LiveSide - News blog : Gadgets

Windows Live Video Messages – new tech preview coming soon (sidebar gadget available for download now)

Chris — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:48:21 GMT

You kill one service, and another one springs up to take its place. The Windows Live Support and Feedback sites helpfully spilled the beans on Windows Live Video Messages, a new beta service that ties in with the LifeCam range of webcams.

As we mentioned in our recent post on the new upcoming LifeCams, the VX5500 and the LifeCam Show, the new devices are compatible with a a Windows Vista sidebar gadget. Turns out this gadget is part of the new Video Messages service, along with a to-be-released web portal.

The Video Messages service allows all webcam users to send video messages to friends and family, even if they are offline. The bonus is that if you are using a LifeCam, you can do this direct from your desktop using the sidebar gadget.

Thought the website says the tech preview is coming to the public on 9th September, if you say you’re a member of the press you get presented with the gadget download link immediately. Groovy. No 64-bit version we could find though I’m afraid. Warning, we tested this without LifeCams installed and the entire sidebar disappeared. Let us know if you have any luck though.

So, 1.5 years after the launch of Windows Vista, we finally have our first official Windows Live sidebar gadget, not counting the Live Search (Maps) ones of course. Looks like things are on the up!

Totally off-topic, we heard whisperings of a contractor developed Messenger sidebar gadget about a year ago. I wonder what rabbit-hole that disappeared down…

Via PP2

Yes, the Live Search and Live Search Traffic gadgets are gone: security concerns cited

Kip Kniskern — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 11:35:00 GMT

We've received some tips and comments about the Live Search Traffic gadget for Vista being removed from Windows Live Gallery when it updated last week, and indeed it is gone, along with the Live Search gadget. In an email to Donavon West, who wrote both gadgets and also posts here on LiveSide, I asked about the missing gadgets. He replied, in part:

The traffic gadget AND the Live Search gadget were both pulled because of possible security concerns. I'm working on an article that will talk about these concerns.

Specifically if the case of the traffic gadget, it loads a script file from the Internet (the Virtual Earth API script). Doing so is now decreed my Microsoft as a no-no.

in loading scripts off of the Internet (as a sidebar gadget), a ner-do-well can interject malicious code via a MitM attack (man-in-the-middle). While this can be done on any plain ole webpage, doing so in the Sidebar can be exceptionally malicious as the code runs in the context of the logged in user and can do all sorts of evil things like delete files.

Microsoft has not contacted me about re-writing the gadget to alleviate this problem. Frankly, I'm not sure anything can be done about it (at least easily).

Donavon goes on to cite an MSDN article titled "Inspect Your Gadget" that offers guidelines on writing secure gadgets. Donavon has promised to update us when his article is published, in a week or two. But for now, the gadgets are gone from Gallery, and using the traffic gadget opens up at least the possibility of cross-site scripting attacks.

Hopefully these popular gadgets will return in a more secure form soon.

Windows Live Gallery gets update - Adds Microsoft Points for micropayments

Chris — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 07:05:00 GMT

Today sees the update of Windows Live Gallery, the online site where users can personalise their Windows Live experience. From a user's perspective the update adds the new Wave 2 UI, as well as a new area showcasing gadgets for Windows Live Events, not surprising given that Events runs as part of Spaces.

The Gallery update adds much more for developers though, turning it into a true marketplace for developers to showcase their wares, and if they want to, receive payment for their efforts.

Gallery now uses the existing Microsoft Points system, which also power Zune and Xbox Live purchases. The addition of a points-based based payment method to Windows Live has been talked about for a while, with confirmation that it would be included as part of the Windows Live developer platform being given at CES 2007. As well as potentially providing the impetus to galvanise independent Windows Live developers, integrating Microsoft Points potentially provides a further revenue stream for Microsoft, albeit maybe only a small one. Just as Facebook has Gifts, Microssft Points enables a similar scenario with Windows Live. Think Messenger content available to buy, with parents being able to give Microsoft Points gift cards, and not have to hand over their credit card.

Additionally those who have partnered with Microsoft can now set up their own virtual shops, turning Windows Live development into a serious business opportunity. What isn't known is whether the silver partners (those who contribute a lot but have no formal business arrangement) can have their own shop, or what cut Microsoft takes from these micropayment sales.

