Windows 7, the next operating system from Microsoft Corp., is touted as faster, more reliable and easier to use than its predecessor. Consumers will get a chance tomorrow to download a free version. But last week, four companies got to play with the upcoming system and build something cool in less than five days.

As part of its first Windows Incubation Week, Microsoft let four start-up companies set up shop at its Irvine office with this challenge: Create a new Windows 7-based application.  Two of the four honed in on a touch-screen feature that will make it easier to develop software products that rely on human touch. On-site advisers were there to help.

“We’re trying to encourage more participation,” said Lynn Langit, a Developer Evangelist at Microsoft. “We want to support startups.”

Windows 7 meets home-health care

The “Best Business” winner, as judged by venture capital companies, was IngeniumCare. The Denver, Colo. company  is developing a computer system that lets people check in on aging parents or the disabled from any location. The two-piece system — a touch-screen computer to make calls or get help, and a pendant with fall detection and GPS — can help two people communicate almost anything. 

“But we had the problem of visualizing the (physical) state the person is in,” said Jim Wolf, its president and chief engineer .  ”You could have a web cam to see them, but a web cam can turn off and they would be lying on the ground.”

So, using Windows 7, IngeniumCare built a 3D cartoon character to replicate the position the person is in, such as horizontal and face down, which the fall-detection sensor may have overlooked if movement wasn’t abrupt. When Wolf leaned backward vertically, so did the on-screen character. 

Judges called IngeniumCare’s product, a “solid business model, differentiated product, effective use of Win7 features (sensor and touch).” Read the rest of this entry »