I've got a couple of reviews on some Certified for Windows Vista devices I'd like to highlight from some friends of mine.

DCVIEWS has published its review of the Nikon D40x. The D40x is Nikon's consumer friendly DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) digital camera with quite a punch. I own the original Nikon D40 (no "x") which is still impressive even for a first release. The Nikon D40x takes 10 megapixel photos while my D40 takes only 6 megapixel photos. The D40x also offers taking photos at a higher resolution that my D40. Read the review from DCVIEWS for a more detailed analysis of the Nikon D40x. You can also head over to Nikon's D40x website to check out the feature and tech specs on the camera.

Andre Da Costa has a pretty extensive review on the Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 keyboard and mouse. Andre notes the Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000's tight integration with Windows Vista specifically with Windows Media Center.  The Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 essentially gives you a huge step-up from the Remote Keyboard for Windows XP Media Center Edition in its design for use with Windows Media Center. I own both keyboards and the Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 is just amazing.

Two great reviews on two great devices.

Last week Nick announced that the Windows Live OneCare 2.0 Beta Program has begun. Windows Live OneCare 2.0 is the next major release of Microsoft's all-in-one PC protection program. Windows Live OneCare not only protects users from viruses and spyware, but also helps users make sure their important data is backed up and that their PC's are updated with the latest updates from Windows Update.

Chris Overd over at LiveSide briefly touches upon features within Windows Live OneCare 2.0 such as Multi-PC support with your OneCare Circle, Centralized Backup, and the upcoming online photo backup service. However I took some time to record a little demo video showcasing some of Windows Live OneCare 2.0's new features including the new PC startup management tool and the OneCare Circle.

Video: Windows Live OneCare 2.0 Demo

You will notice that in the demo, I didn't touch upon Windows Live OneCare 2.0's new Centralized Backup feature. That is because my PC's on my home network have all their backups managed by Windows Home Server, which was released to manufacturing earlier this week. Windows Live OneCare 2.0 takes into account PC's being backed up to a Windows Home Server. But more on Windows Home Server at a later date.

So just how does Windows Live OneCare 2.0 work with Windows Vista specifically? Windows Live OneCare 2.0 takes advantage of Windows Vista's Network Locations (Private VS Public) and protection levels with its firewall settings. Windows Live OneCare 2.0 ensures protection for your PC depending on your Network Location. Windows Live OneCare 2.0 uses Windows Vista's networking features to help protect the user's PC.

This is just the beginning of the beta program for Windows Live OneCare 2.0 Beta Program. Expect Windows Live OneCare 2.0 to evolve throughout the beta.

Expect this demo video to be the first of many demo videos to come on a variety of topics!

Sarah Perez from Channel 10 has blogged about the new Expedia Fare Alert Gadget for Windows Sidebar in Windows Vista. Just like Josh from Windows Connected, I find this Gadget extremely useful for keeping track of destinations I regularly visit such as Seattle or Las Vegas.

The Expedia Fare Alert Gadget lets you create alerts for fares for specific destinations. You can create up to three alerts for different destinations. You can set the fare price you're looking for per destination and the Gadget will alert you if it finds fares that meet your price through Expedia.com.

Download the Gadget for Windows Sidebar.

Pretty useful Gadget to have running on your Sidebar if you travel quite a bit.

Today, across the world, Live Earth is taking place - a huge concert for "a climate in crisis". This event is bringing together 2 billion people across the world with performances by over 150 musicians and presented by MSN. Unfortunately I was unable to make it to any of the live concerts myself but I have the next best thing to being there in person. Connected to a 42-inch LG HDTV (which is Energy Star compliant) is a Digital Cable Card Home Entertainment PC from Velocity Micro. Companies such as Velocity Micro, HP, and others are beginning to ship PC's capable of HDTV with Windows Vista using Windows Media Center. These PC's come with a special HD tuner with a slot for a special card called a CableCard. These CableCards enable HD capabilities through your digital cable service and are available through your digital cable providers (for example I received my CableCard from Comcast).

Through my digital cable package I have with Comcast, I get several HD channels that work wonderfully with my Digital Cable Card PC and Windows Vista. Today, UHD - the Universal HD channel - is broadcasting Live Earth in HD all day as the concerts take place across the world.

Here is a video I shot of the Foo Fighters playing in London to show the setup I currently have running:

Video: Live Earth in HD on Windows Media Center

In the coming weeks, I plan to cover very extensively the HD capabilities and scenarios that Windows Vista supports which include the use of CableCards for HDTV content with Windows Media Center. I plan to dive real deep with explaining how it all works together with Windows Vista.

Now - off to replace all my old incandescent light bulbs with new fluorescent light bulbs.

Today the Virtual Earth Team announced they successfully published their biggest update to the Virtual Earth platform yet - running at 26 terabytes! That is quite a bit of data to publish to the web. This update brings expanded aerial imagery and textured 3D buildings/cityscapes to new cities (full list on the Virtual Earth Team's blog).

It also brings a new feature to Virtual Earth which also powers Live Search Maps: "hill shades". The hill shading feature allows the user viewing a road-style map to convey elevation on the maps.

The above screenshot is of Mt. St. Helens in Washington State on Live Search Maps. You can see the shading effects allow you to get an idea of elevation. Hill shading is the term the Virtual Earth Team is using but I'm not entirely sure if that is the official name for this feature.

I've relied heavily on Live Search Maps most of this year during my travels and also when I drive up to Redmond from Portland. I continue to use Live Search Maps for most of my mapping needs.

With today's update on the status of Ultimate Extras from the Ultimate Team I thought it would be nice to highlight this cool experience I had the other day with Windows DreamScene.  I am currently running a dual-monitor setup on my main desktop PC running Windows Vista Ultimate. I decided to try out Windows DreamScene and see how well it worked with my two 24-inch Dell UltraSharp 2407FP monitors. I tried a few DreamScenes out including the Microsoft Silverlight DreamScene that you can download here.

Video: DreamScene on Dual Monitors

The DreamScenes worked really nicely running on both monitors.

Windows DreamScene is currently a Technology Preview (like a beta) downloadable through Windows Update for Ultimate users. The Ultimate Team is looking to ship the final version of Windows DreamScene later this summer.