Note the image of the Neckties next to the countdown :).  Google doesn't give me this information.  Bing gave me exactly what I was looking for and a smile on top.

If you're unfamiliar with Bing, you'll soon be thanks to a large TV ad campaign.  www.bing.com

It's been a busy past 48 hours for the Microsoft team responsible for the E3 press briefing.  If ever there were concern that E3 has lost its luster, this was the presentation to prove otherwise.  A few of the highlights before I get into the rest:

• Sir Paul, Ringo, Yoko, and  George Harrison's wife on-stage to promote Rock Band: The Beatles.  A nice touch that all proceeds from the game developer and Microsoft for download of the song, "All you need is love" is going to Doctors without Borders.
• Steven Spielberg in the house to lend his voice of support to, "Project Natal".  This is one that has to be seen to be fully understood.  Full motion capture, facial recognition, and voice control available for every Xbox 360.  To quote Spielberg, "This is a pivotal moment that will carry with it a wave of change, the ripples of which will reach far beyond video games."
• Zune is coming to Xbox. Video Marketplace is now powered by Zune and will offer the complete movie library instant on up to 1080p quality - no discs, no delay. And if you want to watch that movie with friends online, you can meet up for a Party online with up to 7 others in a virtual screening room with your friends (you can go full screen as well).  For any fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, you'll recognize the concept is primed for Harold and Kumar or  Snakes on a Plane get-togethers online.
• Last.fm is coming to Xbox 360 as well as Twitter and Facebook. With Facebook Connect, you'll be able to match your FB friends with their Xbox  LIVE Gamertags making it easier than ever to figure out who Hang1nAr0und8763 is and whether you want to join their party.
• Sky.TV. This will be one to watch - Sky is bringing their live and on-demand service "Over the Top" and delivering to the Xbox via your broadband connection with no additional hardware required.
• Lots of Halo goodness. First there's Halo ODST - Orbital Drop Shock Trooper.  We saw the first in-game cinematics from the opening of the game.  Then we learned Bungie is working on Halo: Reach, a new addition to the Halo canon no doubt in part based on the first Halo novel, "The Fall of Reach".  I noticed an easter egg during the intro trailer for ODST - you can see in a someone has tagged a wall with graffiti, "Remember Reach" in the New Mombasa area.
• 1 vs. 100 Beta. On behalf of my team I'm proud to say Xbox LIVE Primetime is off to a good start.  Last night's opening session filled up in record time as our live events have opened up to the public. Hats off to our beta launch partner, Sprint - in this live-event game-show modeled after Endemol's own hit TV show real Xbox LIVE members can compete for prizes including a big-screen HDTV, laptop, and much more.

There's even more, but that's a good start.  I'll post more thoughts on Project Natal later. Check out all the E3 briefing details here.

Quick notes before I'm off to work this AM:

• Zune HD has been announced with capacitive touchscreen, 16:9 OLED display, built-in HD Radio tuner, HD video out (w/ dock), WiFi streaming from Zune Marketplace, and a built-in Web browser.  More at the teaser site.  What's hard to communicate in pictures is that it just feels good in the hand.  More details next week. ;)
• Acer has launched a $399 1TB Windows Home server setting a new sweet spot. Suddenly my homegrown system is a lot less cool. (eHomeUpgrade)
• Vista SP2 was released yesterday.  Lots of updates but perhaps most notable is Windows Search 4.0 which will speed up searches on your computer.  Most consumers will get it via Windows Update but if you cannot wait and wish to download direct, get it here.
• D7 Updates. Walt Mossberg's The Wall Street Journal's confab is off to a roaring start with, "The Guys from Twitter" talking from what looks like chairs taken off the Star Trek movie set. Too bad the online schedule doesn't tell you who is speaking and when. :(

Ed. Note: We had a little hiccup on the Web server.  Should be all fixed now.

Announced via email, carrier pigeon, tweet, SXSW messenger,  and the interweb, Dell's new luxury brand for PCs has launched with their new Adamo laptop. Featuring an etched unibody aluminum case or black (onyx), the new laptop sports:

• A 1.4/1.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
• Up to 4GB  of 800Mhz DDR3 dual-channel memory
• 13.4in 16:9 display with edge to edge glass
• 128 GB SSD standard
• Wireless N & Bluetooth 2.1
• One RJ45 port (what, no mention of Gigabit Ethernet?)
• Optional  Mobile broadband
• More than 5 hours of battery life on a single charge
• Full Size backlit keyboard

The unit is only .65in thick and starts at $1999.  Fully tricked out, the "Jet-setter package" starts at $3,088 and includes an Ecru Tumi sleeve, mobile internet via a copy of Microsoft Office Home and Student and an external DVD-RW.

I'm not sure why they chose this economy or the unlucky-in-some-states number "Thirteen" as the moniker for the unit, but it definitely has drool factor. I'm looking forward to hearing how it performs.  The most valuable feature in my opinion is- at that price, does it come devoid of the bloatware that ships on most new PCs and a free update to Windows 7?

Learn more at the ultraswank www.adamobydell.com

Looks like Dell is serving up a little Apple compete with their new teaser for the "Adamo" which in latin means to fall in love with/lust after and in Dell's case looks to be a near-unibody laptop.  Everyone knows geeks like to see brand new tech taken apart and here Dell does it in reverse in all its whitewashed glory. Coincidentally, the style is reminiscent of the WMV HD "Robotica" trailer from the early 2000's and the PC Design Competition video I produced many years ago with the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA). I hope the hardware is as good as the Dell concept video.

Source: Engadget and others

As those who have read my ramblings here know, I'm always looking for the perfect holiday mix.  This year, it's been easier thanks to two services I've been playing with: Zune Marketplace and Pandora. 

Tip#1: Find Great Holiday Music on Zune

Zune Marketplace serves up a broad range of musical suggestions, but if you click on the "more" option under Genres, you'll find the latest programming for the holidays.  Select, "Seasonal" and you'll find some great playlists - Christmas Classics and Holiday Cocktails are two of my favorite playlists.

Don't have Zune?  It's a great time to take advantage of the two weeks free offer or you can sample the catalog for ideas on Zune.net.

Tip #2: Serve up Pandora's Holiday Stations

A tip of the hat to the Pandora team for sharing some tips for creating Holiday stations on Pandora! Just start by entering the name of a holiday song you like. To create a station based on an artist who performs holiday music, enter their name, followed by the word 'holiday' (for example, 'Ray Charles Holiday').  

•         Classical Christmas    Listen Now
•         Rockin' Holidays         Listen Now
•         Swingin' Christmas    Listen Now
•         Jazz Holidays             Listen Now
•         Country Christmas     Listen Now

Having spent the majority of this weekend boxing up our house for our move, I can attest that these work great on Pandora on Sonos as well. (Note: Pandora also now powers MSN Radio here.) 

And don't forget last year's Holiday Trivia Picture pack - great to put as a slideshow on your TV or Digital Picture frame during holiday parties. Happy holidays all!

I just discovered these gems on Channel 10 - upload plug-ins for Facebook and YouTube coming to Windows Live Photo Gallery.  I've often wondered where the rest of the upload wizards are.  Now, can we just get one plug-in that handles upload to multiple services at the same time?

• Download LiveUpload for Facebook (Beta)
• Download LiveUpload for YouTube (Beta)

Hot on the heels of releasing the Zune 3.0 release in September, the Zune team went into full swing this week for the holiday season:

• Starting with a new Zune TV spot during Monday night's episode of Heroes.  The ad is funky and features crossover DJ/Artist Common and featuring the Mixview feature I'm officially addicted to for exploring new artists.  Apparently we'll be seeing the ad during NFL games, and a lot of playtime on MTV networks.
• Then came the Zune 3.1 update on Tuesday.  Three new games: Checkers, Sudoku, and Space Battle add some WiFi-multiplayer action as well as updates to Zune Social, and rounding off some edges in the software and firmware
• And lastly, a Zune price drop for US and Canada (the current markets for Zune). Flash-based devices and accessories dropped for the 4GB from $129.99 to $99.99, and 8GB from $149.99 to $139.99. Additional details on accessory price drops can be found on Cesar's Zune Insider Blog here.  You should find the new prices at ZuneOriginals.net and major retailers.

If you've been wondering what Zune is all about, my recommendation is to download Zune and take advantage of the free trial period. Remember there's a large library of DRM-free MP3s waiting inside if you prefer to go the non-subscription route.  If you like what you see, the rest is up to you and your wish list. :)  As always you can make fun of browse my music collection with ZuneTag: Vhyper.

This weekend I spent some time assembling new playlists with Zune 3.0 for an upcoming trip.  I was visiting a # of websites to look at playlists (e.g. XMFans.com) and an annoyance was the number of steps required to copy/paste between the browser and Zune.  So I wrote an Internet Explorer 8 Accelerator to help simplify and reduce the amount of copy/paste actions.  According to the IE8 website, "Accelerators let you efficiently complete your everyday browsing activities like mapping directions, translating words, emailing your friends, and more in just a few mouse clicks."  In building the accelerator, I discovered a wealth of detail available in Zune Marketplace on the web - you can sample music, read artists bios, browse charts, comments, similar artists and more.  

Install Zune Accelerator for IE8 (Beta 2)

To activate the accelerator, highlight the text on a page (Left Click+Drag).  You'll see the new accelerator icon (in blue in image to right).  When you click on this, it will launch the accelerator window.

I'm sure there are better ways to do this, but it was fun and useful enough for my needs.  Other Zune accelerators tend to break out accelerators by Artist, Song, etc. instead of aggregating into one.  Maybe I'll try and build an IE8 Web Slice for Zune Social next.   More details on writing IE8 Accelerators is available here.

For more accelerators, check out the IE8 Accelerator Gallery

They say you can never time the real-estate market.  In June we took our house off the market in order to focus on family events - namely three birthdays, eleven out of town guests, a baptism, and an anniversary all in July.  Then our friends across the street put their house on the market and we certainly didn't want to compete with them and figured we'd wait another year or so.  Now we're putting our house back on the market knowing with the amount of inventory it may be spring before we find a buyer and are comfortable with that.  This has been a hard decision again the second time around due to our close friendships in the neighborhood, but I'm confident they can weather our move. We're not that important, nor going that far :). 

Here's the listing if you know anyone interested: MLS 28156335.   Priced reasonably at $500,000 and includes over $30,000 in documented upgrades. 1yo Hot tub, Stainless Grill and outdoor speakers stay.

Stunning Swiftwater craftsman w/ thousands in upgrades. Charming & inviting w/ radiused corners, vaulted ceilings & painted doors & millwork. Custom window treatments. Warm wood cabinets, slab granite counters & stainless appliances grace the kitchen. Family rm wired for home theater. Bright & sunny 5-piece master bath. Cul-de-sac, professionally landscaped private 1/2 acre lot w/ garden space, fruit trees, shed, play equipment & privacy fence. Large patio w/ ext speakers & hot tub. Much more!

As for where we're moving, we're staying in the area and are watching two neighborhoods but won't do anything until our house sells.  We're considering using RedFin as our buying agent given the 2/3 commission back. We know where we want to move and over 130 Microsoft employees have used them so far.  We could really use the money to keep expenses in check should any move happen.  Our goal is to move to location with more interior space - we don't need as much land as we have now though I'm apprehensive about losing the peace and tranquility.  We're looking in a few areas, ideally with just under 1/4 acre.

Ahh yes, Olympics frenzy is upon us.  The time when countries cheer on their athletes in games of sport and goodwill.  It's also a time when companies cheer on their contributions to the Olympic efforts and services available to keep tabs on the event which is lining up to be the largest streamed event in history.  Since we're Addicted to Digital Media around here, it wouldn't be the Olympics without a roundup of the ways you can keep tabs and this year it's much cooler - with thousands of hours of content available in HD streaming on the Web for Windows and Mac users, perhaps for just a few weeks we'll see some peace and harmony.  Unfortunately for my friends outside the US, these services are specific to the USA so apologies. 

So, here's the roundup:

1.  Olympics Tracker in the new MSN Toolbar

What: This isn't your old MSN Toolbar.  Generally I cringe at installing any toolbar app into my browser, but this new version is both functional and visually slick in part thanks to being built with Microsoft Silverlight.  You'll find an Olympics button that presents the latest medal count, photos, video and sport-specific news right from the comfort of your web browser. The button even glows when updates happen to notify you in a polite way.  Alternately, Live Search is optimizing search results to include latest stats, news, and medal counts.  Details available here.

