I”ve been taking a closer look at Microsoft's Photosynth for its “Retail Experience”. I have uncovered a few interesting tidbits here and there.

The fake storefront that Microsoft has put out is pretty impressive. For a non-functioning store, it looks like it could open its doors tomorrow. However as with every experiment, there is room for improvement.  For starters, the store looks just a tad bit too much like a big box store. Me and other community members have said that Microsoft needs to create a smaller more intimate setting. Also they really need to stay away from the “box on shelve” setup. I’ve hastily marked up a screenshot of the photosynth below.

As you can see, I’ve eliminated the center divider on the computer display areas. As well as all the “boxed” items . The benefit from this is two-fold. First it creates a much more visually appealing sales area, less visual distraction is always good. Secondly it would reduce theft to almost zero. Removing the center divider also promotes a much more social shopping experience. As well cleaning up the visual aspect even more.  Something's I do like about the above area…. I Love the multi-screen video wall and wood floors, adds a premium touch to the surroundings.

I’m going to call this the gaming center…. It would be amazing if it was expanded and included a few Xbox 360’s running on big screen TV’s. This would also be a great place to show the amazing streaming abilities  of Windows Media Center & extenders. In the background, I really like the laptop display area with stools. This allows customers to sit down and really experience the computer they are looking at.

However, I do not like the keyboard and accessory display on the left.  Much better shelving and display is needed for that to be useful.  

This is one of my favorite views in the photosynth, it gives an great idea of how Microsoft is trying create a fresh and innovative retail experience. Just delete all of the blue strip signs and it looks just about perfect.

Stay tuned for more of my thoughts on Microsoft's retail endeavors.

I was poking around the Photosynth for the “Retail Experience”. Microsoft's fake (but soon to be real) store.

Looking around the store I noticed something a little odd.

Can you see what I see?

I’ll help you out a bit…

That's right people… that is a Apple TV box!!! What on earth is it doing there?? Inside joke perhaps? Or Maybe MS is reaching across the aisle to its arch enemy in Cupertino? I guess we will never know.

Its been a busy week hasn't it, Windows Mobile 6.5 & MWC have dominated the headlines.

My mind has been somewhere else this week, ever since MS announced they that would be opening their own branded stores. My brain has been in overdrive. You may say I’m some kind of MS fanatic, and to a point you may be right. The reason I”m so kung-ho about all of this, is quite simple.  I believe that given the right Ideas and practices, these stores could be uber-successful.

Customers will flock to a store that is “different” from all of the big box stores. A smaller more intimate setting, where people can shop and buy computers and etc..

I was reading another community members post about MS’s foray in to retail.. which you can read here.  He has some really great ideas, which I would like to expand on.

One of my favorite ideas was to make the stores more lounge-like. And in this way induce a much more relaxing shopping experience. I’m thinking, don’t have any boxes or such out on the floor (most of MS’s stuff is digital anyways.). Have couches  and Surface’s scattered throughout the store, along with plenty of display computers as well,

It would also be awesome to have some Xbox 360’s and Media Center extenders set up on big screen TVs. This would allow for real world demos of features such as Photo, Music and Video streaming. This is a bit better then a small sign on an Xbox 360 case… don’t you think?

Microsoft is all about the “Live” experience, so their stores must reflect this. It needs to be much more then just  a store. It must be an experience… Somewhere where people want to go even if they are not going to be buying anything.

Like I said in my previous post…… The most important part of any store is its staff. The staff must be well trained, like technology and Microsoft in general and last but not least, be people persons! If you think about it, finding these people will not be that hard. Microsoft has leagues of Fanboi’s (and girls) who would die to work at a MS store.  If MS does some major web outreach, during its hiring phase. They will find the right people.

So if Microsoft does this right, they will have a runaway hit on their hands. Fingers crossed, that they can pull it off.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments

Microsoft has decided to tip it toes in the shark infested waters of retail.

A lot of things went through my head when the news broke late yesterday, that Microsoft would be opening its chain of branded stores.

