Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Me, myself R2H and R1

This is the blog post I've been wanting to write for quite some time. As Australia's Tablet Guy (not pharmeceuticals) I am blessed with "first looks" at almost everything that comes Downunder. On this occassion it's the ASUS R2H and the ASUS R1...no joke:

You could almost expect another cheesy grin from this Australian Exclusive - FIRST IN AUSTRALIA TO HOLD TOUCH SMELL FEEL THE R2H UMPC.

"I love being a geek"

31st October 5pm Update:

It’s with much pleasure that I can report a couple of quick findings:

  • The R2H does in fact support palm rejection technology (lean and write),
  • GPS is standard,
  • The weight is heavier than the Samsung Q1 and yet lighter than the EO V7110,
  • The Touchscreen sensitivity is about the same as the EO V7110, in that it requires a good push or a fingernail/pen to mark an XY coordinate. It also means that navigation with finger only is not that pleasurable (another thumb cracker for DialKeys),
  • The camera is very crisp at 1.3MP,
  • The simple stand is nice but does not support height adjustments – one angle only,
  • The pen is very nice as it is adjustable in length and has a nice metal feel about it,
  • Not much heat although I did have it on for only 40 minutes, or so.

I think this is a very promising device. With lots of ASUS PCB happiness built-in this device will surely suit road warriors, business corporate types, and geeks alike.

I’ll post a video review shortly although regrettably I could not hold onto this device as it is one of only three in Australia at present.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Innovative or Inconclusive?


I was just sent these photos by Mobile PC specialist, Pocket PC Solutions in the UK. Not only does this get me excited about the concept but I can also see an immediate increase in productivity for my own UMPCs.



What do you think guys? Does it rock or is it a shit idea?


Cheers Glyn, can't wait to get them downunder.

Friday, October 27, 2006

Jordan and Hugo up to mischief in MAC shop

Recently I blogged about Jordan, a student that held me completely responsible for the Ultra Mobile PC being in Australia – so much so that he called his EO…hugo!

Today I received an update and I just think it’s so novel of him that I had to post it (with his permission). I’m a sucker for enthusiasm and boy does this kid sport tones of it. He’s now boasting about a new carry bag that EO hugo is running around town in.

hie email:

Hi Hugo,

Just felt like saying hi and telling what me and my Hugo have been upto. I'v been showing anyone who will listen about the new UMPC's coming into Australia and they all love them!

I just showed two good mates of mine about Hugo and they loved it. Do you know who is the distributor in Qld or Nsw? If you could email me there email addresses so that I can pass them on and hopefully get some more UMPC's out there!

I have been looking for a new home for my eo (Hugo) because the little yellow bag that came with him just isn't cutting it anymore... Anyway I found a great place that sells some great bags for just about anything called Crumpler (crumpler) and Hugo fits great!

have a look at the pics attached...

Ill have to keep you posted on what we get up to as time goes on.
We went around to a few computer shops in Adelaide yesterday and there is alot of interested out there about UMPC's. I went into a Apple Mac shop and even they thought the platform was great! (apart from win XP...)

Well have a great weekend,


all the best,
Jordan






By the way - and in case you're interested - this is my 200th post..."Hi, my name is Hugo...and I'm a blogger." Uh? Houston? Over? Do you copy?

Tablet PC Surgery (Video)

A friend of mine phoned recently – rather sheepishly – proclaiming that he’d dropped his slate and cracked the screen. Oops! That’s the phone call you don’t wanna get. So a few emails, some serial numbers, and a touch screen later, here we are with another session of UberTablet Surgery. The slate is the TabletKiosk Sahara i215, and the gloves are genuine latex baby!

Rather than handing it to someone else I thought it might be a good opportunity to let you into the inner workings of a modern slate PC. Not only will you get to know the intestines, but you may learn a thing or two about just how much glass walks around with you on a daily basis.

Because you want it – here it is:


Download Hi-Res Video - right click & "Save as"


My last pictorial of UberTablet Surgery was this episode of BIOS PHLASH

Ink Desktop - REALLY!


