Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Bill Hartnett, insurance director of Microsoft Financial Services, discusses the health of the insurance sector.

http://foxnews1.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/foxnews1-foxbusiness-pub01-live/current/videolandingpage/fullPlayer/client/embedded/embedded.swf

A customer asked for some of the limitations of iPhone Activesync, and I found this list that someone wrote up that I thought might be useful to others. 

Calendar

• New invites show up as tentative (grey box with dashed line boundary) in the calendar. Sometimes you can see the details but you cannot accept or decline the invite. Other times it lets you take the action. In both cases it is shown as tentative so it should allow action to be taken.
• When declining/accepting/deleting meetings – no option to specify whether to –  send email/ send edited email/not send email/ etc.
• Going to a another date other than today is a major pain as you have to scroll.
• When alerts for upcoming meetings pop up you cannot do anything with it – like ask to be reminded again etc.
• You effectively cannot create meetings on the phone. This is because you cannot add attendees to meetings or forward a meeting to anyone. So you can only meet with yourself.
• Cannot Reply/ReplyAll to meeting attendees
• Cannot dial a number from a meeting entry. WM will detect phone numbers and hypertext them so that dialing is a one (well, actually two) step process. This major if you do a lot of conference calls.
• Some folks reported that changing meeting properties on the server never finds a way into the iphone copy specially for recurring meetings. e.g. if you change the reminder from 15 mins to not remind, this never reflects in the iphone and it keeps reminding you anyway.

Email

• Meeting invites look just like any other email. This coupled with the fact that after accepting/declinign the meeting invite still hangs around, it maks it very difficult to work with meeting invites. They should have used the first column and put a different icon for Meeting invites.
• In the Email App when declining/accepting meeting requests – no feedback given. Additionally invite email sticks around to cause confusion – you don’t know whether the system took any action or not. If you come back later, you don’t know whether you have already accepted or still need to take action. The workaround is you have to deal with invites via a separate button in the Calendar App.
• Figuring out which emails are unread is hard. You have to look for that little blue dot. With iphone having such efficient UI design paradigms otherwise I am perplexed why they wasted a whole column for that? Why not do what WM did and outlook does – show the unread ones in bold. Use the saved space for more email to view.
• Can’t empty out a folder. Try cleaning you deleted (Trash) folder that has 200 deleted emails.
• Mailboxes other than Inbox are not synced by Push. You have to actually open them to force the one time sync to find out whether you have mail there.
• You cannot select which mailboxes to show in the email app. All of them show up (Happy scrolling if you have a ton like me). You should be able to choose which mailboxes to sync and only those should show up. Then those mailboxes should sync on the same schedule like Inbox.
• No way to sort emails.
• No way to search in email folder/s for a specific one. Should allow me to just type chars and it should auto filter on subject.
• No way to search on the server for a specific email.

General

• Can’t change exchange options like – can’t set OOF on/off
• ActiveSync Push does not allow to configure peak times. This is critical as push is a battery hog. If we were able to configure Peak and Off Peak hours I would switch to “Manual” in the off peak hours and leave Push on for the 8 or so Peak hours when I really need it.

Please take a look at the following webcasts that describe how to take advantage of Microsoft’s protection capabilities to securely deploy and operate Exchange + MOSS and protect the intellectual property that lives inside of these repositories.

————————-

May 5, 1-2:30 PM PST
Secure Collaboration using AD RMS, MOSS and AD FS
Learn all about the different Trust Relationships provided by Active Directory Rights Management Services to securely collaborate with external parties. In this session we will drill down on how to provide extranet access to Information Rights Management (IRM) protected documents stored on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 using Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS), providing external people Single Sign-On(SSO), and delegating the account management to the external parties.

May 6, 1-2 PM PST
Security for Exchange and SharePoint – what’s not in the box?! (Level 200)
Done implementing SharePoint or Exchange? There’s more you can do! Spend an hour with us walking through the Identity and Security products and solutions that help make deployments more secure. We’ll spend time discussing Forefront Security, The Intelligent Application Gateway, Internet Security and Acceleration Server, Rights Management Services and Identity Lifecycle Manager.