The 1st was shock and disbelief. Up until now MS has shown no interest in venturing into that area. They have always been  content to hand the retail to their many partners. Most of the time this works great, however the retail market has been in freefall of late. More and more people have moved to shopping online and lets face it. Shopping for electronics at brick and mortar has become a chore. Superstores such as Best Buy & Circuit City are sometimes painful to go into. Just last week I was in a local Best Buy, as I breezed by the computer section. I noticed an older lady, looking at laptops. She had that look of utter confusion on her face. Of course there was not an employee to be seen. So I did what any self respecting geek would do. Wandering over I asked if she was looking at laptops. Pointing to a way overspec’ed gateway, she said yes. To make a long story short, I ended up selling her a mid level Gateway, that did just what she needed it to.

You really can’t blame the employee’s, they are paid $8.50 an hour to unlock cases and stock shelves. Maybe 1-2 of them is a geek or likes computers. The blame lands squarely on the corporations shoulders. They refuse to pay or train the people needed to sell electronics to the public.

So what can MS take away from the above? Hire people who really like computers and electronics.

On to the next item… The Stores themselves.

About a month ago Microsoft let the world in one of its pet projects. A completely working (fake) store. Billed as the store of the future ( I guess it was little closer then we thought.).  The store is very nice, but to be successful Microsoft must pull out all the stops. They need to make a “showcase” of all their products.  Somewhere where consumers can come and touch, feel and experience all of the things Microsoft has to to offer. 

Above all, Microsoft must must must (can’t say it enough) make the stores cool. If it takes a gimmick such as a bunch of surface tables, so be it. They must be hip, up-to-date and  be able to change with the ever fickle market.

Working in retail, is my day job. So I know a little bit about how this works. Day after day at work, I think to myself… there must be a better way to do this. Take for example, how video games are sold at retail. At most stores, they are located in huge space wasting cases. When a guest would like a game, a employee must unlock the case and walk the guest to the counter. Sometimes they just want to see the back of the game case. Which is more wasted time.

Now here is my idea, Instead of having the cases out on the floor. Have two or so Surface tables, each with some sort of custom UI. Have the entire game index, at the guests fingertips… Literally! The guest would be able to see a ton of info\videos about whatever game they chose. When they made a selection, they could select to pick up the game on the way out.     

That is just one of the many many ways MS could improve the retail experience. Will they? only time and the market will tell. Me, I am optimistic about how they will do. What do you think? What would you like the Microsoft store to be? Let your voice be heard in the comments.

(Update)

I think that Microsoft should have the  design firm thirteen 23 do all the design work for POS related items. They do some of the best WPF work.

check out their stuff here…http://www.thirteen23.com/experiences/desktop/

Windows 7 is upon us… well almost anyways

Even before the beta was publicly available, I have been on a mission to spread the good word.  So many people I know heard or experienced bad things about Windows Vista. I made it my personal task, to tell as many people about Windows 7, As I possibly could.

There are so many good things about Windows 7, Faster, more secure & of course all the new features. I won’t go into all of that in this post. What I do want to talk about is my experience installing and promoting Windows 7.

The following list is all the computers I successfully installed Windows on.

My personal Computer

Intel Quad Core Q6600 @ 3GHZ

4GB Ram

Nivida 9800 GTX

This computer ran Vista well, so it runs 7 fantastic. The install only took about 30 minutes and went very smoothly. Its been running for a few months and has been performing excellent.

My Personal Laptop Gateway 6860-FX

Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.86 GHz

4GB Ram

Nvidia 8800 GTS-M

My laptop ran Vista fine—if a bit slowly. This can be credited to the slightly low Spec CPU. Gateway did this to keep the price low, while throwing in the powerful GPU. Now running 7, Windows uses the CPU much more efficiently. Thus, a better user experience.

Sister #1: Laptop Toshiba P105

Intel Celeron 1.6 GHz

1 GB Ram

Intel 945 GPU

Here is a laptop that originally came preloaded with Windows XP. It was also one of those fateful “Vista Capable” laptops. I also loaded it with Vista when it came out. This computer could barely run Vista, let alone Aero. After installing 7, it was a night and day difference. It relatively fast and it can run Aero!!! Yes, the 945 GPU, which spawned lawsuits during Vista’s Launch.

