Windows Experience Blog : Featured Community

CES 2008 Round-up & Wrap-up

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:14:00 GMT

Now that CES 2008 has officially ended, I wanted to take a moment to do a round-up and wrap up post on CES coverage both here and from others.

Featured Community members did some coverage on their sites of CES this year. Josh Phillips from Windows Connected has Day 1 and Day 2 write-ups of his experience online. The folks from Neowin shot some excellent videos of Microsoft Surface. And Jason Dunn has a post up on his experience riding the Media Center Express CES Bus from San Francisco to Las Vegas as well as CES in general. It was also great meeting up with John Obeto, Michael Reyes from HardwareGeeks, Ash Nallwalla and Brad Wardell from Stardock. And special thanks to Robert McLaws from Windows-Now for spending a great deal of time on the Media Center Express CES Bus setting up a fantastic Windows Media Center experience.

Speaking of the Media Center Express CES Bus, blogger Robert Scoble shot a piece for Donny Duetsch's show on CNBC on the bus with a group of other bloggers. Here is a video of some of the bloggers on the bus introducing themselves (including me!). Scoble questioned Bug Labs CEO Peter Semmelhack. You can read about Scoble's experience shooting the segment here. Bug Labs won CNET's "Best of CES" Award this year for Emerging Technologies. Check out the list of "Best of CES" awards for specific categories. You'll also take notice that one of the "Fashion PCs" being showcased by Microsoft at CES this year - the Lenovo IdeaPad U110 - won CNET's "Best of CES" award for Computers and Hardware. The Lenovo IdeaPad U110 is a pretty slick laptop.

For information on the announcements made from Microsoft at CES this year head on over to Microsoft's CES Virtual Pressroom.

Channel 10 did extensive video coverage this year of CES. You can check out all their CES coverage here. Channel 10's Nic Fillingham shot a tour of the Microsoft Product Pavilion. JP Wollersheim, Senior Product Manager for Windows Live, demoed some digital photo features in Windows Live. Awesome stuff.

I've uploaded the final photos from CES I shot to Flickr using Windows Live Photo Gallery. You can check out my photo set here. I've got some great shots up from the Microsoft Product Pavilion. Here are a few of my favorites:

Lots more pictures here!

I posted about the Fashion PCs being showcased at CES earlier last week asking which of these PCs you would like to hear more about. I don't know about you but I really like that HP Blackbird ;-)

While the CES excitement is over... we've got some pretty exciting things coming up post-CES I think you will enjoy. Stay tuned!

Update from Las Vegas – CES 2008 begins!

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 08:36:00 GMT

Wow what a day! This morning started off real early for Nick and I as we headed over to the Las Vegas Convention Center (where CES is taking place) to do an early walk-through of the Microsoft Product Pavilion with several of our Featured Community members and MVPs. There, we were able to preview some of the new and exciting PCs coming this year like Lenovo's new IdeaPad laptops and the ASUS Lamborghini VX3. Folks from the Certified for Windows Vista Team were on hand to discuss new devices coming like the Samsung SPF-83V Digital Picture Frame. Many of HP's new products were also there for us to check out. I am really excited for these new and upcoming "Fashion" PCs.

Microsoft's Aaron Coldiron was on hand at the Microsoft Product Pavilion giving us demos of many of the Windows Live applications and services including Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Messenger. Aaron demonstrated how he was able to take photos with his Windows Mobile phone and quickly upload them to his Windows Live Space. Great demo!

On our way out, we were fortunate to get a sneak peak at Channel 10's exclusive interview with Bill Gates. This is his last year doing the CES keynote as he transitions out of being a Microsoft employee full time to working full time at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Also: Channel 10 also did a very neat interview with Robbie Bach, President of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division. Robbie discusses quite a few thinks like the Xbox 360, Zune, and Windows Mobile but also what we can expect in regards to the "Connected Entertainment" experience coming in 2008. Check it out.

Next we stopped by to check out the Media Center Express (aka the CES Bus). Microsoft partnered with PodTech is providing a bus for CES offering transportation to and from the Las Vegas Convention Center.

We will have more details on the Media Center Express CES Bus to share in the very near future. Look for a post from Nick.

