Monthly Archives: January 2010

Why Apple isn’t Playing any Games

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Steve Jobs is playing for keeps as is evident by the moves he has made with the inception of the iPod and the iPhone. Love him or hate him, Apple has fought back from the brink with hit after hit and it looks like they’re here for the long haul. But that’s not what’s on everybody’s tongue right now. Enter stage left: iSlab, or iSlate or iThingy. Whatever you want to call it, it seems destined to be the next best thing since toilet tissue.

Just the mere rumor of its existence has sent shivers down the spines of large companies and has News Papers and Magazines clamoring for a Digi-Saviour. Can Apple do to the print industry what it did for the music industry? Honestly, our money is on Jobs. He’s a mad genius when it comes to this sort of thing, and the buzz alone is guaranteed to bring some high-rollers to the table. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Harper-Collins, and Condé Nast are already in talks over the rumored Tablet, and we are pretty sure there will be more. If you’re a non-believer, that’s fine. Consider yourself in good company, but the rumored specs paint a very pleasant picture.

Imagine a kindle – but in color and a larger 10 -11” screen, not to mention ten times sexier. Total access to your library of music anywhere you go and the ability to buy more in a web-based version of i-Tunes that downloads songs over wifi – or better yet, a 3G cellphone network like Verizon’s. It may also have a “Best of TV” service offering a subscription to your favorite Television shows. The inclusion of games is a no brainer, and a faster processor and larger hard disk space can only help matters. Now the clincher – the tablet will reportedly have facial recognition software that will recognize users and perhaps perform tasks meant for specific persons using a front facing camera. Maybe it will be like the chair settings in your car where you just hit the 3rd button and it automatically adjusts the seat because you’re too tall for your wife’s settings and she insists on driving your car even though you bought her a car for Christmas, but she likes the feel of your car better. Or maybe that’s just us.

The price range should be inside of $1,000, and could possibly be subsidized if it debuts with a cell phone carrier. If anyone out there needs someone to test this bad boy out, count us in.

Source:WSJ

UPDATE:

ok, so alot of the above information turned out to be wrong…or atleast a bit premature. This doesn’t mean all the information is garbage though. For starters, the camera may still be in the works. Soooooo glad we were wrong about the price. In approximately 60 days, you can pick one up for as low as 499.99 (16GB)with the 3G unlocked version coming in at a cool 629 (16GB).

Now there has been a lot of chatter, mostly by Geeks with super-powered devices, saying that the iPad doesn’t live up to the hype. I’ll have to agree to a point. But c’mon, what device does? Just because you thought the iPad was going to levitate, pay bills, make your bed, etc… and (surprise!) it doesn’t you wanna get all salty? Look, for 500 bucks your getting a premier device that works super well, and does everything it needs to. The iWork suite looks fantastic, browsing magazines and online content looks like an absolute pleasure to do, and gaming is pretty nice. It is the first and last device I want with me on any trip. Now I don’t own anything Mac branded and even I can tell that this is a great device. Jobs and his boys just aren’t catering to those of us who happen to know what the device should be able to do such as multi-tasking and voice calling with video telephony over wifi etc.

Now to a few more details about the device…

The device is 9.7 inches diagonally, and .5 inches thin. It’s a bit heavy (depending on what your comparing it to) at 1.5 lbs. Battery life is supposed to be 10 hrs of moderate use, and almost a month at standby, though something tells me that if your online playing games, you are gonna need to plug that sucker in a lot sooner. Now I have to give kudos to Apple for making their own performance chip. I really like the way they take a really hands on approach to their product. It really seems like they care about what they put out there.

You have access to three main stores now..iTunes of course, App store, and now the iBook Store. The Screen is multi-touch capacitive and is LED backlit. Take a look at the video below:


source:Apple

Haven’t Found Ms.Right? Perhaps She Was on Her iPod and didn’t Notice

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Was riding the train the other day and noticed something very interesting. Almost all of us were pre-occupied with our electronic devices. Blackberry’s, iPods, iPhones, etc… None of us wanted to talk to one another. Granted, it’s a little weird striking up random conversations with people you don’t know, but I have to say, that used to be one of the things I loved most about New York. Yeah, New Yorkers have a bad rap for being busy all the time, but so what? We got stuff to do. Besides, any tourist will tell you, we love conversation. Just keep it short and simple. No one will be rude to you.  Those are usually the hipsters that move in from Nebraska, or Kansas somewhere and want to act like a real-life New Yorker just  like they saw on Sex in the City or CSI. I digress.

