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Thanks for all the feedback everyone! Let me know if you have any suggestions for format changes or topics.

What I hope we see:

-Kinect 2, for closer range gesture recognition, improved voice controls, and whatever else they’ve cooked up
-Cross platform (Xbox, Windows, Phone) gaming announcements.
-Live “paywall” taken down to use things like Netflix, etc.
-Previews for Windows 8.1 Xbox Music, Video, Games, and SmartGlass app updates
-Some mention of IllumiRoom, whether it be as an actual product or just a glimpse into the future.

about 18 hours ago on Microserfs: a weekly community thread- Xbox predictions! (May 17 - 23) 1 recommend

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I have tweaked the headline to include the date. Kept this one a little more broad to just introduce the thread and I will be putting subjects in the headlines of later weeks. Thanks for stopping by and for the suggestions!

about 18 hours ago on Microserfs: a weekly community thread- Xbox predictions! (May 17 - 23)

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I saw online somewhere that Google put up applications for these “prototype laptops” and jumped at the opportunity.

I filled out two applications. Separate email addresses, different names, two addresses (home and school). I gave some story about how it would be amazing for education and as a student I could test it. Then I gave another version of basically the same thing.

I didn’t hear back for months. I’d basically all but forgotten about it. So one day, I’m at work and I get a call from home saying that they’re was a package from Google at my house for me. I basically freaked out and left work a half an hour early to check my school mail. And sure enough, there was the second one.

Probably against the rules, but hey, it got me two free laptops and a story to tell haha.

1 day ago on This was my last: a personal history of recent computing 1 reply 2 recommends

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Great post! That pesky “too many cards error!” Also, Josh’s “Hello I must be going” post is one of my favorites. It’s what lead me to follow him to This Is My Next and The Verge.

My history is not all that long, but here goes nothing:

Computers:

My family has owned plenty of Windows desktop PC’s over the years, but there was not much personal (to me) about them. The first time I could call a computer ‘mine’ was the summer after I graduated high school. I searched and searched for what would be my graduation present, and came up short. Then at an open house at my college, I was sold on the school offered laptop with a ridiculous, basically anything goes protection plan. So a few weeks later, after chasing down a UPS truck, I was the proud owner of a Dell Latitude E6410. It’s not pretty, it may not even have an original part on it, but it holds a place in my heart. The E6410 is that laptop you see in the background of CSI or Law and Order with a Windows sticker slapped over the Dell logo. Its the computer you’ll see thousands of college students pull out of their backpack for class. Oh, also I’ve managed to break everything possible on it, and our wonderful IT dept. has come through in the clutch (see my mid semester BSOD). It originally ran Windows 7, but I have since updated it to Windows 8.

I also (somehow) tricked Google into sending me not one, but two Cr-48 Chromebooks. I gave one to my brother and kept one for myself. The hinge breaks after about 6 months of use an its probably the slowest computer I’ve ever used. It served its purpose and Chrome OS is on to bigger and better things, but the device itself is more a collectors item than a computer for me now.

I also purchased a Microsoft Surface RT in late December of last year and hands down its my favorite device I’ve ever owned. If I have to do something related to computing or the internet, I reach for my Surface. With every Patch Tuesday and app update this thing is getting better and better. I love my Surface. But there I go getting all sappy over some glass and VaporMg…

Phones:

I had a bunch of dumbphones throughout the years, but my first smartphone was the Palm Pixi. WebOS is now a thing of the past, and the place I go to reminisce about the good ol’ days.

Next on the phone list was my HTC Arrive, a Windows Phone 7 device. It was the best and the worst, all at the same time. I loved the OS, but the hardware was painful. That slide out keyboard was the bane of my existence for a year or so.

Then came my current device, the iPhone 4S. My iPhone is great. It has all the apps that I could want, the screen is great, though a little small. But, and its a pretty big but, I have to charge it about every 6 hours. The battery on my specific iPhone, not the 4S in general, is absolutely terrible. I cannot wait to get a new phone and have the days of carrying my 30 pin connector around with me be a thing of the past.

My next? Whatever Windows Phone 8 device Sprint gets. (Most likely the HTC “Tiara” or Samsung Ativ S). To have Windows Phone on hardware that isn’t the HTC Arrive will be great.

Other:

I’ve had some iPods and a ZuneHD. Also a Sansa mp3 player with a jog dial… which was awesome.

Web and apps:

I have a terrible memory, whether it be the 2 concussions I got when I was 18 or just me being lazy, I can never remember anything. My calendar is the most important thing to me. I am constantly trying out calendar, to-do list, and reminder apps. Right now all of my appointments and reminders are in Outlook. Also, SkyDrive is my file explorer. If I take a picture, create a Word doc, take a note in notepad, whatever, it ends up in SkyDrive immediately. With my Dell, I’ve lost too many files, so SkyDrive is super important to my computer life.

