MaSSSoftech

It’s no secret that there are millions of digital photos that never see the light of day. They languish on hard drives, flash memory cards, photo CDs, and other digital media, never to be printed or shared. And though some lucky shots get distributed via photo sharing and social networking sites, the days of snapshot prints that you can pass around to your friends and family are dwindling. Sony Electronics is trying to stem the tide with its new S-Frame DPP-F700 digital photo frame.

The DPP-F700 is an all-in-one digital photo frame that not only displays photos on a 7-inch widescreen LCD, but also prints out 4×6-inch snapshots, using a built-in dye-sublimation technology printer. And when Sony says all-in-one, it means all-in-one: you can use the device to do some basic photo editing, such as enlarging, reducing, cropping, and adjusting sharpness, brightness, contrast and hue, as well as print out calendars and other predefiined image templates.

An automatic sensor rotates portrait- or landscape-format images appropriately and offers multiple playback options, such as single images, thumbnails, or slideshows with 10 built-in transitions.



The frame accepts most flash memory formats — including SD, SDHC, MMC, CompactFlash, xD-Picture Card, and of course Memory Stick Pro and Memory Stick Pro DUO cards — as well as USB input from your PC.

And if you actually just want your digital snaps to languish, there’s a gigabyte of internal storage that automatically downsizes your photos to store up to 2,000 images.

The frame/printer will sell for about $200 when it ships in January and is compatible with SVM-F series photo paper packs for Sony Picture Station printers. The cost of consumables per print varies from about 50 cents a print with the SVM-F40P pack (which includes 40 sheets of 4×6 paper and a printer ribbon for $19.99) to about 30 cents per print with the SVM-F120P (which includes 120 sheets of 4×6 paper and two printer ribbons for $34.99).

The White House announced the move in an Associated Press story that somewhat clumsily tried explaining, "the programming language is written in public view, available for public use, and able for people to edit." Debugging and upgrading the site's code "now...can be done in the matter of days and free to taxpayers."

Well, sort of. First of all, Drupal is a program, not a programming language, and second, just because software is available for free doesn't mean that using it is free. It takes time and expertise to install, configure, and maintain software. Indeed, Drupal and Acquia founder Dries Buytaert said in a blog posting announcing the White House's use of Drupal that companies involved in the Web site switch included not just his but also General Dynamics Information Technology, Phase2 Technology, Akamai, and Terremark Federal Group.

And although open-source software in general can offer a tight feedback loop between the programmers creating the software and the people using it, there's no guarantee that debugging and security patches automatically arrive faster or that software is easier to maintain than with proprietary software.

This move is just the sort of thing that can lead to a lot of misunderstandings about the idea of openness, a term that's up there with motherhood and apple pie these days when it comes to values everybody wants to embrace. Don't confuse the fact that Drupal is cooperatively created and debugged in public with the openness of the present administration's government.

This line in the AP story in particular raised my hackles: "Aides joked that it doesn't get more transparent than showing the world (the) code that their Web site is based on."

That's just silly. Drupal-powered blogs and forums can enable online information sharing and public participation in discussions, but that sort of thing can be accomplished with proprietary software as well. Likewise, it's perfectly possible to use open-source software in a system that's locked-down and closed.

That's not to pluck the feather out of Drupal's cap--or indeed out of the caps of Red Hat's Linux operating system, Apache software for hosting Web site and powering its search, and the MySQL database, all of which also are used in the White House project, according to publisher, tech pundit, and open-source fan Tim O'Reilly.

It's not without reason that open-source software is very popular to power Web properties, including plenty of high-powered ones such as Google and Facebook. The White House's move is an endorsement that could help others--notably the many customers in the federal government itself--feel more comfortable with open-source software.

Today Windows 7 hits the GA or general availability milestone. That means that you’ll be able to pick up a PC with the OS pre-installed on it, or pick up a disc from your favorite virtual or bricks-and-mortar outlet. To celebrate, here are my top 7 favorite Windows 7 features.

#1 - Performance boost

Without a doubt the top Windows 7 feature for me is performance. On every system that I’ve put Windows 7 on, from monster quad core rigs to humble netbooks, I’ve seen a performance boost.

