These Vizio PCs look fantastic

Posted on July 9, 2012 at 09:00 by Julian Kay

Apparently Vizio make televisions – but I have only heard of them since they started building personal computers.

They’ve split it into three categories:

It’s the Light + Thin Ultrabook that has my attention though.

Obviously there is a comparison with another American company who makes aluminium products, and I would say that their are certainly a lot of design similarities with the MacBook range, but the operating system choice is what’s exciting for me.

Plus with the Microsoft Signature configuration by default, I know the operating system will run really well without the typical bloatware that the likes of HP and Dell preinstall on their computers.

Vizio are very new to the PC market and definitely one to watch. I can’t wait to see how well their touchpads work with Windows 8, and I look forward to seeing what their next generation machines will bring. You can find out more information in Vizio reboots the PC – a brilliant article and video combo produced by the team over at The Verge.

At the moment, this machine is at the top of my list for most desirable Ultrabook.

Update…

After publishing this post I started wondering if they would ever see the light in the UK. After doing some looking around I managed to find this post on Facebook that does not look very promising. The search continues…

Microsoft Surface for Windows RT

Posted on June 20, 2012 at 14:15 by Julian Kay

Yesterday I wrote an article for Branded3 entitled Meet the Microsoft Surface as well as my thoughts on Microsoft as a Hardware Company. Now I wanted to write a little about my thoughts on the Surface itself, and which one of the two that I have chosen to be mine!

A little while ago I detailed my plans for the computers I wanted to have to replace my aging setup. Essentially it is as follows:

  • Xbox
  • Laptop
  • Phone
  • Tablet

So which of these two Microsoft Surface computers fits in with this array of devices? I must admit, the Intel version – Microsoft Surface for Windows 8 Pro is a much better device on paper, and also includes some features that the Windows RT version does not have – more pixels, more storage, Wacom digitizer (as well as touch) and the all important ability to run existing Windows apps.

One of the core selling points of the Windows 8 Pro version is that it would actually be more of a laptop replacement than a simple tablet – which is why it is just off the mark for my use. Seeing as I want as little computers as possible, I’d like to be able to have a full keyboard and touchpad that is integrated into a more traditional laptop design – or more correctly – an Ultrabook design to replace my MacBook.

What I really want from a tablet is a thin, battery friendly device for running Metro apps both at home and on the go. I think the Microsoft Surface for Windows RT would actually be the better option in that case.

What is Windows RT anyway? Windows RT is very similar to Windows 8 – but it is not Windows 8. They both share a lot of heratigate, and both share a lot of new Windows features, but the biggest change is that Windows RT breaks the line from previous versions of Windows by limiting the ability to run traditional desktop applications (except for a select few Microsoft titles, like Office).

For me this is fine, I want to have a Ultrabook computer for writing, desktop computing, using Vim and Visual Studio and Outlook and all that existing Windows software.

By having a tablet and an Ultrabook I know all my Metro style apps are going to sync on both machines through the Cloud. I can read mail, manage my time, surf the web and consume entertainment on both machines in exactly the same way. But when I’m using the Ultrabook I also get full access to all my existing applications. The best of both worlds.

For me this is exactly what I want my tablet device to do, and the main reason I’m going to choose the Windows RT version of Surface over the Windows 8 Pro tablet.

Microsoft the Hardware Company

Posted on June 19, 2012 at 19:41 by Julian Kay

Warning: I sound like a gushing fanboy on this post. Oh well.

I have used Microsoft hardware for a long time – from the original optical mouse and Natural Keyboards to pretty much every version of the Zune.

My friends and I often said “If only Microsoft would make X” where X has been everything from laptops to phones. One of the devices that has had these attention the most was actually the Zune HD. Many people have said to me “just imagine if it was a phone” – and while Windows Phone has exceeded this dream in terms of software, I’m still running a Samsung phone rather than a Microsoft phone*.

Simply because I thought it was the best at the time.

Back when Microsoft were trying to push manufacturers into producing high end Tablet PCs – they were recommending the Toshiba R400 as the best Windows Vista laptop (it had Wacom pen digitizer, sideshow, and much more) but I soon ended up replacing it with an Apple MacBook because their hardware was better.

Running Windows on a Apple machine because that’s the best PC I could get at the time. Yay for Apple, Boo for Microsoft.

So here is why the Microsoft Surface is different – it’s PC hardware. Not an accessory, not a games or entertainment machine, it’s an actual general purpose computer. And it’s designed and built by Microsoft, not some old OEM that can produce 100s of crappy plastic laptop designs and live in mediocrity. They’re only producing the very best equipment they can with the resources they have. And boy what resources.

The Microsoft Surface PCs dare other hardware manufacturers to do better, and as a consumer – I want to invest the best I can. For me that’s going to be Microsoft software on Microsoft hardware.

