RIGUY

I have the Samsung ATIV Smart PC in my hand. It is astonishingly wonderful. Although Samsung refers to this device as a “Smart PC”, I call it a  … tablet. But I get the Marketing – this tablet really can be a PC for most folks, whether on a personal, home level or in a business sense.

But believe me, this is not your standard PC nor an average laptop. This is a tablet that not only zips around from App to App, or even Desktop to App, this tablet TURNS HEADS. Sit in a public space or walk around with one in hand and you will see what I mean.

Once you figure out how to turn off the “Autorotate”, this device is awesome. Autorotate moves the screen from vertical to horizontal on the fly. Sometimes, it seems the screen moves if you even flinch slightly. There may be a way to tune it, but the button on top of the tablet next to the On/Off switch turns it off/on. It’s all long screen or horizontal for me.

The 1.8 GHz Atom processor is more than ample for this tablet that can pass for a modern day workstation. The RAM is slim at 2 Gigabytes, so this device may not be for hard core science, mathematical or business reporting numbers crunching users. But outside of those requirements, it can handle most tasks smoothly.

The Windows 8 tablet swiping takes some getting used to. But once you start gently swiping in the corners, as opposed to tapping hard (like I did initially), navigation is fairly easy and makes sense. A lower right hand corner Windows 8 swipe yields Search, Share, Start (menu), Devices, and Settings. Now I am wondering, how did I ever carry on my Windows work without these?

One tip: if new to Windows 8 on a tablet or touch screen, master how to find Search. Anything, and I mean anything, can be found via Search. It’s really the same as the Windows 7 Start/Search feature. Hit the Windows logo (which all Windows 8 devices have now), and you get the shiny default Windows 8 screen if you are lost. Scroll to the right, and there is Search. Gently start touching the lowest right corner, and swipe towards center screen. Search via narrowing it down to Apps, Settings, Files [Apps is default]. This was how I got to the Network settings: I selected Settings and typed in network. All sorts of related results.

The AT&T 4G is built into the device, i.e. on the board, so to speak. The built on nature of a 4G card increases the price of the unit a bit. It is worth it, though. Speeds are spot on and do not disappoint at 9 Megabytes download and 7 Megabytes upload speed. That is sweet speed!

This ATIV is being offered at $699 at AT&T. Data plan required. There are similar (and less expensive) devices available if you can make do with finding WiFI connections when needed or if you will always be using it or working in the same location or two. But having the always on broadband modem (4G) built right into this device is a real convenience. As always, monthly data charges ensue.

Check out the details and ‘specs’ on this wonderful Samsung ATIV!

http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/devices/samsung/ativ-smart-pc-misty-blue.html?WT.srch=1&cagpspn=pla#fbid=QOxQ6JqdKCC

Some random SkyDrive, Office 2013, Spotify on Windows 8 updates:

“A billion Office documents have been saved to SkyDrive, Microsoft announced today. This number will surely grow with Office 2013 using SkyDrive as the default save location.
Previously, editing those documents with the Office Web Apps required a Microsoft account. Microsoft has changed that policy. While a Microsoft account is still required to have your own SkyDrive and documents, you can now edit other people’s documents to which you’ve been invited even without an account; you just need the invitation link. This should make co-authoring simpler and more accessible….

Way back at the Windows Phone 8 launch last year, Microsoft promised that Spotify was coming to the platform. Windows Phone 7 had a Spotify client, but it’s one of the small selection of apps that weren’t compatible with Windows Phone 8 due to its use of native code. The new free app is still a “beta,” and it comes with a 30-day Spotify trial.”

Thanks to ArsTechnica for the update

I read this interesting analysis of the new Windows 8 Surface Pro. He mentions that Microsoft’s purpose for producing Surface on its own was really intended to spur OEMs like Dell and Lenovo into producing more for less. It’s an interesting point.

“Windows Surface Pro sold out at its US release last weekend. iTWire thinks it is a good product but more importantly it is a good benchmark for others to improve on – and they are. MS entered the tablet fracas for one reason, to shame or spur its OEM partners on to releasing better tablets that it was – let’s call it a benchmarking exercise.

Article here

Panasonic, of all companies, is apparently the leader in that niche market of rugged laptops and tablets. Not Dell. Not HP. Not even Apple.

It looks like they are marketing a rugged Windows 8 Pro tablet: ToughPad FZ-G1. By rugged, they mean the devices can be dropped, run over and operate in 20 or 100 degrees with no problem.

Panasonic’s Rugged Tablet

Microsoft is offering a Free Answer Desk. In other words, they will offer free support to you for your Windows PC or laptop. They will assist with software install/uninstall, diagnostics, spyware removal etc. Very cool!

“Answer Desk is here to help you

Come in to find out about the range of services we offer including:

• Performance Tune-up
• Extended Diagnostics
• Software Install/Uninstall
• Hardware Install
• Virus and Spyware Removal”

Here is their link:

MS Answer Desk

Interesting read regarding the apprehension Nokia had about Windows 8 phone sales.

