After months of haitus from here, I have good news. Soon, I should be able to return back to writing techOnce posts. tO was a project I enjoyed working on, but it ended abruptly with it’s last post back in March. It’s been bugging me in the back of my head since. Things fell out of place then but now they should be falling back in. A post will be up soon…
Sure, this might seem like another piece of Apple news, but there’s more to it. Apple has joined in a boycott of Fox News Networks advertising along with over 200 other companies. 
The reason? Some really brash statements by the networks own Glenn Beck. He went as far as calling President Obama a racist and calling progressivism a “cancer”. That’s pretty brash and quite rude, really. Because of the boycott, Fox has had a hard time selling the space for advertisements, instead dealing with small firms such as 1-800-PetMeds. They’ve also had to sell at a lower rate because the network is not in favorable demand now.
Even with Fox’s gigantic viewership, Apple and many companies are boldly stating their either don’t need Fox’s network, or at the very least, don’t want to have their ads shown on a network in which they don’t agree with the opinions of one of it’s pundits.
Microsoft’s latest foray into the smartphone OS market is looking bright in some places and few blemishes in others. One big announcement was Netflix’s streaming application running natively on the Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Series.
If it can really push this out when WP7S launches, it’ll have a distinct advantage over the other major players, mainly the iPhone and Android. Neither of the other two can boast Netflix streaming and if Microsoft can do it, it’ll give incentive for people to migrate over to their world. Netflix is a great service for renting movies and their stream-on-demand service has certainly garnered many lovers and supporters as it is now on many standalone systems.
iPhone could use some form of popular streaming right about now. I’d love to stream Hulu or Netflix onto my phone, so if WP7S does it well, it’ll push competition to do the same.
Is it just a weird name? Or is actually the start of Sony’s move into territory that Nintendo is dominant in? Whatever the case may be, Sony’s new accessory for the PlayStation 3 introduces motion control that blows SIXAXIS out of the water.
It’s supposed to offer more precise control within 3D space instead of using accelerometers and a sensor bar to detect movement. Combined with the PlayStation Eye and the bright blue ball, it can detect the different between the distance from the camera and correctly map a tennis racket to players’ hands.
The Move comes with a “sub-controller” that has a single analog stick and many believe it’s to mirror the Nunchuk on the Nintendo Wii. However, it doesn’t have motion sensors and is wireless, so a negative and a bonus at the same time.
I don’t see a reason for Sony to go after the motion play market using almost a nearly identical style as Nintendo. Microsoft and their Project Natal is aiming for accessory-less motion sensing play with just a camera and using your body to move, select, and control games. Nintendo has locked down the market with the Wii, the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk. Sony is essentially releasing their own version of Nintendo’s tech. Seriously, you need to innovate Sony, not cheaply imitate.
EDIT: I just found out that the PS3 can only allow up to seven Bluetooth connections. This limits 4 player abilities. Sony went further to comment that either 4 PlayStation Move or 2 PlayStation Move and 2 Playstation Move sub-controllers can connect to the PS3 at one time. That’s certainly limiting.
Sony has signed a deal for it’s Playstation Network that will garner it HD movies from all six of the major studios. Boasting as the first company to do such a task, will role out an initial start with 19 offerings which happen to include blockbusters such as “Star Trek” and “District 9.” The big-gun studios are 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Sony definitely looks to hit it out of the park with this one. Being able to offer HD movies from your own studio is nice, but offering them from the other bigwigs really makes your PSN ecosystem seem that much more desirable. Given that it’s only 19 offerings at the moment, it’s only a matter of time before they start putting in more titles. Is this an opening shot at Netflix, whom still forces users to insert a disc even when streaming a movie? I think so. Just as long as the prices for the HD movies are reasonable. Which, knowing Sony, they aren’t. Oh, wait…
Ubisoft’s authentication
servers went down the other day while users were enjoying their regular gaming sessions. For most of the games Ubisoft is releasing, they are requiring that you maintain an internet connection so that the game can get in contact with the authentication server. If the connection is lost, the game stops and shuts down. This really makes it look like pirating a game the more advantageous choice after all.
However, Ubisoft has stated that the server’s failure was due to a DDoS attack, that is, a distributed denial of service attack. This didn’t bring down the entire server, but blocked roughly 5% of it’s users from connecting. Even at 5%, that number is still extremely high for any amount of users not able to play a game they legally bought while users who pirated the game were able to continue playing.
Ubisoft does claim that while pirates may have been able to continue playing their illegal version, they weren’t playing the full game. Cracked versions of the game are incomplete in that they are missing some or whole parts of games and important updates. New updates are delivered from Ubisoft’s servers and require authentication.
My take: I feel like Ubisoft was trying to live up to Steam with it’s own authentication and content delivery system. However, with the exception of strictly-online games, most if not all games on Steam can be played in offline mode. This allows users to continue with their gaming even in the event of no internet connection. A game such as Assassin’s Creed II should not need an internet connection just to run. Even purchasing the game through Steam has an excerpt:
3rd-party DRM: Ubisoft’s Online Services Platform. Ubisoft requires a permanent Internet connection to play this video game at all times.
