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  • John Pope

    Lead Editor/Moderator

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    John Pope, a.k.a. JohnP@Dell, has been involved with social media since 2006 and computers since, well, let's just say...

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    Community Content Manager

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    Jennifer leads the content coordination for Dell’s social media properties. She has been involved with social media s...

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    John Blain

    Gaming Guy

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    John has been active in social media at Dell since April of 2006, starting with the blog outreach team, and now as the ...

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    Chris Byrd

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    Natalie M. Davis

    Manager, Global Operations for Community Team

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    Jay Pinkert

    Raconteur

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    Richard Bernier

    Dell Community Security Liaison

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    Anne B. Camden

    Consumer Product PR

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    Ed Hassinger

    Software Engineer for Austin-based NetQoS

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    It feels like I bought my first "IBM-compatible PC" just last year. And despite two decades and stints with nine failed...

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    Randy Gibson

    Imaging & Display Guy

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    Randy is a technical writer and senior analyst for the Dell Solution Network. A nine-year veteran of Dell, he specializ...

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    Jesse Leonard

    Vista and Ubuntu Linux Liaison

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    Jesse Leonard, a.k.a. Dell-Jesse_L within the online Dell community, has been involved in the Dell Forums for eight yea...

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    RichardatDELL

    Two Ears, One Mouth Advocate

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    After a career in Canadian politics, Richard moved to the U.S. to build out a career in communications. He joined Dell ...

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    Ellen Murphy

    Consumer Public Relations, EMEA

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    Winnie Wong

    Alienware Marketing Communications

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    Stefanie Nelson


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    Stefanie has been entrenched in online media since the mid 90s, currently runs the marketing communications programs fo...

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    Michelle Mosmeyer

    Dell Communications Analyst

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    Vida Killian

    Dell IdeaStorm Manager

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    Vida has been with the Dell social media team since 2006. Her first computer-related memory involved BASIC programming...

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    Michelle Forde

    Dell's Red Carpet Reporter

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    Lionel Menchaca

    Chief Blogger

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    Matt Parretta

    Dell Analyst Relations

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    Matt has been at Dell since 2006 and is responsible for relationships with consumer industry analysts. He spent four ye...

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    Anna Hutchinson

    Product Reviews Manager

    2 Posts

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    Anna manages Dell’s product reviews program and works with journalists and tech experts across the United States. She...

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    Michael "Odee" O'Dell

    Team Dignitas, Managing Director

    2 Posts

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    I've been a gamer since I got my first computer, a ZX8, in 1980. Last year I was able to fulfill a lifetime dream and t...

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    Kara Krautter

    Foodie in Training

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    Although I spend most of my day managing the Small Business blog for Dell, any free time I have seems to involve food. ...

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    Jennifer Allison

    Global Consumer Internal Communications

    2 Posts

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    Jennifer joined Dell’s Corporate Communications group in 2006 to focus on executive and employee communications for t...

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    Deborah R. Wood

    Independent Communications Consultant

    2 Posts

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    Open to learning about almost any topic and a professional interest in helping people communicate in new and traditiona...

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    Jacqui Zhou

    Lead Editor/Moderator of Direct2Dell Chinese (http://chinese.direct2dell.com/)

    2 Posts

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    Born and raised in Shanghai, China, Jacqui always wanted to travel and see the world. After she earned a college degree...

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    Bill Bivin

    Community Liaison

    1 Posts

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    Bill works with the online community as the Community Liaison for laptops, and has worked at Dell since 2003. His Twitt...

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    • What's Your Mini OOBE Look Like?

    Andrew Ford

    Head of marketing, corporate accounts, Dell Europe, Middle East and Africa

    1 Posts

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    Andrew is a keen internet, e-mail and social media enthusiast, and has worked in the IT and telecoms industry since the...

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    • Your Data -- How Much is Out There? Is It All Bad?

