Entries for November 2007

I guess I'm not alone when I said Microsoft has a problem because it labeled a consumer product as a "server." The company itself is going after the issue with online ads that make light of the label applied to its latest consumer system, Windows Home Server.

They include a faux debate questioning whether a server has a place in the home. Best line: "You can't domesticate a server!" And there's a kids' picture book titled, Mommy, Why Is There a Server in the House? Helping Your Child Understand the Stay-At-Home Server.

You get the picture. But if Microsoft knew the name itself would be a hurdle, why not try something else?

You can see the ads (and book) at StayAtHomeServer.com.

A move is never fun, even if it's just a digital one. But PCMover ($50) is software that can take away much of the pain of a digital transfer, if you don't mind a hiccup or two. It greatly eases the shifting of cherished photos, files, and even programs from one Windows computer to another.

I tested PCMover on an old PC running Windows XP and on a new one running Windows Vista. The two computers found each other across the home network. That itself is a wonder, considering the complexities of Windows networking.

PCMover walked me through a simple setup, which mostly involved deciding which programs and files I wanted to transfer. With about 30 gigabytes to transfer, PCMover said it would take about four hours.

Then came a few hiccups. For no apparent reason, the software would stop transferring. I'd have to go through the setup again, and PCMover would pick up where it left off. The four-hour transfer turned into something closer to eight hours, as I didn't detect the stalls right away.

But that's a minor beef as everything appeared to work as hoped on the new PC. I did have to reactivate Microsoft Office, which took a call to Microsoft and a promise to uninstall Office from the old computer.

Vista comes with a utility for moving files and settings from an old computer. And Microsoft is letting the public test a free utility for moving some programs. But from my experience, PCMover earns its money as a digital moving van.

The Google phone has landed another network, but not the Apple iPhone. Those are two early conclusions to be drawn from the announcement today that Verizon Wireless will open its network to non-Verizon devices and applications.

Other details are scant. But the essence is that Verizon will allow non-Verizon devices that it deems safe to connect to its network. Those cellphones will operate under different pricing than the devices that Verizon now sells and won't get the support that Verizon offers current customers. The "walled garden" that Verizon operates will still be available to customers who want assured quality and support, says CEO Lowell McAdam: "We will have multiple models."

Cyber Monday is the tag that's been given to the Monday after Thanksgiving and Black Friday. It's supposed to be the biggest online shopping day, as everyone returns to the office and shops on the Web.

Reports throughout the day indicated that this year would be no disappointment. Akamai, whose servers help online retailers handle large crowds, said more than 300 retailing websites that it tracked were drawing 4.6 million visitors per minute. That would be a new record for single-day traffic. And the National Retail Federation said it expected 72 million people to shop online Monday, compared with about 60 million last year.

It's that retail trade group that came up with the "Cyber Monday" tag a couple of years ago. But others say it's hardly the busiest online buying day of the year. Internet retailers should expect even bigger days on December 7 and 10, according to the folks at Yahoo! Shopping.

Those, too, are Mondays. Apparently, we find more time to shop at the office than at home. Or, rather, they do—I, of course, am too busy working.

A new handset from Verizon Wireless may do the best job yet of cellphones that try to be all things to all people. The Voyager ($300 with two-year contract) offers a good media player and Web browser, a la AT&T's iPhone, and a great keyboard for messaging like the Sprint Centro.

The phone is an upgrade to similar models from LG that open like a clam to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. But the Voyager is a dramatic upgrade—with a much larger external screen that gives it the look of an iPhone. That outside screen is also touch sensitive, making it easy to navigate through songs, videos, and photos.

It's fun to see a new technology that's so simple it pleases the inexperienced and baffles the experts.

A new class of bikes hopes to bring lapsed cyclists back into the saddle. They're coaster bikes—you remember, the wheels you first rode as a kid, with the brakes in the pedals. Trek and other manufacturers are doing it with new tech from Shimano, which is best known for making high-end bike components for the likes of Lance Armstrong and other racers. Shimano's microprocessor and other electronics automatically shift the three gears on the new Trek Lime.