1 day ago on This was my last: a personal history of recent computing 1 reply 1 recommend

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I really like Outlook.com. I’ve been using it as my mail email since the day it launched… or rather took over for Hotmail. The interface is great, the mail management tools are simple and really useful. I also hooked up 2 other accounts to send an receive which was no problem at all and they work just fine.

1 day ago on What do you like? 4 recommends

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A little while back the Surface blog posted a “My Surface Story” that I think you should take a look at. You can find it here.

1 day ago on Surface as primary PC 5 recommends

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Shared her post to twitter from tumblr I believe.

2 days ago on Yahoo acquires Tumblr in $1.1 billion cash deal, promises 'not to screw it up' 1 reply 4 recommends

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Windows Phone has horizontal dots as well, as far as I know.

2 days ago on Video and Phone calls though Outlook.com

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Past: ZuneHD, HTC Arrive (Windows Phone 7)

Present: Surface RT, Dell Latitude e6410 (had Windows 7, upgrade to Windows 8). Outlook for email. Skype for video chat/messaging. Yammer. Office (365 and Office Home and Student 2013 RT) Xbox Music/Video. Every file I have is in SkyDrive (28GB personal, 45GB on school account). IE10 for browser. Bing for search/homepage. Microsoft Touch Mouse and Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500).

Future: HTC ‘Tiara’ or Samsung Ativ S (waiting for Sprint to officially announce WP8 devices). Windows 8.1 Public Preview. Next Xbox.

2 days ago on How deep are you into the MS ecosystem?

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In supporting Google Talk, Microsoft made it easier for Gmail users to migrate to Outlook from Gmail without losing functionality. They are still supporting Skype, and even have teased a redesign of the brand. Integration with Outlook is (slowly) rolling out, and I’d expect that to continue.

Skype is becoming a bigger part of the ‘services’ half of the new ‘devices and services’ strategy. Microsoft is phasing out Messenger in favor of Skype showing continued support for the service. They have also baked it into the People Hub, a core piece of Windows Phone. Integration with Lync is coming in the form of calling and messaging June, with video calling coming later.

By baking it into a lot of their products (Windows Phone, Lync, Outlook, etc) Microsoft is showing pretty strong support for Skype, and indicating that it has some life left in it.

2 days ago on The Next-Gen Skype 3 recommends

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Solid idea w/ the mult license option! Good thinking.

3 days ago on Microserfs: a weekly community thread- Xbox predictions! (May 17 - 23)

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“5. More compelling reason to get a Gold Subscription, plus removal of the paywall for Netflix, iPlayer, etc.”

Yes please.

4 days ago on Microserfs: a weekly community thread- Xbox predictions! (May 17 - 23) 1 recommend

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I totally agree with you on the software rather than hardware approach. I would love to see Xbox gain an increased presence on Windows/Windows Phone. Cross platform gaming would be huge, and Xbox is such a strong brand, I think they could pull it off. I think that pricing of the games would be crucial. If this is a ‘buy once, play everywhere’ kind of thing, I’d be all over it. But with games like "Skulls of Shogun, where I would have to purchase it individually on each platform, I’m much less inclined to do so. 800 points on Xbox, $4.99 on Windows Phone, and $9.99 on Windows is a strange way to present the purchase to gamers. If there was a one time, say, $25 fee and the game would be attached to your Microsoft account and download on all platforms, that would be ideal. I think that killing off Microsoft Points is a big part of this.

4 days ago on Microserfs: a weekly community thread- Xbox predictions! (May 17 - 23) 1 reply 2 recommends

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Yup, free (ad supported) unlimited streaming for 6 months on a new W8 install.

4 days ago on Xbox Music + Xbox Video app updates

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Hmm… mine still lags quite a bit.

4 days ago on Xbox Music + Xbox Video app updates

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I’m very curious to see what they do for developers. Would be nice to see some applications transferred over to the big screen.

4 days ago on Microserfs: a weekly community thread- Xbox predictions! (May 17 - 23)

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The last six months or so has been very exciting, and it seems like the next 6 months+ will continue that energy. I’m really looking forward to it.

I’m really exited for their entertainment stuff as well. If I could have a nice box to put next to my tv that could be a media center of sorts, that also could play games, I’d be more than satisfied.

As mentioned before, I’m not much of a gamer myself, but I am curious to see if they open the platform up a little more to make it easier for indie devs (see Fez patch situation).

4 days ago on Microserfs: a weekly community thread- Xbox predictions! (May 17 - 23) 1 reply 3 recommends