Kurt Shintaku's Blog

The IIS Media team has been plugging away for many months at new server and client technologies, and we are ready to start sharing some of them today! The Beta of IIS Media Services 4.0, which allows you to encode once and deliver to three screens across multiple file formats and protocols, is now available for download and testing.

What’s New in IIS Media Services 4.0 Beta?
First used in the 2008 Summer Olympics, IIS Smooth Streaming (part of IIS Media Services) has become the primary HTTP adaptive streaming technology for delivering content online. The Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) and Netflix have both adopted the published Protected Interoperable File Format (PIFF) and Microsoft PlayReady for content protection. Broadcasters worldwide have used it to deliver live events such as Sunday Night Football, the UEFA Super Cup, the Tour de France, and the 2010 Winter Olympics.

We had a great response to the release of IIS Media Services 3.0 last year, and received lots of feedback about what features customers needed next. From that feedback, key themes for this beta release are iPhone support, content conversion, content creation, rich player options, and new live streaming features. Let’s look at how we’ve delivered on those themes.

One Encoding Format, One Server, Many Devices – including iPhone
IIS Media Services now has a checkbox option to allow live adaptive streaming delivery to Apple devices. Using the same live H.264 streams you encode for Silverlight players running on PCs, Macs, Linux, Nokia S60 and Windows Phone 7 mobile devices, Broadcom and Intel set-top-boxes, IIS Media Services can now transmux those in real time to streams for iPad, iPod, and iPhone.

Easy Content Conversion
If you already have content created in one format and you want to use Smooth Streaming, we can help. The new IIS Transform Manager (available today as a version 1.0 Alpha release) provides a full set of features for automatically converting content for use with IIS Media Services. It includes batch encoding of on-demand videos, job scheduling, and job management. Using predefined Tasks, you specify how content should be processed as it appears in specified Watch Folders. Transform Manager comes with Sample Job Templates to make getting started easy, including transmuxing of H.264 video content into Apple-device-compatible adaptive streaming files. Today, Transform Manager relies on the just-released Expression Encoder 4, but it also comes with a Task API for partners who wish to integrate their own encoders with IIS Media Services.

Content Creation
Also available today is the IIS Smooth Streaming Format SDK 1.0 Beta 2. This SDK enables developers and encoding partners to easily create live and on-demand PIFF-compliant files and manifests for adaptive streaming, apply PlayReady DRM encryption, and then deliver that content with IIS Live Smooth Streaming. Since Beta 1, we have added several new capabilities – see John Deutscher’s excellent blog post about this release for more details. In the meantime, download the free version of Expression Encoder 4, which includes support for creating on-demand IIS Smooth Streaming content using the VC-1 codec.

Rich Player Options
Earlier releases of IIS Smooth Streaming included a client component known as the Smooth Streaming Media Element, or SSME. Today, we are formalizing this technology in the release of the IIS Smooth Streaming Client 1.0, which gives the media player the intelligence to play back live and on-demand Smooth Streaming content while providing rich analytics and advertising capabilities. This SDK is already used in the Silverlight Media Framework, a proven code base used in many of the high-visibility Smooth Streaming events of the last year. For folks using a different player framework or having unique player scenarios, this SDK provides the tools to easily implement IIS Smooth Streaming.

New Live Smooth Streaming Features
How do you make the primary live adaptive streaming technology better? You make it do more, and with better performance. At a high level, this release of Live Smooth Streaming adds new controls for caching in server memory. It also adds new support for making use of encoder event IDs and metadata. Stay tuned for more about new Live Smooth Streaming capabilities, including Low-Latency streaming support

Coming Up Next…
Are you looking for a feature you do not see listed above? Let us know! But first, let me tell you about what will be coming in the next release:

• A multicast version of IIS Smooth Streaming
• A no-cost PlayReady DRM integration in IIS Media Services for simple "play once" scenarios
• New AES encryption and DVR features for Apple devices
• A scale-out model and PlayReady DRM integration for IIS Transform Manager

Download and install the 32-bit or 64-bit version of IIS Media Services 4.0 Beta today!

