WHS Phone Updates and News

We have talked about WHS Phone a lot here at UWHS. Now Paul Juenger has updated the website and has mentioned other phones, including the iPhone, which I can’t wait to try.

whsphone

What is WHS Phone?

WHS Phone is an application that lets you securely connect to your Windows Home Server. Stream music, stream videos, browse and upload photos, open documents, manage users and shares, view server statistics, monitor network health, and more.

WHS Phone requires a Windows Home Server addin to be installed on your Windows Home Server.

There is already a version of WHS Phone for Windows Phone 7 and Android, but Paul now has links for a Windows Phone 2011 product for Windows Phone 7, Android and finally iPhone!

comingsoon

There is no specific information on these new versions yet, but stay tuned as a beta is coming soon. I for one can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Read Jim’s interview with Paul here Learn more from the WHS Phone website

SageTV Acquired By Google

We have talked about SageTV in the past here at UWHS, and this morning we found out that SageTV have been acquired by Google!

SAgeTV

So what is SageTV (in case you haven’t heard of it)?

SageTV lets you enjoy your favourite TV shows and online video when you want, wherever you want on any TV, PC or Mac!

Browse, search and watch all the latest online video from Google Video from the comfort of your couch with SageTV Media Center.

Enjoy the most popular online videos, news, movie trailers, TV shows, comedy, music videos and more at the push of a button on your remote control.

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Here is the announcement:

We’re thrilled to announce that SageTV has been acquired by Google.
Since 2002, we’ve worked to change the TV viewing experience by building cutting-edge software and technology that allows you to create and control your media center from multiple devices. And as the media landscape continues to evolve, we think it’s time our vision of entertainment management grows as well. By teaming up with Google, we believe our ideas will reach an even larger audience of users worldwide on many different products, platforms and services.
We’ve seen how Google’s developer efforts are designed to stimulate innovation across the web, and as developers have played a core role in the success of SageTV, we think our shared vision for open technology will help us advance the online entertainment experience. We look forward to joining Google, and while we don’t have anything specific to announce at this time, we encourage interested developers to email:
sagetv-dev@google.com
Full speed ahead!
The SageTV Team

So watch out for more news soon, but I suspect this is Google’s way of trying to kick-start their Google TV plans again, because lets be honest, they didn’t go quite as Google wanted last time.

Learn more from the SageTV website

BYOB Podcast Episode 47 Out Now

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The guys over at the BYOB podcast, including our very own Tim Daleo have just released episode 47.

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Here is what is included in this weeks show:

[box style=”rounded” border=”full”]SpacePilot Pro, Logitech MX5500, eVGA GT250 & Superclock HSF, Short discussion on backups and clean uninterrupted power. Project One gets an update. Apple iPAD2 talk on this weeks BYOB Podcast. [/box]

As usual you can listen to the show from here.

Introducing ExpressCache from Diskeeper

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ExpressCache from Diskeeper improves PC speeds by incorporating Solid State Drive (SSD) technology advances into a Windows 7 system to provide near-instantaneous access to the most frequently accessed data.

ExpressCache-logo

Comprised of User mode and Kernel Mode components, ExpressCache uses the SSD as an intelligent cache, coupled with an HDD, to improve overall system performance and greatly speed up Windows PC startup, application launches and data access speed.

Features

· Reduces boot times by up to 60%+ and keeps them optimum for the life of the system

· Intelligent automatic caching of the applications and data that the user needs

· Ability to preload applications in cache for optimal first use performance

· Selectable quantity of SSD storage to be used

· Compatible with other Windows applications as it operates as a Windows component

· Monitors application I/O activity, cache use and cache hit rates and adjusts caching to maintain maximum application performance from the amount of SSD storage available

· Maintains full safety and integrity of all data in event of SSD failure or removal, as well as unclean shutdowns resulting from power outages

· Operates automatically, invisibly and silently in the background, with no user interaction required

· Uses file fragmentation prevention technology to improve file system performance using Diskeeper® high performance defragmentation engines

· Supports ATA8-ACS2 TRIM specifications for SSD optimization

Benefits

· ExpressCache speeds up overall system, boot up and application performance (cache hit rates in 80%-99% range)

· Any combination of SSD and HDD can be used, making it a far more flexible solution than Hybrid Hard Drives. Individual components can be upgraded independent of the other

· ExpressCache increases file system performance while maintaining the full safety and integrity of all system data

· ExpressCache provides superior overall performance than SSD systems at a fraction of the cost

 

ExpressCache is available for license to OEMs and computer manufacturers for broad scale deployment in 2011, so expect to see it on a laptop near you very soon! I think this looks very interesting and we will bring you more on this in the near future.

