It's about time! Microsoft's consumer cloud calendar gets a new Outlook
Windows Live Calendar (there's supposed to officially be "Hotmail" in there) is dead -- or soon will be. Today, Microsoft started rolling out the replacement for Outlook.com users. I've got the old one still, which is why the not-quite-lifeless-yet reference.
There's some kind of aspirational, Apple-like promotion going on here. "The Outlook.com calendar has been entirely redesigned with a modern, intuitive interface that puts you in control of your schedule", David Dennis, Microsoft's Outlook.com Calendar principal program manager lead, beams. Yeah, baby, put me in control. Gimme the mouse clicker.
BitTorrent Sync to leave private beta
Back in January I had the opportunity to test out BitTorrent Sync. I did not find the product to be completely ready for prime time, but I also did not find it to be terrible. I couldn't call BitTorrent Sync ready to replace my dearly departed Live Mesh, but I saw some promise, just lacking a bit of polish around the edges.
The company steadily improved the service since those early days and now is ready to roll out a more public version of what is still considered Alpha software.
Google brings new compose message box to all Gmail users, like it or not
Say, you know that new pop-up compose message box Google introduced last autumn. You don't? Well, get ready. Gmail is giving the ditty to everyone, whether or not wanted. That's what it looks like, in photo right.
"The new compose will be rolling out to everyone over the next few days", Phil Sharp, Gmail product manager, says. I've used the thing since October, in a sort of love-hate thing. On a laptop working in Chrome -- even better, on Chromebook Pixel -- the new compose box is great. On Surface Pro, using Internet Explorer 10 from Modern UI, the thing is unusable. The box flicks up and down from the bottom of the screen.
Dear Windows Phone, Evernote 3.0 just arrived with a revamped interface and new features
Whenever I want to jot down a couple of ideas for a new story, write some of my thoughts for posterity, or create a shopping list, Evernote is my favorite cloud-based note-taking app. It looks great and is available across all my devices, so I don't have to worry about forgetting important personal things when I'm on the go. Everything that I have is there, everywhere.
What I value the most is the cross-platform spread, as Evernote is available on Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Mac OS X, Windows 8/RT and Windows Phone. And, to get me hooked some more, Evernote 3.0 just arrived on Windows Phone with a revamped home screen, improved tag lists and the ability to use shortcuts, among the most noteworthy new features.
Flipboard 2.0 for iOS lets YOU create magazines
If you're a Flipboard user then you need to read this. On Wednesday, Flipboard 2.0 for iOS made its way onto the App Store bringing along important new features, changes and improvements, among which is the the ability to create magazines.
Users can "collect and save content" into their own magazines by tapping on the "+" button from any item in Flipboard. To fully personalize the experience, Flipboard 2.0 allows you to name the magazine, add a description and choose whether to let other users view it or keep the new creation private. As the company says, "now everyone can be a reader and an editor".
Office 365 gains eight new state-and-local government customers
Google news, at least for some of us, recently is grim (Reader goes bye-bye). In fact, I no longer trust the search company will keep anything, while my colleague Wayne Williams dumps Google for Microsoft. Trust is essential and Google has lost it for me. Microsoft, on the other hand, is on a roll, of sorts, with its Windows Blue "leak" and now another cloud win for its Office platform.
Microsoft announces eight more government offices have adopted its Office 365 platform, further rubbing salt into the Google Docs wound. At today's CIO Summit, the company welcomes aboard: metros Kansas City and Seattle; counties Dupage and King; colleges California State University Sacramento, University of Colorado Springs and University of Miami; and San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.
Windows Blue brings better SkyDrive integration
Over weekend Microsoft's next version of Windows, known by code name "Blue" leaked out to the world via BiTorrent. Over the past two days we dissected the operating system in every way possible from first look to screenshot images to ways to install the still buggy operating system.
Now that the initial euphoria has passed, we can settle down and get a good look at what exactly will change in the operating system later this year when Windows Blue is rumored to be released.
Run for cover! Amazon has Zombies
Zombieland, the 2009 cult classic movie, about four unlikely people who come together to fight their way across an undead-filled America, is making a comeback of sorts -- rising from the dead, as it were. Amazon Studios has picked up on the surprisingly popular movie and the not so surprising Zombie fetish we have and announced its latest offering.