In this way my view is fairly selfish – I don’t care what it means for HP or Dell, the thing I care most about is the software and hardware tools I use every day. I believe that by taking this step into producing PCs, Microsoft is doing the right thing – giving Windows 8 a platform for it to perform exactly the way it was designed to.

* Actually a Nokia would do just fine!

Controlling the Xbox 360

Posted on June 8, 2012 at 09:00 by Julian Kay

There are a huge amount of different options for controlling the Xbox 360 console, and when I got mine I had a little think about what ways I’d like to use it.

Xbox 360 Wireless Controller and Chatpad

Obviously the default way of using an Xbox is with the usual wireless controller. I’ve had a few different ones over the years, but I’m currently using a full black one that came with the console as standard, as well as the black chat pad. There are other versions of the controller, including wired and the transforming D-pad. (Though the transforming D-pad doesn’t come in black.)

The Chatpad itself was marketed for enabling Messenger integration into the Xbox experience, though for me it’s mostly just for general text input, standard Xbox Live messages and searching. Personally I wouldn’t want to give it up now, and I’d recommend one to anyone with an Xbox 360.

Xbox 360 Media Remote

One of the things that really sold me on the Media Remote is the way it can control many types of television, which means I don’t need to have two remotes on the coffee table. I can switch on the Xbox and launch various applications, including apps like iPlayer and Lovefilm without having to touch the controller – in fact sometimes I don’t touch the controller at all (unless I’m doing text input with the Chatpad!)

The remote includes the usual coloured YXAB face buttons, a guide button, and plenty of media controls including play/pause and fast forward/rewind as well as ones more geared towards live television, which I know is supported by Sky in the UK and many other providers in the US.

Xbox Companion for Windows Phone

An interesting addition to the Xbox is using a companion app from either Windows 8 or Windows Phone. I might write about this separately, but I would just add that I have often used this app, mostly for changing music on Zune while I’m in another room. Handy!

What else?

One of the things I didn’t bother getting is the Kinect, it may be something I want in the future, but right now I just don’t think it’s that important. some of the voice stuff at E3 2012 was pretty cool, but not enough to make me change my mind.

I am very interested in Xbox SmartGlass though, and as soon as I get myself a Windows RT tablet I’ll be sure to write about it.

Through the Eyepiece

Posted on June 1, 2012 at 11:07 by Julian Kay

When you’re an astronomer you see a lot of amazing things through telescopes. Sometimes you just want to capture it on a photo, but taking pictures through an eyepiece can be notoriously tricky. However, if you keep at it you sometimes get some pretty cool results. Some of the pictures I’ve taken look impressive in their own right, and have a quality of their own that’s hard to replicate by doing ‘proper’ astrophotography.

Personally, I find using the small lens of a phone camera a lot easier to line up than an SLR or anything bigger. Here’s a few shots I’ve taken using this method…

Here is the Moon shown through one of the Dobsonian telescopes that belongs to The York Astronomical Society – you can make out plenty of detail on the craters too.

This is a very cool picture of the Sun taken with an H-alpha solar telescope.

With this one you can just about make out some stuff coming off the surface of the Sun, though it’s very tricky to get detail when taking a photograph this way!

Another picture of the Moon here, this one was taken with Annette Newby‘s telescope in the early evening.

And finally – I’d forgive you if you mistook this for a picture of the Moon – but it’s actually the crescent Venus, taken later on in the same evening.

Astronomy Photos in May 2012

Posted on May 31, 2012 at 14:15 by Julian Kay

Last weekend I went to see the York Astronomical Society to hang out and do some astronomy. This time of year the days are starting to get long and it doesn’t get dark until very late, but there are still plenty of things to see.

Here’s Venus just poking out near where the Sun had set. It’s much dimmer than it was a couple of months ago, due the amount of sun light that’s actually reflecting from the surface.

You can even make out the crescent shape of Venus with this photograph, though it looked much better through a telescope.

I also took my first ever photographs (and video) of the Sun through a telescope.

Plane Crossing The Sun

Posted on May 30, 2012 at 18:01 by Julian Kay

Last weekend I had my first play with taking photographs of our closest star through fellow astronomer Martin Whipp’s telescope *. After I’d taken a load of photographs I thought I’d just start off a video and see what happens.

Coincidently an aeroplane ‘photobombed‘ the shot by flying between me and the Sun. Here it is slowed down to one quarter speed. Pretty cool, right?

* Never point any kind of optical equipment at the sun unless you have a special filter! It’s very dangerous and could damage your camera, or worse – your eyes.

Using the Xbox 360

Posted on May 10, 2012 at 13:13 by Julian Kay

I recently decided to get an Xbox 360 to replace my ageing desktop computer, and here are my initial thoughts after running with it for a couple of weeks.

