Category Archives: Technology

Apple aims to reinvent the textbook with iBooks 2, iBooks Author & iTunes U

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On January 19 Apple announced new versions of its iBooks and iTunes U platforms, ushering in a new way for students to get their education on. Apple has partnered with McGraw-Hill, Pearson, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to launch iBooks textbooks, “an entirely new kind of textbook that’s dynamic, engaging and truly interactive.” More specifically, they are fullscreen textbooks that feature interactive animations, diagrams, photos, videos, and slick navigation. When you’re holding your iPad horizontally, an iBooks textbook offers up all kinds of interactive media embedded next to text; when orientation is turned vertically, text is front and center. In addition to the interactive  elements and content, this next generation of textbook also allows students to learn and study in a more efficient manner. For example, other features include easy highlighting and note-taking, searching and definitions, and lesson reviews and study cards.

Says Apple’s Phil Schiller: “Education is deep in Apple’s DNA and iPad may be our most exciting education product yet. With 1.5 million iPads already in use in education institutions, including over 1,000 one-to-one deployments, iPad is rapidly being adopted by schools across the US and around the world. Now with iBooks 2 for iPad, students have a more dynamic, engaging and truly interactive way to read and learn, using the device they already love.”

The iBooks 2 app is now available to download in the App Store for free. iBooks textbooks are also up for grabs today, and they range in price from free to $14.99. And Apple isn’t keeping educators in the dark when it comes to the creation of these virtual textbooks. In addition to McGraw-Hill, Pearson, and other big textbook makers, Apple is letting anyone create iBooks textbooks and publish them to the iBookstore for free. The creation tool is called iBooks Author and it comes with Apple-designed templates that feature a wide variety of page layouts for educators to customize. You can add your own text and images by simply dragging and dropping them into the templates, and multitouch widgets allow you to easily add interactive photo galleries, movies, Keynote presentations, and 3D objects. If you do decide to publish your own material into the iBookstore, there are two things to be aware of: (1) Apple has set in place the classic 70/30 revenue split (creators get the larger chunk, of course) and (2) your work must be exclusive to the iBooks. Have you always been itching to publish a book and educate the masses? Now’s your chance. Download iBooks Author in the Mac App Store today for free (Lion only).

Last, Apple let loose a dedicated app for iTunes U. In short, it “lets teachers create and manage courses including essential components such as lectures, assignments, books, quizzes and syllabuses and offer them to millions of iOS users around the world.” According to Apple, it gives iOS users access to the world’s largest catalog of free educational content from top universities, and now any K-12 school district can offer full courses through the app. Here’s a real-world example. A university teacher can set up a virtual portal through which his or her students can access course materials such as syllabuses and assignments. Students can use the iTunes U app to keep up with homework and check off projects once they are complete. Teachers can push new assignments to students at anytime, and students will receive the updates as notifications. iTunes U and iBooks are integrated; if a teacher pushes out a homework assignment to reach an additional chapter from a Biology textbook, the student can receive the notification, tap the assignment, and immediately be brought to the interactive Biology iBooks textbook without ever leaving the iTunes U app. Wild, huh?

Says Apple’s Eddy Cue: “The all-new iTunes U app enables students anywhere to tap into entire courses from the world’s most prestigious universities. Never before have educators been able to offer their full courses in such an innovative way, allowing anyone who’s interested in a particular topic to learn from anywhere in the world, not just the classroom.”

The iTunes U app can also be downloaded from the App Store today.

Apple’s education-centric announcement is very exciting to say the least. With iBooks and iTunes U, students will have the ability to carry around enhanced versions of traditional textbooks, ones that are highly interactive and constantly keeping up to date with the latest information. iBooks Author and iTunes U give educators the opportunity to publish, share, and keep in touch with students during the school year and help them maintain healthy study habits. This really is a whole lot to digest right now; Apple might just be on the verge of pushing US education into a bold new direction. And you want to know what the best part is? Future students won’t have to lug around giant backpacks stuffed with thick textbooks. With the introduction of iBooks and iTunes U on lightweight, small iOS devices, those days will soon be a thing of the past.

Video demonstration awaits after the break.

