Mobile

Windows Mobile 6.5 and Microsoft ‘My Phone’

It’s official, Windows Mobile 6.5 is out of rumor status… some things that are worth mentioning is that the main screen will have a honeycomb look to it, i.e. in the way the icons are lain out. Most screens have redesigned menus that will not need that dreaded stylus, IE Mobile will have a touchable zoom slider, and frequently-used command. No devices are said to get a Windows Mobile upgrade, but the first Windows Mobile devices should be available before next Winter. Unfortunately for them, I’ll be picking up my Palm Pre before that

Click here to see a couple pictures, and to learn about some of the other features not mentioned here, like ‘SkyBox’, ‘SkyLine’ and ‘SkyMarket’.

Also check out the new service being released by Microsoft called “My Phone” Basically you can synchronize all your contacts, emails, texts, photos, documents, and music. Click here. Unfortunately this service is only available as an invitation-only beta. I hope everyone has unlimited data plans!

NS

Handbrake 0.9.3

Handbrake is an application that converts almost any source(just recently) to any other source, it is multiplatform and multithreaded. It is available for Windows, MacOS X, and Linus.

Inputs included are

- any DVD Source: VIDEO_TS folder, DVD image or real DVD (you have to decrypt your original movies first using 3rd party software)

Outputs supported are

- File Format: MP4, MKV, AVI, or OGM

- Video: MPEG-4, H.264, or Theora

- Audio: AAC, MP3, Vorbis or AC-3 (supports multiple audio tracks)

I’ll provide a couple links to some of the more relevant info required to get started. The Handbrake Guide, and the Windows Walkthrough.

Happy Encoding!

NS

NVIDIA Ion Platform means HD for Notebooks

They call it a Pico-ATX which measure in at a whopping 10 cm x 7.2 cm!

The reference motherboard is very simple; you’ve got an Intel Atom CPU and a GeForce 9400M next to each other, a single SATA connector and a DDR3 SO-DIMM slot on the other side of the board. And this little thing is powerful enough to play HD video (8 - 25Mbps H.264) the CPU has been measured at 27% utilization while doing so. Ion also has full support for 8-channel LPCM over HDMI.

Built into the board is USB 2.0 ports, a dual-link DVI connector, an HDMI Connector, a SATA 3G connector, and a DDR3 SO-DIMM connection.

Nvidia also says that a GeForce 9400 paired with the Atom Processor will net 10 times the graphics and video transcoding, Fulll HD Video Decode and Display, and is half the size but same battery life. The reference board is Vista Premium and Windows 7 Ready.

For more interesting details check this out.

HP to use “Green Super Batteries”

Boston Power Inc created these lithium ion batteries, apparently what they do is act like new for up to 3 years. That and they will charge to full capacity in 30 minutes while delivering longer, on average, run-times. The batteries will provide 4.4 amps per hour as apposed to 2.6 amps from the standard lithium ion batteries. These batteries will be manufactured to be backwards compatible with all pre-existing notebooks and laptops. HP has also stated that using an optional ultra-capacity battery in its EliteBook will net you a run-time of up to 24 hours without needing a charge!

If people pickup these batteries it will help out the green movement just because people wont be replacing batteries as often.

You will start to see these batteries on the market in the next little while.

NS

You can teach a Young Pup an Old Dog’s Tricks!

Well wouldn’t you know it, an old issue creeps up in Vista and it has the same resolution as before..

“The remote session was disconnected because the local computer’s client access license could not be upgraded or renewed. Please contact the server administrator.”

1 . Use the Registry Editor to navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSLicensing key on the Windows XP client.

2 . Delete the MSLicensing key.

3 . Close the Registry Editor.

It should now be fixed…

VMware workstation 6.5 new features

The newest release of VMware Workstation 6.5 will support for Direct X 9.0c and Shader Model 2, which basically means you will now be able to play 3D games in a VM! Utilizing ACE (Assured Computing Environment) technology you could take your 3D games and apps with you, securely Another Major new enhancement is called “Unity Mode” here’s an insert

“Unity mode — Integrate your favorite guest applications with your host. Open the application window, enter Unity mode, and the Workstation window is automatically minimized. The guest application windows look just like host application windows, but with color-coded borders. You can access the virtual machine’s Start menu (for Windows virtual machines) or Applications menu (for Linux virtual machines) by placing the mouse pointer over the host’s Start or Applications menu, or by using a key combination.”

Click here to read about all the other enhancements.

 NS

Microsoft to Challenge Facebook and MySpace

Well it was bound to happen, Microsoft sees the success of MySpace and Facebook and wants a little piece of that pie. Microsoft wants Windows Live to be the centerpiece of everyones internet experience. Changes will be happening in the next few weeks as they incorperate new revisions of their email client, calendar, and picture services. Check out some cool slides here at Eweek.

With 460 Million users world wide they may have a platform to stand on, provided they make this transition painless, judging from the changes already made to hotmail, its a little less then smooth!

Little side note, Microsoft paid 240 million for 1.6 percent of Facebook, which is privately held.

I welcome the changes, new features, improved performance, and more free online hdd space, all for just being an MSN Live member, that I like!

NS

www.Hotmail.com Changes

Well, they changed it again… I for one don’t mind the changes that much, although thousands of users do!

Here are some inserts that I found around the web.

“This format is terrible! I wonder who decided to make these changes because whomever it is, they SUCK! I think I will be changing my e-mail service provider as well,” reads a comment by a user not happy with the change.

“I wish we could have had a choice on whether we wanted our individual format to change because I surely would have declined the offer because I hate everything about it! BOOOOOO!”

While another Hotmail fan wrote: “You have to search for everything (addresses are not displayed). Some things need to be left alone. Fire the person who decided to do this. BAD IDEA.”

If people keep pushing, we may see a button on login, “Use Old Hotmail Format”. I wouldn’t care either way. Everything seems to work fine for me… in Internet Explorer 7 that is. I can drag and drop emails, I don’t have to search for names I just start typing an address and it pulls up any relevant emails or names, and the search engine works fine…

Google Chrome is another issue, some things seem to be broken, i.e. you cannot drag and drop and you cannot resize windows. I have the feeling that the people complaining may not be using Internet Explorer 7. Maybe thats the whole issue, Microsoft decided to make Hotmail only work with Internet Explorer 7, perfectly that is. If anyone has tested this with Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer 6/8 Beta, or Opera let me know what you find.

Cheers,
NS