Music and Video

The main reason I got the Xbox 360 is not for games, its primary purpose is to replace my old desktop computer with a new way to access entertainment:

  • Streaming music from my laptop using the built in Xbox media player
  • Zune Music and Video through Zune Pass
  • Lovefilm streaming for films and TV shows
  • iPlayer and 4oD for on demand television

Watching programs like Red Dwarf on Lovefilm has been very cool, as well as using Zune Pass to quickly find new albums and music videos. It’s generally a lot nicer to be able to run these entertainment experiences on the Xbox verses the PC.

Installing and Playing games

One of the things that the Xbox lets me do is install games directly onto the system – much like you can on a PC. This means that the software can load faster and the machine itself can be a lot quieter, as it does not need to spin up the optical media to load assets. I got the Xbox 360 256 GB * which is the newer Xbox 360 S design. This is already pretty quiet, so having a game installed like this makes the whole experience a lot nicer for a living room. As playing each game has its own personality, so I won’t be going into any at this point. In this case I’m going to focus on more of the interface and apps.

The ‘Metro’ Dashboard

Yup, Microsoft are making some amazing strides in their user interface unification. By crafting all of their major operating systems on the new Metro design language, they’re creating a consistent experience for users to interact with their electronics. The Xbox 360′s latest dashboard update included a large amount of these Metro principles – though I believe the transformation is not yet complete (at time of writing, naturally). This is due to the ‘Metro style‘ philosophy only going as far as the design language of the main home screen, most of the operating system is the same as it was before, including the pop-up ‘Blade style’ guide, to ‘NXE style’ menus.

Launching and running other Apps

Apps like Facebook and Twitter are lacking the integration that applications like Windows Phone and Windows 8 are capable of. You don’t notice so much with single tasked apps like iPlayer because the main focus is to single task – watching something. Social applications require more multitasking. I would love to see Facebook chat work like the Messenger integration, and the ability to pin apps (or deep links from apps) directly to the dashboard is a must.

* Note that they refer to the consoles by size now, rather than calling one Arcade or Elite like they did with the early Xbox 360 units. That’s better if you ask me.

Computers for 2012 and beyond

Posted on May 9, 2012 at 08:16 by Julian Kay

Because I got all my computers around the same time, they seem to have aged at same time. This year I plan on replacing all of the general purpose computers in one fell swoop that should keep me going until then next generation.

Here’s what I had at the start of the year:

  • Desktop – a 2008 beasty Dell XPS with two graphics cards and lots of fans
  • MacBook – a 2008 MacBook running Windows 7
  • Phone – a Windows Phone
  • Tablet PC – a 2007 Toshiba Tablet PC running Windows 7 that didn’t get much use

Here’s what I have planned for the end of the year:

  • Xbox – a living room entertainment system, mostly for music and video
  • Laptop – a Windows 8 laptop, probably around the 13 inch mark
  • Phone – a Windows Phone
  • Tablet – a Windows RT* tablet

I hadn’t really used my Toshiba Tablet PC a great deal in the last couple of years, mostly due to the fact I started using Windows 7 full time on my MacBook and the Tablet PC was only really used for drawing with the Wacom screen. Thankfully, I’ve already handed this computer on to a friend of mine who will no doubt make much better use of its capabilities.

Replacing what was essentially a laptop with a general purpose tablet will definitely be beneficial. As well as enabling new forms of mobility I haven’t really had before (yes, I’m totally jealous of my fellow astronomers with their iPads), it will also sync with my Windows laptop so that all the Metro-style applications are ready to go on either machine. I’ll probably go for whatever tablet most takes my fancy before the Windows 8 launch, but to be considered they’d have to be capable of having mobile broadband, GPS and sensors including accelerometer and compass enabling some of the more exciting Metro-style apps that are expected.

Picking a Windows 8 laptop might be a little bit harder, as I have been spoilt by the excellent craftsmanship in the MacBook. I know that manufacturers like HP and Dell should be capable of making such a machine, but deciding which one is a lot harder than simply choosing another Apple. But – Apple are not going to be an option, unless they include all the new Windows 8 goodness like touchscreen and sensors mentioned above – and going by Apple’s history of ‘quality’ Windows drivers, I’m not holding my breath.

As for right now – the Xbox has been a good replacement from my old, loud desktop computer. People who know me will know that I don’t watch television, so getting a TV screen and an Xbox in the living room is not probably not going to make me start wasting vast amounts of time by sitting in front of the screen, it’s more about simplifying what I was doing on my desktop computer: Surfing the web, doing emails, listening to music and watching video. Surfing the web and doing email can be done on either a laptop or a tablet just as well as on the desktop, so it made much more sense for the entertainment uses to take primary focus.

The Xbox is more than capable of looking after the music and video in my flat, and I’ll write up some of my thoughts about this shortly.

As with everything, I’m always trying to simplify. This solution is definitely simpler than previous setups, thought we’ll see if the numbers will eventually go down. I wouldn’t be shocked to be rocking a tablet/laptop hybrid with a docking station in a few years, reducing the number of computers even further.

* Windows RT is the name of what was previously known as WOA or Windows on Arm. Not to be confused with the WinRT development platform. Or something.