Microsoft not only spotted his complaint on Twitter, one of the developers of Live Writer reached out quickly with a fix to his problem. This is great customer service for a number of reasons: Live Writer is free, not paid; the way David set up his blog caused the problem; they gave David three options to try to fix his problem. That is simply outstanding, and a big pat on the back for all involved.

David’s problem had to do with using the Thesis theme on his WordPress blog, so anyone unable to get Windows Live Writer working on your similarly themed blog should check out David’s blog post detailing the fix. His feelings say it all:

Have to say I haven’t had a rapid response like that from Apple over anything for stuff I’ve paid for. And certainly wouldn’t expect it for something I got for free.

She lives with her boyfriend and they do not use the web much. Light surfing is as deep as they go, and if not for schoolwork they wouldn’t really need connectivity at all. They’ve done without the web for a long time, but find when they need it they really do need it. They researched the costs for getting connectivity added to their apartment, and the monthly costs were pretty high.

They have their phones on the Verizon network, so they have been researching the subsidized netbooks being offered. The $60 monthly fee for the data plan on a netbook is in line with the costs they would have to shell out for fixed connectivity, and they find it makes sense to have “connectivity to go” for the price. They need to buy a notebook too, nothing heavyweight performance-wise, just a simple netbook meets their needs.

They did their homework on the situation nicely, and have determined that the Gateway netbook that Verizon is offering with a data plan subsidy more than meets their needs. The netbook will only cost them $99 with the subsidy, and the data plan gets them web connectivity which is the real objective. I have to admit they’ve researched it well, and this path is a very good one for them that meets their needs.

Early adopters of the PRS-500 might be on the fence here, but if it were me and I had the money, I’d probably take advantage of the upgrade for a little cost savings. The newer devices have a faster refresh rate, 8-level grey scale and, in the case of the Touch Edition, offers a touchscreen display. Nice to see Sony give a little something to the first Reader customers.

Credit: LAPTOP Magazine

A few weeks ago, I ran some battery tests on my netbook. I have  both Windows XP and Windows 7 installed on my Toshiba NB205, which takes hardware variances out of the equation. My early looks show that Windows 7 offers 10% less runtime on the exact same device. I’ve since done some additional testing, thinking that the graphically intensive Aero features of Windows 7 might be the biggest factor. Unfortunately, that’s not what I found — using Windows 7 with all of the advanced Aero features off not only makes your netbook look like a Windows 95 beta, it doesn’t help run time in any noticeable way.

Readers offered up great commentary on the testing techniques and I can’t argue that there are many ways to run these tests. But even my informal testing shows the same trend continuing. When I use XP in my normal work day, it runs longer than when I use Windows 7 on the same hardware and in the same use cases. But don’t take my word for it. Brad Linder of Liliputing confirmed the same results not long after my testing and now LAPTOP Magazine completes the trifecta.

In fact, LAPTOP put three different netbooks through the paces — and all of them offered less run time on Windows 7. They used an entirely different approach as well, one that’s more reflective of real world usage, so it’s a safe bet that you’ll see less battery life on a Windows 7 device. Will there be exceptions? Of course there will — everyone uses different power management settings, not to mention they use their devices in different ways. But by and large, it looks like there’s a small battery life sacrifice with Windows 7 on a netbook. Should that stop you from using Windows 7? My opinion, is no, but if you’re happy with XP and don’t want or need some of the new Windows 7 features, you might want to stay put.

My expectation is to use the connection for my typical work habits of browsing the web, responding to email and creating content. But I know that 3G customers do far more than that, so I’ll watch some streaming video, move some large files around and get a general feel for the bandwidth and latency of the connection. I realize that our readers outside of the U.S. are probably wondering what the big deal is — after all, some of them have had wireless connections of 7.2 Mbps or faster for some time now. Putting this in perspective for you folks — no U.S. carrier is offering theoretical speeds faster than 3.6 Mbps at the moment. Exciting for us… you, not so much.

