Windows 7
Zune–a working title?
There has been speculation from multiple sources about the future of Zune this week. Will it live on as a brand, as a device, subscription service, as a desktop application? I hope so.
I’m rooting for Zune as a brand. I do not see Windows Live or any new brand bringing much to the party. Microsoft should build upon the Zune brand and exploit new opportunities in the Phone, XBOX, and embedded devices of all kinds. Imagine a Zune device in your car with cellular or satellite connections, rockin’ a SmartDJ mix with Marketplace content via your Zune Pass… where do I sign?
As a device things get a little more fuzzy since the phone and the Zune HD overlap in the market. I love my WP7 Music Hub. It is a large, beautiful, simple and efficient interface that builds upon the Zune HD device. However, the phone could learn some tricks from the Zune HD. I wish I could create & save playlists on the phone. I wish I could get 32Gb or more storage on my phone. These two devices may merge so much that the only market for the Zune HD device is for those that do not want a phone. The future is not written but I worry about the Zune HD device.
The Zune Pass should definitely live on as a subscription service. Apple seems to affirm the subscription model that the Zune Pass represents. MS could leverage the Zune Pass to out maneuver Apple in striking content deals. Apple’s greedy subscription model can definitely be exploited. The consumer stands to benefit from any creativity in refactoring of the confusing overlap of the Zune Pass, Xbox Gold Membership, and newsstand pricing for some content. Now is the time for MS to show some market leadership.
The Zune desktop software is easy to use and has great design that makes iTunes look prehistoric. To be fair, it also makes MediaCenter look prehistoric by comparison. The Zune desktop software could use a once-over to correct some small inefficiencies. Touchscreens and touchpads don’t mix well with the scroll bars and window controls. A long list of artists, songs, etc. requires extended scrolling. The interface could make good use the phone & Zune HD’s alpha jump navigation to be more efficient and touch-friendly.
I hope the Zune brand lives on as the media ecosystem evolves. These are exciting times in the consumer space and it is great fun watching.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Wireless Issues Resolved–AE1000 to the Rescue
I finally resolved a nagging wireless issue with a simple inexpensive wireless adapter from Linksys. Sometimes those aging built-in wireless adapters could benefit from an upgrade.
I have a HP Touchsmart 504 in the kitchen. It had been in the same location running wirelessly without issue for over a year. However, I needed more speed. I enabled wireless N in the adapter driver so that I could get N speeds for streaming live TV from the HDHomeRun tuner. This configuration is not the default for the Touchsmart. You will only get G speeds from the built-in adapter unless you enable it. The Touchsmart began to have wireless issues a few weeks after that change. It would lose connection to the router. I could not reconnect with my passphrase. The passphrase was correct but it was not accepted. Moving backwards in speed was not an option so I had to find a solution.
I found to correct the issue I had to open the Network and Sharing Center, select Manage Connections and delete my current connection. Sometimes rebooting the router was also required. Most times I could not reconnect with the correct passphrase. It simply was not accepted. The Linksys router’s push button setup did get the Touchsmart back online. Things would work for hours or days then the problem would return. I could not establish root cause or find a consistent workaround/recovery. Things got so bad I suspected the Touchsmart’s on-board wireless adapter/driver was just not capable of Wireless-N.
I had all the latest drivers from HP so I had to look for other solutions. Pulling a wire was going to be too difficult. Given the adapter’s release was at the early days of wireless-N, I decided to disable the on-board wireless adapter and use a new USB based adapter.
I’m happy to report that the Linksys AE1000 High Performance Wireless-N USB Adapter has been working flawlessly for over a month with the Linksys WRT160N Router. I have the best wireless connection speeds I have ever been able to achieve(144–161 Mbs). Signal strength is also much improved(>90%). Streaming live TV is acceptable with only occasional, slight, picture breakup. This is fine for my application but I still recommend a wired connection for critical viewing. Perhaps a Dual-Band router would boast my throughput enough for flawless viewing using the 5Ghz ability of the AE1000. That upgrade will have to wait for later in 2011.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Samsung Focus WP7 temporarily loses voice recognition ability
Voice recognition on my Samsung Focus Windows 7 Phone would mysteriously stop working for Bing Searches, One Note entries, etc. Rebooting the phone would restore the feature. My wife never had the problem with her phone so I was concerned I had a lemon.
The mystery has been solved and the problem is partially my fault. Although the phone could also be improved in future revisions.
If you plug in your Zune headphones the microphone and speakers are switched to the headset. My Zune speakers do not have a microphone. That is the portion of the problem caused by me. Simply unplugging the Zune headphones does not restore the microphone in the handset. That is the problem caused by the phone.
Solutions: 1) Plug in the headset (headphones & microphone) that shipped with the phone 2) Remove the headphones and turn the phone off & on.
I found the answer with this thread from Microsoft Answers
Windows 7 SP1
I have downloaded the Windows 7 SP1 Public Beta and there was little change to my already stable Win 7 Ultimate installation. This was not surprising as most of the features are focused on Windows Server 2008 R2. Virtualization and Remote Client Connection take center stage for the Server release. There are over 450 notable fixes included many of which have been delivered as part of Windows update already.
SP1 is a sizable download ~52Mb but the installation was quick. Only two reboots were required.
SP1 sounds like a great thing for the enterprise but is pretty much a non-event for the general public.
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Dave's Geek Adventures 