    Chris Kinnair


    1 Posts

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    Chris "Blackmane" Kinnair is the world famous Team Dignitas Call of Duty 4 leader and when not practising to win tourna...

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    • Chris "Blackmane" Kinnair Reviews Warhammer Online

    Bob Blomquist

    Senior Manager, Electronic Media

    1 Posts

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    Bob has spent 15 years at Dell working in a number of communications roles ranging from video productions to broadcast ...

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    • Social Network for Pedal Mashers

    Richard Margetic

    Global Online Digittante

    1 Posts

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    Richard has been with Dell for the past three years with earlier stints at IBM, PwC and Microsoft, all in online. His I...

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    • Xobni|inboX

    Ricardo Guerrero

    Global Online Project Manager & "Twitter Dude"

    1 Posts

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    Hailing from Colombia, South America, Ricardo has worked at Dell since 1999 as a content developer, and most recently ...

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    • Twitter: It’s Not Just TMI About Your Friends!

    Kerry Bridge

    Dell EMEA Digital Communications

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    Dawn Lacallade

    Lead Stormchaser

    1 Posts

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    Dawn has been with Community for several years and is currently the Lead Stormchaser for Dell Ideastorm. She has been w...

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    • Wii Fit: Who Says Exercise Can’t Be Fun?

    Mary Ellen Krautter


    1 Posts

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    I've been on the cutting fringe of the technology world since 1981 when my husband brought home one of the first person...

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    • Coming Out of the Closet: The Ideal Home Office for the Not-So-Techie Gal

    DJ Moe

    DJ With Dubai's Channel 4 FM

    1 Posts

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    DJ Muhannad Al jazireh (aka DJ Moe) was born Aug. 14, 1969, to parents who still haven't the faintest idea of what to m...

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    MoneyGuyBK


    1 Posts

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    MoneyGuyBK is one of our most active and helpful customers on the Dell Community Forum, where he has earned “Supersta...

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    • You and Your Idle PC Can Help Humanity

    Debbie Gormley

    Care Community Liaison

    1 Posts

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    I’m a native Texan, Austinite if you will. I don’t think I’d ever move away from here but there are many other pa...

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    • Shopping on the Internet

    Shaun Clark

    World Class Gamer

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    Shaun Clark (game name Apollo) is a name that has been partnered with command and conquer since the release of EA's tit...

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    • My Weekend at the M Festival in the UK

    Amie Paxton

    Dell Channel Community Manager

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    With over nine years of interactive program management in technology and advertising, social media is transforming Amie...

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    • Online Resources for Baby Names

    Stuart Wallock

    Dell Senior Manager, Global Community & Personalization

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    Loving new tech things to play with since I started gaming on my Atari 2600 way back when, I have been working with Int...

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    Mark Horner

    Team Dignitas

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    Eric Erway

    Program Manager, Global Online

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    Eric serves as a program manager for Dell’s Global Online team, working with multiple groups to translate customer re...

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    Team Dignitas

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    Gunther "SiS" Hoffmann, of Antwerp, Belgium, is a member of Team Dignitas and ranked No. 1 in his home country for Trac...

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    Rick Scott


    1 Posts

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    Rick is a PADI open water scuba instructor and photographer. He splits time between his home in Austin and his ranch ne...

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    Todd Smart

    Dell Community Outreach Administrator

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    My job is to support our Community Liaisons as they help to resolve customer issues. I’m originally from Western New ...

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    Camille Nisich

    Global Communications Operations Manager

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    Camille returned to her roots in 2007, joining Dell’s Corporate Communications team after nearly seven years in the c...

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    Mary Ellen Gitachu

    Dell Corporate Communications

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    ME (EMMIE) works in corporate communications at Dell. Originally from the East Coast, she’s tracked around the states...

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    • Over the Net and Through the Webcam to Grandmother's House We Go

    Kathryn Diana

    Dell Product Reviews

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    Kathryn is a member of Dell’s product reviews team and works hard to get products into the hands of gaming journalist...

