Seems like everybody has been playing around with Xobni lately and for good reason - it's and interesting tool to add to Outlook.

I have five - but let's try and help everybody else out too - You don't HAVE to, but it sure would be great if we could help out the GBM community...  Why??  Well, because when Rob put up his 10 invites, there were 60+ comments...  that's a lot of comments for 10 invites...

I will put up my 5 - then - people who get those 5 invites, it would be great if you head over to this thread and share just a couple of them.  If each person does that, then everybody can get one!  Follow the lead of ascalon and everybody can enjoy - even if it's just one or 2 of your invites.

First Five to post here start (or kill) the sharing frenzy!!  NOTE - make sure and leave your email address in blank on the form - if in the right place, nobody will see it but the GBM staff.

Ken Hinckley just let us know that version 1.1.425 of InkSeine has been released. Ken has all the details on the new release, but I've listed them here as a summary. Because AutoUpdate is now live in InkSeine, you should be able to get this new build by simply starting and then exiting InkSeine. If you have trouble, just head over to grab the new build. Be sure to visit our InkSeine forum to discuss this new build!

In addition, Office Labs just launched. This is a new website featuring some of the latest prototypes being developed by Microsoft interns and employees. Office Labs is a site you'll want to visit often to try out some of the latest ideas being floated about Microsoft.

New InkSeine features and bug fixes :

• Rotation and Reflection: InkSeine now supports rotation of any lasso selection.
• Antialiased Page Thumbnails: It's now much easier to recognize pages from their thumbnails.
• Search for & Open OneNote sections. Previous builds of InkSeine only handled OneNote pages that were saved into individual .one files. InkSeine now returns OneNote sections with its search results, and you can open them and insert hyperlinks to them in your InkSeine notes.
• File association fixed: The association for InkSeine files (.iks extension) now installs correctly.
• Saves the last Pen and Highlighter: InkSeine remembers which pen and highlighter you were using so they are ready to go when you next launch InkSeine, or open another note.
• Performance improvements, particularly while dragging selections.
• Improved Stroke Eraser: It no longer leaves "debris" on the screen on occasion
• Tool Ring bug fix: The Tool Ring will no longer activate the camera or the close icon if you happen to end your pen stroke over them while circling-to-scroll or while using the tool ring as a flickpad on Vista.
• AutoUpdate server is online! With the launch of the Microsoft Office Labs site, the Office Labs AutoUpdate server is also now online.
• To get updates, your computer must be on the internet. Start InkSeine and make sure that it has been running for a few minutes. When you exit, you will be prompted to install the update (build 1.1.425.0). Note: Make sure that "Automatically check for updates" is checked in the upper-right corner of the InkSeine options dialog. You can open the options from the question-mark menu. You may disable checks for automatic updates by unchecking this option, or by opting out during your initial installation of InkSeine.
  

On Sunday afternoons, I normally sit back in a quiet area in our house to do some reading, as well as planning for the next week. I'm normally in tablet mode, sitting back in a recliner, working in MindManager for the planning part. The really nice part of a Sunday afternoon is turning the Tablet off and getting in to some good reading ( which typically leads to a great nap! )

In our weekend discussion of why a person should look at a Tablet PC, the value of the below MindManager map is hard to explain to someone. Notice the personal handwriting, links to Outlook emails, links to sections in OneNote, and more. This is typically a map I'll work out of the entire week, make changes / additions, etc. Sure, a person can MindMap and hyperlink with a regular notebook, but nothing compares to working in tablet mode and doing it with a pen. I'm able to stay much more creative when working with a pen than with a keyboard.

Ok, time to run. There is a big, fluffy pillow calling my name.

Bluebeam has just released version 6.2 of their popular PDF annotating tool, Bluebeam PDF Revu. This new version brings some enhanced Tablet PC features as requested by Tablet PC users.

Download the update here. This update is free for version 6.0 customers. We are planning an InkShow on this new version within the first week or two of May.

