Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 99
Welcome to Episode 99 – our final double digit episode EVER! If you haven’t been able to tell over the last 5 or 6 episodes I am very excited about reaching the 100th episode of the show. It seems episode 100 is a hallmark event for podcasts, video shows and TV series and is typically celebrated with cake, etc. Although we will not have cake next week there are plans to mark the episode in a special way. Stay tuned. Now for the final double digit episode we start in a unique way, that is for a podcast that has a decidedly Microsoft slant to its news content, by having two Apple related stories lead the show. One is about the billionth podcast subscription on iTunes and the second is about their recent developer portal hack. Then we jump into the other news of this week including several items on Windows Phone, both apps and hardware, and then some Xbox One news that seems to have the console recovering some ground after the challenging launch and reveal process for the next generation console. Some of the stuff we talk about this week: Where’s My App, Fresh Paint on Windows Phone, Halo: Spartan Assault not being on Nokia handsets yet, Windows Phone hardware including the 520, 521 and 625, Joe Belfiore’s response to recent concerns about lack of updates to the platform Xbox One advantages, new features and indie development, SkyDrive in Windows 8.1 changes how you use the cloud, Benefits of Skype, What Microsoft CEO is telling employees about the companies recent financials, eBay vs Amazon and same day delivery, Google putting ads in your inbox, Cosmos TV series will return with Neil deGrasse Tyson hosting, How to turn off automatic updates in Windows 8.1, Office 2010 Service Pack 2 released, Windows 8.1 Preview updates, Windows 8.1 System Refresh, Opt Out Browser and Toolbars, Apple, Hopstop and a Windows Phone App, Surface RT’s Identity Crisis, WindowsObserver App on Windows 8 and a Reddit users above the clouds Atlas V launch photo. Until next time enjoy the show and thanks for listening!
Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 98
Welcome to Episode 98. Now just two episodes left until the century mark! The first piece of business we handled in this episode was to announce the winner of the Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel Giveaway and then we dived into the week that was and once again it ended on some big news as I prepared to record this show. However, before all of that stuff I spent some time talking about my recent Windows 8 development experience as I started work on a Windows 8 App to accompany the site. There is already a Windows Phone App for us and this one will be for Windows 8 and Windows RT users. Look for an announcement about it being available real soon. Some of the subjects we hit on this week: Xbox One’s flawed marketing, beginning app development on Windows 8, new features coming to SkyDrive, AT&T’s Next Program (announcement and analysis), Xbox One domain names are safely with Microsoft, 50GB of AT&T Locker for free, Windows Phone sales in the US, Surface RT gets a retail price cut, Microsoft’s quarterly earnings announcement today, Xbox 360 sales in June, Halo: Spartan Assault arrives, Microsoft’s hardware torture chamber, ListView touch scrolling bug in Windows 8.1 Preview fixed, Xbox 360 and Office 365 together, Windows 8.1 video series, Assassins Creed II now free in Games with Gold program, #Sharknado, DOJ Ransomware, Unofficial Vine app on Windows Phone, and Windows 8.1 upgrade scenarios. Until next time enjoy the show and thanks for listening!
Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 97
Welcome to Episode 97. Not only are we just three episodes from our 100th but this is a contraband episode as well. Listen in on the show and I will explain why! Plenty of news this week to talk about when it comes to Microsoft as they had quite a few product and services announcements at the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), which was held in Houston this week for over 14,000 partners, and the public announcement of Microsoft’s reorganization plans. After talking about the announcements at WPC 13 and the plans for Microsoft’s reorganization we discuss the best kept secret in Windows Phone, the new Nokia Lumia 1020, which was revealed to the public officially today. That camera looks simply amazing and the level of detail it gives you is beyond anything out there on a smartphone right now. I spend some time telling you about my experience trying out the AT&T Locker Cloud Storage service, which did not go well at all, and the fact that SkyDrive brings us all of those features on Windows Phone anyway. Some other items we hit is my predictions on when we will see the final bits of Windows 8.1 on all of our devices, Twitter updates to sync direct messages, a cumulative Surface Pro firmware and driver update package, the continued fall of PC shipments, an Acer Iconia W3 review, why Kids Corner on Windows Phone 8 is such a great feature and Nextgen Reader keeping Windows Phone 7 users in the Feedly loop. Wrapping things up we talk about T-Mobile’s new Jump program for twice yearly phone upgrades at a cost, how I curate and share links after the closure of Google Reader, a new policy for apps in Microsoft various stores with security issues, a Windows 8.1 PC Settings tip and my day of investigative blogging when I went searching for the upcoming Microsoft Store here in Jacksonville, Florida. Just as a reminder there is only one week left to enter our Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel Giveaway as that winner gets announced on next weeks podcast – 18 Jul 2013 – so make sure you get your entry in. Until next time enjoy the show and thanks for listening!
Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 96 (Windows 8.1 Preview Edition)
Welcome to Episode 96. Just four shows away from the century mark for us. This show will not have a long page of show notes because it is all about the Windows 8.1 Preview. I share the how to get it pieces and then talk about my own discoveries, both good and not so good, as I poked around in the update for Windows 8 and installed it three times on two devices. As you will find out there is a lot of good going on but also some steps backwards – at least in my opinion. However, it is a beta/preview so things could change and most certainly underlying code will change to help with any bugs that are in there. Maybe we will also see some features added. I would love to hear your view of the new update and your own experience in installing and using Windows 8.1 so be sure to leave a comment below so we can discuss it. Until next time enjoy the show and thanks for listening!
Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 95
Welcome to Episode 95 as our countdown to the 100th episode continues. This is our Three R’s episode – Reversals, Regressions and Retractions! What a week of news and especially in the last 24 hours. We of course talk a lot about the Xbox One and the impact of Microsoft’s decision yesterday to step away from the announced daily connection to the Internet requirement and used game restrictions for the upcoming console. Although these decisions seem to have made many happy they do come with consequences and we talk about those. However, before we dive into all that stuff we discuss our latest giveaway contest which gives you an opportunity to win an Xbox 360 Wireless Wheel by sending out a short tweet and following @WinObs on Twitter. The week started out quite normal with some new Xbox One news relating to its pre-order position on Amazon and the ability to tether your phone to your Xbox One console to get that daily update handled as well as a discussion about how heavily the military gamer is actually impacted with that daily connection requirement. Then some of those things became null and void due to yesterday’s announcement to relax those elements of the Xbox One console. We discuss the pros and cons of those decisions and the impact it will have announced features for the new console as well as acknowledging the fact that Microsoft is listening and reacting to this type of stuff. Despite the Xbox One drama we talk about the fact our faithful Xbox 360 once again topped the US console market for the 29th straight month and we cover news relating to Surface RT deals for students, linked address on Outlook.com going away in July and some more features of Windows 8.1 aka Blue. Skype, Nokia and faster speech recognition get mentioned and then we shift to the race to replace Google Reader and how the Big Three are getting there. We close out with today’s announcement of Instagram growing the ability to do 15 second videos to compete with Twitter’s Vine and finally we wrap with the confirmation that a Microsoft Store is indeed coming to Jacksonville, Florida. It is always good to have news to talk about and we certainly do not lack for that at all this week! Until next time enjoy the show and thanks for listening!