Over the last few years, Microsoft has worked hard to transform itself from a software giant into a devices and services company. While some of the changes have been controversial for technology enthusiasts, the company is headed in the right direction.

Windows

The biggest and most hotly-debated Microsoft product is, of course, Windows 8, the latest version of Microsoft’s desktop operating system. In a world where there is a large divide between traditional desktops/laptops and their more portable counterparts, tablets, Microsoft stands alone in working to bring the two device categories together.

After spending more than six months with a number of Windows 8 tablets, it’s obvious that this is the future. Unlike Android tablets and the iPad, Windows 8 and Windows RT manage to bring the best of both worlds, allowing you to use either the traditional Windows desktop or the new interface and Windows Store apps. I, for one, absolutely love this, since I’m not forced to trade portability for usability, or vice versa. The hardware isn’t perfect yet, but a number of devices are quite good and performance and battery life will only improve over time. And for all the doom and gloom reporting when it comes to sales, Windows 8 has reportedly managed to already garner 7.5% of the tablet market.

Of course, Microsoft’s OS is great on desktop and laptops too. I’ve been running Windows 8 on my primary desktop computer full-time for over a year, and I haven’t regretted it once. While Windows 8 truly shines with a touch screen, it’s certainly not necessary for an excellent experience. And the new features and performance enhancements make it well worth the upgrade on any computer.

On the software side, much has been made of Windows 8’s new interface and the lack of a Start menu. But to most people who use the OS regularly, it really isn’t a problem. Like anyone, I have a long list of OS tweaks and feature requests, but most if not all of them will be checked off when Windows 8.1 (codenamed “Blue”) is released later this year. Say what you will about Windows 8 and Windows RT, but it’s a great OS that’s only going to get better in the coming months.

Windows Phone

Arguably one of Microsoft’s most underrated products, Windows Phone is a great phone OS that really nails it in every department, be it the user interface, performance, software, or hardware. Sales have been much lower than many had hoped, but those who own a Windows Phone genuinely love it. The Lumia 920, for example, recently received Engadget’s “Smartphone of the Year” award – a fact that the Windows Phone team touts in its new (and hilarious) commercial.

The transition from the Windows CE-based Windows Phone 7 to the Windows 8-based Windows Phone 8 was a little rocky, but Microsoft is now in a position to iterate much faster and provide more powerful hardware than ever before. The company is also reportedly trying to merge the Windows and Windows Phone Stores – or, at the very least, make it easier for developers to create apps for both platforms. A few high-profile apps are still missing (most notably Instagram, which has been rumored to be in the works for some time now), but almost all of the major ones are there. I’d like to see Microsoft iterate a little faster, but Windows Phone definitely has a great future ahead of it.

Xbox

In recent years, Microsoft has worked hard to transform the Xbox brand from a core gaming platform to an all-encompassing entertainment service. In addition to blockbuster games, Xbox now boasts the Xbox Music and Xbox Video services, a wide range of entertainment apps, integration with numerous mobile platforms, and much more. Windows and Windows Phone both support Xbox LIVE-enabled games, and players can even unlock a few achievements on competing platforms like iOS. And while not many games have managed to take advantage of Xbox SmartGlass at this point, that will almost certainly change as developers have more time to integrate the multi-platform second screen experience into their games.

Of course, that’s just the current generation. On May 21, Microsoft is set to reveal the next Xbox, a console which is expected to take gaming and entertainment to the next level. The next Xbox is arguably one of Microsoft’s most anticipated product launches in history, and people around the world are waiting with baited breath to hear just what the company has in store for the “new generation of games, TV, and entertainment.”

Microsoft Surface

A year ago, the only Surface people were familiar with was Microsoft’s enormous multi-touch table, which was aimed at hotels, restaurants, and various other businesses. Then, last June, Microsoft pulled a surprise announcement and unveiled the Surface line of tablets, garnering a lot of excitement. Well, in my experience, the Surface tablets have the best hardware I’ve ever seen, perfectly blending design, performance, and usability. It’s hard to believe that the Surface with Windows RT and the Surface with Windows 8 Pro were the first computers Microsoft ever made.

The company is reportedly working on a number of new devices and form factors, and I can’t wait to see what new devices the team will come up with. Will we get a Surface-esque twist on a traditional laptop? A desktop? An 8-inch tablet? More powerful RT and Pro devices? It couldn’t be a more exciting time.

Office

Microsoft’s premiere productivity suite, Office, received a number of major cloud-centric features in the most recent release, making it even easier to collaborate on projects. Instead of keeping the applications and files locked to a single machine or mandating that people move to the cloud, the Office team managed to find the perfect balance of convenience, ease of use, and productivity, allowing you to sync directly to SkyDrive and collaborate with others regardless of whether they’re using a desktop application or web app. And the new Office 365 subscriptions make things even easier. While I’ve always been a big fan of Office, I’ve used it more in the last few months for my senior project than ever before. Looking ahead, Office is set to move into the app world with the rumored Gemini update and apps for Windows 8 and iOS.

Services

One can’t discuss the future of Microsoft without bringing up services like Outlook.com, SkyDrive, and Skype. Outlook.com took the best aspects of Hotmail and blended it with a beautiful interface and great new features, making it the go-to destination for email. Outlook.com makes Gmail feel clunky and old by comparison, and the team has worked hard to deliver new features like an updated calendar, new Android app, two-step authentication, and Skype integration at an almost stunning rate.

