Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 Availability

Back in January, Gavriella Schuster published a blog post introducing Windows MultiPoint Server 2011. Windows MultiPoint Server is designed to make technology access easier and more affordable for educational institutions. What Windows MultiPoint Server does is a PC?s excess capability to enable a single PC to support multiple users simultaneously. It can be used for in classrooms, labs and libraries. Today, we are happy to announce that the trial for Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 is now available on the Microsoft Download Center for download. Later this week, Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 will be available for TechNet and MSDN subscribers to download. Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 will be available in 2 editions: Standard and Premium. The difference between the two is that Standard will not support domain-joining and allow for only up 10 stations (or 10 sessions) while Premium is domain-joinable, supports up to 20 stations (or 20 sessions), and supports Hyper-V. Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 will be available for purchase by Volume License customers on March 1st with broader availability happening in mid-April.

Last week, I met up with Dean Paron from the Windows MultiPoint Server Team where we shot a video of him talking through Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 and its features. Give it a watch:

It was really exciting to see Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 in action for myself. It was great seeing the type of experience a student would have with Windows MultiPoint Server which provides a Windows 7 desktop experience - at the same time empathize with the realities of what teachers and instructors are up against with limited resources and tight budgets. I can easily see where Windows MultiPoint Server can make a difference. Here are a few features in Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 that I think really impact both student and teach productivity in the classroom:

• Desktop Thumbnails ?Through the Management Console, teachers can orchestrate activities across the classroom including sharing any specific desktop across all stations.
• Split Screen Capabilities ? A single monitor can actually serve as 2 stations by splitting the screen. That means 2 students can share a single monitor. This can encourage collaboration between students. It also can be extremely helpful in places where budgets are tight and monitors aren?t easy to come by.
• Station Control ?Teachers can lock any one or all stations if needed and can also open and close applications too. Teachers also have the ability to allow only certain websites in a ?allowed list? through the Management Console.

And there are features that make Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 easy to manage from the IT Professional perspective:

• Network-connected Stations ? Stations can be directly connected to host PC (directly or via USB with devices from partners such as HP) or through the network (wired or wireless!). This enables stations to be set up in a variety of configurations versus having to be clustered close to a host PC.
• Multiple Windows MultiPoint Servers ? Administrators can connect multiple Windows MultiPoint Servers together into ?pods? which can then be managed all together through the Management Console. They can make it super easy to manage Windows MultiPoint Servers in a single room or across a building.
• Domain-join ? For places with an existing Windows Server infrastructure with Active Directory in place, Windows MultiPoint Server can be joined to a domain and managed through the same tools that are used to manage all the rest of the PCs on the network (and users).

It was wonderful to get a first-hand look at Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 and its functionality. It was also awesome getting to speak to Dean to get insight on its features and functionality.

We?re on track to make Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 generally available next month. It will be available in Academic Volume License, Open Volume License, and OEM channels which is great as that means more people will have access to Windows MultiPoint Server! I also suggest reading Dean?s blog post on the Windows Small Business Server blog for more details on Windows MultiPoint Server 2011.

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Samsung Galaxy S Gingerbread update coming March

Samsung confirms month for 2.3

It appears that Samsung has confirmed that its Samsung Galaxy S phone will be getting the Android 2.3 update come March 2011.

The news of the Gingerbread update, if correct, will mean that it's been 5 months since the handset's previous update to Froyo in November 2010; although don't expect a vanilla version of Android like the Google Nexus One or Nexus S, as Samsung covers the Galaxy S with its home-grown skin, TouchWiz, which some believe gives greater accessibility to the handset.

New features you can expect with the update include one-touch word selection with copy and paste, new keyboard, better battery management will mean longer battery life, whilst built-in VoiP and SIP support will be welcomed as services like Skype, or more likely Google Voice, can be integrated more easily into the phone’s interface.

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Tags: Phones Android Operating Systems Updates gingerbread Android 2.3 Samsung Samsung Galaxy S

Samsung Galaxy S Gingerbread update coming March originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:44:15 +0000

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Angry Birds, Doodle Jump, and Plants vs Zombies all confirmed for WP7

Game on for Windows Phone 7

Microsoft has confirmed what we already exclusively told you last week: Angry Birds?is coming to?Windows Phone 7.

While the fact that Angry Birds is coming to Windows Phone 7?is old news, the company has “got it’s game on” and announced a series of other classics like Doodle jump are coming to the platform:

“Flock yeah! Angry Birds, the smash-hit smartphone game, is headed for Marketplace—and that’s just for starters,” says Michael Stroh, one of the Microsoft blogging team for Windows.?

Other games confirmed include Doodle Jump, Plants vs Zombies, Hydro Thunder Go, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I, and geoDefense.?

The six games will start arriving on April 6.

But before those arrive there are other treats in store. Fable Coin Golf ?will be launching in March exclusively on Windows Phone 7. The game “draws upon the wealth of traditional British pub games and lets you transfer gold earned in the game to your “Fable III” game on either Xbox 360 or Windows,” says Microsoft. In addition, you can unlock three exclusive weapons that can be used in the Traitor’s Keep game add-on.

