November 11th, 2009

3D gaming comes to the Zune HD, video of all 6 new games

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 6:30 am

Categories: MP3 players, Microsoft, Mobile software, Portable gaming, Zune

Tags: 3D, Microsoft Zune, Ferrari, Games, Personal Technology, Matthew Miller

This past weekend I mentioned the Zune HD firmware 4.3 update that added predictive text and a better browsing experience. As part of that update, Microsoft announced that support for 3D games and apps was added as well and it didn’t take long for them to deliver as we now have six new games in the Zune Marketplace. You will find Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition, Audiosurf Tilt, and Vans Sk8: Pool Service for 3D gaming and Checkers, Lucky Lanes Bowling, and Piano for more standard gaming. All the games are FREE, with a short ad at start up. I don’t mind the ads if the games are good and as you will soon see in the video I am shooting and will be posting below the games are pretty dang good and game play is fluid. The 3D transitions and scenery in PGR are excellent and I see no pixelating going on.

Here is a description of each of the games from Microsoft:

• Audiosurf Tilt: Audiosurf creates a rollercoaster ride from any song. Choose any song from your music collection and watch Audiosurf turn it into a unique roller coaster track for you to ride. The song you choose determines the shape, the speed, and the mood of each track. Tilt your Zune like a steering wheel to collect colored blocks and avoid speedbumps. Unlock more than 30 designs, each with its own special theme and color palette.
• Checkers: Enjoy the classic game of Checkers in a beautiful outdoor park setting. Play against the computer or against a friend.
• Lucky Lanes Bowling: Bowl in different game modes: exhibition, blackjack, golf. Play in five different bowling alleys with unique themes, all with the swipe of a finger. Choose from twenty different bowlers and twenty two different ball styles. You can play against the computer or play with up to four friends.
• Piano: Play your own tune, or play along with your favorite music on this electronic piano.
• Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition: Tear through the streets of London, Tokyo, and New York in the Ferrari of your choice using multi touch controls and the built in accelerometer.
• Vans Sk8: Pool Service: From the Admiral to the old abandoned rec center pool, Bucky Lasek and Omar Hassan know a good bowl to skate. Hit the pools and put these Vans skaters to the test with all the tricks in their bag and achieve hero status once you unlock their pro model skateboards.

They also mentioned that Twitter and Facebook are still planned for a release soon.

November 7th, 2009

Zune HD firmware 4.3 adds predictive text and desktop mode

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 8:02 pm

Categories: Gadgets, MP3 players, Microsoft, Mobile software, Zune

Tags: Desktop, Mobile, Microsoft Zune, Web Browser, Firmware, Web Browsers, Keyboards, Internet, Hardware, Peripherals

I was messing around with adding devices to my GDGT list today and discovered this discussion about new Zune HD firmware. I then fired up my MSI Wind with Zune desktop software, connected my Zune HD and walked through the 4.1 (191) upgrade. A couple of the key upgrades include a much faster web browser, desktop or mobile controls in the browser and predictive text support with the keyboard.

Here are all the updates I could find people mentioning since Microsoft hasn’t posted a comprehensive list of what was upgraded:

• Faster web browser
• Option in browser for desktop or mobile sites
• Predictive text in the keyboard
• Auto capitalization
• Larger landscape keyboard
• Toggle between seek or presets for radio
• Support for future 3D games
• Other minor updates and improvements, not specifically identified

You can check out the below video for some improvements to the browser and landscape keyboard.

As I mentioned in my Zune HD browser post the mobile only support drove me nuts so I am very pleased to see the option to toggle between desktop or mobile sites. While I can now view my full ZDNet blog (not the mobile version) and go to the full YouTube site, there is still no support for Flash so you cannot watch YouTube videos on the Zune HD. I would also like to see browser history support. The browser is definitely better though and I will probably use it more for casual couch surfing than I did before.