Zombieland the series will be produced as a pilot and make its way into your living room via Amazon Prime. It is the seventh comedy pilot announced by the online TV studio and it joins six children's show pilots also under production.
Digg details Reader replacement
Last week, Digg revealed plans to build a replacement app for Google's soon-to-be-defunct Reader and compete with other services that have suddenly become popular, like Feedly and The Old Reader. While I wait to someday have my OPML file uploaded to The Old Reader (currently number 3,590 in the queue), I am trying out some other alternatives -- I really liked Feedspot, but updating seems spotty.
In a blog post, Digg says "Google did a lot of things right with its Reader, but based on what we’re hearing from users, there is room for meaningful improvement. We want to build a product that’s clean and flexible, that bends easily and intuitively to the needs of different users. We want to experiment with and add value to the sources of information that are increasingly important, but difficult to surface and organize in most reader applications — like Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit, LinkedIn, or Hacker News. We likely won’t get everything we want into v1, but we believe it’s worth exploring".
Stop whining about Google Reader
This morning, in a Google+ post, Eli Fennell expressed something I felt for days: That the furor over Google Reader's execution is way, way, way too much. I've written little about the service's demise and actually have argued with colleagues in group chat about their trying to hold onto Reader or mimic the sorely, last-century user interface.
My one quip, from a Thursday story: "You'll never guess what you gave up Google Reader for? The tried-and-true makes way for a few, ah, experiments. Newest: Chrome World Wide Maze". Gasp! Some people took that seriously. I meant it as indictment against all the stupid fuss about the RSS service's July 1 retirement.
Hulu beams up free Star Trek for the rest of March
The tech news these days seems filled with stories of piracy, security flaws and every company trying to push its latest software and hardware releases. Then, every once in a while, something truly fun and enjoyable comes along to save us from our otherwise overwhelming tech world.
Today is the birthday of Captain James Tiberius Kirk, who also goes by the alias of William Shatner. To celebrate the Captain's birthday, online TV streaming service Hulu wants to open up the Star Trek world to even more viewers.
Adobe reminds Photoshop.com users to move or lose their content
Back in February Adobe announced plans to kill the storage portion of its seemingly popular Photoshop.com web service and migrating users' content to Adobe Revel. The move seems painless on the surface -- all of your images will be exported to Revel automatically. Except, that is not entirely the case.
In fact, all of the JPEG images will be moved. Only. Other formats, including video, PSD, RAW, ACR, PNG, TIFF, must be archived by the customer or they will be lost. Those file formats are not yet supported.
Best Windows 8 apps this week
Twenty-first in a series. Several things happened in the past seven days with regards to Windows 8 and its apps. Microsoft launched a temporary program that rewards developers with money for apps they produce for the operating system. If you have followed this weekly series you know that the app growths is relatively stable. A monetary incentive may convince some developers to spend some of their resources on the production of apps for Windows 8 or Windows Phone.
Several apps received updates this week, including the OneNote app for Windows 8. It ships with pen and ink improvements, and support for Office 365 notebooks.
Microsoft gives a 'free welcome gift' to Messenger users who embrace Skype
In early January, Microsoft announced that starting from March 15, users would no longer be able to sign into the aging, but still popular Messenger service, because Skype would be replacing it. And, to give users an incentive to embrace its replacement, Microsoft is giving away a "free welcome gift".
This gift can be redeemed by Messenger users who sign into Skype with their Microsoft account details and promises "calls to landlines and mobiles around the world, group video calling, group screen sharing (and more) absolutely free for a month". Or at least that's what the text says.
Break your bad web habits by going Cold Turkey
You’re at the PC, with lots of important work to do. And you’re going to get started on it -- once you’ve checked Facebook. And Twitter. Then watched a YouTube clip someone mentioned earlier, checked what’s happening on eBay, and worked your way through a host of other online distractions.
Sounds familiar? Then you might like Cold Turkey, a simple free tool which can temporarily block access to your favourite web destinations.
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