T-Mobile is working on the network upgrades now on a nationwide basis and currently offers 170 million POPs for 3G access. The expectation is that the 7.2 Mbps upgrade will be readily available by the end of this year. Why the rush? T-Mo is already planning to move towards HSPA+ with theoretical speeds of 21 Mbps in 2010, which is far more aggressive that AT&T’s known plans and competes well with Verizon’s move towards LTE next year. The best part of the current T-Mobile upgrade is that most of the devices they’ve launched in 2009 are already capable of using the faster 7.2 Mpbs network. Based on a call I had with the company, devices like the Cliq, MyTouch, Touch Pro 2, Dash 3G and even the year-old G1 should enjoy faster speeds once the network upgrades are competed.

I’ll have an update on my experience with the tests and will try to get some video of the experience. Since I have a Verizon 3G adapter, I’ll see if can get a side-by-side comparsion too.

I’m sitting here in the waiting room, in typical waiting room chairs that are in no way conducive to working comfortably. I’m using three pieces of mobile tech, however, and that makes the work experience a productive one.

The Lenovo ThinkPad x200 is sitting in my lap currently, and I’m using it in laptop configuration. Typing is the task at hand, so laptop it is. I’m connected to the web via the Verizon MiFi, which is throwing its 3G goodness out for me to tap into my personal hotspot. These two gadgets are more than enough to get the job done, but I’m using a third simply because it makes it easy.

The Droid is out, too, and I’m using it for a certain task that experimentation shows me makes the most sense: to keep up with the hundreds of RSS feeds I track. I can easily do this on the laptop, but I found that I can spin through the huge number of feed items that constantly roll in faster using the Droid. I use the Google Reader page optimized for the iPhone, and that works perfectly on the Droid. I spin through the article titles, tap the yellow star to flag something to return to later, and basically fly through the feeds as fast as I can swoop down the page with my finger.

Once I’ve caught up with the feeds, I jump over to the ThinkPad and access the items I’ve flagged on the Droid. I can honestly say that I’ve covered as much ground, perhaps even more, than I do using just a browser on the PC. Maybe tasks like this explain the high Droid web usage being reported.

I had a flashback moment while sitting here working away. The repair shop has a TV in the waiting room, tuned to the local Fox News. I don’t normally watch Fox, but a glance up at the screen took me back. It seems one of the anchors is the Fox reporter who visited Mobile Tech Manor three years ago to interview me about the unboxing video phenomenon. It was a pleasant and unexpected flashback.

Again, I’ll temper my thoughts with the fact that the device shown yesterday won’t officially be introduced until the Consumer Electronics Show in January. If I were involved in the project, I’d use my time between now and then to revamp the form factor. Why? Based on what we know now, the smartbook will offer a high-definition quality screen. While the exact resolution is unknown, “high definition” means at least 720 vertical lines of resolution. I’d guess the device will see 1280 x 720, which is fine — it allows for decent viewing of web pages and is far less limiting than the 1024 x 600 displays found on netbooks. But based on that resolution and the picture of the device, it sure looks like the first smartbook will have a screen size of nearly 10 inches. That’s far too big for what I’d consider a successful smartbook, for a few reasons.

First, the screen size dictates the overall device size. You could argue that the keyboard actually does this, but display panels are pretty standard, so it’s more likely that a screen is chosen first and then a keyboard is designed to fit in such a device. So if this smartbook has a 10″ display, it should offer a keyboard comparable to most of today’s netbooks. That’s all well and good, but the overall device size won’t be different enough from a netbook to make size a differentiator. I expect the smartbook to be thinner, but early reports are that it will come with a large battery, so who knows? It could be just as thick and heavy as a netbook.

Related research from GigaOM Pro: "The Future of Netbooks"

About that battery — why would a large battery be needed if the smartbook is powered by an ARM-based Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU? Doesn’t the ARM platform use less power than the Intel Atom used in netbooks? Sure it does, but the bigger power culprit is the display. And that’s why using a netbook-sized display isn’t the way to go for a smartbook. Essentially, it looks like this first smartbook entry will be too much like a netbook in terms of form factor. But it won’t offer the netbook’s benefit of x86 compatibility for applications.

So what benefit will it really provide? One could argue price, but remember that the smartbook will be sold through AT&T. That means it’s subsidized and you’re on the hook for $1,440 in data plan bills over two years — unless the data plan model changes with a smartbook to make it cheaper for the customer each month. I doubt that, but I’ll leave the door open for just such a change. It wouldn’t surprise me to see such a device to be free up-front. But subsidized netbooks can be had for $200 or so — so will a free smartbook entice sales? I don’t think so in most cases when the $200 alternative offers more.

