Barb's Connected World

The folks at i-mate really are a class act. The Momento 70 I've been using is pre-production from the floor at CES 2007. While in a IM conversation with their Sideshow developer, he mentioned that these frames can be updated remotely and that they poll and pull down new firmware. So I asked to see this in action (and to get newer firmware). When I "woke" the frame this morning, a screen displayed advising me that a software update was available and instructed me to press OK on the remote. After only a few seconds, the frame rebooted and came right back up displaying images. I checked through the menu system, and it reported a new version. Take a bow, guys. This is what "transparent ease of use" is all about.

My friend Muffy is on an extended adventure and shooting incredible photos daily. This was a perfect opportunity for the Momento Live Service.

The i-mate Momento 70 is sideshow enabled. A talented programmer at i-mate provided me with a pre-release x64 driver so that I could experience the sideshow features (which I'll be showcasing on my MS webcast 3/22 or so). The folks at i-mate seem nimble, co-operative, and I'm hoping that this device takes off like a rocket when it is available to consumers.

I've got the Live Sidebar Stock Quote gadget on my desktop and have enabled it for the Momento in the Windows Sideshow Control Panel applet. I also received a test weather application that is sideshow enabled from the same talented programmer and enabled that as well in the Sideshow Control Panel Applet. This one relies on a weather feed subscription from MSN Weather configured in IE7 on Vista.

Here's a close-up showing the detail:

At CES, I was wowed by this new generation picture frame from i-mate called Momento. It’s slick, Vista friendly in the extreme, and even can setup the wireless network with Windows Connect Now using a USB flash key.

I’ll have more to say about this one soon.

C|Net declared Windows Vista “Best of CES 2007” and then decided

“The bottom line: Windows Vista is essentially warmed-over Windows XP. If you're currently happy with Windows XP SP2, we see no compelling reason to upgrade. On the other hand, if you need a new computer right now, Windows Vista is stable enough for everyday use. “

Clearly C|Net exhibits blanket anti Microsoft editorial style on a consistent basis that I take with a grain of salt, but don’t these guys and gals talk to each other? And is there some sour grape mentality coming through?

“Microsoft sent hundreds of bloggers (not including CNET) free copies of Windows Vista Ultimate; Microsoft did not send boxed copies, rather the software giant sent top-of-the-line Acer Ferrari laptops with the operating system preinstalled. So even Microsoft seems to admit that the best performance is only available on top-of-the-line machines manufactured within the last year or so. “

I don’t think they get it. With every new OS, Windows and Mac, the hardware bar is higher. And yes, it does run on older machines with older hardware. Sure the best performance is on the latest and greatest state of the art hardware. In the automobile world, this happens all the time. Even my dentist has better equipment than he did 5 years ago.

I was at the MS booth early on Monday. 7.30am in fact. I spent a couple of hours at the Memories booth (Vista Photo Gallery, etc.). BillG was coming through and was going to use one of the display computers. Someone had installed a program that had hijacked the jpg extension and there was panic in the air. I checked the registry, identified the issue, fixed the damage and all was well again. Yeah.

I'm in digital photography heaven having just seen an incredible presentation from Art Wolfe. Received a personalized autographed book of his photography "Edge of the Earth * Corner of the Sky".

The photos and the HD video were amazing. Here's a sample from the slide show he presented of his work. Not only is his work stunning beyond belief, but he is a polished and engaging presenter. I can only dream about some of the places he's been. He's documented the beauty of nature elegantly and it's never been truer that a picture is worth 1000 words.

Great stuff coming, Dreamscape desktop, Live for PC's (gaming), a great Photo editing Ultimate Extra for Vista Ultimate. And another peak at the home of the future 5-6 years from now with interactive walls and more.

This is the city that never sleeps and lack of same is getting to me. Tomorrow is the first day where I'll see some of the cool new toys at a special preview.

On the residential networking side, lots of new devices (and hopefully old devices via firmware upgrades) work transparently with Vista over the network using LLTD and other Windows Rally technologies. I've seen cameras, photo frames and wireless routers so far.

Saw a demo today at a private showing of WCN Simple Config using my favorite router, the D-Link DIR-655 (GigE, Draft N, what could be better?). This Window's logo'd router will be on display at the CES 2007 Partner Pavilion. It supports configuring a new SSID with WPA2 over a wired connection using a vendor supplied 8 digit authorization key. I wrote about this last year. And now the finished consumer routers are available. It's great news for the unexperienced consumer.