Similarly, SkyDrive has grown by leaps and bounds over the last year or two, and it’s rapidly being integrated into all of Microsoft’s products and services. Office, Outlook.com, Windows Phone, and Windows 8 all feature SkyDrive integration, and it’s only going to get better. Windows “Blue” will reportedly take things a step further, allowing you to sync your entire SkyDrive account – or parts of it, if you so choose – to your computer without the need for the SkyDrive for Windows desktop application. And with the aforementioned built-in Office Web Apps, it couldn’t be easier to access your documents and collaborate with others.

Then there’s Skype, which Microsoft acquired in 2011 for $8.5 billion and is slowly incorporating into its current offering. The IM and VoIP service recently replaced Windows Live Messenger as Microsoft’s primary communication service. The transition hasn’t been quite as smooth as many would have liked, but things are starting to look up. Skype is a very useful and well-liked brand, so it’ll be interesting to see where Microsoft takes the service in the coming months and years.

This, of course, is just some of what Microsoft has to offer. Microsoft might be the underdog when it comes to tablets, smartphones, and services, but the company is on the right track. Where others are copying the same interfaces and hardware designs, Microsoft is forging ahead and pioneering new computing concepts and form-factors. I honestly believe that the future is bright for Microsoft, and I can’t wait to see what the company does next.

Disclaimer: I am a member of the SkyDrive and Outlook.com Insiders program.

The post The future is bright for Microsoft appeared first on Pocketables.

The Outlook.com team has been on a roll lately, delivering long-awaited update after long-awaited update. Modern calendar experience? Check. Much-improved Android app? Check. Two-step authentication? Check. And that’s just in the last month! Now, after almost a year of teasing Outlook.com’s Skype integration, the update is finally here.

Skype support is now available, allowing people to send instant messages or initiate and receive audio and video calls from their Outlook.com inbox. Connecting Skype to your Microsoft account is simple, and it immediately enables Skype instant messaging in the browser. But if you want to make or receive a call, you’ll need to install the free Skype web plug-in which enables support for audio and video chats. Microsoft recently shut down the Windows Live Messenger desktop application and began moving users over to Skype, so you’ll be able to call your Messenger contacts as well.

From the looks of things, Microsoft has done a great job integrating Skype into Outlook.com. We had a long wait, but it was worth it. Unfortunately, you might have to wait just a little bit longer in order to start playing with this feature for yourself. The Skype for Outlook.com preview is currently available for a “select set of people in the UK,” with the US set to follow shortly. But since Microsoft is gradually rolling out the update, it could be a few weeks before you can start Skyping from your email inbox.

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Outlook.com Insiders program.

[Outlook.com Blog]

The post Skype finally comes to Outlook.com appeared first on Pocketables.

It’s finally official, folks. After much rumor and speculation, Microsoft has finally announced that it is indeed working on a follow-up console to the Xbox 360, and it’s scheduled to be unveiled on Tuesday, May 21 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific. According to the press release, the event will “mark the beginning of a new generation of games, TV, and entertainment.”

In recent years, Microsoft has done a lot to integrate the traditional Xbox console with tablets and smartphones, so it stands to reason that the next Xbox will include significant advances in this area. Microsoft has, after all, worked hard to transition the Xbox brand from a console to a comprehensive entertainment service. A more powerful version of Xbox SmartGlass wouldn’t be too surprising, providing an even greater degree of control over your console with a mobile device. It will be interesting to see how the console and related services compare to Sony’s PlayStation 4, which was announced back in February.

The invite-only Xbox event, officially dubbed “A New Generation Revealed,” will be held at Microsoft’s main campus in Redmond, WA on May 21 at 10:00 a.m. There will, however, be a live stream on Xbox.com, Xbox LIVE, and even Spike TV. Are you ready for the next generation of entertainment? It’s been a long time in coming.

[Major Nelson]

The post Microsoft to reveal the next Xbox on May 21 appeared first on Pocketables.

The first major update for Windows 8, Windows 8.1 (codenamed “Blue”) is set to deliver a number of nice features and enhancements, from support for small-screen tablets to enhanced multitasking and possibly even the return of the Start button.

Internal builds of Windows Blue have already begun leaking online, causing Microsoft enthusiasts to spend hours digging through the code in search of what’s different. While it’s almost certainly too late for Microsoft to start working on new Windows Blue features at this point, we want to know what you’d like to see included in the update. It could be a completely new feature or something that has already been leaked like a Start button, new Live Tile sizes, improved Snap, the ability to simultaneously show apps on different screens, an immersive file explorer, or a more full-featured Settings app, among others.

Personally, I’m excited for the built-in SkyDrive sync, which will supposedly replace the x86/x64-only SkyDrive for Windows desktop application and allow both Windows 8 and Windows RT devices to stay in sync with Microsoft’s cloud storage service. This will likely also include auto-uploads for the Camera app, a feature which is sorely lacking at the moment.

The other big one for me is the ability to sync your Start screen layout across devices. As someone who owns a number of Windows 8/RT devices, I’m constantly re-organizing my Start screen on each device to ensure that they’re laid out the same. With Windows Blue, I won’t have to worry about this anymore. Just update once and let the OS do the rest.

What’s on your Windows Blue wish list?

The post What’s on your Windows Blue wish list? appeared first on Pocketables.

Images of what could be one of the first 8-inch Windows 8 tablets have appeared online. While they are by no means official, the device in question looks to be the Acer Iconia W3, which packs an Intel Atom Z2760 “Clover Trail” processor, 2GB of RAM, dual cameras, and a microSDHC card slot. Acer is also reportedly working on a number of accessories, including a keyboard dock (pictured) and a cover/kickstand combo.

The source, Minimachines.net, has since pulled the specs and images from its website at the request of Acer.

