I love summertime. And I also love mobile phones. It’s Memorial Day weekend so I’m ramping up for summer. But I haven’t had a new mobile phone to play with in quite a while. Unfortunately, I won’t have a new phone for awhile. OK, you shouldn’t feel too sorry for me as I’m angling for a Pre when it ships in two weeks.
In the meantime, my wife and kids were up for new phones last weekend. And so we bit the bullet and renewed our subscription with Verizon. Actually, it wasn’t that hard of a decision as most carriers make the renewal process quite simple – and desirable. My kids got new “throw-away” phones (i.e., Palm Centro’s). And I talked my wife into a BlackBerry Storm. Yeah, I know it isn’t hard to talk someone into a touch phone. And I was surprised that we didn’t switch to AT&T in order to get an iPhone. But network availability trumped everything else. We had to have a ubiquitous network that worked in the house as well as in our kids dorm rooms. So Verizon got the nod.
My wife really loves the Storm. It has a spectacular camera. And the touch screen is quite nimble. But my wife was really having trouble with the phone. First, the phone would periodically become sluggish – and even halted once. Second, the great camera was terrible. Specifically, my wife would launch the camera app and it would take 3-7 seconds just to launch. Worse still, it would take 5-10 seconds to snap a picture. This was totally unacceptable. We have a new granddaughter in the house. And Cindy needed a camera that wouldn’t require the subject to hold still. Yeah, Cindy has a Nikon D70. But who wants to pull out the bulky (but versatile) DSLR for some candid snaps?
So I decided to get in research mode and see if there was anything I could do. For a very long time, I had used custom firmware loads for my WiMo phones. Indeed, I loved my HTC Apache for just that very reason. I had no idea if the BlackBerry could be customized. But I was willing to look.
Wow! The BlackBerry experience is replete with custom firmware. Better said, there are a whole lot of “leaks” from RIM to choose from. Indeed, RIM provides plenty of tools to install their uncertified builds. And there are equally as many tools to deploy “hybrid” builds (otherwise know as “kitchen builds” for the WiMo crowd).
So my task was simple. I just had to download the deployment tools, select a relevant build and convince my wife that I should be allowed to monkey with her phone. The first two steps were the easiest. 😉 [Note: Cindy was remarkably willing to do this. I can only assume that she was so dissatisfied with the camera’s sluggishness that she was willing to cede control to me. In any event, she said “yes” – so I was off to the races.]
The biggest technical challenge was finding a good build to deploy. I was stunned about how dissatisfied folks are with the BlackBerry 9530 (Storm) and its camera. And I was equally stunned by the apparent indifference Verizon was showing to its customers. There have been several builds that have been worthy of release (and support). But Verizon has continually deferred for one reason or another. The cynic in me says that they do not want to improve the Storm too much as they need to have a reason for folks to upgrade to the Storm 2. Nevertheless, I prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt. I think that they want to ensure a stellar experience. And after seventy-three (73) successive builds, I think that Verizon may very well certify the 4.7.0.148 build as the next official release for the Verizon 9530.
But I can’t wait for Verizon to finish their internal wrangling on the matter. So I decided that .148 would be the build for our family. So I began the deployment process. I can’t say that the process went without any trepidation. There were a couple of desktop reboots that were part of the process. I found that quite odd. I can understand the phone restarts. But desktop restarts? I was getting worried that this might not work as I was running it from my Windows 7 desktop. Fortunately, everything went superbly. After numerous desktop and phone restarts, the phone was upgraded with a sparkling new OS – and it is superb.
The new build is substantially faster and more responsive than the stock .75 build. And up until now, the system appears to be more stable. [Note: I want to see the phone running for a month before I call it more stable than the supported build.] Most importantly, the camera is immensely better. There is still a bit of a lag between depressing the physical camera hot key and hearing the shutter sound being emitted from the speakers. But overall focusing time is drastically better.
In addition to deploying a new phone OS build, I needed to set up the phone for syncing with iTunes. Right now, I have the master song library on my desktop. So I deployed the Media Sync software on my Windows 7 system. Unfortunately, I did not have the seamless experience I wanted. The software installer balked at Windows 7. Fortunately I was able to execute the installer in Windows XP compatibility mode and the install proceeded w/o further fuss or muss. Once installed, the app itself ran with nary a problem. Now I need to focus my attention on configuring Cindys instance of iTunes so that it can access my music library from her desktop. Once done, I can set Cindy up to manage her own sync with the phone.
All in all, the Storm is a fabulous piece of hardware. And BlackBerry has a whole lot of tools to ensure that the software remains up-to-date. It’s a shame that Verizon can’t marry the two advantages together and certify a new build for the Storm. Once they do, they will have an exceptional platform.
