Posts by Michael Gartenberg (bio)

Michael Gartenberg | May 08, 2008, 08:44 AM
NBC streaming full episodes to the iPhone

You may not be able to see The Office or 30 Rock in the iTunes store but NBC is offering full episodes of the Office and 30 Rock streamed to the iPhone with no commercials. (using Quicktime, since the iPhone currently doesn't support Flash).

Just go to NBC.com on your iPhone and click on the video tab. Bottom line, no matter what differences there me be between Apple and NBC, the iPod/iPhone eco-system is just too important to ignore.

Michael Gartenberg | May 06, 2008, 03:54 PM
Why Sync?

Great post from the Mesh team blog here.

Michael Gartenberg | May 06, 2008, 02:44 PM
Lenovo IdeaPad U110 - First Thoughts

First announced at CES, Lenovo started taking orders last week on their newest IdeaPad, the U110. I've had the fun of using one for a few days, here's some first impressions. Coming under the IdeaPad brand, not the ThinkPad brand, the U series is targeted at consumers and is the latest entry into the ultraportable space. The specs are decent for this class of machine. My unit was running a 1.6ghz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU (L7500, 800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache) and had a 4200rpm 120gb HD, Intel integrated graphics and 2gb of RAM. The display is 11.1 inches, LED backlit and runs at 1366x768. The unit has a nice selection of integrated ports and ships with an external USB DVD drive along with two batteries, a four and seven cell. But it's not the specs that will sell this machine, this is all about form as well as function and the tiny 10.8" x 7.7" x 0.72" - 0.88" unit is one of the most stylish and beautiful laptops I have ever used that didn't come with an Apple logo on it.

1. This really is a machine about style. While it's targeted at consumers, there's going to be a lot of business folks buying these things. I repeat, it's one of the nicest and most stlylish PCs I have ever used

2. The machine is configured oddly. Out of the box, there's two partitions, which I personally hate since it tends to waste space. I copied the drivers folder over to the C drive (that was only thing on the partition) and flattened the drive using Windows disk manager. Unfortunately, that kills the backup utility (which is much more limited than the ThinkPad version, you can only restore to the factory image and no way to image, backup or create restore DVDs). That's a bit of a problem, as I mentioned, there's no way to make a proper set of backup disks. Fortunately, Lenovo does provide disks with all the needed Vista drivers and installed apps but you will need your own copy of Vista. Worse, the License Key on the bottom of the machine did not work with my Vista DVD so I needed to use an extra key. Be warned, backup your C drive before messing around unless you have a spare copy of Vista around.

3. No XP drivers at all. XP installs fine but there are no XP drivers at the Lenovo site. I suspect someone will hunt the needed drivers down and create an install guide in a matter of time.

4. This thing is a fingerprint magnet, and Lenovo loses points for the three stickers on the palm rest that hurts the look of the overall unit. Vista, Intel and Dolby don't need to be there.

5. The attention to detail is nice. There's two batteries, driver disks and a bundled DVD burner so this is a complete package. (a recovery DVD would have made it totally complete)

6. Keyboard and trackpad are nice but the keyboard will take a little bit of adjustment. I didn't love it at first but I got used to it in about 30 mins. As with all keyboards, it's about personal taste.

7. The lightup touch buttons are a gimmick but they're cool and echo the tendril pattern on the top and bottom of the PC.

8. Vista is pretty snappy, even with the Aero interface on, once Vista has a chance to optimize itself. This normally takes a day or so of use and is common on all Vista systems I have used.

Bottom line? The ultra-portable market is red hot and fashion and form are purchase drivers for 33% of the market (ranking it very or somewhat important to their next purchase). Given that, the IdeaPad U100 is the right device at the right time. It's clear with devices like the MacBook Air, the X300 and now the IdeaPad U110 this category of machine is going to be important in 2008. Look for a report on tweener devices this summer and a forecast of Ultra Mobile PCs later in the year.

Bonus , here's a nice video first take by James Kendrick at JK on the Run if you want to see it in action.

Michael Gartenberg | May 06, 2008, 08:05 AM
Microsoft Updates Zune Functionality - First Take

Microsoft announced some new Zune features today. First up, the video store will now include downloads of television shows from CCmedy Central, FUNimation Entertainment, MTV, NBC Universal, Nickelodeon, Starz, Turner Broadcasting, Ultimate Fighting Championship and VH1. Shows are 1600 Zune points or $1.99 in the real world.

They've also added some more features by integrating the Zune community into the core software experience which will make sharing playlists and the like easier (especially for those with a Zune Pass). Also good news is that auto playlists are back (at last) and there's better editing of meta data as well as the ability to sort by genre. These were all missing from the last major Zune update and it's good to see them back.

