It’s been a long (long!) time since we’ve caught wind of a substantial Windows Home Server refresh, but for those waiting on pins and needles, we’re thrilled to say that the excruciating wait has finally ended. Sort of. Microsoft has revealed today its public beta of the next version of WHS, code named “Vail.” The primary upgrades / changes include the extension of media streaming outside of the home or office, improvements in multi-PC backup and restore, simplified setup and user experience as well as “significantly” expanded development and customization tools for partner. Beyond that, the company’s playing things pretty close to the chest, but you can feel free to grab a 64-bit copy of the beta starting today and dig in yourself. ‘Course, Microsoft recommends that you install the software on a secondary (read: not important to your livelihood) machine, and on the development front, it’s introducing a new SDK for those who wish to “create add-in applications using Vail’s new extensible programming model.” So, whatcha waiting for? That download is a-callin’, and a brief demo video is just beyond the break.

Update: And we’ve already got our first review — good for those too chicken (or busy, frankly) to completely wipe a second PC just to see how Vail stacks up.

Continue reading Windows Home Server ‘Vail’ beta now available for download, brings improved UI and streaming options

Windows Home Server ‘Vail’ beta now available for download, brings improved UI and streaming options originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Greetings humans! The Engadget Show is back in a big way with this latest episode! Josh sits down with the brilliant roboticist Dr. Dennis Hong to chat about his supremely cool yet surprisingly terrifying ‘bots, and then take a look at a few models which the professor brought along with him. Correspondent Rick Karr is back to give us the skinny on why the songwriting industry would like net neutrality to be a little less neutral, and Engadget editor emeritus and GDGT founder Ryan Block joins Josh, Paul, and Ross Miller on the roundtable to delve deep into all things newsworthy in tech. We also got to play with the ATI Eyefinity, one of the craziest gaming rigs you’ll ever see… and then give it away to one lucky audience member! All that, and music from Neil Voss and visuals from NO CARRIER. Okay that’s enough reading… time to watch!

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Ross Miller
Special guests: Dr. Dennis Hong, Rick Karr, Ryan Block
Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm
Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger
Edited by: Michael Slavens
Music by: Neil Voss
Visuals by: NO CARRIER
Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec

Download the Show: The Engadget Show – 008 (HD) / The Engadget Show – 008 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted)

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Continue reading The Engadget Show – 008: Dr. Dennis Hong, Ryan Block, Rick Karr, ATI Eyefinity, and more!

The Engadget Show – 008: Dr. Dennis Hong, Ryan Block, Rick Karr, ATI Eyefinity, and more! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As much as Microsoft has revealed about Windows Phone 7 thus far in the past two months, one critical, differentiating element that it’s going to be able to lord over its competitors — true Office support — has been a bit of a black box. We’re starting to see a little bit more about the Office team’s next-gen mobile product now, though, thanks to a pair of new videos that have been published this week. The first focuses on the email and calendar experience, but we do see one pretty awesome trick when the demo opens a PowerPoint file inline from the email client, edits it, and sends it back to the original sender. The second video dives deeper on the actual Office hub, where we get a quick look at the Word editor — and as you might expect, it’s squeaky-clean and nearly UI-free, just like pretty much everything else in the platform. Peep the videos after the break.

[Thanks, skipper]

Continue reading Updated Windows Phone 7 videos show Office doing awesome things

Updated Windows Phone 7 videos show Office doing awesome things originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, Kim Kardashian and Russell Crowe signed airbrushed Xbox 360s bearing their likeness for the David Peachy Foundation’s “Konsoles for Kids” charity auction, but Weta Workshop co-founder Richard Taylor built his donation into a badass diorama. That’s Halo’s Master Chief venting the console with his trusty assault rifle, sending chunks of circuit board, capacitors and LEDs out the other side. According to its eBay seller, the PAL system’s still fully functional, and ships with controller, cables and a full warranty. Auction lasts till April 24th; bidding is presently at $810 AUD.

Master Chief’s bullet-riddled Xbox 360 case mod auctioned off for charity originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 05:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From its humble HD-DVD-playing beginnings, the Xbox 360 has grown into a full-fledged set-top box that pulls down HD content from Netflix, the Zune Store and Sky TV (for Ireland and the UK). Now, rumors indicate an Xbox TV channel might be next in line. Bloomberg writes that former News Corp. president Peter Chernin discussed the possibility of adding regular exclusive programming to the console at an April 12th meeting with Microsoft, and reportedly suggested a $1 to $2 increase in Xbox LIVE monthly fees to cover the additional cost. However, since Microsoft apparently hasn’t formally responded to the proposal, this may just be another pipe dream — from the man who thought we’d pay $30 per movie for on-demand HD, no less. ‘Course, with all this talk of Hulu going paid, we suppose just about anything is possible.

Former News Corp president wants Xbox TV channel? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 04:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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