Ultimately, it comes down to this — what are the use cases for a smartbook that make it different from a smartphone or a netbook? The types of activities you’d use a smartbook for are really the same as what you’d use either a smartphone or netbook for, so it’s a matter of where and how you’d use this device. And those definitions should be dictating the form factor. Let’s use the smartphone as an example:

• Easy to use anywhere while sitting or standing
• Has always-on connectivity so there’s no location limitations
• Limited by screen size and keyboard usability
• Generally runs (on and in sleep) for a full day or more on a single charge
• Users can wake device and begin using almost instantly with little hit to battery life in sleep mode
• Can be put in a pocket

Looking at the same six factors for a netbook:

• Easier to use in more places than a laptop, but not as unlimited in terms of location than a smartphone
• Connectivity is often limited by Wi-Fi locations, although there are always-on connection options available
• More enjoyable experience than a smartphone due to larger screen, higher resolution and larger keyboard
• Eight hours of run time is considered good
• Can be put into sleep, but not as instant for wake and use
• Not pocketable

For smartbooks to be successful, they need to offer the best of both worlds here and although I’m a fan of the smartbook concept, that’s going to be a tough road to hoe. To offer the runtime of a smartphone but still be highly portable, a netbook-sized display isn’t the answer. And if the devices are going to have a netbook-sized display or form factor, what’s the reason to pick a smartbook over a netbook? Price alone isn’t going to do it on large scale. Connectivity can help, but that’s an option in many netbooks as well. Perhaps adding cellular voice capability for use with a headset might help, but I’m on the fence there.

I’ve said this before, but I’l reiterate it now because it’s timely: if I were a smartbook designer, I’d be looking at the Sony VAIO P for inspiration.

Due to the wide footprint, it offers a touch-typable keyboard, but uses a clamshell design with an 8″ display so you’ll have a better visual experience than a smaller smartphone. You could tuck it into a large jacket pocket, so it’s more portable than a netbook. The smaller screen — I’d even consider making such a device with a six or seven inch screen — won’t use as much juice which could let the unit run as long as a smartphone. In such a form factor, there actually would be benefit over the two markets the device would sit between. Would it sell? That I don’t know, but I’d be inclined to buy one. Would I buy the device that we saw yesterday? I don’t yet see a reason to — do you?

Personal affairs

I don’t often get into personal things in this column but a bittersweet event played a large role in how I’ve spent my time. As I tweeted last weekend, my adult stepson told his mom and I that he has a drug addiction problem.  It was quite surprising to us, but he admits he has been addicted to prescription drugs for several years.  Last Sunday, he checked himself into a rehabilitation program in Houston. Needless to say, the week was very unusual for us all here at home.

As I mentioned on Twitter, we find it very positive that he has recognized the problem and is taking steps to seek help.  At the same time, it’s hard to know that your child, no matter how old, is going through a terrible time. I would like to thank the many people who expressed their good wishes for him on Twitter, it truly does help in this difficult time. Those wishing to follow me on Twitter, by the way, can do so by following @jkendrick.

Of pen and slate

This week I spent a lot of time using the ThinkPad tablet PC.  I found myself using the pen quite a bit, and I must admit it was refreshing to get back to inking on the slate.  I have been using the ThinkPad x200 quite a bit, but primarily in either laptop mode or in slate mode via touch. This week I spent a fair bit of time inking, and it felt darn good. My renewed interest in inking was timely due to the information that Apple had filed a patent for handwriting recognition (HWR) technology. I am not familiar with Apple’s claims, but I can tell you that the Microsoft handwriting recognition in Windows 7 is outstanding.

Apple will have a long road to travel to catch up to the Windows 7 handwriting recognition, of that I am certain. HWR is a tremendously complex technical problem, and I can state with confidence that the Microsoft solution is very solid. What Apple will realize, if they intend to pursue HWR for their upcoming tablet, is that HWR is a multi-faceted problem to solve. It’s complicated enough trying to interpret ink strokes with a pen, as each one of us writes uniquely. The strokes have to be converted into text, which adds to the complexity of the problem. On top of that, and an area where the Windows solution excels, the system interface must provide an intuitive method for inputting the ink, grabbling it and interfacing it with whatever program might need the ink input. The Tablet Input Panel (TIP) is an elegant solution to the latter, and Apple better be thinking along those lines.

