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 27th, 2009

Roku adds 2 new players, including the HD-XR with 802.11n support

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 5:33 am

Categories: Apple, Gadgets, Mobile software, On the road, iPhone

Tags: NetFlix Inc., Player, IEEE 802.11n, Roku Inc., Roku HD-XR, Wireless LANs, Wi-Fi, Tv & Home Theater, TVs, Wireless And Mobility

I have been a Netflix user for some time, but a few months ago I discovered the Roku player that lets me stream “Watch Instantly” Netflix content to my TV and jumped on the $99 device. There is no additional cost to you to stream this content to your TV with your compatible Netflix account. I was then able to downgrade my Netflix account to one DVD out at a time and my family has been extremely pleased with the Roku functionality. The Roku is dead simple to hookup and operate while giving you access to Netflix streaming content and your Amazon Video on Demand content. Last week I was sent a new Roku HD-XR box that adds 802.11n (the previous Roku had 802.11b/g) and a USB port (for future use).

Here is a breakdown of the two new Roku players added to the existing Roku HD player:

• Roku SD player (new): $79.99, connects to your TV via composite video outputs with L/R RCA audio. An ethernet port is present, along with 802.11 b/g WiFi.
• Roku HD player: $99.99, product that is currently shipping today w/ HDMI, component, composite, s-video and L/R RCA and optical video outputs along with Ethernet and Wi-Fi b/g. This model supports HD streaming from partners, currently including Amazon Video On Demand.
• Roku HD-XR (new): $129.99, same video and audio outputs as Roku HD player that also includes Wi-Fi n/b/g and a USB port for future use. The Roku HD-XR is the first Netflix streaming device to incorporate 802.11n connectivity protocol.

802.11n gives you greater range and better signal strength than 802.11b/g, but there shouldn’t be much of a difference in speeds since content partners have limits on the streams. Fortunately, my main 37 inch LCD TV is in the next room only about three feet from my WiFi router so I have never had an issue with signal strength.

All the Roku players have the same black box dimensions, with different ports on the back that set them apart.

I understand Roku is working with more content providers and we should see some interesting additions in the coming weeks.

iPhone app: While the Roku is not necessarily a mobile device, it is very compact and something you may want to travel with to enjoy your Netflix content in hotel rooms on a larger display rather than your small laptop screen. I also found a 99 cent iPhone application  (seems there are really apps for just about everything today) called DVPRemote (iTunes link) that gives you a full Roku remote control right on your iPhone/iPod touch so you can use it to control your Roku device.

After installation of the app, you simply make sure WiFi is enabled and then tap the button to discover your Roku player. You can then name your Roku player and give it a location (such as the home theater room). After saving this setup you can then control your Roku player and leave the included remote control in the drawer.

If you want to use a Roku player on a TV that is far away from your WiFi router then you might want to consider upgrading to the HD-XR. We don’t yet now what the USB port is for, but maybe it will be used to let you access content stored on a hard drive. Remember that you will also need to have an 802.11n router in place and last weekend I tried a Belkin one that didn’t work out. I may pick up an Airport Extreme router or some other model soon to try out.

My family thoroughly enjoys the Roku HD player and if you are a Netflix subscriber I highly recommend you pick one up to enjoy. There are actually hundreds of movies and TV shows that are available and my Instant Queue is much larger than my physical DVD Queue so content is not lacking.

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 21st, 2009

B&N Nook beats Amazon Kindle & Sony Reader, here's why

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:35 am

Categories: Gadgets, Kindle, Open Handset Alliance, Sony, ebooks

Tags: Sony Corp., Barnes & Noble Inc., Sony Reader, Loan Technology, Adobe Digital Editions, E-books, Wireless LANs, 3G, Wi-Fi, Wireless And Mobility

I posted yesterday about the Barnes & Noble Nook and then read Mitch’s post where one of his four points about the Nook not being revolutionary focused on the apparent limited use of WiFi. I just posed a couple of questions on the Nook press call and have to now tell Mitch he is wrong about the WiFi access, but he should actually be quite pleased since there are no limits. I confirmed that you can access and purchase books via both WiFi and AT&T 3G from any place where you have access to a network, including your home WiFi network. One point of clarification regarding travel overseas. You can download books from you current library collection via WiFi overseas, but due to licensing issues you cannot browse the store and purchase new content when outside the US (yet). The Barnes & Noble store experience is just an enhanced experience that presents you with free content and also allows you to browse through books, just like you can physically in the bookstore. As I said yesterday, I think the Nook is a revolutionary product in the ebook market for a number of reasons.

