Thursday 22 January 2009

Installing Ovi From Nokia

After hearing that Microsoft may be releasing a version of Apple’s Mobile Me for Windows Mobile and some non-windows mobile devices next month I decided to check out what Nokia had on offer first. On paper their current service list looks quite impressive. Email, contacts, calendar, file sync from your mobile device to the cloud, Nokia Services, and some sort of PC Suite, more details after I install it and get to play with it for a while. I’m currently using an N96 and have the new Nokia Messaging email client setup. While not perfect it is an excellent offering and one no S60 owner should be without.

I’ve used the calendar and contact sync to connect to the cloud and everything uploaded without a hitch. Now I want to see if I can tie the Ovi PC Suite into MS Outlook with Outlook connector. If I can then Nokia really have managed to offer virtually the perfect all round solution. Head over to www.ovi.com for a look.

Monday 19 January 2009

Microsoft About To Release A Good MobileMe?

According to Neowin Microsoft are going to introduce the world to their MobileMe compeditor next month:

"SkyBox" is a service for users to sync a phones information with the web. Microsoft will be offering automatic backup and restore services, access and management of phone data and provide easy communication and sharing with others. The service will also allow syncing of contacts, email/SMS, calendar items and pictures into the cloud, similar to Apple's MobileMe. The difference from Apple's offering is Microsoft could be set to offer this out to non Windows Mobile devices.

"SkyLine" will be aimed at small businesses. Offering similar functionality to SkyBox, businesses will be able to setup their phones with Microsoft's Exchange hosting with their own domain names.

"SkyMarket" was originally discovered in September 2008 when Microsoft advertised several external job positions. SkyMarket is the codename for Microsoft's mobile marketplace, a competitor to Apple's AppStore and RIM's Blackberry application center. This service will only be available on Windows Mobile devices and will showcase the 1000s of Windows Mobile applications available today.

Wednesday 14 January 2009

The Steve Jobs Email

The following is taken from the Wall Street Journal:

Team,

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal
with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health
continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else
at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my
health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to
allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have
decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and
I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As
CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our
board of directors fully supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

Steve

Steve Jobs Taking Medical Leave

The Wall Street Journal are carrying the story that Apple CEO is taking a medical leave of absence until June:

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, in email to employees, said his health issues are more complex than thought and is taking a medical leave until June.

Tim Cook is going to take over the day-to-day running of the company. Apple shares are currently down over 7% as of 22:06 GMT.

At this stage I’m not going to guess what’s wrong with Steve. All I’m going to say is that I truly hope he makes and full recovery from whatever is wrong and my thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family. We look forward to seeing him back on stage introducing us to new iPods in September.

Sunday 11 January 2009

Windows 7 First Impression

Win7 I’ve had Windows 7 installed on my Macbook for a couple of days and my first impression has been very positive. This is an extremely stable OS and on Boot Camp it’s actually running better than the Vista installation I had on before it.

Before I touch on the OS I’m going to make a quick note on installing it. If you own a Mac avoid Parallels. I have a fully upgraded copy which identified Windows 7 and was a breeze to setup. On logging in for the first time however things did not look right. After a quick Live Search I discovered that Parallels does not support Aero and seems to have an outdated video driver. To appreciate Win7 fully you really need to have Aero active. Install it onto Boot Camp and enjoy a great OS.

The first thing you really notice is the new taskbar. Whatever anyone else says this is a fantastic addition. It’s easy to tell the difference between running applications and shortcuts. A quick mouse over a running application and you get a set of thumbnails, not a big deal you might think but mouse over a thumbnail and you get a preview of the window. I don’t want to go back to XP and Vista already. It’s also great to have the System Tray hidden from view.

What about applications since this is a beta? Well so far so good. I’ve the Windows live Essentials suite up and running and will shortly be installing Office 2007. iTunes is possibly one of the biggest surprises. It installs and actually seems to work.

I’ll continue to use Windows 7 and will keep updating you all on it but as far as I’m concerned this really is the OS Vista should’ve been. Great job Microsoft, keep it up.

