It’s interesting that it’s always some sort of third party that happens to break stuff.  Whether it be from a browser plugin to security problems with companies like *ahem* Adobe *COUGH*, it always seems that third parties are to blame.  According to NetworkWorld, this time around an unidentified vendor will be working with Microsoft in order to make the necessary fixes to stop these odd Windows Phone 7 data spikes.  Customers on what Microsoft calls low single digit percentages have their phones tune into 3G despite having a WiFi connection which drove some people bills sky high – OUCH.  Well, good for that company that remains unidentified as I’m sure that it would get heavy flack.  Of course, with Microsoft saying things, Microsoft seems to be taking the blame for even saying anything at all and shields this unknown third party from any bad publicity.  Granted, Microsoft’s actions also serve to protect themselves which is better than a “no comment”.

The iPad is about a year or so old.  It was released to much fanfare last year, about this time; and everybody and their brother went nuts for it.  At the time, it didn’t do much for me.  I had an iPhone and sold it.  I have a 2G iPod Touch, but don’t use it much.  At the time, the iPad seemed like nothing more than a giant iPod Touch (Wi-Fi only version) or a giant iPhone (3G version) that couldn’t make phone calls.

Now (hopefully), it can and is much, much more to a number of different people.  I’ve seen evidence that the iPad is seriously being integrated into the enterprise, though with highly focused purposes, and the full blown security and management applications you would expect to see on any other IT asset.

For me and my purposes, I’m not concerned with using it to match fabric swatches or to sell specific medical equipment.  I just want to be able to move from meeting to meeting with the ability to get through my day without HAVING to lug a laptop from place to place, conference room to conference room, office to office.  Basic stuff…

Specifically, I’m going to cover

• create and edit meeting notes (much like Microsoft’s One Note)
• Generate and track tasks, task lists and to-do’s
• send and receive e-mail,
• keep up with my ever changing calendar

This is basic PIM type stuff; but the addition of meeting notes isn’t. With the iPad’s size, weight and capabilities, getting all of this done should be a no brainer. Over the next few days and weeks, I’m going to be taking a long hard look at what the device can and cannot do in this regard.  Please watch JAMM as well as iTechGear.org for the articles, and we’ll see if Apple (and perhaps some 3rd party development houses) have given us something that really can work, or if they are only teasing us.

The Apple iPad at work…

I saw a blog posting from my friend, Ed Bott on ZDNet this morning indicating that the Office Genuine Advantage program has been officially retired. While, according to the article, this took other MS related programs and personnel by surprise, this is a boon to Office users everywhere.  You can now go online and download plug-ins, templates, and other related content for Office without having to verify your product code via Microsoft’s anti-piracy program.

Please note that the

change doesn’t affect Office activation, which still requires a 25-character product key and direct contact with Microsoft’s activation servers. It also doesn’t affect Windows validation, which is apparently alive and well and is still required for some downloads, such as Microsoft Security Essentials.

OGA dialog from Office 2007…

Last time, we took a good look at some computer hardware that might be a nice holiday gift for someone on your gift list.  While a tablet purchase is almost certainly on everyone’s radar, I know that standard desktop and laptop hardware is also a definite possibility, especially for graduating high school seniors going away to college next Fall. 

The big question that is on everyone’s mind is likely – What software do I purchase for my new laptop?  Do I have to stick with the OS that it came with, or can I upgrade it from Windows Vista to Windows 7?  I have a trial version of (pick a Microsoft Office 2007/2010 component) on my hard drive, and I want the whole thing.  What is the easiest way to get that without pirating it? I’m glad you asked, kids, because I’ve got a couple of suggestions that are certain to help you get rid of the bloatware and get to the GOOD software that everyone is craving.

Does this software make me look fat..??

Check out the rest of Part 2 of my 2010 Holiday Buyer’s Guide on iTechGear.org!

With the upcoming release of Windows Live Essentials 2011, Microsoft will be retiring its Windows Live Spaces blogging platform, the infrastructure behind its blogging tool, Windows Live Writer.  The platform has been around since December of 2004. I saw a cool article about all of this on TechFlash, and wanted to point it out to everyone.

In a recent statement, Microsoft confirmed the partnering with WordPress.com, owned by Automattic, stating,

Automattic is a company filled with great people focused on blogging and how to continually make their blogging experiences better and better," says Dharmesh Mehta, director of Windows Live product management, in a blog post. "So rather than having Windows Live invest in a competing blogging service, we decided the best thing we could do for our customers was to give them a great blogging solution through WordPress.com.

Spaces users will have six months to move their blogs to WordPress.com using a specially developed migration tool that will move their posts, photos and other media to WordPress blogs. The migration will also redirect existing Spaces URLs to new addresses on the free WordPress.com platform. The companies will offer a service called Messenger Connect for WordPress.com users to share posts with their Windows Live contacts, attempting to take the place of the existing integration between Spaces and other Windows Live services.

This is actually a huge move for Microsoft; and a rather smart one, too, if I might add.  Microsoft is pulling back some of their services so that they can consolidate their core competencies and instead concentrate on Bing and Search and their number one competitor in that space, Google.  Being a blogging platform was never a key business initiative for MS, especially since Windows Live Services never truly penetrated the blogosphere as it was originally envisioned. 

New blogs started with Windows Live Essentials 2011 will be WordPress blogs and again, will be the default blogging platform for the suite of tools when they are released later this Fall.