On this occasion I have been graced with the arrival of a brand new Wacom Graphire4 Pen Tablet. The reason: Well the reason is that Wacom has chosen to ride the Vista experience for all it's worth – which includes Tablet enabled Desktops…

A Tablet enabled Desktop is one of the most exciting “next gen” steps towards Tablet bliss. Due to Microsoft Tablet-enabling all of the Vista SKUs (except for Home Basic) what we’re now faced with is a world of Ink Enabled Desktops - REALLY. What does this mean you may ask? It means that Journal, Tablet Input Panel (TIP), Gestures and Ink-on-Office are only but a Wacom away!


So this is me (cheesy as ever) accepting graciously my new Vista Tablet Board – VIDEO SOON! If there is anything you want me to test please drop me a comment.

Hugo Ortega and Dr. Neil (our fourth podcast)

This to me is a special show in that it derives from a comment left by one of my readers. At the end of each show we ask for suggestions and last week Chuck suggested we talk Windows Mobile vs. UMPC - Good call Chuck! This is how it went down.


Dr. Neil's Notes 25

Welcome to Show 25

  • Welcome back "UberTablet"
  • News
  • Where UMPC has gone this week: Vic Police, Country Fire Service
  • Dr. NeilWorking on Windows Mobile app development
  • The Main show-UMPC and Windows Mobile
  • Any other topics you would like us to discuss?

Happy Coding!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Raon Digital Vega in Australia

If you’re anything like me – and I know a few of you are – the smell of freshly pressed Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is considered an absolute turn-on. So when Tegatech Australia, Master Distributors of the Raon Digital Vega, released photos of Australia’s first Vega shipment I couldn’t help but post them on the UberTablet Blog.

What I found to be the highlight, other than the device, was the sexy packaging! It surely looks like OEM’s are getting their act together and releasing shit hot Retailable products – either that or ex-Apple Marketing Execs are getting paid more money (and dealing with less headaches away from Steve J) by getting involved in the UMPC/UPPC market.

Check out one of the batches on its way out here:

matte black boxes - minimilistic

User Manual - in English (how novel)

It only gets better inside - smells like retail

Finally...we have Vega

Since I’ve owned my Vega I proudly reported that I completely avoided the need to buy an iPod. Not that I hate iPod, I do believe that there is little that could ever compete with the look, however, without an Operating System I can’t see the point. The Vega now sits in my car and plays my VLOGS and BLOGS happily, and even simultaneously, and I only need to charge it once a day due to its 5.5hrs batter life (7hrs + if I turn of the screen via hotkeys) ...Apple meet iVega!

SO perhaps Neil was right, these products should be in Retail.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Snipping Tool and R2H - Redmond steps in

When one of my readers, Aviruth, reported that the ASUS R2H Ultra Mobile PC shipped without the Microsoft Snipping Tool it was enough to raise some concern. Not only is the Snipping Tool a powerful Tablet enhancement but it also makes disseminating information a lot easier when in a keyboardless environment, i.e. UMPC and Slates.

The Snipping Tool was released as part of the Microsoft Experience Pack for Tablet PC in 2005, and later as art of the combined Education Pack/Experience Pack named The Enhancement Pack. Dustin Hubbard, group manager on the Tablet PC Mobile Platform team did a great job of demo-ing the User Interface (UI) on Channel Nine – this video.

So when I heard the Snipping Tool was not part of the R2H internals I left a comment recommending that Aviruth download the Experience Pack and install the Tool from there…surprisingly the results came back negative, i.e. the Tool would not install. So after a few emails to my friends in Redmond the results have come back from their investigations. Although there is nothing too surprising the results are defiantly worth posting.

So Aviruth, try out these suggestions and get back to all of us on your results.

The Email:

Hugo,

The UMPCs ship with the Origami Touch Pack only. I believe this decision was made by OEMs because the UMPC display resolution is lower than how the Tablet PC packs were designed. As you mentioned to “Anonymous”, the download files are available freely on microsoft.com. If the default language is not English, use the Enhancement pack in the language of choice (8 languages supported).

The last email that you pasted makes me wonder, however, if the person is not actually installing the individual components. The pack installs a menu and then each application needs to be installed individually. An option is available to install all, except for the Snipping Tool, which needs to be installed on its own. Do you think the person is actually doing this?

If this isn’t the issue, then Redmond should be able to direct your inquiry to the team handling the packs.

