Microsoft Unveils Energy Management Software

Google has been releasing information on their smart meter management software called PowerMeter little by little, but we've yet to see a fully-completed product.  Microsoft is hoping to steal some of their thunder by releasing a beta version of their energy management software, Hohm, this week and, at least appearance-wise, it has Google beat.

The web-based software allows users to monitor and control their energy use by logging into the Hohm website with their Windows Live ID and zip code.  Based on that information, the software makes estimates of their home energy use and allows the user to enter specific information by answering any or all of 180 questions, with each answer making the numbers more accurate.

So far the software is only available for use by a few utilities - Xcel Energy, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Seattle City Light and Puget Sound Energy - with more in line to start using it soon.  If you happen to live in one of the areas serviced by the list above, your energy use information will be even more comprehensive with historical data available from the utility.

The software will be smart meter-compatible as soon as any of its utility partners begin using them.

Eventually, the software will be used in connection with electric vehicle charging and grid demand management, but those more delux features will likely come with a price.  Microsoft has made clear that this software is a product like any other they've created and as it's further developed, cost will start being a factor.  For now, at least while it's in beta, the energy managment tool is free.

via Ecogeek and Earth2Tech

Revit to Microsoft Project Connector Released

A new release of the BIMjet Connect software was released this week. The Connector provides a bi-directional link between Microsoft Project and Autodesk Revit platforms. Enabling Architects and Contractors  to schedule complex BIM models for 4D visualization and construction scheduling.

Via Blgsim

XBox 360: Project Natal - Potential for Architectural and GeoVisualisation

Microsoft has announced the new Natal motion controller fro the XBox 360 at this years E3 conference. Natal is a small, device that sits underneath the screen and senors the users movement, completely eliminating the need for a controller.

This offers huge potential in the world of Urban visualisation, both in the professional realm and for communicating geography and architecture to a wider audience.

Game engines and gaming devices offer a lot of potential for visualisation and simulation and with Natal that has just got more interesting.

Via Digital Urban

Microsoft reinvents Live search as ‘Bing’

So far through the last year, Microsoft has been mostly criticized for making products and releasing services which were either poor in quality or of no customer value.

Live search by Microsoft remains the top candidate in that case, which promised to provide a search engine as better as Google but failed miserably in achieving a user-following like Google did. But perhaps with Microsoft's new search engine called Bing, the scenario might change.

Bing is the final version of the long-in-alpha new search engine by Microsoft codenamed Kumo which we reviewed earlier this year and to be honest, its intelligent and also pretty amazing.

According to the press-release by Microsoft:

Bing is specifically designed to build on the benefits of today's search engines but begins to move beyond this experience with a new approach to user experience and intuitive tools to help customers make better decisions.

Bing definitely helps in improving the customer-experience by providing data in the most organized manner. As soon as one passes on a query, it is processed and the results are displayed much like in the same format as Google, but Bing takes the edge when it comes to the organization of these results.

Results are organized into links, images, videos, maps and Bing is smart enough to give you a preview of these results even in case of videos.

Also, being new, Bing has a definite advantage over Google as it is immune to black-hat SEO techniques like keyword stuffing so the results are more relevant and up-to-date. Moreover, Bing has support for aspect-oriented queries such as weather, location etc.

As it seems, Live search is right now redirecting to Bing and soon will act as a portal all to Microsoft Live services. So to test out Bing, head over to the Live search website.

Via Sizlopedia

Open .Docx files online with Google Docs

Google Docs serves as a great alternative to native OS word processors like Microsoft Office and OpenOffice but with only one limitation until now, the inability to process .Docx file documents.

However, with the recent addition of new file formats to the list of support ones in Google Docs, users will now be able to not only upload and process .Docx file documents but will also be able to upload and process .xlsx spreadsheets with Google Spreadsheets.

The .Docx format was introduced by Microsoft in Office 2007 as a standard XML file format to store the data of any document, spreadsheet or presentation and is hereby the most-commonly used extension for documents.

Having the ability to now upload and process these files through Google Docs will allow users to make use of the cloud services in a better way and keep their documents safe and synchronized wherever they go.

To upload, simply select the file document and Google Docs will automatically detect the format, upload it, convert it and display it.

For more convinience, you might want to try out the .Docx to .Rtf converter.

Via Sizlopedia

Microsoft officially announces the Zune HD

Lately a lot of rumors have been surfacing on the Internet about a new HD device named as Zune HD.