How to get it: Visit www.newmsntoolbar.com and download the free toolbar.

2.  Live and HD On-demand Events on NBCOlympics.com

What: So you forgot to set your DVR to record that amazing football game, or want to watch live coverage but it's not being broadcast on the myriad of NBC/Universal TV stations?  Have no fear - NBC and Microsoft Silverlight are bringing over 1000 hours of live and on-demand Olympics coverage to your PC or Mac.  On-demand coverage will use a brand-new adaptive streaming technology capable of true HD-quality video over the Web - no stopping and buffering either, the technology automatically adjusts video quality to available bandwidth.  Live events are presented using the Emmy-award winning Windows Media technologies.  Be sure to check out the enhanced player - in the Control room you can stream up to four events - at the same time! 

How to get it: Visit www.nbcolympics.com/video and check out the new player.  Note: Silverlight is a required installation for the experience.

3.  Windows Media Center on Windows Vista Premium & Ultimate

What: If you have a Windows Vista Premium or Ultimate PC, you can watch NBC Olympics On the Go in Windows Media Center, an Internet-delivered catch-up TV service from NBC Universal powered by Wavexpress’ TVTonic platform, no TV-tuner required. This free download-and-play service differentiates Windows Media Center as the platform with the highest-quality Internet-delivered Olympics experience in the USA. No word yet on whether this works via Extender - I will have to try it later.

With NBC Olympics On the Go in Windows Media Center, you will get:

• NBC Sports’ complete on-air HDTV coverage of the Beijing Olympics on the NBC, USA and Universal networks – even when you don’t have a TV tuner for your Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate PC
• 225 hrs of long-form Olympics video over 17 days
• 24 sports, full opening ceremony, and a closing ceremony montage
• Up to HD quality, with the vast majority of the video delivered in 840x480 progressive scan resolution at 1.5 Mbps bit rate, plus several events per day delivered in 1080i resolution

How to get it: Click here for details or here for the TVTonic app  Note: for 64-bit Windows users, hang tight- there's an update going through certification that should provide support before the games actually begin. 

There are a host of other ways to get the Olympic experience as well. Google has a summer games page and mobile page and I'm sure to have missed some others.  Tell us what you think- how will you be watching the Olympics?

One of the hits of the Financial Analyst Meeting was a series of focus group study videos of XP users who had never seen or used Windows Vista.  They were told they were going to be evaluating a future OS code-named, "Mojave".  When I first saw the video during a FAM run through I cringed at the beginning but was pleasantly surprised by the end.  Check it out for yourself at www.mojaveexperiment.com.  My only complaint about the site is that the audio in the focus groups wasn't the best in the world and some of the clips could use some audio re-mastering, particularly the "You can't please everyone" clip. I'd also like to see them show the complete demo presented to the attendees. A few interesting data points:

• 84% of participants were XP users, 22% Apple, 14% pre-XP Windows, 1% Linux
• Of the 140 respondents polled, on a scale of 1:10 (10 highest), the average pre-rating of Vista was 4.4. After the demo it rated an average of 8.5.  Many respondents would have voted higher but wanted more time to play with it.
• 89% of Vista users are satisfied with it, 8 out of 10 would recommend it to a friend.
• Vista users are 60% less likely to be infected with malware

Note all these data points are available on the site.  I would also like to see a clearly labeled clip with the demo of what was shown - that would be a nice follow up touch.

Dell just released the new Studio Hybrid- a "first step" in a series of eco-friendly PCs.  Noting that most tower PCs use about 300 watts of power (which I can attest to with my quad-core behemoth), the Studio Hybrid sips less than 65w and is 80% smaller than a Mac Mini desktop.  Add Blu-Ray, HDMI out, an 8-in-1 card reader and tuner option (including Digital Cable) and this looks like a winner.  Even in the processor department, a 1.73 Dual-core, 1GB of RAM, and 160GB HDD w/ Vista will set you back only $499, beating back Apple on performance, size, price and a run at style. 

I hope Dell succeeds with this design and I'm now drooling over it as a possible HTPC or Windows Home Server.  This may also make a great replacement for my father's ailing WinXP system.  I worry about fan/drive noise though- any in the wild reports/feedback are appreciated.

More at Electronista

Power Pack 1 fixes the data corruption bug as well as delivers significant new functionality including:

• 1x64 support for home computers running Windows Vista
• Home Server Shared Folder backup
• Improved remote access experience
• Improvements to power consumption and performance
• Localization support for Japan and China

HP has also started pushing an update to their Windows Home Server powered HP Media Smart products timed to coincide with Power Pack 1.

• Update Package
• Release Notes
• Team Blog

Congrats to the Windows Home Server team.  I really like WHS and would run it instead of Vista Premium + Drobo as my primary home media hub if they'd support Windows Media Center & OCUR recording as a service.  Then I'd truly have a headless home media server that does it all (as I sit here dealing with my wife's system requiring a backup...)  How would you improve Windows Home Server after this release?

According to a study done by Vodaphone, less than 1 out of 4 people carry information on who to contact in case of emergency or serious accident. A movement over the past four years encouraging users to create an emergency contact entry in your phone under "ICE" has also been working its way around the world. But what happens when that information is locked in a password-protected phone or mobile device?

Is it time for mobile OS makers to offer an ICE contact feature that's accessible, even if you don't have the device's password? 

ICE Background
The ICE concept started in 2005 by British paramedic Bob Brotchie:

"I was reflecting on some difficult calls I've attended, where people were unable to speak to me through injury or illness and we were unable to find out who they were. I discovered that many people, obviously, carry mobile phones and we were using them to discover who they were. It occurred to me that if we had a uniform approach to searching inside a mobile phone for an emergency contact then that would make it easier for everyone." (BBC Radio 4 Today)

Sadly, it was only after the London Bombings that the concept really took off worldwide. ICE is a great idea and the ITU Standards Body has also gotten behind the concept, outlining a language-independent format for storing next of kin information and applications are available for both iPhone and Windows Mobile for ICE details. The problem is that it doesn't go far enough with today's phones.

"Sir, please wake up.  What is the password on your phone?!"
Not likely to be the first thing you want to hear after an accident.  Concerns surrounding privacy, theft, and overall security of personal information have created a social and organizational culture that places a premium on secure access to the device.  As cell phones increasingly become mobile information worker devices, corporate policies are "pushed" down to the phones, requiring a passcode to gain access to corporate email servers in order to protect the organization in case of device theft.  This is a great feature, as is "remote wipe" with Exchange servers where the remote device can be erased in case of theft, but the phones features as an emergency device haven't kept up with the times.  E911 requires that mobile phones be able to make emergency calls in the US.  But as far as I know, no requirements exist for making emergency contact, doctor, or allergy information accessible.

Is it time for ICE to become a Standard on Mobile phones?
The concept is simple - have a feature in the mobile OS that allows you to select an ICE contact and a standard way for emergency personnel to 

So the questions I'm putting out there are:

• Does this feature actually exist on any smartphone platform?  and
• Should it be standardized and mandated by the Government, similar to 911 calling on locked phones?

Pushing the Envelope - Phone of the Future
It's a slow Saturday so I'm going to riff here a bit. In the future, one could imagine that phones will start to implement features that work together to protect their owner in case of injury. In recent months, there have been stories that social messaging tools such as Twitter and Facebook broke news of the devastating earthquake in China, beating out traditional outlets.  Imagine if your phone could similarly report an incapacitating injury? For example, accelerometers like those in car airbag systems that can detect the massive G-forces associated with catastrophic car crashes could combine with location based services to notify emergency personnel.  Laptop hard drives have for years had accelerometers to lock the HDD heads in case of an accidental drop.  Of course, there would have to be sufficient safeguards against the occasional dropped phone (e.g. Phone telling the owner "I'm okay, are you?").   If the user doesn't respond in a given time, emergency personnel are notified with last known coordinates taken from the GPS. 

In major disaster events such as earthquakes or building collapses, emergency reports from multiple phones could combine to notify emergency personnel of major life-threatening events in near-realtime, pinpointing the location and potential severity. In additional to dialing 911, a "Panic Button" on the phone could notify 911 of your location and secondary information if you can provide about the type of emergency.  And 911 would have the ability to enable an audible "chirp" beacon on your phone, similar to what Firemen and emergency personnel wear today in case of building collapse or low visibility.

These are just a few ideas.  Just imagine what we can (and will do) as location based services move from being trivial people movers and notifiers to people savers.  Isn't it time we start in that direction with benefits?  Today you can get a discount on auto premiums if you have a car alarm.  How about a discount for an E911++ enabled phone on my life insurance? :)

Courtesy of Dave Zatz, TiVo is indeed pushing out support for H.264 for TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD owners (requires hardware support, sorry Series 2 owners).  New service features include accessing YouTube, and CinemaNow will reportedly be available soon as well as the 2.4 update enables.

No official reports if this update will allow you to stream H.264 content from your home network though it would be a wise thing for TiVo to enable for enthusiasts.

• TiVo Press Release
• Zatznotfunny
• TechCrunch
• CNet

In other news, Amazon.com is (re)launching their online store for movies and television called "Amazon Video on Demand" according to this NY Times article.  This is a smart branding move on their part - most consumers (and industry types) understand the concept of VOD, and "Unbox" requires more explanation.  Amazon's service will offer streaming and while it wasn't in the announcement, I'd expect this new update to work its way into the TiVo shortly where Amazon Unbox already exists.  It's been confirmed to be available via Sony Bravia Internet Video Link but at $300, I'm skeptical this will have mass-market appeal.

Looks like Yahoo! Movies just posted the trailer for "Terminator Salvation", the prequel starring Christian Bale coming out next summer.  Finally, the Terminator franchise is going to do more than dance around the apocalyptic future, rather send Christian in to de-fibrillate it much like he's done with Batman.  Star Trek and Terminator prequels?  Summer 2009 can't get here fast enough.

Check out the trailers here:

• SD Format
• HD Format

Tip o' the hat to Dave Zatz for details on the new TiVo update being rolled out. Reportedly all boxes are being updated by the end of the month. Here are the details:

• Play or Delete a Folder
  Play or delete an entire folder of programs with a single button press (including kids shows, music videos ext). Highlight a folder and press PLAY to play all the shows in sequence. Pres CLEAR to delete the entire folder.
• Browse the Guide Any Time
  Press the GUIDE button to display the program guide over what you’re watching: live TV, a previously recorded program, or even a video download.
• Jump Forward in the Guide
  When the Guide is on-screen, press the ADVANCE to jump 24 hours ahead. Press INSTANT REPLAY to go back 24 hours.
• Find a Station in the Guide
  Now you can search for a station “call sign” within the Guide, e.g. KQED, WPIX, MSNBC. When viewing the program guide, press ENTER to bring up Guide Options, then SELECT Find by call sign.
• Toggle Closed Captioning On and Off
  The Closed Captioning icon in the Channel Banner now toggles closed captioning on and off.
• Review Thumb Ratings
  To display a list of all programs that you have rated, select Find Programs, then TiVo Suggestions. Press ENTER to bring up the Review Thumbs screen

Dave notes this is probably a prep update for the SDV Tuning Adapter a # of us are sure to need soon. I completely agree with Dave's assessment - it would be good to get an updated roadmap on HD support and additional service offerings in the future.  Music, Photos etc. is looking pretty stale these days.  If the iPhone can deliver such a anexperience in a small package, certainly TiVo could do some pretty amazing things.

Lots of reports of issues with battery life on the 3G in the Meme the past few days.  Adding insult to injury comes confirmation that most 3rd party adapters can't charge the power-hungry thing. I got bit by this yesterday for the first time when I plugged my iPhone 3G into my VAISTech SoundLinQ adapter in my Toyota Prius.  As soon as I did, I got a wacky message on the device that it would not charge.