-- Redmond


(Names were replaced by the word Redmond to protect possible email hounding)

Redmond lends a hand

When one of my readers, Aviruth, reported that the ASUS R2H Ultra Mobile PC shipped without the Microsoft Snipping Tool it was enough to raise some concern. Not only is the Snipping Tool a powerful Tablet enhancement but it also makes disseminating information a lot easier when in a keyboardless environment, i.e. UMPC and Slates.

The Snipping Tool was released as part of the Microsoft Experience Pack for Tablet PC in 2005, and later as art of the combined Education Pack/Experience Pack named The Enhancement Pack. Dustin Hubbard, group manager on the Tablet PC Mobile Platform team did a great job of demo-ing the User Interface (UI) on Channel Nine – this video.

So when I heard the Snipping Tool was not part of the R2H internals I left a comment recommending that Aviruth download the Experience Pack and install the Tool from there…surprisingly the results came back negative, i.e. the Tool would not install. So after a few emails to my friends in Redmond the results have come back from their investigations. Although there is nothing too surprising the results are defiantly worth posting.

So Aviruth, try out these suggestions and get back to all of us on your results.

The Email:

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Uber Tablet (me) on Engadget (P1610)


Obviously I created a stir when I posted my video of the Fujitsu P1610 - Fujitsu's follow up to the P1510. But to see the Uber Tablet blog on Engadget this morning, now that was something else.

It seems as though Fujitsu have a lot to answer for by making me take down the video. "The Chalice" as it is codenamed is a remarkable device and has impacted many prospective Tablet PC buyers.

Come on Fuji, let me put the video back up!

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

So where does UMPC belong (podcast)

First it was my readers, then GottaBeMobile jumped onboard too; so back by popular demand it's the Hugo Ortega vs. Dr. Neil Show. Designed to be contentious and yet loveable too, the show will make you squirm and jeer cheer in astonishment as two MVP's banter their way through this podcast.

Enough BS!

Welcome to Show 23
  • Welcome back to Hugo "UberTablet" Ortega
  • 2 weeks as MVP for Hugo - does it hurt yet?
  • UMPC retail or enterprise?
  • Any topics you would like us to discuss?

This podcast was recorded on a Samsung Ultra Mobile PC with Castblaster

Monday, October 16, 2006

Microsoft banks on Vista, and so will I

Reading through the blog of Mr. Frank Arrigo today I picked up on an Article that was pushed onto the internet on October 10th (Microsoft banks on Vista). The article was written by columnist Adam Turner and is focused on the readiness of Vista in the workplace; and I must say it is executed very well. (Adam and I have met on several Melbourne trips)

I liked the feel of the article as it focused on key characters on the Microsoft Australia team, and their own Vista Intentions. This was a good tactic on Adam’s behalf as Vista readiness is still considered somewhat of a myth. Since the operating system has witnessed repeated delays, and subsequent bad press, I thought it was very interesting to hear of Vista tales coming from deep within the inner circles of Microsoft.

Microsoft MVP, Mitch Denny, gets a Readify word in by talking highly of living on the bleeding edge. He felt that being ahead of his clients is almost common sense, and not as some would see it, risk taking. Great photo Mitch! (I helped Mitch buy his Fujitsu T4210)

Then the Frank Arrigo had a say by putting a Vista emphasis back on Developers; feeling that developers need to know just what the Vista beast will do if they ever are to tame it. (Frank is Australia’s head of developer platform group). (We had fun at TechEd recently together).

Adam Cogan, a Microsoft Regional Director, got his say in by exclaiming that the Vista experience was now “good” and therefore his company SSW had to commence their own internal tests because clients were beginning to ask for feedback. (Adam and I had a really nice geek breakfast a few months’ back).

Even one of Australia’s leading banks, Westpac, has become part of the Vista vista by conducting their own internal tests of the operating system. With a desktop fleet of over 27,000 the bank is playing a small role currently via a test environment of 30 PCs.

What I learnt most from the article was that Vista had turned over to a new era of computing. It had moved into the phase of adoptable, as opposed to what it had been, mistakable.

