TV: (Apples iTV, Samsung SMART TV & LG OLED HDTV)

Apples latest TV rumored to be Apple iTV could be released in 3 different sizes to compete with Samsung and LG who are also in producing next gen Smart TV.

iTV will sport a new processor – one that will also appear in the upcoming iPad 3, and a new software interface which will include support for Siri, the charming voice-based personal assistant that came with the iPhone 4S

Samsung SMART TV

In an attempt what looks like to bring worlds of PC/Mobile and TV together into a single device Samsung seems to be bringing up its concept named “SMART TV” powered by Android.

They would rather remove a remote and be controlled by your mobile device.

LG 55” OLED HDTV:
LG has revealed plans to bring a huge 55-inch OLED HDTV to CES 2012 in January, with the super-slim panel using new OLED technology to deliver better color quality and response times. The new set, LG Display claims, demonstrates how AMOLED systems more commonly used in the smaller displays of smartphones can be extended to encompass far bigger panels for televisions.

Gaming: (Nintendo Wii U/Microsoft XBOX 720/Sony PS VITA)

Nintendo trying to create revolution in gaming products by adding a new controller with an embedded touch screen that allows you to continue gaming session on a portable controller even when TV is off.

The Wii U’s new controller incorporates a 6.2-inch, 16:9 touch screen and traditional button controls, including two analog Circle Pads. This combination removes the traditional barriers between games, players and the TV by creating a second window into the video game world.

Microsoft’s next version pet named XBOX 720 is still in speculation. Although XBOX 360 which was a big hit and the Kinect Bundle (here and more) providing a more innovative way of gaming. Although I cant even imagine what the next version of Kinect could be as I am already flabbergasted by the body gaming technology using Kinect sensors and cam that enables hands free and no-controller gaming. So the next version is still not in the open nor is the spec. It’s come to know that the XBOX 720 would be full HD stereoscopic 3D visuals similar to 3D movie theatres. Also rumored that it will have 8 core processor, 3D, 4K2K, multiTV (DPConnect), live TV and webcam, as well as GPS that allows users to view the location of any other user on an active map.
*Note: (Pictures below are imaginary and are not official released designs)

Sony’s PS VITA in US @ Feb 2012 to discover completely new ways to play. PS Vita revolutionizes the gaming experience with dual analog sticks, front and rear multi touch pads, motion sensors, and front and rear cameras. Game at the speed of your mobile lifestyle, start your game on PS3 and continue on the go with your PS Vita. The Wi-Fi version is priced at $249 and the Wi-Fi/3G version will cost $299.99

Tablets: (iPad 3/KindleFire2)

iPad3

Speculation that iPad 3 would be powered by quad-core A6 processor, it’s IOS 5.01 Beta and equipped with super high resolution Retina Display. And likely to be launched in first half of 2012.

Kindle fire 2 is set to be quite a bit different from its predecessor. It is thought that Amazon will redesign the device so it doesn’t have the same look and feel of the PlayBook – something many of the reviews refer to

Mobile: (Apple iPhone5/Samsung Galaxy S III)

iPhone5

iPhone mania continues with iphone 4 and iPhone4S. Quad Core Processor, 4.5 – 5″ Retina Display, 4G LTE should be most likely be part of iPhone 5.

When we’ll see the iPhone 5 launch is anybody’s guess, but whether it’s released in June or November, it seems like a safe bet that it will have a new design and most likely support for 4G networks

Samsung Galaxy S III

If you could name one company that had made its influence felt even after the sweep of mobile market by iPhone its none other than Samsung. Samsung has made its mark with its wide range of mobile products be it the galaxy series etc. powered by andriod and are still the ones to be watched. Samsung sold around 10 million units of the Galaxy S II just in three months of it’s release, and it was the one of the fastest phone at the time of release. So many Android and Samsung fans are waiting for the next version.

Apart from the variety of technology products that we just talked about if I had to mention one more aspect of technology that is expected to raise more eyebrows its would be Microsoft’s Win8 Operating system.

