Windows Phone 7 Series – Already a Failure?
Since the February 15th announcement of Microsoft's next mobile phone operation system Windows Phone 7 Series at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, fans and skeptics alike have had plenty of time to publicize their opinions on this next move from our clever guys in Redmond.
All in all, this next and long awaited "upgrade" from Windows Mobile has been received very well. There is no doubt that the existing Windows Mobile OS as such is no longer any match against iPhone in terms of "coolness" and usability - even on HTC phones with the TouchFLO touch-screen overlay. Windows Mobile as we know it is outdated!
No copy & paste, so it's already a failure?
One of the biggest criticisms towards Windows Phone 7 Series seems to be the lack of a copy & paste feature. With the release of the iPhone 3GS series, Apple chose to include this feature - by popular demand. So why do Microsoft choose not to include it?
People tend to find this decision particularly hard to swallow since a major proportion of the intended customers and users of this product is business users - and let's face it, many of them hardly do anything but copy & paste!
Microsoft has stated that the main reason for the removal of this feature is that it "isn’t necessary" any more. A statement reads:
“We tried to focus on what the core use cases were. Certainly there will be some people that won’t be happy with some of those decisions.”At first, when I heard about this, I couldn't quite believe it. I consider copy and paste an integral part of just about any device I am using. But then I started thinking - do I really use it?
Working on my computer, of course, I use it all the time. But on my phone? Do I use it? Do I need it? Do I even have that feature on my current phone? No.
And this is exactly what the usability engineers at Microsoft have concluded, the copy & paste use case simply isn't what users prioritize to have available on a mobile phone. It is not considered to be one of the core use cases, as stated above. I give credit to Microsoft for making this bold decision and for having such a strong focus on usability!
HP iPaq H2210
As mentioned above, my current phone, a Sony Ericsson C905, doesn't have a copy & paste feature. However, quite a few years ago I had a HP iPaq H2210 device which I used to sync my e-mail, calendar and contacts.
I remember clearly that this device had the copy & paste ability built into it - it was even part of the device setup - you had to practice it by moving an appointment from one day to the next using cut & paste before you could even start using the device!
When I think back, even on this device which had copy & paste built into it, I cannot remember ever using it. Moving an appointment one day forward was rather a matter of opening the appointment in order to change the start and end date. For me at least. Copy & paste was indeed not one of my core use cases!
Windows Phone 7 Series - the iPhone Killer?
From what I've written here, my answer to the initial question is clearly no. I do not think Windows Phone 7 Series is a failure based on the fact that it will not have copy & paste abilities.
In fact I think this next release will be a huge success - maybe even the (long awaited) iPhone killer!
- Microsoft and Windows Phone 7 Series will target both the consumer and the business user - and let's face it - iPhone has never quite made it into the corporate environment. If Windows Phone becomes "cool" and user friendly like iPhone and popular, compatible, and fast enough for business users, it will be big!
- Current users of Windows Mobile (6.1 or 6.5) are pissed off! This OS is old fashioned, it's performance is crap, and compatibility issues are increasing. What users need is a modern, Windows 7'ish OS for their mobile device. Windows Phone 7 Series will give them all of this.
- Last but not least; Microsoft has a formidable strength in its huge and established development community, and the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace is likely to outgrow Apple's iPhone Apps. Just think about it, as a web or Win Forms developer, with Windows Phone 7 development you already know the programming language and you are familiar with all the tools. The development tools and the Windows Phone 7 Series emulator is already available. Making the change to the mobile platform is "a small step for man, a giant leap for Windows Phone 7 Series"! Microsoft has even announced that tools and technologies for developing Windows Phone 7 Series applications will be free for all of us to use!
The first batch of phones to use Windows Phone 7 Series are set to launch by the end of 2010. Will I get one? Indeed! I can't wait! Will you, or do you require copy & paste?
Nice Welcome Gift from Practical Photography
For last year's Christmas Holiday, I went totally shopping crazy at the local Narvesen kiosk buying just about every photography related magazine I could find. My "mission" was to figure out which magazine I would choose to start subscribing to. The choice turned out not to be a difficult one.
Nice welcome gift from Practical Photography
I went for Practical Photography. This magazine stood out among the others as indeed being more practically related. It also assumed some basic photographic knowledge among readers, whereas some of the other magazines seemed to assume that the reader was more or less retarded (at least that's my opinion). This magazine really encouraged me to take more photos, and to try out new techniques, settings, and equipment.
I submitted my subscription details during December when there was still a special Christmas subscription offer. New subscribers would be sent a welcome gift.
It's a while since Christmas, and it's been a while since I received my welcome gift, but I was so positively surprised that I wanted to mention it and show off a picture of it here on my blog.
In my gift I found:
- The latest edition of the magazine (of course).
- Digital SLR Skills - The Complete Camera Course.
- Beginner's Guide to Photoshop Elements (25 video lessons).
- Camlink Camera cleaning kit.
- 2 GB CF Memory Card.
It was like Christmas all over again!
