Posts Tagged ‘microsoft’

New Windows Smartphone Includes Built-in PowerPoint Projector

Posted by tom.altman on December 1st, 2009
Closeup of a stone sign bearing the Microsoft ...
Image via Wikipedia

I have always loved Volkswagens.  Maybe it was because my dad worked on them for 40 years.  But they remind me a lot of Microsoft.  Everytime you are about to give up and throw in the towel for them – they come out with something so cool…you cannot help yourself.

Now they have done it with a new phone.  Let me tell you – I have had three windows mobile based phones.  They have all pretty much stunk.  Now – I always managed to get them sync’d with Outlook – but things failed pretty quickly after that.

Search the news for phones today and it is hard to find a Windows Mobile one int he news.  Then this:

LG and AT&T have just announced the launch of a new Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphone with one standout feature: a built-in projector for displaying PowerPoint slideshows on the go. OK, OK, that’s not all the projector can be used for – the DLP pico projector can display other media too, like photos or videos. But let’s get real here – the most common use for projectors, especially in the business world, is slideshows.

Seriously – this is something we’ve heard rumors about.  Nut no iPhone or Android I’ve seen is even rumoring these yet.

New Windows Smartphone Includes Built-in PowerPoint Projector

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Semantic Wishlist for 2009 from ReadWriteWeb

Posted by tom.altman on January 12th, 2009
Image representing Powerset as depicted in Cru...
Image via CrunchBase

All I have to say is yes, yes and yes.

  1. Microsoft makes a very bold play with Powerset technology
  2. Semantic Web advertising
  3. Semantic apps for managing your finances
  4. Semantic apps for health industry
  5. A Personalized Memetracker
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Wordpress, Drupal & Django = Apple, Microsoft and Linux

Posted by tom.altman on December 22nd, 2008
¡Three Amigos!
Image via Wikipedia

So I’m driving to work last Thursday and it comes to be.  Wordpress, Drupal and Django relate to the three OS’s we all come to know and love.

Wordpress = Apple
Think about it.  It is the prettiest of all the platforms.  It makes the hard thing a bit of a no brainer – plugins have become a simple act with. WP2.7.  Anyone can use it, there is very little training needed and as the man says “Code is Poetry”

Drupal = Microsoft
This gorilla is a solid product.  It’s not as shiny as Wordpress, but not matter what – it will work for you.   Don’t worry about the new module you wrote 3 years ago, its still supported and it always will.  This is a popular product and it gives you 40 ways to do the same thing.

Django = Unix
This is solid and requires some serious console time to get things done.  Django screams masicist and taped up glasses.  Now – this baby will give you some serious street cred, but you have to REALLY know the jung-fu to get around.

OK – that was the drive, it’s a bit off the wall; but it makes sense, at least to me.

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Olympics, NBC and Silverlight

Posted by tom.altman on August 12th, 2008
SymbolImage by Saffanna via Flickr

I read this post from the “The Herald Tribune” the “Global Edition of the New York Times”, the post was titled “Microsoft leveraging Silverlight and riling critics” and it really about made me puke.

The were criticizing Microsoft for the closed solution:

But there’s a catch. To view the video, it will be necessary to download a Microsoft Web browser software component based on a new proprietary technology, Silverlight, that is intended to make it possible to display interactive animations, graphics, audio and video, all within a fixed window inside a Web browser display.

But in the next flippin’ paragraph they say this:

Silverlight will work for both Macintosh and Windows PC users, and a version for Linux is also available. A mobile version will be available on Windows Mobile and Nokia smartphones.

Excuse me – what makes that differnet from Flash or Quicktime?  Ummm…nothing.  Well really – it is different because I’m not sure they support all those formats.

The post then goes on to say that it doesn’t allow enough room for innovation:

“They’re still playing the same games,” said Michael Nelson, professor of Internet studies at Georgetown University. “It’s a way to lock up the content, and it’s not enabling as much innovation as we would like to see.”

Have they seen what this thing can do?  What NBC and Microsoft has done with the Olympic video is just wicked cool.  I’m spent about 2.5 hours using it last night and I was so happy.  Instead of watching gymnastics like the other NBC viewers – I watch Judo, Archery and Greco Roman Wrestling – LIVE.

Yes LIVE.  It was awesome.  The only thing missing was commentary – but it was so great.  Super quality – and I do not have a very fast internet connection.  I was amazed.

All I say – kudos to NBC for letting go of the control and allowing people to see what they want, when they want it.  (For the most part – it seems there may be a little issue with the simulcast of TV/Internet)  Microsoft – for leveraging the Silverlight platform to show some new cool video applications and The New York Times – for not getting it…at all.  :)

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Moblie Me v. Live Mesh

Posted by tom.altman on July 22nd, 2008
Live Desktop under Live MeshImage via Wikipedia

I’ve been called a Microsoft fanboy more times than I care to admit.  And – I’ll have to say…it’s true to an extent.  Now – I’m not ALL Microsoft – ALL the time, but I lean that way.