My 2.5” SATA drive arrived and I’m going to finally get Vista on my T4210 – I’ll be sure to let you know how I go. I know Jeffa will be happy as our little attempt at the Microsoft Office (physical North Ryde Office, not Microsoft Office office) went a little pear shaped recently, we did end up have a great lunch though, but no Vista that day.

Friday, October 13, 2006

South Australia sees first Ultra Mobile PC


One thing I am an absolute sucker for is "enthusiasm," or for fans of Anthony Robbins, I'm talking "passion!" With the permission of the sender I am publishing an email I received today (rather unsolicited) from a new UMPC owner.

I thought it was really creepy cool and showed just how transformational your first UMPC experience might actually be. For those of you that own an Ultra Mobile PC I apologies for preaching to the choir; but for those that don’t, this is perhaps an indication of what you might be install for.

The original email:

Hi Hugo

Today is a big day for me, because i just recived my new eo7110 (white)!!!
This is the best pc ever, and I thank you for bringing these to Australia.
there is a bit of learning involved (with the touch screen) but im loving it.

Greg swift told me that this is the first one sold in SA. I like that,and i will be showing many people about the wonders of umpc's

here are two pics, 1) me and Greg in a cafe (where it all
happend) 2) my sister with 'her' new pc, on the way home...

i have decided to call my new eo 'hugo' because it is because of you that we have the eo is Australia! (hope this is ok)

well must carry on playing (um working)

Thanks again,
Jordan Weier


ps, this email comes from the eo...



As JK says, “I love what I do!”

Dr. Neil, Hugo Ortega mashup

Dr. Neil Roodyn and I recently decided to commit to a weekly podcast, sortof...well hopefully...maybe.

In an effort to make good with our word we bring you round number two of Dr. Neil vs. Hugo Ortega. So sit back, and listen into two MVP's discuss some geek stuff with a special guest - a cool little five year old.

Show notes:

Dr. Neil's Notes 22

This podcast was recorded on a Samsung Ultra Mobile PC with Castblaster

Monday, October 09, 2006

Hugo Ortega and UMPC Basics: video

Warning: behemoth download


Important as it is to talk to the bleeding edge community – all twelve of you – today’s video is designed to slow down the current exposure we all have to Ultra Mobile PC. At the moment I’m not particularly content with “moving on” to phase two, or three, just yet; so in keeping with this theme I've prepared a 16:9 extravaganza dubbed, UMPC: An out-of-the-box experience.

By “out of the box” I mean software. The video is dedicated to the software experience obtained by the standard features shipped inside a UMPC. I felt this video was important given that only a couple of thousand people worldwide are currently UMPC owners, which means most of you have not even seen or touched these devices. To best translate the UMPC experience I have run the screencasts on an Ultra Mobile PC, uploaded the images using a 16:9 ratio and stayed true to the native resolution of 800x480. Hopefully this is about as close as you'll get to a real device.

If you’re bleeding edge I’m afraid you’ll need to grab some elastoplast (band aids) and lick your wounds for a while. If you’re Mr. and Mrs. Corporation and still don’t know if the hype actually translates to a true productivity increase then sit back [21 minutes] and watch Hugo Ortega (Microsoft MVP) in this edition of UMPC: An Out of the box Experience!

Disclaimer: While I try and remain multicultural in my presentations sometimes thing just don't come out right [my American friends will think that using a rubber on a Journal page is a little "interesting," but that's what we call erasers Downunder.]

Show Notes:

  • Intro
  • Navigation: Program Launcher
  • Data Entry: Tablet Input Panel (TIP)
  • Ink Notes: Journal
  • Adding depth to your notes: Virtual Printers
  • Disseminating Information: Snipping Tool
  • Fun: Sudoku
  • Close

View the video here:

Mobile PC News: October Edition


The latest edition of Mobile PC News (from Redmond’s Mobile PC Team) is now live. For those of you already subscribed make sure you take a minute and read the latest from the Tablet space; for those of you not subscribed follow this link and get it done – it can prove to be clever networking tool!

A link I liked from this month's newsletter was pointing to: Windows Vista mobility features. This site is dedicated to developers looking for the platform and components to build great mobile PC applications.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Dr. Neil's Notes and UberTablet Guy

Last night I was with my friend Dr. Neil Roodyn. Given that he was a Tablet MVP, now MVP for Windows Live Development, he and I decided to rip a podcast (please don't sue me Apple).