Win8
Microsoft Next Version of Operating System Windows 8 will be major change. I mentioned it when pre-beta got released and its huge set of changes at Link. Microsoft is bringing the Metro UI found on smartphones and XBOX 360 to the PC and tablets. Word is a beta may be out as soon as February with the final product ready to ship on PCs in late fall. Microsoft windows 8 will include support for ARM Processors as well as X86 INTEL and AMD processors. A new Start Screen interface has been added that was designed for touchscreen input in addition to mouse, keyboard, and pen input.

Born September 9, 1941(1941-09-09) Bronxville, New York Died October 8, 2011(2011-10-08)Murray Hill, New Jersey Fields Computer Science Institutions Lucent Technologies Bell Labs Alma mater Harvard University Notable awards Turing Award National Medal of Technology Known for · ALTRAN · B · BCPL · C · Multics · Unix

I was planning to blog about the Great Steve Jobs this week and all his accomplishments that had inspired or motivated every wannabe innovators. But after coming to hear of this news I just dropped my thought because I feel this guy deserves equal tribute to Steve Jobs for being the Inventor of The C programming Language and co-creator of Unix Operating system. And the whole world has already given Steve Jobs a mammoth tribute and I didn’t want to be monotonous on that front.

Let us ask ourselves this question. How many developers today have started learning Programming with C when they were under graduated?

I would say 100% at least in India.

C was the first programming language that I personally learned when I was a Novice. Today I still credit all the logical programming thinking every one of us have comes from C.
The very first editions on C was also written by him:

“C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system. C is one of the most popular programming languages of all times and there are very few computer architectures for which a C compiler does not exist. C has greatly influenced many other popular programming languages, most notably C++, which began as an extension to C. Today C is a general-purpose, fast, portable and widely used language.”

Although others might have also learned Java as their first programming language but C definitely has been the foundation of Programming languages and I believe is still the core for most of the Software Technologies out there including Operating Systems we use in our day to day life. Although I am not a die-hard fan of C (ironically I could just be in those .0001% people) but I still cherish the moments when I learned programming concepts starting from basic Looping statements, Pointers and horrifying data structure concepts. Most importantly it teaches you the problem solving skills and basic understanding skills of algorithmic way of writing a program.

I could still remember the first programs I ever executed where of Basic Logo, C and Pascal. The excitement and happiness I had while I successfully executed my very first “HELLO WORLD” program in C is unexplainable.

/* Hello World program */

#include<stdio.h>

main()

{

printf("Hello World");

}

The news of Ritchie’s death was first made public by way of Rob Pike‘s Google+. His post today mentions that he passed away last weekend shows how the news is now slowly spreading across.

I have to agree with my friends comment on Facebook that says “There is no Apple, iPhone ,Microsoft without him”. The sole reason being C was treated as the Mother Of All Programming languages and all other languages where either built over or inspired by it.
Please post your comments on blog to share your experience and share via email or any social media to give the guy a tribute he is worth for.

I really hope the technology world realizes the importance of this man and pay tribute to him for his contribution.

Big Boss is meant for controversies at least that is what I feel. Sunday was the day when hosts (Salman & Sanjay Dutt) together revealed and introduced the participants of this year’s Big Boss Season 5 participants. Although much hype of some very popular names being included in this season was just rubbished off. For instance Names like JaySean ,Shakira,Jhonty Rhodes, Sidhu and many more were not in the final list. Although there could be some surprise guest entries later as the show progresses. Althought there was some disappointment but it didn’t last for long as the participants were revealed one after the other there was a trend being observed wherein the first participant was all very famous Shakti Kapoor and then came 1 lady after the other. Every one kept on expecting another guy turning out but no…Ladies went on coming. And finally here is the list of participants and a 1liner about them. Definitely there is anxiety if this guy will show his true Colors on the Colors Channel. At least he is now surrounded with colors all around him. You can comment your thoughts at my blog link given below J

The controversial figure of Bollywood, Shakti Kapoor. He is not only known for playing comic/villian characters in movies, but also for the most controversial sting operation. Often accused of being “Womanizer”.

Raageshwari is an Indian pop singer, actress, model, television anchor and former MTV VJ. Was surprised to know she had facial paralysis when asked about her. May be that’s the reason she was away for a long time off her career as a pop singer.