UPDATE: Microsoft has got in touch to say that Michael Stroh got the dates wrong for the launch of Angry Birds et al. Now instead of the 6 April, Microsof is simply stating "Spring" for the release of the games.?

We will keep you posted.

Tags: Phones Windows Phone 7 Gaming Angry Birds windows phone 7 apps

Angry Birds, Doodle Jump, and Plants vs Zombies all confirmed for WP7 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:03:00 +0000

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The Future Solidifies: OS X Lion Really Will Maul The CD (And All Other Discs)

It has now been at least a year since I last used the optical drive on any of my computers. And now I'm really starting to believe I never will again. Which I love. Last October, I noted that I was ready for the launch of the new MacBook Airs because I realized I had never once used the optical drive on my MacBook Pro. It was simply a huge waste of space. And since I've switched over to the Air ? the best computer I've ever owned ? I have zero doubt that this optical drive-free experience will soon be the reality for all Mac computing. And now it's clear that OS X Lion will be the final ingredient needed.

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2010 In Movies, As Seen On Foursquare [Graphic]

It's Oscar weekend so of course every social media service, smart phone app and "tech" blog is going to find some movie angle to remind you that they exist. And because I tend to write the more fluffy cultural pieces, I will be stuck writing about them, even though I hate Hollywood and celebrities of the non-YouTube or TopCoder variety. But Foursquare's map of 2010 movie checkin frequency (above) is an exception to the "blatant attempt to glom publicity off of an 'important' event rule," and deserves reposting. And yes, the mention of Sex In the City 2 on the pink side of the Venn Diagram here makes me ashamed for my gender. Very ashamed.

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Here Comes Apple's Cloud-Based Streaming Service for iTunes

iTunes music streaming has been rumored for a long while, but has never actually surfaced... But if you read between the lines of two pieces of news at the moment, it seems the time is finally ripe.

Apple settles record industry nerves

We think, from previous inside information leaks, that one of the big hold-ups to a streaming iTunes music service was the recording industry--it had been caught on the hop when Apple revolutionized the digital music industry and then stole control of huge chunks of the business right out from under the feet of those who thought they were in charge. Nervous about ceding more control of the next-gen in digital music services (streaming content from cloud-based systems) the recording industry is now wary. This is also partly why Spotify is having difficulty accessing the U.S. market.

Now, according to the Financial Times, Apple has successfully mollified the music industry enough about its plans that it can begin to put them in place. The trick was to highlight the business model in a particular way: The recording executives had been concerned that what Apple was planning to do was offer a "second download" channel to each track that Apple offers to its users--one via iTunes traditional download to user's PCs (and then to their iPods) and one via the cloud, enabling users to listen to their music even when it's not been synced to their iPod. This, the record execs thought, should enable them to charge for another royalty fee.

Apple's apparently convinced them the model is slightly different: The music stored in the cloud will in fact be a "back-up" of tracks that consumers have already bought--and which they can then be downloaded to devices at the user's whim. The cloud storage would act as "insurance" for people who risk losing their music archive in a catastrophic PC crash.

It's a technicality, and all but requires Apple to store each track in its archive many millions of times over, yet it may have done the trick with the recording executives.

Apple's North Carolina data center turning on soon, MobileMe revamped, iPhone Mini

Apple surprised many people a few years back when it bought a huge tract of land in North Carolina and built what some think of as a enormous, revolutionary-designed digital data center. Since its construction, we've even learned Apple may be planning on expanding it...which is odd because it seems Apple's barely actually used the center at all.

At the shareholders meeting this week, however, Apple let slip that the facility had suffered some "delays" but would actually enter service in the "Spring," and that it would be used to support both iTunes and MobileMe.

When you consider that MobileMe is apparently about to be revamped into a free access service, and that it already acts as a social sharing facility and digital back-up service (and security system) of sorts for iPhones, iPads and Mac user's data, it's highly plausible to see Apple adding in an "iTunes backup" extra to the facility--possibly charging a fee for file storage capacity over a certain size.

This would create a new subscriptions service, something companies love as it guarantees regular income, add value to MobileMe, reassure purchasers of digital music that they'll never lose their tunes, and act as a de-facto streaming music facility. This is another added-value system that users would be attracted to, as it reduces the hassle of grabbing the tracks you desire and syncing them to your iPhone and iPad. When you remember the rumors about the iPhone "mini" or iPhone "lite," which would see a cheaper lower-power phone on sale for less due to its cheaper innards--with big savings made in reducing the internal storage capacity--it makes even more sense.

iTunes Streaming imminent

The practical interpretation of all of this: iTunes streaming will arrive soon, disguised as a digital "locker" or back-up service, possibly even timed to match the new iPad announcement on March 2nd (and corresponding to rumors about the demise of paid MobileMe systems). 

To read more news like this, follow Fast Company on Twitter: Click here.

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