larrylarsen

Fishbowl for Facebook

Larry Larsen — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:12:00 GMT

Fishbowl for Facebook is a WPF application created by Microsoft that takes advantage of some of the new Windows 7 features like jumplists and multitouch. Working like a WPF version of the Facebook site, you can do most of the same things you would do through a browser like status and comments, browse friend photos or upload your own, but with added functionality like dragging and dropping in new photos.

Download it for yourself at http://www.fishbowlclient.com/.

Outlook Social Connector for Outlook 2010

Larry Larsen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:20:00 GMT

One of the new features we're announcing today at PDC is the Outlook Social Connector SDK. This is a new way to integrate social networking data into Office Outlook 2010. Too busy with the @Ch9Live show to tell you too much more but check out the video. :)

The Great PDC Laptop Give-Away of 2009

Larry Larsen — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:01:00 GMT

Windows 7 is a landmark product for Microsoft with support for things like sensors and multitouch. With just months (which quickly turned into weeks) to go until the show, it was decided that the best way to accelerate getting the hardware to support these new features in the hands of the developers would be to gift them a laptop at PDC. The problem was that there wasn't a retail laptop available that supported everything we wanted you to have, especially in a price point that would allow us to give out thousands of them.

I'm happy to say I'm typing this up on one now, and it's an incredible machine. Built upon the Acer Aspire 1420P chassis, this convertible TabletPC has a Core2 Duo U2300 processor, Mobile Intel GS45 video, 2GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory (supports up to 8GB), an 11.6" 1366x768 multitouch screen, webcam/mic, 3G WWAN, WLAN (supporting up to Draft-N), S/PDIF for digital speakers, 3 USB, 250GB HDD, card reader, and even an HDMI port.

In addition we had some other custom things added including a built-in accelerometer. You might notice this when you rotate the tablet and the screen stays oriented. :) All the hotkeys are supported through BIOS and firmware, there is a button for Flip-3D (cool!), and WWAN is supported by the WWAN stack built in to Windows 7.

In addition you've got Corel Paint It! Touch, Office 2010 (pre-beta), Windows XP Mode and Virtual PC, Microsoft Touch Pack, and the Windows Live Suite. This is a custom PC built on an unreleased (as of yet) machine, you can't get it anywhere else.

So PDC developers, go forth and populate the planet with awesome software. And please, if you make something cool - let us know.

Update: A couple things I forgot to mention. The PDC Laptop has HDMI AND a VGA out, as well as bluetooth. You might notice on the flight home that the battery life can be nearly 8 hours. And a tip for browsing the web while in Tablet configuration, you can hold it on each side and use your thumbs to alternate flicking the page up and down or both at once to resize with multitouch.

Countdown to PDC09: Steve Marx on Cloud Development

Larry Larsen — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:42:00 GMT

One of our most popular PDC speakers, Steve Marx, joins us today to talk about Azure and the cloud as he teases his PDC sessions. Think there isn’t much new in the last year, or that the news around Azure is purely going to be about the business model? Think again, and let’s get nerdy!

And don’t forget about our LIVE show on Friday, November 13^th at noon PST. We’ll be taking your questions from Twitter…live! You can ask for tips and tricks for getting the most out of PDC, recommendations for favorite sessions or special events, or perhaps you’re wondering if it’s okay to wear white pants after Labor Day. Get all your burning questions answered!

To participate in the live Q&A:

Tune-in to the live stream at http://live.ch9.ms/ at 12pm PT on Friday, Nov 13. You will need to have Silverlight installed to view the program.
Send your questions, comments and cheers to @ch9live. If there’s room, include the #pdc09 hash tag in your tweet, so people can find it in their PDC09 search.

Microsoft is releasing a cool Facebook SDK

Larry Larsen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:43:00 GMT

Today Microsoft released a Facebook SDK to make it easy for .NET devs to use the Facebook Open Stream API. The SDK supports apps in Silverlight, WPF, ASP.NET, ASP.NET MVC, and Windows Forms. The Windows Developer Center has the download, how-to guides, a wiki, and sample code to get you started.

Now go create something cool (and let me know when you do).

SyncToy 2.1 Available for Download

Larry Larsen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:59:00 GMT

How many times have you tried to copy a huge number of files only to accidently hit space or escape cancelling the transfer and you don't want to re-start from scratch? Well there's a better way to sync files between directories and drives, SyncToy. You might remember this from the XP PowerToys days, the ease of use makes it a very popular download. Deepa from the Sync team stopped by to show us the latest version, SyncToy 2.1.