So if you're looking for a photography magazine to boost your photographic interest and skills, I recommend Practical Photography from Photo Answers! Check out their latest subscription offers here.
This is Good Shit!
I consider myself quite handy when it comes to fixing things around the house. The other day a eventually got rid of the old, leaky toilet, and replaced it with a brand new Porsgrund Seven D toilet. It features dual flush modes, hidden S-lock and Fresh WC (see below).
Porsgrund Seven D
The problem with the old one was that it was leaking slightly, but more importantly, the cistern took forever to fill up. I timed it a few times - it usually took between 20-25 minutes! I agree that a toilet isn't exactly the most important part of our lives, however, when buying a new one I was determined to get one with the Fresh WC feature. The idea is as brilliant as it is simple - it works well at it looks really neat!
- Fresh WC
So if you're thinking about getting a new toilet, think no more! Porsgrund Seven D and Fresh WC is what you need. This is good shit! 
Multiple Networks in Yammer
Yammer is an increasingly popular microblogging service for enterprises. With Yammer you can limit the access to your network to include only the people within your own organization. While Twitter has global reach, Yammer reaches only the people within your company, group or organization.
I do not intend to describe Yammer as such in this blog post, however, I have recently joined multiple Yammer networks and I want to share with you how you can set up your Yammer account to span across multiple networks.
Why you might want to use more than one network
The company I work for, Capgemini, uses Yammer as the preferred social networking and microblogging service internally. I recently joined a project with one of our clients, Statoil, which is also using Yammer. For a few desperate hours I logged on and off my two different Yammer accounts to try to stay updated on both networks. I soon realized that it was not a clever way of using a tool that is supposed to be dead simple and user friendly.
After a quick Bing search I found the solution, and thinking that colleagues and other readers might be facing the same issue, I will explain what I did to make it work.
Guide for setting up additional networks
1. First of all, start by logging into your primary Yammer account. I consider the Capgemini account to be my primary Yammer account (e.g. your.name@capgemini.com).
2. Once logged in, go to Account settings in the upper right corner (see Figure 1 below).
3. In the Account dropdown menu, click Manage Networks (see Figure 2 below).
4. Within the Account screen and the Manage Networks tab, add the e-mail you used when signing up for you additional Yammer network (e.g. your.name@statoil.com, see Figure 3 below).
After completing these steps you will receive an e-mail where you have to verify your your relationship to the newly added network. After confirming your networks are merged for easy access from a single Yammer account. You will have a new Networks menu in the upper right part of the screen. Use this menu to easily swap between your networks. It worked for me, and I hope it works for you!
Happy Yammering!
Multiple networks with the Yammer Desktop application
I got a question from people wondering if multiple networks could also be used with the Yammer Desktop application. Yes you can! This is available under the Accounts menu (see Figure 4 below).
For more information on Yammer, see this article from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yammer
NNUG Stavanger 2010
NNUG Stavanger har nå publisert "årshjulet" med planer for aktiviteter for medlemmene i 2010. Ambisjonene er økt fra 2009 med totalt 6 ordinære brukergrupper. I tillegg er styret i NNUG Stavanger uvidet til å inkludere flere sentrale firma i regionen, og vi håper med dette å stimulere til at enda flere deltar og bidrar i våre aktiviteter.
Vi har for 2010 også planer om å knytte til oss flere eksterne speakers enn hva vi har gjort tidligere, både gjennom NNUG, via Microsoft Norge og gjennom våre egne internasjonale nettverk. Det er med andre ord bare å holde seg oppdatert på våre nettsider!
Om NNUG
Norwegian .NET User Group - NNUG - er en uavhengig brukergruppe for utviklere som jobber med Microsofts .NET teknologier. Formålet med NNUG er å utveksle erfaringer om .NET, gi råd og fokusere på Best Practises. Målgruppen for NNUG er utviklere og arkitekter.
De viktigste aktiviteten i NNUG er fagmøter. På møtene er det presentasjoner fra deltakere i brukergruppen, Microsoft og andre. I tillegg har brukergruppen nettstedet www.nnug.no for å spre informasjon.
NNUG er etablert i Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim, Vestfold, Tromsø og Haugesund.
The Perfect Web Camera
I've had a few webcams over the years, however, with the new Microsoft LifeCam Cinema HD, I realize that webcams are no longer what they used to be. They have become great photo, audio and video capturing devices! This camera is simply impressive!
I've been using this camera on two different PCs, one desktop PC running Windows 7 Ultimate Edition RC 64bit, and one laptop running Windows 7 Enterprise Edition 64bit. It is plug-and-play the way it was always supposed to be. It simply works!
After a decent download your camera is ready to use. The Microsoft LifeCam software package offers all the features you expect, plus a few more. Capture a photo, audio or a video, change video quality and camera settings, and play with the added effects which may very well add a lot of fun to using your webcam.
This device is capable of capturing life in 1,280 x 720 HD resolution at 30 frames per second, with auto focus, 4x digital zoom.