[Via Apple 1, 2] Continue reading Apple aims to reinvent the textbook with iBooks 2, iBooks Author & iTunes U →

4G LTE comes to Windows Phone Mango in HTC Titan II and Nokia Lumia 900

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Microsoft is heating up the competition by introducing two new 4G LTE enhanced phones for its Windows Phone collection. The HTC Titan II and the Nokia Lumia 900 are in fact the first 4G LTE smartphones to run Microsoft’s latest Windows Phone iteration “Mango.” Let’s start with the Titan II. Besides packing the 4G chip, the new Titan features a giant 4.7-inch super LCD capacitive touchscreen and an impressive 16 megapixel camera with a wide-angle lens, autofocus, and dual LED flash. The rear camera also supports 720p HD video recording, and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing one allows for video chat. Inside you’ll also find a single-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor and a 1,730mAh battery.

Nokia’s Lumia 900 is the bigger brother to the Lumia 710, the latter of which is the first smartphone to come out of Microsoft’s strategic alliance with the Finnish handset maker. (The Lumia 710 is now available to buy on T-Mobile for $50 on contract.) The 900 sports a larger 4.3-inch (800 x 480) AMOLED ClearBlack display, a 1.4GHz single-core processor, 512MB of RAM, Carl Zeiss-branded eight megapixel camera with large aperture (F2.2) and wide angle focal length (28mm) and LED flash that supports 720p HD video capture. Around the front you’ll find a camera also boasting a large aperture (F2.4) and a wide angle lens. Inside the polycarbonate body lies a sealed 1,830mAh battery. When it becomes available, the 900 will come in two flavors: cyan and matte black.

Microsoft’s first 4G LTE Mango phones are coming exclusively to AT&T later this year. Images below, PR and video after the break.

[Via Engadget 1, 2] Continue reading 4G LTE comes to Windows Phone Mango in HTC Titan II and Nokia Lumia 900 →

Motorola outs two new handsets, Droid 4 & Droid RAZR MAXX

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At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Motorola announced two new Droid-branded smartphones: the Droid 4 (see above) and a newcomer to the RAZR line called the Droid RAZR MAXX (see in the gallery below). Let’s start by looking at the former’s specs. The Droid 4 packs a 4-inch qHD display with scratch and scrape resistant glass, a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, an eight megapixel shooter with 1080p HD video capture and Mirror Mode to display images and video on an HDTV, 16GB of onboard memory, and it also features the Droid’s signature five-row QWERTY keyboard. All of this and it’s only it’s only half an inch thick. It will come preloaded with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread and Moto says it will be upgradable to 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in time. The Droid 4 will take advantage 4G LTE speeds when it releases on Verizon Wireless “in the coming weeks.” No price announcement just yet.

The Droid RAZR MAXX, the successor to the reboot RAZR, doesn’t deviate too much from its relative. The big difference between the two is battery life. The “MAXX” refers to the smartphone’s giant 3,300 mAh battery pack which Moto promises can deliver a whopping 21 hours of battery life on a single charge. The larger battery makes the new RAZR slightly thicker measuring at 8.99 mm. Another upgrade: the MAXX comes with more internal storage, 32GB to be exact. Like the Droid 4, the MAXX will be 4G LTE super-charged on VZW’s network and pricing and availability is TBA. PR and a Droid 4 promo clip sit after the break.

[Via Engadget 1, 2] Continue reading Motorola outs two new handsets, Droid 4 & Droid RAZR MAXX →

Kinect for Windows coming February 1: hardware is $249, SDK is free

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When Kinect for Xbox 360 launched in November 2010, it changed the way gamers interacted with their Xbox consoles and games just like Nintendo did with the Wii. Since its release, Kinect owners have taken the power into their own hands by hacking the motion-sensing peripheral to make it function in all kinds of ways. Microsoft quickly took notice and announced in the fall that they would release an SDK to allow for more innovation with Kinect. Microsoft shares its plan in a blog post:

With Kinect for Windows, we are investing in creating a platform that is optimized for scenarios beyond the living room, and delivering new software features on an ongoing basis… In addition to support for Windows 7 and the Windows 8 developer preview (desktop apps only), Kinect for Windows will also support gesture and voice on Windows Embedded-based devices and will enhance how data is captured and accessed within intelligent systems across manufacturing, retail  and many more industries. We are building the Kinect for Windows platform in a way that will allow other companies to integrate Kinect into their offerings and we have invested in an approach that allows them to develop in ways that are dependable and scalable.

Kinect for Windows hardware will be made available on February 1 in twelve countries (United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and the UK )and will sell for $249.99 in “limited quantities at first.” The accompanying SDK and developer tools will be free. Preorder today at Amazon and let your imagination run wild.

