Technology Ramblings

This week at the Computex Conference in Shanghai, China - HP, Lenovo and Asus announced new "Always Connected" PCs based on the Qualcomm SnapDragon 835 ARM processor running Windows 10 on ARM that are scheduled for release in Q4 of 2017. The new "PCs" should provide phone like capabilities to a larger format.  So think about a tablet or 2:1 device with 20hrs or more of battery life - standby measured in days and 1GB LTE connectivity. These new motherboards measure a very small 504 cm2 versus the 981 cm2 typically seen in devices today based on Intel CPU.    When you consider all of the capabilities that Qualcomm place in the SnapDragon the potential for device is intriguing.   Especially since like a smartphone you can have several background processes running even though the unit is "standby" mode.  So think data sync or Cortana listen  One of the additional new features will be eSIM.  For anyone who has tried to install an LTE card into a lap...

On May 17, MS released Windows 10 build 16199 to Fast Ring Insiders.   The first release following the BUILD Conference - the 16199 build is starting to show what the Fall Creators update will be all about. To me that means two things.   First is refinement - MS continues to add capabilities to the Settings area - so from Gaming and About settings to Sharing experiences - the march to making Settings the central source for managing your experience continues. Second were continued improvements to the what appears to me the two main new app features in Fall Creators - My People and Story Remix.   My People now adds Emoji support and Notification Badging as well as an improved sharing experience that allow you to drag a file to a person, then choose the method.   Build 16199 also included 10 or so fixes.   I was happy to see that MS did repair one issue that many of us were experiencing with 16193 which was around WebEx - were it would hang while attemp...

On Thursday May 11, MS released build 16193 of Windows 10 to Fast Ring Insiders. This build was mostly fixes - around 10 or so.  The official blog release also reinforced some of the BUILD announcements like the upcoming Story Remix capabilities in the Photos app. There were two new features, First is the ability to control volume seperately for UWP apps - so Groove and Edge for example could be controlled separately and some updates to the Power Throttling capabilities to continue to try and improve battery performance. The build installed fine across all my devices and yes still doing the AnyConnect and Conexant Audio Drivers dance.    I did run into a little pain with WebEx as well - and trying to find out what's up with that.  I would hang sometimes at 10% while connecting to a meeting. But other than the above - a pretty quite update.   Looking ahead based on the BUILD announcements like Story Remix, Cortana Timeline, OneDrive on Demand, etc - i...

So this week at the MS BUILD Conference in Seattle - we learned a few things about the Redstone 3 branch of Windows 10. First it now has a really lame name the "Fall Creators Update" and second the scheduled release is this September - so slightly earlier than expected. In my opinion the big focus was on mixed reality.  Back in Feb at the WinHEC hardware conference in China - there was a big emphasis on a new line of low cost VR headsets and 3D.  Well it appears as though we'll start to see those new capabilities starting this "Holiday Season".  It will be interesting to see what software titles will be coming out this year to support this deluge of MR hardware. MS did demo one cool new capability coming to the Photos app called Story Remix.  This allows you to easily edit and create you own video stories using a combination of your local content, cloud capabilities, Groove Music and Ink.  It demonstrated using multiple input modes from touch to mouse to p...

On May 3rd during an interview with Marketplace.org - Satya Nadella in comments regarding Windows Phone made the statement "I'm sure we'll make more".  I have to ask the question - why ? Today - Worldwide - Windows Phone has less than a 1% market share and MS effectively relies on partners like HP, Alcatel, Acer and others to build and attempt to sell Windows Phone.  Even MS's branded devices are difficult if not almost impossible to find.  If you go to the Microsoft Store - Windows Phone is not even listed on the home page.  You can find them under devices - and the list hasn't changed in months.  MS's 5 series devices (i.e 950, 650, etc) will be two years old this fall and I don't think we'll see a new Windows phone to replace it. And although MS is currently working on that they call "Windows on ARM" via a joint partnership with Qualcomm there may not even be a "phone" device - but rather a small tablet with LTE capabilit...

On May 4, MS released Windows 10 Build 16188 to Fast Ring Insiders.  The primary focus of this build was on improvements and new capabilities to the Edge browser. The first was around PDF handling.  So from Table of Contents viewing, to Form Filling and Annotation, MS has added some really nice PDF capabilities to Edge. Next, there is a new Windows Defender feature called Application Guard which effectively isolates Edge in a Hyper-V container.  It is limited today to Windows 10 Enterprise and requires Hyper-V to be enabled, but is designed to provide "the maximum level of protection from malware and zero day attacks against Windows".   Finally there were some changes to the Magnification Settings area and the addition of a Cortana category in settings along with about a half a dozen fixes. 16188 Installed easily across all my test platforms and yes still doing the Cisco AnyConnect and Conexant Audio drivers dance on my laptop.   Its nice to see the ad...

On May 2, Apple released their Q2 2017 results.   On heels of a huge Q1 where Apple sold over 78M iPhones, Q2 came in at 50.7M.   When compared to 2016 - total iPhone sales were down slightly (-1%) - so while sales in the Americas and Europe both posted double digit gains - they were offset by losses in China - where sales fell 14% when compared to 2016. iPad sales continued to drop with a 13% decline over Q2 2016.  Macs saw a 4% gain.  Apple's services segment continues to rise - with an 18% gain over 2016.   But this appears to be the rhythm of Apple -  a huge Q1 that is reflective of the new iPhone model and holiday selling season, then a pretty dramatic drop off in Q2 thru Q4 as folks defer purchases in the anticipation of the new model. And while there is a lot of press and anticipation over the 10th Anniversary iPhone 8 - I kind of the expect the same rhythm.  We'll probably see volume drop in Q3 and Q4 and then a huge Q1 again. With th...

On May 2nd at MS's EDU event in NYC, MS introduced the Surface Laptop. Focused towards the UltraBook market, this 13.5" laptop supports the capabilities of Windows 10 like touch, pen, hello, dial etc.   Available in Core i5 and i7 variants with 4 - 16GB of RAM and 128 - 512GB of SSD and a somewhat odd 2256 x 1504 dpi PixelSense display that maintains the 3:2 aspect ratio that MS has maintained through the Surface line.   Core i5 units use Intel HD 620 and Core i7 use Iris Plus 640 GPUs As with most Ultrabooks, the device has a limited number of ports with USB 3.0, Mini Display Port and 3.5mm Audio.  MS claims upwards of 14.5 hrs of battery life based on Intel Kaby Lake U series processors.   One unique feature is a new Alcantara fabric-covered keyboard.  This Italian fabric is supposed to provide a unique feel and sense of luxury.  The device is also available in 4 colors, Platinum, Graphite Gold, Burgundy and Cobalt. Prices range from $999.00 for t...