Purchasing items is an easy three step process, all of which can be completed without leaving the page of the item you wish to purchase. Top marks to the Gallery team for that one.

Hopefully we'll now see some kick-ass Windows Live sidebar gadgets for Windows Vista. At the moment they are distinctly lacking or have zero performance (Live Maps traffic gadget excluded of course). Any ideas where else Microsoft Points could also make an appearance within Windows Live? QnA? Live Search club?

Windows Live Gallery updated: most visited personalization site

Kip Kniskern — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 01:35:00 GMT

Windows Live Gallery (http://gallery.live.com), according to Nielson the most visited personalization site on the internet with over 3.9 million unique users and over 27 million page views in March, is updating to provide more content and a new look. Check out the new features and the new look now!

Windows Live Messenger personal expression – now you can get all of your Windows Live Messenger personalization needs on Windows Live Gallery including emoticons, display pictures (aka avatars), backgrounds, winks and more. We will launch with a sampling of content and users and our partners will be adding loads of content in the future.
User experience updates – we have changed the navigation in the community after lot of great user feedback. This will make it easier for everyone to find what they want and need.
Windows Live Gallery partner tiers – we help our premium publishers be differentiated through the user experience. We want to enable our partners to provide great, high quality content to our users. The benefits include, but are not limited to, a visual differentiator and ability to do bulk uploads. We will be announcing more benefits of the Windows Live Gallery program in the coming months.

(Hot)mail coming to Live.com again soon?

Kip Kniskern — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 13:08:00 GMT

Live.com has offered, among many others, a gadget to put your Windows Live Mail on a Live.com page. Problem is that the gadget hasn't worked for quite some time, and now we have an explanation, and a reason for hope that it will again.

According to the Live.com blog:

"The gadget was pulled due to a security issue, which we initially believed could be fixed in a relatively quick fashion. We take security very seriously, and once we became aware of the issue, disabling this gadget was the best way to protect our users.
As our developers worked with the Hotmail developers to see how we could restore the gadget's functionality (while ensuring your data was secure), it became evident that the task was originally much larger than anyone anticipated. The gadget had to be rewritten to "talk" to Hotmail in an entirely new way, and the Hotmail team needed to add new functionality on their end as well. The time needed to design, implement, and test this new functionality is the reason that the gadget has been broken for so long."

While no definite date for the return of the gadget is forthcoming (bad luck, indeed!), the Live.com developers "have entered the home stretch", and, although you will have to upgrade to Windows Live Hotmail (the beta will work, apparently) from a Hotmail account to use the gadget, you should be able to soon.

Windows Live Search Gadget

ScottIsAFool — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 06:30:00 GMT

There's a new gadget in town according to the Live Search Team blog, one that allows you to search using Live Search. The gadget sits nicely in your Windows Vista sidebar and once you've put your search into it, just hit enter, and you get the now familiar flyout effect with your search results in it....(read more)

Live Maps traffic gadget for Windows Vista Sidebar available for download

Chris — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 16:20:00 GMT

After blogging about this nifty Windows Vista sidebar gadget a little while back, its now available for download on Windows Live Gallery. Even though the purpose of the gadget is pretty clear, Nathan Weinberg has a detailed post describing the in-and-outs. Dennis Cheung thinks that traffic is worse on Valentine's Day than other days, but with this Live Maps traffic gadget installed, you'll be ahead of the game.

Although this is an official gadget, it was created by Donavon West. Great work as usual and probably the first Windows Live gadget of many. If you have any feature suggestions for this gadget please leave them in the comments below.

Yahoo! gets into the Gadget game

Harrison Hoffman — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 01:55:00 GMT

Gadgets, one of my favorite Vista features, allow you to customize your Sidebar and desktop with anything from search boxes to a variety of system tools and games. Microsoft Gadgets, much like Apple's Dashboard widgets, can be developed by anyone, thus allowing for a wide range of customization.

Let the games begin. Now, Yahoo! has officially released their sleek "Yahoo! Search Gadget" for Windows Vista. They employed the help of interface design company The Skins Factory to develop it for them.

