Jun 23, 2012 | Uncategorized
So there are tons of rumors about the surface one being no 3/4G which I wrote about yesterday. Today let’s talk price. Unwired is speculating that the surface tablets will be over $599. Now let’s not forget if these don’t come with 3/4G that could be a bit pricey for the starter tablet. Based in Microsoft stating the Surface’s second model named the RT will be more of a PC I could see that being maybe $749/799. If that is the case most have speculated the starter model would be $100 less. So around $649/699. I think these prices could be risky if they don’t have mobile carriers included in the tablet. Microsoft has always had trouble with mobile devices starting with the Zune. Now granted they haven’t made hardware on the phone side yet but the Nokia Windows phones have not done well against the androids and the iPhones of the world. So Microsoft really has to make this one count to break the very poor track record they have of poor showing in the mobile markets.
Jun 22, 2012 | Uncategorized
One of throat interesting things of note about the Surface tablet is not what is in the tablet but what isn’t in the tablet and that is the lack of 3/4G from cell companies like AT&T and Verizon. This is being reported by Bloomberg and states they have to sources close to the development that would not be named due to the fact Microsoft has not released all details on the tablet. This will be a big deal if these tablets do not come with mobile carrier coverage. If this happens could we really call this a iPad rival? Think about this for a second most all of the tablets that people feel could take the iPad off of the throne have some sort of mobile coverage and Wi-Fi. So the only guess on why they would not include Wi-Fi is for pricing and since Microsoft’s mobile products have not done well I wonder if they are afraid to have two types of Surfaces.
Jun 21, 2012 | Uncategorized
Microsoft has announced a ton of mobile information over this week including the great new tablet called the surface. Which so far by all accounts looks amazing. Well Microsoft did not want you to forget that they are still in the phone business. They showed off the new Windows phone 8 and it also had some impressive features to it. The first thing is that the phone will support dual and quad core processors. This is something that some phones have a problem with even though they have the same type of technology. So the software of Windows 8 will be able to utilize the power of all the cores. There will also be a wallet hub, better Skype integration and of course they have made the phone easier for developers to develop on it. The development part is a big deal because not only will developers be able to make games for the phone but they can also develop for the PC windows 8 platform for even more integration. So that is just a small taste of what the Microsoft has in store for the Windows Phone 8.
Jun 20, 2012 | Uncategorized
As I spoke about on Monday there was speculation on what Microsoft had planned for later in the day. Well it looks like the initial reports are true to form and Microsoft has confirmed the Surface tablet. But this is not just a tablet but it is said to be a full on PC. There will be two different types of surfaces to choose from:
Windows RT is the lightweight option, both physically and spec-wise.
? 676g
? 9.33 mm thick
? 10.6″ ClearType HD DIsplay
? 31.5 Wh battery
? microSD, USB 2.0, Micro HD Video
? Office Home & Student 2013 RT, Touch Cover, Type Cover
? 32 GB, 64 GB
Windows 8 Pro, is the obvious pro option, and is touted as a “full PC.” It comes with a heftier weight (and, we can assume, a heftier pricetag too):
? 903 g
? 13.5 mm thick
? 10.6″ ClearType Full HD Display
? 42 Wh battery
? microSDXC, USB 3.0, Mini DisplayPort Video,
? Touch Cover, Type Cover, Pen with Palm Block
? 64 GB, 128 GB
Microsoft Surface comes with a sturdy, integrated kickstand and a SmartCover-esque cover that features a fully functioning keyboard with a trackpad. It connects with a “single magnetic click” that’ll make it easy to swap out (or just take off, if you’d rather). “I can touch type on this as fast as I can type on any keyboard,” said Microsoft’s Michael Angiulo. Touch Cover comes in five colors – black, red, blue, and pink.
Surface also comes with two cameras, called “LifeCams.” The rear-facing camera is angled so when positioned on a kickstand, it can still record meetings with ease. The only thing we still don?t know is pricing. Since Microsoft says this is a computer tablet and not just a tablet we have to think these will be around $800-$1000 but that could truly price them out if they are looking to be direct completion with Apple and the iPads.
Jun 19, 2012 | Uncategorized
If you are a Verizon Fios customer it looks like you will have some changes coming down the pipeline for you high speed internet service. What this new set of internet speeds will do is double the speeds that Verizon has already had except for the entry level which will stay at the 15/5 speeds. These speeds can even be acquired without a bundle but bundling will still be available. Now the price ranges from $65 to $175 a month except for the massive 300MB down/ 65MB up speeds which will only be on its own for $210 a month. Luckily if you have the pleasure of already owning the service you will get the upgrade without paying an upgrade fee to get the new service but may have to pay an extra $10 to $15 a month depending on any changes you may make with your bundle. What would you do with all of that upload and download speeds?