Shradha who earned lot of media attention after Raja Chaudhary and her relation came into limelight. She was seen on Emotional Atyachaar and Love Lockup on small screen.

23-year-old Nihita Biswas Sobhraj the wife of Charles Sobhraj known as a serial killer Nicknamed "the Serpent" and "the Bikini killer" for his skill at deception and evasion. Charles is 44yrs elder than her when he married her 3years back.

Shonali Nagarani won the pageant of former Miss India International in 2003. Also, she is an Indian film actress and model and has appeared in Hindi language films. Also seen as an anchor on IPL if I am correct.

Pooja Misra is a model turned actress and popular ramp model.

Sonika Kaliraman is an indian wrestler and has been featured in reality show – Khatron Ke khiladi.

Pooja is the daughter of actor Kabir Bedi and is a former Bollywood actress. Pooja worked in Bollywood films, and appeared in many commercials. The actress has also been part of talk shows and reality shows on small screen.

Laxmi Tripathi, a tall beautiful and handsome transgender. She is confident and vocal about her opinion, and fights to protect the rights of her people.

Juhi is a well known TV personality and a versatile anchor, actress, Television Presenter, singer and dancer. She has essayed many important roles in serials like Shaheen, Kumkum and Devi.

Mandeep Bevli is an anchor and has worked for various channels. Mandeep specializes in hosting shows related to Bollywood rumours.(seen on Headlines Today)

Mahek Chahal: who shares a strong friendship with Salman Khan and has also entered Bollywood with his recommendation.

Vida Samadzai is Miss Afghanistan 2003 and the first Afghan woman to participate in an international beauty pageant

Gulabo Sapera is Rajasthani Kalbelia Folk dance performer who has performed worldwide. She says she was born and was immediately buried alive because she was a girl child . She was saved by her aunt who didn’t have girl child.

Still getting used to Windows7 then time to also start learning about Windows8 the next proposed version of Windows Operating Systems.

It might sound crazy like Whattttttttttt another OS version??? But the answer is Yes Its true because Microsoft has just unveiled Windows8. (Pre-Beta version)

I would refer to January6th 2011 when we first heard from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer @CES2011 himself giving an insight on what the next version of Windows is going to be about.

I did blog about it then and what was mentioned at that time is now Live to be used by everyone. Below is what I quoted:
“Next version of Windows (An updated version on what I would call it as “Windows8” was given and it will support the SOC architecture(System On Chip architecture). I am still new to what this architecture is all about. MS has already started engineering for the next version of windows partnering with Nvidia/Intel/Qualcomm/AMD etc. That will build products on this technology. This is a demo of just the platform support of the future windows OS and not the UI. High performance and easy portability on any device is the motive of the future windows. It’s also about enabling windows experiences to run natively on ARM extending windows commitment to SOC architectures.)” Read More at link.

With lot of speculations about Windows 8 in recent times Microsoft now had officially cleared some air on what is Windows8 and released the first Windows8 Developer Preview version for public at the Build Conference (Windows). Steve Sinofsky the President of Microsoft’s Windows Division gave a wonderful keynote giving live demos of the Windows8 OS.

In this blog I would give you quick highlights and my views on the OS and feel free to view the Keynote at http://www.buildwindows.com/

Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft’s Windows and Windows Live division, gives a preview of Windows 8.
(Credit: Microsoft )

· All New Start Screen:

The All new Metro Style START Screen……. I personally felt this screen was inspired by the Windows Phone UI with Panorama. You can just keep swiping the screen to the right to view all other Taskbar applications etc. I just loved the demo of the OS and gives you a clear feeling that now the Windows OS is “Socialized”. Your My Pictures are now also integrated with you pictures on your social network etc.

· MultiTask Docking View and SideView:

Provides a more seamless way of multitasking as in the example below a video can be watched while keeping an eye on the News Feed (Left) in parallel.

· Internet Explorer for Metro Style (Chromeless)
There is a customized IE9 Metro App that comes by default with Windows8. It has all the features of the IE9 that has already been released. (Hardware Acceleration etc.)

