My Start Screen

I am enjoying the way Surface is customizable and dynamic.

Cool Night Vision Photos with the Lumia 920

 

I took these photos at the park near my house.  Love the low light capabilities of the Nokia Lumia 920.

My Surface in Photos

All photos taken with my Nokia Lumina 920 Windows Phone and downloaded from SkyDrive on the Surface.

Write Product

I have been using the Surface RT with Microsoft Word to write my TV news scripts.  I like the small size of the device as opposed to a laptop but I don't have to sacrifice power or connectivity to use it.
Here is a script I wrote for our broadcast tonight:

Another thing I like about the Surface is the ability to take screen shots by holding the center Windows button while depressing the volume rocker.  Works in landscape and portrait mode.

Can Connect

One of the fun and useful aspects of the Surface is the ability to use its USB slot to connect the tablet to cameras, printers, phones, etc.  I keep finding new ways to use this device.  Tonight, I moved some stuff from my iPhone to my Surface with absolutely no problems.  Quick, smooth, intuitive and no Microsoft/Apple incompatibility issues at all.

Here is the photo I wanted to transfer over.  It's a picture of my kids that I edited on Instagram.  I could have moved it online or up to Skydrive and back down again but I wanted to try connecting with a hard cable just to see if the two devices could work together and yes, here is the result:

Video Sample

 

Critics have judged the Surface pretty ruggedly and deservedly so.  Every product people pay good money for should be scrutinized.  But many of the reviews of the Surface have been unfair in my opinion and some have been cheap shots. There is one area where the Surface gets consistently dinged and that is the quality of its cameras.  Compared to the best mobile cams available on devices today, the Surface's cameras don't hold up.  But I think they are just fine for quick pics and vids.   Plus the recorded sound quality is excellent from it's dual mics.  This is a video I shot on the first day I got my Surface.  Judge for yourself.  The compression on this site is pretty harsh but at least you can see how it renders colors, etc.  The Surface cams have one thing I LOVE: manual controls for exposure.  I had not yet discovered the controls when I shot this first video, and you can see the exposure change as I move the cam around.  When exposed manually, you won't have wide exposure swings, but dark areas will be dark and bright areas could blow out.  Just keep that in mind when you shoot, so make the appropriate adjustments and the vids will look superb!

We, the Surface people...

 

This will be the world's first blog created of the Surface, by the Surface and for the Surface tablet.