Jun 18, 2012 | Uncategorized
Over the weekend speculation has run a muck about what Microsoft will be announcing today. Even on this blog I spoke about the chance of Microsoft getting into the tablet hardware game to truly face off with the giant that is Apple. Well it looks like it is partly true. Microsoft seems to be working with the makers of the Nook tablet Barnes & Nobles. The most noted speculation is the fact they will be announcing a tablet that will be the first non xbox360 hardware to stream Xbox Live. With announcement of SmartGlass at E3 there is no surprise Microsoft would work with a tablet company to incorporate Xbox Live. Even though Microsoft said smart glass uses you current tablet and smartphone. Right now we don’t even know the place the event will take place. All we know at the moment is that it will take place 3:30pm PST. The place will be announced around 10am PST. So today all shall be revealed. What do you think it will be?
Jun 17, 2012 | Uncategorized
Carat is a nice new app from some fine people over at UC Berkeley?s electrical engineering and computer science departments. This isn?t just an app killer thought, it tells you how much battery life can be saved by shutting down apps and can give you personalized battery life saving recommendations.
Carat breaks down recommendations into two categories, bugs and hogs. These are just labels and aren?t meant to say anything on the bugs or hogs is anything to be scared of because usually they are not. The bugs are usually apps that sap much more power from you than everyone else because they may be malfunctioning so Carat will tell you to restart or redownload them. An example that was given is an app that would not use a lot of power but was trying to activate the GPS on the phone over and over again. Hogs are apps that are just made to use tons of power or are just running in the background doing nothing special for you such as a streaming music player that is off but still running.
Here are just a few things that have been learned by using the Carat app:
? In an initial test with just 100 users, it found 35 apps with energy bugs proving how badly users and developers need Carat?s data.
? Carat has since found thousands of instances of these energy bugs on devices in the wild
? Skype, Yelp, and Pandora are some of the most popular energy hogs. They?re not necessarily inefficient, they just require more power than most apps and might be the best to temporarily kill off.
Jun 16, 2012 | Uncategorized
From what I have been reading Microsoft is getting into the area of hardware with tablets. Yes they are looking to go head to head with the iPad. They are set to show off a tablet by next week that will be their own branded product. There is even talks that June 18 there will be a meeting held around 3:30 in which a major announcement will be made and the speculation is the branded tablet. The rumors are this tablet will run on Windows RT which is a version of Windows 8 but will run on the ARM microprocessors. With the power and the brand power of the XBOX 360 Microsoft feels confident they can make a strong tablet that will run just as well as Apple?s iPad. The real question now is can they dethrone Apple as they did when they got into the gaming console market and removed Sony from the top of the hill?
Jun 15, 2012 | Uncategorized
So for those who like to use cloud storage such as dropbox you are in for a treat if you use it through your iPhone or iPad. One of the biggest things to go to it is automatic photo and video uploads. Now for those who feel like knowing this has been a feature on your Android for sometime now. So here is a small example of Android getting ahead of the game with the developers. However one of the coolest features is bonus free storage. Now you can get a bonus of 3GB of free storage that will be given in 500mb increments so of you set up your drop box for your iOS to do auto uploads of photos and videos you can rock out with more data and who doesn’t love more storage data. So it looks like dropbox is making a big push on the photo and video storage side.
Jun 14, 2012 | Uncategorized
Steve Jobs had a dream. The dream of an icar. Well we are still far far away from a day like that many car companies are talking with Apple to possibly integrate the lovely Siri to cars from BMW, GM, Mercedes and Jaguar but integrating her to the steering wheels of the cars. At the WWDC keynote on Monday the SVP Scott Forstall showed off many ways in which the Apple planned on uniting mobile phones and automobiles with turn by turn navigation. Also stated that Siri will be integrated into cars in the coming year. Mercedes-Benz has already developed an application for the iPhone that allows the user to connect to the car using MBrace. Donna Boland a US spokesperson for Benz had this to say, “We’re going to be taking it a step further by allowing iPhone users to plug their iPhone into the car and access a Mercedes-Benz app that will then take over the screen,” Boland adds. “It’ll allow navigation, Facebook–whatever is on your iPhone; that includes if you have an iPhone 4S or higher with Siri, then you’ll have Siri in the vehicle as well.” The biggest thing is there are already buttons for certain cars for things like onstar so the concept is not uncommon when it comes to this type of technology. The biggest question will be if this button will be an apple only button or will be integrated to any type of phone, only time will tell.