May 7, 1-2:30 PM PST
SharePoint Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 Integration with Active Directory Rights Management Services (Level 400)
Microsoft Active Directory Rights Management Services provides the capability to users to protect documents by providing granular permissions to them. This presentation provides an overview of Forefront Security for Exchange and Forefront Security for SharePoint technologies. Learn how Microsoft SharePoint 2007 can be configured and used to implement automatic document protection at the MOSS Document Library level and how Microsoft Exchange 2007 SP1 Pre-licensing Fetching provides more flexibility to roaming users using AD RMS.

Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009, the company’s enterprise integration and connectivity server solution. In its sixth release, BizTalk Server is already being used by 90 percent of Global 100 customers to integrate systems and automate processes. BizTalk Server 2009 delivers new capabilities to help customers more effectively integrate disparate systems, enhance end-to-end enterprise connectivity and more quickly exchange data across multiple platforms, resulting in increased efficiency and lower costs.

Expanded Platform Support Enables More Flexible and Cost-Effective Systems
BizTalk Server 2009 expands support for the latest Microsoft application platform technologies, including Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008. With BizTalk Server 2009, customers can now utilize the improvements available within these Microsoft products to boost their integration initiatives through enhanced developer productivity, improved system performance and better manageability. With Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009 Enterprise Edition, customers can further reduce the cost of infrastructure using Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization technology to run unlimited virtualized instances on virtual machines.

With upfront costs that are often less than offers from other vendors, BizTalk Server 2009 empowers customers to use industry standards and line-of-business adapters to more efficiently link partner as well as internal information systems across various domains. The adapters available for BizTalk Server 2009 enable organizations to quickly and easily access and use data from mainframes, databases, third-party applications and radio frequency identification (RFID) devices using familiar, simple-to-use management and development tools with less complexity and lower costs.

Industry-leading companies around the globe are relying on BizTalk Server as their mission-critical business process management solution. Customers including American Apparel Inc., Continental Automotive, Florida Community College, Gulf Coast Seal Ltd. and Sempra Energy Solutions have been using BizTalk Server, and many have plans to upgrade to BizTalk Server 2009 to take advantage of the benefits provided with this latest release.

New Capabilities Ease Connectivity to Systems and Data
The BizTalk Server 2009 release delivers the following:

• Simple, cost-effective service-oriented architecture (SOA) connectivity. With new and updated connectors, BizTalk Server 2009 advances interoperability by providing more than 25 industry adapters that make it easier for customers to connect critical business applications such as SAP, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Siebel and Oracle E-Business Suite.
• Increased developer productivity. BizTalk Server enhances the first-class developer experience provided within Visual Studio 2008 by offering new integrated capabilities including visual debugging, unit testing and access to code artifacts. As a result, BizTalk Server helps democratize and simplify sophisticated integration projects, enabling a broader set of developers to rapidly deliver more standards-based and scalable business applications.
• Better visibility into data and activities. Enhanced Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) capabilities reduce the complexity associated with trusted data collection and simplify access to data.
• Take advantage of the benefits of virtualization. With BizTalk Server 2009 running on Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V technology, businesses can take advantage of the benefits that virtualization provides, including cost savings, production server consolidation and business continuity management.
• Simple RFID solutions. RFID capabilities reduce the need for complicated custom coding for disparate device types. Now, businesses can easily extend RFID capabilities to mobile environments and experience the benefits from updated standards such as Tag Data Translation (TDT), EPC Information Services Standard (EPCIS) and Low Level Reader Protocol (LLRP).
• Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) made easier. BizTalk Server can now participate in the full application development life cycle by including new project management, testing and deployment capabilities that extend ALM capabilities already delivered through Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008. As a result, customers experience faster time to solution with improved quality.

BizTalk Server is a key component of the Microsoft Application Platform, a suite of products and technologies designed to help customers build, run and manage dynamic business applications. More information on the Microsoft Application Platform can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/applicationplatform.

Availability
BizTalk Server 2009 is available today to Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) customers and will be made available broadly in nine languages — Chinese simplified, Chinese traditional, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish — on May 1.

BizTalk Server 2009 is offered in four editions: Enterprise, Standard, Branch and Developer. Microsoft is providing customers with the added features and improvements in BizTalk Server 2009 with no price increase over previous versions, and is introducing the latest version of BizTalk Server with one of the lowest purchasing costs in the industry.

Customers interested in upgrading to BizTalk Server 2009 can access complete pricing and licensing information on May 1 for all versions of BizTalk Server 2009 at http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/en/us/default.aspx.

