Oct 7, 2011 | News
So it seems like Microsoft is confirming that they have added a lineup of different TV services that we should be seeing come the holiday season. On the console, the TV content will be accessible through an interface that can be controlled with the Kinect motion and voice sensor, as well as traditional controllers.
“Today’s announcement is a major step toward realizing our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy,” Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, said in the release. “Combining the world’s leading TV and entertainment providers with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360* and the intelligence of Bing voice search will make TV and entertainment more personal, social and effortless.”
From the reports I have read this comes with Comcast Xfinity, HBO Go, Verizon FiOS, Bravo, Crackle, Syfy, TMZ, UFC and the Today Show in just the US. THere are more partners in the UK such as BBC, Lovefilm, and Channel 4 and Channel 5. There will be some differences in the products, it looks like Comcast will be doing something like an On Demand content and no broadcast channels and it looks like Verizon is providing around 24 cable channels but there will be no local stations. This is a big move for Microsoft and shows why they are the true leader in the online gaming world of consoles.
Oct 6, 2011 | News
I had some interesting things to blog about today like Microsoft making deals with cable companies to stream TV channels, but after the tragedy of the loss of Steve Jobs, I felt he deserved my blog spot today. It was around 7:30PM yesterday I got home and logged on to World or Warcraft just to do my usual stuff and what do I see in my trade chat but that Steve Jobs had passed away. I rushed my mouse over to the second screen I have and loaded up CNN and there it was breaking news, Steve Jobs has died. I couldn’t believe it, I heard there was some false reports a few months back so I went to Apple’s website and there it was his picture with 1955-2011 next to it. I was truly taken back at the loss of such a visionary in the technology world. I mean no one lives forever but Steve didn’t even make it to 60. You know funny enough I am not a big Apple guy, I own an Android Phone, I have nothing but PC’s in my home, I do own an iPod and that is about it, but funny enough my first computer was a Mac. I got the Mac in the early 90’s and I wasn’t fond of it mainly because I couldn’t play the PC games I wanted to play on it, but I was young and my grandfather got it for me mainly for school and so who was I to complain. But who would of thought from a company that just made computers could go so far as to revolutionize things like how we listen to music or the portability and use of a tablet. Apple did that, and Steve Jobs was the man who spear headed most of this if not all. As much as I am not a Apple fan boy I did appreciate the type of passion and creative Jobs brought to Apple and it will be interesting to see where Apple goes from here without his leadership. Steve Jobs you will be missed by many.
Oct 5, 2011 | Wireless
So yesterday was Apple’s big press event where we thought we would hear the news about the iOS 5, the iCloud, and of course the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5. Wait a minute the iPhone 5 wasn’t part of the event? That is correct! Could this lend credence to the fact that Apple and Sprint might be putting together a exclusive deal to the iPhone 5? Although most have to wonder with all the things the 4S can do how could of the 5 really of one uped it? I mean the 4S will come with the iOS 5, the new Siri feature with is an intelligent assistant which can help you get things just by asking for it. I mean it is crazy, you can ask it a question and it will get the answer for you, some of the examples happened to be “What’s the traffic like around here?” It will then find your location and get the traffic reports. Really cool or really creepy, I haven’t decided yet. The 4S also records video at a full 1080P resolution and of course the 4S has the same look and feel of the other iPhones and at this point what will be so much better about the 5? Guess that is why they haven’t announced it yet. So the 4S for all you wondering will be in Black and White and will come at a few price tags, $199 for the 16GB model, $299 for the 32GB and finally $399 for the 64GB model. October 14th will be the big day it arrives in the US and preorders are suppose to start on the 7th, so get ready for the iPhone 4S.
Oct 4, 2011 | News
It has been reported that Sprint has reached a an agreement with Apple that will see them purchase over what is said to be $20 billion iPhones over a four year span. That is roughly about 30 million iPhones. From what I have read it seems with this big move Sprit won’t even get to the breakeven point until 2014 on this. There has even been talk that Sprint will exclusively get the iPhone 5 in this deal. And it will be a 4G WiMAX device. AT&T and Verizon would launch the iPhone 4S and get the iPhone 5 sometime in the first quarter of next year as an LTE device. Globally, the iPhone 5 might be available as a 4G HSPA+ device.
In this scenario, the iPhone 4S Apple will introduce tomorrow will feature the following:
? A low voltage Apple A5 CPU (it won?t be the same as the iPad 2 chip, clock for clock).
? Updated front and back camera sensors. FaceTime HD in the front, 8-megapixel 1080p HD video recording in the back.
? Multiband 3G Qualcomm chipset ? North American & International GSM/UMTS/HSPA bands for AT&T and Global carriers, North American CDMA & International GSM/UMTS/HSPA bands for Verizon and Sprint.
