Microsoft Fixes Vista SP1 Reboot Bug

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Microsoft Monday said it has fixed a Vista SP1 reboot bug that had caused some users to suspend migrations and that the revised software will again be offered via automatic distribution.

The Vista Servicing Stack Update (SSU) was a prerequisite for installing Vista SP1 via Windows Update that was made available by Microsoft in February. The software, designed to ease installation, instead had the opposite effect by throwing some users into an endless reboot cycle.

At the time, Microsoft called negative reaction to the issue “a feeding frenzy.”

Microsoft says the problem is fixed and it will again offer the SSU prerequisite code starting April 8th. Users who have already successfully installed SSU do not need to reinstall it. In addition, users who have a copy of SP1 acquired by any means other than Windows Update do not need to install SSU.

Microsoft is fixing the problem by issuing a fix that installs prior to the installation of the SSU, a prerequisite for the prerequisite.

The new piece of code will ensure a “smooth install of the SSU by working to prevent the system from rebooting during the SP1 SSU installation,” according to the Microsoft Product Update Team Blog. The blog also says Microsoft made additional changes to the SSU installer code that will ensure the pre-SSU is installed before it attempts to load SSU.

The company said the original problem occurred during some “unknown and rare” instances when the SSU thought it needed to reboot when it did not. The resulting reboot try then touched off a never ending cycle of attempts and failures.

Microsoft says users with Windows Update activated do not have to take any action before April 8 to receive both the pre-SSU and the SSU code.

YouTube HD

Screenshots of YouTube videos in HD

YouTube began testing HD last fall. Now it’s here. Sort of. A tipster nabbed this screenshot of a YouTube video which gives the use the option to “watch this video in higher quality.” We tried it out and took screenshots from the same frame in the video. Comparison shots, below.

Normal quality:

Higher quality:

The full-screen comparison isn’t exactly startling. Here’s a detail that makes the distinction clearer.

Sharp Launches Mobile Phone for Bloggers

Sharp has launched a new mobile phone in Japan that features a small QWERTY keyboard and a tool allowing users to easily update their blogs.

The Sharp 922SH went on sale on Thursday and has a 3.5-inch display that folds out to the side so the phone can be used more like a miniature laptop than a traditional clamshell phone. The widescreen VGA display has a resolution of 854 pixel by 480 pixels.

The phone has an RSS reader and a PC-style web browser in addition to one more adapted to mobile use.

There’s a three-row QWERTY keyboard above which sit hot keys for functions such as digital mobile TV and the camera. There are also buttons for phone functions, navigation keys and a shortcut key to Yahoo Mobile, the mobile internet service offered by Softbank, which is the largest shareholder in Yahoo Japan.

The phone works on the WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) used in Japan and the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) networks found elsewhere. Its features include Bluetooth and a 2MP main camera and 110,000-pixel sub-camera for videoconferencing. It accepts Micro SD memory cards.

The phone measures 56mm by 116mm by 17mm and weighs 132g. Battery life is 250 minutes of talk time on WCDMA and 270 minutes on GSM with standby time at 340 hours and 310 hours respectively, said Sharp. TV viewing time is 4.5 hours.

The phone is locked to the Softbank network in Japan and there are no plans at present to launch it overseas.

YouTube Rolls Out Usage Analytics

In a move likely to appeal to the growing number of companies looking to add video their Websites, YouTube on Thursday rolled out a tool that can closely monitor how uploaded videos are used.

The YouTube Insight tool, available without charge, provides users with detailed statistics on how often their videos are viewed and where the users are located, said YouTube product manager Tracy Chan, in a blog post. In addition, the tool can measure how popular a video is in a specific region compared to all videos viewed there during a specific period of time.

Chan said that users can access the data by clicking on a button labeled “About This Video” in their Insight accounts.

“ gives the creators an inside look into the viewing trends of their videos on YouTube and helps them to increase views and become more popular,” Chan noted. “Partners can evaluate metrics to better serve and understand their audiences, as well as increase ad revenue. And advertisers can study their metrics and successes to tailor their marketing — both on and off the site — and reach the right viewers. As a result, Insight turns YouTube into one of the world’s largest focus groups.”

Josh Catone, a blogger at Read Write Web, noted that the Insight package does not provide users with important metrics like search engine referral data. The tool also cannot provide general link information or say whether users stop watching a video before it was finished, Catone said.

However, Catone did say that Insight does “add another piece of the puzzle for YouTube to become what Google wants it to be: the place where all the world’s videos are stored.” Along with this month’s addition of an API that allows third-party sites to access YouTube’s underlying libraries and infrastructure to create their own YouTube-like videos, the new analytics tool “simply makes YouTube that much more attractive to use as a video host,” Catone noted.