Half Byte

Since my posting on the Zune rumors, I have found more-even better-rumors.  These deal with specific features on the device.  It is unclear whether existing devices will get the new features.  I hope that Microsoft follows last year’s upgrade and gives what it can to the older devices and does not pull an Apple and force us to buy new devices (though I am contemplating such a purchase myself.)  Among the sexier features are:

• Better use of the built in wifi for browsing the Zune Marketplace, updating your collection
• Custom ‘channels’ that deliver personalized playlists to your Zune from a variety of sources
• Games – we knew about this – like Hexic and Texas Hold ‘em
• FM Tagging which lets you tag a song that you hear over the FM tuner which you CAN PURCHASE USING THE WIRELESS. This is, for me, HUGE.
• Blue and Silver Zune

I have to wonder why it has taken Microsoft so long to really utilize the built in Wifi.  It seems pretty capable, it seems to be the software holding it back.  Supposedly, these were found in a listing from Fry’s-an electronics retailer in the United States.  The FM tagging is a cool feature and one that might actually make me care about FM radio again.

You can read more about the new stuff over on Zunerama.

Zune 80gb ($249)

Who would have thunk it…there’s actually some Zune rumors floating around in the ether.  We already know that Microsoft is prepping a 120gb version of everyone’s favorite MP3/media player.  Ok, so that’s a stretch, but, at least, Zune is in the media eye for the moment.

Among the more fun rumors are cross platform Zune stuff.  Apparently, Microsoft posted for some job openings t hat hint at Xbox and smartphone Zune functionality.  Engadget ran this story about that.

Other rumors include:

• Green Zune 4/8 discontinued
• $249 price point for 120gb Zune
• Blue Zune
• Sept 9 release/announcement date (they just want to steal Apple’s thunder, who also has a press event scheduled for September 9th.)

I’m hoping for big improvements to the Zune Marketplace software.  Right now, it is a performance pig.  There are some things you can do to help it, but after a bit it just returns to being a pig.  A pretty pig, but a pig nonetheless.  Oh, I’d also like to be able to access the Marketplace directly on the device.  That would be cool.

If the new high capacity Zune is truly $249, I may have to buy one.  Then I could retire the brown Zune 30 I have.  Since my son has claimed the iPod that we won, he’s no longer interested in my Zune.  It’s not that he prefers one to the other, it’s more that the iPod is silver and not ‘poop’ color as he said.  I dunno, the green glow that the brown Zune has around it’s edges make it really unique.  Call me odd, but I kinda like it. 

At any rate, I’m glad to see the various blogs-including Engadget-pay Zune some positive attention. 

Zune 80gb

I have been ‘using’ IE 8 b2 for several days now.  I like the potential that it has, but this particular release is not really ready for prime time.  The biggest problem with the browser is compatibility.  I feel bad for Microsoft-on the one hand, we have been banging away at them to provide a standards compliant browser, then ding them when they do.  The problem is that in the previous beta, one could turn on a compatibility mode and render pages as if you were using IE 7.  Well, they did away with that.  Instead, you can render a specific page in compatibility mode.  Unfortunately, it does not appear to work.  There are other features worth looking at, including the private browsing mode and multiprocessing of tabs.  Each tab is run as a separate process so that if something goes wrong, only that tab is affected and not the whole browser.  That works very well and is also a major claim for Chrome.  IE 8 also embodies a bunch of other changes that the user may or may not notice.  Unfortunately, the crashes will get your attention.  Also, there seems to be an issue with data execution prevention.  I get DEP errors alot.  If you don’t know what DEP is, that’s ok.  It is just another mechanism the Microsoft has half baked into Windows since either XP or Windows 2000 was released.  Apologies, I cannot remember which version started that and I don’t really care to look it up. Suffice it to say that it prevents certain types of code to execute—including legit code from Microsoft itself.  Way to go there! 

As it stands right now, skip this release and wait for a ‘shipping’ product to emerge. 

Just saw this posted by Paul Thurrot.  AutoCollage is a product out of Microsoft Research.  The application, now a real product that costs twenty dollars, takes an entire directory full of photos and creates a collage.  The application has several options that allow you to control the size of the collage, make sure faces pop out, and more.  The application is fairly quick and the result is rather a nicely blended picture collage.  You can read about it here and purchase it here.

This is a rather nice piece of software.  It does the hard work for you and the result is from the typical sharp edged collage most of us seem to produce.  I rather like the blended photo effect.  I don’t know how the application determines which photos to place where, but the algorithm works well.  See my sample collage.

There is a thirty day free trial.

(Note: my son, Chase, is very interested in the weather and, in particular, Hurricanes.  He follows the paths of depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes.  Here’s his summary of the latest storm activity.)

ATLANTIC OCEAN
Active Storms (as of 5:00 PM EST, Thursday, September 4th, 2008):

SUMMARY:
The Atlantic Ocean is very busy with hurricanes. We have Hanna, which was a Category 1 Hurricane, but has weakened to a Tropical Storm. Hanna is expected to curve north and strike North Carolina this weekend.
Then there is Ike, a dangerous category 4 hurricane. Ike is in the open ocean, and is expected to weaken over the next couple of days, and then re-strengthen. Ike is headed west towards Florida and the Bahamas.
Lastly, we have Josephine. Josephine is, and has been, a weak tropical storm its entire life so far. It is currently not near land.
We also have an area of disturbed weather near Josephine that will probably not develop over the next week.

ATLANTIC HURRICANE NAMES (for 2008):
Arthur (used)
Bertha (used)
Cristobal (used)
Dolly (used)
Edouard (used)
Fay (used)
Gustav (used)
Hanna (ACTIVE)
Ike (ACTIVE)
Josephine (ACTIVE)
Kyle
Laura
Marco
Nana
Omar
Paloma
Rene
Sally
Teddy
Vicky
Wilfred

EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN
Active Storms (as of 5:00 PM EST, Thursday, September 4th, 2008): None

SUMMARY:
The Eastern Pacific is pretty empty as of now.
The remnants of Karina, a tropical storm which dissipated yesterday, are still circulating. However, regeneration is not likely.

THANK YOU FOR READING!! :)
(facts courtesy of National Hurricane Center)