The update may not have essential new features, but it is a worthy point upgrade and I haven’t heard any reports of issues with the update.

November 1st, 2009

Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Digital Media Players

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 9:20 pm

Categories: Apple, Gadgets, Holiday Gift Guide, MP3 players, Microsoft, Portable gaming, Sony, Zune

Tags: Device, Apple iPod, Archos, Microsoft Zune, Apple iPod Nano, Apple Inc., Video, Archos 5 Internet Tablet, Pixel Resolution, Sony X-Series Walkman

For this Digital Media Player Holiday Guide we will be taking a look at the best devices that offer a complete music playing and video watching experience. There are still some devices that specialize in one or the other, but the capability has improved in most of them so that both types of media content can be enjoyed. Last year we looked at both MP3 players and portable digital video players in two Guides, but are merging them this year since most perform both functions well. Some of these devices can be used for web browsing, 3rd party application usage, and gaming, but we will focus on the music and video support while mentioning some of these more advanced capabilities.

You will see some of the same brand names in this Holiday Guide, but you will also see that updated models continue to improve on the media experience and for the most part you can’t go wrong with these players. You will see that the Guide is arranged in order from highest price device to lowest price device since price is a major factor when you look at one of these media players to purchase.

Archos 5 Internet Tablet

The Archos 5 Internet Tablet is powered by the Google Android operating system and is focused on the media experience with Internet browsing also being a prominent feature. Archos has been know at excelling in portable video playing capability and the Archos 5 continues that tradition. You can view HD video content and photos on the 4.8 inch 800×480 pixel resolution display. The Archos 5 Internet Tablet supports the following video formats; MPEG-4 HD (up to 720p), MPEG-48, H.264, WMV, MKV, and M-JPEG. Supported audio formats include MP3, WMA, AAC+, Ogg Vorbis, and Flac. There are some optional plug-ins available to further enhance support on the Archos 5.

In addition to the various hard drive capacities, the Archos 5 has a microSD card slot with support up to 32GB, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, FM receiver with RDS, and FM transmitter. There are a couple additional accessories to extend the functionality of the device to your TV as well.

With the Google Android operating system you will find that many third party apps seen on Google Android smartphones also work on the Archos 5 Tablet.

Price: $499.99 MSRP for 500GB unit, $399.99 for 160GB, and $379.99 for 32GB Flash drive

[Check out review pages for the 500GB and 32GB models]

Go to the next page »

October 27th, 2009

Microsoft's MSN Direct service ending in 2012

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 10:54 pm

Categories: GPS, Gadgets, Microsoft, On the road, mobile services

Tags: MSN, Microsoft Corp., GPS, Handhelds, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Hardware, Matthew Miller

I understand there are some scientists now stating that the end of the calendar, and maybe end of the world, year of 2012 is actually off by a couple hundred years so all those 2012 movies may start to look a bit silly. Then again, if you happen to have a SPOT watch powered by MSN Direct or one of a number of GPS navigation devices with MSN Direct service providing traffic, movies, and other data your connected world will end on 1 January 2012.

I personally still have three SPOT watches and liked the technology for its easily glanceable data. However, I stopped wearing a watch and use my phone for time and date info. You may be wondering why Microsoft is ending this service and in the FAQ section you can read the following:

The delivery of location-based services in the U.S. and Canada has evolved since Microsoft began offering MSN Direct in early 2004. Leveraging unused FM radio spectrum to broadcast data represented a step forward in 2004, however, many choices today including WiFi, Cellular, FM RDS and other digital networks are now readily available and are continuing to grow in popularity. Despite good initial MSN Direct adoption, these alternatives have significantly reduced demand for MSN Direct service. As such, Microsoft has made the decision to focus future U.S. and Canada investments on these existing network connections and discontinue the MSN Direct services business. Microsoft will continue to explore new ways to leverage the efficiencies of FM digital broadcast in other applications and markets going forward.