Free speech

All of the time with the tablet this week got me thinking about speech recognition. It was a natural progression, as originally the Windows speech reco was only present on Tablet PCs. Windows Vista incorporated it into the OS, and quite well I might add, although most users overlooked it entirely. I realized that I had not checked to see if the speech stuff was in Windows 7, and was happy to find it still there.

I am happy to report that the reco in Windows 7 is the same as it was in Vista, and that it is still pretty darn good. Getting started with speech in Win 7 is easy to do, it’s found in the Control Panel. Once the microphone setup is done everything works well. You can control the OS entirely by voice if desired, which is explained thoroughly through the speech tutorial.

The real strength of speech reco lies in dictation, and this entire column has been entered via speech. The reco is robust enough that while it is better to use a proper headset with microphone, I did this using the internal microphone of the MacBook. Yes, I said MacBook. I was very satisfied to see that the speech stuff worked well in Windows 7, even running under Parallels Desktop on the Mac. I had to take no extra steps to use it, just started it under Windows 7 and got busy. The reco engine is quite accurate, and dictating a long article such as this was fun and easy. I highly recommend that Windows 7 users give speech a try no matter what system you’re running. You will likely find it incredibly useful and have a good time using it.

Browser update

Apple updated the Safari browser this week, so that meant I had to give it a try again. I’ve mentioned my frequent bouts of browser infidelity, and I jumped from Firefox to Safari again this week. It’s not just that I am fickle about my browser, it’s that I spend all day every day inside the browser doing my work. I am always checking to see which browser is faster, as even small speed gains make a huge difference to me over the course of an average work day.

I was surprised to find that the new version of Safari is slightly faster at most tasks than Firefox. I have been using Safari for a couple of days exclusively now and am pleased with the speed gain. I suppose I will be until Firefox is updated again, then I’ll likely switch back, as I love my Firefox.

I wish that Apple would include an option in Safari to open multiple sites at once. There are ways to do this manually, but I’d like to open the same web sites at start time automatically.

Pixi for free?

Palm hasn’t even launched the Pixi yet and it is already having big price reductions. This can’t be good for Palm, a company not in the best of shape financially. The Pixi was already going to be much cheaper than the Pre at launch, yet word appeared just yesterday that Walmart is offering the Pixi for $30 with a new contract on Sprint, and the phone is not out yet. That’s a price drop of 70 percent over the low Palm price. That doesn’t bode well for Palm or the Pixi, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it offered free soon.

Random musings

I ran across a few things this week that made me stop and think. Apple opened a new retail store and invited the press in for a “preview”. What’s that all about? Previewing what is just another store in the chain? The fact that opening a new store is worthy of being a press event is amusing, but even more amazing is that a bunch of the press actually attended the preview. Give me a break, it’s a freaking store, not a breaking news story.

I have been saying that the line between feature phones and smartphones was blurring, and I overheard something this week that proved it. I heard someone say that “I don’t need the Internet on my phone, I just need email, Twitter and Facebook.” Think about that statement for a moment. This was obviously stated by a non-techie, someone who just wants a phone. Not a super phone, not a smartphone, or even a feature phone. Just a phone, and it has to do those three things, in addition to make phone calls and probably texting.

That was a significant moment for me, realizing that “regular” people are now beginning to feel that “email, Twitter and Facebook” are phone functions. Not the Internet, the phone. That is a major shift in perceptions of phones of the consumer, and it leads me to believe that soon all phones will have to be “smart”. It’s a game changer.

e-Books of the week

This week I continued the kick I’ve been on lately and read an old Stephen King book — Rose Madder. It is a good story, well told as all of King’s stories tend to be. I’ve also been following my friend Jeff Kirvin’s mad dash to write his novels. He’s sharing his “mad novelist” thoughts on his blog, and he’s tweeting about his progress all the time. Continued good luck to Jeff, and if you wish to follow a true mad novelist, check in with his work from time to time. I’ve read his past work and find it to be quite good, so I’m looking forward to his new work.

That’s a wrap

That was my week, and as always I enjoy sharing it with you. Tune in next week for the next Mobile Tech Manor column, same bat time, same bat channel.

