SQUIBLE - PC Pro Schools & Tech News » Tech

Web Design to Create Your Company’s Website

admin — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:50:34 +0000

Today’s online selling is hotter than ever. If your company does not have a website yet, it is way behind the times. A Orlando Web Design firm can help your company have a successful site on the Internet. Unlike a brick-and-mortar store, visitors do not want to have to dig through the websites to find the merchandise that is being sold. Some people will walk through stores and shop for hours; however, web shoppers want the websites quick and easy to deal with. So let’s see what a design company should consider in creating your company’s website.

Uncluttered website graphics is what a Orlando Web Design firm should provide your company. Too much glitz can be hard to look through for the web visitor. It should keep the colors comfortable to the eyes, the flash effects to a minimum and provide a professional-looking site for your company.
Articles placed on websites should have short, easy-to-read paragraphs. A firm dealing with web design will know this. Visitors to your site want to scan information quickly. With short paragraphs this is easy. Longer ones are much harder to read fast. Most people will not finish an article written like this. Keep this in mind when accepting your website after it is finished.
The photos and graphics need to relate to the topic of your company’s website. This helps set the tone. If you are selling computers have these be about the computers in some way. It does not take a lot of these visual effects either. Just a few which are well placed are enough. If the website gets overloaded your message could be lost. This is why using a web designer is smart.
All the web pages should be related to the main topic of the website. This gives the website continuity. A site like this has a better chance of succeeding.
A Web Design company also needs to pay attention to SEO techniques. Without these the search engines will not notice your company’s website as much. This will affect the ranking of it and could lower the number of visitors who can find the site to give it a browse. Your sales could suffer badly.
Making a purchase should be a breeze for the online visitors. If they have to go through too much to order and pay for the item your company might not get even one order. The visitor might just leave the site and go to a competitor website where they can make a purchase easier. A firm for web design will know the latest ways to make this easier.

If a Web Design company does not consider the things listed above, you need to go elsewhere to have your company’s website designed. Remember, your company will depend on this site to be its presence online. It can gain a vast number of prospective customers and customers from having this website. It is a very valuable online sales tool.

Installing a Video Wall for Digital Advertising

admin — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 07:13:28 +0000

Although selection video wall software as the choice for any digital advertising project can be an exciting activity, the challenge remains as how to properly locate the equipment so it is not only safely secure, but is in an effective place to transmit a message. So, what is a video wall to begin with anyway? Typically, it can be one large HDTV screen – or several. You might choose to use a three by two or a six by four configuration. The choice depends upon need and budget.

Wiring is the Key to Connectivity

Unless you invest in a video wall display that is wireless, a good deal of cabling will come into play when installing your new messaging equipment. A single unit display used for digital advertising will require arranging three or four cables into a neatly fitting harness at the back of the unit. This is not problematic at all. The challenge appears when the need for connecting multiple unites arrives. If your video wall configuration is, for example, 36 displays of46″ televisions, the need for an overwhelming amount of cabling presents a considerable challenge for installers.

Frustration Level can be Critical

If you are attempting an in-house installation for a large number of units comprising a huge video wall display, frustration can appear in the event one of those 100 cables needed to produce a picture is not properly connected. After hours of what you thought were careful installation, there is no picture. Now additional hours are needed to trace the problem back to the monitor occupying the center location on the wall. You need to gain access to the rear of the unit to make the correct connection. Imagine having to spend another entire day disassembling the video wall adding more costs to your already expensive project?

Innovative Mounting Saves Labor Costs

The industry has listened for some time to installers’ complaints about lack of access that has led to a solution. Users need to purchase video wall systems that provide an installer with ultimate mobile flexibility. The outer units are mounted to the wall using hardware that allows installers the ability to move the monitor to the right or left. This provides access to the screens next to the outer ones. Plus, these mounts provide another great user-friendly feature. A locking mechanism allows users to unlock the unit to move it forward about 10 inches so it can be worked upon. With a simple push of the unit, the mechanism is activated allowing it to either be unlocked for servicing or locked to once again be safely secured. This setup makes it easy to access screens in the center of a video wall.