While some people are starting to use their smartphones more for GPS navigation, I would have thought there was still a pretty large market for MSN Direct services on PNDs. Apparently, this is not true. If you have paid for service that runs past this date, then you will get a prorated refund.

Thanks to TechFlash for the heads-up on the news.

October 26th, 2009

Planning to install Windows 7 on your netbook, here's a couple tips

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 9:10 am

Categories: Microsoft, Netbook, On the road, Ultra portable PC

Tags: Microsoft Windows XP, Netbook, Microsoft Windows 7, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Microsoft Windows, Hardware, Operating Systems, Software, Matthew Miller

The computers in my office run Windows XP and there are no current plans to upgrade to Windows 7 anytime soon since XP provides a stable platform for us to run our engineering programs. I have a MacBook Pro I use as my primary writing and photo/video management computer and have been thinking about upgrading to the latest version of Parallels to run Windows 7 since the dual boot solution supporting Windows 7 is not yet available from Apple. I also have a MSI Wind netbook that I use primarily for my Zune and Nokia syncing needs. I previously tried a very early beta of Windows 7 on the netbook and understand the final release version of 7 runs quite nicely on these Intel Atom powered computers. I plan to install Windows 7 on this netbook soon, but there are a few steps to take before doing so that are made a bit more difficult for these computers without an optical drive.

Since Windows 7 offers no real upgrade path from XP and you have to wipe out everything, the first thing I need to do is backup all the Zune music I purchased using my monthly 10 free song credits. I plan to use my external Maxtor 750 GB drive to transfer the music from the Wind to this drive and then back again after installing Windows 7. I do not use the Wind for photo editing or storage so there is really not much else I care about wiping out on the device. I also want to caution you that many services have a limited number of PCs you can use to manage devices and wiping out XP and installing Windows 7 will in most cases count as two separate computers. I have seen this with the Sony Reader desktop software, iTunes, and Zune Marketplace so make sure you go through and deauthorize your existing computer with all of these services before you wipe it clean.

I then plan to use a USB flash drive to install Windows 7 following Kevin’s guidance on how to install Windows 7 on a netbook with no optical drive. I recommend you check out Sascha Segan’s recent article on Five Key Tips for Installing Windows 7 on Netbooks, since he also mentions installing from a USB stick and troubles he had with this method and with using an external DVD drive.

If you buy a new netbook, you are most likely to find it loaded with Windows 7 Starter Edition and as pointed out on the Windows Team Blog there are a few limitations with this version compared to Home, Professional, and Ultimate. These include no support for Aero Glass, limited personalization of the desktop, no multi-monitor support, no DVD playback support out of the box, no XP mode, and no remote media streaming. For netbook users these may not be limitations at all and honestly I could probably live with them all as well. I do have a copy of Ultimate though so plan to try that out on the MSI Wind.

Have any readers installed Windows 7 on their netbook and if so, are you finding it is worth the upgrade from XP on these small notebooks?

UPDATE: I backed up all my files and then installed Windows 7 Ultimate on my MSI Wind via my USB DVD drive and it was a flawless and simple installation experience. I now have my Zune software up and running and am finishing up the Office 2007 install. So far it looks great on my MSI Wind U100 with 2GB of RAM.

October 23rd, 2009

MobileTechRoundup show #187, Windows 7, B&N Nook, Nokia N900

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:39 am

Categories: Gadgets, Kindle, Linux, Microsoft, MoTR podcast, Mobile software, Netbook, Nokia, Ultra portable PC, ebooks

Tags: MobileTechRoundup, Nokia Corp., News, Microsoft Windows 7, E-books, Microsoft Windows, Personal Technology, Operating Systems, Software, Matthew Miller

Listen here (MP3, 30.4 MB, 33:05 minutes)

Subscribe to the show with this link (RSS)

Windows 7 was the big news of the week and James, Kevin, and I started off MobileTechRoundup show #186 talking about this latest Microsoft operating system. Hopefully James doesn’t really go try to eat a Burger King Whopper 7 today. I talked a bit more about the Nokia N900 now that I have had this mobile Linux computer for almost 2 weeks. The other big news of the week was the Barnes & Noble Nook and James sounds like he is as excited as me, although I am the only one who placed a pre-order so far. Amazon didn’t want to be left out of the ebook news and also announced Kindle for PC this week.