· Spell Check throughout the system

· Performance:
Below snap clearly depicts approx..50% reduced memory usage of Windows8 compared to Win7

· Windows App Store

My opinion after looking at the keynote its more about Apps, Apps and lot of Apps that exist in the OS by default and also that can be built for the OS using the developer tools…

All of them would be Touch centric as well as the OS completely is Touch Friendly. With the very successful Windows Phone Mobile app store now Microsoft has come up with a Windows App store for the first time where developers can package their applications that they build for Windows8 to the app store. Others can download the apps based free or buy the apps right from the app store. Even they also allow Win32 applications to also be uploaded in the app store. The keynote demos on the life cycle of a Windows8 Application built using the new tools (Visual Studio 11 & Expression Blend 5 Preview). Both these tools provide Windows8 specific templates that make application creation a breeze.

These are just couple of highlights that I have touched upon and there are lots of demos on Windows8 applications for Azure and more deep dive sessions on Windows8 api and lot of cool stuff you can view at Channel9.

All Videos related to Windows8

http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/BUILD/BUILD2011

For instance you can find the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8:

http://watwindows8.codeplex.com/

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20105152-75/windows-8-debuts-at-microsoft-build-live-blog/#ixzz1Xu2vPOYV

You can download Windows8 @ http://dev.windows.com/

Please note this is a pre-beta version and might not be as stable as the final versions of the operating system. It’s definitely recommended not to use it on production environments.

Before I deep dive into various sessions of MIX 11. Let me first give a brief introduction to what MIX is about.

If you aren’t aware: MIX11 is a 3 day Microsoft’s designers and developers conference that happens once an year.

This is used as a platform by Microsoft to release/showcase various features/updates to Microsoft products for the rest of the world.

It’s also a stage used for evangelizing their products to both designers and developers who later go ahead and use all the latest features that Microsoft has released.

“MIX is a gathering of developers, designers, UX experts and business professionals creating the most innovative and profitable consumer sites on the web. Sessions range from technical, code-based topics to expert advice on content strategy, usability and design.”

An example would be ie9 platform preview that was introduced last year at the same venue and earlier in March2011 they released their final version.

Believe me MIX is not just about Internet Explorer releases. It covers updates on all other Microsoft products varying from XBOX,Kinect,Sharepoint,Azure,Office,WindowsPhone7 and HTML5 etc..

Oh how would I forget Silverlight and every other Microsoft product you might imagine that Microsoft has been recently working on.

You can know everything else about MIX at live.visitmix.com

Other such similar event is the Microsoft PDC (Professional Developers Conference) that is also an yearly event that happens specifically for developers around the world.

“The Professional Developers Conference (PDC) is the definitive developer event focused on the technical strategy of the Microsoft developer platform. Attendees come from around the world to learn about the Microsoft developer platform directly from the people who make it happen.”

You can know everything about PDC at microsoftpdc.com

These events are streamed live on web and also registering for tickets get open just in case you would want to go there and watch it in person.

But the tickets just get sold in no time so if you really want to go in person you got to have preparation an year ahead. Just kidding at least couple of months before you should be able to get tickets.

In either case the sessions are all recorded for you to view at your leisure and I am here to let you know when things happen.

This year’s MIX11 starts with a Bang with some MS Biggies Keynotes. Yes, Scott Gu was there with all the action and wonderful demos that he introduced in the Developer Tools division. It’s almost expected now that he would be there for every major event. I especially loved the Silverlight 3D model of his body that was demoed at Silverlight Firestarter 2010 and this year there are some extensions to it. Silverlight Firestarter 2010 is a special event conducted that really answered lot of myth around HTML5 taking over Silverlight. And Microsoft came out in the open at this event to silence all the critics saying “Silverlight was here to stay and Microsoft is committed to it.”