Tomorrow will be another exciting day. You can follow me on Twitter (trying to update as much as possible) and I've set up a set on Flickr for CES 2008 - all photos being taken with my Certified for Windows Vista Canon PowerShot SD750 and uploaded to Flickr using Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Listening to Music in Style with New Zune Device & Software

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:37:00 GMT

Yesterday was an exciting day for the Zune Team. Their new Zune devices - the Zune 4, Zune 8, and Zune 80 - hit store shelves and they launched a brand new version of Zune.net now with your very own Social Profile (your Zune Card). The Zune Team also launched a new version of the Zune software - completely re-done and much improved. There is quite a bit of reviews on both the new devices and Zune software all over the web today. I'd like to call out the reviews by Featured Community member Jason Dunn over at Zune Thoughts. He's got some fantastic videos up on the new devices and software worth checking out.

I'd like to share a few things myself on the Zune software, the Zune 8, and the Zune Social web service.

First off, yesterday I created a video demo of the Zune software designed to give you a quick overview of what the Zune software offers. I shot the video yesterday hoping to get it up yesterday so when I say "today" I really mean yesterday. Take a look at the video:

That was just a quick overview. The Zune software is about you and your collection of music, videos, and photos. The new software also now supports the ability to subscribe to podcasts as well. For folks who record TV shows with Windows Media Center on Windows Vista (such as myself), the Zune software is able to take those videos and put them on your Zune device. One thing I'd like to stress is that even if you don't own a Zune device, you can still download the Zune software to use with your music collection. You really need to check out the Now Playing screen ;-)

In conjunction with the release of the new software, I went out and bought myself a Zune 8. The Zune 8 is the 8GB flash memory model. I was originally intending to buy a Zune 80 (the 80GB harddrive model) but I already own a brown Zune 30 and really wanted to try a smaller flash device.

I was amazed at how small the device is. And the new Zune Pad makes a huge different in navigating the device - by the touch of my finger. And the new glass screen makes watching videos and looking at pictures crystal clear on the device. Yes - the Zune 8 supports video (including my recorded Windows Media Center TV shows!).

To go with my Zune 8, I also picked up the Zune Dock. The new Zune Dock supports the new Zune devices (the Zune 4, 8, and 80) as well as the Zune 30. It comes with interchangeable "seats" for the devices. The Zune Dock also has video out capabilities.

It also comes with a power adapter. If my Zune 8 is plugged in to the wall to charge - if I've set up wireless syncing, my Zune 8 will automatically sync to my PC as I add music throughout the day.

The next thing I'd like to talk about is the new Zune Social features on Zune.net. When you login to Zune.net with your Windows Live ID that is your Zune/Xbox account - you now have a Zune Profile on Zune.net. This Zune Profile consists of your played music as well as your Friends List (same Friends you have from Xbox Live). You can also browse the Zune music catalog via Zune.net and send songs to your friends which will then show up under the "social" of the Zune software. This is becoming one of my most favorite features of the new Zune releases as not only can I share my music tastes with my friends, I can also see what my friends are listening. Because of this - I've discovered many new artists I've never heard before as well as rediscovered a few I've not heard in ages.

Feel free to check out my Zune Profile and my Zune Card here.

Music is very important to me and being able to play my music and mange my digital media in such a unique way, sync to a really cool device and then share my music listening habits with friends makes for an incredible experience.

Photos of the Zune and Zune Dock uploaded to Flickr using Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Visiting the Windows Consumer Experience Space in New York City

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 04:43:00 GMT

In New York City this week, Microsoft has invited over 200 members of the press to visit the Windows Consumer Experience Space at Peter White Studios. There, they will get hands on demos of scenarios that both Windows Vista and Windows Live together enable for consumers. The scenarios at the Windows Consumer Experience Space include demos of the Windows Live apps (such as Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Photo Gallery), gaming on Windows Vista, and Windows Media Center and its home entertainment capabilities.

Windows Senior Product Manager Craig Cincotta gives us a tour of the Windows Consumer Experience Space where folks will come through for their demos:

Video: Windows Consumer Experience Space Walk-thru

One of the scenarios being demoed is the ability to create panoramic shots in Windows Live Photo Gallery. I absolutely love this feature and decided to go down to Times Square and take a few shots to create a panoramic view of Times Square during both during the evening and during the day. It is an amazing experience standing at Times Square especially at night with all the neon signs and I wanted to share that experience through the panoramic shots.

In creating a panoramic shot, another scenario is being able to use Windows Live Photo Gallery to upload and share that photo to either Windows Live Spaces or Flickr. I chose to upload the panoramic shot of Times Square to my Flickr account and embed it in this blog post - however the same scenario also works if I uploaded the image to Windows Live Spaces as well. For an excellent overview of uploading photos to Flickr through Windows Live Photo Gallery, check out Program Manager Michael Palermiti's screencast and blog post.