Check out this exclusive video made for UWHS:

ExpressCache: Intelligent Data Caching and Pinning Software by Diskeeper Corporation

StableBit DrivePool for Windows Home Server Build 1856 Now Available

The latest beta version of the Windows Home Server Drive Extender replacement StableBit DrivePool build 1856 has just been released.

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  • Combine all your hard drives into one big storage pool (except the system drive with the OS).
  • Add and remove drives from the pool at any time without re-partitioning or manually moving folders.
  • Create duplicated folders on the storage drive pool that are protected against single drive failure. If a drive fails on which a duplicated file was stored, the contents of that file will remain readable even without the drive.
  • All your data is stored in standard NTFS files. You can always access your files even if the Windows Home Server completely crashes or this add-in can’t be used.

The changes in this version are:

1.0.0.1856

* Free space in the drives list is now updated periodically.

* Sometimes a task wizard would report success before the task finished.

Download Stablebit Drivepool build 1856 here Learn more about StableBit DrivePool here

Have you tried it? What do you think?

UWHS Giveaway – PerfectDisk 12 Home Server Edition–The Results

For the last week we have been running another of our giveaways – this time to win one of five copies of PerfectDisk 12 Home Server edition. Now its time for the results.

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Check out our review of PerfectDisk 12 Home Server edition for Windows Home Server 2011 Check out our review of PerfectDisk 12 Home Server edition for Windows Home Server V1

Ok, so what did you have to do to win one of these licences, worth $39.99 each?

We asked you to follow us on Twitter (@aedney) and then tweet the following:

I want to win PerfectDisk 12 with @aedney and UWHS. Visit http://bit.ly/Ct7vB and RT for your chance to win.

We had quite a few entries – so thank you for taking the time!

So, without further ado, here are the 5 lucky winners:

Steve Travis

John Roy

Jack Eales

Robert Echten

Isaiah Schloneger

Congratulations guys!

And for everyone else, stay tuned to UWHS for more giveaways very soon.

Review of the TP-LINK AV200 Mini Powerline Adapter Starter Kit

Powerline is becoming more popular as a way to get your network around your home or office using your power wiring. Here we review the TP-LINK AV200 Mini Powerline Adapter Starter Kit – TL-PA211KIT.

TP-Link TL-PA211KIT 7

Here is how TP-LINK describe the AV200 Mini Powerline Adapter Starter Kit:

TP-LINK’s powerline adapter TL-PA211 takes advantage of your homes existing electric wires to transfer data while transfering traditional power. That means, with no additional wiring required, users can simply plug the TL-PA211 into existing power sockets and establish networking infrastructure in a flash. With high-speed data transfer rates of up to 200Mbps, you can enjoy HD video streaming, online gaming, VoIP or any other high bandwidth intensive tasks all at the same time now.

Super Small Design

With the new ultra-compact housing design, TP-LINK TL-PA211 is much smaller than most other 200Mbps Powerline Products. At just 30mm thick and with its high quality, elegant white shell, it almost blends in completely in front of any power outlet and additionally can be placed anywhere in the room.

Up to 200Mbps, 300 Meters

With advanced HomePlug AV technology, TL-PA211 provides you stable, high-speed data transfer rate up to 200Mbps on a line length up to 300 meters. Together with the built-in Qos and powerful AES encryption, TL-PA211 is such a good choice for a whole home solution to connect all network compatible devices–from computers and game consoles to set-top boxes for IPTV to printers and NAS hard drives–and supplies them with broadband Internet.

Twin Pack Design

The PLC connection is transmitting the data through the electric wire between two outlets, so it at least requires two PLC adapters pluged into the outlet to transform the data streaming. With twin pack design, the starter kit ensures to establish a powerline network for the first time.

Power Saving Up to 65%

The TL-PA211, a new-generation Powerline Adapter, with its logical practical product design and sophisticated Power-Saving Mode, it now consumes less power when compared with existing Powerline Adapters. When there is no data transmission or reception occurs over a certain period of time, it will automatically switch from its regular Working Mode to Power-Saving Mode that will reduce the energy consumption by up to 65%*.

*Actual data will vary because of the network conditions and environment factors

Pair Button for Easy Network Security

Simply push the Pair button on the adapters and then you can set up a hassle-free Powerline network within minutes, which features 128-bit AES encryption for network security and data protection.

1. Plug the adapter into the power outlet

2. Connect the device via the network cable to the adapter

3. Press the encryption buttons—and you’re done

Who are TP-LINK?

