One of the things I’m most looking forward to this year is the release of Windows 8; the OS that hopefully finally propels Microsoft in the tablet market.  When Apple released their iPad, I talked endlessly about whether the form factor was truly ready, citing that users didn’t really need a middle device between their smart phone and PC/Laptop – I’m not sure if my opinion of that has really changed any, but with Windows 8 walking the line between tablet OS and fully operated Windows release, that seems far more appealing to me and I hope to purchase a touch enabled device when the time comes.

One question I keep reading over and over again though is the around the question of what advantages Windows 8 brings to the business.  Whilst ‘metro’ and touch screen don’t necessarily translate well into the enterprise space, there are some improvements to be had – especially one feature in particular – ‘refresh/reset’.

On the ‘Building Windows 8’ blog (link – here), a whole raft of information can be found about how it works.  But the bit that caught my attention was the following table:

Recovery operation	Time required
Refreshing the PC	8 minutes 22 seconds
Resetting the PC (quick)	6 minutes 12 seconds
Resetting the PC (thorough, with BitLocker enabled)	6 minutes 21 seconds
Resetting the PC (thorough, without BitLocker)	23 minutes 52 seconds

It shows the amount of time it takes for Windows to do a refresh or reset from various states.  Assuming that the hard disk isn’t the cause of the failure, this feature could really improve the lives of many ‘road warriors’ and technical support folk; especially in conjunction with the ability to set your restore point.

Don’t get me wrong, road warriors will still have to make provisions to back up their data (unless you’ve already “gone to the cloud”), and look after their devices, but the ability to go back to ‘factory settings’ in extreme circumstances will be priceless for these users, especially if technical support is out of immediate reach.

Of course, many will argue that having this ‘nuclear’ option at all is an admission of defeat – after all, when was the last time you had to reset your smart phone or tablet device running integrated operating systems?  And I agree with those that make this argument, reinstalling or resetting will be the very last thing you ever want to do and is a bit of an admission of defeat on Microsoft’s part; however we’re still in a transition period between these post-PC, integrated devices and the traditional operating systems that require us to re-install every now and again.

There is also no denying that things have got better in this area overall though; I don’t think I’ve ever had to reinstall my Windows 7 laptop since it was purchased, where as I’m sure I would have found the need to do so if I were still running Windows XP.

Before Christmas a terrible thing happened (others would say it was a stupid thing, but it happened all the same), I washed a pair of jeans which happened to have my Sony Walkman MP3 player in the pocket – oops!

Whilst this isn’t exactly breaking news, it did mean I was back on the trail and in the market for a replacement device and what I found was quite surprising; they haven’t got any cheaper since I last bought one and have gained very few additional features.  Now, admittedly the one I ended up with (another reliable Sony Walkman), has a touch screen, but even without this feature, prices were still comparably the same.

The reason I found this so astounding was simply because the price of flash memory has definitely been reduced.  A 16GB USB flash drive can be bought for approximately £8.99 at the moment, shipped!  I understand that the other components and software and manufacture all cost money, but £90 additional pounds sterling?  I find that hard to believe.

Before buying I did consider the alternatives to a dedicated MP3 player; my phone being the most obvious choice and actually loading my music onto a USB Flash drive – but the problem with either of these is that I actually use my MP3 player quite a lot and interruptions from phone calls don’t appeal and re-kitting my car stereo for a USB drive without having the control of a player is hardly a ‘nice solution’.

Whilst I hope this MP3 player will last, I’m also of the opinion that it may be the last player I ever buy.  After this one, I hope that the memory in my mobile phone is greater than 16GB (as seems to be the standard in most mobiles – 32GB models always seem difficult to track down).

In the meantime, let the music play.

Looking back over the past year, there was a clear technology battle underway that could affect a place in our everyday lives; that battle was for your living room. 

It’s not a new battle and there have been many players over the years; starting with the cable companies, Sky, broadband providers and now very much swinging directly in the hands of the ‘big three’ (Apple, Google, Microsoft). 