This leak, if true, would certainly line up with Microsoft’s Windows 8.1 codenamed “Blue” roadmap, which is scheduled to be released in preview form at the company’s BUILD conference and then finalized in late summer. So a September launch certainly seems likely. Blue, of course, will add support for small-screen devices and include a number a number of nice features and changes for all sorts of users.

While I’m not a particularly big fan of Acer – check out my review of the Acer Iconia W510 – it’s nice to see some 8-inch Windows tablets on the roadmap. One has to wonder, however, what the Microsoft Surface team has up its sleeve.

[Minimachines.net via Engadget]

The post Is this one of the first 8-inch Windows 8 tablets? appeared first on Pocketables.

Microsoft is actually on a roll with the SmartGlass updates. While the app has existed in one form or another for a few years – it started off as the Xbox Companion app – it didn’t support large (e.g. 10-inch) Android tablets until less than two weeks ago. With support for the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD now under its belt as well, Xbox SmartGlass is finally available on most major devices. It should be noted, however, that the Android version requires Android 4.0 or above, so it won’t work on the first-gen Kindle Fire.

SmartGlass, for those who may not be familiar with the app, lets you remotely control your Xbox 360 console to navigate the user interface, launch apps and games, and much more. The app includes all of the features you’d find on a traditional remote or controller, including the ability to pause, play, or rewind content. Additionally, some games and apps support special second-screen experiences which contain bonus content or statistics.

If you own an Xbox, there’s no reason not to download the free SmartGlass app. Also be sure to stop by our forums, where we were recently discussing the merits of SmartGlass on a 7-inch tablet.

Download: Amazon Appstore

[Major Nelson]

The post Xbox SmartGlass is on Fire appeared first on Pocketables.

Yesterday, the Outlook.com team released a big update for the Outlook.com app on Android. Today, users received not one but three relatively major features: two-step verification, the ability to sign in to your account with any alias, and 32 new @outlook.com international domains. While each one is notable in its own right, one particular facet of this announcement – arguably the most important – has been all but ignored.

When you set up your Windows Phone for the first time, you’re asked to sign in with your Microsoft account to enable such features as the Windows Store, Xbox LIVE integration, and Xbox Music. Once you do, that device is permanently tied to your account, and the only way to change the primary Microsoft account is to completely reset the device. While this might not seem like too big of an issue on the surface, it becomes extremely problematic if you want to change the email address associated with the account. Say, for example, when migrating @hotmail.com or @live.com to @outlook.com. This hassle has led to many people putting off the move – or, at the very least, much frustration.

Microsoft introduced the concept of email aliases two years ago, allowing you to create what is essentially a virtual email address that is tied to your primary one. While you can’t – or couldn’t, until today – sign in with an alias, they’re great for when you want an extra email address (or ten) without the hassle of managing multiple accounts. When Microsoft launched Outlook.com last summer and allowed users to rename their accounts, the company decided to automatically create an alias for the old address so you could continue to give out either email. Unfortunately, while your email service wouldn’t be interrupted, doing so forced you to reset your Windows Phone. This, of course, is because the primary email address – the one permanently tied to the phone – had changed.

With today’s announcement, this is no longer a problem. Now that you can sign in to Outlook.com with either your primary account or an alias, you no longer have to worry about resetting your Windows Phone. It’ll just continue to work!

Outlook.com’s new features may not be available for everyone yet, but the rollout should be complete within “the next few days.”

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Outlook.com Insider program.

[Outlook.com]

The post New Outlook.com update eases the pain of changing your primary Microsoft account on Windows Phone appeared first on Pocketables.

Microsoft recently released a new update for the Bing News app on Windows 8, adding support for custom RSS feed aggregation and other features. My first thought, of course, turned to the impending demise of Google Reader (which is a terrible mistake). Could Bing News eventually take the place of Google Reader? It’s certainly likely. I was going to write about why the News app isn’t quite ready to replace Google Reader, but my friend Kip over at LiveSide beat me to the punch. So here’s what Microsoft needs to do if it wants to turn Bing News into a full-fledged Reader replacement.

Improve the reading experience for custom feeds

The Bing News interface provides a beautiful reading experience for official news sources, but custom RSS feeds are restricted to a simple summaries. Actually selecting a story loads the source webpage, rather than the fantastic multi-column reading experience much like you’d find in a newspaper. This makes sense for feeds which only provide summaries of the content, but it would be nice if you could enable the in-app reading experience for feeds which have the full content. This would likely introduce a number of complexities surrounding formatting, but it’s not an insurmountable challenge. Other RSS apps do it all the time.

Add read/unread states, ability to save items for reading later

The current Bing News app is great for browsing news, but it isn’t ideal if you don’t want to miss a single story. Adding read/unread states would ensure that users can always stay on top of news. The ability to save items for reading later is just as important, especially when you have a lot of feeds and not enough time to read the longer pieces in one sitting.

Let users customize the feed’s category

Bing News breaks up the news into multiple categories such as top stories, politics, world, technology & science, etc. Unfortunately, custom RSS feeds are siloed under the “sources” category. While you can move the position of this category to the front of the app, there’s no way to have the content show up in other categories or view multiple feeds at the same time. As a result, it’s impossible to read items without diving into each and every source. This could quickly become time consuming if you have a few hundred custom feeds. Allowing category customization would likely make ranking the top stories more complex, but it too isn’t an insurmountable challenge.

Release apps on other platforms – and not just Windows Phone

Right now, Bing News is available exclusively on Windows 8 and Windows RT. Custom feeds are synced between devices, but you’re still restricted to tablets, laptops, and PCs. If Bing News wants to be a Google Replacement, it needs to support other platforms – and not just those created by Microsoft. Windows Phone, Android, and iOS apps are a must, as is the ability to read news in your browser. Microsoft already has Bing.com/news, so it wouldn’t be too hard to have your custom feeds show up there as well.

