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Windows 8 Consumer Preview Software Tour – MetroUI & Metro Apps
The Windows 8 Consumer Preview review on BYTE was an interesting journey for me. There’s a lot to like, and there’s a lot of stuff that will likely make you scratch your head. It was clear, however as I was going through the review process that there was more than could be comfortably put in one of our reviews. I still wanted to share it with everyone, though.
In this second of two software tours, we’re going to take a quick look at MetroUI and some of the key Metro Apps, which make up the new Windows Live Essentials for Windows 8. The OS, while very stable and quite likely able to handle its own in a production desktop setting, isn’t feature complete, and there are issues still left to resolve. Not every app ran for me on my Asus Eee PC T101MT netbook. Once released, however, I would expect them to run on any Windows 8 capable PC.
MetroUI – Hot Corners
As part of the touch-motif of Windows 8, Microsoft has removed the Start Button and replaced it with a Hot Corner. All four corners of the screen provide some level of new functionality. The bottom left corner displays the start menu. The only bad thing about all of this is that the mouse pointer seems to need to be buried in the corner before it will display.
Windows 8′s new task switcher is for Metro Apps only. Move the mouse pointer to the upper left corner and the most recent app will appear. Pulling the mouse pointer down the left edge of the screen will cause the edge to turn black and reveal additional running Metro Apps.
Legacy as well as Metro apps can still be switched to with an ALT-Tab key press, so you don’t lose the ability to switch through running legacy applications. Like their smartphone equivalents, Metro Apps never leave memory. They stay resident (or leave behind a stub) and reactivate as needed when called upon. If too much time has passed, they will auto-quit on their own. Pressing Alt-F4 also closes Metro apps.
When you need to get at computer settings outside of the Start Menu, simply slide the mouse cursor up to the top left corner. This will cause the Windows 8 Charms to appear. Windows recognizes that you may not necessarily wish to activate them when you push the mouse cursor to the right, as its default, “more information/data” action is to scroll to the right. If you wish to activate Charms, simply side the mouse down the right side of the screen after they are activated. Their background will turn black, like the Metro Task Switcher, and then you can click on them.
Metro Apps – Stocks & Mail
The Finance app does not pull the stock symbols from your MSN Money account; or if it does, it didn’t for me. The background that I got when viewing the standard Finance start screen was quite stunning. After this displayed, it auto quit. I couldn’t get it to display any other symbols or other detailed information about any specific symbol.
Windows 8′s new Mail app replaces Windows Live Mail. You can use it to send and receive not only Hotmail, but just about any other POP3 compatible web mail account, including Gmail and Yahoo! Mail, as well as connecting to Exchange servers. The first thing you’ll need to do is retype the password for your Windows Live account.
The Mail app has messages down the left side and the message body on the right. It’s very similar to Apple’s Mail app, in structure, but still very much a 1.0 app. As you can see, it doesn’t make very good use of screen real estate and the design is a bit flat.
Right-clicking the mouse button will bring up the context menu, visible along the bottom. Here you can view Folders or change accounts, as well as perform other mail actions – move messages, mark them read/unread or sync your account.
Metro Apps – Maps, People, Photos & Weather
Windows 8 includes a mapping application. Its implementation of Bing Maps is actually very good. With it, and Windows 8′s built-in Location Services, you can get directions from your current location to just about any location in the country.
Windows 8′s address book is maintained in its People application. Like Mail, it supports multiple accounts including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Hotmail, Google and Exchange. A unified address book is new to Windows, as it previously only supported contacts from its own services and/or applications.
Clicking on any individual contact card will display the details you have maintained on that individual, as well as a larger version of the picture you have for that contact. You can interact with that contact directly from their contact card.
Managing photos in Windows 8 is a lot easier than it used to be. The Photos app is much nicer than Windows Live Photo Gallery. You can pull in photos from a local library, SkyDrive, Facebook or Flickr, and it’s easy to connect your different accounts.
Windows Weather is perhaps my favorite Metro App in the bunch, although I had trouble at first getting it to use Windows 8′s Location Services, as I think it was down the first time I tried. Here, you see weather for Naperville, IL. (Weather finally decided to fetch data while I was on the train on my way into the office.)
Oddly, Weather only displays information for your “home” city on its Live Tile; it doesn’t cycle through your favorite places, like the way the Mail app tile cycles through all the messages in your inbox.
Windows 8 Consumer Preview Review
Introduction
I am declaring 2012 the Year of the OS Update. Apple is on track to deliver Mountain Lion OS X 10.8 to its Mac users late Summer/early Fall of this year; and Microsoft is on track to deliver Windows 8 by the end of the calendar year.