You can find out more here, download it here, or give the team feedback here.

3M Multitouch Developer Kit

Larry Larsen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:48:00 GMT

If you're a developer looking for a drop in monitor for coding Windows 7 Multitouch applications, 3M has a kit for you. This 19" monitor may seem very pricey at $1499, but keep in mind this is huge for a capacitive display. Normally monitors this large will have an optical tracking system for the touchpoints, leaving you with 2-4 touch points at best. This capacitive glass-front display is good for a full 10-point multi-touch experience. Check the site for more details and videos of the monitor in action.

Social Web Experience for Internet Explorer

Larry Larsen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:18:00 GMT

Today a new experiment comes out of Redmond in the form of a new toolbar for Internet Explorer that analyzes the web pages you are looking at and applies what it sees to your social networks. This means the proper nouns and contextual references in the sites you're looking at are matched up to the things your friends might be talking about. So if you're browsing a movie review, you may see what a friend wrote about that movie as an inline contextual update.

Emre Kiciman and CK Wang from Microsoft Research joined us at the Channel 9 studio to talk about the Social Web toolbar and how it works. You can download the Social Web Experience Toolbar for IE here.

Countdown to PDC09: Big Brains Descend Upon PDC and Teach Us How to Dream

Larry Larsen — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:34:00 GMT

Charles Torre joins us today to discuss the Technical Leaders series to be held at PDC. For the first time ever, you’ll get to participate in a perfect storm of intelligence, imagination, knowledge, and vision as we bring together Microsoft’s Technical Fellows for the Technical Leaders sessions at PDC09. These are the big brains that develop and drive technical strategies for Microsoft and the industry; if you want to be inspired, this is a series you won’t want to miss. Browse Technical Leaders sessions.

NBC Winter Olympics on Silverlight

Larry Larsen — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:08:00 GMT

NBC and Microsoft are getting the band back together for a full Silverlight experience around the 2010 Winter Olympics. You'll have DVR control of the video, including rewind, sharing, and saving clips. There will be a Facebook Connect feature to allow you to socialize the insanity (or coolness, depending on your POV) of skiing with a rifle.

The site will also include Deep Zoom photo galleries so you can enjoy each flake of snow individually. More details to come as we get closer to the event. Related article from TechCrunch.

Multitouch Fingerpaint in 30 Lines of PowerShell Script

Larry Larsen — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:32:00 GMT

Join James Brundage, Software Tester from the PowerShell Team, as he walks through how to write a multitouch finger paint in ~30 lines of Windows PowerShell script using WPK (WPF PowerShell Kit). You can download WPK and this example as part of the PowerShell Pack. (http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/PowerShellPack) .

Monkey == TRUE

Larry Larsen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:30:00 GMT

This week, Thomas Lewis (a.k.a. The Spider King) co-hosts with the always loveable Mike Swanson to talk about From The Labs which will debut at PDC09. It kicks off with Mike talking about the $300 discount (you have already registered haven’t you?) and how INETA is “bringing it” with Birds of a Feather (known as BOFs) which are opportunities for attendees to present topics of interest to them in an open way at PDC09. Then Mike and Thomas get brutal talking about From the Labs, a track that focuses on projects and prototypes that are incubated from various Labs around Microsoft (Live Labs, DevLabs). Of course, Mike and Thomas make computer science history declaring that Monkey are immutable.

Countdown to PDC09: This is Your Brain on Puzzles

Larry Larsen — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:02:00 GMT

In this episode, Mike talks with Kenny Young, an architect on the Expression Blend team, and Josh Benaloh, a senior cryptographer in Microsoft Research about the puzzles they plan to inflict on our PDC09 attendees. These are the guys who have been providing the puzzles that we’ve been tweeting recently, and they brought their own Hard Hat Challenge. Mike also reminds everyone about the caption contest at www.nxtgenug.net for a free PDC09 pass, and talks briefly about the Visual Studio Documentary to be shown at the event, including a Q&A panel after the show.

Where the Multitouch Devices Are

Larry Larsen — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:33:00 GMT

Windows 7 is out and if you're like me you want to know where the new multitouch hardware is. Well here's a running list of all the hardware I know of so far.

When it comes to multitouch methods, capacitive is going to give you the best results and most touch points. Optical is going to be the runner-up and round out the bigger monitors, and resistive is going to be last IMHO.