Several of our Featured Communities were also invited to visit the Windows Consumer Experience Space such as Blair Briggs, Michael Reyes, Bob Stein, John Obeto, Patrick Husband and Jason Dunn.

In celebration of the Windows Consumer Experience Space - Microsoft has also launched Windows Vista Holiday Product Guide in which users can download to get the low-down on all the excellent new products (which are Certified for Windows Vista) hitting the market this holiday season that take advantage of Windows Vista such as the Gateway One and the Dell XPS 720.

There are many awesome consumer scenarios both Windows Vista and Windows Live can offer and we will continue to blog about them here on the Windows Experience Blog. Be sure to subscribe to the Windows Experience Blog's RSS feed since not all blog posts hit the frontpage of the Windows Vista Team Blog.

The era of Quad-Core is upon us!

Brandon LeBlanc — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 01:48:00 GMT

On Monday, Nick and I flew out to San Francisco to attend AMD's Premiere Event announcing their quad-core Opteron processor. With Intel's quad-core hardware and now AMD moving full speed ahead - the era of quad-core processing is here!

Prior to the event, we met up with Featured Community members Michael Reyes, John Obeto, and Carlos Echenique to attend a blogger meet-up with some folks from AMD. Michael is from the website HardwareGeeks , John owns and runs the website SmallBizVista, and Carlos runs the website PlanetAMD64. I also had the huge pleasure of meeting Alessandro Perilli from the website Virtualization.info. Alessandro is one of the leading bloggers in blogging on virtualization technology on the web.

At the blogger meet-up, we were all surprised by a visit from AMD's CEO Hector Ruiz.

At the Herbst International Exhibit Hall, AMD had several demo stations set up for folks to play with quad-core PCs. Nick had a chance to play Midway's upcoming game Stranglehold powered by AMD's Phenom quad-core processor. AMD had several different demo stations including one demoing some very impressive video-editing capabilities.

Later, we were all bused over to the Letterman Digital Arts Center for the launch event. The Letterman Digital Arts Center was created by George Lucas and LucasFilm on the grounds of the Presidio. The Letterman Digital Arts Center houses many of the LucasFilm divisions (such as ILM) and is a state-of-the-art digital entertainment facility. When arriving, we knew right away we were at a LucasFilm facility as we were greeted by some familiar faces:

We then made our way into the Letterman Digital Arts Center where we were directed into their 298-seat, state-of-the-art, THX-certified screening room equipped for digital projection. It was a very impressive theater room. The event kicked off with AMD's Hector Ruiz announcing the Opteron quad-core processor and then introducing LucasFilm producer Rick McCallum to talk about LucasFilm's partnership with AMD.

Rick showcased a really neat video of the special effects ILM did for the movie Transformers. Take a look at the video:

Video: AMD Barcelona Launch: ILM Video

Overall, I shot over 9GB of HD video footage from the event. Using Windows Movie Maker, I spliced the video into segments and uploaded the special effects video above to Soapbox. If I had a quad-core processor, editing and rendering video such as my HD footage would be quite a bit faster and more efficient. Quad-core processors will offer quite a bit of advantage to Windows Vista users as they hit the market as they will enable the user to do much more with digital video, sound, and even games.

Special thanks to AMD for having us out for the event.

Trying out the Windows Easy Transfer Companion Beta

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:34:00 GMT

Robert McLaws is letting folks know the beta of Windows Easy Transfer Companion is available at Microsoft.com. You can download the beta here. The beta works on both Windows XP and Windows Vista and is designed to help you move your applications from Windows XP to Windows Vista when upgrading to a new Windows Vista PC.

Windows Easy Transfer Companion will work with over 100 programs in transferring over to your new Windows Vista PC. It will also alert you if a program will not transfer or might have problems transferring (transferring without "high confidence"). You can transfer your applications though an Easy Transfer Cable (like the one offered from Belkin) or through your home network (LAN).

I decided to test Windows Easy Transfer Beta out myself. I prepped my Windows XP PC to transfer the applications I have installed over to my new Windows Vista Home Premium PC. Just like Windows Easy Transfer Companion, let's call my Windows XP PC my "Old PC" and my Windows Vista Home Premium PC my "New PC" for this post. After Windows Easy Transfer Companion prepares for the transfer, it tells me that my Old PC is ready and gives me Companion Key that I will need to enter on my New PC.

