vail

Episode 42: Torture testing the Samsung Galaxy S4

It's safe to say that our expectations of the GoPro Mountain Games, and the entirety of Vail, Colorado, were greatly exceeded. If the gorgeous weather, cobblestone streets, and bouldering world championships weren't enough to generate permasmiles, the Rocky Mountains provide a perfect environment for the Always On crew to do their thing. In fact, many of us around the office have determined that the land-locked, rectangular-shaped state of Colorado wields enough awesomeness to give Hawaii a run for its money.

Unfortunately, we also had extremely high expectations for the Samsung Galaxy S4, based on the performance of its … Read more

Microsoft releases Windows Home Server 2011

Microsoft has officially released its new Windows Home Server 2011.

With the release to manufacturing, Windows Home Server 2011 is now slated to reach MSDN and TechNet subscribers in early April where they can download the software via their subscriptions. The latest version should also start to pop up on computers in May, according to Microsoft, which said that manufacturers have already been working with the new home operating system.

The official version of Windows Home Server 2011, codenamed Vail, comes almost a year after the beta was released and close to two months since the release candidate made its debut.… Read more

Feature cut from Windows Home Server to return via add-in

One of the crowning features of Windows Home Server, which Microsoft announced it was cutting as part of the next major version of the OS, is set to return with the help of some third-party software makers.

Drive pooling, which lets users take multiple hard drives and turn them into one solid block of storage was made possible by a feature called Drive Extender. In November, Microsoft announced it would be removing the feature in the second major version of the Windows Home Server software, code-named Vail, citing higher-capacity commodity hard drives as making the feature obsolete.

Users cried fowl, … Read more

Next Windows Home Server gets release candidate

Whispers and tweets about Microsoft's Windows Home Server hitting the all-important Release Candidate status this week have proven to be true, with Microsoft offering up the software earlier today to users on its Connect site.

The software, code-named Vail, is the second iteration of Microsoft's Home Server product, and is based on Windows Server 2008 R2. Microsoft first let users try out the software in beta form in April of last year. Along with Vail, Microsoft has put out a release candidate of Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, previously code-named Aurora.

One of the biggest changes to hit … Read more

Windows Home Server to lose drive pooling

In the world of software, features come and go, though most of the time it's in the direction of growth.

Such has been the story of Windows Home Server--that is, up until now. Microsoft has announced that the next major version of the software, codenamed "Vail," will do away with what has arguably been one of the most user-friendly features: the drive extender.

This feature would let users take multiple hard drives of various sizes--like the ones that people might have left from old computers, or something they got at a Black Friday sale--and let them … Read more

Vail Resorts unveils ski slope geolocation system

A few months before its five ski resorts open for the season, the Colorado-based Vail Resorts has unveiled a preview of something called Epic Mix, a set of Web and mobile apps based on skiers' activity as logged by radio frequency (RF) readers around its resorts.

It'll go live when the first of Vail's resorts, Keystone, opens for the season in early November. Vail Resorts' season passes and lift tickets are already RF-enabled, but with Epic Mix, interested skiers can unlock "pins" in the manner of Foursquare badges, get ranked on a vertical-feet leaderboard, post all manner of ski-related updates to Facebook and Twitter, and--via a mobile app--see their friends' activity on the slopes in real time so that it gets way easier to meet up for beers at the lodge. There's also a kid-oriented site for children under 13, which limits sharing to the kids' parents and has its own set of kid-friendly pins.

A skier can turn off RF functionality entirely if he or she so chooses, the company explained.

Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz said in a New York press event Monday that the company had ruled out partnerships with existing "check-in" companies, or an emulation of those services, because of the fact that he said they did not want to require any additional behavior to participate--"We don't think that works while you're on vacation," he said.

Next Windows Home Server adds Mac support

Microsoft on Monday released an updated test version of its next home server product, code-named Vail. Notably, the server software can now manage and backup Macs, in addition to Windows PCs.

Microsoft announced the update to Vail, along with the availability of a test version of its new Aurora small business server on its server Web site.

Aurora, which is apparently also getting Mac support, is designed to allow businesses to handle some tasks, such as print server functions on a local server while also tapping into Microsoft's hosted Web services for other tasks, such as e-mail. Microsoft detailed its plans … Read more

Windows Home Server beta unveiled

A free beta version of the latest edition of Microsoft's Windows Home Server--code-named Vail--is available for download.

Unveiled online Monday, Microsoft promises four major changes in Vail: the ability to stream music and video outside your home network via the Internet, easier back-up and restoration of files on multiple PCs, simpler, more user-friendly setup and overall administration, and the creation of your own add-ins and services to integrate with Vail via a new software developers kit.

Windows Home Server provides file sharing, media streaming, network backups, remote access, and other server-type benefits to home and home office users.

Before … Read more