Firmware problem?  Not likely. Reports are trickling in that the original iPhone charged via Firewire pin-out while the new 3G only supports USB 2.0, breaking compatibility with many devices including Apple's on pricey and discontinued HiFi sound system. This is most disappointing given I depend on my daily commute to charge my phone up on days when I'm using the iPhone instead of my BlackJack II.  A visit to the VAISTech forums and subsequent iLounge extensive review notes:

Another difference Apple snuck into the iPhone 3G is the latest change to its ever-shifting definition of Dock Connector accessory compatibility. 
This time, Apple has quietly discontinued support for certain types of charging accessories, namely ones that used the FireWire standard rather than USB. Unlike the video accessory change, developers should have known that this one was coming for a long while, so you’re less likely to be affected if you’ve made a recent purchase.
Because of this change, in addition to old accessories such as Belkin’s Auto Kit and Bose’s original SoundDock—identified by one of Apple’s hand-selected reviewers as no longer capable of charging the iPhone 3G—you’ll find that more recent accessories such as XtremeMac’s RoadShow have also stopped working in any way. They’ll bring up a passive screen that says “Charging is not supported by this accessory,” then a new nag screen that says “This accessory is not made to work with iPhone - Charging is not supported.” For RoadShow, which only did two things—AV-out and charging—this change kills any last vestige of utility the old accessory might have had, requiring the purchase of at least a new charger.

So I can't listen to my iPhone via the integrated system and charge it at the same time and doing so at the office isn't really an option since I'm in meetings most of the day. WOW.  Adding insult, the in-car adapter cost more than the iPhone 3G!  Talk about forcing an upgrade cycle. 

Apparently others are having issues with this as well:

• Apple Gazette
• InformationWeek
• StuffTV
• AT&T Forums 
• MacRumors Forums
• USA Today
• Tim Heuer

At that cost, I might as well sell my SoundLinq on eBay and use my Zune all the time in the car.  At least then I can sync and charge from my garage and get the benefit of a ZunePass Subscription for years of music at a cost still cheaper than buying a new in-car adapter.

Update: VAIS Technology rapidly responded to my email inquiry noting they will be offering compatible cables for SL2i in about two weeks.  VAIS will also have an adapter available in about a month for SLi and SL2Vi owners. No word yet on pricing.  Thanks Eugene!

A few weeks ago, I was asked if wanted an opportunity to review a new software app under embargo that is designed to solve one of the great remaining problems with any music library - fixing album art and metadata.  Over the years between WMP/Zune/iTunes conversions of my library, converting all of my tracks into 160kbps MP3, migrating between HDDs and just plain idiosyncracies with ID3 tags and where album art gets stored, my library has become a severe mess.  TuneUp promised to fix it and I have to say aside from a few minor nits, it does a commendable job and is now available for download in two versions: TuneUp and TuneUp Gold but more on that later.

Around the UI
TuneUp is a companion app to iTunes for Windows (Mac coming this Fall) - it rides shotgun, snapping to the right-hand side of iTunes and listens into your library via iTunes' scripting engine. The UI offers four options - Clean, Cover Art, Now Playing, and Concerts.  The first two options - Clean and Cover Art are the meat of the app.  The second two options- Now Playing and Concerts are similar to other solutions offer links to YouTube, Stubhub, Amazon, Google, and eBay searches for artist information and concert listings in your area (via Ticketmaster/Stubhub).  But what sets TuneUp apart is the cleaning feature. My library started off with about 40% accurate information (horrible!) and by running through TuneUp's algorithm, was able to successfully match the majority of my songs. 

Taking it for a Spin
After backing up my music library, I did a series of ad-hoc tests to determine the accuracy of the service. TuneUp representatives tell me it works by applying a heuristic evaluating ID3 tags, filename, and even samples the audio of the song to create a fingerprint of the content. From there, it's matched against Gracenote's massive library of songs.   Gracenote is now a subsidiary of Sony and they've been making great strides in accuracy since their grass-roots efforts as user-supported CDDB so many years ago.

TuneUp correctly found a large # of U2 songs in my library that had missing album art or inaccurate media information, mostly a mix-match of Genre information.  Results are listed in one of three categories - Matches, Likely Matches, and Processing.  All display by album and can drill down to You can then choose to save each track. 

Not Perfect, But Closing in on the Target
Most of my issues with TuneUp are easily solvable.  First the UI has layout issues with the progress bar often colliding with text.  Here is a good example:

Another issue is accuracy on Live Sets or rare tracks.  The library does a good enough job of identifying the songs, but normally matches them to studio recordings.  As of right now, I wouldn't recommend TuneUp for eclectic music libraries. 

Also, I've noticed the Genre naming is quite a bit different across the industry - U2 suddenly went from a mix of Pop and Rock to Adult Alternative.  I don't know if that's a bad thing though I'm not sure Bono would agree.  Sheryl Crow's "Good is Good" genre became, "Singer-Songwriter".  Huh?! I actually started using it as an indicator for when content had been cleaned in my library.

Then there's the pricing.  The app appears to be ad-supported, with an American Apparel banner ad at the bottom of the screen.

Pricing and Advertisements
TuneUp is free to evaluate with over 500 song clean-ups and 50 album covers.  This is  a commendable # for testing and the price of $11.95 for an unlimited version is reasonable.  What I don't see noted here however is whether the Gold version removes the advertisements at the bottom.  I'd like to see more details about how TuneUp intends to use this space and exactly what information is shared with advertisers. Right now this appears to be limited to American Apparel - I don't see much of a fit between the ad and the content though, it would be less annoying if they did some frequency capping and targeted the ads to my interests.  I suspect this is to come in a later release.

Features I'd like to see
TuneUp isn't perfect- but it's pretty darn close.  Here are a few features I'd like to see included:

• View ID3 Tags and Fix.  iTunes will offer, but I can only see all of TuneUps changes after they're applied.
• Duplicate finder.  Yes, iTunes has a similar feature but is largely dependent on you as the user to go through and find
• Lyrics finder. Gracenote offers the service, would be good to see here.
• Offer to Remove Missing Songs from iTunes. WMP and Zune talk directly to the file system and know when files are removed.  iTunes tries to play and then gives you the dreaded "bang".  Nuke em all as an option.
• Zune/WMP Media Bridge.  Ensure media info is correctly set in the places Zune & WMP look, and offer a sync option for playlists, playcount, and ratings.  (Check out MusicBridge as a good proxy)
• Genre Mapper. Ability to rename a Gracenote genre (e.g. Adult Alternative) to Pop or whatever you wish.  It's a highly contentious and subjective topic.
• Faster indexing and better notification. TuneUp normally works well with ~50 tracks loaded but I decided to try and break it load in over 1000 tracks at a time.  It actually held up remarkably well but the UI updates started getting slow and I wasn't sure if it died or not.  A countdown time or est. time remaining option would be a big help.

Summary
TuneUp solves a major problem of most music enthusiasts, though if you're fastidious about your ID3 tagging, have invested hours in genre matching and the like, you may find continuing to manually update to be right for you.  Also, if you wear a tin foil hat and are concerned about personally identifiable information such as track names, playcounts and personal ratings being uploaded to TuneUp, you may want to scrub through the privacy statement. TuneUp assures us this is used for improvements to the service and personalization features such as concert listings (e.g. they won't give you a suggested concert for a one-star rated artist you hate).  For the mainstream music lover, TuneUp is a worthy addition to your toolkit, even in this first release with one caveat- back up your library before you try.  It's not perfect, but it's major improvement over in-app solutions.  Be sure to tell us how your experiences are going in the comments below.

Here's a roundup of announcements today.  I was off playing with the family on Bainbridge Island otherwise I would have posted earlier.

• Xbox 360 is getting a totally new Dashboard (Engadget) complete with Avatars. This is one of the many cool things being cooked up but haven't been announced/released yet.  The funny thing is a few months ago, having James Cameron on stage at the Advance conference talking about his upcoming movie project, "Avatar" caused a few heart palpitations in
• Xbox Live gold members to get NetFlix on-demand, complete with shared viewing experience with your friends.  Now if only you could record your own RiffTrax ala MST3K.  There's an idea Lance!
• Xbox Live Party System.  Friends stick with you- watch a movie together, share a slideshow, go from game to game etc.   Finally- make it a game night with your buddies!
• Improvements to how Xbox 360 works overall.  Improvements include running games from HDD - no more whirring during games, 16:10 output via VGA or HDMI for those of us connected to 16:10 displays (vs. 16:9) and you'll be able to make Xbox 360 purchases over the Web.
• Mark Whitten details it all in an email that went around our group like wildfire later today. 

More details and video at www.gamerscoreblog.com and www.majornelson.com.  There's even more goodness waiting in the wings which I can't talk about.  But for now, off to go play with new package that just arrived under embargo. More on that later ;)

Unfortunately it's in closed beta.  Ping me here for an invite.

Update:  Sorry all, this was a bad joke on my part but I think underscores ludicrous names that are popping up.  I used the Web 2.0 logo maker and ran a Mary Poppins reference through it, all Web 2.0 style.

Gizmodo has detailed the official AT&T response to what is happening right now with what's being called, "The iPocalypse".  Basically it appears the hordes are trying to update iTunes and iPhone 1.x devices to the 2.0 firmware which requires re-authentication at the same time all AT&T stores are trying to do the same.   Friends in NYC reported 1.5-2hrs to activate in AT&T stores per person before they scrapped plans for in-store activation and are sending users home with promises you'll be able to activate at home.  But unfortunately, the dialog box at right is what all of we purchasers worldwide are being greeted with instead.

To add insult to injury, if you're upgrading an existing line to the new iPhone, your old SIM card is deactivated before you leave the store.  Normally this whole thing would just be a minor nuisance but now I'm without a functioning mobile phone with no idea when it will be back.  So I paid ~$300 plus giving AT&T a free day's worth of my monthly fees due to service outage.  If this keeps up, AT&T better credit my account for lack of available service. 

I'm really surprised there's been no official response from Apple after hours since this issue arose.  Perhaps they're hoping the Apple PR halo effect will enact a cone of silence and this too will be forgotten/ignored.  A couple of sarcastic comments about enterprise scalability are sure to be made, Apple will tout unprecedented demand and the populist press will note only a few minor issues

Chris, you were right to stay home.  Meh.

Update: Authorization servers appear to be working now.  Updating now.

Update2: Andru Edwards and the crew at GearLive detail their snafus with activation.  Looks like my issues were small in comparison.

In what's sure to be the "Killer app" for iPhone's release, Apple's App store showcases a free download from Apple titled, "Remote".  The marketing speak says:

Be a mobile DJ. With Remote, you can control music on you Computer or Apple TV from your iPod touch or iPhone.

Play, pause, skip, shuffle. See your songs, playlists, and album art, on your iPod touch or iPhone as if you were in front of your computer.

Remote works with your Wi-Fi network, so you control playback from anywhere in and around your home.

 

Features

- Control the music on iTunes or Apple TV

- See the album artwork on your Remote

- Search the whole iTunes library

- Control your AirTunes speakers

Looks like there may be a function for multi-zone music playback with this feature- something I'll have to investigate.  More screens below:

Update: I've successfully tested the app with both an Apple TV and a massive iTunes library and report that the performance is snappy overall. When the Apple TV was powered off, a notification appeared on the iPhone which was also a nice touch.  Apps like this have existed for years for Windows Mobile-based devices, and most recently percolating to a solution for Windows Sideshow so that's now what's new- what's new is that this is the first time Apple has intimated the iPhone as a control device vs. consumption of media.

As for the Sonos comparison, it's readily apparent that Remote (and iTunes in general) is missing a critical feature IMO - synchronized audio playback.  Sonos' wireless mesh network delivers sync'd playback so flawlessly that I'm hard pressed to think of another CE-device in my stable that has worked so well.  This is a key feature for multi-room audio as we regularly fill the house and yard with music when cleaning, entertaining, celebrating the holidays.  I will say the iPhone fits in my pocket a sight better than the Sonos controller - a complete comparison to come in the future.

Lots of first takes coming out on the Apple App Store that just went live. Overall it appears cleanly laid out with sections for, "New", "What's Hot", "Staff Favorites", and two top ten lists, "Top Apps" and "Top Free Apps".  I'm pleased to see the latter, though you will need to log into your account to download as they count all free apps as "Purchases" as well.  The devil will be in the details on whether Apple releases a stat in the weeks to come that they've had over N purchases from the store when most will likely be free.

Here are my three takeaways:

Apps want to be shared
In order for the app store to take off, they're going to need users to visit, and often.  Apps aren't like music - music is innately more viral a medium than, "Hey I just got this cool weather app". So the "Tell a Friend" feature while basic today, I would expect to start expanding out.  Who knows, perhaps legions of Facebook developers are working on a "Apps on my iPhone" app for Facebook profiles today...