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    Geoff Knox

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Archive for the ‘Connectivity’ Category

The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

Thanks to us becoming enamored with peer-to-peer services, streaming high-def video and Web-enabled devices like digital cameras, USA Today reports that by 2010 the average household will behomebroadband using 1.1 terabytes (roughly equal to 1,000 copies of the Encyclopedia Britannica) of bandwidth a month.

The newspaper also pointed to the Internet Innovation Alliance, a coalition of business and non-profit organizations focused on developing a  U.S. broadband strategy, as saying 20 homes will generate more traffic than the entire Internet in 1995.

These mind-boggling stats haven’t gone unnoticed by carriers, some of which are said to be considering Internet service plans that charge by the megabyte.

Posted in Connectivity | No Comments »

Meet the Inspiron Mini 12 – Slim, Stylish and Well Connected

Monday, October 27th, 2008

“Oooooo, pretty!”

That’s usually the first reaction I get whenever I show Dell’ new Inspiron Mini 12 to someone. My favorite reaction was watching my husband and daughter go back and forth between the Mini 9 and the Mini 12 trying to decide which was their “favorite” when I brought them both home for one night recently.

Today or tomorrow (depending are where you are) we expand our “Mini” family with the Inspiron Mini 12. It is debuting exclusively in Japan, and a limited number will appear this week on the shelves of several retail stores there – including Bic Camera, Kojima and Sofmap. We expect the Mini 12 to be available worldwide on dell.com by the end of November with a starting price under $600.

When looking at the Mini 9 and the Mini 12, each of course, has their strong points. Each is small, thin, light (less than 3 lbs.) and easy on the shoulder in terms of schlepability. And both were purpose-designed for on-the-go connectivity. The Mini 12 obviously has a bigger “footprint” than the Mini 9 – but the extra space is put to good use, with a bigger keyboard and bigger screen (12-inch vs. 9-inch), and bigger hard drives (40,60, 80GB).

Like the Mini 9, the Mini 12 was designed with burst activities in mind. The device is powered by another of Intel’s Atom processors – the one known as Silverthorne – so it gets great battery life (our lab is benchmarking approximately 3.5 hours 3 hours with the 3-cell battery, more than 7 hours and about 6 hours with the optional 6-cell battery). It’s great to carry for the day, jumping online, checking email, uploading pictures, and surfing the net, or connecting to your primary PC via Dell Remote Access.

Update: My original battery times were based on early testing information. See the strikethrough details in the previous paragraph for updated details. My apologies for the oversight.

When I recently showed off the Minis to my co-workers , I compared them to Mini Coopers (I may be setting myself up for some schooling by the auto enthusiast crowd here). They are cute, they are great for buzzing around town in, but they are not designed to tow a trailer. The Mini 9 and 12 are similar – use them all day long to get around and stay in touch, but use your primary desktop or laptop to do the heavy lifting like multitasking (e.g. having multiple applications open at the same time), picture and video editing, file conversions, database manipulation, or, of course, high end gaming.

When the Mini 12 does become available on dell.com, it will likely be with Windows Vista first, with the Dell customized interface version of Ubuntu following by the end of the year. It comes with a built-in Webcam (with Dell Video Chat), Blutooth, and Wi-Fi standard. And let’s set the record straight now regarding WWAN – like the Mini 9, the Mini 12 is not “mobile broadband” ready today. Stay tuned, however, as we a working as quickly as possible to make that happen (it’s like herding cats as I understand it/ It involves extensive testing and qualification by several different folks including the FCC, the wireless carriers, and our own wireless and engineering teams). For those who want a Mini and mobile broadband today – I recommend you look at any of the USB solutions from wireless carriers.

Since the Mini 12 isn’t available here yet, we haven’t sent any out for review, but we expect to in the next week or so. In the meantime, Lionel’s Direct2Dell post has gathered links to a few online stories about the Mini 12.