October 22nd, 2009

Kindle for PC application revealed at Windows 7 launch

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 9:32 am

Categories: Kindle, Microsoft, ebooks

Tags: PC, Microsoft Windows, Amazon Kindle, Microsoft Windows 7, Desktops, Hardware, Matthew Miller

One of the weaknesses of the Amazon Kindle is the inability to read books on anything other than a Kindle or iPhone/iPod touch. That will be changing soon though as Microsoft showed off an Amazon Kindle reader on Windows PCs at the Windows 7 launch event. I still think the B&N Nook beats the Kindle for a number of reasons, but this is one less advantage the Nook has over the Kindle.

Dedicated ebook reading devices can’t be beat in terms of reading and impact on your eyes, but reading on a PC can also be a good experience due to the backlighting, presence of a Windows PC, and cross platform access. The beta for the Kindle for PC software will roll out in November and I am signed up to try it out since I still have Kindle content I purchased and read on my iPhone 3GS.

October 14th, 2009

Dual boot Android/XP Acer netbook available for pre-order

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 8:00 am

Categories: Gadgets, Linux, Microsoft, Netbook, Open Handset Alliance, Ultra portable PC

Tags: Dual Boot, Netbook, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Hardware, Matthew Miller

I’ve been pretty pleased with my MSI Wind netbook and use it to manage my Zune content and sync up devices that do not work natively with my Mac. I am also a fan of the Android operating system so I was intrigued to read over on Android Central that the dual boot Acer Aspire One D250 is now available for Amazon pre-order for $349.99. This 10.1 inch netbook can be booted into either Windows XP or the Google Android operating system and has a reported 9 hour battery life (with wireless and in “normal” working mode you will probably see 5 hours or so).

I have not yet seen the Android OS running on a netbook device and am interested in seeing how it will be presented and used on such a form factor. I know on my T-Mobile G1 and the HTC Hero it is highly focused on the connected data of the phone and am not sure how that will play out on a notebook. The Aspire One D250 has great specs for a netbook and is priced quite reasonably. Some of the specs include:

* 10.1-inch LED-backlit CrystalBrite screen (1024 x 600 resolution)
* Unique dual-boot operating system lets you choose between Windows XP (SP3) or Google Android
* 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N280 processor
* Up to 9 hours of battery life with included 6-cell battery
* Multi-gesture Touchpad for circular-motion scrolling, pinch-action zoom, and page flip
* 160 GB hard drive (5400 RPM)
* 1 GB DDR2 RAM (533 MHz; 2 GB maximum capacity)
* Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 video processor
* Crystal Eye webcam supports Acer PrimaLite technology
* 84-key keyboard, 89 percent of standard-size with 12 function keys, WLAN switch
* 54g Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
* Bluetooth 2.1 radio
* 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals–from digital cameras to MP3 players
* Analog video output: 1 VGA
* Multi-in-1 memory card reader compatible with MultiMediaCard, Reduced-Size MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO or xD-Picture Card
* 1 headphone jack, 1 microphone jack
* Stereo speakers and optimized Dolby Headphone technology for 5.1-channel audio
* Dimensions: 10.17 x 8.04 x 1 inches (WxDxH)
* Weight: 2.79 pounds

The multi-gesture touchpad looks interesting and I look forward to reading reviews to see if that is supported in both Windows XP and the Android OS. At this price I am seriously thinking of moving from my MSI Wind to this dual boot setup, but first want to see if there is any benefit to having the Android OS on a notebook device.