Import/export feeds

I have a few hundred RSS feeds, so this feature is extremely important and would save people like me countless hours of importing feeds. Even if you don’t have that many feeds, being able to import or export your list of feeds is very important this day in age, allowing you to easily back up or switch services.

Show latest news on Live Tiles for pinned sites

Out of all the changes, this one is the least important. While Bing News will display the top story on the app’s Live Tile, deep-linked Live Tiles for custom feeds do not. It would be nice if these Live Tiles were actually, well, live.

Of course, all of this assumes that Microsoft even wants to turn Bing News into a Google Reader replacement. Right now, the app is designed to provide a newspaper-like experience for a selection of curated sources, and there’s no indication that Microsoft is going after the RSS market. However, the inclusion of support for custom RSS feeds in the most recent update makes it clear that Bing News could eventually take the place of Google Reader – as long as a number of changes are made first. Right now, it isn’t useful for more than a handful of custom RSS feeds.

The post Windows 8′s Bing News app can’t replace Google Reader yet, but it could with a few changes appeared first on Pocketables.

Visually, the app is beautiful. The way in which it blends Windows Phone and Android design principles which might make some UI purists cringe, but it faithfully re-creates the highly praised Outlook.com look and feel (LAF) in the style of Windows Phone’s Mail app. This even extends to the iconic Windows Phone app bar with the ellipses (“…”) for accessing more options. If you’re looking for an Outlook.com experience on your Android device, this app is a no-brainer.

In addition to an updated LAF, the new Outlook.com app now supports conversation threading; filters for all, unread, or flagged items; and the ability to mark emails as junk. Of course, multiple Outlook.com accounts, Exchange ActiveSync, push notifications, calendar and device contact sync, quiet times, folders, attachments, and more are supported as well.

Outlook.com is compatible with any mail client, but the dedicated app has the best experience by far. If you use Android 2.2 or above and Outlook.com – formerly known as Hotmail – and you haven’t yet downloaded the app, I highly recommend doing so.

Download: Google Play

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Outlook.com Insider program.

[Outlook Blog]

The post Outlook.com for Android gets a fresh interface and new features appeared first on Pocketables.

Six months go, Microsoft finally made the transition from Zune to Xbox Music and Xbox Video. But while the initial version of the service is good enough to recommended, it’s far from perfect. When the service launched, the most exciting features – cloud storage, social integration, and a platform expansion - weren’t quite ready to go. As a result, Microsoft promised to make them “available in the coming year.”

When I originally read the announcement, my more optimistic side hoped that this would happen sooner rather than later. In fact, I’d initially hoped for a massive spring update, bringing with it the ability to upload your own personal content to the Xbox Music Cloud, edit metadata, share music with friends, and much more. The long-awaited support for Android, iOS, and web browsers would have been nice too. But after six months and a handful of minor updates, it’s beginning to look like we might have to wait the full year after all.

One has to wonder if the big Xbox Music update is in some way dependent – either from a technical or a marketing perspective – on the release of the recently-announced Windows 8.1 “Blue” update, as well the rumored Blue update for Windows Phone and the all-but-confirmed next Xbox console. In many ways, this would also emulate the original Zune development schedule, which initially had a year between the first and second major iterations, switched to six months between the next few updates, and then finally returned to a yearly cadence later in the service’s life cycle.

We’re only halfway through the one-year timeframe that Microsoft set for itself, so it might be a little premature to wonder where these features are. But when it comes to Xbox Music, Microsoft needs to iterate quickly in order to stay competitive. I’m very much looking forward to these new features; I just hope we won’t have to wait too much longer.

The post When will the big Xbox Music update finally arrive? appeared first on Pocketables.

WordPress released an update for its Windows Phone app today, adding a feature that should have been there from the very beginning: a rich text editor. It boggles the mind that the app has been available on the Windows Phone Store since December 2010, but it took 2.3 years and nine updates before it got to the point where you could write in a modern, user-friendly way.

To be fair, it was still possible to use the old version of WordPress for Windows Phone – in fact, I used it to live blog the Windows Phone Summit last summer – but the experience was far from ideal. In fact, the lack of a rich text editor is the biggest reason why I have generally tried to avoid using the app whenever possible until now. Thankfully, those days are behind us, and you can still switch from the visual editor to the HTML editor for finer control.

Version 2.1 of the app also adds push notifications for new comments and fixes nearly 40 issues. If you have a website powered by WordPress, I strongly recommend downloading the new update for the Windows Phone app.

[WordPress]

The post WordPress for Windows Phone updated with a feature that should have been there from the beginning appeared first on Pocketables.

When the Microsoft Surface with Windows RT was released last fall, I picked one up immediately. While the Windows RT version isn’t as powerful as its Windows 8 Pro counterpart, it’s still a fantastic device. Then, sometime in late January, I broke my audio jack. I’m almost certain that it was my fault – I was using an old audio splitter which probably dislodged the internal components when it was pushed in too deep. As a result, while the speakers still worked fine, overall audio quality was poor and dialog was almost unintelligible.

At the time, I was reviewing the Acer Iconia W510 and the Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T, so most of my entertainment was being consumed on one of those devices. Between that and my busy schedule, I didn’t get around to calling the Surface customer service department until the beginning of last week. I fully expected them to say that it was my fault or that I’d wanted too long to report the issue, but to my surprise they quickly offered to fix the issue. After running through a few tests to ensure that the problem wasn’t software-related, the customer service representative emailed me an overnight shipping label and I sent in my Surface RT for repair. A week later, I received a brand-new device – if it’s a refurbished model, it’s almost impossible to tell – which has been working perfectly.

