3 Weeks with the Samsung Focus 2

I'm happy to report that after nearly 3 solid weeks of use, my Samsung Focus 2 has not crashed.  No more text message of death.

The form factor is managable (about the same size as an iPhone but rounder at the corners) and I really only have one complaint - it's not easy to tell the top from the bottom.

The screen is nearly perfectly centered in the device and while their are some visual differences between the top and the bottom, there is nothing truely tactile to tell which end you grabbed when you pull it out of your bag or pocket.

Also, while the power button is easily accessible if the phone is in your hand, it's angled toward the back side, it's hard to press when the device is sitting flat on a desk.  You have to lift the side of the phone to reach the button or pick it up entirely.

Overall, these are minor issues and I completely recommend the Focus 2 as a Focus Flash replacement, particularly if you are tired of crashes caused by text messages.

TechEd 2012 Session Recap

As is likely with many of you, when I return from a conference that has taken me out of the office for more than a day or so, I have plenty of email and tasks to catch up with.  Now that I have a little bit of wiggle room, it's time to try to watch all the sessions I missed at TechEd.

There is one little problem when you are mostly an IT generalist and attend a multi-track conference event.  You simply can't be everywhere you want to be.  I'm so glad that sessions from TechEd are available after the conference for review, otherwise I'd miss out on some great stuff.

Here are some highlights of some of the sessions I attended or viewed so far:

EXL304 An Inside View of Microsoft Exchange 2010 SP2 - I listened to this yesterday and it highlights all the new features in SP2. Most are geared toward either multi-site or multi-tenant needs, but GAL segmentation might be useful for smaller organizations too, depending on your business needs. There are also over 600 bug fixes!

VIR317 Lessons from the Field: 22 VDI and RDS Mistakes You'll Want to Avoid - a lively session with more RDS than VDI mistakes, particularly geared toward farms with more than one RDS Host.

SIA312 What's New in Active Directory in Windows Server 2012 - A great summary of some of the cool AD features that come with Server 2012, particularly support for virtualized domain controllers while avoiding issues like USN Rollback.

WCL324 IPv6 Bootcamp: Get Up to Speed Quickly - IPv6 is here and if you are running Windows 7, you've already deployed it.  So don't forget to spend a little time becoming more "in the know" about what's probably already on your network.

And my to-do list of sessions to watch later!

• SIA402 - How to (un)Destroy Your Active Directory: Reloaded
• WSV321 - Windows PowerShell Crash Course
• SIA300 - Ten Deadly Sins of Administrators about Windows Security
• VIR308 - What's New in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, Part 1
• VIR309 - What's New in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, Part 2

 I didn't provide links to each session, but you can find them at MyTechEd or on MSDN's Channel 9.

Hello TechEd NA!

Today I landed in *rainy* Orlando to attend my 9th Microsoft TechEd.  I know it's my 9th because this year marks the 20th anniversary of the conference and alumni were given a button to write in how many years they've attended.

I couldn't remember the exact number I'd been to offhand, so since I had to look it up, I'll list them out here for those of you who've been attending along with me.  Perhaps we should have a 9-year veteran meetup!

2012 - Orlando, FL
2011 - Atlanta, GA
2010 - New Orleans, LA
2009 - Los Angeles, CA
2008 - Orlando, FL
2007 - Orlando, FL
2006 - Boston, MA
2005 - Orlando, FL
2004 - San Diego, CA

I have to say that my favorite locations so far have been San Diego, Boston and New Orleans. 

Finally, here a two quick tips for those of you who are first timers. 

1) If you feel like you must leave a sesson, don't try to race to another one in the same time slot.  Either network down on the event floor or in the community areas, or stick with your first pick and find that one nugget of good info to take away.
2) Do not try to attend a session in every available slot of every day.  You will burn out by Wednesday and I will recognize you in the lunch line by the information that is suddenly dripping out of your ears.

Windows Phone: Round 2

When Samsung put out the Focus Flash in November of last year, I jumped on it. I was excited to try out the Windows Phone OS and while I still miss the real keyboard that I used to have on my Blackberry Curve, I've adjusted.

Form factor is a big deal for me when it comes to a mobile device.  While I don't always type with one hand, I like to have the option so I can reply to text messages and make calls while holding a coffee or walking my dog.  Since my company primarily uses AT&T for mobile phones, the Samsung Focus Flash was the smallest device available, mirroring the form factor of the iPhone and I can work the keyboard without too much issue one-handed. I loved it.

I honestly love the Windows Phone OS. Everyone who asks, I tell them that killer features is the People Hub. No need to remember if your loved one sent you an email or a text with that valuable tidbit you need to reference - it's all there in the history.

Feeling the pressure of the firehose of data coming at you via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? Worry no more... create some groups for your key people so you don't miss the highlights and peruse the other postings later.  It's wonderful.

I was pretty sure I had landed the perfect combination of phone OS and phone hardware for my needs.  And then the crashing started.

Turns out lots of people with the Focus Flash were experience the "SMS of Death" issue. Attributed to the proximity sensor or some other such nonsense, random text messages would lock up the device entirely, requiring a battery pull to reset the phone.  I read a lot of the forums regarding the issue, but when push came to shove, it just seemed to be an issue with this particular phone and there wasn't a good solution.

I lived with it for a while. The Windows Phone rebooted so quickly that the battery pull wasn't a big deal in the beginning.  Sometimes I could read enough of the txt to not have to bug the sender to repeat themselves. And then it got annoying. And tedious.

So I started looking for other Windows Phone options. And they are all huge.  Sure I'd love a Lumia 900 or an HTC Titan or whatever. But they just seem too big. So I managed - the pros of Windows Phone still outweighted the trouble with the Focus Flash.

Then quietly, I notice that you couldn't buy new Focus Flash phones anymore. Instead of directly addressing the issue, it seems Samsung just decided to stop making the phone.  In mid-May they started offering the Focus 2, which is a bit of a combination of the original Focus and the Focus Flash.  The form factor is still small, just a bit bigger than the Flash and more rounded.  And white. Very white.

So I jumped again this week. I figured I'd road test it at TechEd. At best, I'd have a solid phone that didn't crash.  At worst, I'd have a phone that wasn't any better or worse than the previous one. Stay tuned.