October 14th, 2009

Review: Zune HD & AV dock and Zune Premium Car Pack

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 5:10 am

Categories: Gadgets, MP3 players, Microsoft, Zune

Tags: Car, Microsoft Zune, Zune HD, Zune Premium Car Pack, A/V, HD FM-radio, Cable, Corporate Communications, Network Technology, Telecommunications

I purchased a regular platinum 32GB Zune HD on the 15 September launch day from Amazon and a few hours later order a Zune Originals device that just recently arrived. Along with the launch of the Zune HD, Microsoft rolled out a few Zune HD accessories. I purchased the DLO Action Jacket from Best Buy so I could go running with my Zune HD and will post some thoughts on that in a couple of weeks. Microsoft sent along a couple of other available accessories for me to try out. You can check out my extensive image gallery and full take on the Zune Premium Car Pack and Zune HD & AV dock below.

	Image Gallery:Check out these new Zune accessories that work well with the Zune HD.

Zune Premium Car Pack

I have a rather small personal music collection and thus the ability to listen to and download unlimited music to my Zune HD with the Zune subscription is quite compelling. I also use my Zune to listen to my favorite podcasts. The Zune HD has no integrated speaker or Bluetooth radio so I was looking for a way to enjoy my Zune HD content in the car when I run my daughters around to all of their activities and spend time waiting in various parking lots. I saw that Microsoft has a new FM transmitter solution for the Zune HD and was sent one to evaluate. I tested each of the available methods to connect your Zune HD to your car stereo system with two of my cars so I will comment on the setup and performance of each method below.

The Zune Premium Car Pack came in a sturdy box with the auto adapter and a small simple directions card. The main part of the unit is long, approximately 4 inches, with a cigarette lighter/DC plug adapter on one end and an indicator light on the other end. When the unit is plugged in and active a Zune logo appears in white on the end. Towards the plug end you will find a 3.5mm audio out port that is designed to let you plug in a 3.5mm cable and then plug the other end into an audio jack or cassette adapter in your car for direct audio playback without using the FM transmitter. At the indicator light end of the unit you will find a USB port designed to let you charge up a second Zune or maybe even a mobile phone.

The second part of the unit is the FM transmitter/Zune connector piece that is at the end of a 3 foot cable. The small dongle has large Read the rest of this entry »

October 13th, 2009

Almost a month later and my custom Zune Originals HD arrived

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 5:40 pm

Categories: Gadgets, MP3 players, Microsoft, Zune

Tags: Microsoft Zune, E-mail, Web Site Development, Web Technology, Online Communications, Internet, Matthew Miller

As I wrote in my Zune HD review I ordered a platinum Zune HD from Amazon and received it promptly on launch day. I was so impressed with the Zune HD hardware that I ordered a custom Zune Originals model that day from the Zune Original website. Little did I know that I would be one of 7-8 customers, out of thousands, to suffer from a major ordering glitch that had my order stuck in limbo for just about a month. I am very pleased to report that my custom blue Zune HD arrived today and have some photos below showing it off.

The order seemed to go through fine in the beginning and I promptly received my order confirmation email and order number. It then was lost in the process and my order status never changed from “Order received” the entire time. I was pretty surprised when the manager of the Zune Originals business, Jason Reindorp, stepped in and posted in the Zune Forums that they were giving early buyers a $15 Marketplace credit and that the process was getting his personal attention. This solved most everyone’s issues, but my order still was stuck in limbo. I actually received a personal email from Jason and he worked hard to get my Zune HD order processed as fast as possible. The delay for a while was due to the fact that the blue model I ordered was sold out by the time my order was found in the system. Jason went out of his way to help me out and did everything he could to get my order through the system.

My Zune HD was ordered on 15 September and arrived on 13 October. I am actually more pleased with it than I thought I would be since the blue is a better blue color than what appeared on the website. I am loading it up with all my content now and will have a review of a couple of Zune HD accessories here on the blog tomorrow.