Overall, these are nice additions to the product and with the addition of NBCs library, Zune now has content differentiated from Apple's iTunes (where NBC pulled their content). Zune still lacks movie rentals as an option and there's a lack of flexibility of the eco system that has long been an Apple strength. Microsoft has yet to provide seamless content flow from screen to screen across the range of devices supported by Microsoft technology. The result is that while Microsoft's latest efforts are compelling, they ultimately fall short of what rival Apple has delivered to the market. Zune remains a fine choice for consumers not looking to embrace Apple technology for whatever reason but Microsoft still has a long way to go before Zune becomes a credible iPod alternative for mainstream consumers.

Michael Gartenberg | May 05, 2008, 03:26 PM
HTC Touch Diamond - First Take

HTC released their latest device today called the Touch Diamond and it's looking like a very impressive device indeed. Boasting a 2.8" VGA display (yep, that's VGA) HTC is taking Windows Mobile to new heights. In addition, HTC is pairing the unit with the next generation of its TouchFlo interface, called TouchFLO 3D which is extremely nice. To make it competitive with that other touch screen phone out there, HTC built new browser tech, a YouTube app and added Google Maps as standard. The OS is Windows Mobile 6.1 but HTC has taken the OS to new places that Microsoft has not bothered with. Right now, the Diamond is going to European carriers in June and elsewhere in the world later in the quarter. US launch is planned for 2h of 08 , but I'd expect it to be here well before year end. I should have one here shortly, full review, coming soon.

Michael Gartenberg | May 05, 2008, 02:51 PM
Analysts and Twitter

Another interesting post from Jonny Brentwood who lists the top 49 Twittering analysts. (I'm #6). There's some interesting discussions going on about the role of micro-analysis and how analysts are using these new tools. Like Jeremiah, I also use it as a place to share, a place to chat, a place to listen and as vehicle for quick analysis as well for driving traffic.

Michael Gartenberg | April 24, 2008, 06:18 PM
Google Calendar Sync still doesn't

Omar Shahine says the new and improved Google Calendar Sync still doesn't work right. Anyone else having issues? In a related front I've got the Live Mesh beta installed and it seems to be working pretty well. Syncing about a half gigabyte to the cloud.

Cool part, using Parallels to install Mesh on my MacBook Air. Excellent! Of course, I want a native Mac client as well.

Michael Gartenberg | April 23, 2008, 09:06 AM
Live Mesh has the vision

Microsoft finally took the wraps off Live Mesh and this one's going to be important. It's important because it takes all that information living on multiple devices and screens and allows it flow seamlessly from place to place and device to device. It's a concept we've talked about for a while (latest report here). I've said before that whoever controls the sync point for content between screens and devices is going be a big winner. Live Mesh has nailed the vision, the challenge is how quickly they can implement this into something real and how many platforms beyond those that Microsoft offers directly they can embrace. I'm going to install the beta in a little bit and report back on how well it performs for the desktop aspects.

Good video and demo of Ray Ozzie talking about Live Mesh here. Demo of the Live Mesh app here.

Michael Gartenberg | April 23, 2008, 08:59 AM
MSN takes on final shot at users from the grave

It's been a little while since we've said RIP to MSN Music but now there's a nasty surprise from beyond the grave, where music services go to die. Seems that if you were foolish enough to have purchased songs from MSN Music, after August 30th MSFT will no longer new authorization keys for that music which means that it's now locked onto whatever computers you have it on. If you buy a new PC or need to change or update the operating system, you're simply out of luck. Bad move here... really bad move.

This could have (and should have) been handled so many different ways (after all, how many people really bought songs from MSN Music) and Microsoft could have bought some good will instead of what's no doubt going to be said about them today. Hey folks over in Redmond. Give me a call if you'd like to talk about how you can avoid doing stuff like this in the future.

Michael Gartenberg | April 16, 2008, 02:21 PM
Ok, it does get worse... much worse

I asked a little while ago if Vista marketing could get any worse. The answer? Well, click below... if you dare. My first take? OMG... OMG... OMG

Seriously. Someone had to approve this concept, sign off and pay for it. OMG OMG OMG

of course Microsoft isn't the only company to ever do a sales video :)

UPDATE - CNET says it's a spoof. A spoof of what remains a mystery though. Still hard to believe they spent any time or money on this when there's so much else to do. Hard to imagine anyone in Redmond smiling over the coverage.

Michael Gartenberg | April 16, 2008, 02:06 PM
2001 in 2008

I couldn't sleep last night so while I was I decided to watch 2001: a space odyssey which is now 40 years old. I remember seeing this in the theater with my dad when I was a kid and it's held up pretty well over time (although i doubt I'll be seeing either PanAm or Howard Johnson's as brands in outer space anytime soon).