Putting numbers on this performance hike, on key metrics such as boot-up, video encoding and gaming frames per second, the boost over Vista is, on average, in the region of 10%.

In my opinion, this performance boost is Windows 7’s strongest selling point.

#2 - More restrained UAC

The User Account Control (UAC) experience under Vista was a little like being shot in the face with a shotgun filled with dialog boxes. A single simple action could unleash a barrage of warnings that left many users feeling confused, bewildered and angry.

Under Windows 7, UAC is a little more restrained, limiting prompts to specific actions. Some might argue that this decreases the security it offers, but I think that the “dialog blindness” that the old UAC caused is worse.

Another good side of the new, improved UAC is the fact that users can customize the level of warnings they receive and so set up the system to best suit their needs.

#3 - 64-bit becomes the new default

Microsoft, along with the big OEMs, are pushing 64-bit flavor of Windows harder than ever. Given that hardware, software and driver support for 64-bit is now at an all-time high, there’s very little reason for users not to migrate to 64-bit.

Within a few years I expect the Windows 7 effect to start to erode 32-bit’s strangle-hold on PCs.

#4 - Improved troubleshooting tools

When users hit a problem, what they want to do is find a solution or fix and get on with their day. To help users accomplish this, Microsoft has incorporated numerous troubleshooters into Windows 7.

No troubleshooter is perfect, but the work that Microsoft has done in Windows 7 will help many users fix problems for themselves without having to resort to tech support or trawling the web for answers.

#5 - UI improvements

No one can say that the Windows 7 UI is revolutionary, but the evolutionary changes that Microsoft has made in this new OS are almost all steps in the right direction. There are two aspects of the UI that have been tweaked:

- Helping users find the applications and documents they want to work with
- Once the user has found what they want, the UI fades into the background and allows the user to get on with things

#6 - Touch support

It’s going to be a while until the built-in touch support incorporated into Windows 7 really takes off, but there’s no doubt that Microsoft’s inclusion of support for touch-screens right into the Windows 7 OS will encourage OEMs to offer more systems with this cool feature.

#7 - XP Mode

I’m not a huge fan of the XP Mode feature available in some editions of Windows 7 that allows users to run XP within a virtual machine from the desktop. However, for those folks with specific bits of software that won’t work on a later OS, then XP Mode does offer a lifeline.

Bonus favorite feature - It’s not Vista. ‘Nuff said!

So, is it a good OS? Yes. In fact, I agree with Ed Bott when he calls the OS “impressive.” However, that said, I can’t see any really compelling reason to rush adoption. Take your time, Windows 7 will be there waiting for you 6 months of a year down the line. Over that time it’ll get better, and hardware/driver support will get better, so everyone’s a winner.

So, join the party and upgrade now, or wait and upgrade later. Or stick with what you are already running. Or go with a Mac or Linux … The choice if yours.

Microsoft is really turning up the consumer-focused volume on the Windows 7 launch on October 22 — despite the fact that the company makes a lot of money from selling Windows to business users, either via volume-license agreements and/or various other channels.

Why so much attention on retail — where Microsoft admittedly garners the least amount of Windows revenues? Microsoft officials believe if they can win over consumers with Windows 7, these consumers will push their workplaces to move to Windows 7 more quickly. There’s also, undoubtedly, a large helping of Apple envy/fear that’s part of Microsoft’s consumer push.

To kick off the launch activities, Microsoft unveiled on October 21 a number of retail deals for the product that it has forged with some of its PC partners and retail outlets. Microsoft is calling the promotion “7 Days of Windows 7.” Company officials said to expect more Windows 7 deals to be added throughout the coming week and to check back on Windows.com if you’re in the market for new hardware, upgrades, support, etc.)