[taken from the IIS.NET post at http://blogs.iis.net/chriskno/archive/2010/06/10/iis-media-services-4-0-beta-is-now-available.aspx]

Microsoft and Northwest Cadence are proud to offer this four hour live event – during which we will demonstrate the testing and quality assurance lifecycle using Visual Studio 2010 and Team Foundation Server. Join us as we dive into the testing tools and testing process you can use to dramatically improve the effectiveness of your QA and Test efforts. You’ll see the Microsoft Test Manager and Lab Management in all its glory as we explore how to manage your test environment, organize test suites, test cases, requirements and bugs, and how to manage both automated and manual test runs. In addition, you’ll see how to easily create an automated test from an existing manual test run. Finally, and most importantly, you’ll discover how insanely easy it is to create bugs that can be simply and reliably reproduced by developers – Visual Studio 2010 is that powerful.

• Imagine knowing which manual regression tests you had to run, given the code changes in the recent build…
• Imagine being able to quickly and completely capture bugs in such a way that developers can reproduce them…
• Imagine being able to record your exploratory testing and turn that exploration into detailed test steps – with just a few commands…
• Imagine taking a manual test run and, in seconds, turning it into an automated test…
• Imagine using an intuitive interface to design, organize and execute your test plans…
• Imagine seeing your testing progress on one simply dashboard, and drilling into critical details…
• Imagine testing your application more effectively, in less time, and with less pain…

Now come see it all. In action. Today.

This training event is geared towards QA managers, technical and non-technical testers, business analysts, and quality-conscious developers working on cross-functional teams (or, gasp, organizations without testers).

Register for a date & location near you!

• Welcome: 8:00 AM (Local Time)
• Seminar: 8:30 AM-12:00 PM (Local Time)

Microsoft Partner Events: www.clicktoattend.com

Schedule
July 15, 2010 – Irvine, CA – 148944

Resources

• Learn more about Visual Studio 2010
• Keep up with the latest developer news through MSDN Flash
• Keep up to speed on additional Northwest Cadence events

The Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) version 5.6 contains the necessary tools and documentation to evaluate and mitigate application compatibility issues before deploying Windows 7®, Windows Vista®, a Windows Update, or a new version of Windows Internet Explorer® in your environment.

Overview
The Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.6 helps customers understand their application compatibility situation by identifying which applications are compatible with the Windows 7® and Windows Vista® operating system and which require further testing. ACT helps customers lower their costs for application compatibility testing, prioritize their applications, and deploy Windows more quickly.

You can use the ACT features to:

• Verify an application’s compatibility with a new version of the Windows operating system, or a Windows Update, including determining your risk assessment.
• Become involved in the ACT Community, including sharing your risk assessment with other ACT users.
• Test your Web applications and Web sites for compatibility with new releases and security updates to the Windows Internet Explorer® Internet browser.

DOWNLOAD:  Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.6
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=24da89e9-b581-47b0-b45e-492dd6da2971

Additional Resources

• Application Compatibility, Windows 7, Vista  Toolkit  TechNet
• ACT 5 Step by Step Guides
• Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Application Quality Cookbook
• Windows 7 Compatibility Software Programs and Hardware Devices Find Updates, Drivers, and Downloads

God, I love this tool.  MetroTwit is soooooo frickin’ cool that I just had to write a post about it.

MetroTwit is a Windows-based Twitter client that depends on .NET Framework 4.0 and Windows Presentation Foundation.  It’s most notable claim to fame is it’s usage of Microsoft’s “Metro” look-and-feel user interface that is clean, organized, and rich in readability and utility.  It’s being built by Long Zheng, David Golden, & Winston Pang and it’s being tabbed by it’s authors as “the Windows Twitter client you’ll love to use”.

And indeed, I do.  This is the first client I’ve truly liked using since Twitter Explorer, the easy to use, convenient desktop gadget that I use to adhoc Tweet.  It has 5 key & fundamental advantages as a Twitter client that set it apart from other clients out there:

• Infinite scrolling
  If you ever want to read more tweets, just scroll down and more will appear almost instantly. Be careful though, it’s addictive and you could be scrolling for hours.