Businesses looking to employ their own staff to mount huge video walls for communication and/or advertising purposes should investigate the innovative mounting systems available. When conducting an online search for possible vendors, always make sure to include a little bit of self-education about the mounting system. Yes, it is extremely important to find the right unit configuration at the best price. However, if installation eats up valuable investment dollars, you new video wall display might turn into something far more expensive than you originally intended.

IT support, getting the basics right

admin — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:27:18 +0000

Reliable IT support has become an essential part of modern business over recent years. With the ever growing reliance on modern technology in everyday business can your business cope when things go wrong?

Not only is IT a integral part of day to day business but the right IT systems can also streamline your companies activities making them more efficient and therefore profitable. On the flip-side, getting your IT systems and support wrong can be a costly mistake. Here we will discuss various steps your company can take to ensure you get it right.

Getting the basics right

Some of the common issues effecting businesses include:

Slow, unresponsive computers
Security and virus problems
Out-dated software and patching

Getting the basics right will have a dramatic effect both in terms of efficiency and staff morale. Tackling these basic It support issues can often be done in-house if you have the resources. If not, many IT support companies can offer one off solutions to fix these basic problems and then an ongoing support contract to stay on top of the issues to prevent them occurring again in the future. There are several steps you as a business owner or decision maker can take to help with these common issues including:

Investing in modern equipment (often the financial gain in terms of increased efficiency are overlooked when considering upgrading aging equipment)
Taking advantage of discounted deals for software upgrades offered by many software vendors
Spending money on professional IT training to help you staff get the most from the tools you give them

IT support companies

Often the best solution for computer related problems in the workplace is employing a professional IT support company. For many, the costs involved in securing the services of a reputable IT support company seem steep but when they actually sit down and calculate the losses sustained in terms of reputation, lost sales and low productivity the costs involved in contracting a dedicated IT support company begin to look more attractive.

What to look for when choosing an IT support company

The main factors you need to look at when selecting a support company include:

Response times – How quickly can the engineer of help desk respond to your problems and if these targets are not met, what rights do you have as a customer for compensation or termination of the support contract.

What is covered – Make sure you establish exactly what is covered under the service level agreement and what the costs are for any additional work outside the support contract.

Additional hardware and software – What are the costs involved if you expand you business, add new hardware, upgrade software or replace dated equipment. Many companies don’t check the additional costs for extra hardware outside of what is covered under the original contract and find themselves paying through the nose for a few extra PC’s

Consultancy and advice – Does your chosen IT support company charge for advice or consultancy services or do they include these costs in your contact. If they do include IT consultancy, are they affiliated to any specific supplier of vendor? If so, you may find you do not get impartial advice.

Insurance – If your IT support company provides on-site support, are they covered while they are in your place of work? Another important aspect to consider is loss of data or disaster recovery. If an IT support engineer makes a mistake or some of their equipment fails who is responsible for the potential loss of earnings and reputation damages and how will they attempt to resolve the issue.

2011 Porsche Panamera

admin — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:55:56 +0000

Set to compete with the likes of the X5, Escalade, Tahoe and Navigator, is the new Porsche Panamera. Well, we say new, but the 2011 model has actually changed little since last year. If you’re more interested in substance over style, then this is definitely a car worth considering.

Outwardly the 2011 Porsche Panamera hasn’t changed. It still has the customary Porsche look. Bulging headlights, rounded contours and long flowing lines. It isn’t a looker, but it feels competent enough. I’m sure there are plenty of buyers out there who think it’s looks aren’t as bad as all that.

Once you get over the appearance, you soon discover a solid car. The 2011 range still includes the rear-wheel drive Panamera S and all-wheel drive Panamera 4S. Both are solid drives thanks to the 4.8-liter V8. It produces a respectable 400 bhp at the wheels and roars like a lion when pushed.

The flagship model, the all-wheel drive Panamera Turbo has the same engine but the turbo adds a further 100 bhp to the mix. At 500 bhp, this model really moves.