2 Keynotes with a duration of 2hrs each were given by:

Dean Hachamovitch – General Manager and Head of the Internet Explorer team

Joe Belfiore – Corporate vice president and Director of Windows Phone Program Management

Scott Guthrie – Corporate vice president of Microsoft’s .NET Developer Platform

The keynotes mainly gives the taste of what this year’s MIX11 sessions/focus are going to be about. And here are a list of things that got revealed in the Keynotes:

· IE10 Test Preview released
Within just few months of release of IE9 with all the major updates now live. You can read all about ie9 from my earlier paper boat at link and you wouldn’t believe Microsoft has unleashed a test preview version for end-users to sense the next version of IE which is IE10. This was a big surprise at least for me.
Loads of improvements and further support to HTML5/CSS3 in their next version. All details can be found at:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/gg192966

To download and install ie10 platform preview version:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=196941

· HTML5:
MVC3 Supported template update to Visual Studio2010, Internet explorer performance/support enhancements to HTML5 demoed. Lots of sessions w.r.t HTML5 ranging from beginner to expert level have been demoed. Microsoft have released a live labs website where HTML5 features would be demonstrated and also enable free download of the sample source codes. They have already put on demonstration on web sockets that could be developed via HTML5.
http://html5labs.interoperabilitybridges.com/

· Windows Phone7 –

MS has announced the most awaited updates to WP7 and now famously known as the MANGO release which is free for all WP7 users that would give more features to their WP7 especially to search the app store and adding some important features like > Copy, multi-tasking, deeper integration of apps with phone, camera access and access to the motion sensor library that missed in their early release. The updates are due this fall and the keynote demonstrated some of these features that will differentiate WP7 from its competitors. The MANGO update will also bring new apps like Skype, Spotify and IMDb (with better integration) for the platform. Demo of IMBb has been demonstrated as well.

· WebMatrix & Nuget
if you are already a ASP.NET MVC fan and building websites with MVC3. Life got even better with webmatrix and nuget.
WebMatrix: It is a small development environment that uses the simple Razor syntax to create websites really quickly. You can start from a gallery of existing open source applications or start from scratch.
Nuget: it is a package manager in .Net that is released with ASP.NET MVC and this can also be downloaded separately. Its about installing opensource libraries and accessing them within VS2010. Nuget is built into Webmatrix.

· Windows Azure
I am not into Azure yet and really didn’t get a chance to plugin with Azure. But however there have been some important updates to the Azure platform that help enhance the way applications are deployed onto Azure. And specific updates to migration tools as well that will speed up the process. Also included some releases to Azure toolkit to WindowsPhone7 and how to use it. There are many more sessions on Azure.
I have found 2 blogs that will help you give an overview:

o http://blogs.msdn.com/b/katriend/archive/2011/04/14/windows-azure-news-from-mix11.aspx
I found this blog that gives an entire overview on what were the specific updates related to Azure that were being released at MIX11

o http://jamesconard.com/2011/03/18/windows-azure-platform-at-mix11/

James blog gives you a list of Azure sessions that happened at MIX11.

· Silverlight 5 Releases: SL5 Features

o Media:Hardware Decode

o Trickplay

o Remote Control
Some cool Silverlight features demoed were the 3D support in Silverlight which has got some performance bonus and the panning/zooming of SL 3D Models has got more smoother. I would reserve this category for my next post that will be specific to Silverlight and details on my favorite Silverlight sessions at MIX11.

· Kinect – for windows SDK
I had hinted in my earlier blog with the introduction of Kinect that has already revolutionized gaming with its hand free gaming console.

Future Of Windows7 Operating System

https://km.hcl.in/Paperboat/Pages/PostDetail.aspx?PostId=796

Expected its going to come very soon to Windows7 OS where users can perform gestures on their PC’s to perform tasks. It has finally happened and Microsoft has now announced officially at MIX11 that they were just about to release the windows SDK for kinect. Probably the wait is not so far after they have confirmed that they are going to release it.

I would once again re-iterate here that:
“See I said this a couple of months ago and here it is as it just happened. You can look at some live demonstrations on what could be expected from the Kinect windows sdk at my blog.” I expected it to take an year but now it has gone even shorted with MS announcing it.

http://fazal.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/future-of-windows7-operating-system-full-of-gestures-with-kinect-sdk/

More than 150 experts that also includes MS personal has given some exceptional approx. 100 sessions on various Microsoft technologies.

The list of all these sessions including the keynotes can be found and downloaded at:

http://live.visitmix.com/mix11

http://channel9.msdn.com/events/mix/mix11

I still remember when I posted in my blog about the very first Ie9 platform preview getting released at Mix10.