“We’ve all heard the reports that Nokia’s Lumia 920 is selling out amongst retailers, although to be fair some have questioned if this might be due to a lack of supply rather than actual excitement of the product. However at the rate the Lumia 920 is topping AT&T’s charts on Amazon, it’s safe to say that there is a certain amount of excitement surrounding the Windows Phone 8 handset, but at the same time it seems that the skeptics might have been right about the short supply. In a conference call with leading investors and analysts, Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop admitted that sales of the device would have been a lot faster had there not been any supply-side issues.

While some of the supply issues were legitimate, Elop admits that they decided to introduce the Lumia 920 in a very deliberate and thoughtful manner. Apparently they were worried that the phone might not be met well which would then leave them with a surplus of units that were unsold …”

UberGizmo Article

Tablet sales are red hot, according to this Memphis Business article. It appears there will be no stopping this trend. Many people mistakenly believed that smart phones were the wave of the future, but let’s face reality: one cannot get real work done off a smart phone. Send, receive email from a smart phone? Yes. Maybe look at a PDF or JPEG? Yes. Install some apps for low level of productivity? Yes. But the human eyes are not meant to stare at such small spaces for extended periods of time. So, yes PCs and Mac boxes will go away. Laptops will be around for a little longer but eventually most workers of the world will use a hybrid laptop/tablet to get work done. They will be durable, have lots of hardware resources (RAM, drives) and be touch screen based.

“At the D8 conference in 2010, Steve Jobs boldly predicted that tablet computers soon would surpass notebook computers in total sales.
Just three years later, his prediction is about to be realized.
According to the NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report, tablet shipments are expected to reach 240 million units this year, well beyond the 207 million notebooks that are expected to ship.
It’s a radical change in the computing market. In 2012, one company, Apple Inc., thoroughly dominated the tablet category in a way that no single entity ever has in the laptop market.”

Here is the reference

I kid you not, I just got this Windows 8 Dell Inspiron 15 at Best Buy for $299 ($335 with tax) in San Francisco. I bought it as a gift. It is not online at that price, unfortunately – at least I have not found it. I was actually looking for something else, but really, when do you come across a strong laptop with the newest and latest Windows operating system for $299? It was in a semi large box, and believe it or not, included a USB mouse, 1 year of Trend Micro anti virus and an 8 Gigabyte USB flash drive. Huh? For $299?

It is listed at $479 at the Best Buyweb site, which is a decent deal as well. But it may be worth a visit to your nearby Best Buy to see if you can snag this decent laptop for $299.

Note: I do not work at Best Buy – I am simply mentioning a GREAT deal as I see it.

Best Buy Web Ad for this Inspiron

I am really enjoying saving files, like photos, to the Cloud. In this case I am referring to SkyDrive. It is awesome. A great starting point on this for me was to get a Windows 8 phone (a Lumia 920). SkyDrive is basically a way to save your files off the phone. This is good in case something bad happens to the phone (is stolen, for example), or if quick access to these files is needed from another computer. Another way to see the benefits of this (somewhat) new Cloud based service is Outlook.Com. This is or was Hotmail or Live.com email. Hotmail can be converted to the new Outlook.Com interface. I recommend this. It may take a few minutes to get used to but it works very well.

Once in the web based Outlook, you can easily navigate amongst these items:
Mail, People, Calendar, SkyDrive

The secret is in the upper left hand, specifically at the arrow. Once the arrow is clicked, you will see these options. My recently taken photos show up automatically in SkyDrive. From here, they can be seen at any computer. Very nice!

Microsoft’s SkyDrive Introduction

Well, everybody and their dog has heard all the hype about “The Cloud” lately. And it is for good reason. Sooner or later, much or all of your content will exist in the Cloud. What is “The Cloud”? The Cloud used to be known as off site backup. For businesses or most medium to large organizations, this has been critical for many years or decades now. Systems Administrators (like me!) have fought long and hard to get Owners and CEO types to approve datacenter or colocation contracts. This is basically rented rackspace for server storage. You connect your office to this leased or rented rackspace, and voila, you have colocation. It is more complicated than this, in no small part due to networking considerations. Moving large data chunk can be a challenge.
Some organizations do not have servers onsite or in their office. They connect to a colocation facility from the get go. This is a good and safe way to set up infrastructure, but a very solid connection between the 2 sites is required, as applications, email, and databases will require this in order to be used. Also, not all datacenters are created equally. Some are more natural disaster proof and have 24/7 security, while others do not. Some organizations only use colocation for backups. Their servers are located in offices and backups are done nightly or so to the colocation. This is a decent way to do business, but if a floor or power outage takes these servers out, then there better be colocation backups available and ready for use! Another common scenario is a mix of the above. More and more organizations are moving not just data but applications to the Cloud. But it takes careful  planning and analysis.
I have installed Windows Server 2012 beta. It is very much a product of the modern age. It is heavily geared towards The Cloud and Cloud Services.

Heavy Duty Information on MS Server 2012 Cloud Services