Peter Noyes, one of the developers that works on Bluebeam PDF Revu, wrote up this nice description of the new Tablet PC features in version 6.2:

In addition to many of the new features for 6.0 and 6.2 there are two specific Tablet PC features. The first is pressure sensitivity for the Pen tool. The pressure sensitivity is on by default, but can be turned off in Edit->Preferences under Tablet. The second Tablet PC specific feature is copy/paste compatibility with other Ink aware applications. However, in order to have this functionality work under Windows XP Tablet Edition a few updates may need to be installed. First SP1 for the .NET Framework 2.0 needs to be installed, and secondly Microsoft Update (KB900722) may need to be installed. On Vista it should work fine without needing any updates. The copy/paste interoperability can also be turned off under Edit->Preferences for users who would prefer to copy the recognized text instead.

Additionally there have been a few new features that are not specific to Tablet PCs per say but may still be of interest to Tablet PC users. The first is the Typewriter tool, which now allows text placement without having to first define a bounding box, you can just click anywhere and start typing, and our TIP is compatible with this feature. The typewriter tool is ideal for filling out forms. The second feature is a Viewer profile. Revu has supported profiles for several versions, but for 6.0 we moved the profile button (the button of the person with the bow-tie) to the Navigation bar. The user can now choose a Viewer profile which hides most of the user interface giving the user something very close to a full screen mode. If the user wants to ink while in this mode they could open the panel with the toolchest (should be the left panel) and have it show only 1 row of buttons to still have a large amount of screen real-estate available to the drawing while having access to pen tools.

In addition to the work I do at GottaBeMobile.com, I also have a side project I've headed up from the early days of Tablet PCs  - TabletBible.com, which brings inkable Bible texts, and other popular texts, to the Tablet PC for free.

In partnership with Nelson Bibles, I'm pleased to announce the availability of the New King James Version for OneNote 2007. It is now available for download at TabletBible.com for free.

Each book in the Bible is a separate OneNote section, with each chapter in the book belonging to a page within that section. Using the built-in functionality of OneNote 2007, you can insert your own ink notes, view the Bible text and notes in full screen mode, search your ink and text notes, sync your Bible notes between multiple computers, record the audio of sermons and play it back in time with your notes (with permission of course !), and insert additional pages and sections. The text has been specially formatted to allow plenty of space for marking up and taking ink notes: wide margins, double spacing, and more.

In addition to the NKJV, the English Standard Version for OneNote 2007 is also available.

If you would like to contribute financially to this effort, click here. All donations help offset licensing fees, hosting costs, and the time it takes to produce these texts and keep them up to date with current software versions. I'm currently working on bringing all GoBinder formatted texts current with OneNote 2007.

With all the talk about some super-duper huge giveaway, it is worth reminding folks about the SugarSync 60 GB contest we currently have running. Head over and check it out. As far as syncing programs go, they don't come any better than SugarSync!

It is an Inking morning it seems. Brian_FS has posted up an image of his Desktop using a combination of the Ink Desktop from Microsoft and the Scroll Control from InkSeine. Very interesting.

I guess this is called putting your best Ink forward. Ken Hinckley of InkSeine fame points us to a review of InkSeine done in InkSeine by Anthony Chan on his blog. You can check out the original here and Ken has also linked and posted the review on his blog as well. Wonder if we should start doing some of our reviews in InkSeine?

Fitaly has released version 5.0 of their text entry software. Fitaly is an alternative text input program, which you use to input characters by sliding your pen in patterns to form the words. It is quite the tool and definitely something folks should check out as an alternative input method. I don't think we've done an InkShow on Fitaly, so we'll add it to our list for May or June.

You can learn more by visiting Fitaly, discussing in our forums, and downloading version 5.0 here.

What's new in version 5?

Fitaly Expander
With the new built-in expander Fitaly offers, in addition to sliding, another complementary way to be faster when writing and taking notes. The new text expander capability allows the usage of customizable glossaries. A few letters expand into your most frequently used words, phrases, addresses, professional terms, and more.

Display forms for slide definitions and glossary entries
Slide definitions and glossary entries can now have a display form. The display form is the hint that appears in the preview window.