Day 1 (October 22) offers include:

* Best Buy offering Full home technology remodel, handyman included. Best Buy PC Home Makeover
* HP laptop, netbook, desktop and monitor package with Windows 7. Geek Squad wireless home network with router and new PC setup is included for $1,199.00
* Dell Studio XPS 13. Save more than $100.00
* Acer AZ5610-U9072 23″ Touch All-in-One (with Windows Touch) for $880.00
* With the Buy a PC, Get a Discounted Upgrade offer, customers who buy a new PC running Windows 7 Home Premium can upgrade a Windows XP- or Windows Vista-based PC they already own with a discounted box copy of Windows 7. This offer will run through Jan. 2, 2010.
* The Windows 7 Family Pack is available tomorrow in select countries while supplies last. With this offer, consumers can buy three Upgrade licenses of Windows 7 for one price.
* The Student Offer begins tomorrow. For a limited time, the Windows 7 Student Offer gives college and university students in the U.S. and select markets worldwide the opportunity to purchase Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade or Windows 7 Professional Upgrade for a discount.

I’m weighing which Windows 7 machine to buy and am open to suggestions. I’m looking for something that’s lightweight and very durable. (I’m actually considering buying both a netbook and a laptop, making the laptop my primary machine and the netbook what I take on the road.) I don’t care about running games. I don’t want or need touch. I do value battery life and don’t need anything flashy (though something with a little personality would be nice). Any suggestions out there?

One other note: If you’re in the New York City area on October 22, feel free to come by our post-launch party. It’s at the Antarctica Bar on Hudson and will start around 5 p.m. Lot of Microsoft bloggers — including Ed Bott of ZDNet, Paul Thurrott of the Windows SuperSite, Tom Warren of NeoWin and more will be there. We’re also expecting Most Valuable Professionals, testers, a few brave/crazy Softies and other hangers-on to show up to sample the seven beers on tap. Hope to see you there!

Today is Windows 7 launch day. Here are some launch day offers that might be of interest to you.

Microsoft is introducing a limited-time series of offers known as “7 Days of Windows 7” with amazing deals on hardware, upgrades, support and other options. Watch for new offers to be released daily on Windows.com.

To kick off Day 1 tomorrow, Microsoft is offering PCs that are targeted at simplifying consumers’ lives. There are a host of offers available for customers, including:

* Best Buy. Full home technology remodel, handyman included. Best Buy PC Home Makeover
- HP laptop, netbook, desktop and monitor package with Windows 7. Geek Squad wireless home network with router and new PC setup is included.
$1,199.00
* Dell Studio XPS 13. All the speed you’ll need.
- Simply put, everything you do on your PC will be easier with a fast, high-performing laptop.
Save more than $100 on a Dell Studio XPS13
* Acer AZ5610-U9072 23″ Touch All-in-One (with Windows Touch)
- Touch capabilities and all-in-one elegance with an integrated PC and monitor
- This stunning, All-in-One PC with Windows Touch incorporates intuitive multi-touch technology for exceptional high-definition (HD) entertainment at your fingertips. An elegant, bring exceptional HD entertainment to your fingertips.
$880.00

With the Buy a PC, Get a Discounted Upgrade offer, customers who buy a new PC running Windows 7 Home Premium can upgrade a Windows XP- or Windows Vista-based PC they already own with a discounted box copy of Windows 7. This offer will run through Jan. 2, 2010.

Other offers available include:

* The Windows 7 Family Pack is available tomorrow in select countries while supplies last. With this offer, consumers can buy three Upgrade licenses of Windows 7 for one low price.
* The Student Offer begins tomorrow. For a limited time, the Windows 7 Student Offer gives college and university students in the U.S. and select markets worldwide the opportunity to purchase Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade or Windows 7 Professional Upgrade for a significant discount.

The new BlackBerry 9700 from T-Mobile comes as no surprise given all the leaks. I was actually in a T-Mobile store a couple months ago and a salesperson mentioned it was coming in an offhand manner. T-Mobile made it official today though and announced that the BlackBerry Bold 9700 would be coming in “time for the holidays”. This is T-Mobile USA’s first 3G BlackBerry and it looks sweet. It also has a speedy 624 MHz processor that should really fly.

Other specs include 256MB of Flash memory with a microSD card slot, Bluetooth, WiFi (with support for VoIP calls over the T-Mobile HotSpot @Home network), GPS, 3.2 megapixel camera, touch sensitive trackpad (no trackball on this device), 3.5-mm headset jack, 360 x 480 resolution display and it runs the new BlackBerry OS 5.0. I see on the T-Mobile site there is also a new service called PrimeTime2Go that offers TV viewing on the go.

