Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 74
Welcome to Episode 74. The @ObservedTech Twitter account has been revived and it tweets our episodes and show links when new editions are online. Please follow there if you would like to get those notices in your Twitter stream. We start this show off with thanks for your support as I was renewed a fourth time as a Microsoft MVP in the Windows Expert Consumer category and then we take a look back at 2012 for WindowsObserver.com. We also announced our new weekly #ObservedTech Twitter Chat that will occur each Wednesday at 1:00 PM Eastern Time beginning on 09 January 2013. Here is the date and time converter for the first chat. So after all of that we dived into this weeks pile of news stories to discuss and we began with Apple’s continued Do Not Disturb mode woes that happened again; mentioned the Vizio commercial for their All In One PC that had very sluggish screen images for some reason; comet spotting in 2013; an 18 point contract with a kid’s new iPhone from his Mom; a petition from Windows Phone users for some popular apps; GeekWire’s Todd Bishop beginning life with a Windows Phone instead of his iPhone; $100 to send a blind Facebook inbox message; touch screens – they’re everywhere; lame tech moments in 2012; WP Marketplace grows in 2012; David Jung’s first impression of Surface RT; get software gadgets on Windows 8; let’s talk Windows Store apps and functionality; WhatsApp getting robust enough to handle 18 billion messages on NYE; Fix It issued for IE vulnerability; Nokia Lumia 920 won 12 media awards in 2012; app recommendations for your new Windows 8 device; Polaroid to open Fotobars; free Xbox Live Gold for cloud save outage; counting down to E3 and Xbox next; peek in on Space Shuttle ATLANTIS; using default Windows 8 apps to communicate socially; Microsoft vs Google and it is not about browsers this time; Rob Margel’s Windows Help top 10 blog posts and a reminder about our Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse and Mobile Keyboard giveaway. Enjoy the show and as always thanks for listening!
Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 73
Welcome to Episode 73 of the show. We once again streamed the recording live over a Google+ Hangout to YouTube and we added a chat room on our Live Events page so you can join in. You will find the latest live stream embedded on that page along with the chat room. Lots of stuff to cover today including Instagram having a class action lawsuit filed against them concerning recent terms of service changes they were making; SpaceX’s Grasshopper leaps to 140 feet; Microsoft and Google with the Battle of the Santa Trackers; Windows 8 PC sales lagging behind Windows 7; Amazon’s skyrocketing growth; Steven Sinofsky gets a teaching gig after Microsoft; top Twitter trends of 2012; HTC 8X Camera guide; Xbox Live games with achievements on iOS devices now; a trio of shout outs for links and mentions of WindowsObserver.com; Windows Phone growing globally and especially in Italy; learn Windows 8 from an 11 year old salesman; moving from Windows Live Mesh to SkyDrive; Facebook privacy settings and Randi Zuckerberg; File History in Windows 8 for backup; MVP technology and community in 2012; Boost Mobile to begin throttling data users; first MKV video player in Windows Store; Audible arrives in Windows Store with free audio book; Facebook to allow people to send you unsolicited inbox messages; last minute gift ideas; Nokia building a Windows RT tablet; Flickr gives a gift to everyone; Instagram alternatives on Windows Phone; Tweetro+ gets a holiday mark down; Kindle App for Windows Store updated and allows in app purchasing; Microsoft continues retail expansion with more Microsoft Stores and WindowsObserver.com’s Christmas Tech Hangout on Saturday, 29 Dec 2012 at 9 AM EST. Enjoy the show and as always thanks for listening!
Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 72
Welcome to Episode 72 and you might call this one the Microsoft Surface RT Retail episode but I promise I do talk about other stuff as well! I do start off introducing you to the Tech Podcast Network Roku channel for those of you who own a Roku which provides you another means to access this and many other great tech podcasts. The show kicks off with a discussion of the recent retail expansion of Microsoft Surface RT into Staples and Best Buy here in the US. Suffice it to say that the retail presentation at both stores leave s a lot to be desired. Then we dive into things like Surface being more profitable per unit than iPad; possibility of Nokia pursuing a 10 inch Windows RT tablet; RhinoSoft being acquired by SolarWinds and making FTP Voyager a free program for all; WordPress 3.5 flying past 1 million downloads in just a couple of days; the official Adobe Reader App for Windows Store; App.net API improvements; why IE10 is good for your business; NASA’s Johnson Space Center goes Gangnam Style; Windows Live Mesh retirement in February 2013; Google pulling EAS support for accounts; more mature games coming to Windows Store including GTA IV; Google brings more integration to YouTube on Google+; Nokia’s PhotoBeamer App for Windows Phone 8; Rowi Twitter app update for Windows Phone flies; my Geek Gift Ideas for 2012; the Windows Phone 8 OTA update experience; a possible brightness fluctuation bug after the latest WP8 updates and a fix; my guest appearance on the Surface Geeks PODCAST Episode 9 and my plans for a post Christmas Google+ Hangout to answer all those tech questions about your new goodies! Enjoy the show and as always thanks for listening!
Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 71
Welcome to Episode 71 and a warm welcome to all of the Winsyde readers and visitors. As I posted last week, Brad Sams and I arrived at an agreement for me to take over the Winsyde.com domain name as he moves back to NeoWin. It is good to have all of you all join us and our more than 17 years of being online bringing tech news of all sorts. In the show we cover a list of recent news items including the upcoming budget Nokia Lumia 620; Microsoft swiping some tablet market share from Android and iPad in the next few years; AlphaJax arriving for Windows Phone; Xbox 360’s continued dominance of the US market; Navy fending off 110K cyber attacks per hour; apps to get you organized and moving through the holidays; Redbox streaming being delayed again; Amazon announces Kindle FreeTime for kids; touch screen computing on laptops/netbooks makes sense; WiFi security mistakes many people make; Google+ introduces Communities; how Windows 8 changes the way we search; YouTube coming to Virgin American flights; a Windows 8 engineers eight favorite Windows 8 features; find your Android and iOS apps on Windows Phone with App Switch; Microsoft will make Surface devices more widely available; Instagram and Twitter bickering; guest appearance on The Married Gamers podcast; we still have to deal with preinstalled software on OEM machines in Windows 8; why bringing the Start Menu back to Windows 8 is bad news; personalized update notifications from Nokia for your phone; CompUSA and CircuitCity brands disappear on 31 Dec; access SkyDrive via Windows Explorer on Surface RT; easily upload photos to Facebook from Windows 8 with Fu; Earth at Night 2012 theme released; Microsoft and Apple battling over $$$ which is preventing critical updates to apps on iOS and the release of a SkyDrive App on the Xbox 360. Enjoy the show and as always thanks for listening!
Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 70
Welcome to Episode 70 and another decade, in numbers, for the show! We start today’s episode off with the giveaway for the Plain and Simple Windows 8 for Tablets by Simon May which we received from the Microsoft Store in Orlando during Consumer Camp Orlando two weeks ago and then we jump into many other subjects. We then discuss OneNote and using it in your household; Yahoo! Messenger disconnecting from Windows Live Messenger and dropping other features; market share between Windows systems; a possible cloud music player on SkyDrive; how touchscreens are enhancing computing thanks to Windows 8; more possible Surface tablets in 2013; Windows 8 is growing in popularity with gamers; Windows 8 as seen by Soluto users; Tweetro+ fights back with new paid version of their Windows 8 Twitter app; getting more big name apps in the Windows Store; GetAboutMe social media analytics on Windows 8; the flood of RSS feed apps in Windows Store; search as you type in Windows Store; watch what you post on social media sites; Facebook and business mixing and the first thing you should do when you setup a new computer.