A new Apple TV device was launched, which promised integration into the infamous iTunes platform and whilst Apple continuously claimed that the device was still in ‘hobby’ mode, the die-hard fans went out and bought, hacked, watched and played.  Largely though, the device remained a ‘hobbyist’ piece of kit for the minority.  It’s still a device many are looking and reflecting upon as the future of TV, but I’m sceptical of the prospect of iPhone/iPad applications running on the television screen being the ultimate answer in TV entertainment.

Likewise, and to much greater fanfare, Google announced their new Google TV venture and even managed to wrangle in some device manufacturers in the form of Sony and Logitech into building set top boxes for them, which looked promising indeed for the Internet Search giant.  The only problem however was that no one seemed interested in buying their devices and the reviews suggested that they still difficult to use for things beyond changing the channel (such as searching the Internet – presumably via Google Search).  Towards the end of the year, Logitech announced huge losses in their investment into the project and look likely to pull out of the venture all together at some point in the near future.

It seemed that Microsoft were once again, well and truly out of the race in the battle for the TV space – however they may recently have positioned themselves as the front runners and it could have much wider implications.  Let me explain....

The humble Xbox was the device that Microsoft launched to attack the games entertainment market and steal eyeballs (or perhaps that should be thumbs?), from Sega, Nintendo and Sony in the console world – and whilst Sega and Nintendo seemed to stumble, Sony provided a much bigger obstacle to overcome.  Not to worry though, because the hackers had already discovered vulnerability in Microsoft’s Xbox, which allowed the device to be ‘updated’ with new software such as XBMC (Xbox Media Centre), which effectively allowed music and movies to be loaded directly onto the device (as well as free, ripped – though illegal – games to be played).

Whilst other companies might have fought with the users (and I’m sure they initially did), Microsoft saw what happened and learnt from it and by the time the Xbox 360 launched, ‘Media Center’ was built right into the device.  Phase one was then complete. 

Phase two was to catch up with the radical new controllers that Nintendo had introduced with the launch of the Wii.  The way to do this was to bring out something new and radical – the Kinect, a 3D camera and voice recognition device that allows “you to be the controller” as the tag line says.  The device was the biggest selling piece of kit that Christmas and has broken many other records along the way.  The Xbox sales have spiralled and has been the number one console for a number of consecutive months, almost unchallenged as Sony have struggled to match the pizzazz of the Kinect and faced their own security problems following a hacking attack on their customer databases.

Phase three thought is the one that has potentially propelled Microsoft right to the front of battle for the living room space; the release of their new Xbox dashboard technology.  The software update has integrated Bing search services directly into Microsoft’s favoured Metro style tiled interface and also allowed ‘apps’ to be downloaded and ran directly on the Xbox (providing you’re also an Xbox Live Gold customer – which is also a little bit genius on Microsoft’s part).  Some of these applications however are movie and television content providers such as Sky, LoveFilm, 4oD, etc in the UK; using these streaming content services, it brings them directly into your living room and onto your screen through your games console!

What’s more, the Kinect with motion and voice control mean that slightly more complex tasks that Google seemed to struggle with on a remote control are simplified and able to be achieved within an overall package.  The current price for an Xbox is also attractive to users as it’s not a dedicated set top box, it’s also a console aimed at both serious and casual gamers.

When I first seen this demonstrated by Microsoft at CES, I pondered whether the cost of entry would be too high for most users to afford for Sky services, Zune memberships, Xbox Live Gold membership, etc.  It is still a high price to pay overall, but if technology continues along the path it seems to be on towards streaming media, there is no reason why companies such as Sky cannot unbundle their satellite subscription services and offer an ‘Internet streamed’ service only; especially if it attracts a few more customers.

The upsides for Microsoft getting this right could be huge too!  If Xbox dominates the living room space, they have already demonstrated and have in place integrations with Windows Phone services, Kinect hardware and could easily expand these same ‘Xbox Entertainment Services’ directly into Windows 8.  Interconnected devices, powered by smart software are exactly where Microsoft needs to be in the consumer space and Xbox could just be the device to do it.