The movie reminded me of a time when we gazed at the heavens, looked to the stars and said, "Why not?"

I also realized more than one computer around here has the temperament, if not the technology of the HAL 900.

Michael Gartenberg | April 15, 2008, 01:52 PM
Thoughts on Will Poole's Departure from MSFT

Will Poole is now confirmed to be leaving Microsoft. He's now the latest of the Sr. folks who brought Vista to market to leave.

Raises questions about the future of Windows and who will be leading the technical charge and perhaps even more importantly, who will lead the charge for the market to adopt the next generation?

Michael Gartenberg | April 14, 2008, 08:26 AM
An XP Lite Could Really Go Mobile

Latest Computerworld column is here.

Michael Gartenberg | April 14, 2008, 08:25 AM
It's about quality and not quantity

There's a great site gag in the movie Blazing Saddles where Sheriff Bart recounts how his African-American family came west as part of a wagon train when they were attacked by Indians. "The white wagon train groups together in a circle. Naturally, the white folks didn't let us travel in their circle, so we made our own.(the site gag was the the sole black wagon riding around in circles). Today, Robert Scoble talks about Twitter inadequacy. It's not a bad point but to me it's always kind of obvious. Using a social service by yourself isn't much fun (and about as useful as driving your wagon in a circle by yourself) and in general, having friends is a good thing. But getting started is hard. It's one of the questions I get most from new bloggers, twittereres or what ever.

First, get past the folks that are hyper competitive about numbers. For some folks, these services are a popularity contest or something they believe they can monetize. They're concerned with being at the top of TechMeme, making the Technorati 100, having the largest LinkedIn network and often complain about Facebook's cap of 5,000 "friends". (and of course, one person attempting to sell his Twitter followers on eBay). If you really are into that stuff and just want to game the numbers, drop me a line and I'll tell you how to do it. Gaming any system isn't hard.

It's not about the number of readers or followers you have, or the size of your networks or the even the number of people you read or follow. It's the quality of the people in them and the quality of the conversations you're having with them. I've been blogging for a while and use services such as Facebook, LinkedIn and more recently Twitter. Of course, it's nice to be followed, read or part of a network. The way to do that is with interaction. One thing I always tell new bloggers is to send readers away to attract them to come back. Linking to other people as well as adding something new to the dialogue is important. Same with twitter. Most of the folks I follow, that i didn't know before using the service are folks who sent me an interesting @message. (interestingly, folks seem to Twitter differently than they blog, to the point that I no longer follow them on Twitter and in a few cases, no longer read their blog).

Bear in mind, networks are a different animal. Anyone can follow me on Twitter and I'll follow anyone with something interesting to say. My personal and professional networks are different. For most people, those are relationships that have come over time and are not something that most folks treat lightly. The way of becoming a part of someone's virtual network are pretty much the same as becoming part of their offline one.

At the end of the day, it's the quality relationships that matter over time, never the sheer numbers. I'll take one real true friend over 5,000,000 Facebook friends any day.

Michael Gartenberg | April 14, 2008, 08:21 AM
The Myths of Apple and Business Users

With the growth in popularity of the iPhone, there's a lot of questions about how suitable it is as a business tool. That question alone has raised the issue of how suitable Apple is in the Enterprise in general. Most IT departments are not deploying Macintosh systems in large numbers and those that are are deploying are usually in niche spaces such as graphic arts, multimedia and publishing. The truth is that Mac OS has changed quite a bit in the last few years and today's Apple systems offer a reasonable alternative for Windows systems for many mainstream uses OS X Leopard is rock solid UNIX at the core with Apple's elegant user interface on top. One of the big issues around business use centers on myths that still exist regarding the platform.

The first myth is that Apple computers are expensive relative to their PC cousins. While Apple is certainly not a discount brand and will almost never be the cheapest computers that can be purchased, they are certainly price competitive with PCs. While users do pay some premium for both the Apple brand and the innovation that goes into Apple's often brilliant hardware design, the premium is not out of line with that users already pay for name brand systems from vendors such as Sony, HP or Lenovo. In many cases, comparable Apple systems are priced similarly or in some cases are even cheaper than their competition.

The second myth is that there is a lack of software available. While OS X does not offer the same sheer number of titles that Windows offers, there is an abundance of business software for Macintosh. In some markets, such as content creation, there is actually more software available for the Mac. In addition, Microsoft offers a complete and compatible version of Office for the Macintosh so knowledge workers can easily share documents and communicate with colleagues across platforms. Apple’s support of web based Internet standards mean that most Internet base applications will simply run without modification. While there might be a specific application lacking that can hold back some deployments, most organizations might never hit that wall.