“Dean Hachamovitch, Corporate Vice President, Internet Explorer, at the Internet Explorer 9 launch event at SXSW in Austin, Texas.”

You can watch the launch event at:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/internetexplorer/videogallery.aspx?contentID=IE9Launch

There has been a lot of feedback on the previous beta versions which in my opinion were itchy.

The ie9 RC version that released couple of weeks back fixed most of the issues. At least I am happy for now.

I don’t have to mention all the new capabilities of the browser as there are tons of implementations demonstrating the browsers capabilities.

In fact Microsoft already has a public site that demonstrates all the various features of IE9.

Just go to http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/

Make sure you have a HTMl5 supported browser like ie9 installed to actually experience all the examples mentioned in the test drive site.

Some of them includes:

· Most talked about HTML5 support.

· Hardware Acceleration

· Simplified Interface (Critics call it Chrome like.. but its unique in its own way)

· Windows 7 Jump Lists/Pinned Sites to Task bar etc. (I love these features)

· Do Not Track feature (Tracking Protection)

· Improved IE9 developer tools

I am just listing out just couple of important features that are worth to note in the release from previous version ie8.

Microsoft is devoted to making IE9 in compliance to support most of the HTML5 standards/features.

And believe me the percentage % of support is increasing every day.

Finally did I just forget to mention the link to download IE9… So here it is:

http://www.beautyoftheweb.com/

Yes, A dedicated site for ie9 indeed. The name “Beauty of the Web” says it all. Just means you can experience the beauty of the web via IE9 that gives you better performance of the site that’s loading in the browser with its wonderful feature set.

Before I end I always take a chance to post some referral links where you can learn more about Ie9 in huge web of internet:
http://www.beautyoftheweb.com/

Internet Explorer Developer Guide

Internet explorer in pictures

IE9 RC1 vs. Firefox 4 vs. Chrome 9

The biggest super hit of gaming consoles – XBOX w/Kinect. Completely gesture based gaming entertainment.

If you want a brief overview of what Kinect is read my earlier blog post at link (Or) for more information visit link .

So let’s get back to the main topic and the present buzz topic at least for me if not the whole world.

With the introduction of Kinect the developer community started hacking Kinect and use it for different possibilities which even Microsoft hadn’t thought about. The right way to say would be probably Microsoft might have already thought about but not announced about. But with some very cool demonstrations of Kinect already being made Public. Read More

Watch some very cool videos lightsaber and gestures.

Microsoft have finally decided to get ahead of the hackers and infact started to provide them a more official medium to use its product saying that it is planning to release an SDK.

The SDK (Software Development Kit) will help developers/enthusiasts work with the core technology of Kinect on Windows7 based computers.

So wondering what could be the possibilities? The unthinkable that we could have had to wait for at least 5 years can now be possible right this year.

Windows 7 – Full of Gestures?

Yes, Using gestures to perform tasks in your PC is what you can do. Few of the images below and a video that will demonstrate the same.

With all these being announced I can’t wait to get my hands on Kinect. But I will at least wait for Microsoft to release its toolkit first.

I just keep giggling just by the thought “Imagining everyone in the organization pointing their fingers at their PC to perform events”. Ha Ha it would just be as if they are fighting with the PC.

If so let the war between PC vs. Human begin.

When you see this happening for real remember me that I was the first to tell you. J

“hey dude how to give feedback to Google about it’s webpage?”

Surprising enough I couldn’t find a feedback button for Google on the homepage. But that’s where any human being would expect it to be.

And I now have one more reason to like “BING”. Go to homepage and Bingo you find the feedback link.

Not sure why Google don’t like to receive feedback whereas it is one of handy features to receive free advice and to know of what’s “right” or “wrong” about your product.

On the other hand Microsoft no matter how big their developer community is they always asks for feedback and have been driving all their products via Community feedbacks.