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs showed off a red smartbook at an analyst meeting in New York, and went on to share that the smartbook would be appearing at the CES in January. The small smartbook is to work with the AT&T network in the U. S., and no pricing information was offered by Jacobs.

When questioned if the new smartbook would offer a full Internet experience, Jacobs said Qualcomm worked with Adobe to put a full implementation of Flash on the new device. He also mentioned that the new smartbook, as yet unnamed, will play high definition video.

Liliputing found a fuzzy pic of the new smartbook as pictured above.

Related research: The Future of Netbooks (subscription required)

I brought the x200 because of the flexibility it provides for working extended periods. It is thin and light, and the ability to rotate that screen around into a slate form insures it can be used comfortably, no matter the environment. That flexibility was the call of the day, so the x200 went into the bag.

When I settled into the waiting room I pulled the MiFi out of the bag and tapped the power button. That’s the beauty of using a MiFi — one tap for an instant hotspot. It connected to the 3G network in just a few seconds, and created a Wi-Fi hotspot just for me. The ThinkPad came out of the bag, and with another button push it resumed instantly from sleep and connected to my personal hotspot. I was online, up and running in seconds.

I used the x200 in slate mode, and I am still impressed with how much value the touchscreen adds to the slate experience. Tapping things on the screen and sliding the window around as needed is a natural way to work with a slate. When I needed to enter some text I popped the pen out of the silo and the x200 went into full tablet ink mode as soon as the pen got near the screen. This turns the touch off so there were no inadvertent events triggered while holding the pen to the screen.

Microsoft has done a stellar job with the inking improvements of Windows 7. I found it natural to ink into the Tablet Input Panel (TIP), and recognition accuracy was very good in spite of my horrible handwriting. When it incorrectly interpreted my scrawl it was easily fixed given the improved editing mode of the TIP. Tapping on a word in the TIP expanded it for correction, and I just wrote over the letters in error. Microsoft has put intelligent text prediction in this editing mode, and usually after correcting just one letter, the TIP would change the whole misinterpreted word into the new correct one. I found I could fly through the editing as never before.

I was doing a lot of research for an article, and the MiFi supplied fast 3G like a champ. I forgot I was on 3G and not regular broadband, the mark of good technology at work. I was jumping all over the web in Firefox, using touch to move around at will. The entire process was so natural that after a while I realized I was just doing my work, and not thinking about the tools in use at all. That is absolutely liberating, and the way things should work.

I’ll have another chance to work here on Friday, unfortunately. The repair shop had to order some parts for my old Volvo, so I’ll be back here working for the repairs to be finalized. I’ll be happily inking away in my personal hotspot, so aside from the less than comfortable chairs, it will be business as usual. Well done Microsoft, Lenovo and Verizon.

“The desktop component, previously available exclusively for Windows, is created to enable Wallet users to easily manage and arrange their sensitive data in a more convenient way, on a bigger screen and with a bigger keyboard. The Mac version of this software provides users with capabilities of editing data, syncing it with an iPhone or an iPod touch over Wi-Fi, as well as syncing every wallet with Google mailbox. It can also be synchronized with Windows Mobile and Symbian versions of SPB Wallet if the devices are connected via USB in Mass Storage mode.”

The OS X version of SPB Wallet is $14.95, but like most all SPB products can be used for a 15-day free trial. This is a bit of software that I used to install on every one of my devices, much like eReader and a few other utilities. If you’re looking for a place to securely store and carry personal info, I recommend taking a look at SPB Wallet.

Image from ZDNet

Remember the Readius, the pocket-friendly e-book reader with the display that rolled out of the device? It interested a lot of enthusiasts with the prospect of the flexible e-Ink screen that folded away when not in use. Then the company behind the Readius, Polymer Vision, went bankrupt before bringing the Readius to market and all hope of seeing the cool reader were dashed. Not so fast, Wistron bought Polymer Vision and the technology behind the Readius and they are now telling folks they will bring a 5 – 6 inch device with Readius-like flexible e-paper display to market in 2010.

(via engadget)

UPDATED: Livestreaming is all the rage today, be it from a handset or a home computer with a webcam. But one of the major challenges to overcome is how to view that live content on a handset without re-encoding it. Vimeo today took the same approach that YouTube did for the iPhone — it went back to certain video content and re-encoded it for mobile handset playback on iPhone and Android devices. While that works, it’s not ideal. Wouldn’t it be nice if a company could provide a method for livestreaming to mobiles without a lengthy re-encoding process?

