Vice president of Microsoft and currently leading the Windows Phone team, Joe Belfiore is the man responsible for the user interfaces of Windows 95, XP and recently known for his work on the Zune platform. Today he revealed a change in the Windows Mobile platform with Windows Phone 7. Applications will be more tightly knit together than ever before, instead of living in their own little islands on the phone. In other words; less like a PC and more like a phone that actually can intermix information between different channels and applications. For instance, pictures and contacts integration with Facebook is only a touch away.
The feature low-down:
4-point touch screen functionality in the hardware is required for standard operation
Simplified: A revamped start button leads to the Tile menu, which has a search function and a back-button
Limiting UI-customization to the built-in options available in the OS itself
No Adobe Flash support built-in, but Steve Ballmer was clear that they don’t mind Adobe at all – a kick towards Apple’s recent anti-Flash outbursts
Release before Christmas is guaranteed
So, let’s bench up for Christmas and hope they can impress us this time around, after the very disappointing Mobile 6.5.
Is Google changing the meaning of the term “waving” with their upcoming collaborative service, Google Wave? A lot of buzz has been generated about this upcoming service, currently in a limited test phase of development.
Currently a lof of features are still on the design board, and more soon to be implemented. Meanwhile, Google is steadily sending out more invites to people who signed up to test the service while in development. I have just received access myself, and invited some friends to join me.
Here’s an official video that attempts to explain more about waving and what this service will attempt to accomplish for people:
In MS SQL 2000 Management Studio it was possible to directly edit data when performing a query by using the “Open Table -> Query” menu option on a table. Microsoft changed things around for SQL 2005/2008, so that menu option is gone, but it can still be done. Here’s how to do it:
An effective way to do this is to first create an empty table AnEmptyTable that is easy to find at the top in Object Explorer.
Right-click your newly created table and click “Open Table”. As it is empty, this is much faster than opening any other table. At the top is a little button in the upper left which says “SQL” and a tooltip that says “Show SQL Pane”. Enable them both and voila! You can now run queries at the top and edit the results below.
This keyboard really caught my eye because of it’s sci-fi-esque design features. A compact “laptop” gaming keyboard, the Arvo has had its arrow keys removed to make it more compact. The numerical keypad area has been adapted for gaming use in lieu of the arrow keys, by switching into “gaming mode”. With an added five function keys, three of them being the “thumbster” keys in the middle front, these are all intelligently placed to be easily put to good use in most games.
PC Games Hardware gave the keyboard a promising review as far as stability and slip resistance goes, attributing this to a built-in metal plate that Roccat added for sturdyness. After a short hands-on test they also concluded that “the keystroke and pressure point of the Arvo were quite good and left a positive mark”.
Hoping to see a Nordic or Norwegian edition of this keyboard soon!
Microsoft has released a free e-book entitled “Deploying Windows 7 – Essential Guidance from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and Technet Magazine”.
Written for IT professionals looking to learn more about the most common pitfalls and problems before starting out on the always intriguing task of upgrading the OS of all their corporate systems, or those who are just starting considering the matter, this should be a most handy resource. Grab your free copy of “Deploying Windows 7″ now.
The Sony Ericsson “Rachael” is an upcoming Android-based smartphone from Sony Ericsson rumoured to feature a Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, which has awesome performance at clock speeds of 1-1.5 GHz depending on how they implement it. I bet it will be running at 1 GHz though.
The built-in camera sports an 8.1 MP sensor with auto-focus, while 3D-acceleration support boosts the usability of its many promising widgets.
For your mobile YouTube or TommyNation video streaming needs, 3.5G support is of course included with a 7.2Mbps HSDPA radio unit. Now if that doesn’t earn me some commissions…