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 will be available for $199.99 with a 2-year contract.

Windows 7 is impressive. That word is rarely used in the same sentence as “Microsoft” and “Windows” – certainly not in recent years. But it fits here.
Unlike its predecessors, this Windows version feels as if it were designed and built by a single, coordinated team instead of being assembled from interchangeable parts. In daily use, Windows 7 feels graceful and often (but not always) elegant. Although it builds on elements that debuted in Windows Vista, it fixes many usability sins and adds consistency and polish to an interface that had too many rough edges. And some very impressive new capabilities, especially the grossly underrated Libraries feature, offer rewards for digging deeper.

Windows 7 runs smoothly and efficiently on even modest hardware. Remarkably, it reverses the longstanding trend to make Windows bigger. From a standing start, Windows 7 uses less memory, runs fewer services, and consumes less disk space than its predecessor, Windows Vista, and in the 64-bit version it can address about five times more RAM than you can actually stuff onto a single motherboard. This year, anyway.

I’ve already covered the features in Windows 7 extensively. Little in Windows 7 has changed since I wrote What to expect from Windows 7 back in May. If you review the screenshot gallery I assembled for that post, you’ll have a very good idea of how Windows 7 looks and acts today (the sole exception is Windows XP Mode, which has changed significantly from the beta release I looked at in May).

When Windows Vista was released in January 2007, I suggested that most businesses of even modest size and complexity would be wise to heed conventional wisdom and avoid it until Service Pack 1 was ready. I don’t feel compelled to offer that same advice here. The development process for Windows 7 has been steady and deliberate. The Release Candidate code that Microsoft made public last May was arguably more stable and reliable than most recent official Windows releases. As I wrote in What to expect from Windows 7 nearly six months ago:

From a features and capabilities point of view, Windows 7 is essentially done. It’s all over but the process of hunting down bugs, many of them associated with OEM hardware and drivers. In a bygone era, code this stable and well tested might have been released as a 1.0 product, followed six months later by a service pack. Not this year. Microsoft is treating Windows 7 as the world’s most ambitious shareware release ever.

I’m told that 8 million people have been running the Windows 7 Release Candidate. That’s four times the number of people who registered as Windows Vista beta testers during its development process. My gut feeling is that the number of people actually using Windows 7 in recent months is at least an order of magnitude higher than the corresponding head count in the runup to Windows Vista. And based on everything I’ve heard, the overwhelming majority of those who try Windows 7 like it.

So, who should upgrade? And who shouldn’t? As always, I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all recommendations. But for a few categories, the choice is simple:

* If you’re running Windows Vista and gritting your teeth over it, you should upgrade as soon as possible. The relief will be immediate.
* If you’re shopping for a new PC, get one with Windows 7 on it. And if it doesn’t run properly on Day 1, return it and find another. OEMs that do a good job of matching PC hardware to Windows should be rewarded. Those who didn’t learn from the Vista experience deserve to be punished.
* If you’re perfectly happy with the performance of XP and don’t want to relearn established habits, stay put.
* For anyone relying on mission-critical Windows-based apps or specialized hardware, testing trumps any desire to have the latest OS, no matter how well it’s been reviewed.

And if you’re feeling gun-shy about switching, it’s OK to wait. Most people forget that the venerable Windows XP was unpopular and unloved for its first two years in the marketplace. And Windows Vista has matured into a solid, if forgettable OS after many reliability updates and two service packs. Based on that experience, Windows 7 will improve with age.

Yes, there are downsides to the Windows 7 transition. For Windows XP users in particular, the upgrade process is tedious. Licensing is still a confusing mess, especially for small business owners. Drivers are still a potential source of headaches, as I’ve found in recent months.

But its improvements in productivity, security, and reliability make Windows 7 worth those short-term hassles. It is, without question, the most impressive software development effort Microsoft has ever undertaken. For anyone who has chosen Windows – out of preference or necessity – it is an impressive achievement and as close to an essential upgrade as I have ever seen.