I still can't run any of these apps (yet)
Perhaps the 2.0 software release is imminent, but I can't seem to find it yet.  So I'm happily downloading the software but can't do anything with it. Sure to remedied soon, but goes against the traditional Apple grain of release it all at once.

Apple thinks my four-year old is old enough for an iPhone, shuns ESRB
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a standardized rating system for determining the age-appropriateness of video games.  Virtually everyone in the industry is a member and supports ESRB but it appears Apple's app store is opting for a 4+, 9+, 12+, 17+ age rating system which also hints that Apple thinks your iPhone/iPod Touch is age-appropriate for a preschooler.  Suuuure.

I just tried to launch Apple's new Mobile Me service and was surprised by this notfication when launching with Internet Explorer 7.  This is something I haven't seen covered in any of the major trades or even Apple's own site until now which has up until now noted that IE would be supported which I guess is technically true.    It's also interesting the ordering of the buttons below.  Normally I'd expect "Get Safari" to be on the far-right.  When other services don't support Firefox, users get up in arms.  I wonder whether Apple will hear similar complaints (or respond) over this decision.  I suspect not since to get the full benefit of Mobile Me, you have to be willing to move your primary email address to a new @me.com domain. In today's day and age, I don't see a lot of people other than the Apple faithful shelling out $90+ a year for email when you can get it for free in so many places. Is Push email worth that cost?  POP3 works just fine thanks.

All of this will be moot with the release of Internet Explorer 8 I suspect, but will you see a "Get IE8" button at the bottom?  Not likely.

Courtesy of Lifehacker, iTunes 7.7 may not show up via "Check for Updates" yet, but it is available on the interwebs for those of us who aren't sleeping. 

Download here and read up on Lifehacker here.  One thing to note- the "Applications" option for the left-hand sidebar appears to be disabled by default.  To enable, go into Edit, Preferences. 

It also looks like the rumors of the iPhone remote control feature are true - stay tuned for more details.  I suspect Sonos could have a run for their money here if Apple decides to do multi-zone playback.

Update: iTunes non-ceremoniously crashed on me after five minutes of non-use in the background.  No explanation on why but it was syncing my Apple TV and iPhone in the background.

Update2: It looks like the Apple App store is up and running.  Once you've enabled Applications, select it and choose, "Get more Applications" at the bottom of the screen. I've included a screenshot here.  No iPhone software update yet though...

Something about these logo/boxshots looks awfully familiar...

"Better Living in the Digital World" Hmm

Those who know this site also know I'm a fan of the Data Robotics Drobo.  I've caught some heat from product managers for other comparable products because I just don't think they match the capabilities of this little device.  One area I've been disappointed about however is performance.  The Drobo docks massive amounts of storage in a small, rock-solid little unit but it's S L O W when doing large transfers.  That's why I'm keen on today's announcement of the new Drobo 2.0 with a faster processor, faster USB 2.0 and new Firewire 800 performance options.  I recently moved my home Media Center into a single desktop system with a Quad-core and it's been working without a hiccup using my Drobo as the primary storage for all media except for two things:  1) Hard Drive spinup lag when the drives haven't been used in a while, and 2) that pesky data transfer performance.  I have two  HDTV (OCUR) tuners connected via USB as well as sundry peripherals and haven't seen any perf issues fortunately, though I would

I'm eager to try out the new Drobo 2.0 and may pick one up - but if I have to transfer over all of my existing nearly 2GB of Drobo 1.0 content to the Drobo 2.0 via the original's sluggish USB, that may be a deal-breaker.  I'm hoping I can swap the drives out and the new 2.0 device will pick up where the 1.0 left off.  I have email into the folks at Data Robotics to learn more on that topic and a few other - will report back here.  Thomas Hawk also has an excellent review here.

Over the years, I've been stymied when I've wanted to link to an artist, album, playlist, podcast, or just about anything on Zune via the Web.  Prior to this feature, there was just no way to link directly from the Web (a feature iTunes has had for some time).  Thankfully, the Zune team has quietly launched their ZuneLinks service for sharing links to Zune Marketplace and Zune Social.  So if you have a podcast to share or music you like, you can now link up.

http://social.zune.net/links/ZuneLinks.aspx

My personal favorite, the Zune Social experience.  The links take you directly to Zune Social where you preview the songs, see stats on listenership, read a review and more:

• Linkin Park
• Jimmy Buffett
• Alice in Chains
• Collective Soul 

And a few podcast examples linking to marketplace:

• The Chris Pirillo Show
• The Family Guy FOXCast
• The Media Center Show

Feature suggestions I've sent to the team:

• A Copy to Clipboard button
• <img border="0" .> :)
• Convincing the team (or an enterprising enthusiast) to develop an add-in for Windows Live Writer.

How would you improve the experience?

Trailer for the new X-Files movie in Silverlight here.

Fox - X-FilesT - I Want To Believe

What I really want for Father's Day.  :)

Supercar: Scorpion Supercar Uses Hydrogen Hybrid Engine to get 40MPG

Apparently the Milky Way loses a few arms, gains a bar in the center.

 The Milky Way Gets a Facelift -- ScienceNOW

My faves:  #2, #8, #95, #17, #26(creepy), #79, #82, #89, #86, #57, #42
What, no Star Wars? :)

TCCANDLER.com -- The 100 Best Movie Posters of All Time

As a kid living outside NYC, I used to enjoy riding mass transit- to take the train into the city through Hoboken, the transfer to the Path and the trip under the Hudson River to appear in a strange land smelling faintly of pierogies, burned pretzels and er other things.  When we moved to Seattle over a decade ago, I was amazed to learn there was no light rail or commuter rail service to speak of.  Just dreams of a monorail that haven't changed much since highlighted in the movie, "Singles".

Now that gas is getting above $4 a gallon and the lines at the Issaquah Costco Discount Gas Station are actually blocking the entrance to Costco's massive parking lot, we witnessing a turning point. 

I can see it with the Microsoft Connector bus service. New routes are being added like crazy and seats on the bio-diesel powered fleet are hard to come by.  Unfortunately I live in an area not easily served by the bus service but I have to wonder - is there finally enough momentum to get the Eastside Rail Project on the right track with trails and rails?  It seems from the East Coast corridor to CA, a part of the solution is light rail and/or commuter rail.  What will it take - $5 gas?  $7?

I'm hoping the Seattle P-I will update this article on high-speed light rail along I90 with a hard look at the topic of connecting the Eastside as well as Seattle proper.

AT&T and Starbucks have finally rolled out free WiFi to Starbucks Card users registered with AT&T.  The catch is that this is actually an ad-funded service- in exchange for letting AT&T send you four emails a year, you get a single WiFi session of up to two-hours per day at ~7000 US-based stores.  Nice.

Free AT&T WiFi now at Starbucks - Engadget

My son was recently named a finalist in a recent photo competition - voting ends Thursday with the winners to be announced during the Duvall Days parade next week which he will be participating in.  So I'm asking for your votes.

Voting closes this 4pm PST Thursday. Each person is allowed to vote once a day, but there is no restriction on getting family and friends to vote from all over the country. That is where you come in. Please copy/paste #14 below and email to laurie@serendipitypics.com once a day thru Thursday. Ryan appreciates your votes!

All entries can be viewed at http://www.serendipitypics.com/portraits.

Please copy/paste this list into your email vote:

3-4 years = #14

As for the pic - my son had his first "big boy bike crash" the day before.  My wife and the photog thought the band-aids would work well in the pic.  I agree.

If he wins, I'll post a picture of me in the same pose after crashing my bike.  Sorry, won't shave my head this time :)

Image Copyright (C)Serendipity Pictures

After receiving a letter from my local Toyota dealership offering a Starbucks card for giving them the opportunity to appraise my Prius for over-market buyback, I decided to do some digging.  Apparently they're holding their value extremely well (e.g. nearly 2x residual) and the local dealership is going to take months to get inventory.  NBC News and a family member report similar waiting lists in CA and ATL where they can't even get a test drive. due to demand. 

So... I'm planning to buy out the Prius at the end of my lease and will be adding some new mods.  My first was an aftermarket adapter for my Sirius Radio, Zune and iPod from www.vaistech.com.  It plugs directly into the MiniDisc adapter on the back and includes hands-free control among other features.

Next up: An EV - Electric Vehicle button.  Available in pretty much every country except the US, the Prius is capable of running in battery-only mode, switching to gas only when the battery needs charging or if you go over ~34mph.  More MPG for in-town running to the store.  Sure, it's no Honda S2000, but it gets me to work and back. Perhaps someday I'll hack the touchscreen to run MCE. ;)

If you own a Prius, you can find great hack ideas at www.priuschat.com.

Hack: Prius Convertible

Earlier this week at Microsoft’s Advance08 conference, Robbie Bach and Mark Kroese presented some examples of how the company is putting the fun in ad-funded experiences on three screens – TV, PC, and Mobile devices, with content examples including Gaming , Video, Music, and Mobile scenarios.  I wanted to provide a few additional thoughts about what was shown to the audience of advertisers but with a consumer perspective.  It’s our job to make sure there is a clear value for the consumer, often in the form of “free stuff” in exchange for a sponsorship message that’s lightweight (read, doesn’t piss off the consumer) while meeting the goals of the brand advertiser who is footing the bill.  Here are a few examples:

Gaming – Among the 12M+ Xbox 360 owners, nearly 10M have Xbox Live accounts, connecting to the community to participate in multiplayer games and community activities such as tournaments.  One of the most popular features on Xbox Live are the free downloads – for example, a recent Nissan/Forza 2 Motorsport promotion involved a free downloadable car pack for in-game play, and an online tournament where the winner won an actual Nissan car. 

The Result: Over 350,000 downloads of the free car pack, and over 6.7 million game sessions played during the tournament.

Video -  Movies are universally appealing, and Xbox Live Video Marketplace is no different.  McDonald’s recently completed their “Burgercon” promotion on Xbox Live by offering a free movie download to all Xbox Live users, in this case “Austin Powers”.

The Result: The movie became the most popular movie ever downloaded on Xbox Live.

Music  & Mobile – Like Movies, Music is also universally appealing and a largely social type of experience.  Zune Social is an online community where Zune owners can opt-in to share their music interests and listens with friends.  In the past four months, nearly 2 million Zune owners have chosen to participate the new Zune Social.  One concept we’re piloting this summer is the ability to connect with artists and music events as “friends” on the Social.  The goal is to take what’s been so successful on Xbox with gaming and video, and extend that value exchange to music enthusiasts on Zune Social.  The experience is a microsite on Zune Social, offering free music and video downloads, sponsored by brands such as Doritos in the example shown and connected to music downloads from the CMJ Music Festival. 

Rule #1 is, “Put music in their ears and a smile on their face,” so we’re going to be very careful in how sponsorship messages are presented.  In the example shown this week, it’s just a background wallpaper with attribution to Doritos – no in-song ads as some have speculated.  As a Zune Social member, I'd have to opt-in to download this Zune Card, and even then, it would be presented separate from my music library.  Brand sponsorship might be displayed in album art or wallpaper on the downloaded playlist that includes a small brand logo such as the image of the Zune 80 from the demo at the right.  We've had no discussions about putting ads into song tracks or the like- that would go against rule #1!  But like game and movies downloads, someone has to pay to offer the free and legitimate download. We’re finding just like at music concerts, there are plenty of brands interested in sponsorship opportunities, in this case offering free downloads in exchange for creating a positive connection with music lovers. 

As mentioned, this is a pilot launching this summer, will always be opt-in and the team will be actively soliciting your feedback.  Just like on Xbox, the goal is to put the “fun” in ad-funded downloads with Zune.  Trust is earned and there are plenty who will assume the worst- that's part of the fun (and the challenge) of my new job.

I've always been a fan of Roku's Soundbridge devices, back to demonstrating them on-stage with BillG for the "Digital Entertainment Anywhere" event in 2005.  Bill and I had a long conversation about UI and interaction model during rehearsals back then, so I'm eager to see what Roku is up to with their newly announced NetFlix Player.  Engadget has their impressions here, reporting video quality maxes out at 480p today, until NetFlix gives the go-ahead for HD.  Some HDMI problems to be sorted out as well.  (Note: My Apple TV still freezes up on the Apple logo and my TiVo Series 3 won't display intermittently when switching HDMI sources - this is an industry-wide problem).

