Windows Phone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"In another variation on the confusing naming theme that has become a trademark of Windows Live, Windows Live Wave 4 (or Windows Live 2011, if you prefer) introduces a newly revamped Live Mesh, which is replacing the current Live Sync (which itself was an updated FolderShare, a ByteTaxi product Microsoft bought in 2005). Live Sync 2011 is functionally quite similar to Live Mesh, minus the mobile component that never got out of limited beta. It features much improved peer-to-peer sync of your computers, a remote desktop function, and SkyDrive sync with some built-in sync capabilities for Office and Internet Explorer settings."

Live Mesh seemed to be the answer to my prayers when it was put into CTP a few years ago. Finally I had a way to sync files to my Windows Mobile device without having to hook up to a computer. Sadly the software was left in an initial state far too long and has finally become the back end for Windows Live Sync, another great program I used to use extensively (previously known as FolderShare).

"Blockbuster Inc. caught up to the competition last week by introducing a set-top box that brings rentals from the Internet to the television. Now, the Dallas-based company hopes to pass the pack by teaming with Microsoft Corp. on new mobile services that will let customers watch even more movies on more devices. 'Eventually, we'll give customers instant access to any movie on any device with an Internet connection and a screen,' said Keith Morrow, Blockbuster's chief information officer."

I really love Netflix and their Watch Now service but the truth is their selection is pretty slim pickings. Out of the 400 DVD's in my Netflix queue, only 9 of them are available as Watch Now titles. Out of all of those 9 movies, I cannot play any of them on my Windows Mobile devices or any other mobile device I own. It will be very interesting to see how Blockbuster is able to pull this off, especially since they mention the ability to stream any movie on any device. Now the real question is does any movie count as any movie they carry in their stores and online service or will this be like Netflix where it is any movie they will have in their handful of movies that are able to stream. Only time will tell. It is nice however to see big name companies already utilizing the new Live Mesh platform.

"On Wednesday we brought news of Microsoft's Live Mesh cloud-based storage service, giving you 5 gigs of space for your files to come and go as you please. Today, the big M unleashed mobile-optimized access to the service, meaning you can get to your data while you're on the run. It's not the full-on Windows Mobile client we're hoping for, but it's certainly a step in the right direction. If you're already signed up for the tech preview, point your favorite mobile browser (yes, even the iPhone's) at https://m.mesh.com - note the secure site - and have at it."

Not to get ones hopes up but this is not the speculated mobile client that will make transferring data from the cloud to your handset as easy as pie. However, what this web application does, it does pretty well. Signing into the service you can browse through your Live folders and even download files that are in there. At the time of posting this I was unable to test downloading any other filetypes besides images so I am unsure if you could download a Zip archive or EXE file to your handset but if you wanted to get some images from your desktop computer to your handset and did not want to deal with the hassle of pulling out your USB cable and syncing, I would suggest giving Live Mesh a try.