Cloudy with a chance of Licensing
Latest news on Microsoft licensing, Cloud, and AI
I think we can all agree that the Microsoft Surface is really freaking cool so I don’t need to say too much really.
The video below is an excellent example of how realistic the physics are on the device and shows just how cool, and useful, it is/can be:
Hat tip to Steve Clayton & Marc Holmes for this.
Even though, or perhaps because, I still can’t buy a Zune here in the UK, I like to keep my eye on news relating to these wonderful devices. I saw earlier today a number of reports about the 30GB editions of the Zune locking up and “bricking” for no apparent reason.
**Update** It turns out that this was down to a Toshiba driver in the clock.
Microsoft have now released an official reason for the problem and, more importantly a fix for the issue. It all comes down to these particular devices having some issues with the leap year so MS have said “That being the case, the issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009. We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). ”
The full statement from Microsoft (which I saw via Gizmodo) is below. The official Zune Team blog is http://zuneinsider.com/ so you can check there for more info on this, and other Zune related topics 🙂
Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year. That being the case, the issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009. We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on. If you’re a Zune Pass subscriber, you may need to sync your device with your PC to refresh the rights to the subscription content you have downloaded to your device.
Customers can continue to stay informed via the support page on zune.net (zune.net/support).
We know this has been a big inconvenience to our customers and we are sorry for that, and want to thank them for their patience.
Q: Why is this issue isolated to the Zune 30 device?
It is a bug in a driver for a part that is only used in the Zune 30 device.
Q: What fixes or patches are you putting in place to resolve this situation?
This situation should remedy itself over the next 24 hours as the time flips to January 1st.
Q: What’s the timeline on a fix?
The issue Zune 30GB customers are experiencing today will self resolve as time changes to January 1.
Q: Why did this occur at precisely 12:01 a.m. on December 31, 2008?
There is a bug in the internal clock driver causing the 30GB device to improperly handle the last day of a leap year.
Q: What is Zune doing to fix this issue?
The issue should resolve itself.
Q: Are you sure that this won’t happen to all 80, 120 or other flash devices?
This issue is related to a part that is only used in Zune 30 devices.
Q: How many 30GB Zune devices are affected? How many Zune 30GB devices were sold?
All 30GB devices are potentially affected.
I was talking to our account manager at Jabra today about their latest range of headsets and they’re really impressive.
Jabra were the first, and I believe still the only, company to have their headsets certified by Microsoft as “Optimized for Microsoft Office Communicator” which is a nice badge to have 🙂
I’ve got the M5390at work and it’s a great bit of kit, especially now I’ve worked out how to use it properly! I’ve always held out against headsets, always said I “need to have a phone in my hand”, always thought headsets were a little bit “Posey” but not any more.
I’ve had the M5390 for about 4 months and find it to be great…the best thing is being able to type properly whilst on the phone, particularly during webcasts, conference calls etc. As the headset is wireless with up to 70M range, I can wander off from my desk to pick up a fax, make a brew, buy a Wispa and all sorts of things, that extra bit of freedom really does help increase productivity.
Also, I’ve got it paired to both my desk phone and my PC “softPhone” so it can hook into Microsoft Office Communicator really well. It also means that you can use it to listen to internet radio, Youtube etc during your lunch hour (of course!) and then webcasts and the like during work hours without bothering any of your colleagues.
Sorry the text is a bit small, I’ll try and rectify that ASAP 🙂
I (along with our friends @ Microsoft) did a demo of the Microsoft Roundtable today down at a customer’s very impressive site and I’m pleased to say, it went very well 🙂
We tested out a couple of different setups and I can tell you now that 2 Roundtables in the same room just isn’t a good idea! Having both devices live means feedback and general audio-confusion for all involved so even in the bigger boardrooms, 1 is the limit really.
Some people were worred that the panoramic view across the bottom would be too small for effective video-conferencing and that may be true, but it’s easy enough to enlarge the video for conversations and then drop it back down when you want to share data etc*.
The ability of Live Meeting to share presentations, take polls and provide collaborative whiteboarding was a definite hit with the demo attendees, and helped show that the Roundtable, in conjunction with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, really is a great business benefit.
The demo was such a hit that even the Managing Director of this world famous multi-national company came down to take a look, and was instantly impressed with how it could help increase productivity among their 2000+ users 🙂
It was great to see first hand what customers think of this product and also great to see that they agree with me about the many different benefits such as increased productivity, reduction in travel expenses, helping reduce a company’s carbon footprint and more.
Here are links to some of my other Roundtable posts:
*I’ll hopefully be able to update this post with some example images soon…
I’m a Microsoft fan and don’t have much, if any, love for (M)Apple-but now it seems neither do Apple.
In a 9 page response to a customers complaint re: the “twice as fast for half the price” claim, Apple state, and I quote (the bold is mine):
“Plaintiff’s claims, and those of the purported class, are barred by the fact that the alleged deceptive statements were such that no reasonable person in Plaintiff’s position could have reasonably relied on or misunderstood Apple’s statements as claims of fact.”
So either we’re all reasonable people and all know that Apple’s marketing is a tissue of lies, deceipt and $8 pee covered phones or we believe that they don’t outright lie and are therefore “unreasonable” 🙂
Gizmodo have got the hook up on this here…
Microsoft Research Labs have brought us some great things over the years-the 2 big ones at the minute being the Microsoft Surface table and also the Roundtable Video Conferencing Device, but that isn’t all. NetworkWorld have got an article on “10 Microsoft Research Projects” but I’m just going to take a look at the one that really interests me:
I hadn’t seen anything about this one before but it looks pretty cool, like a cousin of the Surface more than anything. You can type directly onto it via standard keyboard, write on it via an interactive whiteboard, manipulate images using multi-touch, play videos and more. You could have, for example, 16 people all armed with keyboards sitting around it collaborating on an article, thesis, new song or whatever you can imagine really.
Microsoft Zune is better than the iPod. That might seem like a bold statement but this post from Jeff Blankenburg shows that it is true, at least in my opinion.
I’ve wanted a Zune for a long time and the reasons listed by Jeff just make me want one even more! I’ve got an iPod but I’ve not been 100% happy with it for some time and being something of a Microsoft “fanboy”-the Zune seems like the way to go if only they’d make them available here in the UK. I really don’t see why they’re restricted to the US and Canada…if anyone’s got any ideas or info-please let me know 🙂
There are numerous reasons over at Jeff’s blog but here are the ones that really impress me:
1) It comes with FM Radio. Now in itself this is pretty cool as it’s sometimes good to have the radio on rather than just mp3’s, but the thing that puts it above and beyond is the “Add to Cart” option. With this, if you hear a track on the radio that you want, press the button and it downloads it from the Zune Marketplace! I think this feature should be pushed much harder as it’s unlike anything else I’ve seen…many a time I mean to get a song of iTunes later but forget-this solves it! Or you hear a song on the radio but didn’t catch the title or artist name to search for it later?-this solves it!
2) The Zune Pass. This gives you subscription based access to the entire Zune Marketplace for $15 a month, so you can listen to any of the tracks as many times as you want in that month AND you can keep 10 songs a month permanently, making it great value. Making it AWESOME value is that you can use 1 Zune Pass to fill 3 Zunes so most households will need just the one! You’ll just have to share the 10 “For keeps” songs between you… 😉
I really wish that they were available over here. When I was in Texas earlier this year I was very tempted to pick one up then, but as far as I can see there are various parts that won’t work over here such as the Zune Marketplace and I guess the Download from Radio won’t be configured with UK data either. This means at the minute it isn’t really a viable choice for me…
Cloudy with a chance of Licensing 