However, this is no longer  a rumor anymore as Microsoft has officially announced the new Zune HD portable media player in a press-release.

The new Zune HD becomes the first ever Zune to feature a metallic surface and a touchscreen. Below is a detailed list of all the features and specifications for the new Zune HD.

• 3.3 inch Capacitive Touchscreen
• Metallic body in black and bronze
• A resolution of 480x272
• Multitouch input
• HD radio and video
• Full-screen Internet browser
• WiFi and accelerometer

Looking at the features one can definitely believe it to be hell of a device, and also the first ever portable media player to include HD radio which streams songs at a much better quality than traditional radio.

Although a head to head comparison with the iPod Touch tells us that Microsoft might not trying to be too innovative with the Zune HD. Also the device is supported to sync and work with only Windows PCs which is ironic in the sense that Mac users wouldn't really consider buying a Zune.

The Zune HD will only be available in the US, unlike most other portable media players which are available worldwide. More details on the hardware, availability and price will be released by Microsoft soon.

Via Sizlopedia

Photosynth Now Intergrated with Virtual Earth

Microsoft have just launched Photosynths integration with Virtual Earth along with some tweaks to the interface, the slightly corporate and stumbled through video below provides details:

 

While it is still early days the example of the House Synth over at http://www.microsoft.com/virtualearth/ details the possibilities.

Via Digital Urban

The Making of Photosynth

The video above looks at the making of Photosynth, its informative and provides a glimpse of where Photosynth is going.

Click here to Read More.

Synth of Taj Mahal using photosynth

Just trying out the new photosynth application which is a great tool for architectural visualization.

Below is a synth created of taj mahal which can be viewed from every angle and in detail. Please note that you have to install a plugin to view this:

Photosynth: View and Create 3D Panoramas

Recently Microsoft released the final version of its long-in-beta web application called Photosynth.

The application gives users the ability
to view and create 3D Panoramas and virtual tours. It takes a
collection of regular photographs and reconstructs the scene
in a 3-D environment.

Read More





Via Sizlopedia

Photoshop gets HD Photo support from Microsoft

Microsoft has released a Beta version of a plugin to let Photoshop read and write files in the HD photo fomat.

The plug-in is available for free to download for Windows and Mac OS X systems. The plug-in works on Windows XP, Vista, Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5 and Photoshop CS2 and CS3.

Further info visit Webware blogpost

Microsoft Virtual Earth offers 3D building capability

Microsoft and Dassault Systemes have released a 3D building application for Virtual Earth.

The application willlet people create 3D objects with textures and colours and share them with one another online. Basically, similar to 3D Warehouse.

The models can also be tagged with real-life addresses or town information so that they can be viewed in Virtual Earth as they would be on a map.

Microsoft's new search interface called Tafiti

Mocrosoft has just released a new search engine interface called Tafiti. It users microsoft silverlight technology and live search to enable interactive searching. It also enables the viewer to save searched information such as images, rss feeds, etc. Below is a video showing Microsoft's Tafiti in action:

A Closer Look at Microsoft's Virtual Earth

Microsoft's Virtual Earth is the competitor of Google Earth. Not much has been said about Virtual Earth. It simply comprises of similar features to that of Google Earth in terms of navigation however, Google Earth is just too ahead of Virtual Earth in terms of usage and its various features such as importing sketchup models and creating your own mashups. New features are still getting developed for Google Earth users. I guess one of the cool feature of Virtual Earth is navigating via a browser which shows 3D buildings as well and the quality of the resolution of the 3D buildings is much better than Google Earth.However, a plugin needs to be downloaded which can take several minutes.

Below is a video showing Stephen Lawler of Microsoft giving a talk on Virtual Earth.



Below is a video showing Virtual Earth in action:



More info visit: Inside Microsoft blog post.

Microsoft touch screen table

Check out this video showing Microsoft's new surface computer. A great product for interactive presentations.

Popfly Mashup Service

Microsoft has launched a new mashup application called Popfly designed for people who do not know how to develope codes.

The free online srvice which is still at its Alpha stage provides a way to construct mashups by combining various web 2.0 applications. The application users microsoft's Silverlight browser plugin which is now in beta. In order to use Popfly Alpha, you have to sent an invitation request. For more info visit webware blog post on popfly.

Below are videos showing what popfly is,its features and how to use the application.

To checkout my embedded mashup click here.