• Windows 7 taskbar integration
  You don’t have to switch away from what you’re doing to keep tabs on new tweets. A counter in the taskbar will tell you exactly how many unread messages there are.

• Autocomplete for usernames & hashtags
  The people and topics you care about, at your fingertips. Simply start typing any part of a username or hashtag and we’ll find them for you.

• Quick-glance notifications
  Read excerpts from new tweet updates as they cycle through in the notifications. If you run out of time, hover over the notifications to stop the countdown to read even more.

• Resizable and reorderable columns
  Not all columns must be created equal. You have the choice and flexibility to control exactly how your columns should look.

• Flawless high DPI support
  The vector-based user interface powered by Windows Presentation Foundation works and looks even better in high DPI.

Here’s a snapshot:

HEY!  THAT’S THE ZUNE CLIENT!
For anyone that uses Zune, this is a carbon copy, in many ways to the look and feel of the Zune Desktop software client.  Here’s a snapshot of Zune’s Windows software:

It’s intuitive, easy to use and configure, and the basis of so many of Microsoft’s products moving forward.  A version of this is on the Xbox 360’s dashboard.  It’s the interface basis for the Zune Device interface.  It’s the UI for the new Windows Phone 7 coming.  It’s the UI for Windows Media Center. 

Additionally, it installs as a single click-once .NET application so every time you run it, it checks to see that you’re running the most recent version over the net and if not, it will automatically update itself to the most recent binaries.  AWESOME!

The interface is so rich, it’s amazing how long I’ve gone without a client this awesome.  And I’ve tried so many tools:

• INFO: Other Free Twitter clients designed for Windows Desktops (XP/Vista/7)
  http://kurtsh.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!DA410C7F7E038D!5523.entry

Also there was Seesmic which I never wrote about but it was in contention to be my tool of choice until MetroTwit arrived and became my favorite.  You can get it for free from the site below.  Trust me:  It’s worth the download.

• DOWNLOAD:  MetroTwit – The Windows Twitter client you’ll love to use
  http://www.metrotwit.com

BMW went looking for an Application Virtualization solution.  Their requirements?

• 80,000 PCs with 3000 64-bit PCs, deployed across 24 production sites in 13 countries with 250 global branch locations
• Over a 1000 applications to deploy, including Office 2010, Visio 2007, Project 2007, etc.
• Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7
• 4 week-long packaging & compatibility testing cycles per application

The result?  BMW chose Microsoft App-V.  Here’s the money quote:

"We found App-V streaming to be better than the comparable [VMware] ThinApp capability," says Dr. Martin Rudolph, Product Manager, Office Applications, BMW Group. "Packaging, testing, and delivering applications is so much faster, and by enabling zero-touch deployment, App-V helps us realize significant monetary savings."

Read more about why BMW chose Microsoft’s App-V technology over VMware’s ThinApp:

• CIO Magzine:  BMW Takes a Sharp Turn Toward App Virtualization
  http://www.cio.com/article/594401/BMW_Takes_a_Sharp_Turn_Toward_App_Virtualization

Microsoft brought Tag out of beta today. I’ve written several posts about Microsoft Tag in the past for any explanation of what it is.

• NEWS: General Mills leveraging Microsoft Tag as part of their Brand Marketing Strategy
  http://kurtsh.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!DA410C7F7E038D!5124.entry
• BETA: Microsoft Tag – Using camera-readable barcodes
  http://kurtsh.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!DA410C7F7E038D!4534.entry

One journalist noted that, “The fact that you can use custom images makes it leaps and bounds ahead of QR-style codes.”

Here’s a few examples of it’s use:

• Retail Store Product Tagging & Newspaper Ads
  Microsoft Tag works in black & white as well as in color, while still maintaining that great durability.  For example, take a look at the in-store tagging for Halo Wars to the right.
• Billboards, Posters, & Magazines
  Tag is extremely useful for allowing consumers to grab information close up or from a distance and letting their phone do all the work.  No memorization… no clarity needed.  Just a phone with Tag software.  This is a production example of using Tags on billboards, magazines, and promotional materials like posters.