Fitaly Editor
Fitaly 5.00 comes with a brand new editor. With the Fitaly editor you can edit your custom slides and glossary entries. It provides an easy way to view your slide definitions and glossary entries and makes it easier than ever to use the powerful Fitaly macro language.

Positioning of the Preview Window
The positioning of the preview window has been fine-tuned to work best for both left-hand and right-hand use.

Sliding visual feedback for Capitals
Slides for capitals are probably the slides you use the most often. A specific visual slide feedback has been implemented for the case where the capital letter is defined as the only slide choice for a given letter and direction.

Alt Tab window
With Fitaly 5.00 you can create a slide or glossary entry for the Alt+Tab key combination and open the Alt Tab window that enables you to easily switch any of your active applications.

New metakeys
Metakeys enable users to define slides or glossary entries that do more than just text. The following new metakeys have been added to the Fitaly macro language:

• dock to client enables you to dock the keyboard to the bottom of the application you are currently working with.
• duo with client resizes the application you are currently working with, leaving just enough space for Fitaly below.
• minimize client minimizes the application you are currently working with.
• maximize client maximizes the application you are currently working with.
• load glossary enables you to load a specific glossary file.

Key highlights
On some devices the key highlights can barely be seen as the delay between the hightlight down and the highlight up is simply too short. This can now be adjusted by setting a minimum  key highlight time in the Fitaly options without slowing down your typing.

Yes, we’ve still got invites to give out for the new EverNote Beta that has everyone talking, but today you can get in on the action without an invite. EverNote has announced that they have passed 1 million notes on the new service (most of them are mine) and to celebrate they have opened up enrollment for today only and only through 9PM PDT. Use this link to go to the EverNote Blog to get in on the action for today.

Want to see what all the excitement is about? Check out the InkShows and ShortCuts below to see just how exciting this new product and service is. Trust me, you want to get in on this.

• The New EverNote
• EverNote on the iPod Touch

Don’t worry, if you don’t make it in by the deadline we’ve still got invites to hand out after it passes and we’ll post up another post for invitations to go out.

One of the frustrating things about Office 2007 is how the inking tools are hidden under the Review Ribbon button. The ink options are harder to find, further sends the message that ink is a second-class citizen in Office products, and breaks that flow of "thinking in ink". When I want to ink, I don't want to hunt and peck for my pens. I just want to start inking.

Here is something I've done recently to make it easier to access my pens when I want to ink an email, mark up a document in Word, etc. These steps are for Outlook, but they generally apply to Word, Excel, etc. Just substitute Editor Options for Word Options, etc.

1. Create an email
2. Click on the Office Button on the top left corner of the email message
3. Click on Editor Options
4. Click on Customize
5. In the drop down of commands, select Ink Tools | Pen Tab
6. From that list of options add the Ink commands you want to appear in the Quick Access tool bar. I added the Ball Point Pen, Felt Pen, Eraser, Ink Color, and Close Ink Tools. Add as many commands that give you one-click access to your needed ink toolset.
7. Below the list of commands, put a check next to "Show Quick Access Toolbar below the Ribbon". This will move the toolbar from the top of the window to below the Ribbon, and will require much less hand movement to select your ink tools.

Now you have one-click access to your pens and they are no longer hidden under the obscure "Review" tab. Unfortunately, the Editor Options do not apply system wide in Outlook. You'll need to make the same changes to the Calendar, Contact, and Journal screens. Just create a new item for Calendar, Contact, and Journal, and then go to the Editor Options for each type to customize the Quick Access Toolbar. Follow the same instructions for customizing Word, Excel, etc.

When I did the InkShow on EverNote's new beta program that allows you to sync your notes among multiple devices for some reason it wasn't working on my iPod Touch. Others reported that it was working on their devices and also their iPhones. A day after posting that EverNote pushed out an update and whether it was related or not, I can now report that EverNote works swimmingly on my iPod Touch. This extends the usage of this terrific application to all of the devices I'm currently using or testing and I can't tell you what a difference that makes for my work flow.

Here's a quick GBM ShortCut using EverNote on the iPod Touch.