Posted in Connectivity, Design, Laptops | 9 Comments »

Without Further Ado, Meet Your New Best Friend

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 launches today – 8 a.m. Central – in the U.S., Japan and some European countries (check local listings). Starting price for the XP version – available now — is $399 USD. An Ubuntu Linux version will be available later, starting at $349 USD.

If you can wait until 6 a.m. Central tomorrow, Sept. 5, you’ll be able to get a Mini for only $99 with the purchase of a Studio 15, XPS M1530 or XPS M1330 laptop through 6 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9 (U.S. only).

In case you’re new to the Internet and therefore unaware of the deafening advance buzz, allow me to introduce this compact, take-it-everywhere Internet companion. Purpose-built to keep teens, tweens, travelers and “Tweeters” connected, the Mini is optimized for that “30-minute connection” experience – blogging, surfing, e-mailing, chatting, viewing photos, videos and music – you get the idea.

With a starting weight of 2.28 lbs., digital nomads will value the Mini’s durable design, with sealed keyboard and reliable solid state drive (SSD) memory storage. A bright 8.9‑inch glossy LED display (1024×600) presents most Web pages with no left-right scrolling, and the keypads are large and easy to navigate. Standard built-in Wi-Fi means quick and easy wireless Internet access.

An optional built-in webcam, bundled with Dell Video Chat, makes it easy to stay in touch using video chat, recording and sending video e-mails, or even PC-to-PC phone calls around the world. DVC even supports four-way calling. The built-in Bluetooth option provides easy wireless connections to enabled accessories, like stereo headphones, mouse, printer, etc.

Extending the Mini experience, Dell teamed up with Box.net to offer exclusive Web-based file storage, access and sharing to Mini users, including a free Basic plan with 2GB of remote storage space, expandable to 25GB. The Mini will include a direct link to a Dell-exclusive home page on Box.net, providing users an easy way to add incremental online storage space.

If past is prelude, the kind readers of this blog will have a lot of additional questions about this much-anticipated arrival. Enjoy learning more about the Mini, and let us know what you think.

Update: And speaking of additional details, here’s a vlog that features Brian Pitstick, who was part of Dell’s product team tasked with making the Mini 9 a reality.

Posted in Connectivity, Design, Vlogs | 285 Comments »

Over the Net and Through the Webcam to Grandmother’s House We Go

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

There are many women like me who have moved around throughout their corporate lives, leaving grandparents, aunts, uncles and extended family many miles apart. At least I was fortunate enough to spend my early childhood with my great-grandmother on the first floor, my grandparents on the second floor and my immediate family on the third floor of a triple-decker. From my teens until young adulthood, I lived on the same street as my cousins, sharing three houses in a row.

Fast forward several decades and my children will have to travel to at least four states to see their cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Add onto that challenge the increasing cost of travel, kids’ schedules, my own work schedule and travel limitations for my parents due to health issues. So what’s a mother to do to ensure some kind of family togetherness and visits to grandma’s house?

Well, my sister turned me on to voice over Internet protocol - what the techies refer to as VoIP.  When I updated my personal computer to my pink Dell laptop with an integrated webcam, I downloaded a free VoIP software application called Skype to communicate with my far-flung family. (BTW, there are other options I want to check out including the new Dell Video Chat. My colleague Anne Camden recently posted information on this.)

Since then, I’ve been checking in on my mom (more on getting my mom and family updated to the new age later), aunt, brother and anyone else for free!

Check out this vlog of my daughter using the Internet to share her recent summer vacation with her auntie in California:

Posted in Connectivity, Cyber Sisterhood, Laptops, Productivity Software, Tips, Vlogs | 2 Comments »

Wi-Fi at Cruising Altitude

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Delta Air Lines has become the latest carrier to announce plans for in-flight Wi-Fi, and in a big way. It intends to switch on the service across its U.S. flight schedule by mid-2009 (about 330 mainline aircraft, its smaller planes not included).