I look forward to a lot more to come.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a fan of Microsoft products – and whilst I’ve been frustrated with some of the problems that have occurred over the years and applied an endless amount of patches and service packs, I remain undeterred and love them for who they are and what they do.

Like many people this holiday season I’ve also been reading the Steve Jobs Biography on my number one device to gain an insight into the man, rather than the company (as a Microsoft kinda guy, I’ve never been an Apple guy).  What I found fascinating however was the amount of innovation and focus that has been instilled into the Apple culture, which doesn’t seem to translate into Microsoft products quite so easily.

The question of whether Microsoft can really innovate has been asked many times and answered many times by many people, who all have differing views.  My opinion is that Microsoft can innovate (Kinect and the ‘different’ Windows Phone concept being the most recent examples), but are often beaten to the punch by other companies or they fail to promote their wares in the right way (which result in other companies being perceived as beating Microsoft to launch – speech recognition in the mobile space being an obvious example, up against Siri).

Up until this point, I’d never really understood the criticism of CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft is a huge company that can’t be easy to manage, especially when so much is expected of them.  Let’s not forget that huge strides have been made in the last year; the three screens strategy Microsoft have long talked about is finally being unveiled in the form of Xbox (living room), Windows Phone (mobile) and Windows 8 (desktop be that PC, laptop or tablet).  But it’s been a long time coming (and is still coming when you look at the tablet market).

The frustrations with Microsoft is that they simply do not move fast enough – Bill Gates has long banged the drum for a world filled with tablet devices and yet only this year are they really in a position to deliver something into that market.

It would be far too easy to say that Microsoft are too easily distracted by things outside of their core products and services, but many of these are essential for the future; surface computing, holodesk, projector technologies and cloud services (Azure), are all likely to break out into the real world at some point and any patents granted between now and then are all money in the pockets of Microsoft.  But they do need to keep focus more on what’s happening now; mobile, tablets, Zune/iTunes entertainment services, etc. and keep these in line with their ‘three screens’ strategy.

Last year I put together my top five list of movies – which I found rather quite difficult given the number of great movies from last year to choose from. This year I’ve had my number one picked out for quite sometime, waiting for it to be beaten – but that never happened.

But picking my next four has been rather difficult this year – either I haven’t been paying all that much attention, or seeing the wrong films or choosing movies is a lot harder than choosing tech!

NUMBER FIVE: The Hangover Part 2

It was always going to be difficult to follow up the genius that was ‘The Hangover’, it was a great, surprise movie that no one saw coming, but just about everyone fell in love with.

The second instalment therefore had a lot to live up to – whilst having to be bigger, funnier and more clever than before and that’s exactly what they did. The setting of the movie changed from Vegas to Thailand adding the complexities of a language barrier to the story.

The recipe was then unchanged, yet different. Which is why it had to make it only my top five.

NUMBER FOUR: Limitless

What could be a surprise entry in anyone’s top five, but for me it was just a great concept for a movie and one that made drugs looks cool!

Whilst the reviews for this film weren’t all great, I fell in love with the idea that a drug could unlock part of your brain and allow you to ‘think’ clearly and without distraction in order to do incredible things.

It was certainly an original story and that is why is had to be in my top five.

NUMBER THREE: Contagion

Again, another original story that revolves around a virus outbreak that spreads throughout the world population and the behind-the-scenes efforts to control and find a cure or vaccination.

The twist in the film literally leaves you with plenty to think about come the end.

NUMBER TWO: X-Men : First Class

An epic film from start to finish and one that I was sure I wasn’t going to enjoy before I walked into the cinema and took my seat. 

 

As a Ayrton Senna fan the hype was certainly pushed up higher still. As the film came around to be released in the UK, its limited showing ensured that I would only really get one shot to see this film – I even finished work early to race to the cinema to take my seat for this one – and I wasn’t let down!

The film was a masterpiece – shown in a documentary style – telling the story of Prost vs Senna, the politics and untimely death of a true legend. The film was top of my Christmas list for 2011 and it the top of my list for this year’s top five.

Go see it – if you haven’t already.

For the past two years, in an idea that I shamelessly stole from someone else, I’ve put together my top five in tech.