Technology Feast

Looking ahead to 2011: What's on the Microsoft calendar

Saturday, January 1, 2011 4:37 AM Posted by Danish Ashraf , 0 Comments

It’s that time: Time to start plotting the travel schedule and penciling in the Microsoft events (that we know about so far) for the new year.

CES 2011: CEO Steve Ballmer is the kick-off CES keynoter on January 5 at 6:30 p.m. PT. Microsoft execs are remaining tight-lipped about what’s on the agenda, but early leaks have indicated that Ballmer is going to talk about Microsoft’s and its partners’ plans in the slate/tablet space (again, like he did last year). While some are expecting Microsoft to share details about plans to port Windows to ARM and/or about Windows 8, I’m thinking Windows Embedded is a more likely topic — and possibly the operating system that will be behind whatever kind of new slates/tablets the Softies unveil at the show this year. The Windows Embedded team has posted a CES press preview article, making it seem as though Windows Embedded Standard devices will be one of the big pushes for the company at CES.

Dynamics CRM 2011 launch: The virtual (Webcasted) launch event is January 20, 2011, for Microsoft’s “CRM 5″ release. The Online version of the product will be available in January; the on-premises version in the first quarter of 2011.

Mobile World Congress 2011: In February (14-17 in Barcelona), Microsoft is expected to talk up some of its future update plans for Windows Phones at the show. Maybe we’ll hear a bit about “Mango,” the next release of the Windows Phone OS (possibly 7.5) that some of my tipsters have said will deliver in-browser support for HTML5 and Silverlight.

Microsoft MVP Summit: This year, the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) invite-only summit is slated for February 28 to March 2 in Bellevue, Wash.

Game Developers Conference 2011: Could Microsoft be ready to share more about its future plans for Kinect by February 28? (GDC runs from February 28 to March 4 in San Francisco in 2011.)

Microsoft Management Summit 2011: In Las Vegas from March 21 to 25, MMS will be dedicated to the latest on all products and services management-related. Expect possible updates on Windows Intune, the various System Center products, virtualization and more.

Convergence 2011: The annual confab for Microsoft Dynamics ERP/CRM customers and partners is April 10 to 13 in Atlanta. There will be news around the upcoming versions of Microsoft’s four ERP suites, no doubt — and maybe even some very early CRM 6 talk (?).

Mix ‘11: A beta of Silverlight 5 is one of the expectations for this year’s Mix, which is happening (sadly again) in Las Vegas from April 12 to 14. Maybe we’ll see the final Internet Explorer 9 release at Mix, as well.

TechEd 2011: Microsoft’s annual educational conference, where the talks (typically) focus on already-announced products, is happening from May 16 to 19 in Atlanta this year. Who knows: Maybe we’ll hear more about the Office 365 rollout (which my sources are hearing will happen around the first week of June).

E3 2011: This year’s game extravaganza is June 7 to 9 in Los Angeles. As usual, lots of Xbox, Xbox Live, games and game peripherals should be on the agenda.

Worldwide Partner Conference 2011: It’s off to Los Angeles again this year for Microsoft’s annual partner confab, taking place from July 11 to 14.

Professional Developers Conference 2011: No dates or location on this one (yet), but many Microsoft watchers are expecting this year’s PDC to be where Microsoft rolls out a public beta (or at least a Community Technology Preview) of Windows 8.

Any other Microsoft-specific events already in your calendar?

Microsoft delivers test build of server app-virtualization technology

4:35 AM Posted by Danish Ashraf , 0 Comments

Microsoft quietly delivered a promised Community Technology Preview (CTP) test build of its server application virtualization technology just before Christmas.

Company officials said at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in October 2010 to expect CTP 1 of server app-virtualiztion before the end of 2010. The final version of the technology is still on track for delivery in the second half of 2011, execs said on December 22.

At the PDC, Microsoft published a lengthy laundry list of new cloud technologies the company was planning to roll out in test and final form in the coming year-plus. I believe the server app-virtualiztion component was the last of the expected deliverables to make it out before the year-end deadline.

In June 2010, Microsoft execs said to expect Server application virtualiztion to be delivered via System Center Virtual Machine Manager v.Next, due in the second half of 2011. (That product is expected to debut as SCVMM 2012 when it ships.)

Server application virtualization (Server App-V), as explained in a December 22 TechNet blog post, builds on the client App-V technology that Microsoft currently offers as part of its Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP). It will allow users to separate application configuration and state from the underlying operating system. As the post noted:

“This separation and packaging enables existing Windows applications, not specifically designed for Windows Azure, to be deployed on a Windows Azure worker role. We can do this in a way where the application state is maintained across reboots or movement of the worker role.”

Server App-V converts traditional Windows Server 2008 apps into “state separated ‘XCopyable’ images without requiring code changes to the applications themselves,” the Softies explained.

Server App-V is meant to be a complementary technology to the Windows Azure VM Role technology, a test version of which Microsoft delivered in November. The two technologies are aimed at allowing customers to host more of their legacy applications in the cloud.

