Emmanuel's space

I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. This week, my DELL Latitude XT2 has finally arrived. I was wise enough not to buy the first version the XT, way back in 2007. The NTrig (for pen and touch) and ATI drivers seem to have been rather unstable, and RAM, SSD and battery slice were all very expensive. Now all these issues are behind us.

I was tempted to ditch my Windows Vista Business 64-bit to go straight to Windows 7 beta (build 7000), which I have been testing both at home and at work without too much issues. But the beta drivers from NTrig are not ready yet for prime time (cannot use both pen and multitouch at the same time). So I’ll wait for a more stable version (Win7 and drivers) or might even wait until the official launch at the end of the year to buy myself a retail copy, which I will install on both this XT2 and my other desktop PCs.

Now let the work and fun begin. Over the last couple of years, I have had several ideas popping in my head (although I begin to feel the aging effect on my once-fresh neurons, but I’m told that it’s all normal):

• websites for friends/family in XHTML/CSS/PHP/ASP.NET/Silverlight
• web applications for potential customers (small projects to start building a portfolio), maybe in association with a web designer
• my workplace’s NetSoft application rewriting in WPF (originally written in C#) as an open source hobby project
• a personal RSS manager smart application, with feeds and config storage in the cloud, probably using the Windows Azure services, and synchronization capabilities between desktop/mobile/cloud, probably using Live Mesh or something similar
• cool multitouch applications in WPF and Silverlight 3 (now in beta), stuff like piano or guitar would be fun

So, which to start? Probably the RSS manager, as I see an immediate benefit for better organizing myself and avoid wasting time. I’ll post some details about that project on this blog once I have defined its features. The biggest drawback is that I haven’t a Windows Azure service account yet. I have registered for the development tools, but I’m on the waiting list and I have no clue how I need to wait… Well, at least I can start working on the specifications. I hope I can get the SDK right after that’s finished.

I’ll probably work on other website projects in parallel. The WPF fun can wait until I have a bit more time. Because of that, I might install Virtual PC 2007 on my laptop and configure several Virtual Machines in order to separate all the mess.

I guess I’ll spend less time on Facebook and following tweets (not that I was spending much time on there anyway) and I’ll probably read less RSS news. Now may be the good time to start being less of a follower and more of a leader. So stay tuned! More posts to come on this blog.

I've read quite a few interesting blog posts on Radar since Nic's advised me to subscribe to the feed, but that particular piece by Tim O'Reilly is by far the most interesting: Web 2.0 and Cloud Computing. It explains well the different levels of technologies referring to The Cloud (still not well defined yet), and this new paradigm (platform) taking shape right now. It makes you wish to be part of this next big thing (huh, how?).

If you own a Windows Mobile device and you're still using the default Pocket IE (Internet Explorer), make yourself a favour and install the free beta version of Opera Mobile 9.51. You'll get full screen, as-on-your-desktop (layout not modified to fit small screen), zoomable and tabbed experience like you've never had before. A word of caution though: it will become your default browser and it's still quite buggy so be prepared to a few hiccups.

I saw many newer devices than my TyTN II with Opera 9.5  (beta?) pre-installed and that can only be a good thing: Microsoft hasn't updated Pocket IE much over the years and a competitive version should be out soon (last time I heard was in July, and we're supposed to get it by December 2008) but it's still not soon enough.

Here's the link: http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/download/

1. HP MediaSmart Server

   I've been thinking of acquiring a Windows Home Server for some time, for the following purposes:

   • a quiet server (which would sit in the bedroom)
   • backup whole PC and/or specific folders on all my machines automatically
   • centralized storage (music, videos, recorded TV from Media Center, docs and other files) and streaming to various devices (even remotely on the Internet)

   I received an email confirmation from HP that their MediaSmart Server should be available in HK from Q4 2008.

    

2. DELL Latitude XT2 tablet

   I have not succumbed to last Christmas' temptation and have decided to wait another year before purchasing a new laptop/tablet. Here is why:

   • No multitouch yet (I want to create a WPF app just for the fun of it)
   • SSD option, which I'd really like to have, is still incredibly expensive (over HKD5000, about 500 Euros)
   • Need to spare (for summer holidays to France in particular) 
   • My current DELL Latitude D600 still works fine

   This product should be available around November 2008 and hopefully before Christmas in HK.

    

3. Media Center Extender

   I've been dreaming of playing my music and videos (which are stored of my Vista Ultimate PC) on the living room's stereo and TV for some time now. With the D-Link DSM-750 MediaLounge Wireless Media Player or the Linksys Media Center Extender DMA2200, it is finally possible (just need the money!). Not a must in my list, but if I can, I'd like one of these.

    

4. New WiMo device?

   I love my HTC TyTN II, but I saw the specs of the new HTC Touch Diamond and I must say I'm impressed. As an everyday user, I can find lots of improvements in that product:

   • TouchFLO 3D looks really cool
   • Zooming photos is way better than the current one
   • Soft Keypad is, at last, useable with your fingers (and I'm using the device keyboard mostly when I need to type lots of text, like this blog, so not having it would not be a big deal)

   Around Christmas '08, we should also see some of the first Windows Mobile 7 devices: one of them would be the Flame II from MWg; I wonder if HTC will have something in store too...

    

   Now, that's a long and expensive wish list… I guess I should start saving right now, and make some choices!