Windows 8 was released at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on 29-Feb-12 in the form of a “consumer preview.” Everyone knows that this is just a repackaged way for Microsoft to say that its what everyone would consider a “beta” release. As I understand things, while Microsoft’s Technical Testing Team (or those that have specifically been invited by Redmond to be part of their formal, external testing and release cycle) will likely have access to more frequent releases and updates, this will likely be the last release that is made available to the general public before the software is released to manufacturing and made available for purchase at retail. Users of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview should be able to use the software until January 2013.
Tablets; smartphones; mobility. These are the tenets that Microsoft is attempting to address with the latest version of their flagship operating system. With the release of Windows 8, Microsoft is clearly taking aim at Apple and their iPad and Google and (pick a tablet manufacturer). The big question is: have they made the impact that they were hoping for, and will Windows 8 draw people away from iOS and Android and place Microsoft back in the limelight?
Review – Apple Messages Beta
When I was a kid, my family was friends with a gentleman who became the president of Roles Royce of America. The best advice I ever received from him was to gain advanced communication skills. If I could become an advanced verbal and written communicator, he told me, I would succeed in most any line of business. Its true…which is probably why Apple has taken the tact it has with the release of its latest Mountain Lion tidbit, Messages. Not only is it a desktop version of its iOS counterpart iMessage, but its unified communications approach brings other desktop chat, messaging and video calling features together in a single application. Let’s take a look at it, and see if it, among other things provide enough allure for you to upgrade to Apple’s soon-to-be-released follow up of its desktop operating system.
Setup
Apple released Messages Beta for all of its desktop and laptop PC’s on Thursday 16-Feb-12. The timed beta, currently requires the latest version of Mac OS X Lion, 10.7.3. So if you’re not running the latest version of Lion, make sure you run Software Update, or better yet, head on over to its Apple Support Page, and download the Combo Updater for the latest version of Lion. Please note that if you like the app and wish to use it after the beta period expires, you’re going to need to upgrade to OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. Messages will only run on Mountain Lion after it is officially released.
After you install the application, the setup process is initiated. Messages asks you for your Apple ID, and if you want read receipts sent to you. After that’s done, and you complete setup, it wants to bounce your Mac. After you restart, you can configure the rest of our accounts.
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| AIM auto starts with Messages | Enter your Apple ID to get started | Check the box if you want read receipts | Click Done, and you’re done |
Instant Messaging and Video Chat Support
If you had iChat installed on your computer, you should see all of your previous accounts show up in Messages Beta. Its intended to be a replacement for iChat, which is being retired with the release of Mountain Lion. However, Messages has built in support for AIM, Jabber, Google Talk Bonjour and Yahoo! Instant Messenger. Messages Beta will also update your status on Facebook, provided you have Facebook’s status updater as a buddy on AIM.
One of the things that I’ve noticed over this past weekend, is that I’m not getting a great deal of AIM IM spam…again. I’m getting pinged by every porn bot known to man (not by my need, want, desire or design), and its getting a bit annoying. This is why I dropped AIM back in 2007 in the first place. During the review of this Mountain Lion preview app, I have a feeling I’m going to seriously NOT like the fact that I’m getting “hi hottie” IM’s from just about everyone I don’t know.
With the release of Messages Beta, Apple is integrating FaceTime into its standardized IM and chat client. You can now start a FaceTime video chat with the person you’re trading IM’s with directly from either iMessage, AIM, Yahoo!, etc. provided they also have the appropriate software on their end. iMessage users on either an iDevice will need to be within the Wi-Fi Zone, or its not going to work. The iDevice in question will tell you that the other person is not available, or won’t start on your end if you’re on 3G/4G. FaceTime, Apple’s answer to Skype and other video chat services, functions very well over Wi-Fi; and will even function well under 3G/4G, if you’re using a jail broken iDevice OR if you’re ultimately connecting through a Mobile Hot Spot, as I am.
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| New messages are appended to existing conversations | …and show up in the existing conversation list | A bug..? On my daughter’s phone, my messages started a new conversation |
Behavior and Use
I’ve been playing with Messages Beta over the past couple of days; and I have to say, from an iMessage perspective, I like what I see. I like being able to txt my daughter from my PC, while she is on her iPhone. From this regard, you should be able to send and receive text messages not only with anyone with an Apple ID/iDevice, but with anyone who has a mobile device as well. However, one interesting development, my text message conversation with my daughter identified me as my Apple ID (email address) and not necessarily as my contact name, on her iPhone. Her replies, however, came in one consistent conversation, and contained all of the content that was on my iPhone, including messages sent and received prior to me installing Messages Beta on my Mac. I found this very interesting, as it means that you can start a conversation on your iDevice and then continue it without losing any context on the desktop, and as I said, back the other way as well. I’ve not seen this type of conversation behavior in any other product or service.