Angry Birds putting its eggs in Apple's basket

Friday, December 31, 2010 1:30 AM Posted by Danish Ashraf , 0 Comments

This is my takeaway from Hillel Fuld’s excellent interview with Peter Verterbacka, a.k.a. the “Mighty Eagle” of Rovio, creators of the chart-topping Angry Birds ($0.99, App Store) game:

Apple will be the number one platform for a long time from a developer perspective, they have gotten so many things right. And they know what they are doing and they call the shots. Android is growing, but it’s also growing complexity at the same time. Device fragmentation not the issue, but rather the fragmentation of the ecosystem. So many different shops, so many different models. The carriers messing with the experience again. Open but not really open, a very Google centric ecosystem. And paid content just doesn’t work on Android.

I’m a huge fan of Angry Birds and happen to agree with him about Apple. Verterbacka is also brilliant for focusing on retention. How many time have you downloaded an app only to use it for a day or two then never again? Probably a lot. Rovio keeps us coming back for more (a.k.a. retention) by issuing free updates every four weeks or so with lots of new levels.

I also think that new AB plush toys (pictured via Digital Mom Blog) make the best cubicle decor ever. You can get them as in-app purchases in Angry Birds Seasons ($0.99, App Store) and online exclusively through ToyWiz.com.

Did you know the Nokia N900 had Skype video calling 7 months ago?

1:18 AM Posted by Danish Ashraf , 0 Comments

Skype just rolled out video calling for iOS devices so now you can forget about trying to find friends with Facetime and make video calls to millions of people around the world. Did you know that Skype video calling was out and available for the Nokia N900 back in May of this year? The Nokia N900 is still the best mobile phone for integrated Skype support so if Skype is important to you then you might want to consider this device that has been out for over a year.

Skype for iOS devices is definitely a major new and welcome functionality since there are so many millions of iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners and now these customers can experience free video calling and instant messaging. However, it isn’t the first mobile phone to get Skype video support, even though many are reporting it this way. The Nokia N900 launched with Skype service integration and in my foreign travels I made sure to have it on hand for free calls (when connected to WiFi in a hotel or other hotspot) back to my family in the US. Jason Harris wrote about the Skype video calling experience back in May and as you can see the user interface on the N900 is quite good.

The Nokia N900 also has support for several other services associated with your contacts and presents you with an awesome interface for knowing your contacts’ status and interacting with them. You can share your status and location, make voice or VoIP calls, send email or SMS, or start up an IM conversation all from within the same view. The Nokia N900 is also a fantastic multitasking device and is a device that is still worthy of consideration in this day and age with the latest iOS, Android, webOS, Symbian, and Windows Phone 7 devices.

How Privacy Icons could save web users from themselves

Wednesday, December 29, 2010 12:35 AM Posted by Danish Ashraf , 0 Comments

Throw together some of the world’s foremost thinkers of online privacy and representatives from Mozilla into a room, and given enough time something incredible will be created.

Introducing a prototype alpha version of ‘Privacy Icons’, these visual representations of online privacy policies could revolutionise the existing policies for websites and services into a readable and understandable format for ordinary users.

This combined effort will help transform text-based contract-like policies into a system where the ordinary user will know where their data goes. For example, knowing that a website or service will only use your data solely for the intended use for that site, versus a service which uses your data to sell on to spammers and junk mailers could be the difference between using it and not.

Gallery
To take a look at the proposed new Privacy Icons to revolutionise the understanding of online privacy policies, check out the gallery here.

To find out more, I spoke to my old friend, Aza Raskin, former head of user experiences at Mozilla Labs and now startup entrepreneur of Massive Health, about his prototype idea of Privacy Icons.

I asked him about enforcement and how privacy policies can be amended to accommodate Privacy Icons:

“The current thinking for Privacy Icons is to use a bolt-on approach. That is, when a site uses a Privacy Icon, the icon appends legalese to the site’s existing privacy policy to make it as enforceable as privacy policies can be.

Just like copyright or privacy policies in general, Privacy Icons cannot be automatically enforced. A site can lie in their privacy policy today to mislead their users. Enforcement and accountability has and will continue to come from third-parties and governments.

The exact legal mechanisms by which this works is still an open question, but the copyright symbol is a good anology: the simple act of its presence confers a set of rights. Just like Firefox warns when you are visiting a potentially malicious site, it can also warn if the symbol appears without the appropriate text existing in the privacy policy.

But think about it this way. If the Privacy Icons are used maliciously to mislead people then that implies Privacy Icons have succeeded in a big way. If people are making decisions based on now easily-understood privacy attributes, the icons have succeeded at informing and educating web users about the importance of their and with whom and how they share it. Misuse is a classy problem to have.”

Could Privacy Icons be automatically brought into web browsing and email software?

“Absolutely. As Privacy Icons evolve, I expect to see a number of extensions made by a variety of parties. Places like the CDT have already expressed interest in doing just that.”

Will Privacy Icons act as a conduit to ensuring the younger generations are more careful with their privacy, and more careful with the data they directly and indirectly hand over to websites?

“Privacy Icons are fundamentally about transparency. They make it easier to know exactly what a company intends to do with your data in a way which is understandable to most people. As people begin to realize what happens to their data, at the most basic level, it will help them make better decisions about which new services they use.

Given a choice of a two Facebook applications that do roughly the same thing, where one sells data to advertisers, with Privacy Icons it is much easier to decide which to use. I expect the more technically savvy folks to blog, tweet, and evangelize the sites which are better actors. That, in turn, will influence the broader demographics.”