[Via Microsoft]

Google adds LG, Vizio, Marvell & MediaTek to their TV initiative

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The next wave of Google TV products is upon us. In a blog post the search giant announced that they’re building on their partnership with Sony and expanding their TV-centric software to new companies. In 2012, Google TV will run on TV sets made by LG, Samsung, and Vizio, as well as a new generation of Sony devices. Marvell and MediaTek are also working closely with Google to provide chips to power GTV hardware. Though more information will be made available next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, LG celebrated the news early in a press release. Here’s their plan: “LG Smart TV with Google TV combines the familiarity of Google’s Android OS with the convenience and comfort of LG’s 3D and Smart TV technologies, offering consumers a new and attractive home entertainment option.” They’ve announced that they will ship two “series” of TVs in 2012 that will come loaded with GTV, and they will take advantage of a new voice and gestured based remote control they branded the “Magic Remote QWERTY.”

Stick right here for the lastest on Google TV’s expansion. For a peak into the future, hop after the break to watch Google’s CES preview video that highlights upgraded search functionality and Android Market app selections for Google TV.

Update (1/15): LG and Vizio announced new TVs with Google TV baked in, and Sony (also on cue) unveiled their next generation of Google TV products including a new Blu-ray player and a network streaming device. Pricing and release dates for all of these GTV-infused products haven’t been made final. When they are I’ll go more into detail about the individual hardware units.

[Via Google; Engadget] Continue reading Google adds LG, Vizio, Marvell & MediaTek to their TV initiative →

AT&T and Sprint announce 4G LTE market expansion

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Verizon flipped on its 4G LTE service back in December 2010 and since then it’s rather quickly spread to 190 million US cities and 118 million major airports, covering more than 200 million Americans. At long last, the time has come for the competition to throw their hats into the ring.

In early September, AT&T launched their 4G LTE service in 5 markets (Chicago, Atlanta, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston) to complement its HSPA+ network (also known as “faux-G”). Later in November they expanded to eleven additional markets including Athens, Ga., Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. On January 5, AT&T added another eleven markets to the mix, and they’re big ones: New York City metro area, Austin, Chapel Hill, Los Angeles, Oakland, Orlando, Phoenix, Raleigh, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose. Ma Bell calculates that this addition makes AT&T 4G LTE available in a total of 26 markets to 74 million consumers. The company expects its 4G LTE deployment to be mostly complete by the end of 2013.

And then there’s Sprint. They’ve been innovating behind Verizon and AT&T, only just announcing their first major markets to receive 4G LTE. Dallas, Atlanta, Houston and San Antonio will be the first four markets to see the faster speeds in the first half of 2012. Sprint is also working on boosting their 3G speeds as well. They call it Network Vision: “Sprint customers can expect to enjoy ultra-fast data speeds, improved 3G voice and data quality, and stronger in-building signal penetration providing a more reliable wireless experience…everyone in the upgraded areas is expected to benefit from the advanced 3G/4G LTE network.”

With 4G LTE markets spreading across America like wildfire from Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Sprint, consumers can expect new smartphones to release this year that take advantage of the faster voice and data speeds that 4G provides. Rumor has it that the next iPhone will in fact be compatible on VZW, at least. Now that AT&T isn’t allowed to swallow T-Mobile, the network that made popular the Sidekick is going to have to act quickly if they want to remain the race; their speedy HSPA+ network won’t stand a chance once the other three carriers are boasting their expansive 4G LTE ones. Let the games begin.

[Via AT&T; Sprint]

Nintendo sells 4.5 million Wii consoles and 4 million 3DS systems in 2011, blames Mario and Zelda

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The new year is just underway, and Nintendo wants to make sure the world knows how well they’re doing and how confident they are heading into 2012. In a gleeful press release, Ninty broke news that they sold more than 12 million total hardware units in the US  in 2011. It breaks down like this: 4.5 million units of Wii, more than 4 million Nintendo 3DS systems, and over 3.4 million units of the Nintendo DS family of systems were sold last year. Some calculations later, the current install base for Wii is 39 million and for Nintendo DS it’s over 51 million. The house that built Mario blames their recent successes on a strong software lineup. 3DS games Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 have been crowned the fastest-selling titles in the history of their respective franchises when they launched. Additionally, Nintendo notes that they are now also the first 3DS games to sell 1 million units each in the US. Zelda also made an impact on the Wii; The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword became the 45th Wii game to sell over 1 million units in the States. And 2012 is already looking to be a solid year for Nintendo with highly anticipated games on the horizon; first-party titles from franchises such as Mario Party, Pokémon, and Kid Icarus as well as third party titles like Resident Evil Revelations (Capcom) and Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater (Konami) are coming soon. And of course, don’t forget that their next home console the Wii U is expected to launch later this year. Get the full debrief directly from Nintendo after the break.