Will it rival the Apple TV?  Time will tell but something tells me this is a feature that needs to be built into multi-function devices such as mainstream consumer DVD players, not a dedicated box.  For some folks like my Father (a converted NetFlix user), this might be the right solution provided NetFlix is able to beef up their library.

I'm hoping to review the unit at some point in the future.  Review roundup so far:

Read - Roku Netflix Player officially introduced
Read - PCMag review (4 out of 5)
Read - CNET review (7.7 out of 10)
Read - Wired review ("...just shy of totally amazing.")

ZatzNotFunny is reporting Seven Media Group is prepping to launch TiVo in Australia, minus the subscription fees. How about the US?  I ditched all but one of my TiVo boxes (the one that was grandfathered in years ago for a hefty fee).  I would probably own another TiVo were it not for the subscription fee on top of the hardware purchase.  I wonder what the margins are on the hardware... even the performance of the hardware is starting to look long in the tooth compared to solutions I've seen recently...

A Microsoft VP once told me, "In the world of business, there are Pioneers and there are Settlers.  Microsoft needs both."  I've always gravitated toward the startup opportunities within Microsoft.  A few years ago, I was given the opportunity to help take a fledgling technology called, "WPF/E", name it, brand it, and launch it as "Silverlight", with my team.  The response has been phenomenal, with over 1M downloads/day and a developed balance of features for RIA-focused and Media-focused features. 

A number of months ago, I learned of a new opportunity that what right in my wheelhouse of consumer-focused digital media as a steward of user experiences in the Entertainment and Devices Division as Director of Product Planning for Ad-funded Experiences.  Looking back on the most personally rewarding times of my career so far, I've most enjoyed building teams that focus on the user experience, and deliver "free stuff" for consumers. One could argue my first attempt there was developing the original XP Digital Media Fun Pack and Powertoys, many of which included a small sponsorship message.  Following the acquisitions of aQuantive, ScreenTonic, and Massive Inc., it became clear to me where opportunity intersects with my personal interests.  Put another way, working on the Silverlight platform and seeing so many cool apps developed helped me to realize I missed having a hand in building consumer products myself.  It/s hard to leave the amazing leadership of Scott Guthrie, Soma and so many friends, but I'm not going far.

So what does the job involve?   It starts with working with many of the teams in Entertainment & Devices - Zune, Mobile, Xbox, and more to identify market opportunities where the consumer wins and brand advertisers get impressions.  This is a new area and we're going to step lightly and take feedback as we did with over 10M enthusiasts on Xbox Live who regularly download free add-ons for their games - Map packs, cars, tracks, and even feature-length movies sponsored by brand-name companies like McDonald's, Frito-Lay, Nissan, Ford, Nike, and many others.  The question is can we do the same thing for more media types and devices.  In a nutshell, that's my job - to put the fun in ad-funded entertainment experiences.

And I'm hiring. More on that later :)

Next week, i can finally talk about some tech that is truly changing the way I work.  How's that for a teaser? ;)

(Back from Blog Hiatus)  I have an Apple TV - I'm a gadget guy, I work on Digital Media, and of course, want to understand the space.  So I recently purchased a refurbished unit off the Apple online store, and fired it up.  The UI is minimalist, and overall I've been happy except for what I'll call, "The Curse".  Apparently, my Apple TV decides to lose its marbles regularly and just display the Apple logo- no error code, no nothing.  Clicking the remote with cause an auditory "bonk" noting it's working, but the bootup Apple logo is all I have on the screen. I figured it was just a refurb issue.  Then i started searching and found this thread with over two dozen posts from users reporting the same issue.  Apparently factory restore wasn't working and some folks have hunted it down to a possible HDMI handshake issue.  Either way, rebooting my TiVo Series3 and my Apple TV make me cringe...

Update: Version 2.0.2 of Apple TV Firmware is out.  I'm downloading now and will report back if it fixes the issues.

This sounded too strange to be true. I really like Charlie's interviews and the fact that he went on-air without a healthy dose of makeup to cover the black eye makes the story all the better.  Would I do the same for my Dell m1330? Maybe...

Yesterday was my 34th birthday and I had a wonderful time with family at home while our roof was being replaced (cedar shingles) with a next-gen composite roof (another topic for another time).  Despite the hammering, we had a great dinner and this year, my mom gave me a Thermapen, connecting my love of grilling and BBQing and gadgetry.  This device was originally designed for laboratory use and now is used by culinary professionals around the world. It displays actual internal or liquid temperatures in 3-4 seconds vs. the 20 most take today.  I had the opportunity to try one out at least year's Eggfest and have been pining for it ever since.

The packaging is well done- each unit is individually calibrated and noted in pen by an inspector, it includes an NSF certification and certificate noting its rated to over 500 degrees.  Flip out the temperature probe and it automatically powers up.  If you have a chef or grillmaster in your family, this is a must-have gadget for saving them from singed knuckles.

Ryan Stewart and Long Zheng summed it up nicely.  This kind of banter and candor is why I work at Microsoft.  A CEO who will go, "Monkey Boy" just to please his customers.  Guy had some really nice things to say about the new Microsoft culture which was great to hear.  I'll post the keynote here when available.

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted.  A lot going on as of late so here's a quick rundown on activities and topics I'm going to write about during flights:

• Mix Update. The teams have been working incredibly heard in preparation for the MIX conference next week.  I've seen a sneak preview of some of the demos and think attendees won't be disappointed. 
• Silverlight 2 coming. ScottGu (now a newly minted VP!) provides a glimpse into Silverlight 2 on his blog.  If you can't be at MIX this year, don't fret- the videos will be posted on the Web shortly after the events thanks to Jeff Sandquist and team.
• HD-DVD is dead.  You can start buying Blu-Ray discs now or just go the digital route- my preferred method of delivery
• Apple TV Take 2.  Will I cancel my NetFlix and Comcast subscriptions?  Thoughts over the weekend and I'll explain how you can score one for $99.
• uStream as NannyCam.  Take an old IR-shot Sony DV camcorder, firewire and UStream my wife is addicted to her new Nannycam as a baby monitor.  I also hacked together a Vista Sidebar gadget for her which I may post. Now if only it was available in Silverlight...
• Dell XPS m1330. - my new and best laptop ever, despite the crapware
• New Silverlight site launches - Congrats to the team!
• MyNetflix Plugin for Media Center - Another reason why I need to put a full PC in the living room?
• Playing with CubeDesktop and loving it.  A must for any power user (thanks Chris)

If you have an XM Radio Subscription, the XM Radio Windows Vista Sidebar gadget is for you.  Recently updated to version 1.5, features include a polished and easy to navigate channel list, favorites support, and advanced Amazon search so you can purchase the CD or the MP3 of the song you're listening to as well as browse lyrics, Wikipedia and YouTube entries for the artist.  From the folks at BuildaGadget.com (a work-for-hire outfit), this is one I'm going to pin permanently to my Sidebar.

Download: XM Radio Vista Gadget

This is the funniest video I've seen in ages.  And for the record, yes that's actually the conference calling system we use.  And admittedly yes, I've done the same groove out. 

Probably more inside joke than anything but my 4 yo keeps asking "Play it again Dad, play it again!"

Kudos to the guys from Nashville.  Glad to see the fun is still alive.

Congrats to the Xbox 360 and Zune teams (notably known for their membership in the Entertainment & Devices Division.)

Xbox goes profitable, almost like a grown-up business - Engadget

Having reported here my frustration with AT&T and Samsung's silence, it would appear Sammy just released the Windows Mobile 6 update for owners of the Samsung Blackjack mobile phone, months after the BlackJack II went on sale with WM6 pre-installed and nearly a year since its announce.  Note that you will need WinXP or lower OS to do the update.  What's interesting is that Samsung is not only making this available, but noting it is "highly recommended to be installed":

Where Do I Obtain Windows Mobile 6 For My SGH-i607 (BlackJack) And What Does The Update Do?
Samsung has released a software upgrade for the BlackJack, which is highly recommended to be installed. This update includes an upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.0 and numerous enhancements/corrections. The update may take up to 10 minutes to complete if the system is already set up.

Download and additional details: Windows Mobile 6 upgrade for Samsung BlackJack.

I just got back from Costco where I got Blue Harvest for $12.99 after the $10 instant discount. 

This image sums it all up:

No iTunes exclusive - these kinds of digital copies have been made available for WMP users for years (WMV-HD anyone?) The difference is in how it gets perceived reported by the press who are covering Apple.

Don't get me wrong- I'm glad to have both.  But this is a parity play by Fox.

Sorry I haven't written much here in the past week or so.  Last week my wife became very ill with what started as a viral infection two weeks ago and was compounded by an unusual strain of pneumonia.  Her pain level was about a 8 or 9 on a 10-point scale after multiple Dr's appts (where they missed the pneumonia), I took her to the ER where an X-ray confirmed it.  This was the same woman who took bare minimum painkillers in 2 C-Section deliveries and was off painkillers a day after each birth.  At 4am on Saturday, a combo of painkillers, anti-histamine, and antibiotics were administered, and we went home. 

The next day, the painkillers caused a severe histamine response which yes, you guessed it - attacked her joints and caused her to break out in hives all over.  So two days ago, we were back to the ER when she started having trouble breathing.  The Dr's narrowed down the offending class of painkillers, prescribed an anti-inflammatory and inhaler and she's doing better now.

This has been one of the scariest experiences of my life.  We're young- in our early 30s and I haven't set foot in an ER more than twice in the last 15 years.  Our sons thankfully are healthy and outside the occasional cold or flu, we've never had to deal with the medical industry in our adult lives outside a short visit or checkup.

A few things I learned throughout all of this:

• Have Family Emergency Information Organized in one Place - My wife had changed primary care physicians and mentioned in passing in a conversation but I missed which made it harder to get a clear picture to give the Drs.  Have all pertinent Dr's info (including past Dr's) written up with phone #'s, medical group, dates the Dr. was seeing you etc.  Even more important is any known allergens and have a good family history. 
• Know who you can call to watch the kids/pet in an emergency - Do you know who you would call at 1am? Our very good friends came over at 1am to watch the boys while we went to the ER before family arrived.  For extended care, fortunately, a family member flew in to help with the kids so I could focus on Nickie. 
• Take Control of the Situation if the one who is sick cannot - After seeing five Dr's over this, my Type-A wife wasn't making sound decisions while on painkillers which meant I had to take control of the situation.  I called in a family member who is a Harvard-educated Family Dr on the east coast. When he offered to speak to the attending Dr., I politely asked the ER doc to speak to him as he had been the only consistent Dr. monitoring.  Taking ego into account so you don't appear to be questioning his/her diagnosis and he gladly obliged.  Talking to my Uncle later put me at great ease.
• If you aren't getting the Medical Service you need, go elsewhere - If you don't trust your Dr. or believe that he/she is working in your best interest, find another Dr.  Dr's offices where you're regularly shuttled to a "partner Dr." to be seen in emergencies in my opinion should be a warning sign.  Good Dr's manage their schedule to allow time for last-minute/emergency patients.
• If you do have respiratory illness - wear a mask! Yes, you look goofy but it's good protocol and courteous to others- it' other patients were administering masks to people who were coughing with dirty looks.   In today's hyper-connected world, you never know what people might have.
• Ask questions and document - I am not a Dr. no matter how many episodes of ER I may have seen.  I will have questions - if I don't, that's a problem too. Also take notes - I found it difficult to memorize all the new terms and lab counts on the fly.

My wife is doing much better now - for those who have been aware, thanks for your well wishes and I'm looking forward to returning to work tomorrow.   If you have other suggestions for above- post them in comments- the top 4 will get invites to xobni (see last post).

It's rare I get this excited about a productivity tool but this is one heck of a great solution. It's causing quite a buzz among a group of us. Check out the Lifehacker coverage here.

Click the button below to sign up for the beta.

By popular demand, Bill Gates' last day at the office video, courtesy of Channel 10.

Bonus points if you can name all the cameos and the song he's playing on Guitar Hero. ;)

Bill's Last Day: The CES Keynote video
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CBS/Paramount's Entertainment Tonight just launched their Golden Globe Awards mini-site in Silverlight.  The new mini-site is being promoted on the www.etonline.com homepage as powered by Silverlight.  Check out clips from the nominees, news and more here.