The third myth is that Apple architectures are based on proprietary protocols. While that was certainly true in the past, it is not an accurate portrayal of Apple today. Today, Apple is one of the most standards driven operating systems you can purchase. From MPEG 4 support in Quicktime to full TCP/IP support for networking and WiFi protocols for wireless access. (Apple was actually the first OS vendor to bundle TCP/IP support into a commercial operating system).

Apple systems can be a seamless fit for many organizations. Time to get over the myths and take a closer look.

Michael Gartenberg | April 09, 2008, 09:54 AM
Adobe Media Player is now live

Built on the Air platform, Adobe's Media Player 1.0 is now live. Since it's Air based, it's cross platform and works on both Macs and PCs. Some nice content to start with (but of course, would always like to see more). It does beg the question again of when (or perhaps if?) we're going to see an update to Windows Media Player and what Microsoft's strategy is long term.

Michael Gartenberg | April 07, 2008, 01:01 PM
Warning - Blogging May Be Hazardous to Your Health and Even Cause Death! (at least according to NYT)

Amusing article on the hazards and potential life threatening risks of blogging. It's getting much ridicule in the blogosphere and deservedly so. I just don't even know where to start, as if blogging by nature is somehow more stressful and requires more effort than any other profession. Perhaps it's a missive why bloggers shouldn't try to be journalists, the hazards are too great? Perhaps it's to set up a future class action law suit for the companies building weblog software? (will future versions of WordPress come with a warning label, much as tobacco products do?)

Not sure what the Times was thinking by publishing the article, but in the words of Dorothy Parker, it should not be tossed aside lightly, but rather thrown with great force.

Michael Gartenberg | April 04, 2008, 08:42 AM
Dueling conferences

Huge dustup over Demo and the TechCrunch 50 conference, mostly fueled by comments like "Demo needs to die". It's a boring story IMHO and the industry's equivalent to inside baseball but it does raise the question of where do smaller companies go to get the proper attention and visibility, especially in the age of the Internet. Let's face it, ten years ago, you needed to be at one of these types of conferences, there were far fewer people covering them and getting the message out. While there's probably less industry journals, there are far more folks writing about things these days and it's far easier to get visibility if you know what you're doing.

Frankly, Jeremy Toeman offers the best advice for startup looking at both of these venues.

if you are a brand-new startup and have NO marketing department and/or PR firm, don’t do either. You’ll have a devil of a time getting anyone’s attention outside of the 6ish minutes you actually get on stage. You’d be better off launching at some quiet time when you can get people to notice you without all the hoopla.

Totally agree, you're better off finding a slow news week (there are plenty) when journalists and analysts are looking for something interesting to write about. Some of the best products and companies have launched this way and gotten better press, attention and overall buzz.

Michael Gartenberg | April 01, 2008, 05:21 PM
Ultimate Rickroll

Who could Rickroll better than YouTube?

Michael Gartenberg | April 01, 2008, 02:38 PM
Toast goes HD

Looking at the new version of Roxio's Toast. Lots of nice features but my favorite is the ability to take output from an HD camcorder and output to a Blu_Ray compatible disk using regular DVD media. Excellent for home content.

Michael Gartenberg | April 01, 2008, 01:30 PM
New Windows Mobile Kid on the Block

One of the more interesting bits of news out of CTIA is the introduction of two new Windows Mobile phones from the folks at Velocity Mobile. Normally that wouldn't get my attention but it seems the folks at Velocity are getting the message that these devices are used by people. There's a lot of focus on out of box experience, creating glanceable information views and what appears to be a really nice form factor.

Feature specs are what you'd expect from a device like this including with tri-band HSUPA (with both AWS and non-AWS), TV and VGA out, and add in WiFi just for fun. Two models announced, one with QWERTY and one without are planned for now. Touch screen only sometime this quarter and the QWERTY version making the appearance later in Q3. Both run Windows Mobile Professional which is an interesting choice. Looking forward to spending some quality time with one in the near future. One to watch in 08.

Michael Gartenberg | March 28, 2008, 08:02 AM
The Art of the Demo

Had a nice late night conversation with John Montgomery of Microsoft and Jonathon Yarmis of AMR on Twitter. Lots of interesting back and forth on the art of the Demo, passion and lots of other stuff. John writes about it here. If you do demos, speak in public or just like well written stuff, it's a must read.

Michael Gartenberg | March 27, 2008, 12:44 PM
How Microsoft should market multi-touch

If I were Microsoft, i'd be embracing the iPhone/iPod Touch platform in a big way, (there are some really obvious apps) and make sure each and everyone was properly branded with the Surface brand. Strong emphasis on doing multi-touch both big and small screen.

Michael Gartenberg | March 27, 2008, 12:39 PM
FuseCal for Calendar Sync?

Kevin over at JK on the Run points to FuseCal for Calendar sync. Anyone try this with Outlook and Exchange>