As a quick aside, while Messages appears and behaves like a near finished application, its clear that there is still some work to be done with it. Once I’ve got a conversation started with someone, I would expect that conversation to stay in the left pane unless and until I remove the conversation from my Mac. Opening and closing the program window doesn’t do this consistently, though the complete conversation history is consistently pulled over each time a new message is initiated and sent. I’ve noticed that if the other party initiates the conversation, then the conversation shows up in the left hand pane of the program window, but again, inconsistently.
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| AIM pulls over your existing buddy list, but not your existing iMessage history | Messages automatically runs thru your contact list as you type recipient names | The actual message display looks like it does on your iDevice | Contact details are easily seen |
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| You can specify alerts and alert types for each contact | You can send messages to more than one address & specify what gets sent | FaceTime can be configured to use with Messages Beta | Configure Messages based on system events |
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| Control how your conversations appear | Configure different type of messaging accounts to work with Messages Beta | Setup your account after choosing the type you want | Configure Messages general settings |
Price: Timed Beta. Requires OS X 10.7.3. Released version will only run on OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
Pros:
- iDevice and desktop client message integration.
- All your messages show up in a single contact conversation, regardless of where you had the conversation
Cons:
- IM SPAM tools need to step it up
- Lack of a consolidated interface
Conclusion:
For a beta app, Messages delivers a really great iMessage experience. The app pulls in the entire conversation from all of your iDevices, and allows you communicate with all of your contacts in a clean, easy to use desktop interface. As a replacement for iChat, it does a decent job, though the interface between iMessage and your other IM accounts is kept completely separate. This may be good and bad, as it definitely keeps their spam ridden chocolate out of my nice iOS-based peanut butter. However, I would like to see some kind of UI consolidation, and we may in future releases or even in the released version that comes with Mountain Lion. As this is an early release, its clear that much if not the entire enchilada could change.
At the beginning of this review process, I thought I wanted all of my IM accounts (ICQ, AIM, Yahoo!, Skype, etc.) to all come together in one single interface, and since getting spammed by every porn bot known to man, I’m really glad that this isn’t the case. However, its very easy to kill my AIM account integration and just let that go. I haven’t used it in years anyway. It might also be nice to see support for Facebook Messenger as well as Twitter Direct messages; but getting those integrated may take a bit of doing.
Review – T-Mobile Sonic 4G Mobile Hot Spot
Posted by chspera in Reviews, T-Mobile, Wireless Carriers on February 3, 2012
I’ve got a T-Mobile Mobile Broadband account. I got the account as an add-on to my already established T-Mobile wireless account. Initially, I established the account with a T-Mobile Jet 2.0 web stick. Initially, it worked well, but kinda required a USB extension cord in order to get a decent signal. I couldn’t help but feel as thought I were holding tin foil balls on forks as I stretched it down my cubicle wall, closer to the window.
About 8 months after I got the account, I got moved to a new location here at the office. While that’s the life of a contractor, it did sorta suck. I am no longer in a cubicle at the office. I’m currently stationed in a contractor’s bull-pen, and have a 36” lateral section of shelf to call home. I don’t have any room for my second laptop, and as such, I haven’t used my mobile broadband account, much.
The purchase of an unlocked iPhone 4S for Christmas has me living in the world of EDGE, and I don’t like it. EDGE works, but it is so slow. There are a number of applications and activities that you simply can’t complete or that time out due to the slow speeds on EDGE, and it totally kills the iPhone’s online experience. Knowing that I had the MB account, I tried putting that SIM in one of my 4G Android phones to activate it as a mobile hot spot, but that didn’t work. The SIM wasn’t provisioned for a smartphone, and the thing wouldn’t even get online with a data signal, let alone serve up a hot spot signal.
The solution was obvious to me – the T-Mobile Sonic 4G Hot Spot.
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| The T-Mobile Sonic 4G Hot Spot |
Review – OCZ Agility3 240GB SSD
This is an initial impressions post, really, as opposed to a full review. Over the past year or so, I’ve been through a couple SSD’s in my Early 2011 15” MacBook Pro. I bought the PC in April, shortly after the Early 2011 models were introduced. I also purchased a couple of DIY upgrades in the RAM and storage departments. The computer is the high-end 15” model, sporting
- 2.3gHz Quad-Core i7 Processor
- Anti-Glare, HD Screen with 1680×1050 native resolution
- 12GB RAM
- 240GB OCZ Agility 3 SSD – Boot Disk
- 750GB Seagate Momentus XT (Data Drive)
As you can see, its missing the Double Layer SuperDrive. I took it out of the computer and replaced it with Other World Computing’s DataDoubler (a hard drive caddy) and originally, OWC’s 60GB 3G SSD. Nice drive. Peppy…Way too small.