From their website:

TP-LINK is a global provider of SOHO networking products and No.1 market share holder in China, with products available in over 100 countries to tens of millions customers. Committed to powerful R&D, effective production and strict quality management, TP-LINK continues to provide awards-winning networking products in Wireless, ADSL, Routers, Switches, IP Cameras, Powerline Adapters, Print Servers, Media Converters and Network Adapters for Global end-users.

Based on the confidence of tens of millions of customers, TP-LINK is now growing to become one of the most competitive providers of networking products with aspirations of becoming one of the top 3 networking brands and striving for a larger global market share, while further advancing in the world of networking to better serve our most valued customers with a product that makes their lives easier.

Features

  • HomePlug AV standard compliant, high-speed data transfer rates of up to 200Mbps
  • Super small design with a new exterior, blends in completely in front of any power outlet
  • Twin Pack design good for establishing a powerline network initially
  • No new wires, use existing electrical wires
  • Up to 300 meters range over the household power circuit for better performance through walls or across floors
  • Easy Plug and Play operations, No configuration required
  • Patented Power-Saving Mode automatically reduces power consumption by up to 65%
  • Establish a 128-bit AES encryption to secure power-line communications simply by pressing the Pair button on the adapter
  • A wide range of plug type including EU, UK, US and AU ensures that it can be used nearly all over the world

Software Specification

Standards
HomePlug AV, IEEE802.3, IEEE802.3u
Modulation Technology
OFDM
Protocol Support
TCP/IP
Network Operating System Support
Windows 98SE, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista
Windows 7, Mac, Linux*
*Utility only support XP, Vista,7
Advanced Features
Build-in QoS
Intelligent Channel adaptation
Support 128-bit AES Encryption

Hardware Specification

Interface
1 10/100Mbps Ethernet LAN Port
LEDs
PWR, PLC, ETH
Range
300 meters in house
Certifications
CE, FCC, RoHS compliant
Dimentions (L×W×H)
93×56×30 mm
( 3.6×2.2×1.2 in. )
Environment
Operating Temperature: 0~ 40°C
Storage Temperature: -40~ 80°C
Operating Humidity: 10%~ 90% RH
Storage Humidity: 5 %~ 90% RH
Power Consumption
3 W

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Home Server Show 140 Out Now

Dave and the guys have just released the Home Server Show episode 140.

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Here’s what Dave says about this weeks show:

Episode 140 is jam packed full of Windows Home Server goodness. Alex Piskarev from covecube.com dropped by to talk about StableBit, DrivePool, Scanner, and some interesting tools he developed for WHS v1′s backup database. We have news and meetup chat as well.

As usual you can download the show from here.

Microsoft Release Critical Security Update for Office for Mac 2011

This week saw the release of a critical security update for Office for Mac 2011.

Screen shot 2011-06-16 at 17.03.14

This update fixes critical issues and also helps to improve security. It includes fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code.

Improvements that are included in the update

The Office for Mac 2011 14.1.2 Update includes the following improvements:

Improvements for all Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 applications
  • Security is improved.
    This update fixes vulnerabilities in Office 2011 that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code. For more information, see the security bulletin that is listed earlier in this document.
Improvements for Microsoft Outlook for Mac 2011
  • Reliability of Free/Busy information is improved
    This update fixes an issue that causes incorrect Free/Busy information to be shown in Outlook 2011 when Microsoft Exchange servers are located in the UTC +8 Perth time zone.
  • Reliability of delegate information is improved
    This update fixes issues that sometimes cause delegate information to be lost when the following conditions are true:

    • Changes are made to account settings.
    • User certificates are added or removed.
  • Stability is improved
    This update fixes an issue that causes some users to be unable to log on after you upgrade to Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1.
Improvements for Microsoft Word for Mac 2011
  • Reliability is improved for Japanese users typing in Hiragana input mode
    This update fixes an issue that causes the wrong characters to be displayed when you use Hiragana input mode.
  • Stability is improved
    This update fixes issues that sometimes cause Word for Mac 2011 to crash, such as the following:

    • When you try to open items from the template gallery.
    • When you use Advanced Find and Replace.

The update is just under 109MB in size. The interesting update is the stability update for Outlook as a number of readers contacted us about problems after updating to SP1. So lets hope this fixes their issue.

The Digital Lifestyle Show #308 – Catchy Name

This weeks Digital Lifestyle Show has just been released – its show 308.