New to 2011 are two new models sporting a new V6 motor. The imaginatively named Panamera, and Panamera4 both have this new engine, a 3.6-liter V6 producing 300 bhp. We imagine this new engine is more to satisfy those aware of gas prices and the environment because the V8 is by far the best one to buy.

The 2011 Porsche Panamera is a fast car despite being an SUV. The V8 versions have a modified Cayenne V8 motor which has a proven track record. It can effortlessly get it 60 mph within 5.6 seconds for the S, and 4.2 seconds for the Turbo. Considering the car weighs 2 tons, that’s not bad at all.

The V6 motors are enthusiastic, but you do feel the lack of power sometimes, especially having just driven the V8. I’m sure it will be fine round town, or doing the groceries or school run, but it isn’t quite as much fun on the open road.

For a large car, the Panamera handles like a dream. Sure, it’s no GT3, but then we wouldn’t expect it to be. It’s more poised than a traditional SUV, and much quicker off the lights. Braking is handled by some industrial strength calipers bringing you to a stop miles faster than American competitors.

The driving experience is a healthy mixture of style, comfort and excitement. Breezing round urban areas offers a smooth, comfortable ride. Stopping and starting is effortless, cornering is handled by the competent suspension and smooth steering.

Once on the open road, the car shows it’s true form. The engine is eager, the stiff chassis providing the perfect platform for cornering at speed while the suspension keeps body roll to a minimum.

With room for the whole family, and luggage, the 2011 Porsche Panamera is a useful all-rounder that seems capable of handling just about anything you throw at it. Well worth the $74,400 in our opinion.

Facial recognition is coming to your Facebook tags!

admin — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:13:06 +0000

Making yet another step in the revolutionary process of improving its photo-sharing service, Facebook announced on Thursday that it will soon enable facial-recognition technology—this means that when you upload photos and “tag” your friends, they will be able to choose from a list of suggestions.

Thanks to its treasure bank of already tagged user photos and its personal profile photos, Facebook has created a massive base of data for knowing exactly who’s in what photo. According to Facebook there are now nearly 100 million new photo uploads daily, and 100 million “tags” daily too. Tagging is also a trademark of Facebook’s photo product, which was once bare-bones, un-user-friendly, and faired poorly against competitors at its launch. Being able to footnote each photo with friends’ names was largely what popularized Facebook Photos.

“Tagging is actually really important for control, because every time a tag is created it means that there was a photo of you on the Internet that you didn’t know about,” Facebook Vice President of Product Chris Cox told CNET. “Once you know that, you can remove the tag, or you can promote it to your friends, or you can write the person and say, ‘I’m not that psyched about this photo.’”

The facial recognition technology has been developed jointly by Facebook and in corporation with thelicensed technology. (Cox declined to name the companies involved.) It will start rolling out to about 5 percent of Facebook users in the U.S next week. “Assuming that goes well, we’ll just continue to roll it out,” Cox said.

The renovation of the once lowly regarded photo-sharing product has been going on in full force since the spring, when the company acquired a photo-sharing start-up called Divvyshot and hired its founder Sam Odio in charge of the engineers developing Facebook Photos.

“We wanted to make our Photos product not suck,” Cox said. This fall, the company launched a new interface and “bulk tagging.” The addition of facial recognition is another step in that overhaul, he said.

Apple forecast to sell 100M iPhones, 48M iPads in 2011

admin — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 05:30:00 +0000

Apple countersues Motorola over multi-touch iPhone patents

admin — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 18:05:00 +0000

Microsoft’s server boss talks Azure and more (Q&A)

admin — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Bob Muglia, Microsoft’s president of the server and tools business, talks about upcoming additions to the Windows Azure platform to PDC attendees.

(Credit:
Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

REDMOND, WA.–Microsoft is betting big on the cloud and wants businesses to do the same.

After two years of building Windows Azure, Server and Tools President Bob Muglia said yesterday that the cloud operating system is ready for business customers of all sizes to give it a try. At its annual Professional Developers Conference, Microsoft announced several new Azure features including the ability to move existing applications and virtual machines into Microsoft’s hosted service.