First a successful Bill Gates CES Keynote simulcast on the web, now the Golden Globes- Silverlight is ringing in the new year in style.  Kudos to IdentityMine and Rezn8 for putting this together, showing what designer/developer collaboration can do.

I'm watching the CES 2008 keynote right now, streaming live on the web with Microsoft Silverlight at www.microsoft.com/ces.  I'm so happy they allowed the funny video with a long cast of celebs in the simulcast.  I have four streams going right now for test purposes. Kudos to the istreamplanet team for keeping up with the crushing stream load, I understand it kept rising and rising during the keynote.

Speaking of which, I'm happy that Bill just unveiled that NBC Universal has selected Silverlight exclusively for online delivery of the 29th Olympics in Beijing, PRC in partnership with MSN.  Lots of exciting stuff to come there.   I'll write more on that later.

More pictures below:

Update: If you're unfamiliar with this whole Silverlight thing, check out Andy Plessner's Beet.TV interview where we discussed Silverlight last year. For some reason that day, I opted for the Quicksilver T-shirt instead of my "Evil Monkey" shirt.  Perhaps it was partner love.

The new Microsoft at CES site is up, and it's powered by Silverlight. There are so many projects underway now it's hard to keep track of them all and this was a great one to see.   
What's more, you'll be able to watch the keynote live in-page with Silverlight or via WMP/default browser.  Take a look, spin the wheel in LV fashion and check out the latest news from Microsoft at CES.

Hope y'all enjoy the show - Sunday night @ 6:30pm

Todd Bishop of the Seattle P-I provides a glimpse into the Take-Home testing that many of us do on digital home technologies at Microsoft.  Scott and Hakkan are two of the guys I've had the pleasure of working with in the past - nice to see inside their homes. 

Which brings me to realize my setup has changed so much in the past few years since I was GPM for Media Center- it might be time for a video this weekend walking around our Digital Home 2.0 ;)

Microsoft employees try out new technology at home

Earlier this AM, HP shot me a mail with the latest details on announcements they're making for CES.  Here's the latest:

• MediaSmart Receiver - works with XP and Vista PCs, offering wireless delivery of media via 802.11 ABGN and is also DivX certified.  Includes a Pocket Media Drive slot on the front for the big files and will offer Media Center Extender support this spring via an Internet-delivered update.  No note on whether that's an additional cost.
• MediaSmart TVs - Updated 1080p TV's with three (3) HDMI ports, wired and wireless connectivity and (drumroll please) Media Center Extender support built in!
• Media Vault and Media Vault Pro - Home "NAS Plus" offerings in 500GB and 1GB offerings for the Media Vault mv2100, and up to 1.5TB for the mv5100. Both include Photo Webshare and iTunes server features previously seen in HP MediaSmart servers. These units are Linux-based, unlike the HP MediaSmart Server which is powered by Windows Home Server.

All products will be available in Spring 2008

Jake's got some great guidance here for those of you going to this year's CES.  After 7 years of attendance, I'm sitting this one out and going to watch from afar.  A few more suggestions:

1.  Bring a 3 prong Multi-Outlet Adapter - you know, one of those little doo-dads that turns one 3-prong plug into three.  Now, when you get to McCarran airport and can't find an outlet during your flight delay, you can share with a spare.

2.  Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate - drink 2x as much water as you think you need.  Stop by the grocery store in Las Vegas and stock up or you'll pay $$$$ elsewhere. We used to get palettes of water at the local store and bring them into LVCC for the booth staff.

3.  Bring Mints for you and others - you're sure to encounter others who after last night's bender didn't rush home and brush their teeth.  A polite offering of a mint as you take one can often improve the persons outlook - with you and others.

4.  Bring Airborne - Placebo effect or actual benefit,it doesn't taste bad and can help ensure you're more in balance beyond vitamin B suggested by Jake.  I'm also a fan of melatonin if you're from a different time zone.

Hope that helps, as always be sure to share your CES war stories and tips here.

Update: Even more great suggestions from LiveDigitally's Jeremy Toeman here.

CES Survival Guide - 7 Tips For a Successful Consumer Electronic Show ~ Jake Ludington’s Digital Lifestyle

Apparently Wired Magazine's readers also took note that the Blackjack has yet to get the promised WM6 update nearly a year later... this is one of the worst PR/Customer sat blunders I've seen from Samsung in a long, long time. This from the same company that offered DLP TV owners a $100 upgrade to their mainboards with no additional markup just a few years ago.

Vaporware 2007: Long Live the King

The NY Times this AM is running an article on the ongoing battle between HD DVD and Blu-Ray. Frankly I'm getting pretty tired of the whole thing.  The video quality is better - noticeably better than DVD but would I not watch a movie because it wasn't available in my format?  No. 

NetFlix subscribers are the big winner in the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray battle by remaining largely agnostic.  I continue to say, don't buy the discs- just rent for now while the market sorts out.

In the DVD War Over High Definition, Most Buyers Are Sitting It Out - New York Times

Reason #1574 why I'm going to skip CES in-person this year:

As of Jan. 1, one of the most common types of rechargeable batteries used in gadgets ranging from laptops to cell phones will be subject to new restrictions on American flights. New rules from the US Department of Transportation will limit the size and number of lithium batteries allowed, as well as laying out other stipulations for safely traveling with them.

Lithium Batteries Face Travel Restrictions - Lifestyle News - Digital Trends

A few friends/family members have reported a rash of JS/snz.a virus messages when surfing this AM.  I'm not sure what is going on, but it looks like the issue just popped up and almost all of these users are running CA anti-virus software judging by the comments on Dynamoo's blog.  If I learn more, I'll post it here.

Update: The Register is commenting on the situation here.  Here's to hoping for a quick response from CA.

Dynamoo's Blog: Js/snz.a - likely false positive in eTrust / Vet Anti-Virus

Dear Santa...

Detroit Auto Show Preview: 2009 Chevy Corvette ZR-1 Officially Unveiled! (The Torque Report)

A lot of you will be traveling over the holidays and may find yourself in a similar situation; I hope you'll take a moment to say thank you.  It isn't about politics, it's about people.

Kudos to the Seattle Seahawks, The Storm, Trailblazers and others for participating.

The Gratitude Campaign

From Amazon.com Package Tracking:

At least they found it. :)  Here comes my Eye-Fi card in time for Christmas!

This is for sure a trailer and a movie I look forward to seeing.  Batman Begins effectively reinvisioned a cartoony and stale franchise.  Here's to hoping the movie and Heath Ledger as the Joker can live up to the hype.

'Dark Knight' Trailer Shows A Joker Hellbent On Chaos - Movie News Story | MTV Movie News

Every year, I pore over my Christmas music looking to create the ultimate mix for that cocktail get-together with the neighborhood friends, the perfect in-car mix for shopping, the Christmas Eve Classical mellow-out of young children, and the anthem to which tiny feet run down the stairs Christmas morning.  Yes, I'm a sucker for the holidays.

I also use my free time over the holidays to try and put digital media to some unnatural uses around the home.  This year, sharing photos of holidays past with family and friends takes center stage.

Step 1: Assemble your "Best of the Holidays" Picture Collection into a Single Folder
To simplify transfer to my phone/PDA/Xbox/Media Center and call-up, I use the recently released Windows Live Photo Gallery to organize all of my holiday best pictures into a folder at the top. These are pictures I want to share during the party.

This is easy to do and can be done with any one of your favorite photo apps, though I strongly recommend WL Photo Gallery - not because I work at MSFT but because it has some really great features like ability to upload directly to Flickr.

Step 2: Sprinkle in some Holiday Trivia

I've created a set of 15 questions in the below pack and included the master images from the- all you have to do is unzip it, put the pictures in the same folder as your "Best of" collection.  You'll probably want to rename the files so as to mix them in sets with your own photos.  The pictures are from the old Winter Fun Pack I did as a side project so many years ago for XP.

Step 3: Assemble the Ultimate Christmas Mix

This year we went a little upscale with a swank set of songs for the adults and a few favorites.  Pretty much anyone can build a playlist these days.

Here are some of my favorites:

Cocktail Party Swanky Christmas (Most off "Christmas Classics" on Zune)

• Christmas Time is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio
• White Christmas - Bing Crosby
• Baby, It's Cold Outside - Dean Martin
• Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Lou Rawls
• Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let it Snow! - Lena Horne
• (Everybody's Waiting' For) The Man with the Bag - Kay Starr
• Happy Holiday - Peggy Lee
• Sleigh Ride - Ferrane & Teicher
• I'd Like You for Christmas - Julie London
• It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Ella Fitzgerald
• Grown-Up Christmas List - Michael Buble
  

Step 4: Share it on the Big Screen with Xbox 360, PC, Media Center, Digital Picture Frame etc.
There are a number of ways to get your photo playlist onto your PC or picture frame.  I use my Xbox 360 as an extender, and a CompactFlash card inserted into a digital picture frame to share them in two rooms.  Here are a few examples (click images for larger sizes):

Play it on Xbox 360 from your Zune - from the Zune device or home network

Play it from Windows Vista Media Center

Play it on a digital picture frame

Hope you enjoy- Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our family to yours.

It would look like this.

I don't always agree with Chris but this time I tend to. With the disclaimer that the announcement is huge - to enthusiasts willing to spend all that $$ to be able to watch and record HD and subscription cable TV on their PC. 

Dell’s CableCARD Re-entry Is Huge In the Grand Scheme - Chris Lanier's Blog

"Jackass" is the name of the hit MTV television show and two subsequent blockbuster movies starring a band of merry mischief-makers playing physical pranks on each other, themselves, and about anything with a pulse claiming to be a human.  I'll admit to renting Jackass 2 and snickering to myself one weekend when the house was quiet, my family away doing something more productive.

Then comes news that Blockbuster will premiere the third installment - Jackass 2.5 as the first full-length feature on the Web exclusively using Microsoft Silverlight  between December 19th and December 31st to audiences 17 years or older at www.blockbuster.jackassworld.com.  All you need is the one-time 1.5MB Silverlight plug-in and IE, Firefox, or Safari on Windows or Mac.

This is exciting to see as it marks another milestone in how users are shifting to consume their media online as well as through traditional outlets.   The content may not appeal to all, but definitely has a loyal following among its fans.

With this release, Blockbuster and Paramount are joining many other companies including MLB.com, BMW (Germany), Sony Ericsson (Japan), Baidu (#1 search site in PRC), NBA.com, Entertainment Tonight (CBS/Paramount) and UVNTV.com in their use of Silverlight.  Check out the latest examples being updated regularly at http://silverlight.net/Showcase/

I don't normally post this kind of thing, but these shots were just too good not to.  Show with a Nikon D50 w/ Nikkor 70-300mm lens.  Additional details included.  I have to get to Fleet Week in San Francisco sometime.

http://home.comcast.net/~bzee1a/

Unfortunately the photographer is unknown, but kudos to him/her. 

I am humbled just looking at these shots.  Be sure to look through to the end.

Update: Photographer is Bernard Zee - thanks to Aaron for finding the credits.

TiVo has been on a bit of a tear as of late.  Today. they released MusicChoice for TiVo. I'm watching Bon Jovi's, "Lost Highway" while writing this (you can take the boy out of Jersey...) but here's the deal - the service may appeal to some but without pre-programmed playlists ala radio stations on Comcast, I don't see a lot of value here other than another slightly confusing way to get to video.

One interesting thing to note is that they're offering 15sec pre-roll ads as a part of the experience.  The quality is pretty good overall and starts up quickly.  So in that vein, here are three services I'd like to see on TiVo:

• Karaoke downloads
• Traffic - a real traffic map w/ video
• NetFlix - live streaming & browse/add to queue

TiVo | TiVo Boosts Its Robust Broadband Offering With the Addition of the Music Choice Network’s Vast Library of Music Videos and Original Music Programming

I normally don't link to movies, but this is Indiana Jones. My friend Craig has some new pictures of Harrison Ford in his best character ever.
I am so ready to go see this movie, despite Shia LeBoef.

Craig's MovieBlog: More Indiana Jones Pictures

I'm getting reports of AT&T Blackjack users passing out from holding their breath waiting for the Windows Mobile 6 update to be released by Samsung.  If you believe what you read in the forums, AT&T reps are quietly noting that the software is done, and Samsung needs to release it.  Last April, a ROM image "Leaked" out of AT&T that appeared to be nearly done.  So where is it? 