Now one thing you need to understand about Neil and I is that we both love public speaking (weird I know) and we're both considered to be volume challenged (i.e. loud).

So if you're game, or just plain willing to listen in on a couple of geeks have a mobile tech chat, hop on over to Dr. Neil's Notes show #21:

Welcome to Show 21
  • Welcome back special guest Hugo "UberTablet" Ortega
  • Hugo is a Tablet PC MVP
  • Dr. Neil is now a Windows Live Developer MVP
  • Touchscreen tablet for a 3 year old with cerebral palsy
  • Redmond - what has Dr. Neil been doing there?
  • Where is my UMPC pod blaster?
  • This podcast was recorded on a Samsung Ultra Mobile PC with Castblaster

GottaBeMobile has GottaFourms live

Boy it's cool when people keep gorwing. There's nothing that turns me on more than people on the move. I've never settled for today given that there is still so much to do tomorrow. It looks as though GottaBeMobile has taken a leaf out of this text and gone and added forums in a effort to expand.

For those of you that don't RSS GottaBeMobile stuff, you should! For those that do, and have the time, energy and inclicnation to chat, why don't you head on over th Forums and start to vent your thoughts on the gottaBe pages.

Here's a copy of what went out today from th team:

Dear Fellow Tableteers,

We threw the switch tonight on the new forums at GottaBeMobile.com. Here’s the text of Dennis Rice’s announcement:

What's happening at GottaBeMobile.com? Forums, a new server and contests with tons of great Prizes and swag galore!

It has been a tremendous ride so far at GottaBeMobile.com. When Rob and I started this site back in February of this year, we envisioned a site that was full of fresh content on a regular basis with news, reviews, videos, etc. We think we have accomplished that and are most grateful for the support from the community, and for the help of our teammates Warner Crocker and Matt Faulkner.

The other key thing we wanted to plan for and launch was a really strong discussion forum presence. Well, the planning stage is over, and together with our awesome team members, we are announcing that the GottaBeMobile.com Forums are ready to go, and are now alive and kicking!

You will now notice a new link at the top left of the page for Forums, so go ahead and click that link (after you finish reading this post of course), register in the forums, and let the great information exchange begin! There are so many great people in the Tablet PC and Mobile community, and we want you all in the conversation. With three Tablet PC MVP's plus our "King of the Forums" Matt providing oversight and moderation, we promise a vibrant, alive, and ever changing resource for you. That is our commitment. Our hope is that you will find this a place to get and give answers, and have some fun along the way.

In addition to starting forums, we have also moved the existing site to a brand new server, and so far it is working great (thanks to Rob and Matt for a lot of hard work there!). We will closely monitor performance and needs to keep it humming right along.

Speaking of fun -- we've got some incredible contests and prizes coming your way! Here is a partial list of the great prizes we have coming from sponsors and friends in the next few days and weeks:

  • TechSmith Camtasia and SnagIt licenses, swag, and possibly a few accessories donated by our great InkShow sponsors TechSmith Corporation!
  • MindJet MindManager 6 licenses, mugs, hats, and T's galore!
  • Licenses to TEO 3.0 courtesy of Josh Einstein!
  • GottaBeMobile.com swag and Gear!
  • More in the works!
  • AND..... (drum roll please) ...... - One major, mongo hardware prize also TBA soon so stay tuned. (you're gonna want this one, I know I do!)

More on the contests, rules, etc. later, but you can bet you will have to earn them with activity on GBM's new forums, so you need to sign up and get posting!
We are most open to feedback, so please sign up and let us know what you think. We are continuing to develop the site, and will be making subtle changes for a while, so your input is very valuable. We especially want to thank those who volunteered to help the last week or so to debug and mold the site you see today.

Like I said, it's been a great ride so far, so join up and hang on up folks -- we just shifted up a couple of gears and are picking up speed!

See ya in the forums!

Team GottaBeMobile.com:
Dennis, Rob, Warner, and Matt

Here’s the link if you’d like to help us get the word out.

Tablet PC - Southern Hemisphere Style

I want to share three stories from my week in an episode dubbed: Tablet PC – Southern Hemisphere Style.

