“The Louvre said Thursday it has teamed up with Nintendo to hand out 3D game consoles to guide visitors through its vast art collections, as part of a stepped up digital drive at the Paris museum…” I thought the French had good taste in all things art.
Source: AFP
In its ongoing campaign to recapture the handheld market it once reigned upon, Sony has released its nextgen PSP – the PSVita in Japan. While the US release is still a couple months off, it hard not to wonder that Sony is too lat to the table and with the wrong hardware. Before we talk about approach, here are the Vita’s specs:
- CPU: ARM® Cortex™- A9 core (4 core) - GPU: SGX543MP4+ - Ex. Dim: 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm - Screen: (Touch)5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544 - Rear Touch PadMulti touch pad - Cameras: Front camera, Rear camera - Sensors: Six-axis motion sensing system - (three-axis gyroscope, - three-axis accelerometer) -Three-axis electronic compass - Wireless Comm: (3G) - IEEE 802.11b/g/n - Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR - Location: Built-in GPS - Wi-Fi -
Essentially, it’s bringing to the party some great specs (at a great price $249) but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s a one use device (gaming). It will be directly compared to all the smartphones that will also come out in the spring, some of which will have similar specs and have multiple use functions, not just gaming.
So, is Sony going after the ever shrinking audience that wants just a handheld gaming device with better controls than a smartphone? Hard to believe, since the mobile industry is moving so heavily into smartphones as the dominent one off device. Does Sony not see this? Are they stuck in a time loop and don’t possess the leadership to see where gaming is going?
Sadly, all the diehard gaming companies seem to have fallen under this mindset, even Nintendo. Stop making the DS and releases all your franchise games on Android and iOS – evolve and turn yourself into a gaming company (not hardware).
Source: Sony
Source: Earth.de
Boston.com has posted some amazing pictures taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) of the then Russian Empire. They have been converted to color pictures because Sergei used a special type of camera which: “capture three black and white images in fairly quick succession, using red, green and blue filters, allowing them to later be recombined and projected with filtered lanterns to show near true color images…” Want to see more, check them out here.
Source: Boston.com
While the United States got a taste of iTunes Match earlier this year, it looks like Apple is rolling the service out to the rest of the globe as we speak. If you’ve never heard of iTunes Match, here’s the low down:
iTunes determines which songs in your collection are available in the iTunes Store. Any music with a match is automatically added to iCloud. Since there are more than 20 million songs in the iTunes Store, most of your music is probably already in iCloud. All you have to upload is what iTunes can’t match. Which is much faster than starting from scratch. Once your music is in iCloud, you can stream and store it on any of your devices. Even better, all the music iTunes matches plays back from iCloud at 256-Kbps AAC DRM-free quality — even if your original copy was of lower quality…
For those that want an easier explanation: It allows you to make all the songs you download illegally – legal for $25/Yr (no questions asked) and then access those songs in the cloud, on your iOS devices. Seems to good to be true….
Source: 9To5 Mac
DigiTimes is reporting this morning that their sources have told them that Apple will release a 7.85in iPad in 2012 – this chatter comes from supply chain insiders – take it as you will:
Apple is likely to launch a 7.85-inch iPad prior to the fourth quarter of 2012 in addition to a new iPad scheduled to be released at the end of the first quarter, according to sources in the supply chain…
While people have been calling for a smaller form factor since the original iPad was released, it has been noted that Steve Jobs was never in favor of the smaller screen size. The amazing success of the Amazon Kindle Fire (7inch) and its smaller form factor, as well as its much lower price point ($199) might have forced Apple into releasing a smaller/cheaper iPad – to protect market share.
Source: DigiTimes
Seems like lobbyists haven’t got the message yet, so they released this gem of propaganda. The ad is solely based on made up information, drumming up fear from un-informed citizens about the “evils” of the internet. When will special interest groups realize that a free internet is now a civil right – one that grants people information, free speech and the ability to converse and protest. Good luck taking that away!
Source: Craized.com
Facebook has released its new “TimeLine” feature to the world! Timeline is a new way of displaying your information and a new way for people to get to know you – more image based. Structured chronologically and somewhat organized by you, Timeline lets people see your whole Facebook life – from start to finish. Keep in mind, that with all things Facebook, privacy is a main concern – so make sure you understand what your signing up for. Also, take advantage of the 7 day trial period and really look over the info that will eventually go public. Want to activate your “Timeline” – click here.
Source: Facebook
It seems like Samsung wants Australia to know that quite possibly the best reason to buy their Galaxy Tab 10.1 is because: “Apple tried to stop it.” That’s right, Sammy’s new ad campaign in Australia points directly to the fact that the two companies went to court over the sale of the Galaxy Tab in Australia, with the most recent court ruling allowing the “ipad doppelganger” Galaxy Tab to be sold in the land down under. Apple’s initial issue with Sammy’s tablet dealt with its exterior look – specifically its close resemblance to the ipad but after months in court, the eventual ruling sided with Samsung.
Source: 9To5Mac
The Verge is reporting today, that Hp has or had hired Moving Bands to help re-brand its long standing public face but for whatever reason, they didn’t go along with what Moving Brands had in mind. While we don’t know specifics, it seems like HP didn’t want to take such a bold step forward, which is representative of why it’s fallen behind the rest of the industry. Check out the video below – it was part of the pitch to HP.
Source: The Verge
Source: Picsarus
A very insightful interview on the possible future of Apple and Gruber’s thoughts on the broader tech market. You can also find more of John Gruber on his weekly podcast that is run by 5by5 studios – Check it out.
Source: The Verge
Before.
Opening Day.
Source: Reddit
Rogue Amoeba, one of the best software houses for the Mac has just released Piezo, which lets you record audio from any app on you mac. Sounds simple right – that’s the point. Recording audio has always been somewhat of a tricky task, especially on a computer because you have so many apps and tasks running. Often times, while recording, you can contaminate a clean audio recording simply by opening up an app that plays a sound or if someone decides to Skype you. Recording on a computer was never easy and now it is….and it’ll only cost you $10.
Source: TheVerge
Source: Reddit
The chatter is heating up again, this time it’s DigiTimes claiming that supply partners are delivering components to OEMs for assembly of Apple’s next generation iPad. Production orders of Apple’s iPad 2 are starting to slow, which also points to a somewhat immanent refresh:
OEM production of iPad 2 will remain high at 14-15 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 but decline to 4-5 million units in the first quarter of 2012, paving the way for the launch of the new iPads, the sources noted.
So what’s Apple’s Next-Gen iPad going to have? Rumors point to a A-6 processor (possible quad-core) – Retina display similar to the iphone 4/4S (sharp built) – Better batter life – Possibly a slightly thicker design. Besides those goodies, the rumor mill has been chatting about those specs only, so if Apple has any other upgrades, we’ll have to wait. If you’re in the market for a tablet and can wait a couple of months, best wait.
Source: Digitimes
Source: Reddit