MobileViews Blog

Category: Microsoft

  • Xbox Companion app for Windows Phone can be used as a limited controller

    The XBox Live app for iOS still doesn’t work on my devices. But, the Xbox Companion app for Windows Phone finally became available (after the iOS version) and does work.

    And, it does a lot more than the iOS version. The Xbox app for iOS deals with messages, shows achievements and manages the avatar. The Windows Phone version requires that the Xbox be on at the same time and can be used as a adjunct limited controller. You can, for example, navigate around the Xbox and launch a game. Once in the game (Fusion:Origins in my case), the controller function did not work or did not have enough buttons (no “Start” for example) to be useful. It can also provide details about games, music, TV shows and movies playing on the Xbox.

  • Xbox LIVE iOS app released. Oops! I already broke it 🙁

    Microsoft Director of Programming for the Microsoft Xbox Live Larry Hyrb (aka “Major Nelson”) announced just hours ago that:

    Introducing the official Xbox LIVE iOS App

    So, I downloaded and installed the free app on my iPad. But, oops it is already broken. When it gets working on my iPad, it is supposed to do the following:

    • Read and send messages to friends
    • Manage your friends list, invite new friends
    • Read and Edit your full LIVE profile (name, bio, motto)
    • Change your avatar features/items with the avatar closet
    • View and compare your achievement progress with friends

  • The long goodbye to an old gadget friend: Suuntu N3i Microsoft SPOT Watch

    Gadgets, for some, are replaced on a regular basis. A phone, for example, may serve for its two-year contract and then be replaced. While periodicity differs, the same goes for desktop computers and notebook computers.

    Some gadgets, however, have the longevity of a good friend. A good pen, for example, is something you can use forever (assuing ink refills are available). And, the same goes for a watch (for the few of us who still wear them). Two of my watches are in their final weeks of life as they were designed because Microsoft is turning off the MSN Direct service that provides their intelligence on January 1, 2012.
    (more…)

  • Intel AppUp Webpage Browser Hostile?

    I wanted to try the Intel AppUp beta for Windows 7 netbooks. So, I pointed my Google Chrome browser at…

    http://www.intel.com/Consumer/Products/appup.htm

    This resulted in partially rendered web page and Chrome attempting to use all available processor resources. I had to use Windows Task Manager to terminate Chrome.

    Next up was Firefox. It rendered correctly and did not cause the processor to rev up. However, I could not download the AppUp EXE file using Firefox.

    This forced me to use Internet Explorer 8 which takes forever to startup (why is that). The AppUp webpage rendered correctly and let me download the EXE file.

    Thanks for the terrible user experience, Intel!

  • MSN Direct Outlook Plugin A Pile of Fail

    MSN Direct Outlook Plugin Failure
    MSN Direct Outlook Plugin Failure

    One of Microsoft’s unfortunate mobile strategy failures was MSN Direct and SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology). I say “unfortunate” because I have two Suunto SPOT watches and an annual paid subscription for MSN Direct Plus that gave me the ability to sync my Outlook calendar over the air with the watch.

    Unfortunately, the…

    MSN Direct Calendar Add-in 1.2.27824

    …does not install at all in Microsoft Vista. And, I just found that it fails at the end of its installation process in Microsoft Virtual PC (beta) Windows XP Mode (a virtual machine under Windows 7). You can see the failure message in the screenshot above.

    And, since the MSN Direct project has been dormant for a couple of years now, there’s no chance of a plugin update. To make matters more annoying, Microsoft doesn’t even provide contact information on…

    http://direct.msn.com/

    …to let me cancel my $69.96 annual subscription. I’ll start making calls to figure out how to do this the hard way over the next few days.

    I still think SPOT was a good idea that just never lived up to its potential.

  • CamStudio Screencast Recorder on a Netbook Running Windows 7 RC (video demo)

    The free and Open Source CamStudio 2.0 demoed on an Asus Eee PC 1000HA running Windows 7 Release Candidate. I was happy to see CamStudio run on this combo since it did not run under Windows Vista when I tested it after Vista’s launch.