In an interview with CNET, Muglia talked about the new cloud advances, small business server products, as well as the impact on Microsoft of recent executive departures, including last week’s announcement that Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie will be leaving the company.

Below is an edited transcript of the interview:

Q: It’s been two years since Microsoft introduced Azure. Can you talk a little bit about where things are now–both in terms of a technology, and as a business, as well as what’s shifted?
Bob Muglia: I think the big thing now is, two years ago, obviously, Windows Azure was brand new. We first announced it, first talked about it, and there wasn’t a whole lot there for people to do. Now I think it’s reached a point where, particularly with all the services that were announced today, it’s really broken through in terms of its maturity and its readiness for people to write applications.

Azure came online as a fully paid service just earlier this year in February. We added a whole bunch of new features in June at TechEd and then today we’ve got a whole set of new things that we’re adding.

I feel like this is sort of at the point where it is really ready for action and ready for people to write applications. In terms of anything that sort of surprised me, I don’t think that what we’re doing surprises me at all. I think it’s great to see the response from people and the kinds of apps that people are interested in.

We took a bet on platform as a service (PaaS). We took a very big bet that PaaS is the future and where people are going to be going.

What’s the difference between, say, moving your infrastructure to a cloud-based service–whether it’s a storage in the cloud service, or virtualization that VMWare offers–versus moving to Azure?
Muglia: With infrastructure as a service, you’re still working and managing the environment. You’re still thinking about the infrastructure. In particular, you’re still managing virtual machines. With platform as a service, you’re focusing on the application. And so that really takes all those infrastructural components and handles them for you.

The second big thing is that with infrastructure as a service, you’re maintaining that virtual machine image. You’re patching it, you’re updating it. With platform as a service, we take care of all that for you. And then the third thing with infrastructure as a service, you’re still assembling all the other services you need. You’re putting them together, you’re creating the images, you’re deploying it. And with PaaS, the services are — there’s a broad set of services, particularly on Windows Azure.

It seems like the jump that companies have to make is writing to this new platform instead of writing to traditional Windows and Windows Server.
Muglia: That’s correct.

But it seems–today you guys did a couple things that made it less of a jump–what are some of those things?
Muglia: Well, to summarize the benefit, because I think you bring up a good point, the benefit is you’re focusing on the application versus focusing on the infrastructure. First of all, the fact that Windows Azure is still from and on Windows Server means that it’s a familiar environment. And we talked today about how we’re providing Server App-V, I think it’s probably the most important thing we announced today to help people move onto the platform as a service.

So if you’ve got an application, a server application that has an install process, server App-V, can take that application and package it up as just a component that can be deployed, copied into Windows Azure and then deployed.

So does that mean any program that’s written for Windows Server can basically run on Azure?
Muglia: “Any” is a very big word. I would not say “any.” I mean, what we’re doing is trying to take a very broad set of applications that people have written and simplify the process of moving it to Windows Azure.

Now, that said, just because you’ve done that doesn’t mean the application takes advantage of Windows Azure. It certainly won’t take advantage of all the services that are available. It may not scale out automatically as an example, and it certainly doesn’t provide things like multi-tenancy, if that’s important.

So I’m not saying, “hey–one click, boom, you’re done,” but it is a good stepping stone to help people get existing applications onto Windows Azure.

One of the challenges with the shift to the cloud is making sure businesses even understand these costs and benefits. How does Microsoft talk to businesses about that?
Muglia: Yeah, they’re still all deciding that. We had a CIO Summit here about a month ago, and one of the things I talked to CIOs about was that they have some applications that [are] sometimes referred to as context, they provide context to their business. And they’re critical applications, but there’s no differentiation in them. And those are great candidates to go to software as a service. So, you know CRM, e-mail, collaboration — those are all good examples — maybe an expense-reporting application, something like that, where you can get a provider. Microsoft, or whoever it might be, to run the app for you. And we’re seeing those apps move very quickly to the cloud.