-Roo
Tag: “Windows 7”
Windows 7: Feature Complete & Ready to Rock!
I had a couple of “unassigned hours” this morning. So I figured that it would be time to do a clean install of Windows 7. And as everyone is aware, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with what Redmond has assembled. But like most people, I’ve had a couple of minor annoyances that I wanted corrected. And with this re-install, almost every one of them has been addressed.
– Homegroups finally work! Yay!
– Permissions on all files seem to be working properly.
– Odd video fragments seem to be a thing of the past. Indeed, video performance is spectacular.
– Windows Media Center issues have been resolved – including guide download problems. BTW, I really do like the new Media Center fit-and-finish (including Internet TV touches).
I still have a lot of work to do – especially rebuilding and re-installing iTunes and getting Amazon’s MP3 Downloader to work without tweaking. But all-in-all, I am thoroughly impressed with the overall Windows 7 experience. This IS what Vista should have been.
-Roo
Windows 7: Feature Complete & Ready to Rock!
I had a couple of “unassigned hours” this morning. So I figured that it would be time to do a clean install of Windows 7. And as everyone is aware, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with what Redmond has assembled. But like most people, I’ve had a couple of minor annoyances that I wanted corrected. And with this re-install, almost every one of them has been addressed.
– Homegroups finally work! Yay!
– Permissions on all files seem to be working properly.
– Odd video fragments seem to be a thing of the past. Indeed, video performance is spectacular.
– Windows Media Center issues have been resolved – including guide download problems. BTW, I really do like the new Media Center fit-and-finish (including Internet TV touches).
I still have a lot of work to do – especially rebuilding and re-installing iTunes and getting Amazon’s MP3 Downloader to work without tweaking. But all-in-all, I am thoroughly impressed with the overall Windows 7 experience. This IS what Vista should have been.
-Roo
Windows 7 Media Center: A Tale of Two Experiences
In a very short time (less than two years), I’ve become addicted to Windows Media Center. I can turn the TV on while I go about all of the other chores I have to do. Yeah, I’m not using an extender to run it on a huge screen. Instead, I am running it on my primary system where I am able to lean in and watch TV without disturbing the rest of the family. [For those who didn’t know, I have serious vision problems and I have to be within a few inches of the display device before I can even focus on the image.]
In the short time that I’ve used Windows Media Center, Ive become accustomed to the easy interface of the “Guide” functionality. And I’m really liking the new Windows 7 features. But after a few days of running the new Media Center on the new Windows 7 system, I was stunned to see that the Guide no longer functioned. And I kept receiving download errors on the system.
And I’ve been looking for answers to these problems ever since early February. I am still able to watch all TV content. And I am able to watch DVD’s and digital files w/o trouble. But I can’t get the guide to work. This is terribly frustrating as I like to surf the guide via a Windows sidebar gadget – and this n0o longer works as the guide info isn’t downloading.
After stumbling through lots of dead ends on the Internet, I ran into http://www.sevenforums.com. This is a GREAT support site for those who have taken the plunge into Windows 7. If you are having trouble with something on Windows 7, this forum probably has an answer – or can link you with someone else who is having the same trouble.
So did I find an answer? Well, not exactly. No one has a solution. But I now know that many other people are having the same trouble. I have noted that I am getting what appears to be DRM-related errors in the event viewer. Beyond that, it looks like I’ll have to wait for Microsoft to fix the issue (hopefully in the April RC).
Nevertheless, I did find some very interesting hacks through the unofficial Windows 7 forums. These forums sent me to http://hack7mc.com where I found some very cool mechanisms to change the default background and overall theme of the Media Center. So while I don’t have guide functionality, Windows Media Center looks really cool now!
-Roo
I'm Feeling Seven-ish, She Said
Cindy asked me what I thought of Windows 7 after the first hour of using it. I told her that I felt, er, um… And she said “…seven-ish?” And I guess she was right. I am feeling seven-ish.
Here are the ‘Roo’s first thoughts:
– Installation was good – exceptioanlly good for a beta. I hope the installer becomes a little more informative before final release. There has to be more feeback to inform the user that progress is occurring – lest the user abandon hope that the install is progressing!
– A number of the default apps (like MSPaint) now display a ribbon bar. This is the UI enhancements delivered in Office 2007. I like the interface changes. But I know a lot of folks who aren’t so keen on the changes.
– I like the new themes that display multiple pictures. And some of the pics are fabulous!
– Media Center setup was peculiar. At first, it didn’t detect my Hauppage HVR 1600. After a reboot, it finally detected my TV card. Once the TV card was detected, downloading of the guide and the remainder of Windows Media Center setup went smoothly. I do like the interface touches like the icon/preview that appears at the bottom of the guide. It’s a little touch. But I find such touches to be demonstrative of a complete commitment to the customer experience.