Sister #2 : Laptop Toshiba

Intel Celeron 1.86 GHz

1 GB Ram

ATI 200M

A Very very low end Toshiba. Came preloaded with Vista basic.  Even though it is faster then the 1st laptop, it ran Vista much much slower… no idea why. Windows 7 breathed some new life into this laptop. It can run Aero and all of the other special visual effects.

Family Computer

Pentuim D @ 2.8 GHz

2 GB Ram

Nivdia 8500 GT

A Frankenstein of a computer, built from about 3 different computers . Ran Vista just ok. Runs 7 more then fine.

Friend’s Computer

Dell

Intel Core Solo @ 1.6 GHz

2 GB Ram

Intel 4500X GPU

One of the most low end Dell’s I’ve ever seen. Had never seen a computer run vista so poorly. Windows 7 allows for this computer to be an actual functioning computer.

Friend #2 Dell Laptop

Intel P4 3.4 GHz

512 ram

The oldest computer I installed Windows 7 on.  It couldn’t run Aero, but was able to run 7 Fine

Grandfathers Computer: Dell

Intel P4  3.4 GHz

1 GB Ram

Nvidia 6200

An older dell desktop, came with XP, Upgraded to Vista & then to 7. Running 7 perfectly.

Get all that? Those are all the computers I upgraded, so far all of them are running perfectly (Knock on wood). I keep in very close contact with all those people. So that I can keep the computers in top running shape. I have not heard of any problems or craziness as of yet.

How is your Windows 7 experiences going? I would love to know!

I don’t think I get much more synced then I am right now

Using just about every single syncing solution MS offers, My digital life has never been more synced.

Here is the services I use…

Live Mesh: For sharing large files and doing remote tech support for my friends & family.

Live Favorites: Keeping my Favorites in sync across my computers

Live Gallery Sync: A “New?” service for your photos\Live Photo gallery ( which I LOVE)

Skydrive: Your online “store” for your digital life

Right now MS has a lot “overlapping” syncing technology… Live Mesh and Windows Live Sync run on totally separate frameworks. They also use separate clients and websites. I’m told this will all change in the future, bringing all of the service’s under one “roof”. I’m thinking that “roof” will be the Live Mesh platform. It remains to be seen if they can pull it off in a seamless manner.

One of the services I recently just discovered, Would be the Photo Gallery Sync.  At first I was “another MS syncing service!!!”…. But I quickly found that this was service that I would be using a lot.  To break it down, Gallery Sync keeps your photos & Video! synced across any number of computers. This  is a lifesaver for me, Because on my main computer I have about 10,000 pictures. Most of them span from 2003-2009. My family is always asking me “ can I have that picture”.  Before Gallery Sync I had to burn a CD or resort to sending them via email (horrors).  Now it is almost too easy… All I have to do is import the files via Photo gallery, Gallery Sync will then blast the photos wherever you would like them.

That unassuming little menu option is your key to picture-perfect sync-ness.

  The screenshot above is the website for Gallery Sync. As Far as I can tell, it does NOT store you files online (unlike skydrive). Which is perfectly fine with me, as I would fill up any storage wayyyyy too fast.

Gallery Sync also performs a two way sync, so a photo is updated (edited) on one computer, those changes will be mirrored on the other computers.

Also remember, Live Mesh & Gallery Sync are cousins… and they communicate… unlike some of my cousins.

So if I took a picture using my HTC Touch Pro, which Phonedog.com kindly supplied me with. Live Mesh would kick in, and send the file zipping across the carrier’s network. When it reaches my main computer, it would be picked up by Gallery Sync. Which would promptly send the file across my network to whatever computer I needed.

If you would like to try out Gallery sync for yourself, just check to see if your Live Photo Gallery has that “setup gallery sync” button. Be forewarned, it may not show up right away. MS is rolling this feature out slowly, so as to not overwhelm the servers.

Let me know what you think of this feature… I would love to hear from you.