Hugo in Europe and still an MVP

Good Morning, Good Afternoon and Good Evening folks!
Many of you I know have been sending me comments, emails and pinging me non-stop with regards to my whereabouts. I am pleased to say that I am still on Holiday (in fact I extended my Holiday a little) and am pleasantly cruising through Europe! I have not put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) for the blog for some time so today when I got an email from Microsoft I thought it a prime opportunity.
Here is what I received:

Dear Hugo Ortega,

Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2008 Microsoft® MVP Award! The MVP Award is our way of saying thank you for promoting the spirit of community and enhancing people’s lives and the industry’s success every day. Your extraordinary efforts in Windows - Tablet PC technical communities during the past year are greatly appreciated.

SO how are thing you may ask? Things are just great. I am with my wife and kid and we are travelling see friends and family. We have a “home base” in a little apartment we rented in Eastern Europe and spend our time travelling in and out of the car park using a 1988 Mercedes Benz a good friend was kind enough to loan me. Apart from dealing with the traffic concerns, and the fact that everyone drives on the wrong side of the road, the journey has been effortless.

With regards to Tablet PC and Ultra Mobile PC you will be pleased to know that as always I am travelling loaded. Before I left I bought a Toshiba R400 and knew that that was going to be my fulltime inking device. Ironically as I left the front door I grabbed an OQO 02 and just before Taxi pulled out of the driveway I ducked back in and grabbed a Samsung Q1U-V.

The response to these devices everywhere I have been is amazing. Europe has so little exposure to these it surprises me and almost makes me feel like everything is new again. The first few weeks I spent showing the R400 and its massive array of capabilities. People always flip when they here is packs 4GB of Ram (although it only sees 3.319 GB). As soon as I flip the screen there is an instantaneous gasp of excitement and adults and kids alike become filled with new drawing capabilities. Kids sketch using InkArt, while adults write using OneNote; either way the response to Digital Ink is overwhelmingly positive.

The OQO has been a clear success. It smaller size and neater form-factor makes people question the entire concept of a desktop at all. Given that most the folks I am visiting are buying desktops for the first time then something like an OQO absolutely fries their brain – and that is a good thing! The Samsung Q1U seems to be the one all the University kids want. With its camera capabilities and it ability to relate to all media formats it seems as though the Q1U also has a home here.

I will start to blog again as I have missed you all. I thank you for your readership and promise you as much fun and play as ever.

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