While the Surface is well-built, no product is without some issues. The fact that Microsoft replaced the device without question was impressive, and I’m sure I could have decreased the turnaround time by bringing the device to a Microsoft Store. I’ve heard anecdotal evidence that Microsoft’s policy is just as relaxed for Surface accessories as well, with many Microsoft Stores replacing Touch Covers on the spot – no receipt or exchange needed. Compare this to my nightmarish experience with Alienware or the annoying time-intensive process most companies make you go through.

What’s your best customer service experience?

(I thought about titling this piece “Microsoft’s great customer Surface,” but I decided to spare everyone from having to read that terrible pun – at least, in the headline.)

The post My great Microsoft Surface customer service experience appeared first on Pocketables.

The rumors of a bite-sized Microsoft Surface tablet are heating up again. This time, they’re coming from the Wall Street Journal, which believes that Microsoft will have a 7-inch Surface ready for launch this fall. Interestingly, this may be a more recent development for Microsoft, since the WSJ is under the impression that a Surface with a smaller form-factor wan’t on the initial roadmap last year.

Microsoft expert Paul Thurrott says that a smaller Surface is on the way as well, but he claims that it’s actually an “8-inch model, not 7-inches.” This move would actually fit in with Microsoft’s strategy, since the current Surface tablets are slightly wider than most to allow for a 16:9 aspect ratio and full keyboard. Even if the new Surface isn’t 16:9 – some sources believe that it could drop support for snap to accommodate the decreased width – an 8-inch device would fit in nicely with the Windows 8 branding. “Surface 8,” anyone? Before you call me crazy, Microsoft has been known to tie product branding and even sales statistics to the latest OS version number.

Windows 8.1 “Blue” is expected to bring with it support for lower-resolution 1024 x 768 tablets, and rumors of an “Xbox Surface” of some sort have been swirling for months. While the Surface RT and Surface Pro are great devices, some people find them a little on the large side for reading. A 7- or 8-inch Surface would likely be more comfortable to hold or carry around for avid readers. It could also be perfect as a “coffee table” device, especially thanks to Xbox SmartGlass.

The big question, of course, is what would happen to the Surface’s two signature features: the Touch/Type Cover and kickstand. A kickstand could easily be integrated into the smaller form-factor, but a full-sized Touch Cover probably wouldn’t work due to the smaller surface area.

What do you think? Would you want a “Surface 8?” Let us know in the comments or in our dedicated Microsoft Surface forum.

[The Wall Street Journal | Paul Thurrott]

The post Microsoft reportedly working on a 7-to-8-inch Surface appeared first on Pocketables.

SkyDrive is a fantastic cloud storage service – I use it very heavily - and it’s getting better all the time. There are, however, a number of features that I’d like to see added to the service in the (hopefully near) future. The following is a list of my top five most-requested features in no particular order.

Pin deep links in the SkyDrive app

Windows 8 will let you pin a folder to your Start screen, so why shouldn’t SkyDrive? There are a number of folders that I access regularly, and it would be nice to have quick access to them so I don’t have to navigate though my hyper-organized-but-somewhat-intricate folder structure each and every time (for the more technical-minded, my file system has a lot of layers with a relatively high branching factor). While this feature isn’t as important on Windows Phone, it would be nice to have it there as well.

View recent uploads/changes

You can access recent document from the SkyDrive website and apps, but it would be nice if you could see a list of all recent uploads/changes as well. This would make it much easier to return to that C++ file you were working on or find out if collaborators had uploaded something new to a shared folder. The SkyDrive app’s Live Tile on Windows 8 already displays this information, so why not make it readily accessible? You should, of course, be able to quickly access the folder the file is located in too.

Sync folders shared with you

Speaking of collaboration, SkyDrive needs to let you sync folders that have been shared with you via the SkyDrive for Windows desktop application. As it currently stands, only the owner can sync a folder with their local file system. Everyone else is limited to accessing the folder via the website or an app. Changing this will make collaborating on projects much more user-friendly for the rest of the group.

Sync with Windows RT devices

SkyDrive does not support syncing with Windows RT devices either, due to the incompatibility of the ARM architecture and the current x86 SkyDrive for Windows desktop application. As a result, the only way to access SkyDrive is through the Windows Store app or the website. Some of the feature requests above will make this process more user-friendly, but the best solution would be to simply allow Windows RT devices to sync with SkyDrive. While I had originally hoped this would be accomplished through an updated SkyDrive for Windows desktop application delivered to RT devices through Windows Update, Windows 8.1 (codenamed “Blue”) will reportedly bake this feature directly into the OS.

Xbox Music integration

When Microsoft announced Xbox Music last fall, it promised to let you add ”all the music you own to your Xbox Music cloud catalog, including music acquired through other services” within “the coming year.” Five months later, the Cloud Matching service has only received a minor update, and you still can’t upload you own personal music for streaming playback on other devices. The two most obvious ways to implement this would be to either upload music directly to the Xbox Music Cloud or take advantage of SkyDrive. The only downside with the latter is that it would eat up a lot of your storage and likely require you to choose one of the premium tiers. Even if Microsoft doesn’t go this route, SkyDrive could still add support for playing audio files via the SkyDrive website, much like how videos are already supported.

I could go on and on with other feature requests, from deeper integration with Windows 8 (which is rumored to be on the way) to additional premium storage tiers. These five, however, represent my biggest and most important requests at the moment. What would you like to see added to SkyDrive?