And Trek made the new wheels look great. The Lime (retail price: $590) has an attractive aluminum frame and highlights, including chain and hub covers, that come in six different colors. Most impressive, Trek did a masterful job of hiding Shimano's new tech, carefully threading myriad cables through the bike's frame. The bike ends up looking as clean as it is simple to ride.

Simple, that is, for folks who've missed the road-racing and mountain-biking crazes, says Shannon Bryant of Shimano. She's watched as cycling enthusiasts in their spandex shorts fumble with the coaster brakes and complain they can't shift the gears. Then someone who hasn't ridden since being a kid gets on the Lime and rides smoothly away. "It's great to see the tables turned," Bryant says.

"Database" is not a word that's often linked to "easy." But Filemaker, the Apple subsidiary best known for fairly sophisticated database software, is trying to bring Mac simplicity to personal lists.

Bento is Filemaker's new drag-and-drop software for cataloging contacts, music, stamps, or just about any other electronic library we can conceive of. The software will ship with more than 20 templates, or the more ambitious can build their own by pulling different types of fields from a menu onto a new database. Finding things is simplified with a search page that's reminiscent of iTunes.

DVD-quality video coming off the new Vudu service looks great on a large-screen TV. And high-def video would look even better. But I shouldn't hold my breath, says Kurt Scherf, an analyst at Parks Associates.

One big hurdle is the cost of sending high-def video across the Web. Estimates of the cost of distributing the huge files that are an HD movie range widely, but Parks analysts figure it's somewhere between $5 and $10, Scherf says. Some companies think they can cut that in half. Still, Vudu typically rents movies for $4 or less. "That doesn't leave much room to make money off HD," Scherf says.

All the breathless wonder at anything Google does. There were a few of us underwhelmed by the news this week that Google had put together an alliance in the wireless industry. It reminds me of when I was in college, where committees are the norm, and some jokesters announced they had formed YAC—yet another committee.

Yes, Google, with its excess cash involved, gives any movement instant credibility. And it's true that using the Internet on a cellphone is utterly frustrating. But somehow, I don't think Google alone can pry open the world's wireless networks.

Just over a week ago, Apple earned kudos for regularly releasing upgrades to software that powers its Mac computers. Maybe I was too quick to applaud—and maybe Apple was too quick in pushing out the last upgrade to its OS X, version 10.5. There seems to be a wave of complaints building like none I've heard with earlier editions of OS X.

The clincher might be a reported bug that eats data. Ouch. It's one thing to have a machine—a printer, say— run more slowly, crash too often, or disable peripherals. Those are complaints heard widely about the latest version, also called Leopard.

"Headless server." While it sounds like something from a bad horror story, it's a geek term that until now was largely kept under wraps in windowless information-technology rooms. Brace yourself: It's a term that also applies to Windows Home Server, announced today by Microsoft.

Microsoft has a big challenge in convincing average users that Home Server is something they need. It's even tougher because Microsoft, for some reason, felt compelled to call the product a "server." That's something we all equate with the IT department, not home. Couldn't Microsoft have called it something a bit friendlier? Maybe "Home Media Manager" or even "PC Buddy."

It's no longer just enough to make a faster, roomier chunk of hardware. I've been trying some new external hard drives from Seagate that are designed to back up the valuable photos, videos, and documents from my PC. And while the hardware is indeed faster and bigger, it's clear that Seagate is diving deeper into the software business, writing programs to go with the disks. The same is true of other drive makers, including Western Digital and newcomer Fabrik.

Prices for next-generation DVD players appear to be crashing, as two sides in the format fight wrestle for holiday sales. Wal-Mart is putting a Toshiba HD DVD player on sale tomorrow for $100. That's a drastic cut from the already steep discounts that have popped up recently, bringing players down to $170 or $180 apiece. Wal-Mart's is just a one-day sale, but it's probably a taste of what's to come.