– I had zero problems playing movies when using the Windows Media Player.
– iTunes functioned flawlessly. I could play MP3 audio files, AAC audio files and a variety of MP4 video files. And I had zero problems when I plugged in my iPod. It was detected by both Windows and iTunes. As a side note, Last.fm’s add-on for iTunes worked great. I need to check scrobbling – but so far, so good.
– A variety of my system utilities seem to operate nominally. This includes Spybot S&D, AVG Free and even Privoxy/TOR.
– Printing worked fine- thank goodness.
– Adobe apps seem to work – including AIR apps (like Twhirl).
– Other Twitter-related apps (like Tweetdeck) seem to work well.
– I used Psi to connect up to the work IM infrastructure. All seems to work.
– Google apps (like Google Earth ad Google Chrome) all seem to work well.
– Home network setup isn’t smooth yet. I tried to set up a homegroup. But it didn’t allow me to set one up until I was connected to a network that was previously designated as a “home” network. Of course, my network was setup as a “home” network. So there is obviously something amiss. I hope to try this function out in the next couple of days.
Bottom Line: Windows 7 is not the grand divergence or vast improvement upon Windows Vista that some folks claim. Indeed, it is an evolution of Windows Vista’s basic system. As I consider how Vista relates to Windows 7, I remember how Windows 2000 related to Windows XP. W2K was a great baseline that XP built upon. Similarly, Windows Vista is the base that Windows 7 builds upon. In so many ways, this is the OS that Microsoft should have released. I wonder just how much this OS will cost (in the retail channels). As an upgrade from Vista, I’m not inclined to pay the full sticker price. Indeed, this is what I should have received when I first purchased Vista.
Nevertheless, Windows 7 is quite nice. And for a beta, it is wonderful. It is clean and far more nimble than Vista. And a lot of the rough edges that we had in Vista have finally been polished to a fine sheen.
In short, I’m very impressed by the OS. And I am even more impressed with the “fit and finish” of this beta. Microsoft was very smart to provide this to millions of people. It will build the enthusiasm for the Windows brand. And in all candor, that enthusiasm has been flagging for a couple of years.
I’m Feeling Seven-ish, She Said
Cindy asked me what I thought of Windows 7 after the first hour of using it. I told her that I felt, er, um… And she said “…seven-ish?” And I guess she was right. I am feeling seven-ish.
Here are the ‘Roo’s first thoughts:
– Installation was good – exceptioanlly good for a beta. I hope the installer becomes a little more informative before final release. There has to be more feeback to inform the user that progress is occurring – lest the user abandon hope that the install is progressing!
– A number of the default apps (like MSPaint) now display a ribbon bar. This is the UI enhancements delivered in Office 2007. I like the interface changes. But I know a lot of folks who aren’t so keen on the changes.
– I like the new themes that display multiple pictures. And some of the pics are fabulous!
– Media Center setup was peculiar. At first, it didn’t detect my Hauppage HVR 1600. After a reboot, it finally detected my TV card. Once the TV card was detected, downloading of the guide and the remainder of Windows Media Center setup went smoothly. I do like the interface touches like the icon/preview that appears at the bottom of the guide. It’s a little touch. But I find such touches to be demonstrative of a complete commitment to the customer experience.
– I had zero problems playing movies when using the Windows Media Player.
– iTunes functioned flawlessly. I could play MP3 audio files, AAC audio files and a variety of MP4 video files. And I had zero problems when I plugged in my iPod. It was detected by both Windows and iTunes. As a side note, Last.fm’s add-on for iTunes worked great. I need to check scrobbling – but so far, so good.
– A variety of my system utilities seem to operate nominally. This includes Spybot S&D, AVG Free and even Privoxy/TOR.
– Printing worked fine- thank goodness.
– Adobe apps seem to work – including AIR apps (like Twhirl).
– Other Twitter-related apps (like Tweetdeck) seem to work well.
– I used Psi to connect up to the work IM infrastructure. All seems to work.
– Google apps (like Google Earth ad Google Chrome) all seem to work well.
– Home network setup isn’t smooth yet. I tried to set up a homegroup. But it didn’t allow me to set one up until I was connected to a network that was previously designated as a “home” network. Of course, my network was setup as a “home” network. So there is obviously something amiss. I hope to try this function out in the next couple of days.
Bottom Line: Windows 7 is not the grand divergence or vast improvement upon Windows Vista that some folks claim. Indeed, it is an evolution of Windows Vista’s basic system. As I consider how Vista relates to Windows 7, I remember how Windows 2000 related to Windows XP. W2K was a great baseline that XP built upon. Similarly, Windows Vista is the base that Windows 7 builds upon. In so many ways, this is the OS that Microsoft should have released. I wonder just how much this OS will cost (in the retail channels). As an upgrade from Vista, I’m not inclined to pay the full sticker price. Indeed, this is what I should have received when I first purchased Vista.