That being said, where is the official Live Search Gadget? Yahoo! has you guys beat on your own technology right now and they look good doing it! I was sure that an official one would have been available for the launch, so I'm hoping that it's not far behind. Maybe our own Donavon West wants to take a good crack at it, especially after the success of his Vista Countdown Gadget (which was, by the way, featured in Bill Gates' CES keynote).

I think that it's going to be very interesting to see what different people, websites, and companies do with the Gadget platform over the next few years since it has some incredible potential. Let's hope this is only the beginning.

Download the Gadget here

Live Maps traffic gadget for Windows Vista sidebar

Chris — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 01:21:00 GMT

For those of you running Windows Vista, a new sidebar gadget is soon to be released that displays Live Maps traffic data on your desktop. Featuring the standard Maps features such as panning and zooming, this is a must-have if you drive frequently in any of the cities it includes. Zoom out is only to a city level though, so if you're city is not on the list you won't be able to find much use for the gadget. No international support either as traffic data is currently limited to the US, but we don't expect that from a v1 product anymore.

It's great to finally see an official Windows Live gadget, so hopefully it won't be the last. Integration between Windows Vista and Windows Live is definitely a good thing, so more is better.

We'll post the download link once its up at the Windows Live Gallery, or you can subscribe to the Windows Vista gadgets feed.

Minor Live.com update - MSN TV Listings gadget available

Chris — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 06:46:00 GMT

A minor Live.com update has taken place over the last few days, so minor in fact that we almost missed it. The giveaway? The MSN TV listings gadget is finally available, almost exactly a year after it was first demoed. You can try the gadget out for yourelf once you have set your personalised page to English - US.

Add Stuff - Gadgets - Tecky, Geeky, Cool (or alternatively Music, Movies & TV)

According to the chatter we heard at CES, a larger live.com update, with changes to RSS feeds, is expected in early Feb. There will be a lot more action before that though, so make sure you stay tuned. (Awful joke, I know).

MSN Soapbox gadget for Live.com and Windows Live Spaces

Chris — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:51:00 GMT

The Windows Live Gallery got a minor update yesterday, and at the same time a new MSN Soapbox gadget was uploaded.

Make your statement on Soapbox on MSN Video – whether it’s silly, crazy or serious, it’s yours. Upload your creation to Soapbox and share it with your family and friends on Spaces. This gadge is accessible world wide excepting China due to legal reasons. The gaget allows the following:

Publish video from any major digital video format (AVI, ASF, WMV, MOV, MPEG 1/2/4, 3GPP, DV, H.263, H.264) to Soapbox
Watch entertaining and original videos uploaded by others
Rate, tag and share videos in the gadget

Update: Gadget is now loading correctly

The rumoured Messenger and Mobile integration with MSN Soapbox is still to appear.

Where are they now? Windows Live Sidebar and Live.com TV Gadget

Chris — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 02:55:00 GMT

At the beginning of year one of the most interesting gadgets talked about was that of the “What’s on TV” gadget for Live.com. Providing local TV listings and links to show and episode information, this gadget allows Media Center PC users with a TV tuner card and MSN Remote Record installed to schedule a recording direct from Live.com.

Then there is still the mystery surrounding Windows Live Sidebar.

...(read more)

Windows Live Spaces gets evolutionary update

Chris — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 09:08:00 GMT

Today sees a small but valuable Windows Live Spaces update that tweaks and fixes the existing version to improve both performance and usability. Key changes include:

Improved customisations menu, providing access to a built-in color changer (previously TweakUI powertoy), and the ability to customise the font and tagline of your Space
Module enhancements - Windows Media Player module has moved from being a powertoy to a module in its own right, and some default modules can now be hidden
Music list improvements - Album Art and Amazon integration (country dependent)
A "What's new list" providing an overview of your contacts recently updated Spaces
Fixes to improve overall performance

For developers, the update sees a preference store for gadgets, allowing users to Get and Save preferences for the gadgets on their Spaces. This is something Donavon wrote about previously, prompting a wave of comments from other gadget developers. I expect our developers blog will have more information on how you can use these soon. If you haven't started playing around and developing your own gadget, now is the time!

See the SpaceCraft for more information.