Then when it comes to business applications, the question for every company is: When does it make sense? What applications make sense and when does it make sense to do it? And of course they have the option of either using a public cloud or their own private cloud within their own data center. My advice to companies, very simply, is every company has an application that they can take and write to Windows Azure and move up onto the public cloud. In fact, I was in Hong Kong talking to a large financial institution. I said, “Look, I know you’re not going to move your core banking systems to Windows Azure tomorrow, but you’ve got an application. You have 4,000 apps, you’ve got an application that you can move up there. Start doing that now because the platform is really ready for applications to move.”

Organizations may or may not be ready, and we will work with them to help them get ready and to listen to their concerns, understand what they need from us for them to feel good about moving applications, what we need to do to help them with compliance issues, and reassure them on security and things like that–which are areas that are inhibitors right now. Fundamentally, the platform is ready for applications to move.

Earlier this year Microsoft talked about this notion of hardware makers building an Azure appliance. Customers could use them to basically run Azure in their own private cloud in their own data center. Where are things with that? What does it look like?
Muglia: Most of the early ones for customers will wind up being racks because that’s what their data centers are designed to handle. It turns that in order to put a container in a data center, you actually need to have a concrete floor and the ability to take the 70,000 pounds or whatever it takes to roll the thing in. And Windows Azure is very happy sitting in racks, and it’s just as happy sitting in racks as it is in a physical container.

It’s moving along. I was actually just down in the Bay Area talking to eBay yesterday about the work we’re doing with them and it’s going along really well. We’re working through getting their Azure appliance up and running and talking about how they’ll use it, and it’s been great and exactly what we needed because we’re getting the feedback that we need from customers to understand what they want to run in their data center, what they want to have control over in comparison to what they want Microsoft to do. So, it’s still pretty early.

Is Microsoft still defining what it will be?
Muglia: We are still defining exactly what roles our OEM suppliers have, what role customers have, what roles we have. We’re still at that stage.

One of the things you talked about today is this idea of companies being able to move existing virtual machines to Azure. What does that mean? Is that a big request from customers? What does that allow?
Muglia: It’s important to people because what it does is it allows people to take existing applications and just have pieces of them run on Windows Azure. Now, we’re taking a bit of a different tact. I mean, to us, that’s not the destination. That’s not what we think is the long-term solution for applications. But we do understand that customers have applications that have parts of it or components that can’t run in the Azure platform as a service environment yet, and this helps get them there.

One of the products in your universe is the Windows Home Server. The next version includes a feature that lets users back up (their information), even if they’re on a
Mac. How is that coming?
Muglia: It’s coming and we’ve got a new version that’s been in beta tests for a while that I think will be out sometime next year. There’s a new version of that, as well as new versions of Small Business Server that are also (coming).

Can you talk more about Aurora–Microsoft’s hybrid server solution that mixes local machines with the cloud. What’s happening with that?
Muglia: The interesting thing here is that we’ve been building Small Business Servers since 1996. I think was the first version that came out. You know, and there the whole idea was, “gosh, I can get Exchange and get a file server and get Active Directory all in a box.” And that’s great, but what we’ve learned is that now with cloud services, if a customer can use Exchange and SharePoint out of the cloud, that simplifies their infrastructure for particularly these small businesses.

Now, it’s still important to have localized entities, that’s still an important thing, and that’s something that Aurora provides. It connects back to these cloud services.

Microsoft showed a slide awhile back, and out in 2012 it had the next server release, and you guys have said that’s a major release. Can you talk a little bit about broadly what are the goals kind for Windows Server going forward?
Muglia: (Stares silently, an homage to Windows Division President Steven Sinofsky).

Maybe you can tell me the answer in Dutch.
Muglia: (laughs) We have certainly been working on the next release of Windows Server. But, unfortunately, I think I’m under the same embargo on that one.

The kind of things that you can expect us to do with Windows Server are the things that customers want us to do: Improve the way we do availability, make the system more manageable, simplify the manageability of the system, do more things to connect the cloud services. That’s becoming really important. And then of course, you know, we’ll continue to evolve the underlying components, the remote desktop components.