By the way, I've got some more EverNote Beta invites available if you're interested in trying this application out. Leave a comment on this post (make sure you leave your correct email address in the comment form. You won't see it appear but we do.) and I'll get them out within the next day.

Download the high res version.

Many of you have been following Matt's raves about SugarSync , a data syncing application allowing you to:

• Sync your computers (PC & Mac) and phone
• Remotely access files from any web browser or phone
• Backup files automatically and securely

Seeing the benefit of this syncing technology and the value it brings our readers, we recently signed an affiliate agreement with SugarSync . If you are in the market for a great syncing solution, give SugarSync a try with their free 45 day trial. In the process, you'll be helping out GBM, too!

In light of today's news about Microsoft Live Mesh, SugarSync certainly has its competition, but this is similar syncing technology you can try out now!

This will be a game changer on many different levels. How the game changes and what it will all mean is still to be determined, but make no mistake the game is about to change.

Last night Ray Ozzie, the inheritor of Bill Gates’ title of Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect,  put his stamp on Microsoft’s future roadmap by unveiling the long awaited plans for what is being called Live Mesh.

There is much we still don’t know about Live Mesh, and I’m sure in the next few months we’ll learn quite a bit as The Mesh moves from private preview to larger beta testing, but here is what we know now.

Live Mesh is a new Windows Live platform for syncing files, and soon applicatinos as well, across different devices. At first glance you might think that this is just another syncing method, but it promises to be so much more.

Essentially you set up a virtual desktop online. You then connect different devices to it and move any data into a Mesh folder on that virtual desktop and it is instantly available across all devices. Naturally the preview and, I imagine the beta, is only available for Windows platforms right now, but a Mac Client is promised for the future as well. Of course there is a web interface for this which makes those platform agnosticians among us a little happier. A mobile verison is also promised for this year. The vision is that any device from comptuers to handhelds, to the Xbox, to digital picture frames could eventually be connected.

There is also a social network component built into this as well (like everything these days) including a Facebook like news feed. Because of the use of RSS and ATOM, the Mesh Operating Environment will create a url for jsut about anything making it available for subscriptions in any number of other tools.

This is just a quick summary of things I’ve learned in reading about this and I’m sure there is much, much more. But here’s an analogy from my recent experience. I’ve been using (and loving) the new EverNote Beta that allows me to sync and have my data available across all the platforms I use. Live Mesh promises much more than that certainly, but what I enjoy most is the freedom that EverNote gives me when I’m mobile to grab whatever I need on whatever device I have. Live Mesh looks like it will not only offer me that kind of mobile freedom, but much more as well. The opportunites it offers to developers will also have an amazing impact on how we work on our devices and in the cloud.

Here’s a link to a video on Channel 10.

Here’s a link to the Mesh Team’s blog.

10 Things To Know about Microsoft’s Live Mesh

Craig posted a great tip the other day on creating desktop backgrounds that work both in landscape and portrait. Thanks to Craig, I'm thoroughly enjoying that awesome Starbucks background.

David Wengier, a GottaBeMobile.com reader, took Craig's tip a step further by writing a nifty little system tray utility that lets you set a different desktop background per type of rotation. Want a different image when in portrait vs landscape? David has you covered! He's posted about here in our forums, and you can download the app here.

I love those kinds of apps that harness the flexibility of the Tablet PC. Well done, David!

Ed Bott has a great article on ZDNet on dealing with some of the headaches that get blamed on Vista when the root cause may in fact be CRAPWARE or lack of up-to-date drivers. He chronicles his experience in helping out a friend start from scratch on a new Sony Vaio that had been relegated to closet after the performance lagged beyond frustration. Ed walks through a number of steps he took along the way and the lessons learned along the way and the article is well worth a read.

Of course it raises the inevitable questions about CRAPWARE and OOBE. Sure, I realize that installing Trialware and such helps OEMs cut the price on new machines, but at what cost to the end user? And as the thesis of Ed’s article points to, it also takes a very, very high toll on Vista and Microsoft’s reputation as well. You’d think somewhere along the line, someone would see this and begin to restore some sanity to the madness, instead of backing users into restoring a new machine from scratch.