Price: $9.95 on flights of three hours or less, and $12.95 on flights of more than three hours.

In-flight broadband isn’t a new concept. If you’ll pardon the pun, I’ll hasten to add that it’s an idea that hasn’t yet taken off. However, Delta is partnering with Aircell and its technology is said to be easier and cheaper to deploy.

Marguerite Reardon over at CNET has posted a well-done roundup article on the subject. Now definitely deal me and my laptop in for surfing the net and staying in touch at 37,000 feet. But Ms. Reardon’s readers are weighing in and, at least initially, they aren’t too high on the idea … citing things like annoying Skype conversations and cramped working quarters. What do you think?

Posted in Connectivity, Laptops | No Comments »

Will the Olympics Melt the Internet?

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

That’s the headline atop Tom Steinert-Threlkeld’s ZDNet column today. He’s quoting a well-placed source as saying we’re about to find whether the Internet can, or will, break down under the strain of all that video streaming from Beijing starting tomorrow. So what are the odds? Check it out here.

Posted in Connectivity, Eclectica, Events | 2 Comments »

Microsoft & Netflix Agreement Coming

Monday, July 14th, 2008

A while back, I had mentioned how excited I was about how the vmcNetflix add-in brought Netflix’s Watch Instantly feature to my Xbox 360. Now, Microsoft is making it official over at E3. Several folks like Todd Bishop,  Dean Takahashi and John Biggs have confirmed an agreement between the two companies coming later this Fall.

Beyond that, looks like Live Groups will make it even more compelling. Good stuff… a few things on my wishlist: better video quality, faster performance from the Xbox 360 interface, and a bigger portion of the Netflix library to choose from.

This new development could present a solid challenge to the Apple TV. Come on Netflix and Microsoft… I bet you can do it.

Posted in Connectivity, HDTV, Home Theater, Video | 3 Comments »

Customize Your Network For Skype, Media Streaming, BitTorrent, Gaming, etc.

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

Home networks are complex.  Really complex.   Mind boggling complex in fact.  The typical household has multiple computers at this point.   Home wireless networks are very common.   Additionally, there are a growing number of devices that are pinging your home network:  DVRs, smart phones, gaming consoles, printers and hard disk storage.    These devices constantly check for e-mail, send diagnostic information, request patches, etc., etc.  Despite the extra complexity, most people don’t optimize their network for these changes.    I’ll briefly discuss why this may require some optimization for your home network.

Take this example:  I was streaming a TV show via the Media Center program, when the video began to slow and freeze.   Shortly thereafter, the “network problem” message occurred.   It was well past midnight, so I wasn’t sure of the problem.   The Internet access to my house was working.   My Media PC wasn’t otherwise being used.   What was the issue?   Turns out another PC on the network was backing itself up to my NAS.    Certainly, streaming my TV show should take precedence over a routine backup.   That’s where QoS (Quality of Service) comes in.

Your typical home network has a single router, and configuring it for QoS is fairly simple.   By doing this, you can modify the bandwidth and priority for the traffic on your network.   By changing the priority, you let preferred traffic network pass through the network first.   By changing the bandwidth, you let more of that traffic pass.

Linksys largely rules the home networking market, and this link will give you fairly easy instructions on how to configure their most common wireless router.   Other brands typically work the same way.   The router I use has three ways to configure QoS:

  • Device – Every device on a network (in your home and in the world) has a unique MAC address.   You can enter this address, to ensure these specific devices receive a higher priority.
  • Router Port – You may choose a port on the back of the router to optimize traffic.   This Ethernet port might lead to a single computer or a hub connecting it to another group of computers.
  • Application Port – The software and games that connect over the network typically do so by a certain application port number(s).   To give yourself an edge in gaming, or to configure for LAN gaming, you’d probably want to use this.   Since VOIP is starting to replace land lines, most routers are preconfigured in this manner.

