the sound of the rest of the World not caring lol (However, even though I'm European...FOX! Politics aside, without Fox we wouldn't get awesome series and comedy. Not to mention Jon Stewart wouldn't have source material for the Daily Show nor Seth McFarlane to his comedy)
DJ, don't mix up Fox News and Fox. While they are the same company, Fox News literally "reports" stories that The Onion posts. And its not because they don't know, its because they look for any reason they can to promote things that are anti-Democrat. If you have a brain, you despise Fox news. They promote blind faith and insist upon themselves.
Non-Americans don't watch or care about FOX News
Wow, you sound completely unbiased. Thank you for the enlighted truth./s
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/26/fox-nation-readers-confuse-onion-a...
Are you really daft enough to believe these surveys built to target groups? So, you must beleive in all the polls of Obama voters at howobamagotelected.com. Those surveys were used to position Dems as idiots who get their political info from SNL and the Daily Show. Don't be clueless like the vast majority of both Liberal and Conservative voters. I'm fiercely independent which is becoming easier and easier these days when both sides are spewing such bigotted attacks like you.
I don't care about your hate for anything or anybody different than yourself. I just wish that we could look at a story like this and be objectively excited about the cool tech. So let's all just try to be civil and objective.
I have a brain and watch both Fox and CNN because the truth is somewhere in the middle of those news reports. I cannot stand people who have to make it out like there isn't anything of value in news reporting from one or the other. As far as the setup goes, it looks like a lot of fun can I be a source producers so I can sit behind the 55' computer screen.
Its not because you can grope yourself while watching woman denigrate other successful, independent, woman!
I know Fox News operates a bit differently from Fox. I've heard Seth McFarlane talk about that. HOWEVER, from my European perspective, believe me, Fox is NOT as evil as you paint it.
The thing is, while in Europe news reporters aren't supposed to have political inclinations, in the US news channels are openly politic.
If you're a democrat, of course you'll despise the Republican side of the news. If you're a Republican, of course you'll despise the Democrat-connected channels. For me...I don't care. As I'm not American, it's not a war that I care about. =P (Although IF I were American, I would most probably vote Republican...however, I'm European. And Monarchic. So...there you have it LOL)
^^^^^^ @ade333 That is one of the stupidest comments of the day. ^^^^^
Don't be mad at me for forcing an education down your throat. Faux News will report anything: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/10/07/anna_kooiman_fox_new_c...
Please, actually read this and then respond. http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/09/11/sloppy-amp-wrong-11-fox-amp-frie...
Are you referring to the news side of Fox News or the political commentary side (O'reily, Hannity, etc)? I find the news side pretty much reports the same news as every one else. It all comes from AP anyways. They might slant the stories to the right a little, while the other news channels slant them to the left a bit. The political commentary shows are completely different. They are not news. They are opinion shows with some news in them.
Dumbest post ever. Off topic. Partisan cult influenced. Drivel. Can't we talk about tech and keep the playground style politics to ourselves. Ugh.
YMCPA Your comment is factually false. Spew your bias elsewhere, especially given Daniels specific req. Can't read eh?
+1 and The Simpsons :)
Fox. :)
I think its cool
It looks awesome but other than the video, wont watch them in action. Happy for w8 though.
So how I do double tap something on that screen? Do I just hit it with my fist?
You just bump it with your chest. Its the only way actually.
That is...kindof cool. Really bizarre, but unique for sure. I want my house to have these.
Wait, you mean IPADs didn't cut it, they needed a real operating system? Go Windows 8!
Finally, I have more use for my "third arm"!!!
LMAO
They don't give you much privacy.
They're at work with the screens facing a TV camera... I think privacy isn't a concern for them as it's part of the "show"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=v1m8a4Jl4ZI
see 1:17 :-D
haha at least he had good taste looking at Miranda Kerr ;) Let's see that on a 55" screen! :D
"journalists" don't know the definition of privacy.
These are work computers. There is no privacy. Use work computers for personal purposes at your own peril.
Who are you? My IT guy?
All news channels are absurd, but out of the big 3 Fox has the least amount of douche-weasels. On topic......DEM MONITORS!
Watching the video....yeah, this is awesome. The stills did not do it justice.
Yeah, in the stills you can barely see the stilts!
Star Trek called... they want their props back. I wonder how many weeks till someone pulls up some porn somwhere...

EDIT: I get what they're aiming at, but it looks kinda stupid, and rather uncomfortable. Trying to type tweets or whatever without a handrest is going to get painful fast.
From my experience, the onscreen keyboard scales according to the screen's DPI.
Look at the video they have keyboards :)
Thank god they are not using surface.I'd cancel my order immediately.
There lies the problem with humanity, Fox News is the highest rated, lol!
*with Americans, in the US. They're all largely irrelevant in the rest of the world
Sky News says hi
As in owned by the same guy...largest in the world, I think...
I'm Australian, so I don't watch UK news. It's either SBS or ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) news. Both are largely politically unbiased / neutral.
+1 communist party
What the hell is wrong with you? It's like you saying "I'm American" and me replying "+1 Nazi party". It doesn't make the slightest sense at all.
+2 Communist party
You really are an imbecile
+3 :)
I've always had a soft spot for "auntie", but unbiased ?
As unbiased as you can get... typically present quite balanced news reports. I don't even bother with Channel 7, 9 or 10 news although 10 is slightly more tolerable.
That's because the liberal opinion shows are unwatchable. Those guys take themselves too seriously and are always angry.
Lol. Good luck in life.
So... What does the Fox say?
Ringa dinga ding ding dingy ding ding
Pow pow pow pow pow pow pow
Ha tee ha tee ha tee ho. Ha tee ha tee ha tee ho.
FA FA FA FAAH FA FA FAH FAHH FAAH FA FAHHH.
Thanks for concentrating on the technology and not making it political.
Thank god they didn't make it political like the dems would if they ran WP Central
Yeah, look at the verge. They added "culture" to their site, just so they could get political. And as expected, they're as liberal as MSNBC.
Very, Very Coooool. Microsoft should be padding themselves on the back. Finally a company that appreciates the flexibility of windows 8 after all the media tried to bring the OS down. What other OS can offer you apps and the backend that is the Windows desktop. With a swipe those journalist can get from their home made Twitter app from the Store and another swipe they can open up any video/image uploader or share through skydr