At any rate, my point is we are starting a disturbing trend, which is to want to be alone while in the company of others. I have done it countless times. At the moment the lull in the conversation appears,  I’m checking my trusty G1 for new messages or twitter updates. I know someone has just updated their status to something stupid like Jets suck, but I just have to see. I wonder what this will do to society at large? We are changing the way we interact with people. I won’t go so far as to say today’s technological advances will have a positive or negative effect. However, I will say it will definitely change the way we date and socialize. Sure, I suppose we can always meet one another at the bar or club, but for those of us who don’t really do the whole drinking and clubbing thing, there aren’t a huge amount of options left. I used to feel comfortable approaching a young lady during a commute or while at a cafe etc. Now, everyone is so into their music or video game that I now feel uncomfortable interacting with someone outside of my network of friends for fear of  annoying them.

I honestly wish I could peer into the future to see what things will be like in ten years. What will happen to the casual conversation? Will it disappear or will it be held online in a chat room while playing some game? Will it become the norm to be on the phone while at the dinner table or restaurant or will restaurants begin outlawing cellphone usage inside? Will cases of ADD shoot up, or will it level off? Have I passed my soul-mate while she was adjusting her volume to tune out the annoying guy trying to ask her for her name?

See also: From Sorry Ms.Jackson to Hello Ms. Right

The Best B-Day Gift Ever! …Well Second Best Anyway

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A good friend just shot me this link from Wired.com and I have to say, I’m quite impressed. Apparently one can own a fighter jet. Yeah, just straight pull out your fat wallet and pay someone, in Russia I presume, and take away a nice shiny new Sukhoi SU-27. Yes, that same one from Ace Combat and H.A.W.X. on the X Box 360…except in real life of course.

Now this jet was designed to go Mano y Mano with the US’s F-15 Eagle. The plane is capable of vertical acceleration because of its high thrust-to-weight ratio, and can reach speeds of about Mach 1.8 (1,300 mph). That’s almost twice the speed of sound. Now here’s the clincher. This bad boy is going for about 5 million bucks. Not bad right, considering that a mid-range Gulfstream private jet goes for well over 20 million. Plus they offer training on the jet as well in case you don’t have fighter pilot experience. Seems like a great deal to me, and if any of you readers who happens to have a few dollars to spare for my birthday – hook me up man!

Apple Tablet to be Revealed Jan. 27th?

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I’ve refrained from mentioning anything about it since there really wasn’t much concrete evidence swirling around. However, it has now been announced that Apple is hosting an even on the 27th of this month to show off its newest “Creation”! The event will be in San Franisco, and no one is willing to pay for my trip out there 🙁 so I’ll have to live vicariously through others for now. Really hope its about that tablet, or iSlate, or whatever…

via Engadget.com

MLK…One of the Manlier of Men

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Every now and then its a good thing to reflect on things. One’s life, achievements, disappointments, goals, successes. Some folks are pretty happy about the ratio of achievements to time spent, while others begin the new year with resolutions to be more efficient with the time they have. Today is that day for me, and it also happens to be Martin Luther King Day.

I sit in my “Captain’s Chair”, you know-the chair every guy has that marks him as the ruler of the house-and I contemplate the small amount of information I can recall about this great man’s life. I recall seeing somewhere that they might make a movie. Hope its a good one I remark to myself. But honestly, would I know if it were a good one or a bad one? This is the point where I have to be honest with myself. Like the Christian who follows Christ, but doesn’t really know where Jesus was born and has to sing a Christmas Carrol to get the clues, or who isn’t too knowledgeable of the details except for the whole death on the cross thing.  I begin to think about all the stuff I don’t know about the man, Martin Luther King jr. I wonder what it would have been like living in his day. Would I have taken part in any of those demonstrations? Would I have known him? Would I be too busy trying to make ends meet for my family? What am I doing now? How do I measure up to this man? What have I done with my talents and with my time? These are the tough questions. They make you want to do more, to be more. What it must have taken to do those things. To march knowing good and well people straight-up hate you and would like to do you bodily harm. To do so knowing the dangers involved for family and friends you care about deeply. What a sense of conviction.

I wonder if the stuff he was made out of is present in this world we live in today. Everyone has this sense of entitlement, thinking they deserve this and that. But the level of humility this guy had is just baffling to me. To be non-violent about it and to patiently wait while in a prison cell. Wait for things to get better, believing that your position was correct.  What faith in God this man had. I can barely wait in line at McDonald’s without getting a little antsy and short with the cashier!