Lo and behold, enter Livestream and its Procaster beta application for Mac and PC. I just got my hands on the software a short while ago, so I have a “quick and dirty” video — don’t worry, it’s not that kind of dirty — to show you some of the basic capabilities. I was up and running in just a few minutes with Procaster. The application uses any attached webcam and microphone and livestreams from your computer. OK, that sounds like most of the other livestream platforms, right? But here’s the kicker: your live stream from Procaster can be viewed immediately on an iPhone by using the H.264 HTTP streaming built into the handset’s Quicktime application. That’s the bulk of what I show you in my brief video demo because it’s just too cool.

With Livestream Procaster, you can set up your own channel and chatroom to go with your video. I see a multitude of uses for this as I allude to in my short video demo: I’m thinking of trying this out at the Consumer Electronics Show to give you some show floor experience in real time, for example. And this solution could come in handy for tips and tricks because you can easily switch between the webcam view and a screen sharing view. Or you can display both in real time to an iPhone. The possibilities are endless and with the H.264 HTTP streaming, it opens up the floodgates to mobile viewing as well. Livestream’s full press release follows and you can find their beta application right here. Livestream will be using the new Procaster features at our NewTeeVee Live event tomorrow, so you can follow along on your iPhone! It is, after all, NewTeeVee Live, not NewTeeVee Recorded.

Update: After my post went live, I realized that I had an early look, so check out Procaster starting tomorrow.

Livestream Launches Free iPhone Service

Delivers ‘One Click’ Live Streaming to the iPhone

No need for iPhone users to download any application

NEW YORK (Nov. 12, 2009)—Livestream, the leading live Internet video platform, today announced the immediate availability of its free service for streaming live to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Using Livestream Procaster, users can stream live from their webcam, video camera or even broadcast their PC or Mac desktop. Livestream producers can start streaming live to the addressable iPhone and iPod Touch audience over 3G or Wi-Fi connections, with less than five minutes of setup.

Livestream is the first to offer a turn-key streaming service that uses the new H.264 HTTP live streaming functionality included in the native QuickTime player that Apple has pre-installed on the iPhone. This means that Livestream producers do not need to obtain iPhone App Store approval to launch their own iPhone live streaming channel, nor do their viewers need to install any application. Streams are viewed using the iPhone’s Safari browser.

Livestream has also provided a simple Representational State Transfer (REST) API for developers to integrate live streaming into their own iPhone websites or their own iPhone applications. Livestream Procaster includes a free streaming encoder, which means that no third party application or license needs to be purchased in order to stream live to the iPhone using Livestream.

“A key breakthrough is that the service doesn’t require any proprietary player or application to be installed on the iPhone. Producers are free to integrate the iPhone live stream with their own website, iPhone portal or iPhone application using the API provided,” explained Livestream CEO and co-founder Max Haot.

Streaming live to the iPhone requires less than five minutes to install. Producers simply download and install Livestream Procaster for the PC or Mac from www.livestream.com/procaster, connect their video camera or webcam, select iPhone 3G Quality, and press Go Live. User can view the live streams on their iPhone or iPod Touch by pointing their Safari browser to the channel they want to view atiphone.livestream.com.

Livestream will first use this new feature at NewTeeVee Live, the conference for online video influencers being held on Nov. 13 in San Francisco. Viewers can watch it live at iphone.livestream.com.

To get started or for more information visit www.livestream.com/iphone.

-X X X-

About Livestream

Livestream (www.livestream.com – formerly Mogulus) provides everything needed to easily webcast live, build an engaged audience and monetize these efforts. Founded in 2007, the company is based in New York and includes Gannett Co. as a minority shareholder and investor.

Producers can use Livestream to create live, linear and on-demand Internet television to broadcast anywhere on the Web through a single embeddable player widget. The service comes in two flavors: Free (ad-supported) and Premium (ad-free, white-label, higher-quality). Unique features include the ability to mix multiple live cameras, overlay graphics, and desktop streaming with 3D effects.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Sue Huss, for Livestream

sue.huss@comunicano.com

619-379-4396