[taken from http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=4223]

iGR,  a market strategy consultancy focused on the wireless and mobile communications industry has published some details of their 400 developer study of US based mobile developers.

Interesting, and contrary to the current received wisdom  Windows Mobile is well ahead of the other mobile OS’s in terms of developer activity and interest. Nearly 60% of the 404 developers were working on Windows Mobile software, versus less than 20% for the iPhone and RIM.

Even when it comes to future intention to develop, Windows Mobile is still the leading OS, with more work being planned on the OS than any other.

Now of course the question arises that if developers are so busy on Windows Mobile, where are the apps. iGR does not expand on this, but its likely many of these apps are never released to Handango, but are hard at work in warehouses and post rooms and a variety of enterprise roles.

See more information on this interesting study at the FiercelyWirelss webinar here.

A couple days ago, President Obama named Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s Chief Research & Strategy Officer to his 20-member President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Craig Mundie’s biography is available here:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/craig/?tab=biography

Of note is the paragraph in his biography of this appointment:

In April 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Mundie to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, which advises the administration on technology, scientific research priorities, and math and science education. Since August 2000, he has also served on the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, advising White House staff on issues affecting the security of the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure. In April 2002, Mundie joined the Task Force on National Security in the Information Age to help develop a strategy for using technology to address new security challenges. Since February 2002, Mundie has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to increasing America’s understanding of the world and contributing ideas to U.S. foreign policy.

Announcements:

• Read the White House statement here:
  http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-Members-of-Science-and-Technology-Advisory-Council/
• Read Microsoft’s statement here:
  http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/apr09/04-27statement.mspx
• Post on “Microsoft on the Issues”:
  http://microsoftontheissues.com/cs/blogs/mscorp/archive/2009/04/27/obama-names-craig-mundie-to-sci-tech-advisory-council.aspx

Did you ever wish you could dictate tasks or notes into your Windows Mobile phone while you’re traveling and have it translate to TEXT?

Windows Mobile to get voice command capability

New service that will work on Windows Mobile 6.5 devices lets users search, send texts, and place calls using voice commands

Microsoft has high hopes that a new speech-recognition application for the forthcoming Windows Mobile operating system will be attractive enough to draw people to the phone platform.

On Wednesday, Microsoft planned to announce a new service that will work on Windows Mobile 6.5 devices and will let people speak into the phone to search the Internet, make phone calls and dictate text messages. The technology comes from Tellme, a company that offers hosted voice recognition services and was acquired by Microsoft in 2007.

…

Oh – did I mention, this is free?  For a video of how this works, go to:

• TellMe Web Site
  http://www.tellme.com/you

——————
Media links:

• Infoworld:  Windows Mobile to get Voice Command Capability through Tellme
  http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/windows-mobile-get-voice-command-capability-536
• Mobility Digest: Tellme- Say it. Get it…in WM 6.5
  http://www.mobilitydigest.com/tellme-say-it-get-itin-wm-65/

Check this out:  Facebook using Silverlight

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4369475&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
Microsoft shows off Facebook Open Stream API demos from Rafe Needleman on Vimeo.

This is actually a set of snapshots highlight WPF usage with Facebook.

• Microsoft Previews Great WPF and Silverlight Apps with Facebook OpenStreams API
  http://team.silverlight.net/announcements/microsoft-previews-great-wpf-and-silverlight-apps-with-facebook-openstreams-api/

Interestingly, only Neowin seems to have picked it up.

• Microsoft demos Facebook using Silverlight and WPF
  http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/04/28/microsoft-demos-facebook-using-silverlight-and-wpf

[partially taken from the Windows Team Blog]

Today we are announcing the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. SP2 represents the latest step in Microsoft’s commitment to continuous improvement. It includes all updates that have been delivered since SP1, as well as support for new types of hardware and emerging hardware standards. 

And since it comes with a single installer for both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, SP2 will be easy for IT Pros to manage, deploy, and support. For a complete overview of the changes introduced in SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, check out the notable changes document on TechNet.

We expect Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 SP2 to be publicly available in Q2 2009:
I have a ton of information on the Service Pack itself but I’m currently embargoed so once I get the green light, I’ll open the gates.

[took the above image from http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/images/windowsmc/vistasp2.jpg because it was damned funny.  Hope y’all don’t mind.]