Wednesday 7 January 2009

CES Prediction

Well the CES keynote is approaching and after the disappointment of the Macworld keynote we’re hoping that Microsoft can make the most of this opportunity. On the Apple keynote I thought Phil did an excellent job considering the products he was introducing. I would like to see how he would deliver an iPhone level announcement. I suspect tonight’s keynote is going to focus on integration. Hopefully they’re going to show us how Microsoft products fit together and how they fit in with future products such as Windows 7.

1. Windows 7. This has got to play a major role in today’s keynote. Showing the integration with Windows Live, ability to run on Netbooks and finally the availability of the beta to testers.

2. Zune Phone. If this product is ever going to be announced then this has got to be the time to do it. The HTC Touch HD is getting great reviews even though it is running Windows Mobile 6.1 and Macworld had nothing that the media can really get it’s teeth into. This new competitive Windows Mobile to be available in Q2 would be perfect.

3. Live Framework. To keep developers happy we’ll probably see the introduction of Live Framework giving integration with Live services as well as Live Mesh and Azure. We will also hopefully be able to get our hands on the online Office applications. If they are released now for free they’ll wipe the floor with iWork.com.

4. XBox360. Considering the success of this console it would be hard to believe that it won’t make an appearance. Closer integration with the Live services and probably a few new games.

image from microsoft.com

Tuesday 6 January 2009

Macworld 2009 Review

Well that's it for the Macworld keynote, or the Philnote as this years was called, and it was a bit of a damp squib. Now that's not to say that there wasn't a couple of interesting stories coming out of the keynote.

The first one could be iwork.com. I expected an online office suite from Apple and we got it but they've disappointed us. This is basically Google Docs but they're going to charge us for it. If Microsoft announce the availablility of Office live tomorrow the Apple suite is going to disappear into the mists.

The second interesting announcement was the removal of DRM from iTunes. While this on it's own is long overdue it will be welcomed and with Windows Media Player 12 supporting AAC in Windows 7 this couldn't have come at a better time. It would be a great if this could be extended to those of us who have DRM tracks already but I'm guessing that isn't going to happen.

It was a pity Apple couldn't finish their Macworld run with at least big announcement or the appearance of Steve at least by satellite but it didn't happen and from now on we just wait for the Apple invites to appear before future product releases.

image from Apple.com, is also a link to the keynote video.

Monday 5 January 2009

Macworld 2009 Predictions

Well it’s that time of year again and while this years Macworld has been overshadowed by the news of Steve Jobs health, get well soon Steve, and the revelation that Apple are pulling out of Macworld after this years show it’s still time to make a few predictions. I’ve noticed that no one is highlighting the fact that this years Keynote could see the introduction of a new product. Steve being ill means that his avoidance of Macworld had nothing to do with lack of products.

So in the light of this news lets see what we’re in store for tomorrow.
1. New Mac Mini. Going from the rumors this one appears to be a sure bet. Going to be interesting to see if this evolutionary product will show that Apple are taking an interest in the mini or is this going to be a hobby like Apple TV.

2. New iMacs. Almost certainly will be larger in size with higher specs. I’ll be interested to see if there’s cinema display size iMac. Considering the fact that the Macbooks were redesigned to fit in with the iMac design the new ones will look exactly the same.

3. First Look At Snow Leopard. This is going to be interesting, if the footprint is going to be decreased you have to wonder exactly why. Apple control the computers and don’t really need to support low end machines so Snow Leopard could pack power and not really annoy anyone. Hence number 4.

4. I think we’re going to see either a tablet or Netbook to fit in with a new line of Apple online services. Expect to see the expansion of the MobileMe service. New Netbooks would be due at about the same time as Snow Leopard. Phil can show us Snow Leopard running on low end and beautiful machine and completely ruin Steve Ballmer’s speech on Wednesday at CES.

5. I don’t expect to see any new iPhones but a surprise visit from Steve shouldn’t be out of the question now that we expect him to look thin. In fact the announcement from Steve today would be a great way to ensure that the market doesn’t overreact when he takes to the stage at some point tomorrow. If he does then it will be for the “One more thing...” announcement so he can close out Apple’s final Macworld.