Make	Model	Platform	Form Factor	Technology
Acer	Aspire AS5738PG	Notebook	Clamshell	Capacitive
Acer	Aspire Z5610	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
Asus	Eee PC T91	Netbook	Netbook	Resistive
Dell	SX2210T 21.5” Monitor	Monitor		Optical
Dell	Studio One 19	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
Dell	Latitude XT2	Notebook	Tablet	Capacitive
Fujitsu	Lifebook T4310	Notebook	Tablet	Capacitive
Fujitsu	Lifebook T4410	Notebook	Tablet	Capacitive
Fujitsu	LifeBook 5010	Notebook	Tablet	Capacitive
Fujitsu	DeskPower F Series	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
Gateway	Gateway One ZX4800	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
HP	HP 21.5” Compaq L2105tm	Monitor		Optical
HP	HP 42” LD4200tm	Monitor		Optical
HP	TouchSmart 600t	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
HP	TouchSmart 300z	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
HP	TouchSmart TX2	Notebook	Tablet	Capacitive
HP	TouchSmart dx9100	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
Lenovo	ThinkPad X200	Notebook	Tablet	Capacitive
Lenovo	ThinkPad T400	Notebook	Clamshell	Capacitive
Medion	X9613	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
Sony	VAIO L	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
Toshiba	Satellite U505	Notebook	Clamshell	Capacitive
Toshiba	Satellite M505	Notebook	Clamshell	Capacitive

Windows 7 is Here!

Larry Larsen — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:31:00 GMT

Windows 7 is finally here along with several surprises. If you're in Japan, you can try the 7 layer Whopper (though I suggest you add a rider to your health insurance first). You can get a cup of coffee at the Windows Cafe in Paris. If you're in Scottsdale you can check out our first store, if you're not in Scottsdale you can check it out online. There are some special one day offers at the 7 Days of Windows 7 page.

See more at the Windows Team Blog.

Microsoft's Online Store Now Selling Windows 7 PCs

Sarah Perez — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:02:00 GMT

Coinciding with today’s launch of Windows 7, the Microsoft Online Store has added several new products to its lineup, the most notable of which is PCs! Although Microsoft itself is not a computer manufacturer, it’s nice to be able to go to one location to browse through all the different desktops, laptops, and netbooks which are currently available – and running the new OS, of course.

In addition to the PCs category, the online store has also added select 3rd party software, accessories, and gaming products, including a lot of the top selling Xbox 360 titles, reports Trevin Chow, the Senior Lead Program Manager for Microsoft Store.

The store has also been given a revamped interface designed to simplify navigation. The new site offers a re-designed categorization, navigation, and filtering system that aims to help you find the products you need more quickly.

These additions and changes have been added thanks to numerous usability studies and direct customer feedback about what they would like to see in the store – data which has been collected since the store’s launch in November of last year.

After visiting the new store, you’re invited to provide feedback by sending a tweet to Trevin with your thoughts.

Quick UI with WPK in Windows PowerShell

Larry Larsen — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:38:00 GMT

Join James Brundage, PowerShell Tester, as he demonstrates how to Write quick user interfaces with WPK. This video should help people get started writing rich WPF user interfaces in PowerShell script. WPK is available as part of the PowerShellPack, which is available on the Windows 7 resource kit CD and on CodeGallery (http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/PowerShellPack) .

Continue your video tour of Windows PowerShell V2 via MSDN Channel9 and TechNET Edge. Find reusable scripts and techniques at the PowerShell Script-Center. Subscribe to the RSS feed at the Team Blog for the latest Windows PowerShell information. Get the demo scripts.

Countdown to PDC09: Coding4Fun Meets PDC

Larry Larsen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:06:00 GMT

Clint Rutkas joins just Ritzy this week (Mike wasn’t allowed out of his PDC09 keynote cage), to discuss some of the fun we’ll be bringing to LA! The Coding4Fun apps will be on display, including one serving up drinks (really!!). Clint and his crew will be in the Big Room at PDC, showing off their latest innovations that combine both interesting technologies and entertaining hobbies . . . not everything one codes has to be for the man! And speaking of ‘the man’, or rather ‘the guy’….what did the Channel 9 guy say to the MCP guy? No it’s not a joke, it’s a chance to win a FREE pass to PDC09! Provide your winning caption by Oct 23.