Remember Windows Server 2008? I said the most important thing about Windows Server 2008 is it’s the next release of Windows Server. And this will have that same exact characteristic.

You’ve been kind of immune to this, but there’s been a fair amount of turnover at Microsoft this year, in particular, Ray Ozzie who was an early champion of the cloud and really influential saying “let’s move the company in this way, this is where the industry is going.” What do you think his departure means to Microsoft, to your business in terms of that cloud vision?
Muglia: Well, Ray is a great guy and he’s done some fantastic work in terms of getting Windows Azure started, as an example, and pushing the company on the cloud, so it’s been great. I’ve known Ray for a really long time and I enjoy working with him.

I think we’re well under way on all of this, and Ray has not been involved day to day in what we’re doing on Windows Azure since the team moved over into my organization. So, going forward, I feel like we’re well-equipped and got a lot of great people at Microsoft that are driving these things, but we love Ray…

My sense is that really in terms of that cloud work, like you said, that has really reached the point where all the business units get it, and are on board. So now is the goal to get them moving to Azure?
Muglia: No, we don’t need to pull people to Windows Azure. We do see that different properties within Microsoft will move onto Windows Azure at different times because they’re at different stages of maturity. I talk to my guys about new things we’re doing. With Windows Intune, for example, getting that up and running on Windows Azure is one of the key focus items of that team. We’re working on this with our Forefront technology, for example, deal with end point protection–those sorts of things. But they’re all coming. It’s the direction of the future.

One of the things that struck me with Ray leaving is what happens the next time the company really needs to shift broadly? It doesn’t seem to me there’s somebody–and maybe that person is you, who has both the position in the company and the technical knowledge to see the winds of change coming and say “wow, the whole company needs to tilt this way.” I mean, Bill Gates is not there, Ray’s not going to be there…
Muglia: I think what’s happened (is that) the company is focusing in a set of different areas right now, and we have very strong technical leaders inside each of the areas of focus, whether it’s for Windows Phone or Windows — my organization. And I think that amongst us, we’ve got a lot of people that can see the sets of changes that are coming and really help to drive the company in that direction.

I still hear from Bill, so it’s not like if there’s something coming that Bill might see, I’ll certainly hear about it.

When was the last time you got mail from him?
Muglia: Oh–just within the last month or so. I get mail from Bill all the time. While he’s not active in the company day to day, he’s certainly active across the industry. And while his focus is clearly on philanthropically–the work that’s happening with his foundation, he is still our chairman and he still gives us feedback.

How has that change worked? You used to have Think Week…
Muglia: Still do.

You still have it, but it’s different.
Muglia: It’s different.

Are you involved? I know it’s a bunch of people now as opposed to just Bill reading a bunch of papers written by people across the company.
Muglia: I am. My technical assistant is more involved because he helps to gather the papers that get submitted from my organization into it — and it’s now much more. I think it’s an example of how Microsoft isn’t about one person. It might have been about Bill at one time, or maybe Ray has done some key things. But now it’s a much broader company, and Think Week’s an example of how that’s changed. And so many people work together to pull together the best ideas.

Do you expect more competitors in that platform as a service? Even though you don’t see just virtualizing infrastructure as an endpoint, you guys have said there’s customer need.
Muglia: Sure.

Do you think that the Amazons and Salesforces are going to try?
Muglia: I think there are only two other platform as a service actually available in the market today: Google with AppEngine, and Salesforce. Both of those are very narrow and special purpose relative to what Windows Azure provides. Windows Azure has a much broader set of services that is applicable to a much broader set of app than either of those.

It will be interesting to see what Amazon is going to do. I mean, Amazon has been adding some services, but they’re still so infrastructure-focused, and VMware is in exactly the same place. The litmus test, to me, is if you’re managing the virtual machines, it’s not platform as a service.