Here is why I think the Nook stands out from the others and sets the bar. Some items are found in a Kindle or Sony Reader, but the Nook brings all of these together:

• Ability to purchase content via WiFi and AT&T 3G wireless connections from any location in the US
• Ability to lend ebooks to others for 14 days
• Ability to checkout and read local library ebooks for free
• Ability to browse full ebook content while connected in Barnes & Noble stores
• Sync across platforms and readers of bookmarks, annotations, last reading location
• 16-level grayscale display
• Small capacitive color touchscreen for ebook store browsing

My other question on the call pertained to what happens when you loan out a book and what happens after the 14 day loan period. The loan technology is modeled just like a real physical book so when the loaner gives a friend the book then the loaner has no access to that book. The loanee then has the book for 14 days, I forgot to ask if they can return it earlier, and when that loan period expires the license for that book is transferred back to the loaner. I am not sure if you can loan over and over, but imagine there are no limitations since it is as single license that is just being transferred around. The only requirement for the loanee is that they have to have an iPhone, BlackBerry, Nook, or other compatible device to read the content.

I found in the FAQ and wrote yesterday that you should be able to access and read local library books with the Nook and this was confirmed in another press release announcing the partnership between Barnes & Noble and Adobe. Adobe Digital Editions is supported, along with the ePub and PDF formats.

UPDATE: Mitch was able to speak further with some folks at Barnes & Noble and confirms what I was told on the call this morning in his latest blog post. Mitch also found out some good information about accessing Google Books and I have to say all of this information just confirms that my pre-order was a smart purchase that I look forward to receiving in November.

October 20th, 2009

B&N Nook ebook reader revolutionizes the ebook world with sharing between friends and more

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 12:19 pm

Categories: BlackBerry, Gadgets, Kindle, Linux, Open Handset Alliance, ebooks, iPhone

Tags: Nook, E-books, Personal Technology, Matthew Miller

Rachel posted about the leaked details of the Nook and then I found that Engadget posted the full press release. After reading way down in the details and FAQs I saw that the Nook supports the ePub format so will work with local library ebooks so I just pre-ordered mine for $259. If you go to the pre-order page you can see all the details on this pretty amazing ebook reader that has me quite excited. You can also lend books to friends for up to 14 days at a time. This capability really turns the ebook world into a world almost the same as a paperback and is HOT!

Here are some of the specifications of the Nook:

• Support for AT&T and WiFi networks (free WiFi access at B&N stores)
• 2GB storage with microSD card slot
• 3.5 inch color touchscreen lower display
• MP3 player with integrated mono speaker
• Removable and rechargeable battery
• MicroUSB connector for charging
• Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches and 11.2 ounces
• Integrated Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary
• Ability to read content on iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, PC, and Mac
• Based on Android operating system

With the Android-based OS I wonder if developers will be able to customize the device to add even more functionality? I also wonder if there will be ebook clients for Google Android or other mobile phones beyond the iPhone and BlackBerry.

I was all ready to purchase this and just needed confirmation of all the formats and then found this FAQ buried deep down:

Can I put other files on my nook?
Yes, you can transfer files from your computer to your nook using a USB connection. You can transfer ePub and PDB files, as well as MP3s, PDFs, and JPGs.

Support for ePub sold me on the ebook reader so stay tuned for my full Nook review as soon as it arrives, hopefully in November.

BTW, there is some great reading buried down in the FAQ support page where you can see you can redownload your content as many times as you like from your library.

October 19th, 2009

Barnes & Noble ebook reader named the QUE, coming 7 January

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:49 am

Categories: Gadgets, ebooks

Tags: Consumer Electronics Show, Plastic Logic, Barnes & Noble Inc., E-books, Keyboards, Personal Technology, Hardware, Peripherals, Matthew Miller

Back in July I posted on the Plastic Logic eReader device that would be coming in 2010 in partnership with Barnes & Noble. Today, Plastic Logic revealed a name for their ebook reader, the QUE, that will premiere at CES in January 2010. I will be covering CES for my ZDNet blogs so stay tuned for more coverage on this device. As I mentioned in July, Plastic Logic is trying to focus more on the business professional rather than the casual reader with their support for Office documents and other tools for managing your content.

As you can see in the images provided the QUE looks to be very sleek and is the size of an 8.5 x 11 inch pad of paper, with a thickness less than 1/3 of an inch. The press release states it will have the largest touchscreen display in the ebook field, touchscreen interface, shatterproof plastic display, and both WiFi and AT&T wireless support.The QUE store will be powered by Barnes & Noble. Full product specifications, availability and pricing of QUE will be announced on January 7, 2010 at CES.

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 »