Plenty of conspiracy stories running around in the over 2000 posts on the topic on HowardForums, some report Samsung is waiting for the Blackjack II (now shipping with WM6) to have a period of exclusivity before issuing the update for existing Blackjack users.  This seems a little far-fetched but you never know.  In the meantime, AT&T ended up shutting down the WM6/Blackjack forums in October and merging all WM6 discussion due the natives getting unecessarily restless.  It's been nearly eight months since the announcement was made, ten months since WM6 was released and the Blackjackers are feeling jacked.

Latest thread on AT&T is going strong here.  The watch continues on one of the worst customer communication experiences I've seen in years.

AT&T Windows Mobile 6 for Treo 750 goes live! | The Boy Genius Report

Note to self.  Forget waiting for the Windows Mobile 6.0 update for my Motorola Blackjack, that's so 2006.  Wait for Windows Mobile 6.1 instead.

Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard in 100 pictures | The Boy Genius Report

Another good gem here - walkthrough of the Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard update.

Gamerscore Blog : Fall Dashboard Update Details

Learn to Fly--Foo Fighters

Things Have Changed--Dylan

This Is How a Heart Breaks--Rob Thomas

Runnin' Down a Dream--Petty

Someday Baby--Dylan

LA Woman--Doors

Locomotive Breath--Jethro Tull

Won't Get Fooled Again--The Who

You Can't Catch Me--Stones

Freebird--Skynard

China Grove--Doobie Bros.

Don't Fear the Reaper--Blue Oyster Cult

We're an American Band--Grand Funk Railroad

;)

I read this in the kitchen. :)

I love my Logitech Harmony 890 remote and have been thinking about enabling more home automation with it- lights over the TV, in the corners etc where the kids toys tend to corral into making reaching the switches a game of twister. ZWaveWorld provides a good how-to here.

Blogger Evan DiBiase uncovered a series of new strings in the latest iTunes update that point to video rentals and video on demand (VOD) service enhancements to the iTunes Store coming soon. Hmmm.  Perhaps Apple TV will become a little less of a hobby with this one but there's no guarantee they'll use the features.

One of my favorite people in eHome, Charlie Owen notes, "I'm going to head up an effort here at Microsoft between the Media Center, XBox and Zune teams to give you a set of resources which help you put our products together and begin to realize the 'Connected Home' dream." 

An admirable start. As I've noted here, I would like to see the merging of Windows Home Server and Media Center, and perhaps a wireless home automation component, though I have yet to use it beyond my Logitech Harmony remote. 

I'd also like to see a, "Buy anywhere, Watch anywhere" merging of the Marketplaces in Xbox 360, Zune, and Media Center.

Give Charlie your feedback in comments on his blog here.

via eHomeUpgrade

Sometimes there's just so much good stuff happening that I miss out.  I was browsing the Facebook community for Silverlight (nearly 1000 strong now) and a picture caught my eye.  There was  Adam Kinney's Xbox Friends Watch gadget.  Designed for Windows Vista Sidebar and built with Silverlight, pick the friends you want to track (by gamertag) and you can see online status, browse through latest games and more. 

Adam is one of my favorite inventors in our Developer & Platform Evangelism group.  Simple, yet functional.  Kudos Adam, kudos.

Michael Gartenberg, wizard of digital media at Jupiter Research recently blogged  about  the new round in the HD format battle. With Best Buy following Wal-Mart in offering Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD players at a swank $99, Michael notes, "At that [price] point, it's not a competition between HD-DVD and Blue-Ray, it's a competition (correctly so) between HD-DVD and DVD."

Frankly, the whole topic jumped the shark for me nearly six months ago.  But the whole price war has really piqued my curiosity.  I wonder if Toshiba and its partners can keep the prices that low and for how  long?  Either way, Michael has an interesting point - "With prices that low, backwards compatibility and some very good content starting to appear (the Heroes Season 1 Box Set, Transformers and soon the first season the original Star Trek series) we may be getting to a point this holiday season that could tip the balance."

Back in February, I did a quick analysis of the price points for the formats, based on Amazon.com price points for the top players in both formats.  While unscientific, this yielded an average cost of nearly $850 for BD and $400 for HD-DVD (not including game consoles).  While it's clear that BD players have made the most movement, it's unclear when or if prices will drop to this price on an average basis.

And Sony's response to the HD price event?  "Blu-ray will be down to $399 and slightly below that, but not much lower," according to Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow.

Whether Toshiba was looking to move old inventory (as in a unit that first shipped Q1CY07), or this represents a tipping point in the HD format battles is unclear. Either way, the PR and marketing value of HD-DVD becoming synonymous with "Affordable HD on a disc" is palpable.

Whichever way this one goes, my advice still remains- sign up for NetFlix or Blockbuster's online service and receive whichever format you prefer without purchasing the discs until the whole format war is sorted out.

Note: I do not work for nor with the HD-DVD effort at Microsoft - all comments are my own and not representative of my employer.

My wife is addicted to Guitar Hero 3.  GH2 was the first game she's ever player in the actual store and at seven months pregnant she kind of stuck out, creating a crowd of gawkers at the lady resting the axe against her belly.  She's classically trained in cello and sight-reads like a whiz which helps, and there's no chance I'll ever, ever beat her in this game. 

But that doesn't stop us from having fun with it.  Having been drugged, bound and tied and placed into the back of an Audi, a friend told me he was going to the midnight madness launch for GH3 for the Wii and offered to pick up the game.  I figured this would be cool, particularly because of the Wii's new online gameplay.  The same way roses win favor with some wives, this would garner favor in my household.

My wife was ecstatic.  Nothing breaks up baby monotony quite like GH3. I missed the sharp HD graphics of the Xbox 360 but the gameplay was largely there, except for a noticable delay in audio effects when you missed a note and the Wiimote twanged, nestled into it's compartment in the Guitar controller.  Then, things went horribly, horribly wrong when our neighbor's daughter challenged us to an online match.

It all started with a phone call.  Apparently we needed to find the 16-digit "Friend Code" and give it to her.  Then, another call- we needed her to enter our friend code.  Then the gameplay. Setting up a game is obnoxious, with little presence information available- did your friend set up the game?  Are you supposed to?  Another phone call.  Then their wireless went out. Sigh.  Finally we get a game, and I realize I spent this money on a Wii version of what I should have bought for Xbox 360 in the first place.  Playing GH3 online with the Wii was like stepping back into the dark ages.

So, Craiglist to the rescue.  I rationalized this away to my wife, who could now unlock more songs via coop mode with Xbox 360 since we'd have two guitar controllers (one from GH2 works just fine).  Sure, she'd have to start over, but she'd also be able to play online.  Okay, she didn't buy that one but we have two guitar controllers that work now.

It's easy to say gameplay is what matters most, until you see the graphics side by side.  Chris and  Ponzi were over for dinner Saturday night and noticed the difference,  Particularly online, the frame rate during some of the hardest sequences drops suddenly and erratically on the Wii.  Xbox 360 keeps up with audio, video, voice, and easy online game matching all in one.

As a master air guitar player, I'm a sucker for this game and you never know, my sons might learn to play the real thing after watching Dad jam. Ryan told me, "Dad, you really rock" and that's all the fan base I need.

A few days ago, iTunes went crazy on me with the black UI of death and I had to reboot to get it going.  After then, every time I tried to Sync, it would get stuck  - syncing for days if I let it. If I pulled the phone out, I had no pictures on  my iPhone. 

After trial and error through every conceivable sync option, I deduced that my iPod Photo Cache folder had somehow become corrupted. After going into my Pictures, viewing and deleting the hidden iPod Photo Cache folder on Windows (Tools|Folder Options|Show Hidden Files and Folders), everything works again.

First Radiohead, then Nine Inch Nails, then Oasis and Jamiroquai, now Madonna are all ditching their record labels. Some are going it alone, some like Madonna are signing a $120M deal with concert promotion companies. 

It's officially here- like "The Big One" threatening to fracture California, seismic events in digital media over the past seven years have accelerated the rate at which the industry has sunk into the abyss. In 20 years, I suspect all record labels will look like concert promoters and boutique firms focused on audience creation a retention through marketing instead of distribution.

TechMeme's Duncan Riley notes, "Madonna may well be the tipping point from where we will now see a flood of recording artists dumping record labels and where todays model will shortly become a footnote in Wikipedia."

My colleague Don Dodge, notes from his work with Napster, "Back in my Napster days there were several big name artists interested in working with Napster to sell their music directly to customers. ...Those artists who wanted to work with Napster were still under contract to the big labels. As soon as their contract expired they wanted to go direct with Napster and sell their music for $1 per song...a lot better that $1 per CD. Madonna, Green Day, Limp Bizkit, MC Hammer, Courtney Love, and several other artists talked to Napster about doing a distribution deal."

Without a doubt. Loved or hated, Madonna is once again blazing a new trail and I'd expect we'll start seeing other big defections. Somewhere, someone is working on a leaderboard with contract expiration dates for major artists and odds of them breaking with their labels.  This should serve as a warning to other industries- adapt to the digital age or whither. 

In what is sure to be a smart business move for TiVo, they've announced that they're bringing Rhapsody's music service and the ability to download any of four million digital track into the living room.

There are some limitations according to the New York Times- TiVo owners can't move music around their homes or transport songs from TiVo to a mobile device.  These are both well understood and limited issues given that most consumers will just save the music to a playlist, and then sync  from their PC. 

This is great progress to see for TiVo. Their support for application extensions has languished and ISV community fizzled in part due to the lack of rich graphical capabilities such as what Media Center + Xbox 360 extenders can offer.  First MTV, now this, Rhapsody seems to be building out a new playbook.  I have to wonder- does Rhapsody have a Media Center solution waiting in the wings?

My mother always taught me if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.  I decided to opt out of all the hype/buzz/drivel about the Zune 2 announcement here because quite frankly I've been underwhelmed.  But I seem to keep getting emails asking what I think.  Sure, I have friends working on it.  I've inquired, "Please tell me the player is much much improved" and was told, by a friend "Trust us, it will be".  After sending mail to some other friends in Zune-land stating, "I love the iPhone, will I like the Zune?"  The response, "Just wait".   Hey, I want to like it, but I'm not going to shill for it.  I just can't seem to get jazzed up about the product after v1 was such a let down for me personally.  Then the company meeting happened.  I waited for the big Zune demo and announcement all employees would get one (ala Steve Jobs + iPod).  Neither the demo or the rumored announcement happened.  How will this device get to escape velocity if we're not firmly behind it?

So I've been waiting, looking the space more as a general consumer than I've been for years.  The tepid comments regarding Zune 1 and somewhat quiet introduction of Zune 2 had me concerned earlier this week.  Now it appears things are changing.  First the team is smartly offering the free update for all customers who purchased Zune 1 - we'll get all the software features.  Second, the new devices are definitely a generation ahead of v1.  Now, I'm waiting and reading Steve O'Hear from Last 100's coverage on the 5 things Microsoft did right with the Zune 2:

1. WiFi music syncing.  Definitely a big plus in my book.  Fewer wires = goodness and my Zune can now sit in the kitchen/office
2. Support for audio and video podcasts. Finally!  Someday I'll write my memoirs on how hard we tried to get this into another player...
3. Windows Media Center TV recording transfer. Good to see, still skeptical until I see it in action. 
4. Social Networking. Zune Social and Zune Card will be interesting.  But I still want "Zune Finder" as a gadget/widget/mini-app that detects Zunes when I'm on my laptop and have my Zune WiFi turned off at the airport, at conferences etc.
5. Free update for existing customers. Yep.  This is great.
   
   To this, I want to add my own:
   
6. MP3 Store. It's about friggin' time.  I completely converted from WMA and iTunes DRM'd content to MP3-only earlier this year through a painful series of CD rips ;).  Now my iTunes, Media Center, and Sonos Libraries work in harmony.  I use MusicBridge (an awesome, must-have tool) to keep my playlists, ratings, and playcounts in sync and I'm good to go. 
7. Media Player Software that looks clean and usable again. The video clips I've seen of the Zune look outstanding.  iTunes has it's quirks, WMP hasn't kept up with my music library but does a better job at certain functions  like album art matching. 
8. FM radio. Often overlooked, I sometimes get bored with shuffle and my playlists and just want to connect with the outside world. FM radio still has it's place.
9. The new Zune 2. Touchpad is the way to go.  Single-handed use is still easy, something that is increasingly frustrating me about the iPhone.
10. Support for Apple's Podcast extensions are coming. First comes denial, then anger, then acceptance ;). Zunester seems to confirm this which is nice to see. Album art today, full features soon?