• Custom Imagery
  Tag doesn’t have to be triangles.  As long as the right locations contain the right colors, Tag can take on any image.  Powerpoint can be used to modify Tags to conform to images and there’s even a tutorial on how to make that happen.

Here’s the details on the release:

Due to significantly increased adoption of Microsoft Tag, we are pleased to announce the official V1 release of Microsoft Tag on May 27th, 2010. Several new features and updates have been made to the product, including improvements to the Tag Reader, a new Heat Map report, and availability of the Tag Reader in Italian, French, Spanish, Turkish and Simplified Chinese. Also, Tag’s basic services will now be offered free of charge. Tag’s ending of the "Beta" program requires an update to the Microsoft Tag Terms of Use that you initially accepted when establishing your web service account and/or completing the Microsoft Tag API application.

Microsoft Tag Web Service customers will be prompted to review the new Microsoft Tag Terms Of Use when next signing into the Tag Manager to create or manage their Tags.  By clicking accept at login, you agree that any new Tags created after the "Beta" program ended on May 27th, 2010, will be governed by the new Microsoft Tag Terms Of Use. At your option, Tags created during the Microsoft Tag "Beta" program can continue to be governed under the Microsoft Tag Beta Terms of Use or these new Microsoft Tag Terms of Use. You will still have access to Tags and their related reports that were created during the "Beta" program, even if you decide not to create new Tags using the new Microsoft Tag Terms of Use. 

Users of the Microsoft Tag API will not need to reapply for a new API key due to these updates. By your creation of Tags using the Microsoft Tag API after May 27th, 2010, you agree that your use will be governed under the new Microsoft Tag Terms of Use. Any Tags created prior to this date can continue to be governed under the Microsoft Tag API Beta Terms of Use or the new Microsoft Tag Terms of Use at your discretion.

For more information, visit:

http://tag.microsoft.com/consumer/index.aspx

Microsoft App-V is a solution available to Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack subscribers on Software Assurance or Terminal Services Client licensees on Software Assurance.  App-V enables desktop administrators to:

• Package applications (sequence them, actually) and deploy them to desktops as a SINGLE file
• Applications remain as a SINGLE file on desktops when deployed and are executed as SINGLE files
• Applications are run using the App-V client which requires no overhead at all to use
• Sequenced packages (apps) are checked for byte-level differences between the network source and the local copy to check for corruption or modifications/patches in the source; automatic updates are done at run-time.
• Applications are 100% virtualized between the OS and other applications; when run in an App-V sandbox, no other application is aware that that app is running in App-V; eliminating compatibility issues
• Applications requiring integration (Outlook & Word, for example) can be virtualized “together” as a suite to guarantee proper exchange of data
• Packages may be delivered whole or ‘streamed down’ to a desktop in chunks to enable a remote client to get up and running in little to no time in the event the application is not installed locally and needs to be delivered.  As little as 10% of the application needs to be ‘streamed’ down the client locally to enable the app to begin running with a user interface.

The Application Virtualization (App-V) Dashboard helps customers monitor virtualized software applications with a graphical display that makes it easy to stay on top of application usage, health, and compliance. Using the Dashboard’s built-in charts, gauges, and tables, customers can track any APP-V dataset in near-real time.  App-V Dashboard provides a variety of benefits to App-V users:

• Actionable information out of the box. The dashboard comes with a wide range of valuable, built-in reports like top 5 applications used, top 5 users, applications never used, application usage for a specific user, system utilization, and many more.
• Near-real-time access to key information. The graphical dashboard lets customers view any App-V dataset in near-real time.
• Easy to build and configure. The dashboard’s wizard-based tools let customers easily create new dashboards in minutes.
• Easy to customize. The dashboard can easily be customized to meet the needs of different departments and other groups. Any data set in the Microsoft Application Virtualization database can be presented on the dashboard, in chart, gauge, and table formats.
• Flexible & interactive. Users can easily filter data and create ad hoc, custom views. Filters allow users to quickly drill down from high-level to more specific data

It’s free!  So if you run Microsoft App-V in your environment, be sure to download the dashboard.