This is billed as a “Stupid Internal Microsoft Vista SP1 Video.” Whether it is internal or not, (gosh, I hope not) it is pretty darn funny and worth a few laughs on a Monday night. Srpingstein fans, try not to wretch too much.

Via spiderwebwoman on Twitter.

Last week, I posted an update on the OneNote 2007 Send-To printer not being available on 64-bit OS, and the fact that Microsoft wouldn't be releasing a 64-bit version of the printer until Office 14 releases.

I wasn't at liberty to go in to details, but David Rasmussen, the Group Program Manager for OneNote, just posted a reply about why they made the decision they did. I've pasted it below for everyone to read.

My name is David Rasmussen. I am the Group Program Manager for OneNote. Before you all decide we should be burnt at the stake, let me explain a little. We fully understand how important the print to OneNote feature is, and we apologize for this transition period.

For the print to OneNote feature in OneNote 2003 and 2007, we are dependent on a piece of technology called MODI, or Microsoft Office Document Imaging component. It's a very, very large amount of code, and quite an old piece of code that is difficult to support.

Drivers must be fully ported from 32 bit to 64 bit to work on 64 bit OSes. 32 bit Application code works on 64 bit OSes on top of an emulation layer (called WOW64 or Windows on Windows 64), so getting the application code to work is not too hard. Drivers are a whole different story though because they hook into the OS at a lower level and can't run on WOW64 emulation. Also, older drivers tend to contain a lot of low level code and often assembly code that is not easy to port.

Given the size of the code, and the issues above, porting the MODI print driver for OneNote 2007 would be a LOT of work. Work that we would have to trade off directly against other improvements, and features that many users such as yourselves have been asking us for. That makes it a difficult decision. One we thought about a lot.

The solution we have is we think a better one for OneNote users in the long run. We will be moving the print driver component to a new technology in our next release of OneNote. One that has several benefits including the quality of the users experience, the quality of the printout rendering and some others I can't detail right now. This new technology also supports 64 bit natively, so we kill two birds with one stone. We're quite confident that is the right decision, but unfortunately because of the nature of this technology, we couldn't back port it to make it work in OneNote 2007. That left us in a difficult position. We could either do lots of work to port MODI AND transition to this better, easier to maintain technology for the future, but that would have been at the cost of perhaps most of the features and improvements you've all been asking for.

Ultimately, given the current market data on take up rate of 64 bit client OSes, we concluded we were better off aiming for the best experience for the next release of OneNote when 64 bit OS penetration will start to be significant. The benefits of running 64 bit OSes at the moment are pretty slim. There are very few desktop applications yet that need or can take advantage of the address space (servers sure can though...). So you won't really notice a performance improvement with a 64 bit OS on your desktop, but that will change over time, and we want to be ready for it with the best possible solution.

Unfortunately, great software development is full of such difficult trade offs. We're not idiots (we hope). And we're not malicious (we love our product and want our users to love it too). We just have finite resources, and are trying to make the best trade off decisions to deliver the best possible product.

Thanks,

David Rasmussen

It seems absurd that someone should have to do anything at all to a new computer in order to get the "promised" performance, but it is true. Fortunately, many of us who read GBM and other tech blogs are savvy enough to figure it out. However, most folks are not.

What do you do after freshly unwrapping a new computer? What do you install, wipe, uninstall, update, set up on a schedule, etc?

By the way, on Monday I'll be porting this post, along with all the comments, over to our forum so all the great advice is available there for searching and adding additional comments to.

I just got word from Oliver Grahl that PDF Annotator 2 Beta 2 has been unleashed. Among other fixes, he's done the following:

We have hopefully addressed all issues which we've been made aware of. The launch time should be improved now, also. I was not yet perfectly happy with the usability of the new fly-in toolbars in full screen mode, so these have been revised, too, with less different toolbars, better recognizability and a different behaviour when undocking the toolbars.

Be sure to update to this latest version if you are using the previous beta, and also report back any bugs. If you have a version 1 key, you can use that to remove the trial stamp that gets added to your PDFs.