? NFC support.
? Metal or ?premium? plastic on the back case.
And here is what I read about the iPhone 5 that will launch as a Sprint exclusive:
? Faster CPU.
? Larger 4-inch screen, similar to LG?s NOVA display but with a higher resolution.
? 1GB of RAM.
? Slightly larger design overall, but thinner and with a larger battery.
? 32GB of storage.
? iPhone 5 exclusive software and APIs (Assistant).
? Dedicated Assistant button, possibly integrated with the new home button, ?think gestures or a two-stage button like a camera shutter key).
I guess we will find out toay.
Oct 3, 2011 | News
So even though HP has gotten rid of all the of their tablets they are still working on the webOS. Why you ask? Well it has been reported they are looking to integrate this OS into their printers. A HP spokesman had this to comment: “HP is currently investigating using webOS on its Designjet range of professional printers,” HP told Pocket-lint at the HP Impact event in Dublin. So now we will have to see what happens with the Palm sale that is suppose to go down which would include the webOS. Plus you have to look at all of these types of moves that HP is making is such little time of a new CEO, you would think things would slow down while the new CEO takes a look at every part of the business or maybe the CEO is right on track with what she wants for the company. Although this new move for the company and the webOS would be a big step for them and their refocus on printers.
Oct 2, 2011 | News
With Amazon having the new Fire coming out in November, Samsung is releasing the Galazy Tab 7.0 plus which is going to be thinner and lighter. Not only that but it is going to have a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of built-in storage, 3-megapixel and 2-megapixel cameras on the back and front, respectively, and Samsung?s latest TouchWiz Android skin. The interesting thing is that the Indonesian and Austria markets will be receiving this product first at the end of October. Finally the rest of world be getting it shortly after that which will be through a gradual rollout with the US obviously included. So yet again another smaller tablet is in the mix, making the tablet battles a bit more interesting.
Oct 1, 2011 | News
There is some speculation out there that we might have another major purchase coming this time from Amazon. They are looking to buy Palm from HP and this will include such assets such as the webOS software for the smartphones and tablets, and after the big Fire that come down yesterday it is no doubt that an acquisition like this would put Amazon in a place to show how serious they are about selling tablets and possibly smartphones down the road but my opinion is that the webOS will show up on the Kindles down the road if this purchase comes about. The big question is this the route the new CEO of HP wants to go? As we know HP was going into software solutions and going very light on the hardware side, if this is still the move the selling off of Palm would be ideal for HP. Let’s face who knows how much they really lost on all of those tablets that they fire sold. Although I must say I am very ready to see Amazon take off and try to battle in the ever deep tablet market.
Sep 30, 2011 | News
It is looking like data provided by statcounter who tracks the browser usage, based on the analytics it shows that Chrome will be pass Firefox by the number 2 spot that is just behind IE in just December. From the numbers on Wednesday user shares in September was at 2..6% and Firefox was at 26.8, and IE was at a staggering 41.7%.
If the trends established thus far this year continue, Chrome will come close to matching Firefox’s usage share in November, then pass its rival in December, when Chrome will account for approximately 26.6% of all browsers and Firefox will have a 25.3% share.
Sep 29, 2011 | News
Yesterday Amazon introduced the Kindle Fire, and by no means do I think this will be the tablet to take down the iPad. Here are a few reasons why I think the Kindle will be OK at best.
? The Kindle Fire’s 7″ screen compared to the 10″ iPad (a bigger difference than the numbers make it seem; a 7″ screen is only 45% as large as the iPad’s 10″ screen.)
? The Fire has 8GB of storage compared to the iPad at 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB.
? The iPad has two cameras and a 3G option; the Kindle Fire has neither
The thing that it can do is the ability to watch movies, music and web browsing, but wait a second, pretty much every tablet can do it. The most interesting thing about it will be that it looks like Amazon might be losing money on this product, most estimates say around $50, now this isn’t unheard of, many companies that have the ability to sell software and other things have used a price advantage to get people to buy the product and rely on accessories and applications to make up the difference. But at $199 it is affordable and you will see people who can’t get an iPad getting this machine.
Sep 28, 2011 | Wireless
So as we all know by now the iPhone 5 announcement event will be held on October 4th. From what I have read the Phone will be available on October 14th from some sources. One big indicator of this is that Apple is restricting vacation days for the weekend of the 14th so it looks like Apple is going into overdrive on that weekend. It is not unlike Apple to hold an event for a new product and have it release shortly after it, we would be looking at a 10 day turn around on this one and it has been a long time coming. There is also speculation that the iOS5 will be released on the 12th of October so everything seems to be aligned now we wait for October 4th to see if all of these rumors and speculations are in fact true.