Because Tablet PC and Ultra Mobile PC are still considered very “vertical market” in the Southern Hemisphere sometimes these devices end up in rather ubiquitous locations, and circumstances. I want to share two such circumstances that I thought were worth a mention; and my third story is a warning to Fujitsu P1610 buyers.

Let’s begin in Hobart, Tasmania (see: lonely planet).

For those of you that don’t know where Hobart is, don’t worry neither do we! Hobart, located in Tasmania (or Tassie as we know it) is the southern most point of Australia, and actually not attached at all. You can fly there, even catch a ferry there, but you definitely can’t swim there.

This story unraveled itself about 6 days ago when I was sitting to eat some Thai food at my favourite take out called WokBar, in Dee Why. My mobile (cell) phone rang and there was a rather sweet sounding mum on the other side. Her name, Maree, and husband’s name, Rob, came across as a mum-and-dad team should, i.e. caring and happy-go-lucky. Our conversation carried on for about 15 minutes and revolved around their little 3yr old boy Rohan (pictured with favourite toy, "blue").

It turns out that Maree and Rob had been hunting for advice regarding Tablet PC for quite some time. Their needs are rather unique in that Rohan suffers from Cerebral Palsy – a debilitating permanent brain injury that affects an infant in the womb; it can prevent or inhibit walking and cause a lack of muscle coordination, spasms, and speech difficulty.

As a dad of one (Leon my five year old) and soon to be father of a Daughter (Amber due in late November) I couldn’t help but connect with Maree and Rob’s plight. During the conversation my feedback focused on the resistive qualities of several touch screens, and the significant difference a large display could make to someone with poor motor skills. Subsequently - due mostly to a light weighted touch, a slate design and 12.1” touch screen - Maree and I settled on the Sahara i215 tablet by TabletKiosk.

Maree imparted much of her story and inadvertently let me into her inner-circle of loved ones. Rohan was 3 in August and his grandmother Marie tells me that Rohan is an adorable child with lots to offer. “His body suit helps his body-control, and his walker gives him freedom,” his grandmother told me. “This computer will help so much!” She also shared with me that Rob (the father) is a fulltime carer that looks after Rohan and his sister Emily very well. The irony is that mum Maree is also a sonographer and actually performed her own Ultrasound before birth; the unavoidable circumstance that followed left Rohan with his disorder, and mum and dad with a forever changed life.

Although the role I played was minute, and perhaps inconsequential, we did manage to get Roahan the Tablet for under replacement value. I do like to think that I helped the little guy and I’m looking forward to hearing of his progress; I am promised updates and photos regarding his interaction so I can’t wait to share more with you.

The second story, from an even more remote location, comes out of the Solomon Islands; and it involves UMPC! Today I received this email from a friend of mine named Glenn Vassallo of Bold Intelligence:

“I wanted to let you know how things are progressing with the EO UMPCs. They have been used for about a month now at Honiara International Airport where it is very hot and very humid, so far they have worked without a hitch. The UMPC was a perfect solution as the size makes them very portable, while still offering enough screen real estate to run the browser based survey software. The solution uses the UMPCs wireless to connect to a Windows 2003 Server located at Solomon Island Telekom co-hosting facility. I’ve attached a few photos of me testing the unit at Honiara airport. "

How cool is that? Did you even know that the Solomon Islands existed, and that the capital city is called Honiara? When I heard that Ultra Mobile PC, the Otto Berkes brain child, has made it to the remotest of remote locations in the world, and is actually experiencing success, I couldn’t help but feel contented. For those of you that have no idea where or what the Solomon Islands are then wonder over to the U.S Department of State website or the Solomon Islands website to learn more.

My last little blurb is a warning to P1610 buyers.

Today a friend of mine, a reluctant blogger named Grant, had his $1,000 dollar RAM shipped to him. What am I talking about you might ask? I’m talking about the current Fujitsu P1510, and its subsequent successor the P1610, which both run a miniaturised RAM called micro-DIMM. Not interesting you might say. But what if I told you that a 1Gig stick costs $1,999 Australian dollars (approx. $1,400 USD) - now I got your attention.