To get a feeling of what you're in for, sit back and enjoy this great video from T4ShowVideo:
And here is yet another test and comparison with a Logitech webcamera:
Check out the official specifications from Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/digitalcommunication/productdetails.aspx?pid=008
Read full review at Engadget:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/18/microsofts-lifecam-cinema-hd-webcam-lets-you-film-those-youtube/
Updated 21.02.2010:
The Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet concludes that this is a great web camera: http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/02/15/tema/test/data/klikk/teknologi/10408791/
Prepare Your Images for E-mail and Web
One unfortunate consequence from more and more people owning and using digital cameras, is that images are being misused in e-mails and on the web. By "misused" I here mean the following:
- Take a picture using your fancy digital SLR camera (or any digital camera).
- Transfer that picture to your computer.
- Send the picture by e-mail or upload it to your website.
This might sound like a good idea - but trust me - it isn't!
The "size" problem of today's cameras
Using a modern, digital SLR might produce images anywhere between 10 and 15 mega pixels (MP) in size (or even larger). For instance, a 10,1 MP camera might generate images with a resolution of 3888 x 2592 pixels. By comparison, the average mid-range laptop today has a resolution of 1366 pixels in width. You see the problem? You now have an image about three times the width of your screen. Obviously, it is a bad idea to simply put it on your website, or send it via e-mail to a friend, before first doing a simple resizing exercise. Not only is the original image huge in physical size (resolution, or pixels), it is also a massive piece of data in terms of physical file size (megabytes). Moving this chuck of data (together with twenty other images) across the Internet not only puts a massive load on servers across your network, but it might also prevent your e-mails from being received on the other end. And if you put such an image on your website, it will make your website respond very slowly (and eventually piss off all your visitors).
For your own sake - and for the sake of friends and anyone else, please follow my advice on how to prepare your images for use in e-mails and on the web!
Resizing made easy
Resizing your photos is not hard. There are numerous online services you can use, however, I would recommend resizing your images using an application on your computer. Such applications are freely available for you to download. Based on my own experiences, I would recommend VSO Image Resizer from VSO Software.
Here is a video from VSO Software which explains the basic functions of VSO Image Resizer.
Don't do this
There are numerous examples on websites not doing image resizing properly. One example is Jæren Kabelnett - they are notoriously bad at it and use 3072 x 2304 pixel 2.1 MB images as thumbnails on their website! That is no good and disappointingly unprofessional by an established, regional Internet Service Provider (I feel a strong urge to throw shit their way since they have shown no interest at all in listening to my advice on this).
Take a look at judge for yourself: www.jkn.no (in Norwegian)
Final notes on resizing
Here are some important things to remember when resizing your images.
- Remember backup. You should treat your "digital negatives" with caution, and make it a habit to always make copies to an external hard drive, CD or DVD before you go ahead to work on your images. In fact, your should always do it as the very first thing you do after transferring image from your camera to your computer.
- Note that resolution and file size can be reduced quite drastically without the image losing a lot of quality (I challenge you to note the difference!).
- When resizing, make copies. It is always better to make copies when you resize, don't resize the originals. Take this from someone with years of experience - better safe than sorry!
Good luck with your image resizing!
B&H Photo Video – A Unique Shopping Experience!
I recently felt the urge to do a little Christmas shopping. More specifically, I wanted to expand my collection of photo equipment. I think of myself as a rather knowledgeable Internet shopper, however the things I was looking for was not to be found in any of my favorite, Norwegian stores.
About a year ago, I did my first purchase with the world renowned B&H Photo Video in New York. It is considered one of the best shops for anyone involved with photo, video, audio and visuals. Again I turned to B&H Photo Video, and I must say - they are good!
Although they do have thousands of products, finding exactly what you are looking for is really easy. The shopping cart is also very user friendly, and it keeps you as a customer in total control during the "aisle browsing".
What I find most appealing is the efficiency. I placed my order at about 20.00 Norwegian time, which equals to about 13.00 New York time. After a short break from the computer, I came back to check the status of my order about 45 minutes later. The 7 items I ordered had already been picked and were ready for packaging.
When I checked again the day after, the package was already shipped, and tonight I found my shipment to have arrived in Germany. During the next few days, my Christmas gift should be arriving. The only question remaining now is whether or not the Norwegian Customs will agree with my sense of humor. In order not to have to pay the import duties on my goods, I asked the guys at B&H Photo Video to add this little gift note on the package:
Merry Christmas! Here's a gift all the way from B&H Photo in New York, US. Let's hope the friendly folks at the Norwegian Customs won't charge you any extra import duties for the items this time! Merry Christmas to the Norwegian Customs too!
Welcome to EdgarStokka.NET!
Welcome to EdgarStokka.NET! After having maintained my own website for a number of years, I have now taken a great leap forward and altered my website into a WordPress blog. By doing so, I hope the website will become more "alive" (I have to realize it has been lying dead for a few years now).
As of today, this is indeed "work in progress", and he official launch will have to wait yet another few days.