This is fairly simplistic, in the greater scheme of QoS.   However, the options above give you some flexibility depending on your network setup.   In general, you want real-time network applications, i.e. video streaming, VOIP phone calls, to take precedent over long term, less urgent Internet activities, i.e. BitTorrent downloads, receiving e-mail, etc.

Hmmm, sounds too good to be true.  What can go wrong?   Your router, connected to your ISP’s modem might not be able to operate efficiently with your upstream bandwidth.   In other words, you might want to make requests that people over the Internet can’t (or won’t) honor in a timely manner.   Every network is different, and by observing results over time, you’ll find that improvements can probably be made.

Maybe I’m jaded.  I consider homes with a mere single PC quaint.   A throwback to a simpler time, if you will.   In such a case, QoS really isn’t so necessary.   But for the dorms, small businesses and LAN parties out there, making some simple adjustments can really improve your home network.

Posted in Connectivity, Tips | 1 Comment »

Color (Connect and Organize) My World: Dell launches the “Studio” brand and Dell Dock

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

It’s all over the interwebs already, but in case you haven’t heard, Dell made a pretty big –and colorful – splash today with the launch of Studio—a sleek, colorful and nicely loaded new product line designed to unleash the blogger/poet/novelist/artist/scrapbooker/YouTuber/Annie Leibovitz in all of us.

The first tranche of systems in the new line is two laptops – Studio 15 (15.4”) and Studio 17 (17”). John Biggs at the New York Times notes, “It’s summer, so why shouldn’t one’s laptop match one’s hot-pink bikini?… Optional Blu-ray or DVD recording drives ensure you can watch a movie under your beach umbrella, while built-in Wi-Fi, cellular broadband and Bluetooth keep things connected.”

For a quick overview of these systems take a look at this video with John New from Dell’s notebook team:

Of all the color options (seven different solid lids, plus four graphite with color insets), pink seems to be the most popular callout. The fashionable gearheads at GQ made note of the pink option, but were also impressed with Dell Dock, a simple, customizable task bar that replaces multiple icons on the desktop and sorts applications by category, that’s premiering with Studio. Wilson Rothman’s overview and very nice slide show on Gizmodo even hit the front page of Techmeme. To answer your question, Wilson, you can move the dock around.

For more on the Dell Dock, take a look at this vlog:

After backing in to a compliment about Studio’s “mouth watering colors” and “a few tasty extras, Charlie Sorrel at Wired also gives Dell Dock props and suggests that “The Studio is looking like a nice alternative to the MacBook.” Note to Charlie: Not exactly the way we’d put it, but thanks!

If you think beyond the box when buying a computer – read: if you accessorize whenever you can – don’t miss the color-matched Designed for Dell line of bags, mice/mouses, portable hard drives and other personalization options.

Lots of interesting ground to cover, so look for more on Studio, Dell Dock and Designed for Dell over the next few days.

Posted in Connectivity, Design, Fashion, Laptops, Music, Photography, Security | 19 Comments »

Alternative to Roku for Streaming Netflix

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

Netflix I love Netflix, and I’m a big fan of their Watch Instantly feature. Like lots of folks have pointed out, there are some limitations to that functionality: it requires Internet Explorer which means you have to sit in front of a computer or laptop to watch streamed movies. That’s why there was lots of buzz since Roku and Netflix announced a set top box for $99 that lets you watch these streamed movies.

Thanks to Lifehacker’s Adam Pash for an excellent post about how you can use a Media Center PC, the vmcNetflix add-in and an Xbox 360 as an extender for watching streamed movies in your living room. Adam also includes a YouTube video from Mike K. (you rock IMHO) at hackingnetflix.com where you can see it in action. Lifehacker also shows everything you need and a step-by-step process for setting it up.

I know what I’m doing when I get home.

Posted in Connectivity, Home Theater, Tips | 1 Comment »

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