Will I be trading in my iPhone for a Zune 2?  Not likely, namely because I love the in-car integration I have with my VaisTech adapter in my Toyota.  But I will load up the new software on my Zune 1 and give it another whirl.

As promised, the little elves have have been busy working on new surprises. The official Halo 3 Game Guide is now live, powered by Silverlight.  Get a sneak peek inside the game, the characters, and the story so far is this first of sure to be many game guides for upcoming Xbox 360 and Games for Windows titles. 

In addition to the game guide, we've placed new videos including "Enemy Weapon", "Believe" in HD and standard def for Mac and Windows users to enjoy in the Halo 3 Silverlight Movie Gallery.

But we heard you couldn't get enough Halo 3.  So we also posted, "The Making of Diorama", a story of the enduring survival of our species as told over a 3D snapshot of the epic battle and "Museum".  These were only shot in SD but we think you'll enjoy the higher quality originals.

Watch them all here, powered by the same Silverlight Streaming by Windows Live network you can use for your own clips.  Get your 4GB of free video space here.

Scott Hanselman says:

Wow, I didn't see this coming. (That's a lie, I totally saw it coming and have been saying it could, would and should happen for months) Silverlight 1.0 is officially released as of 9pm PST and surprise! It will formally support Linux (screenshots) as Moonlight via a partnership with Novell in the coming months.

Andy Plessner says:

Microsoft just released Silverlight 1.0, the cross-platform, cross-browser plug-in for streaming video, games and other multi-media content. The company has a number of content partners who will use Silverlight including Entertainment Tonight, HSN, World Wrestling Entertainment.

Entertainment Tonight launches today in Silverlight.  (As reported on Beet.TV Major League Baseball launched in an earlier version of Silverlight in late July.)

Like Flash, Silverlight is a thin plug-in download... Thanks to everyone at Microsoft for such warm hospitality for the purple channel.
(Of course Andy- our pleasure!)

Computerworld noted:

[Microsoft] said it will work with Novell Inc. on the Linux version of Silverlight, to be called Moonlight.

Microsoft will build the video codecs for the Moonlight project and supply Novell with software to test and ensure Silverlight runs well on 32-bit and 64-bit PCs running Suse Linux, Red Hat and Ubuntu.

Infoworld quoted the WWE's creative director as saying:

It's the advantages from a development side that Silverlight offers us," in terms of streaming video costs and displaying multiple video streams, he said.

"Flash certainly is a great tool, and we have some Flash product on our site, but I think overall as a company to partner with, Microsoft is going to be a great partner going forward," Angert said. WWE plans to use Silverlight for wrestling videos and broadband content. Current systems will be kept in place without much change, Angert said.

And the News.com NewsBlog noted:

Another key part of Microsoft's Silverlight strategy is to rely on its development tools. Its Visual Studio programming tools and Expression-branded designer products ease collaboration between developers and Web designers, Goldfarb said.

Version 1.1 of Silverlight, which Microsoft announced at its Mix 07 conference in May, will be available next year, probably in the summer, he said. That version will have support for the .Net programming model used in Microsoft's development languages, including scripting languages.

With the Silverlight 1.0 release, Microsoft also intends to release Expression Encoder, a tool meant to make it easy to encode video for display on the Web with Silverlight.

Not a bad start.

Chalk it up to global warming.  Earlier tonight, Microsoft and Novell announced plans to bring Silverlight to our shared customers on Linux. In a solution called, "Moonlight", Novell will be creating a Silverlight implementation as a part of the Mono project.

Why is this significant?  It's a continuation of our commitment to listen to customers and bring Silverlight to the platforms that matter to them.  Scrape away the veneer and it's simple- because they asked us to. Nicely.  A lot of credit goes to Miguel de Icaza whom I had the opportunity to meet at MIX.  From there, the teams held a series of conversations throughout the summer. 

Also in the news, Entertainment Tonight is doubling down with Silverlight, as are about 35 other partners announcing support. 

I'd also be remiss to not mention that tomorrow AM, we're launching Expression Encoder.  If you're looking for an easy tool to publish video and audio content or even live events with Silverlight, Expression Encoder is your tool.  In the coming weeks, we'll also release a plug-in for publishing directly to Silverlight Streaming and an API that makes it easy to publish via other services.

Too much for one blog post.  Net-net, at MIX we said we'd deliver Silverlight 1.0 this Summer* and we did. Silverlight 1.1 is in tandem development and significant resources are going to this effort.  It's time to Light up the Web.

Congratulations to the teams who made this possible.  Truly the most "can do" effort in my time at MSFT.

(Note: Many web properties will launch tomorrow AM Pacific by design)

This is to my recollection my first link to Fake Steve Jobs.  I enjoy him every once in a while, like a Far Side cartoon.  Tonight, I read his post, "A Boring Rant" about iTunes vs. NBC and he almost sounded lucid.  I think he's off the mark on Apple creating original video. They'll start where the risks are lower - music.

My prediction:  Apple will start a music label as the first step. They will have at least three major artists -

1. An established, older but wildly successful artist that's experienced a slight downturn, to focus on the aging adult contemporaries with the budget to buy Mac products
2. A hot country artist because we're reportedly a NASCAR nation*
3. One more youthful artist, probably focused on the urban demographic.

Or they may go all-in with a big defection en-masse.  Apple will make a statement to the industry by making these tracks available at a slightly cheaper price than other tracks on the site.  The might start by offering non-DRM'd tracks for $.99 vs. the requisite $1.29 found now.  They'll generate modest profits and promote like hell to get on the radio airwaves.  They'll use television ad time traditionally used to drum up iPod awareness (like we needed any) to promote the songs and the new iPods on their way.

Or perhaps I'm off the mark and the numbers don't add up.  Either way, ubiquitous broadband is the real disruptive force happening here, and on that we agree.

*My son is an addict and preschool slave at the altar of Pixar's Cars.  John Lasseter and the Pixar team are phenomenal in my book, but if I have to hear, "It's all gas and goes for McQueen today!" one more time...

Ever wonder what a warthog or brute would look like in real life?  Neill Blomkamp's new gritty, live action short film based on the Halo franchise can be found here on MSN, powered by Silverlight.  Standard Def version here.

Now if only there was a feature-length movie to accompany...

NYTimes writer Eric Pfanner notes the increasing number of airlines advertising to their captive audiences.  I get offended by Alaska Airlines flight attendants giving me a minute-long spiel on their credit card.  Where does it end?  There are all sorts of opportunities.  Want to target the mommy and new parent crowd?  Perhaps I should start selling ad space on my newborn son's onesies:

Hey, it worked for Chris Pirillo :)  How about, "Powered by Pampers" or "Spit up provided by Gerber"?  Then we could branch out and put advertisements on the dark UV blocking film you put on the kids car window so they don't burn and look like George Hamilton.

Oh and comments should be back on if anyone dares.  Any other slogans. :)

Time magazine has an interesting article on why Facebook is the future of the Web.  I wonder if Lev Grossman was reading about how Scoble is completely off his rocker (again)?  Scoble has such affable charm though.  As Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb would say, "I like his energy". Scoble isn't afraid to be wrong in a very public venue (especially if it brings him more traffic).  Shrug.  But back to the Time article.  Facebook's ignition hinges on the simple "sociomathematics" dating back to the BBS era, updated for the Web:

                             Bozo + Bandwidth = Troll

It all reminds me of the movie "Gremlins".  If memory serves, there are two things you never do to a cuddly Mogwai (sp?).  1)Don't feed them after midnight and 2) Don't ever get them wet.  Facebook operates on the same principles - People are congenial and know the rules - feed your community with positive contributions and don't be a wet blanket.  The repercussions can be swift.  As Time notes:

Unlike the Internet, Facebook is structured around an opt-in philosophy; people have to consent to have contact with or even see others on the network. If you're annoying folks, you'll essentially cease to exist, as those you annoy drop you off the grid.

The quality of the connections is what matters. Even the features focus on positive aspects of relationship building - sharing TV and movie tastes, music, and more.  Want to know what people really think of you?  Try "applications" such as the Honesty Box.  Or if you're a real fan of the office, trade Schrute Bucks.  I love the Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey app. There's even a site for rating these fun little apps called AppRate.  These are all basically Widgets or Gadgets realized in a useful way.

The question is whether they can continue their phenomenal growth without succumbing to the fickle interests of a bite-sized society. Already some complain about the thirty-something's and beyond that are descending on Facebook.   Time makes a point that communities will self-select, regardless of age.  It will be interesting to see how Facebook evolves over the next year.

I've discovered certain new games for Xbox 360 require that you do NOT have a "strict" or "moderate" setting in order to player match games.  Overall, you may see a performance increase in online network play if you follow the instructions found here.  They helped my situation quite a bit with a new Wireless Router.

My wife just sent a link to the funniest entry I've ever seen on Ebay.  A mom with six kids recounts her story of going to the grocery store only to have the kids sneak Pokemon into the basket.  A sampling:

Shipping is FREE on this item.  Insurance is optional, but once I drop the package at the post office, it is no longer my responsibility.  For example, if my son decides to pour a bottle of glue into the envelope, or my daughter spills a glass of juice on the package, that's my responsibility and I will fully refund your money.  If, however, I take the envelope to the post office and a disgruntled mail carrier sets fire to it, a pack of wild dogs rip into it, or a mail sorting machine shreds it, it's out of my hands, so you may want to add insurance. 

If you're a parent, you'll understand.

For fellow road warriors, I came across SeatGuru.com for finding the best seats on airplanes for comfort.  There's even a mobile version.  Bookmarked!

Taking 5 minutes from new baby time tonight to check in on Peter Moore's press event at E3 - apparently Disney is releasing movie starting tonight in HD on Xbox live. My wife approves a little more.  No word on title(s) yet.

A few of our friends at Jackson Fish Market just launched their first web app- a virtual florist service called, "They're Beautiful".  My wife and I both worked with founders of the company and were elated to receive virtual flowers from multiple friends this weekend from the service.  While I'd love to see a Silverlight version (we're still in beta), the Flash DHTML UI is very nicely done. Each flower was created from paper and was artfully scanned. There's also a tamagotchi-style feature where you can plant he flowers in your greenhouse and have to water them regularly. Thanks to everyone for the flowers and congratulations to Hillel, Jenny and the team at JFM and their sponsor Vosges Chocolatier. 

Introducing a new addition to the ADM family - Tristan Alexander, born July 6th 2007, a whopping 10lb 3oz.  He arrived a day early as mom went into labor instead of waiting for the planned 7.7.07 c-section. He's already asserting his independence. Both mom and baby are doing fine as is little brother.

Ready for my Closeup

Big Feet

A big brother moment

All pictures were taken with a Nikon D200. The surgery was filmed on a Canon HV20 1080i HD camera (ok, there's the gadget part).   Thanks to all for their well wishes via facebook and email (sean_alexander on that hotmail site) - I'm sharing with Mom.  We're likely to leave the hospital today -

This AM, the meme is buzzing about Skinkers and Silverlight.  Matteo Berlucci the CEO of Skinkers is one of the most impressive people I've met in a long time. Matteo gave an excellent presentation during my keynote at Streaming Media East and I'm encouraged to see the great coverage they are getting for LiveStation, which uses MSR P2P technology and Silverlight to enable stream-slinging.  No, they are not a competitor to Joost, and are more complementary than anything else in this emerging market.  Don Dodge has more over here.

Whoops gotta go- our son apparently wants to arrive a little early (c-section was scheduled for tomorrow and things are happening) so off to the Dr to check it out.

It seems everyone needs to post their thoughts on the iPhone.  I think I saw it in the license agreement actually.  So here are my thoughts, composed as haiku:

Activation pain;
Where is Exchange ActiveSync?
Best iPod ever.

Feel free to contribute your own.

My wife and I like to play Guitar Hero II as a family event.  Our son loves to rock out, dancing and jumping around while we do. It's the first Xbox 360 game where my wife is better than me.  Not by just a little bit- she's significantly better than me, chalking it up to her classical cello training.  Well I've marked down what I'm going to get her for Christmas already- Rock Band.  Adding wireless drums, a mic, and wireless guitar/bass to the mix and this could be the ultimate party game.