Anyway, OWC makes a nice DIY kit with their 60GB 3G SSD that includes their DataDoubler for about $165 USD, as of this writing. When you’re all done with the DIY replacement of your MBP’s SuperDrive for an SSD, you’ll need to find an enclosure solution for the SuperDrive. Thankfully, OWC also recently added the OWC SuperSlim for Apple SuperDrive USB 2.0 Optical Drive External Enclosure to its DIY catalog. With it, you’ll be able to take the SuperDrive and hang it off of one of your USB ports and use the drive externally. However, you’ll need to make a couple of binary modifications so that DVD Player (as well as other apps) work with an external DVD drive. Its a nice little setup; and one that makes the PC very green and very fast.
However, I almost immediately ran into storage problems with the 60GB SSD, and I began looking for alternatives. The problem is that SSD’s are expensive, and I was hooked on the SSD performance, which, unfortunately is like crack. Once you wrap your lips around that pipe, you’re never going to go back. Thankfully, I’m patient, and I know how to search the internet for deals.
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| The Patriot PS-100 3Gbps 128GB SSD |
Review – Mophie Juice Pack Air for iPhone 4/4S
As Managing Editor for BYTE, I see a lot of products and accessories for a number of different smartphones. The Mophie Juice Pack Air does exactly what Mophie claims it will do. It provides protection for your device, and it will charge the battery while switched on. However, there are a couple things you need to know and understand about it.
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| The Mophie Juice Pack Air is a decent case, that doubles your iPhone’s battery life. |
Review: The T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide
Posted by chspera in Android Devices, Reviews on September 20, 2010
The T-Mobile myTouch 3G was a huge hit. The touch screen device seems to have been promoted by Whoopie Goldberg, Eric Clapton as well as a number of other celebs in some pretty cool commercials. As a follow-up to the popular device, HTC released the Espresso or MyTouch 3G Slide. With a couple of hardware tweaks, including its most noticeable slide-out keyboard, the Slide is sure to be a huge hit; but is it the device for you? Let’s take a look at the device, and see if the MyTouch 3G Slide is what makes you, uh-hem… slide on over to T-Mobile’s Android camp.
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| T-Mobile’s MyTouch 3G Slide |
Myine Wireless Internet Radio
One of the things that I really miss about Nashville, TN is the country music stations. While I can get to the music via an individual website, I don’t always like playing music from a website on my PC. The sound sometimes interferes with system sounds from the PC itself, besides, I’d rather not have the processor busy decoding streaming audio while I’m busy doing something else.
Enter the Myine IRA Wireless Internet Radio. The device decodes and streams audio from broadcasting internet radio sites and allows you to play them anywhere your wireless network signal reaches. Is it worth the cost? Is it a decent way to play audio from the internet? Let’s take a quick look and see.
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| Myine Internet Radio and Remote Control |
Review – T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ
Posted by chspera in Android Devices, Reviews on December 31, 2009
As a product reviewer, I look at a lot of different items from a number of different genres and vendors. I’ve looked at everything from beer glasses to PC’s and mobile devices over the last 15 years. One of the things that I learned early on, especially with electronics, if your review is going to be value-added for ANYONE it can’t be done in a couple of days. That kind of “off-the-cuff” review doesn’t nearly give the reader the opportunity to see what the product is REALLY like after the honeymoon period or “wow factor” wears off.
That being said, let’s take a good at one of the newer Android offerings from T-Mobile – The Motorola CLIQ. The phone is supposed to be a social networking junkie’s dream. Everything that you would be interested in – Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, e-Mail, Text/SMS/MMS, Last.FM, etc., is completely integrated and available to you on one of five different home screens. Is the CLIQ for you? Does MotoBLUR live up to hype and deliver? Let’s take a look and see..!
Device
As you’ll see below in The Full 360, the device is comparable in size to the AT&T Tilt/HTC Kaiser, albeit a little taller and somewhat thinner than the Kaiser. Interestingly enough, I found that I could carry both the CLIQ and the Tilt in the same pocket in the SeV Quantum Jacket that I am also currently reviewing.
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| The CLIQ & the Kaiser in my Quantum’s Clear Fabric pocket |
Mobile Shell 3
Posted by chspera in Mobile Devices, Reviews on May 3, 2009
[Note: This is a three-way, multi-site review. Chris Spera (italics), Clinton Fitch (bold), and Doug Goldring (plain text)have all teamed up to review Mobile Shell 3 together. It is being simultaneously posted on Gear Diary, and Just Another Mobile Monday.]
It is hard to believe that it has been only a little over two years (February 2007) since Spb Software House revolutionized the way we use our Windows Mobile devices. Since that time, dozens of other software developers and OEMs such as HTC, Samsung, and Sony-Ericsson have adopted this same technique of replacing the user interface entirely. Through all of this, however, Spb Software House has managed to stay one step ahead of all the others by constantly refining and updating Mobile Shell. And just when it looked like some of the other shell-type programs might be gaining a foothold, Spb ups the ante again with version 3 of their award winning program. You are really going to want to sit down, hit the jump, and enjoy the ride for this one.