What would happen if I applied myself? I wonder what my potential is and could be. What if I were efficient with my time? Martin Luther King jr. was the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Price in the time he lived. What an amazing feat.

I sit and contemplate these things wondering if there will be another person like him. I wonder if more of us responded to our own callings, what things would be like. Or rather just me, what if  ‘I’ make a move? How would I change my own life or the lives of my family and friends? What dent could I make on this world?

Break-Dancing Robot

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This is a funky little fella. With red hoody and faded jeans, Manoi Go is all the rage. It’s creators have done a darn good job at programming this robot with enough moves to show-up anybody on the dance floor. I was quite impressed with the little nuances of the different pop-lock movements. It seemed quite authentic. Take a look at this little fella go! If ou were thinking of purchasing, your pockets might have to be deep…rumored price tag around $2,000!

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Nexusone Google “Superphone”

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If you have T-mobile and have been a loyal customer for years…than you can’t upgrade for a discount on this phone. Sorry – suck it up. Its available at 179.00 for people who are starting a new line and there is only one type of plan you can get if you are buying at discount. For ballers, you can get the phone unlocked at 529.00 and just add a simcard with whatever plan you want and be done with it all.

Here is the phone break down:

Hardware:

1Ghz Snapdragon processor with 3.7 inch capacitive display. It has 512 MB of Flash Memory and 512 MB of RAM. It comes with 4GB Micro SD card which you can upgrade to 32 GB when you get the urge. Camera is 5 Mega-pixels with LED Flash and 2x zoom. Its got Blue-tooth/Stereo Blue-tooth and Wifi as well. With all of that it only comes out to be about 11.5 mm thick!

Software: Runs Android 2.1 (Eclair). Google’s newest iteration. With such a fast processor, I’m guessing this phone will most likely see its fair share of upgrades.

Distinctions: What makes this phone different from say…the iPhone? It can multitask. Also, it doesn’t have multi-touch capabilities. It has voice recognition and dictation elements native only to this device. Not a whole lot else. What this means is that you can’t pinch to zoom in on web pages or photos, but you can say “Navigate to McDonald’s” and it will give you turn by turn directions to the nearest McDonald’s which I think is pretty sweet. You can also dictate a note or a text message which can come in handy for those who just can’t seem to stay away while driving.

Interface seems clean and snappy from what I can tell. Really like the moving wallpaper. They even respond to interactions! You can check the video below to see for yourself:

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Summary:

So all in all a pretty solid phone. Good-looking, but not terribly sexy in my opinion. Great functionality, but not quite ground-breaking or game changing. Smart phone? Yes. Superphone? Nah, not quite.

Update:

Eligible users with data plans can now upgrade to the Nexus One on T-mobile for $279. Those who paid $379 will get 100 bucks in a rebate check from Google. Sounds good to me!

Underwear in a Bunch over iPhone App

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Was sent an article from the NYDailyNews.com about adult apps that feature Asian Women. Not having an iPhone myself, I can’t really say that I’ve played around with some of the applications mentioned in the article, however, the author makes a good point that a lot of men miss.

I’m not going to go into the usual humdrum of how men treat women as sexual objects as their are extensive articles on that subject. I just think its really interesting how we as a society are are taking our sexism to new levels with technology!

We are at the point were we snack on information like Doritos. Stick with me I’m going somewhere.  Our appetite for bite sized packets of information that we can digest in a few minutes or less is beginning to grow, while our attention spans are waning. I am beginning to think this is having an effect on how we perceive information. For example, the title “Asian Boobs” would reek of sexism as well as racism in a society that took a longer time to process information. However, in this society where I can read 5 newspapers on my cell phone in the 45 minute commute to work, I don’t really have time to process the information as good or bad. It just exists. I either like it or I don’t. That is a real title for an iPhone App by the way,  and its got the writer of this article really mad. Can’t say that I blame her. I wished she were a little more broad in her topic, and I felt it was a little too one-sided, (so I shouldn’t date Asians cause that shows I have Asian Fever?)  but a good read none-the-less.

Now to my male readers – it would seem that we should be more enlightened than our great-grandparents and even our parents in matters of racism and sexism, but are we living up to the hype? Because such apps are accepted as normal and because they take up so little of our time, do we gloss over glaring forms of prejudice simply because it doesn’t take up more than 5 minutes of our day? Coming back to the Doritos analogy, can “snack apps” and or “snack pieces of information” be detrimental to our 21st Century enlightenment if we aren’t careful in much the same way as junk food can be to our health without moderation?