On saying that here is where you can find feedback option for “Bing”. Right on the HOMEPAGE. J I know “Bing” is yet to reach “Google” in terms of search relevance. Which it has improved a lot from where it’s started couple of years ago. But this is how Microsoft works. (Take Feedback and act up on it and continuous improvement)

Ok now I was determined to answer to my colleagues question:
“hey dude how to give feedback for Google webpage?”

And I had to use “GOOGLE” to search for the option of providing feedback. And after looking into various forums and posts found the information that I was looking about.

I can now understand why “google” hasn’t provided a feedback option readily available. Because they wanted people to SEARCH for it. J

Here is the information that I wanted to blog about and again “Google” only takes “Suggestions” not “Feedbacks“.

Here’s what Google says (see http://www.google.com/intl/en_extra/contact/search.html): To help you get your answer faster, we’ve put together an informative help section and comprehensive list of frequently asked questions. If you cannot find your answer, please contact us by selecting the category that best pertains to your feedback.

* Suggestions: suggestions@google.com
* Praise and complaints: comments@google.com
* Not satisfied with search results? search-quality@google.com
* Report errors, bugs and broken links: webmaster@google.com
* I have a question and/or need help using Google: help@google.com

Ok, so a localization error would fall under the “report errors, bugs …” case but here’s what I got back after writing to the webmaster:

“Thank you for writing to Google. We’d like to assist you, but we only
respond to messages submitted through our online contact form. Please
visit http://www.google.com/support/ to submit your message, and we’ll get
back to you soon. We apologize for any inconvenience, and we look forward
to hearing from you.

Regards,
The Google Team”

The link above points to a help section with no feedback form. So, in order to help them you need to let then try to help you ?!

To end this post I would recommend Google to get the basics right before boasting all their accomplishments. And at the other end Microsoft’s “Bing” they have got the basics right but will reach the pinnacle very soon.

SharePoint 2010 Firestarter Event Recordings:

Microsoft kicked off the new year with the SharePoint 2010 Firestarter event. This all-day, in-person event was held in Redmond, WA and streamed online. The speaker line-up included Office and collaboration experts. Watch the recorded sessions and gain a strong understanding of how SharePoint fits with different pieces of technology that you use every day.

http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Sharepoint-2010-Firestarter/

Hands On Sharepoint2010 after a long time. Have been raring to go since a long time. I have been gaining lot of knowledge on this technology from nearly an year now but finally got chance to apply hands-on. And here are my learnings through some of the initial hick-ups I had.

I might not sound 100% correct and the fixes may not be the only way to solve the issue but these were the fixes that worked for my issues that I faced. So please feel free to refer to various other blogs that might help you fix your issue if the below fixes dont work

Issue:

In Sharepoint designer “Design Forms in InfoPath” option is greyed out in SP2010. Or Infopath Services disabled/not found and not functioning.

Fix:

For this to be enabled we need to enable Entriprise Edition of Office instead of Standard. To enable it go to Sharepoint Central Administration> Migration & Upgrade> Update to Enterprise

Select Enterprise edition and provide the key and this will enable all the services.

Sometimes this might throw an error. In such case check if the Sharepoint Adminstration service is running under domain account. If it still fails then try to repair the Sharepoint2010 services using the Configuration wizard.

Start>Sharepoint 2010 Products > Confugration Wizard

This will enable all the the enterprise features like excel services,infopath, fast search etc. to all your sites.

Error: Back-Up Full Sharepoint Farm:

Object Managed Metadata Service_71b701493b0245768a32d34805d80bf1 failed in event OnBackup. For more information, see the spbackup.log or sprestore.log file located in the backup directory.

SqlException: Cannot open backup device ‘\\servername\Backups\spbr000100000E4.bak’. Operating system error 5(Access is denied.).

BACKUP DATABASE is terminating abnormally.

Fix:

Backup path changed to servers drive (C: drive worked for me) instead of D drive for which SP account doesnt have permissions to access the backup. Or else changing the user account of the DB’s to be domain/local account instead of network user should fix this.

Error:
Could Not Load Type IDataServiceUpdateProvider When Using Rest With Sharepoint 2010
Fix:
Install ADO.NET Data Services Update for .NET 3.5 SP1.

I will keep updating this post as I keep learning so keep an eye on this post.

All in all I am loving SharePoint 2010 J