My deal of the day today really is about as far from a travel gadget as you can get. It’s for the top of the line Vista version from Microsoft. This version of Vista ultimate comes complete with a REAL signature from Bill Gates himself.
The package was introduced last year and originally cost over $300. But someone clearly needs to get rid of it, because it’s on sale now for just $80 from OfficeMax.
It’s listed as “while supplies last”, so don’t delay too much.
Product page: OfficeMax
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06 Jun
Posted by scottc as Microsoft, PDA and Smartphone, iPhone
Forgive me for the childish post title, by now you should know that I’m more Windows fan than iPhone fan (though that might change next week).
Microsoft’s head of mobile communications posted a letter online this morning that highlights an important sales milestone for the Windows Mobile platform: 20 million licenses in one fiscal year.
It’s now my honor and privilege to announce a milestone that our partnership has accomplished. This fiscal year we will sell nearly 20 million Windows Mobile smartphone licenses, making Windows Mobile one of the most widely used smartphone software platforms in the world. We also sold more in the previous four quarters than RIM, and in the last quarter our year-over-year unit growth alone was greater than sales of Apple’s iPhone.
Congratulations Microsoft. Now get back to work and fix the things I hate in Windows Mobile.
Source: Microsoft
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16 May
Posted by scottc as Microsoft, Mobile applications, PDA and Smartphone, Windows Mobile
Microsoft just released a new version of their mobile Live Search client (V3.0). This new version adds a couple of pretty exciting features. It still has speech recognition, maps, movie times, traffic and gas prices but adds local weather and something called "collections".
Collections are location based searches that return results with anything from local Wikipedia entries to recently sold home prices. In the few places I tried it this afternoon, it worked brilliantly.
You can learn more about the "collections" feature here: Passthepoi.
WLS is FREE, and can be downloaded by pointing your Windows Mobile device to this link (A Blackberry version is also available, but it has not (yet) been updated with these new features).
Here are some screenshots of the new application:
WLS main menu and the "my collections" feature showing some of the pre-loaded collections you can search.
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12 May
Posted by scottc as Blackberry, Microsoft, Mobile applications
In what seems like a weird combination of products, Microsoft and RIM announced the upcoming (Summer) availability of two Windows Live applications for the Blackberry. I don’t know anyone that still uses Hotmail, let alone anyone that would want Blackberry access to it.
Windows Live Hotmail for BlackBerry will allow customers to do the following:
•Use BlackBerry “push” technology for automatic message delivery and message synchronization so customers’ online account is up to date with actions taken on their BlackBerry smartphone
•Use a dedicated inbox for Windows Live Hotmail messages, which are automatically delivered to the smartphone. Customers can also choose to receive their Windows Live Hotmail messages, along with messages from other e-mail accounts, within a single inbox on their BlackBerry smartphone
•Display HTML e-mail with the ability to view graphics, Web links and contact photos in e-mails
Windows Live Messenger for BlackBerry will allow customers to do the following:
•Send instant messages and join group chats
•Set status and see the presence of friends and colleagues within Windows Live Messenger or their contact cards
•Customize status messages
•Save conversations
•Showcase their Display Picture (Avatar)
•Send and receive pictures and files
•Use more than 60 emoticons
Source: Microsoft Presspass
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05 May
Posted by scottc as Being productive, Microsoft
Xobni (inbox backwards) has left beta status and is now available to download by anyone. If you never took it for a spin, you’ll want to. It only works with Outlook, but does several things you’ll learn to love really fast.
For starters, it has a very fast and reliable search feature It also scans your messages for contact information and saves that, making it easier to lookup information from people that have emailed you.
You also get threaded conversations (like in Gmail), email statistics and more. It’s so impressive, that Microsoft tried to buy them last month. But Xobni turned down their offer!
You can download it (for free) here.
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Thank goodness Microsoft finally saw the light; they have told Yahoo that the deal is off, and that they are no longer interested in merging.
The travel angle here? Microsoft have a history of messing things up when they buy parts of other companies, and they probably would have done the same here, severely impacting things like Yahoo maps and Yahoo mail.
Now they can go their separate ways, Microsoft trying to catch up with Google (and failing), and Yahoo trying to make sense of their 100’s of different products (and failing).
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Microsoft has a bit of a problem with Vista. Even though it is selling quite well, there are still some people that simply don’t want it. Those folks claim that XP is just fine for their needs.
Joining that rank is Dell, who simply refuse to tell their customers that XP is no longer an option.
Microsoft already gave in to demands from UMPC manufacturers allowing them to deliver XP on machines like the Asus Eee PC till 2012, but anyone else is out of luck in 2 months. Thankfully, Dell have decided to take advantage of a licensing loophole in Vista that allows them to continue delivering their machines with XP. They’ll still need to include a Vista CD and license, but they will pre-install XP for "select product lines".
As much as Microsoft would love to get rid of XP for good, it only makes sense that they listen to their largest customers and give them what they want.
Source: PCWorld
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For those who love Farecast, a website that is supposed to help you predict whether the fare you’re paying is the lowest or not, but hate Microsoft, life just got a bit more difficult. Microsoft snapped up the small company earlier this month in an apparent effort to get expand their penetration into the travel business. This should either ensure that Farecast sticks around for a while since it now has a big company behind it, or the technology will end up integrated into some Microsoft proprietary solution meaning you can only use it if you buy from them. I hope it is the former.
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16 Apr
Posted by scottc as Communicate, Input devices, Microsoft, Mobile Computing, PDA and Smartphone
I’d written about the planned acquisition of Danger by Microsoft a few months ago, but now the deal has been completed. Your trusty little Sidekick or Hiptop is now a Microsoft product. It’s still unknown exactly what Microsoft has planned for them, as the press release has been translated from English into Marketingish.
REDMOND, Wash. — April 15, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. has completed its acquisition of Danger, Inc., the company announced today. Danger’s expertise in building great, intuitive client software for mobile handsets connected to powerful hosted back-end services fosters rich consumer experiences in communication, media sharing, entertainment and personalization. The combined force of Danger and Microsoft strengthens the company’s ability to provide innovative mobile experiences to more consumers.
Danger will become a part of the new Premium Mobile Experiences (PMX) team, a group within the Mobile Communications Business (MCB) of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. The PMX team focuses on consumer-facing mobile projects and is led by Roz Ho, corporate vice president of Premium Mobile Experiences, reporting to Andy Lees, senior vice president of the MCB. Danger co-founders Matt Hershenson and Joe Britt will join the new organization, reporting directly to Ho.
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There is no denying that the Asus EEE PC has changed the scenery in computer land.
But to actually make Microsoft change its mind on killing off Windows XP? That’s quite impressive!
XP was meant to be "EOL" as of June 2008, but has been granted a 2 year stay of execution, just so computers like the EEE PC and the upcoming Intel Classmate can get something other than Linux.
Of course, it could all just be slick marketing by Microsoft and a disguise to prevent them from admitting that Vista isn’t doing what they hoped it would…
SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it will keep selling a version of Windows XP for use on a new breed of low-cost computers for at least two years longer than the system will be available for mainstream PCs.
The software maker said Windows XP Home will be available at least through June 2010 for computers like Intel Corp.’s Classmate PC and ASUSTek Computer Inc.’s Eee PC. But Microsoft also vowed to keep XP on the market for those machines for a year after the next version of Windows is released, which could mean 2011 or later.
The low-cost machines have smaller hard drives, less memory and slower processors than most Windows computers sold today, and most would have a hard time running the bulkier Windows Vista.
Source: AP
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