DLS Show

Here’s what Ian says about this week show:

Another packed show for you this week, Garry is back and joins Andrew and I to talk about the weeks news including BBC HD tuners issues, Greenbutton.tv, HP Touchpad, Sky, Boxee ,iTunes and the latest Windows Home Server news.

Listen to this weeks show here

My Movies for Windows Home Server and WHS 2011 Version 2 Pre Releases Updated Again

Along with the My Movies 4 for Windows Media Center update today, Brian has also released an update to both the Windows Home Server V1 and Windows Home Server 2011 Pre Release editions of My Movies.

Windows Home Server V1

The My Movies for Windows Media Center or My Movies Collection Management products can be downloaded and installed on client PC’s to maintain movies in the database on My Movies for Windows Home Sever.

There is a pre-release version you can test:

Before installing a pre release version, you must make a backup of your database using the settings are in your WHS console. There are no guarantee that a pre release version functions as expected, and it should therefore only be used for evaluation purposes. The database backup ensures that you can revert back to the latest stable version.

My Movies for Windows Home Server 2.00 Pre Release 3 can be used with My Movies 4.01 Pre Release 5 clients. Notice! You cannot connect My Movies 3 clients to My Movies for Windows Home Server 2.00.

MM WHS V1

Both Windows Home Server V1 editions can be downloaded here

Windows Home Server 2011

My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 operates as database back-end for My Movies clients in multi-zone environments.

The My Movies for Windows Media Center or My Movies Collection Management products can be downloaded and installed on client PC’s to maintain movies in the database on My Movies for Windows Home Sever 2011.

My Movies may not be pre-installed on commercial products, nor in any way redistributed or provided to end-users by installers that is not part of our installer program.

Pre Releases – Read Notice!

Before installing a pre release version, you must make a backup of your database using the settings in your WHS console. There are no guarantee that a pre release version functions as expected, and it should therefore only be used for evaluation purposes. The database backup ensures that you can revert back to the latest stable version.

My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 – 2.00 Pre Release 8 can be used with My Movies 4.01 Pre Release 4 clients.

MM WHS 2011

You can download the Windows Home Server 2011 edition here Check out our review of My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 2.0 Pre Release 7

Introducing the HumuHumu Windows Home Server

Today, another UK based company launched a Windows Home Server 2011 box – this one called the HumuHumu Home Server.

Humu

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The HumuHumu Home Server is housed in a luxurious, eye-catching and elegantly crafted 100% aluminium case and is available in 4 stunning colours (Red, Blue, Black and Silver).

“With everyone’s life becoming more and more digital, and identity theft being a constant challenge, it’s even more important to think about how you can protect your data on your computers at home. Most households today have multiple computers with an ever increasing amount of data being stored on them daily.

Home computers don’t just have a few digital pictures now, they have tens of thousands. Song collections can number in the thousands and the ability to rip movies to hard disk means that you can create your own on demand cinema.

With an ever increasing amount of data, you need a way of protecting it, organizing it and allowing everyone in the home to access it easily. Microsoft Windows Home Server 2011 is designed for households and home-based businesses to do all of that and so much more.

Microsoft Home Server 2011 takes the hassle out of protecting and sharing your data. The combination of daily PC backups, data sharing abilities and full remote access via the web will simplify your life.

What’s more, our Home Server solution is simple to use with a quick and easy 3 step process to getting it working. Just unbox, plug into your existing router and power on. Within 5 minutes you’ll be protecting your important data and in control of your digital life.

Each of our servers use green “best in class” energy efficient components. They come with a generous 2TB of disk storage, 4GB ram and the latest Intel Atom D525 64bit processor. And our stylish tiny colourful cases won’t look out of place anywhere in the house. They are also whisper quiet so you won’t hear them in your lounge, kitchen or bedroom,” said Leonard powers, technology director.

All the servers include;

  • Intel D525MW Motherboard (1.8Ghz Atom Dual Core CPU)
  • 4GB DDR3 Ram
  • Western Digital 2TB Energy Efficient Hard Disk (featuring advanced sector format)
  • Lian-Li 100% brushed Aluminium case
  • Ultra Silent 80 Plus Power Supply

Spec

 

Availability

The HumuHumu Home Server is available to order from 20th June 2011, is priced at £478.98 (all in and delivered) and comes with 1 year RTB warranty.

Optional external USB drive to backup the Home Server and UPS for power supply protection can also be purchased via the website.

About HumuHumu Limited

Founded in 2011, HumuHumu provides Technology for Everyone and specialises in Home Server 2011 solutions that help home users and small businesses. It has over 25 years’ experience of computer systems and solutions.

Learn more from the website