So, in addition to Steam validating the game, Ubisoft still tacks on their own ruin-your-experience authentication. Isn’t that just cumbersome?
Valve made the announcement that they are officially bringing Steam and it’s many games over to the Mac platform. This includes all the popular Valve titles such as Left 4 Dead and Half-Life 2, as evident with the teaser image of one Gordon Freeman with an Apple logo on his chest. Of course, games based on the original game engine, Source, will be coming along for the ride, too.
Team Fortress 2 is an example of a game that has taken full advantage of Steams delivery system. The developers for TF2 have sent out over 100 updates to users via Steam, a task that was very difficult to have performed on every installation of the game. Recent major release Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 had a successful launch on Steam as well. Valve has announced that they will attempt to release products on PC, Mac, and Xbox360 simultaneously and will take on three gaming fronts at the same time with each release. The first game to take on the new pattern will be the upcoming release of Portal 2.
For gamers who currently own PC versions of titles on Steam, they will be able to get Mac-versions via Steam Play. Also, the Steam Cloud feature saves your in-game progress. This would allow you to play a game on your PC, save, leave and then be able to continue from that very spot on your Mac. I know many a gamer who only use Windows PCs for gaming while spending a majority of their time in a Mac environment. With this, they’ll be able to stay comfy while enjoying their games. While I don’t have a Mac, I like that they’re getting access to great games offered by Valve, especially TF2 which is a personal favorite of mine.
Big news today. Apple has filed suit against HTC over a series of patents. Through a series of patents, Apple is claiming that HTC has created and sold phones both Windows Mobile and Android based that infringe upon Apples own technology. Apple filed suit today and is asking for an injunction against specific handsets that infringe on the patents from being manufactured, distributed, sold or stored anywhere in the US. It’s a big move by the big Apple, but it’s surprising that Apple would go after them. One of the big ones is the patent for Multi-Touch. Steve Jobs himself said that “boy, have we patented it,” when he announced it. Seeing as how Palm introduced the Pre with multi-touch, you’d think that Apple would go after them first. I guess it makes sense since Palm has an impressive portfolio of mobile patents of their own, so going head to head against them would be kind of dangerous.
A lot of people are already guessing that this legal battle will go on for a long time since patent battles almost always take years to handle. HTC is already asking for a Summary Judgment, which could dismiss the entire case on the grounds that it holds no merit. This can be construed because the patents Apple were awarded are too general and broad, giving them too much leeway to interpret what really is their intellectual property. If the Summary Judgment doesn’t get delivered, this case is going to be drawn out and it may eventually pull in Google, Palm, and even Microsoft, all of whom have demonstrated forms of multi-touch and other technologies that Apple claims were their inventions first.
I can see why Apple would want to sue for intellectual property, but seriously, things like pinch and zoom have become to ubiquitous with mobile phones now that I feel it best that Apple just leave it be. Or at least solicit licensing to the other big companies. These features are needed in day to day use and should not be limited to just Apple’s products. Yes, I’m saying all of this and I do indeed own an iPhone myself. I want the features to be available on other products because competition is good for the consumer. It’ll force companies to innovate and we, the consumers, will continue to get better user experiences. Apple, find someway to license these features, because in my opinion, they’re so essential and common now that you may be stripped of the patents and they may become public property!
Picture credit: TiPB
Today marks the beginning of Windows 7 RC’s death. Well, nothing too morbid persay, but starting today, any system with Windows 7 Release Candidate will shutdown after two hours. On it’s own, of course. This is to encourage you to upgrade to the real deal and buy an official copy. You have until June 1st to install over it before it goes poof! And by install over, I mean full wipe and reinstall. Sadly, Microsoft only thought of this public beta test as just that, a beta test. They never intended for it to have an upgrade path once the real product came out. So, there are millions out there who will need to install a real version of Windows 7 of their RC copies. Or will there?
I’ve since gotten Windows 7 Professional for my main system. As for the only system in my house that’s running Windows 7, it’s an old laptop with drivers that even 7 couldn’t find. That old system is going back to XP for better compatibility. So, if you’re running RC, get out there and purchase the full version. It’s about time.
Sorry for the lack of updates, school has been keeping me busy lately with midterms and papers. I will try to squeeze in a few updates here and there when I can.
Nintedo’s DSi has been selling quite well since it’s release in the US back in April of ’09. However, Nintendo went onward with their redesign frenzy and introduced yet another design of the DS platform, the DSi XL. This includes a larger screens measuring 4.2 inches diagonally. This was to allow easier playing of games that feature small text and precision gameplay. The XL was not meant to replace the DSi, but sold side-by-side. The DSi XL is expected to be release to the US on March 28 at the suggest retail price of $190. One of the new features being purported is it’s ability to act as an e-reader.
I own a DS Lite and I find it a great system. When I was a DS addict, I would most often pull out my DS Lite to play a game for a few minutes at a time, it was perfect at that task. The size was definitely pocketable and the fit and finish was excellent. I’m sure the XL will have prime fit and finish like the DSi but I just can’t see the larger size being very portable. Maybe for adults with larger pockets, but definitely not the children who make up a large extent of DS users.