Disclaimer: I am a member of the SkyDrive Insider program.

The post Five features that should be added to SkyDrive appeared first on Pocketables.

When Microsoft launched Windows RT last year alongside Windows 8, it decided to include a free copy of Office 2013 Home & Student RT with every device. Windows RT does not support the installation of traditional desktop applications, so the inclusion of Office was a great way to increase productivity for tablet owners. But while the majority of consumers use web-based email or the included Mail app, many people love and rely on Outlook, which is not included. Pocketables administrator Grahm Skee noted how much he missed Outlook on Surface RT last November, and he’s not alone. “I am one Outlook away from computing nirvana,” said NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang. ”It would make my life complete.”

Microsoft has been rumored to be working on a Windows RT version of Outlook 2013 for some time now, but there has been much speculation as to whether it’ll ever see the light of day. Could it be due to internal struggles? Technical issues with the firmware? Recently, however, Paul Thurrott ran across Outlook RT in the wild.

Outlook RT is real. That is all.

— Paul Thurrott (@thurrott) April 3, 2013

When he was questioned about this, he replied:

@fullmetal1986 @masterdevwi I saw it. That’s why I believe it.

— Paul Thurrott (@thurrott) April 3, 2013

“It wasn’t anyone at Microsoft who had it,” said Thurrott on Windows Weekly #306. ”It was partners from Microsoft. That tells me that it’s out in the wild, at least with close partners.” Mary Jo Foley also thinks this is going to happen, due in large part to the volume of requests from enterprise customers.

If Surface RT is released – most likely around the release of Windows Blue and Office Gemini in late summer - there’s a good chance that it won’t be a free update for all Windows RT devices. It will most likely be made available as part of an Office 365 subscription. This would be a logical move on Microsoft’s part, since Outlook isn’t available with the Home & Student edition anyway.

Are you excited about Outlook RT, or are you fine with the Mail app and web-based email?

[Twitter | Windows Weekly]

The post Outlook RT exists, and it’s probably coming to Windows RT alongside Windows Blue appeared first on Pocketables.

After much rumor and speculation, the “Facebook phone” has finally been announced. But rather than partner with a manufacturer and develop a new OS or fork a version of Android, Facebook decided to simply create a launcher capable of running on existing smartphones. Facebook Home will debut first on Android on April 12, with new updates expected every month.

Facebook Home replaces your homescreen with a Coverfeed. Notifications, messages, photos, recent stories, and other Facebook staples take up the majority of the screen, while apps are accessed by swiping your photo at the bottom upward. The social networking giant spent a large portion of the announcement talking about “chat heads,” which pop up over any app when you receive an incoming message. This allows you to respond to messages directly above any app. Of course, you can also swipe the chat head away to ignore it.

Interestingly, Facebook Home allows you to interact with your network directly from the lock screen. You can scroll through photos, stories, and status updates, like or comment on posts, and more before you even unlock the device. In some ways, this seems to defeat the purpose of a lock screen, since it could potentially allow strangers to access on your Facebook account with little-to-no effort.

Facebook Home will only support Android smartphones at launch (no tablets yet), and getting it simply requires you to open the Facebook app on a supported device and select install. The app will let you choose between running Facebook Home once and setting it as your permanent homescreen. Facebook is looking into bringing the “app” to other platforms in the future, but the closed nature of the iOS and Windows Phone app stores make the task slightly more difficult. Of course, it’s surprising how many Windows Phone features can be found in Facebook Home, so you might not need it on Microsoft’s OS.

A new device, the HTC First, will be the first to include Facebook Home, but it will be supported on the HTC One X, HTC One X+, Samsung GALAXY S III, Samsung GALAXY Note II, and (soon) the HTC One and Samsung GALAXY S4 as well. The HTC First will be released exclusively on AT&T on April 12 for $99.99 in red, baby blue, white, and black, with a European release on EE and Orange expected in the coming months.

[TechCrunch]

The post The long-rumored ‘Facebook Phone’ is a launcher dubbed Facebook Home, not a physical device appeared first on Pocketables.

I purchased my first tablet PC with a stylus way back in 2005, long before touchscreen smartphones and tablets became popular. Even digital inking had a relatively small number of users, comparatively.  I was eventually forced to return the device due to other technical reasons, but I always enjoyed the experience. A few months ago, I finally picked up another tablet with a stylus: the Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T (read my full review here).

Between the much-improved hardware and new software like OneNote 2013, the note taking experience is better than ever before. I use OneNote for everything, from taking notes during lectures and collaborating with people to managing my long list of topics/ideas for future posts (You can, of course, do this with any note taking software, but OneNote happens to be my personal preference). The Microsoft Surface with Windows RT is perfect for this sort of environment, thanks to its portability, versatility, and absolutely silent input methods.

But while typing notes is very fast - arguably much faster than writing them out by hand – the experience is less than ideal when you have to enter a complex equation or re-create something that has been drawn on a board. It’s easy to find yourself wasting too much time trying to get the formatting right. But combining typed notes with a stylus for special cases? That’s perfect. This is especially true when you can ink a complex equation and have it automatically converted into a nicely-formatted result.

Well, the experience is almost perfect. The S Pen included with the ATIV Smart PC doesn’t have a digital eraser, which can make undoing mistakes slightly annoying (although Ctrl+Z works well). Additionally, since the tablet has a keyboard dock instead of a Touch Cover, switching between tablet modes is a little more of a hassle. For simple diagrams, I often found myself just steadying the upright screen with one hand and drawing with the other, rather than detaching the tablet and moving the dock out of the way.