[Via Nintendo] Continue reading Nintendo sells 4.5 million Wii consoles and 4 million 3DS systems in 2011, blames Mario and Zelda →

The year in news as told by an “accidental” NYT timelapse

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This is neat. A developer by the name of Phillip Mendonça-Vieira “accidentally” collected about 12,000 screenshots of the front page of The New York Times‘ website. Instead of trashing these images, he put them to good use by creating a time-lapse video that binds together important (front-page worthy) news events that happened over the past year. Specifically his computer captured the site’s images twice an hour from September 2010 to July 2011. Watch it all unfold in the video embedded above and read some poignent words from Mendonça-Vieira below.

Having worked with and developed on a number of content management systems I can tell you that as a rule of thumb no one is storing their frontpage layout data. It’s all gone, and once newspapers shutter their physical distribution operations I get this feeling that we’re no longer going to have a comprehensive archive of how our news-sources of note looked on a daily basis. Archive.org comes close, but there are too many gaps to my liking.

This, in my humble opinion, is a tragedy because in many ways our frontpages are summaries of our perspectives and our preconceptions. They store what we thought was important, in a way that is easy and quick to parse and extremely valuable for any future generations wishing to study our time period.

[Via Okayfail; Gizmodo]

Sony announces 25 launch titles for PlayStation Vita

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In a blog post this month Sony announced that 25 games will be launching alongside the PlayStation Vita on February 22 in North America. John Koller, Director of Hardware Marketing, says that the PS Vita “will have the biggest and best lineup we’ve ever launched across the history of PlayStation platforms.” Specifically, 8 titles from SCEA will release on the 22nd along with 17 third party publisher titles. Lingering in the “launch window” are 4 games from SCEA and 6 games from third parties. Games will range from $9.99 to $49.99 in price, and all of them will be available over the counter at retail shops and downloadable over the PlayStation Network. A handful of titles are labeled PSN-exclusives. Sony also says that the Vita will come bundled with six AR Play Cards and one voucher to download a selection of augmented reality mini games called AR Play over PSN. Looks like somebody is stealing a page out of Nintendo’s playbook. A myriad of Vita accessories such as memory cards, cases, and charges will release slightly ahead of the Vita’s launch date on February 15. Hop after the break to view the full list of games and accessories coming down the pipeline.

[Via PlayStationBlog] Continue reading Sony announces 25 launch titles for PlayStation Vita →

AT&T to acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 billion …NOT

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The first half of this post’s title was a major announcement back in March. Almost exactly nine months after news broke that AT&T would eat up T-Mobile to become a giant force against competitors Verizon Wireless and Sprint, Ma Bell has decided to end its bid to acquire T-Mobile USA. In a press release, AT&T blames the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice for blocking the transaction from happening. Over the past few months, the FCC and the DOJ have been making it difficult for AT&T to buy out T-Mobile. Why you ask? I’ll let competitor Sprint express their viewpoint on the matter:

“From the beginning, Sprint has stood with consumers who spoke loudly and clearly that AT&T’s proposed takeover of T-Mobile would create an undeniable duopoly that would have resulted in higher prices, less innovation and fewer choices for the American consumer.”

In other words, with T-Mobile gone consumers would have a limited selection choosing a wireless carrier and this would impede competition and lead to lower expectations when it comes to innovation. AT&T sees things differently:

The actions by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice to block this transaction do not change the realities of the U.S. wireless industry. It is one of the most fiercely competitive industries in the world, with a mounting need for more spectrum that has not diminished and must be addressed immediately. The AT&T and T-Mobile USA combination would have offered an interim solution to this spectrum shortage. In the absence of such steps, customers will be harmed and needed investment will be stifled.

Since Ma Bell wasn’t able to carry through with its acquisition as planned, the company must pay Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile USA’s German-based parent company) $4 billion before year’s end. Also, AT&T will enter a mutually beneficial roaming agreement with Deutsche Telekom. For more pop after the break to read the PR.

