Hello barb bowman,

To get Hotmail on-the-go, you recently tried to set up a service called ActiveSync from your mobile device.

We are really glad that you’re interested, but we had so many sign-ups that we had to temporarily stop accepting new ones.

We’re making constant improvements and we should be accepting new requests fairly soon. Please check the following website in about two weeks to see what’s happening: http://windowslivehelp.com/solutions.aspx?categoryid=699b2703-2b62-4a92-86f2-9d5d52cc477d.

Thanks again for using Hotmail–we’re really sorry about this delay.

Sincerely,
The Hotmail Team

Apple treats me better!!!!

Waited 1hr 32 min for chat rep who, like all first line agents in every company wanted me to jump through every hoop and blame my computer(s) – my network – my frame of mind. And finally escalated and then admitted it was an Apple problem. Then the solution was “we know, wait a few days, keep trying”. Apple, this is NOT acceptable.

Update: Started working around 1pm EDT. I actually sent email with the chat transcript to sjobs@apple.com. Just got a call from Apple Executive Offices (really). Had quite the conversation with the nice person that phone.

Here is the chat transcript:

I just had one of those A HA moments and uploaded one of them to my iDisk in the cloud  (which comes with my MobileMe subscription).  I had been thinking of iDisk as a place in the cloud to stash files, but not as a streaming server.  I downloaded the iDisk app to my iPad (and to my iPhone) and yup, I’ve got another place to store media files that can be served to my computers and iPxxx devices over the Internet.  Apple supplies 10GB of cloud storage space (compared to the 25GB Microsoft supplies with SkyDrive, but MS doesn’t seem to have an App in the App store <G>).

Here are a couple of captures from my iPad:

Back up Outlook files and so leaving RIM, here I go Bye Bye Blackberry Where a better phone waits for me Syncs so fine with MobileMe Bye Bye Blackberry RIM gave no love to Outlook 2010, see And to their beta they did not invite me The iPhone 4 was slick and bright The Apple staff was really nice Bye Bye Blackberry Signal is strong on AT&T I’d tested my iPad with 3G Bye Bye Blackberry No one at RIM would engage me, Or give out info that would help me, (Oh oh oh oh) Made my choice, quit that fight, iPhone’s working great tonight, Blackberry, BYE BYE

]]> http://digitalmediaphile.com/index.php/2010/08/01/bye-bye-blackberry/feed/ 0 http://digitalmediaphile.com/index.php/2010/07/24/ipad-ics-meeting-invites-outlook-blackberry-sync-solution/ http://digitalmediaphile.com/index.php/2010/07/24/ipad-ics-meeting-invites-outlook-blackberry-sync-solution/#comments Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:29:58 +0000 Barb http://digitalmediaphile.com/index.php/2010/07/24/ipad-ics-meeting-invites-outlook-blackberry-sync-solution/ I have been struggling trying to keep 3 copies of Outlook (non Exchange) Calendars and Contacts in sync for a long time. There are lots of manual kludgy ways to do this. But when I add my iPad and a need to be able to accept meeting invites (not to mention a Blackberry), I’ve been pretty frustrated.

My second problem: Apple for whatever (probably business) reason, can’t read Outlook ICS meeting requests files (and apparently won’t let any third party app to update the iPad Calendar).  And third, there is RIM, whose Blackberry Desktop Manager doesn’t even support Outlook 2010 yet.

I’m happy to report that I’ve solved problems one and two. And still using Outlook 2007.

Microsoft, I hope you are listening..

I’ve started a 60 day trial with MobileMe. After a couple of hours of doing some backups of my Contacts and Calendars and installing iTunes and the MobileMe Windows Control Panel, I’m happy to say that all three computers are marching to the same drummer and are in sync. I’ve added my iPad and yep, 4 devices all with the same data. I’m still using the Blackberry Desktop Manager via USB to sync that device to Outlook on one of my computers.

My  remaining issue was what to do with meeting invites while away from the computers. Enter a nifty app called RDP Lite from the iTunes store that I’d already been using for some time. This app will work with all versions of Windows that support being a RDP host. Since I’m using W7 Ultimate on everything, I’m covered. While it is a little kludgy, if I get a meeting invite via email on the iPad, I’ll just use RDP Lite to a computer at home (and BTW, RDP Lite supports port specification so if you have multiple computers on your network and change the RFDP port for other computers, you are covered).

I open Outlook (if not already running) and retrieve mail, click the ICS and add to the Calendar on that computer.MobileMe takes over from there and syncs with the other computers and the iPad. And if I schedule something on the iPad manually, MobileMe syncs with the three computers.

Here is a screen shot of RDP Lite on my iPad. You can see the MobileMe icon in the system tray (clouds on a blue background). It’s really working!

I still have to jump through some hoops to sync Notes and Tasks, but I’ll figure something out for that.

Is MobileMe worth $99 a year? Well, 59 days left in my trial period before I get charged. I’ll post an update when I decide.

Update: if you are a Rogers customer, this may have triggered lower usage limits. CBC news is reporting that Rogers is lowering their download limits.

Here’s what you’ll see if you access the site from a Canadian IP address.

CBC news has posted info, including the fact that this will be streaming only (no DVD’s by mail). “English only to start, French to follow over time”.

I don’t know if Media Center access to Netflix for Windows 7 Canadian users will be turned on at launch, but am trying to find out.

One comment, if you are a HD snob (and I have no qualms admitting that *I* am), the content is pitiful. And the content for PC’s and Mac’s (a subset) is shameful.

Your newsfeeds, tweets, et al are displayed in a magazine type layout that is easy to read and stunning to boot.

I can see why the Flipboard servers are busy busy busy. Every iPad user on the planet must be trying to set this little gem up simultaneously. Be patient. It’s worth it.

Start page for Flipboard. You can add your own content!

Twitter post displayed in landscape format. Really gorgeous!

After months of silence, RIM has announced 32 bit only support “targeted for” August. And no 64 bit support until 2011.  Targeted is a weasel word. My perception is that RIM has crappy programmers and/or figures most people don’t care about either Office 2010 and/or sync.

They’ve posted the following (linked above):

Overview

Currently, BlackBerry Desktop Manager 5.0.1 does not support Microsoft Outlook 2010 64-bit version for mailbox connectivity and synchronization of organizer data such as Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Memos. The next release of the BlackBerry Desktop Manager provides support for Microsoft Outlook 2010 32-bit version only. This release is targeted for August 2010. Support for Microsoft Outlook 2010 64-bit version will be available in 2011.

I’d ripped a bunch of movies at 720p to stream to my iPad using Air Video and other options. I was browsing the network folder over RDP that housed these mp4  and double clicked The Day After Tomorrow without really knowing what might happen. My expectation was that since RDP has been so bad at streaming media of any kind that it would be dreadful. To my surprise, it actually worked smoothly and well, including video and audio in sync.

Here’s a shot of my TV where you can see the RDP session and the movie in a Windows Media Player window.

And here is it when I expanded to full screen

I admit that I prefer the Windows Media Center interface over RDP as that losses the menu bar and gives me full screen. But this brings up interesting possibilities of traveling to a friends house with my Push2TV adapter and WiDi enabled laptop and having access to a remote library over the Internet. Probably won’t work as well over the Internet, but I’m up for trying.