On Thursday Tim Cook and company took the stage in Cupertino to make some new Apple hardware and software announcements. In addition to announcing an updated iPad Air, iPad mini, iMac, and Mac mini, Apple also dated the next version of iOS and OS X both coming in just a few days time. For the full scoop, jump after the break. Continue reading Apple dates iOS 8.1 with Apple Pay & OS X Yosemite, intros updated iPads, iMac & Mac mini
David Cage, founder of video games developer studio Quantic Dream which has produced games like Heavy Rain and the upcoming Beyond: Two Souls, took the stage at D.I.C.E. 2013 to lead a thought-provoking presentation he called “The Peter Pan Syndrome: The Industry That Refused to Grow Up.” The keynote speech, which clocks in at just under half an hour, explores the video game industry today and Cage argues that it is about time the industry as a whole undergo some radical changes so that it can reach its full potential and a wider, mass audience. For example, he notes that video games have been around for over 40 years and during this time the majority of titles feature the same themes, worlds, and paradigms. He imagines a future where developers push the envelope and embrace storytelling; he wishes for more games like Journey and less like Call of Duty. He shares a humorous anecdote about a developer who couldn’t comprehend a game without the hero carrying a gun or some sort of weapon. We need to break free from this mold, says Cage, and over the course of his engaging presentation he presents a number of ways in which industry can do so.
Today Steve Jobs hosted an Apple keynote presentation appropriately titled Back to the Mac. In it he demonstrated the new version of iLife ’11, highlighting major upgrades to iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand; introduced FaceTime for the Mac; previewed the next version of Mac OS X; and unveiled two new MacBook Air notebooks. It’s breakdown time.
iLife ’11: The latest version of iLife packs the usual suspects–iPhone, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb, and iDVD. The former three have been given major upgrades in functionality.
iPhoto ’11 features a new full-screen mode. With a click of a button (the green [+] located at the top left corner of the window), desktop applications, the menu bar, and other distractions disappear. In full-screen mode you take advantage of more screen real estate when viewing pictures in Events, Faces, Places, Albums, and Projects. Projects is a new way to view your collection of books and letterpress cards on a wooden bookshelf. The ability to create custom letterpress cards is a new feature; 15 distinct themes are at your disposal to customize and order directly from Apple to send to relatives and friends. When you go to create a book or letterpress card, a new dynamic theme browser in carousel style will be presented to you. There are also a bunch of new slideshow themes including Holiday Mobile, Reflections, and Places. Want to email a group of photos to a friend? Now you can create and send an email message within iPhoto; no need to jump out and into a mail client. You can choose from eight themes to customize how you want your pictures to be presented in the email. And lastly there’s Facebook enhancements. Within iPhoto you can now publish photos directly to your wall or to an existing album, and if your friends leave comments on your photos you’ll be able to view them in iPhoto. You can also tag faces and browse all of your Facebook albums in iPhoto; no need to jump out and into a browser.
iMovie ’11 features new audio editing tools. Detailed wave forms are color coded, so now you can see where audio levels are too loud or quiet and adjust them properly. Also there’s a new single-row view that shows you your entire movie project in one horizontal row, making it easier to edit your soundtrack. One-step effects are also at your disposal. Adding visual effects like instant replay, flash and hold, and jump cuts at beats can be done with minimal amount of clicks. The new People Finder feature works similarly to Faces in iPhoto; the software will analyze your video to identify the parts with people in them. It also finds the close-ups, medium shots, or wide angles making it easier to find these specific shots during an edit session. There are two new themes: sports and news. And now you can publish your movies directly Vimeo,CNN iReport, and Apple Podcast Producer in addition to iTunes, YouTube, Facebook, and your mobile devices. Last there’s movie trailers. You can choose from 15 templates to create professional-looking movie trailers out of your clips. Apple commissioned the London Symphony Orchestra to record (in Abbey Road Studios) and perform original tracks for you to use when creating movie trailers. Outline and storyboard views make it simple to put together a movie trailer in no time.
GarageBand ’11 includes two new features called Flex Time and Groove Matching. Flex Time allows you to fix timing mistakes on the fly; you can literally click and drag any part of a waveform to change the timing of a note or beat. Groove Matching is described as “an automatic spell checker for bad rhythm.” If one (or multiple) instruments appears to be out of rhythm, all you have to do is select the one instrument that has the perfect rhythm (called the Groove Track) and all the other instrument tracks will instantly match it. A new feature called “How Did I Play?” gives you the opportunity to play along with a piano or guitar lesson, record yourself, and test how you’re doing in real time. Like Guitar Hero, the GarageBand lesson will keep track of your performance with a performance meter and show you missed notes in red to help you perfect your skills. A track progess bar will show you how better (or worse) you’re performing a particular song by date. Finally, there’s new lessons for piano and guitar, as well as new guitar amps and stompbox effects.
iLife ’11 is available for purchase today at $49. A family pack, which includes 5 licenses, goes for $79. Keep in mind iLife ships free with every new Mac. Continue reading Back to the Mac: iLife ’11, FaceTime, Mac OS X Lion, MacBook Air
This year’s World Wide Developers Conference in San Fransisco *officially* introduced the world to the next super phone from Apple dubbed iPhone 4. Want all the details from the Steve Jobs hosted keynote? Read on.