Still, after using a laptop/tablet hybrid with a stylus, it’ll be difficult to go back to anything else. Pen input isn’t ideal in all cases, but it’s extremely useful in certain ones. This is just one of the many reasons why I like the Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T, and an excellent reason to pick up another device like the more powerful Surface Pro, which marries the Surface RT’s form-factor with better specs and a stylus.

The Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T was provided to me by Intel as part of the company’s #IntelTablets #TabletCrew program, which has since come to a close.

The post Note taking with the Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T appeared first on Pocketables.

A handful of Xbox LIVE-enabled games on Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 have supported cross-platform gameplay in the past – most notably the recently-released Skulls of the Shogun – but turned-based strategy game Galactic Reign takes things a set further, allowing you to truly buy the game once and play it anywhere. Plus, the game is just plain fun.

Galactic Reign is, at its core, a relatively simple turn-based strategy game. Players are tasked with building up their fleets in order to expand their faction’s territory and conquer the galaxy. This can be done with either the Alkari Ascendancy (a technologically-advanced species), the Sundog Battalion (a powerful species), or the Zorn (a strategic species).

Like any good strategy game, each ship type has various strengths and weaknesses which can augmented with weapons and upgrades using resources (Pro tip: you can name each ship to make it easier to differentiate between similar models). Resources, however, can also be spent on researching new technology or colonizing planets. There are a number of ways to earn victory points, and the first team to reach 25 wins the game.

The game’s most remarkable feature is the Battle Videos, which depict the epic dogfights between fleets in a beautifully rendered cutscene. These videos are rendered in the cloud and then downloaded to the device, and you can pause or rewind them at any time to analyze the ships on the screen. Here, you’ll be able to get a good look at the make up of your opponent’s fleet and learn valuable strategic information.

Battle Videos take a few minutes to render and then download, but they’re well worth it. No two are ever alike, since the size of each fleet, the type of ships involved, and the location changes from fight to fight. If you’re playing the game on Windows 8, you can choose to save the videos to your device as well.

While the multiplayer component is the primary game mode, Galactic Reign also includes a training simulator mode called Battle Academy. This mode contains 60 different combat scenarios, each of which is designed to help you learn how to handle a particular situation. With the conquest and research portions of the game removed, you need only build a fleet capable of eliminating the enemy and then watch the fireworks. While Battle Academy is fun, I found the scoring system somewhat opaque. Sometimes it was easy to three-star a conflict, while other times I repeatedly failed to gain even a single star.

Presentation-wise, Galactic Reign is amazing. The music sounds great and is somewhat reminiscent of the Mass Effect score, while the aforementioned Battle Video graphics are often jaw-dropping. The galactic map is a simple top-down two-dimensional interface, but that’s all it really needs to be. The sound effects are quite good too. My only complaint is that the fleets are colored according to the home and away teams, rather than you vs. your opponent.  As a result, there were a few instances where I wasn’t completely sure which fleet was mine.

My favorite aspect of Galactic Reign, however, is the true cross-platform gameplay. Skulls of the Shogun supports Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and Xbox 360, but you need to purchase the game on each platform. This, of course, is because the Windows Store and Windows Phone Store currently are not unified in any way. Microsoft is reportedly working on changing this, but Galactic Reign manages to get around the limitation with a neat little trick.

Like all Xbox LIVE-enabled games, you can download a free trial on any platform with limited access to the various modes and features. But if you purchase Galactic Reign on one platform, all of the features are automatically unlocked on the other free of charge. The game’s UI still notes it as a trial and you won’t be able to unlock achievements on the second platform, but otherwise it’s the full game.

I’m not generally a big fan of strategy games, so I wasn’t sure if I’d like Galactic Reign going into it. The gameplay, however, is a lot of fun and quickly won me over. The impressive Battle Videos and unique cross-platform features are just icing on the cake. I’d definitely recommend giving the game a try – there is a free trial, after all.

Download: Windows Store ($5.99)

Download: Windows Phone Store ($4.99)

The post Review: Galactic Reign for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 appeared first on Pocketables.

Microsoft has a problem, and it’s with context-sensitive search. Or, more accurately, it’s with users not understanding context-sensitive features like search.

The initial release of Windows Phone 7 included a context-sensitive search button, which apps used in lieu of an icon in the software to provide search capabilities. If the app didn’t support search or the user was on the Start screen, the hardware button simply launched the Bing app. Unfortunately, while this streamlined the interface, some users were never quite sure whether hitting the button would begin a search or open up Bing. As a result, the Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango” update removed the concept of context-sensitive search and transformed the search button into a dedicated Bing button, leaving apps to include a search option in the user interface (UI).

Fast-forward a year to the release of Windows 8, which features four context-sensitive Charms: Search, Share, Devices, and Settings. While the Charms always have similar functionality, the exact contents of each Charm will change depending on which app is currently in use. If you’re on the Start screen, search will default to searching apps. However, if you’re using the Mail app, the same button will search your emails. The same goes for the other three Charms. While some third-party apps have ignored the Charms in favor of a separate settings screen – or, at the very least, a Settings Charm button on the app bar – apps from Microsoft and high-profile developers have adhered to the Windows 8 design principals. The one notable exception to this, of course, is the Bing app, for obvious reasons.

This week, however, two things happened. First, Microsoft released a series of updates for its productivity and entertainment apps. Many of the updates added support for type-to-search, which allows you to initiate a search by simply typing in your query from any screen. This, of course, was already supported in the Windows Store and on the Start screen. The Mail app, however, contains some interesting and potentially telling changes. Printers have always been directly accessible from the devices Charm, but a new print button on the app bar is essentially a shortcut to this menu with all non-printing devices removed. More importantly, a search button can now be found at the top of the email list. Like the print button, the search button simply launches the Search Charm.