HP TouchSmart TX2 Multitouch Laptop

Larry Larsen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:24:00 GMT

I stopped by HP's Smart Home to see the refreshed TouchSmart TX2 Tablet/Laptop. The HP TouchSmart TX2 laptop has been my main (work) PC now for several months and it's easily the most versatile laptop I've ever had. It's a laptop, it's a Tablet PC, it's got multitouch, Dual Core, removable Lightscribe DVD burner, removable remote control, thumbprint reader, even dual headphone jacks. Best of all, the starting price of $700 (the previous TX2 has been on sale for less) it's more what you would expect to pay for a tricked-out netbook. But with Dual Core and 8GB of DDR3 RAM possible, it will run circles around a netbook. For those who think they won't use multitouch, this is a great way to dip your toes in the water, but be prepared to intuitively smudge the screen of every other laptop you use thereafter. You can also see my video on the consumer TouchSmart and business TouchSmart.

HP Touchsmart 9100 Multitouch Business PC

Larry Larsen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:14:00 GMT

When I heard Microsoft's Brion Taylor would be visiting the HP Smart Home to see the new TouchSmart hardware, I grabbed a camera and tagged along. This hardware refresh has some significant improvements including better multitouch detection, ambient light, Blu-Ray, TV Tuners and HP software. For consumers, there is the 20" TouchSmart 300 at $899, and the 23" TouchSmart 600 ($1049) (see that video here). The 600 has the best options for a more robust processor, different TV Tuners. Both have HDMI inputs on the side for your Xbox 1080p gaming goodness. For business users there is the TouchSmart 9100 ($1299), with DVI output instead of HDMI. There is also a refreshed TouchSmart TX2 laptop, you can see a video on that here.

These launch with Windows 7 starting October 22nd with the TouchSmart 300 launching on November 1.

A Look at HP TouchSmart 300 and 600

Larry Larsen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:09:00 GMT

When I heard Microsoft's Brion Taylor would be visiting the HP Smart Home to see the new TouchSmart hardware, I grabbed a camera and tagged along. This hardware refresh has some significant improvements including better multitouch detection, ambient light, Blu-Ray, TV Tuners and HP software. For consumers, there is the 20" TouchSmart 300 at $899, and the 23" TouchSmart 600 ($1049). The 600 has the best options for a more robust processor, different TV Tuners. Both have HDMI inputs on the side for your Xbox 1080p gaming goodness. For business users there is the TouchSmart 9100 ($1299), with DVI output instead of HDMI (see that video here). There is also a refreshed TouchSmart TX2 laptop, you can see a video on that here.

These launch with Windows 7 starting October 22nd with the TouchSmart 300 launching on November 1.

A Look at VPlay on Microsoft Surface

Larry Larsen — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:19:00 GMT

Stuart Taylor is a researcher at MSR Cambridge and in his spare time he likes to mix bits as a VJ. He created an application called VPlay that allows him to mix video on a Surface like you would records on a DJ turntable. He stopped by the Channel 9 studio on his way to dinner last week and took a few minutes to show us how VPlay works.

You can see more about the project here.

Countdown to PDC09: Da Cloud! Da Cloud!

Larry Larsen — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:31:00 GMT

Meet the owner of the PDC cloud services track, James Conard. Yep, it’s true, general availability of Azure will be announced at PDC (buy a datacenter in the cloud, if you will) but don’t think that’s all we’ve got up our sleeves! The Windows Azure Platform has come a long way in the last year since it was first announced at PDC last year, and we have a lot of progress to talk about, plus new innovations that we’ll unveil at PDC this year – listen to James as he drops hints as to what those announcements will be. And speaking of hints, don’t forget, Mike’s last HardHat Challenge remains unsolved. He drops another clue in this show, so listen carefully!

This May Be Your Next Mouse

Larry Larsen — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:53:00 GMT

Today at the User Interface Software and Technology Conference, Microsoft will show five new mouse prototypes that combine normal mousing with multitouch controls. Here is a video that gives you a brief introduction to each of the controls. I'll be meeting with this team when they get back, what questions do you have about these new mice? Which one is your most/least favorite?

Upcoming SQL PASS Summit: SQL

Larry Larsen — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:25:00 GMT

Join thousands of SQL Server & BI professionals at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle from Nov. 2-5 for the largest SQL Server conference in the world! PASS Summit offers 168 technical sessions presented by SQL Server experts, one-on-one time with Microsoft’s SQL Server engineering team, free troubleshooting & design architecture guidance from Microsoft consultants, keynotes from Microsoft’s senior executives and much more!

Senior Data Platform Technology Specialist Buck Woody stopped by the Channel 9 studio to talk to Julie Strauss, Program Manager in SQL Server Engineering Team, and Herain Oberio, Group Product Manager, about upcoming sessions you won’t want to miss this year’s PASS Summit conference.

Register today at http://summit2009.sqlpass.org/