Author: Richard Hay

Observed.Tech PODCAST Episode 213 #OTP

Observed.Tech PODCAST Episode 213 #OTP

Posted by | Dec 15, 2016 | , |

Welcome to Episode 213 of Observed.Tech! Security kicks off this weeks show with the second major breach revealed by Yahoo! in the last 12 months or so and this one happened nearly three years ago! Is it time to dump your Yahoo! account? It is for me – after Fantasy Football playoffs are over of course. I then catch you up on the latest builds from the Windows 10 Redstone 2 development branch, aka the Creators Update, and talk about some of the new features that are going to be in that major Feature Update when it arrives next March. Next up is news about the Surface hardware line and the success it has experienced recently including the new Surface Studio and the apparently very popular Surface Hub including a new try-and-buy program for potential Surface Hub customers. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning continue to be big topics in tech and Microsoft shared a lot of news at their AI Conference in San Francisco this week. New bots were made available for the Skype Preview Program including Expedia, UPS, and StubHub. Microsoft Translator also got a big update that allows you to use it on landline and mobile devices plus translate group conversations in real time. I also break down some of the other announcements that came out of several sessions at WinHEC 2017 including new about Cortana, gaming on Windows 10 devices, and of course the mixed reality/Windows 10 on ARM news. There are plenty of other tidbits throughout the show including app tours for new updates in the latest Windows 10 Insider Fast Ring build, my unboxing and hands on of the Nuvision W610L Windows 10 tablet, and some Xbox tidbits as well. Enjoy the show and thanks for listening!

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Observed.Tech PODCAST Episode 212 #OTP

Observed.Tech PODCAST Episode 212 #OTP

Posted by | Dec 8, 2016 | , |

After a hiatus for work, travel and a working vacation we are back on Observed.Tech and the timing could not be more perfect. In the last 24 hours alone Microsoft has released a massive update to Windows Insiders with Windows 10 Build 14986 aka the Creators Update – the expected third major Feature Update to Windows 10 that is due out in March 2017. Then at WinHEC in China they announced Project Evo for Mixed Reality devices in partnership with Intel for the PC hardware and Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo for a new range of head mounted devices or HMDs to deliver the mixed reality experience at a wide variety of price points to Windows 10 users. After that we heard of the new partnership between Microsoft and Qualcomm to deliver the full blown version of Windows 10 including x86 desktop programs through emulation in 2017. These devices will have a wide range of form factors and could feasibly include phones, tablets, laptops, 2 in 1s, and maybe even home devices similar to Amazon Echo and Google Home. It certainly appears when Microsoft said earlier this year their focus was not on mobile for right now or last week when Satya Nadella told concerned stockholders they were not abandoning mobile that they were right on the mark. It is about to be a very exciting year in the Microsoft and Windows ecosystem and I share my excitement in this week’s return from hiatus show. Enjoy the show and thanks for listening!

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Observed.Tech PODCAST Episode 211 #OTP

Observed.Tech PODCAST Episode 211 #OTP

Posted by | Oct 29, 2016 | , |

Welcome to Episode 211 of Observed.Tech! You can call this one the Product Launch Episode because it covers Microsoft’s and Apple’s individual product launches this past week which happened within 24 hours of each other. Microsoft held their event in New York City on Wednesday and then on Thursday in Cupertino Apple held theirs and the difference between the two events was palpable across social media. The response to Surface Studio was quite spectacular because of its innovations and capabilities while the response to Touch Bar on the updated MacBook Pros was really approached with a lot of snark on social media. A lot of that negative reaction came from folks who are normally diehard Apple fans as well which caught everyone off guard. However, when you compare the two events you should be able to see that Surface Studio pushed out the boundaries of creativity on many levels while the MacBook Pros got refreshed hardware, shaved off some size and weight, and then added a strip above the keyboard called the Touch Bar. Don’t get me wrong – the concept of the Touch Bar and how it highlights functionality in apps and software is great – I would not mind having that on my Windows devices as well but when is Apple finally going to join the future and give their users touch screens. Imagine if they had launched new MacBook Pros with the Touch Bar and touch screens. Then the perception of the week might have been very different. Alas, we will never know that so we just move forward and watch the critical acclaim being received by Microsoft for Surface Studio while Apple gets memes created about their Touch Bar. Enjoy the show and thanks for listening!

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Observed.Tech PODCAST Episode 210 #OTP

Posted by | Oct 20, 2016 | , |

Welcome to Episode 210 of Observed.Tech! After a month of a couple of travel and catching up cycles I am finally back behind the microphone in my own recording studio and it felt great to get cranked back up again. However, that did not mean I was not doing any podcasting over the last four weeks – it just meant I was a guest on other shows like the New Zealand Tech Podcast with Paul Spain, the MS Power User Podcast with Vernon Smith, and The Surface Smiths Podcast with Colin and David Smith (no relation by the way). It was great to meet those folks and sit down with them in person to talk tech. The crazy travel schedule doesn’t end though as I talk about heading to NYC next week for Microsoft’s Windows 10 event and what might come of that. Plus the Office event that is now scheduled for the following week, also in NYC, and of course my annual trek out to Redmond and the Microsoft Campus for the MVP Summit at the beginning of November. After catching everyone up with my schedule madness I dove into the headlines of the last week or so including an update on the progress of Windows 10 Redstone 2 development builds and the steady pace of build releases each week. These latest builds have added quite a few new features and have me itching to install them on the Surface Book but I am resisting that urge for now. Of course, I also spend some time talking about apps coming and going from the Windows 10 platform and other companies like Amazon expanding their Prime subscription offerings to make their annual $99 fee even more of a bargain. As always, you can expect plenty of other tidbits throughout the episode including Xbox now being the best selling console in the US for three months in a row, the awesome and beautiful Forza Horizon 3, Outlook.com Premium Preview availability, Windows Hello peripherals, and a US Navy ship I would go back on active duty to serve on just to call the commanding officer “Captain Kirk”. Enjoy the show and thanks for listening!

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