[Via Engadget] Continue reading AT&T to acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 billion …NOT →

Google’s Zeitgeist & Twitter’s Year in Review look back at 2011

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2011 has been one helluva year. One question that should be lingering on your mind: what did people search for and tweet most about in 2011? Answers come straight from the source. This week Google pushed out their Zeitgeist 2011, an interactive look at the most popular and the fastest rising terms in many categories across many countries around the world. The results are in and the #1 fastest-rising global query in 2011 is… Rebecca Black! That’s right, the YouTube star famous for the annoying but admittedly catchy song “Friday” is at the top of the chart. Rounding out the top five is Google’s very own social network Google+, the late Jackass star Ryan Dunn, defendant Casey Anthony, and the video game Battlefield 3. The second half of the top ten includes three Apple-related items (iPhone 5, Steve Jobs, and iPad 2), singer Adele, and Japan’s Fukushima plant. At the Zeitgeist website you can view top ten lists from a myriad of countries.

Twitter followed suit and released their own Year in Review portal. Things are broken down by the year’s top stories and hot topics. It should come as no surprise that Charlie Sheen was the most talked about actor (the #2 worldwide hashtag was #tigerblood) and four of the ten tech trends are Apple-related. In another section Twitter calculated how many tweets per second occurred during major events over the course of the year. The MTV Video Music Awards saw 8,868 tweets per second; Steve Jobs’ resignation 7,064; and the raid on Osama bin Laden 5,106.

All in all, it can easily be said that 2011 has been a year of change. Google does a good job highlighting our impact on the world on a global scale in the video embedded above.

Louis C.K. releases new stand-up special on the ‘Net, launches a user-friendly website to self-promote it

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On December 10 comedian Louis C.K. released a new stand-up special to his fans. The special contains brand new, never before seen material and was shot over two performances at the Beacon Theater in New York City. Louie directed, produced, and edited the video himself, just like he does on his FX show Louie. Instead of working with a big company to promote and distribute the 62-minute special, Louie developed his own website to do all the heavy lifting. In an open letter to his fans and the public at large, he explained his “‘experiment” like this:

If I put out a brand new standup special at a drastically low price ($5) and make it as easy as possible to buy, download and enjoy, free of any restrictions, will everyone just go and steal it? Will they pay for it? And how much money can be made by an individual in this manner?

In a couple words, his experiment was a raging success. In just four days Louie posted a $200,000 profit. In the open letter he shared the costs that went into the making of the special; namely the production of the video ($170,000) and the construction of the simplistic website ($32,000). In the first 12 hours of the website being live, the special saw 50,000 purchases and earned $250,000, breaking even on the cost of production and the website. Three days later 110,000 copies had sold for a total of over $500,000. In the letter Louis goes on to explain how in a typical situation a big company would have charged customers around $20 for the special and restrictions like limited reply value, encryption, and international availability would apply. By self-distributing his special, Louie was able to keep the price of entry low, the purchase experience delightful, and best of all once it’s purchased you can watch it over and over no matter where you are in the world. Also, Louie made a crapload of money. In his own words:

I really hope people keep buying it a lot, so I can have shitloads of money, but at this point I think we can safely say that the experiment really worked. If anybody stole it, it wasn’t many of you. Pretty much everybody bought it. And so now we all get to know that about people and stuff. I’m really glad I put this out here this way and I’ll certainly do it again. If the trend continues with sales on this video, my goal is that i can reach the point where when I sell anything, be it videos, CDs or tickets to my tours, I’ll do it here and I’ll continue to follow the model of keeping my price as far down as possible, not overmarketing to you, keeping as few people between you and me as possible in the transaction.

Let’s hope that other comedians and even the entertainment industry as a whole takes notice of Louie’s grand experiment. A fundamental shift in the way companies distribute content to customers is needed if said companies want people to stop illegally torrenting movies, music, and TV shows. If they can figure out how to do it the Louis way, the world will be a better place for it.

Head over to https://buy.louisck.net/ and the But The Thing button to easily purchase the stand-up special via PayPal for five bucks. And if you’re interested in reading Louie’s candid statement, click here.

Update: In a new statement issued on the website, Louis announced that he hit the $1 million mark in sales. Insane, right? Now because he’s not a greedy man, here’s what he plans on doing with all the money. 250K “is going to pay back what the special cost to produce and the website to build;”  a “second 250k is going back to my staff and the people who work for me on the special and on my show;” 280k “is going to [four] different charities;” and Louis is going to keep 220k for himself. “Some of that will pay my rent and will care for my children,” he explains. “The rest I will do terrible, horrible things with and none of that is any of your business. In any case, to me, 220k is enough out of a million.” Read the statement in full here. Way to go, Louis.