Ceton's Media Center mobile apps are for all, app and Echo extender beta signups open now

http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/30/ceton-windows-media-center-companion-app-echo-extender-beta/

If you're a Windows Media Center fan and have been drooling over the treats Ceton showed off at CES like its mobile companion apps (whether on WP7 or other platforms like iPhone and Android) and Echo extender we've got good news and better news. The good news is that the apps have been rebranded simply as Ceton Companion Apps and they will be available for all Windows Media Center 7 users when they launch, spreading their guides, file browsing and remote DVR management options throughout the land. The better news is that you'll be able to get your hands on the apps and / or Echo extender relatively soon, since there are beta tests coming soon for both. While the app beta is planned to start May 25th on all of the previously listed platforms, the Echo extender will be a paid beta where users can keep the hardware once its over. More details on the latter should be available soon, for now interested users should hit the link below to get on the list or check out an... interesting promo video embedded after the break.

Gallery: Ceton announces multi-room DVR and Echo extender hands-on

Continue reading Ceton's Media Center mobile apps are for all, app and Echo extender beta signups open now

Ceton's Media Center mobile apps are for all, app and Echo extender beta signups open now originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Research wants to automate your house, introduces HomeOS

http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/30/microsoft-research-home-automation-homeOS/

Ever wondered if you could control your house's climate, security, and appliances -- along with your PCs and peripherals -- using Microsoft software? That day may soon dawn, as its Research arm has started testing its home automation software, called HomeOS, in twelve domiciles over the past few months. The budding system views smartphones, printers and air conditioners as network peripherals, controlled by a dedicated gateway computer. The project even has a handful of apps in play, which perform functions like energy monitoring, remote surveillance and face-recognition. This growing list of applications, available through a portal called "HomeStore", will allow users to easily expand their system's capabilities. So how does it all work out in the real world? Head past the break, and let Redmond's research team give you the skinny.

Continue reading Microsoft Research wants to automate your house, introduces HomeOS

Microsoft Research wants to automate your house, introduces HomeOS originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Choosing RAID

http://www.mswhs.com/2012/04/choosing-raid/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MSWHS+%28MS+Windows+Home+Server%29

Thinking of using RAID on your Windows Home Server 2011 box?

If so then PCWorld have an article on RAID Made Easy:

“What is RAID, why do you need it, and what are all those mode numbers that are constantly bandied about?”

The article explains the difference between the RAID modes and also takes a look at Drive Extender from v1 of Home Server.

The article finally ends with a cheat sheet on choosing RAID. An informative read which you can find here.

Choosing RAID is a post from: MS Windows Home Server - Your Personal Guide to Microsoft Windows Home Server!

from MSWHS.com http://www.mswhs.com

Implementing Storage Pools and Storage Spaces Virtual Lab

http://www.mswhs.com/2012/04/implementing-storage-pools-and-storage-spaces-virtual-lab/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MSWHS+%28MS+Windows+Home+Server%29

Microsoft have released a bunch of Windows Server 2012 Virtual Labs to get you up to speed on some of the features in their next server operating system. One of the Virtual Labs which is of interest to us is "Implementing Storage Pools and Storage Spaces"

After completing this 30 minute lab you will understand how to manage storage with storage spaces by creating a new storage pool and virtual disk and then you will work with the virtual disks by using both Server Manager and Control Panel.

You can start the “Implementing Storage Pools and Storage Spaces” Virtual Lab directly using this link.

Implementing Storage Pools and Storage Spaces Virtual Lab is a post from: MS Windows Home Server - Your Personal Guide to Microsoft Windows Home Server!

from MSWHS.com http://www.mswhs.com

Columbia's GPS Pal app for Android and iOS logs your hikes, geotags memories (video)

http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/26/columbias-gps-pal-app-download-android-ios-hike-trek-geotagging-logger/

Move over, My Tracks -- you've got serious company. Google's own adventure tracking app just got majorly one-upped by a company that also happens to make heated jackets. Columbia's just-launched GPS Pal app is not only available on both Android and iOS, but it's actually designed to be used with a user account so that activity logs are neatly housed in a searchable, organized portal. It's free to download, and aside from monitoring your hikes and treks via GPS, it also syncs photos, videos, and trail information to a web journal automatically, complete with pinpoint geotagging information on each piece of media.

