Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7 today with surprising pricing! I thought for sure that the phones would cost around $400 and as stated in previous posts anything more than that and they would price themselves out of the market. In my opinion a $200 price tag with 2 year contract is absolutely spot on.
Here is my first educational video on what to do when your Internet Explorer crashes! It is usually an add-on, and you can disable them one at a time in order to figure out which one it is. Watch the video to see the steps.
Of course, don’t forget the previous blog post with other browsers you can switch too. If you don’t feel like figuring Internet Explorer out, just switch!
Throughout Internet history there has been a lot of different browsers released. Since Internet Explorer ships with our Windows computers pre-installed, Internet Explorer is the browser of default not necessarily the browser of choice. Below is a list of different Internet browsers, and where to get them. If you are having trouble with Internet Explorer, giving one of these other browsers a try may be well worth your time.
1.) Firefox – Firefox is a open-source browser brought you by the Mozilla foundation. You can download Firefox at http://www.getfirefox.com
2.) Chrome – Chrome is released by a company called Google, a company some of you may have heard of 
. Chrome can be downloaded at http://www.google.com by clicking “more” and then clicking “even more.”
3.) Safari – Safari is a Apple product, which runs on Windows and Macs. It is the default browser for Macintosh computers, and most Apple users rely on this browser heavily. You can download Safari for Windows or Macintosh by going to http://www.apple.com
4.) Opera – Opera is a good browser that has been around for years. If you have a Nintendo Wii, the main interface as you may have noticed is opera powered. You can download Opera at http://www.opera.com
Most browsers upon install will have a option for importing your favorites, cookies, and browsing history from Internet Explorer:
According to w3counter.com, Internet Explorer still leads the pack, followed by Firefox:
If you are having trouble with Internet Explorer, or just want to try something different, give these browsers a try.
Microsoft is releasing a new smartphone called the Windows Phone 7. I haven’t gotten a chance to get one yet, as they are not released. It is scheduled to be available November 8, 2010.
Microsoft is taking a big step into the smartphone market. Smartphone sales are supposed to pass the Desktop/Notebook sales with the next couple of years. With Apple and Google Android based smartphones dominating the market, it is a large gamble for Microsoft. In order to keep up with the technology sector, Microsoft has got to hit a home run with the Windows Phone 7. With the Apple iPad the hottest product around, Microsoft’s success with the phone will also be very telling as to the future of the company and tablet PCs.
Check out the following video review by a third party:
I personally think the phone looks really great. It looks smooth, easy to use interface, and the phone itself seems very snappy, something that I would be happy to get away from my sluggish Palm Pre for. The other great thing about the Windows Phone 7 would be the automatic synchronizing of data. One of the largest problems smartphone users have is trying to keep all their photos, music, contacts and data synchronized a crossed a vast array of devices from desktop to laptops to smartphones. With the Windows Phone 7 and a WiFi home or office network, all you have to do is walk into wireless network range and when the phone is idle it will automatically start syncing up the data. No cables to plug in, no nothing. That sounds unbelievably awesome. Overall it is going to come down to price. I would guess that the Windows Phone 7 can’t be more that $400, certainly an affordable price. Anything over that and Microsoft prices themselves right out of the market. It would be great to a $300 price tag, or even a $200, but I can’t believe we will see it that low at launch. If you are in the smartphone marketplace, you may do well to wait until after November 8th to see what kind of price this phone has and what kind of buzz it creates in the market. If Microsoft plays their cards right and this phone is a true rival or better than the iPhone, with Microsoft’s money banks behind it, this could be a true marketplace changing phone.
Windows Phone 7 – More Videos at the Microsoft Store
Well since I got a new phone (and I’ll be blogging on that someday soon here) I have been obsessed with Pandora Radio. Once I started it on my phone, I found out you can also listen to it on the Internet too.
I had heard of Pandora before but I had never really tried it. I knew it was a radio site but never really knew how awesome it was.
Basically you can go to http://www.pandora.com and sign up for a free account. Once you are signed up, you just type in an artist or a song name and it will play music similar to that song or artist.
I typed in the Oak Ridge Boys and it started playing music by the Oak Ridge Boys, the Statler Brothers, Randy Travis, etc. Once you get that all figured out, you can crank it up and the quality is surprisingly clear. I started hearing songs that I haven’t ever heard, or haven’t heard in a very long time. It’s a great way to discover new music.
They pay for it through advertising, but the advertisements are anything but intrusive. They have about 1% of the advertisements that we hear on the radio every day. Hope Depot, NetFlix are the only advertisements that I have really heard so far.
But the coolness doesn’t stop there. Since it plays random songs, there are obviously going to be songs that it plays that you really don’t want to hear. That’s where the thumbs up or down comes in, because if you don’t like the song just give it a thumbs down and it will never play on that station again. If you do like the song then just click the thumbs up and it will play that song more often and more songs like it. Once the song gets old, just tell Pandora your tired of it and it will not play that song again for one month.
If you’re like most of us you enjoy different types of music. In that case, just setup a separate station. Every song or artist you type in creates a new virtual station. You can have lots of different stations that play all kinds of different music depending on your mood and what you want to listen too at the moment.
When you click the thumbs down button it will stop playing that song and play the next. You can also click the next button to not thumb down the song but just not play it then and move on to the next. The contract with the record industry keeps you from being able to skip to many songs per hour, so once you use up your skips you are stuck listening. You can always quit listening for that period of time though.
You can upgrade your account and get the Pandora desktop application, unlimited listening, no ads, higher quality audio, and it will allow you to skip songs more often.
The best part is you can listen for free, and that is what makes it the coolest thing ever. I should also mention I have nothing to do with Pandora Radio, I am just a happy customer.
OK, there has been some confusion on behalf of all the upgrade editions of Windows 7. People are seeing different prices for different editions, and some editions look cheaper then others. There is a reason why these editions are cheaper. In order to clear up the confusion, here are the differences and the reason for the cheaper price.
These editions contain only a product key and will unlock features of the chosen edition. You must currently be running some edition of Windows 7 on your computer in order to use the Windows Anytime Upgrade. For example, if you bought a computer that had Windows 7 Starter Edition on it, you could purchase Windows 7 Home Premium Windows Anytime Upgrade for $79.99, type in the key, and upgrade the Starter to Home Premium.
These editions are full retail and include a product key and a DVD retail version of the software. Because they do include the DVD and manuals, they are more expensive.
So the next time you see the product images for the Windows Anytime Upgrade, make sure you are not fooled by the cheaper price – unless you are running some sort of Windows 7 already, you will need the retail edition. Don’t be fooled!
Click here to read more about the Windows Anytime Upgrade (takes you to Microsoft).
As we have been reporting to you Windows 7 is coming October 22. There are less editions then there was with Windows Vista, thank goodness, so it makes it a little less confusing as to what edition you should run.
We have posted a chart here showing the different editions that are available. Each edition is more expensive as you go, and some features are not available in other editions. Professional edition will contain all of the features of Home Premium, and Ultimate will contain all of the features of Professional, and so on.
The biggest difference is the “Windows XP Mode” which is only available is Windows 7 Pro and Windows 7 Ultimate. This mode lets you run older applications that only run in Windows XP, and allows you to run them in Windows 7. If you have older applications that you will still be using and are worried about them being compatiable when you upgrade to Windows 7, then this is going to be the deciding factor.
Check out the chart, and then proceed to purchase the edition that is right for you. Obviously it won’t ship until October 22, once Windows 7 is released by Microsoft.