It seems the big threat to any buyer looking at purchasing a P1510 or P1610 is not so much wether the device "hits the spot”, because I think we all agree it rocks, but rather the RAM upgrade. At over a third the cost of a replacement device the RAM itself could prove to be a hindrance rather than a “must have” accessory. Because I saw GottaBeMobile run a story today and JK last week regarding the P1610 I thought I would take time to place a little reality check on the hype. [although I’ll still be buying one!]

BTW, those of you that followed my post regarding the P1610 (world exclusive), please be patient as the video will be back.

So that was me, Hugo Ortega, in action this last week. It’s been fun, emotional and frustrating. But best of all its been Tablet!

Have a great week!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

TPN's Microsoft Developer Show #8

Does my mate, MVP Nick Randolph, ever stop? (rhetorical)

On this occasion, and slightly different to this one, he sits down at The Podcast Network to chat with Jeff Arnett (embedded MVP) about building mobility applications that work across different platforms.

If you're a developer this one will definitely interest you, if you're not it will probably be light enough to capture you attention. If you're in doubt look at this:
(or Listen Here)

02:08 - Windows XP Embedded
02:36 - Windows CE & .NET Compact Framework
02:58 - Visual Studio at HP
04:38 - Windows Mobile v’s Windows CE
05:10 - Windows Mobile version release chart
06:02 - Platform Builder
06:59 - Embedded C++
08:22 - Visual Studio 2005 includes C++ development
10:35 - Deploy to My Computer
11:27 - Standalone Emulator
11:43 - AKU2 emulator images
13:09 - OpenNETCF
19:20 - Dual project structure at Intilecta
23:23 - Resource files and the DesignerGeneratedAttribute
24:01 - Patterns and Practices created the Mobile Client Software Factory
28:18 - .NET Framework v3
30:13 - Webservices from a mobile device
30:37 - Lack of server functionality in the .NET CF
32:13 - Windows Communication Foundation - Basic Profile
33:03 - Direct Push implementation
34:43 - Gaming platform
35:13 - What is the future of the .NET CF?
37:43 - OpenNETCF Smart Devices Framework
38:13 - Performance v’s footprint
40:13 - Networking stack
41:20 - Windows CE 6.0
42:13 - SQL Server Everywhere
42:30 - Windows Presentation Foundation
43:53 - WPF/e
45:18 - Daniel Moth, Chris Tacke and other Device Application Development MVPs
46:28 - Dual project wizard
47:06 - Portability analyser
53:50 - MSBuild hijacked for immediate feedback

What's great about the show is just how slick the audio and layout of the is. Kudos to Nick for his efforts!

Monday, October 02, 2006

Hugo Ortega receives Microsoft MVP Award

This Monday morning was always going to be pleasant given that it was a Public Holiday in Australia – Labour Day, New South Wales (NSW) and beyond. Yet it was destined to be more substantial than just that.

As I grabbed a cup of coffee and pressed send/receive to check for new messages I was astounded by one of the headers that read:

“[MVP] Congratulations! You have received the Microsoft MVP Award

Wow! What an amazing way to start a Monday. Microsoft was officially acknowledging everything I had done this last year by awarding me the status of Microsoft MVP 2007. The first thing I did was look up who else had been awarded the title in my competency, i.e. Windows - Tablet PC.

As I gazed at the list it struck me that there were only 18 of us worldwide. Secondly I noticed that I was Australia’s first Tablet PC MVP (Dr. Neil represented here but was actually US based); and only the second ever in the Southern Hemisphere (line honours went to NZ’s Craig Pringle).

The other thing that struck was the company I was holding. Some of my personal favourites include:

I couldn’t help but be overjoyed by the status and feel more determined than ever to assist in Australia, and beyond.

At this stage I would like to personally thank several people, in a very particular order: My Wife, Dr. Neil Roodyn & Kris, TabletKiosk Team USA, Frank Arrigo, Lora Heiny and family, Craig Pringle, Jeff Alexander, Roger Lawrence, Warner Crocker, Rob Bushway, James Kendrick, Tablet PC Bloggers, Rick Anderson (Microsoft AU), Doug Mulray, and many more.

[If you’re not on the list do not feel left out as the list is endless.]

One thing I realized by looking at the current Tablet MVP's is that it is not enough to simply want the award; it must be earned.

Thank you Microsoft.