Nevertheless, Windows 7 is quite nice. And for a beta, it is wonderful. It is clean and far more nimble than Vista. And a lot of the rough edges that we had in Vista have finally been polished to a fine sheen.
In short, I’m very impressed by the OS. And I am even more impressed with the “fit and finish” of this beta. Microsoft was very smart to provide this to millions of people. It will build the enthusiasm for the Windows brand. And in all candor, that enthusiasm has been flagging for a couple of years.
Windows 7 – Finally
It’s almost 3:00PM CST on Saturday. And I’ve been working on this for over six (6) hours. But I’m sure that a whole lot of people have spent a whole lot more time than I have.
Yesterday morning, Microsoft was supposed to make a beta version of Windows 7 available to 2.5 million customers. So far, there is no single proocess that works to make that download process a reality. Indeed, the Internet was abuzz with the challenges that Microsoft was having with the huge demand for Windows 7. I don’t know about any of that, but it sure has been a Byzantine process getting all the bits and getting the appropriate product keys.
After hearing all of the whispers, groans, screams and general noise yesterday, I waited until today to start the process for myself. I got up bright and early and walked the dogs. Once they were fed and watered, I started the process. I tried to go to the Microsoft location where I could get the download and the product key in one place. But that was not a workable solution this morning. It may be OK as you read this post. Check at Microsoft’s site first. And if it is still down, here are some tips on how I proceeded.
So I figured that I would try and do the two things separately. I found a great link over at Neowin. From there, I was able to get to the product pages where I could request a product key. Fortunately, I did this before 2.5M other people did. So I got a good key. Then I went over to Technologizer to see where the downloads for the ISO were hosted. It’s important that you get a file that is hosted at Microsoft as there are lots of BitTorrent trackers that are pointing to very old versions of the code. Get the dowload from Microsoft and you can be more comofortable that you are getting the Build 7000 bits. And the Microsoft folks have updated their infrastructure. It only took me about ninety minutes to download the 2.4GB ISO file.
Once I got the product keys and the ISO, I burned the DVD and started the install. That was before 10A. That’s when the fun began.
8:3oAM – Began ISO download
9:45AM – ISO downloaded
9:50AM – Got product key
10:00AM – I rebooted the system and I started the install. I chose to upgrade an exising partition. That is a risky proposition. But it would best represent the experience most people would encounter. So I checked currency of backups and started the install.
The install looks almost identical to the Vista installs I’ve performed hundreds of times. Unfortunately, the instller also acts like the same installer. You get precious little feedback to determine if the process works or not. You can wait for five minutes to progress 30% across the progress bar. But sometimes, it takes thirty minutes to move a single percent. The good news is that the installer at least lists the number of files it is dealing with in each step. So while the progress bar may not move, you can at least tell if things are “stuck” or not.
It took almost an hour to “check the files” before the next step in the installation could proceed. I was starting to get a little worried. But then things started to move along. By noon, the installer had finally prgressed to the last step (“Completing upgrade”).
12:01PM – The “post-migration” steps are taking longer than the unpacking and copying of files. Arghhh.
12:48PM – The post-installation process has jumped from 34% complete to 57% complete. I am really glad to see the file count. Otherwise, I would have abandoned the installation long ago. I’m becoming a little peeved at the note that says “this may take a few minutes.” OK, Redmond’s definition of “a few” and my definition are not in agreement. But this installer is acting just as it has in the past – very little feedback with data that is non-representative. At 57%, I can be certain that I am not 1/2 of the way through this process.
1:10PM – Is this thing scanning my HD and sending checksums to NSA or the RIAA? This is taking forever.
1:25PM – We’ve rebooted yet again. But I’m seeing a new splash screen. So far, it’s the only indication that there is anything different between this OS and Windows Vista. I do like the animations of the swirling balls morphing into the Windows logo.
But I’m greeted with the post-installation process still being at 57% – arghhh!
1:30PM – Whoa. We’ve jumpted to 63%. I wonder if the reboot was needed to clear a file lock.
1:37PM – 74%
1:44PM – 87%
1:45PM – Restart again
1:47PM – Hey, it’s asking for the product key. I must be making progress.
1:50PM – I’m being asked for the first Ctrl + Alt + Del of the new OS.
1:55PM – I finally see my standard desktop
So the installation / upgrade process is very long. And you need to be patient. But my upgrade went fairly smoothly – except that Citirx ICA had to be disabled and uninstalled. Otherwise, the upgrade is pretty good – f0r a beta. It took a little over five (5) hours to upgrade an existing Vista SP1 system.
-Roo