As for data points? It'll keep track of elevation changes, current speed and distance traveled, and it makes sharing said trips to social networks quite the lesson in simplicity. Naturally, you'll need a data connection in order to upload media while on the trail -- something that's often hard to find -- but at least the app tells you how poor (or great) your GPS signal is at all times, which is all that's required to keep track of your actual steps. Head on past the break for a promo video, or hit the links below to grab it for your platform of choice.

Continue reading Columbia's GPS Pal app for Android and iOS logs your hikes, geotags memories (video)

Columbia's GPS Pal app for Android and iOS logs your hikes, geotags memories (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Perifoveal Display tracks head positioning, highlights changing data on secondary LCDs (hands-on)

http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/25/mit-media-lab-perifoveal-display-hands-on/

If there's a large display as part of your workstation, you know how difficult it can be to keep track of all of your windows simultaneously, without missing a single update. Now imagine surrounding yourself with three, or four, or five jumbo LCDs, each littered with dozens of windows tracking realtime data -- be it RSS feeds, an inbox or chat. Financial analysts, security guards and transit dispatchers are but a few of the professionals tasked with monitoring such arrays, constantly scanning each monitor to keep abreast of updates. One project from the MIT Media Lab offers a solution, pairing Microsoft Kinect cameras with detection software, then highlighting changes with a new graphical user interface.

Perifoveal Display presents data at normal brightness on the monitor that you're facing directly. Then, as you move your head to a different LCD, that panel becomes brighter, while changes on any of the displays that you're not facing directly (but still remain within your peripheral vision) -- a rising stock price, or motion on a security camera -- are highlighted with a white square, which slowly fades once you turn to face the new information. During our hands-on demo, everything worked as described, albeit without the instant response times you may expect from such a platform. As with most Media Lab projects, there's no release date in sight, but you can gawk at the prototype in our video just after the break.

Gallery: MIT Media Lab: Perifoveal Display

Continue reading Perifoveal Display tracks head positioning, highlights changing data on secondary LCDs (hands-on)

Perifoveal Display tracks head positioning, highlights changing data on secondary LCDs (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HackStore is like Cydia for Mac OS X, replaces walled garden with open dacha

http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/25/hackstore-is-like-cydia-for-mac-os-x-replaces-walled-garden-wit/

Despite its loud anti-piracy notice, Andrey Fedotov's HackStore sees no issue in ripping off the official App Store's interface. Nevertheless, its aim is to gather up legit and readily available apps that didn't make it past Apple's trellis for whatever reason, and hopefully with Fedotov keeping an eye out for malware. You'll find FileZilla, Gimp and many rarer specimens -- and they're all just regular .dmg files so there's actually no hacking involved. That said, we downloaded the RTF to ePUB Converter and then struggled to make it run, so we're not ready to vouch for HackStore's ease-of-use any more than its security or legality. All we're saying, officer, is that it exists.

HackStore is like Cydia for Mac OS X, replaces walled garden with open dacha originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget http://www.engadget.com

Add-In: Drive Bender Tomcat Release Available

http://www.mswhs.com/2012/04/add-in-drive-bender-tomcat-release-available/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MSWHS+%28MS+Windows+Home+Server%29

Version 1.3 of Drive Bender (also known as the Tomcat release) is now available for download.

• Update: New Windows and WHS interface.
• Bug fix: File count feature could report the incorrect number of files.
• Update: Minor health monitor improvements.
• Bug fix: Networked mount points are non-writable on Windows 2008 R2.
• Update: If a drive removal process fails, the drive is no longer mark with an error. The pool will continue to operate a normal.
• Added: Drive swap feature. This allows a pooled drive to be swapped out with a new drive.
• Update: Smooth Stream performance improvements with high volume, small file reads.
• Bug fix: The drive removal process could fail with a "not enough free space in the pool" error.
• Update: Thin provisioning has been implemented.
• Bug fix: Folder rename and delete functions can fail on a folder marked for duplication.

Drive Bender is available as a unlimited 30 day trial after which it will cost you $40 for a single license for home use.

More information on Drive Bender can be found here.

Add-In: Drive Bender Tomcat Release Available is a post from: MS Windows Home Server - Your Personal Guide to Microsoft Windows Home Server!

from MSWHS.com http://www.mswhs.com