• DOWNLOAD: App-V Dashboard
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=45a90ae8-6d09-4f9a-947b-a2d7fc80ba48

A new partnership was announced yesterday between Microsoft and United Airlines. 

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–United Airlines today announced that customers have more choices of free music with the introduction of Zune inflight audio on all United aircraft. United now offers customers a broader selection of music to enjoy during their onboard experience, with up to 21 separate playlists programmed by Zune, Microsoft’s premium digital entertainment service.

In addition to familiar channels such as Classic Rock, Contemporary Pop, and Classical, United now features distinctive options such as Soundtracks, Electronic Dance, Opera and Piano Jazz. Customers may continue to enjoy live communication between the flight deck and air traffic control through United’s popular “From the Flight Deck” audio on Channel 9, a feature that’s unique to United.

“United is committed to providing our customers with innovative onboard entertainment options, and we look forward to working with Zune and Microsoft to create new onboard experiences,” said Tom O’Toole, United’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer.

“We are excited about this collaboration, which will allow millions of United customers to experience Zune and discover new music through select Zune custom playlists from top artists,” says Dave McLauchlan, senior business development manager at Microsoft.

Full channel line-ups can be found in United’s in-flight magazine, Hemispheres.

To see what’s playing, click on the following United link:

• LINK:  Audio Programming for Zune on United
  http://www.united.com/page/article/1,,51600,00.html

Azure – the cool parts.
Want to know what makes Azure different?  Learn how to deploy your own application to Azure in this free developer’s training and you could win a Zune HD! 

This event will have a heavy technical focus, so make sure you don’t leave your web development skills at home!

Light breakfast, lunch and parking included.

Schedule for the day:

• 8-8:30AM Registration & continental breakfast
• 8:30-10:15AM Azure Presentations & Demos
• 10:15AM-10:30AM Break
• 10:30AM-12PM Azure Presentations & Demos, cont’d.
• 12PM-1PM Lunch
• 1PM-4:45PM Azure walkthrough followed by a “hackathon”
• 4:45PM-5PM Zune HD Giveaway

DATE/TIME/LOCATION:
Friday, June 04, 2010 from 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM (PT)
Los Angeles, CA

• Microsoft Downtown Los Angeles
  333 South Grand Ave, Suite 3300
  Los Angeles, CA 90071

REGISTRATION;
http://bizsparkcampla.eventbrite.com/

Come See Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V in Action

• I know I need to virtualize. Can I do it without spending a lot of money on VMware?

Virtualization can save your company a lot of money. So, naturally, it’s getting higher on your priority list. But Windows Server® 2008 R2 has Hyper-V™ built in, so there’s no need to purchase expensive virtualization software.

Windows Server 2008 R2 is the most advanced Windows Server operating system yet. Here’s our short list of reasons to upgrade:

• Consume up to 18 percent less power. Windows Server 2008 R2 lets you lower the power states of processors, and even turn off individual cores when the server is at low utilization.
• Reduce branch-office-network bandwidth up to 40 percent. BranchCache lets you cache huge, bandwidth-hogging files locally.
• Help improve uptime and productivity. Live migration lets you move virtual machines among servers with no downtime, and clustering wizards help you set up a cluster in about three steps.
• VMware can cost up to six times more than the Microsoft virtualization solution. Why pay that? Get virtualization built in. Try consolidation ratios of 10 to 1 or better.
• Cut back on additional software costs. Besides the built-in hypervisor, Windows Server 2008 R2 includes DirectAccess, which lets you eliminate virtual private networks and manage remote computers as if they’re in the office.

Join us for Hands On Labs of:

• Hyper-V Installation and Deployment
• Failover Clustering & Live Migration
• Virtual Machine Management using System Center Virtual Machine Manager
• and more…

LOCATION/DATE/TIME:
Los Angeles, CA | June 10th, 2010 | 9:00am-4:00pm

REGISTRATION:
Please contact me if you are a customer of mine to register for this invitation only class.