I do have respect for the other stuff and as I continue to futher my career in technology, I am finding myself woo’d by the open source world.

But I really have to laugh at this one (Apple’s MobileMe vs. MicroSoft’s Live Mesh) and have to say that I have not done any reseach about MoblieMe – but have been beta testing Live Mesh for a good month.  I really like LiveMesh.  And after hearing about the latest update – peer-to-peer sharing…this is h-hot.

I just find it very amusing that there will more than likely be a bunch of people raving about the MobileMe and poo-poo-ing the LiveMesh…so from this fanboy to the world.

I like LiveMesh!

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Sliverlight + Mesh = Silvermesh?

Posted by tom.altman on April 29th, 2008
VDC utilizes the Microsoft Silverlight DRM for live television streamingImage via Wikipedia

I’m not exactly sure what Microsoft has cooked up with Mesh yet. In fact, I have not even had time to work on testing silverlight yet…but I want to – now with Mesh…it just gets harder to keep up. Here’s a few links I have so far:

Untangling the Microsoft mesh – from zdnet.
“Mesh” was Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie’s word of the day last week at Microsoft’s Mix ‘08 conference. Ozzie waxed prolific on “social mesh,” “device mesh,” “seamless mesh” and more.

Mesh has the potential to be HUGE – from a cynergy systems post
The last time I was excited about a new technology was about a year and a half ago with Silverlight, it was so new and fresh and offered such promise. I can now say, personally speaking, that the same things can be said about Mesh. It will ultimately redefine how we exchange, use and sync data online. It has the potential to be HUGE!

Do you really get Live Mesh?
But how do you explain something as utterly complex as Live Mesh in that short of time? Well, you don’t really, which is why there are some who think Live Mesh is a souped up FolderShare or ‘just another service’. Live Mesh is a platform, one that spans devices and operating systems. To really get a sense of what Live Mesh is, you should watch this incredible video Charles Torre shot with Ori Amiga, Group PM of the Live Developer Platform. If you don’t have time to watch the whole thing, at least watch the second half.

Not sure – but it could be rather interesting.

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Micro-hoo – It's Yahoo, hot-hot-hot – BrowserPlus

Posted by tom.altman on April 20th, 2008
Jerry Yang and David Filo, the founders of Yahoo!Image via Wikipedia

I’ve been following the whole Microsoft/Yahoo thing along with everyone and have really kept my opinions to myself – but when I saw this post over at Ajaxia – “Yahoo! BrowserPlus: The rumour is true”

Awhile back I heard a rumour that Yahoo! had a “Gears-like” project that was cancelled. I thought this was a shame, as having Yahoo! pushing the browser would be a great thing, and I wished that we could all join forces and push together.

It turns out the rumour is true, and even better, the project has survived. Skylar Woodward of Brickhouse talks a little about it on his blog:

I just thing it is time for Microsoft to buy Yahoo! – they need to do this before anyone figures out that Yahoo! is hot-hot-hot.  I mean seriously – I hear is how great Google is because of Google gears and then Yahoo! pulls out a decent competitor.

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Microsoft Sings a New Tune—Wants to Play Nice With Open-Source

Posted by tom.altman on February 22nd, 2008

Wow – with an interesting twist of events – Microsoft wants to play open source.

In a series of moves announced today aimed at making its products more interoperable with other software and the Web in general, Microsoft is releasing 30,000 pages of documentation for Windows (both desktop and server products) that were previously available to partners only through a trade secret license. It is making available new licenses to a large number of its software patents “on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, at low royalty rates.”

This is pretty cool.  I’ve been getting more and more interested in open source lately.  And with my past experience in programming web apps with Microsoft tools – it sure sounds good.  I’m interested to see how this all plays out.

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Why Microsoft+Yahoo Won’t Fly.

Posted by tom.altman on February 12th, 2008

This is a very well written article that explores some insight others may not have:

Here’s a case where I think everyone else has got it wrong. The media seems to be positioning Microsoft’s hostile takeover of Yahoo as an admission on the part of Microsoft that they’ve lost their competitive edge. And Google, clearly worried, is making anti-trust noises, claiming that the proposed merger would destroy market competition. Both positions are utterly absurd, in my view.

He makes some great points why he feels this deal will fail – but makes it clear that many are not pointing to the things he is.

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Is Google scared of the Microsoft/Yahoo deal?

Posted by tom.altman on February 4th, 2008

Take a look at the blog post over at the Google blog:

Could the acquisition of Yahoo! allow Microsoft — despite its legacy of serious legal and regulatory offenses — to extend unfair practices from browsers and operating systems to the Internet? In addition, Microsoft plus Yahoo! equals an overwhelming share of instant messaging and web email accounts. And between them, the two companies operate the two most heavily trafficked portals on the Internet. Could a combination of the two take advantage of a PC software monopoly to unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors’ email, IM, and web-based services? Policymakers around the world need to ask these questions — and consumers deserve satisfying answers.

It sure seems if Google thinks they could crush them they would encourage the transaction.

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