Alan Burchill
IT Consultant
Zune HD Hands on Video Demo
May 28, 2009 — Alan BurchillGizmodo has just uploaded a video for the Zune HD, fist thoughts are that the interface seems very fast and clean and the rotation of the device from landscape to portrait work very quickly… Update: I have found a better (in focus) video.
Something that really impresses me is the OLED screen that looks really good when looking at it from a high angle of attack (see below).
Zune HD is now Official
May 27, 2009 — Alan Burchill
Microsoft have now officially confirmed the Zune HD is coming this year. The device specs they the promote are interesting as they tout some features that the iPod/iPhone don’t have.
- 480×272 19:9 OLDE touchscreen display
- HD Radio
- HD video out via HDMI connection
- Wireless built-in. (no announcement if this is N or G)
- Built in web browser with touchscreen QWERTY keyboard
Source: Zune HD | Zune.net
Windows Mobile 7 UI shows up on HP iPAQ K3
May 25, 2009 — Alan BurchillIn what might have been an intentional leak (or just a total stuff up) it seems that some promotional shots of the new HP iPAQ K3 are sporting a Windows Mobile 7 interface. The shot looks very clean and I for one would expect the next windows mobile OS to look just like.
What seems to be strange is that the top and bottom rows of buttons don’t have text labels. There is also a Phone button on the middle row on the right however there is also a phone icon sitting just above it. Also worth mentioning it the black circles with numbers on top of the phone, email & text messages buttons. This is similar to the un-lock screen in Windows Mobile 6.5 in how it shows the number of un-read messages in each category.
Whats also interesting is the soft buttons at the bottom right of the screen… Move – Which seems strange as there is nothing selected so what exactly are you meant to be moving??
If it is a fake then it is a good one. If it is real, then i am excited!
Source: HP iPAQ K3 pictured with Windows Mobile 7-style UI
Tips for using WSUS
May 20, 2009 — Alan BurchillI have been a big user of WSUS for a while now and i have just came across two very handy tips for making an IT Pro’s job a lot easier.
1. WUAUCLT /reportnow . Previously the command WUAUCLT /detectnow would force a dectrion on the Automatic Update agent on a PC but the /reportnow forces the client to update the status back to the server. Very handy switch as this save you waiting around for this to happen when it feels like it.
2. WUA_SearchDownloadInstall.vbs . This script does what it says… I Searches Downloads and Installs all approved updates. This is very handy if you want to force the update of patches and could be used in a workstation build process as a post build task in SCCM or WDS very easily. The code for this script can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa387102(VS.85).aspx .
BIG Windows 7 RC Loadfest gets a mention on TechNet Australia
May 19, 2009 — Alan Burchill
Last week I helped organised a Windows 7 RC Loadfest for the Brisbane Infrastructure User Group, This event has had a mention on the TechNet Australia Site (see below)… link here http://tinyurl.com/ojflwp
If you were wondering why I am not in the photos, it is because I was the person taking them… You can see more of the photos posted on flickr at http://tinyurl.com/qkmeca
iPhone push notification is more like a slow nudge
May 18, 2009 — Alan Burchill
Apparently to get push notification to work to an iPhone 3 app you first need to go via the apple cloud. This begs a whole lot of privacy issues as there is really no alternative system of doing this directly unlike other platforms (e.g.. Windows Mobile).
But what is also really interesting is that Apple only cares if the push notification take more than 48 hours…
Could you imagine getting a notification 48 hours late Sunday afternoon that the AC in your Server room has failed on Friday evening…
There is of course one exception to this and this is the Microsoft Exchange Active Sync client that is used for email push notification.
Source: Developers get first look at Apple Push Notification service on iPhone OS 3.0 beta
Source2: Apple Recruiting Developers to Beta Test Push Notification
“Zune HD to come in September 2009”
May 18, 2009 — Alan BurchillPaul Thurrott has again got the inside word on the Zune HD release date which seems to be a major upgrade to the Zune device with the ability to play back 720p video using HDMI cable to just about any flat screen TV.
An overview of the Zune HD specs:
- 3.6 inchish OLED full touch screen.
- NVIDIA Tegra powered.
- 8GB, 16GB, 32GB
- HDMI Connection to stream straight to your TV.
- HD Radio.
- Web Browser.
- WiFi compatible, with wireless marketplace.
- Released, early fall.
- International release of the Zune device itself.
- Home AV packs, Car packs, Charge packs.
On the right is an example of the 3D and HD capabilities of the hardware so this couple with the Zune interface this will be a very compelling device.
Source: Twitter / Paul Thurrott: Just to be clear, the June …
Source2: Windows Weekly Episode 107
“final version of Windows 7 (available) publicly on October 15, 2009”
May 18, 2009 — Alan BurchillAccording to Paul Thurrott the final version of Windows 7 will be available to the public on October 15 2009 (Thursday) and if anyone has the inside word then he does. Assuming this is true (which i do) then it should be RTM on or about September 1st to allow the mandatory 6 weeks for the manufacturers to press and print the retail packaging. This would be really cool as this means that the RTM of Windows 7 will be ready by the time TechEd 09 Australia is scheduled to start…
So maybe they will have the official announcement at the event which would be way cool.
Source: Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows: Windows 7 Release Candidate Review, Part 4: Conclusions
Party on with Zune (but only in moderation please)
May 14, 2009 — Alan BurchillI am not sure if this is really the best advertisement that Microsoft could have for the Zune but it does highlight the really cool feature of being able to share music with other Zune’s… I especially like the quote at the end…
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