Once I enter the Companion Key into my New PC - my Old PC detects it is now connected through my network and the transfer begins on my New PC. It will first do a series of scans from my Old PC to my New PC. After those scans are completed, it will detect which applications are transferrable. They are displayed in groups of how well they transfer. As you can see, I have two applications that will "transfer well": Macromedia Flash Player and Windows Live Photo Gallery (very cool!). I am going to choose to just transfer Windows Live Photo Gallery.

It prepares for the transfer again and the transfer begins with statuses of the transfer appearing on both my Old PC and my New PC.

And the transfer is complete.

After the New PC rebooted, I went to test out Windows Live Photo Gallery after the transfer on my new PC. Windows Live Photo Gallery failed to open. Apparently Windows Live Photo Gallery requires the Microsoft SQL 2005 Compact Edition framework installed as a prerequisite. I neglected to transfer this from my Old PC as (see in above screenshots) it was not advised. No worries though! I went to Microsoft.com, downloaded the framework, and installed it. Windows Live Photo Gallery fired right up after that. Overall though, this tool worked great.

You can click here to view my Windows Easy Transfer Companion Screenshot Gallery.

For background information on Windows Easy Transfer and Windows Easy Transfer Companion, I suggest reading Nick's post from a few months ago that discusses using Windows Easy Transfer and the technology behind what is now Windows Easy Transfer Companion.

June 2007 Cumulative Update for Windows Media Center in Windows Vista

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:46:00 GMT

Tuesday saw the release of the June 2007 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista on Windows Update. Steven Bink highlights the update and Ian Dixon also talks about the update as well on his blog.

The June 2007 Cumulative Update resolves several issues in Windows Media Center including a update to the Digital Cable Card component in Media Center that improves the interaction between the CableCARD, digital cable tuner, and Media Center.

With this update programs for enabling the use of Windows Media Extenders (such as the Xbox 360) have been updated. You may need to update your third party firewall to take into account the changes to these programs and enable access through the firewall to your Windows Media Extender. For example, I use Windows Live OneCare to protect my PC I use for Media Center. In Windows Live OneCare's Firewall Advanced Settings, you will notice it lists programs by name and version.

Other third party firewalls may do the same. With this month's update, those version numbers for some of the programs necessary for using Windows Media Extenders may have changed so you might need to go in and give access to those applications again with their new versions.

You read up on the details on the June 2007 Cumulative Update for Media Center in Windows Vista here. And you can download the package without going through Windows Update here (although I suggest using Windows Update of course).

WinHEC 2007: Day 1

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 16 May 2007 08:16:00 GMT

Today I saw some really cool stuff at WinHEC 2007. WinHEC truly "advances the platform" this year with the platform being Windows Vista and Windows Server. A lot of the announcements that have been made today are about hardware pushing the experience in Windows Vista and Windows Server to the next level. And that is why this year's WinHEC is really exciting.

During this morning's keynote - there are a few key announcements worth highlighting. Software and Hardware Partners have been announced for Windows Home Server. Outside the HP MediaSmart Server coming out later this year, companies like Gateway and LaCie have announced plans for Windows Home Server powered devices. This is really cool as these devices will give you the best Windows Home Server experiences. The final name for Windows Server "Longhorn" has been announced today as Windows Server 2008 which Nick has covered here. And Windows home computing gets even better with Windows Rally. I am talking about this one in a later post as this announcement really excites me and deserves a separate post ;-)

It is always great to see Bill Gates speak. I was particularly fond of his overview of mobile devices that are coming down the pipe-line. I have found the UMPC to be really interesting especially with the Origami Experience running with Windows Vista. I'm trying to get my hands on one of the new Samsung Q1 Ultra to play with.

Coming to WinHEC isn't just about watching keynotes or attending sessions. It is also about interacting with your peers in the community. You get to discuss with them the announcements from the keynote as well as the hardware innovation coming out of the show. It provides a huge amount of value, in my opinion, to attending shows like this. I was fortunate enough to have some really interesting discussions with several of Microsoft's Featured Community members:

Steve Sinchak - TweakVista.com
Larry Richman - PROnetworks
John Obeto - SmallBizVista.com
Steven Bink - Bink.nu

I also had a chance to meet Rafael Rivera who you might know from Extended64.com.

Later in the evening, the Windows Server Division invited community influencers (such as the Featured Communities) and Press for a Baseball game at Dodger Stadium. It was a fantastic way to finish off the day and discuss today's announcements and sessions. Special thanks to the Windows Server folks for putting the event on for us.

Overall, it is really exciting to see all this new hardware innovation coming in to take advantage technologies in Windows Vista and Windows Server.

Tomorrow I plan to hit the Expo Hall and a few sessions during the afternoon.