Secondly, an early version of Windows Blue also leaked online over the weekend, revealing many of the exciting changes that Microsoft has in store for the first major update to Windows 8 and Windows RT. Strangely, the PC Settings “app” now includes a search box in the upper-right corner of the screen. Unlike the buttons in the new Mail app, Windows Blue’s PC Settings appears to eschew the Charms entirely, with search results appearing in a drop-down box. Windows Blue is still in development and subject to change, so the search box might not make it into the final build. But it’s still somewhat worrisome.

Based on these two recent Windows 8 developments, one has to wonder if Microsoft is going the Windows Phone route with the Windows 8 Charms. With more and more Microsoft apps adding search functionality to the UI, could the Charms be pushed into the background? It seems unlikely that Microsoft would remove them entirely, but why duplicate the functionality? And what will happen if the Search Charm is used for some apps while a dedicated search box is found in others?

The problem, of course, lies with the users, who seem to have trouble either finding the Charms or comprehending how they work. One could argue that this is a design flaw and that the Charms aren’t discoverable enough, but what about Windows Phone’s dedicated search button? It’s always right there in front of you at the bottom of the screen, yet it still proved to be too confusing for people. The problem, of course, is that we have been trained to look for a search button in the UI. In my own experience, it took me a few weeks to get used to using the Charms. But once I did, I quickly grew to love the context-sensitive functionality they provide.

Which do you prefer, dedicated in-app buttons or context-sensitive functionality built into the OS interface?

The post Microsoft and the context-sensitive search problem appeared first on Pocketables.

In my review of the Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T Windows 8 tablet, I noted that the optional keyboard dock would be reviewed separately. This, of course, is due to the fact that the two items are sold separately, and one could conceivably use the tablet without a dock. Of course, I wouldn’t recommend it. Adding a dock to the mix turns a tablet from a consumption device into a production device, making it infinitely more useful. Unfortunately, for as great as the Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T Keyboard Dock is, it’s also somewhat frustrating.

Samsung’s optional keyboard dock is strange in that it feels sturdy, yet also inexplicably flimsy. For $130, you sure don’t get much compared to the docks for competing devices like the ASUS VivoTab RT. The size of the keyboard feels great and the two additional USB ports are nice, but that’s about the extent of it. The keys are somewhat loud, the touchpad is frustrating, and the plastic doesn’t feel nearly as nice as the one used on the ATIV Smart PC 500T itself. It’s also roughly the same weight as the tablet it connects to, despite the fact that it doesn’t include an additional battery. This might sound overly negative, but the drop in quality and attention to detail when comparing the tablet to its docking accessory is noticeable. That being said, the keyboard dock is still a pretty darn useful accessory.

Before snapping the tablet into the dock, you’ll need to remove the plugs from the bottom of the tablet. The connection between the two devices is usually pretty sturdy, but there have been a few instances where they didn’t actually connect together even after I’d put a decent amount of pressure on the top of the tablet. Other times, the tablet just couldn’t detect the connection in general. Thankfully, these issues only seem to occur a small percentage of the time. To disconnect the tablet from the dock, just press down on the button in the center and pull upward.

Once the tablet and dock are connected, you’d be hard pressed to distinguish it from a regular laptop. It has the works, from the power and number lock lights on the front edge (the former light duplicates the indicator next to the power button) to the clamshell-like design. I also really appreciated the additional USB 2.0 ports on the left and right sides, allowing you to connect up to three USB devices at once. Additionally, the dock moves the power plug from the bottom to the back of the left side.

In my review of the ASUS VivioTab RT dock, I criticized how it covered up the Start button and didn’t automatically disable the virtual keyboard. Unfortunately, the Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T has the same flaws.

The design of the keyboard is relatively clean. With the exception of the function keys and the arrows, each Chiclet key has just a single white character printed on it. Some people will like this, while others will miss the shortcut hints provided by other keyboards. Samsung also decided against including dedicated keys for the Windows 8 Charms, which is ok in my book, since I rarely use them anyway.

The dock’s keys feel fine under your fingers, but they are noisy enough that I have been hesitant to type too fast in a class or meeting. The volume level isn’t too terrible when compared to some keyboards – my old Logitech G15 keyboard makes more noise, for example - but it still makes me somewhat self-conscious in a public setting.

My biggest complaint, however, is with the touchpad. Good laptop touchpads are few and far between, and Samsung’s definitely doesn’t fit into the elite category of excellent touchpads. The sensitivity is fine, but the feeling of your finger sliding across it could be much better. The left- and right-click buttons are especially clacky, and speed of two-finger scrolling could be a little more consistent. Additionally, while the touchpad supports edge gestures for switching apps, pulling up the Charms, and invoking the app bar, the small lip around the edge of the touchpad makes it difficult to get the positioning right. As a result, I found myself repeating edge gestures multiple times or accidentally activating them at the most inopportune moments.

Is the Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T Keyboard Dock bad? Not really, no. It’s a passable dock, but it could be so much better; especially when compared to the tablet it’s designed to go along with. I am of the opinion that a keyboard dock - even a semi-disappointing one – is better than no dock at all, so I’d still recommend picking one up. But at $130, you won’t get nearly as much value for your dollar as competing accessories.

The Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T Keyboard Dock retails for $129.99. The tablet review unit was provided to me by Intel as part of the company’s #IntelTablets #TabletCrew program, but the keyboard dock was purchased separately.

The post Review: Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T Keyboard Dock appeared first on Pocketables.