Do you think that that’s going to end up being more of an interim business for you guys than you expected? Your infrastructure as a service?
Muglia: I think that what we’ll see is a relatively rapid evolution of developers. Like when we talked to eBay, they’re going to move (straight to platform as a service). That’s what they’re doing. And while I don’t know that that will be the typical case, I think that people getting to platform as a service will be the key destination. That’s one of the reasons why we’re so focused on getting the Azure appliance out and making that something that people can deploy broadly, because public clouds are great, and we think that public clouds are really important for a large set of customers, but we do think there will be a lot of private clouds too.

Besides these Azure units you’re designing for businesses, can you give us an update on your efforts on your own data centers? I get the sense that building on that had slowed down some.
Muglia: We’re picking up now. What happened is we built Chicago. I mean, very literally what happened is we built this massive data center.

Which CNET visited.
Muglia: And, you know, it’s cool. And then 2008 happened and it slowed everything down, so we had about 12 months of incremental capacity available within our data center building. So now we’ve absolutely built it up. And we’re doing things like we’re expanding Quincy and we’re adding new capacity.

This PDC is not like the others, right?
Muglia: This is an interesting PDC for us because we’re doing it on campus — it’s a cloud PDC that’s being done through the cloud. And we have all of these events — it’s actually very cool because for the longest time, our subsidiaries in different countries said, hey, we want a PDC. But, we’ve never done a PDC outside of the U.S., this is the only place we’ve ever done a PDC before.

And now what we did by doing it this way, we’ve enabled every country to have their own event and essentially their own PDC. So, we’re live-streaming this, and we’re using Silverlight and a very cool new player for that. But one of the really interesting things is with IIS and with the cache, with the CDN and the content delivery network, we are doing all on demand — the entire on-demand infrastructure is being run on Windows Azure.

That is interesting.
Muglia: And we did not run the live streaming on it today. It was a little too fresh for us to do that, but that’s the direction we’re going to go, and that whole infrastructure is now available to run HD-level video broadcasts globally.

Have you guys run any live events on Azure yet, or not yet?
Muglia: We have not yet. Not live yet. Technically, there’s no issue for doing it, and you will see us do that in the future, but that was a little too fresh.

But you wouldn’t do something as big as the Olympics on Azure yet?
Muglia: Not this week. Whether NBC would? We’ll talk with them about doing it at some point in time, but you will see us do our major events, and then all of the on-demand stuff is coming off of Windows Azure and our content delivery network.

Microsoft’s server boss talks Azure and more (Q&A)

Verizon hiring hundreds ahead of iPhone launch – rumor

admin — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 06:10:00 +0000

Windows Phone 7 limits camera access for apps

admin — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 23:28:54 +0000

Steve Ballmer, speaking with CNET after Microsoft’s New York launch of Windows Phone 7.

(Credit:
CNET)

Microsoft’s tight design rules require all
Windows Phone 7 devices to have a pretty nice camera on them; they must tout at least 5 megapixels and video capture to boot. Unfortunately, Redmond’s new phone operating system has limitations that mean developers can’t fully take advantage of the lenses.

Although Windows Phone 7 devices can record and upload video and pictures, application developers can’t fully take advantage of those image sensors to do other fun things like video chat and augmented reality.

That means that not only will Windows Phone 7 not have as many apps as Android-based phones or the
iPhone when the first devices go on sale in the U.S. next month, but there will also be whole classes of programs that we just won’t see–at least for this version of Windows Phone.

Microsoft has gotten generally high marks for Windows Phone 7, particularly for its design and interface–and deservedly so. The company also deserves credit for having hundreds of programs ready for launch with more being added every day. However, as critics point out, there are still some key things missing–and full access to the image sensor is just the latest limitation to draw attention.

Other drawbacks include the lack of copy and paste (though that is being remedied with an update due early next year), no CDMA version until the first half of next year, as well as the lack of true multitasking. That last issue means that while one can listen to the built-in
Zune player while running another app, the same is not true when listening to Slacker or Iheartradio.

This may be part of the reason that Microsoft’s marketing appears to go after people eyeing their first smartphone rather than attempting to lure existing owners away from their Android device or iPhone.

Windows Phone 7 limits camera access for apps