Jobs ignited the introduction of the next phone with this choice quote: “It’s the biggest leap since the original iPhone.” It packs over 100 new features, but per usual, Jobs offers a glimpse into arguably the nine most exciting new features.
(1) All new design
Jobs compares iPhone 4’s design to a “beautiful old Leica camera.” The phone features a glass surface front and back for optical quality & scratch resistance (plus it’s 30x harder than plastic) and a stainless steel band around the perimeter for strength and antenna integration (plus it provides for extraordinary build quality). The band is “the primary structural element of the phone.” It’s used as part of the phone’s antenna system. Jobs says this is all part of “brilliant engineering.” There are three slits in the band; one piece is for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS, and the other piece for UMTS & GSM. Now here’s what buttons and levers you’ll find on the phone. Left side: volume +, volume -, mute; Right side: micro SIM tray; Front: home button, receiver, front-facing camera; Back: camera w/ LED flash; Top: 3.5mm headset jack, second mic for noise cancellation, sleep/wake button; Bottom: mic, 30-pin connector, speaker. iPhone 4 is just 9.3mm thick, that’s 24% thinner than iPhone 3GS. Jobs is happy to say “it is the thinnest smartphone on the planet.”
(2) Retina display
That’s the name for Apple’s latest display technology. iPhone 4’s display contains packs four times the number of pixels into the same 3.5-inch screen found on older iPhone models. At 326 pixels per inch, Jobs claims that 300ppi is the limit of the human retina and so iPhone 4’s display is “comfortably over that limit.” This results in incredibly sharp and precise text, images, and video. Jobs compares it to how text looks in a fine-printed book. He also throws out this stat: “the retina display has got 78% of the pixels on the iPad, right in the palm of your hand.”
iPhone OS 4 (renamed iOS 4) makes it so that your apps automatically run full size on the retina display. Apps will look even better on an iOS 4 device because the software automatically renders text and controls in the higher resolution. So in other words, developers do not have to do any work on their apps to make them look better for the new display. However, Jobs points out, if devs choose to open up the hood of their apps and add higher resolution artwork “then they will look stunning.”
Here’s some hard specs for you. iPhone 4 features a 3.5 inch display, 940 x 640 resolution (4x more than iPhone 3GS), 800:1 contrast ratio (4x more than 3GS), and IPS technology for “superb color and wide viewing angle.” Jobs: “The display is your window into the Internet, into your apps, into your media, into your software. .. We’ve got something here that’s the best window in the planet.”
Today Apple unveiled the developer preview of iPhone OS 4, the next major release of the iPhone operating system. OS 4 includes over 1500 new APIs for developers and over 100 new user features. Of these new features, Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Senior VP of iPhone Software Scott Forstall talked about seven “tentpole” features. Let’s dive right in, shall we?
1. Multitasking: Apple has finally figured out a way to implement multitasking for third-party apps that preserves battery life and overall performance of the iPhone. The user interface for multitasking is simple. When you are inside an app, just double tap the home button to raise the window and reveal a new dock at the bottom of the screen. This dock houses all of your running apps, and you can jump in and out of them by clicking on them. When asked about how to close applications, Forstall replied, “You don’t have to. The user just uses things and doesn’t ever have to worry about it.” Though that sounds nice and cheery, there actually is a way to close out of an app if you are not using it. Tap and hold an app in the multitask dock and tap the minus button that appears; this confirms the app is now closed. Seven multitasking services were detailed:
Background audio – Now you can listen to third-party music players in the background just like you could with iPod. At the keynote, Pandora was demoed and worked without a hitch. While listening to your custom playlist in Pandora you can jump into Safari to browse a site or jump into Mail to check your inbox for new messages. Also, if you are in the lock screen you can double tap the home button and use the audio buttons to control Pandora.
VoIP – Now you can receive and hold onto VoIP conversations even if you jump out of the VoIP third-party app. At the keynote, Skype was demoed. Once a call is initiated, you can leave the app and jump into another without losing the call. A double-high status bar appears at the top of the screen that shows your still on the call. Also, you can still receive Skype calls even if you are in the lock screen; a notification bubble alerts an incoming call.
Background location – Apple says there are two classes of applications that like to use your location in the background: turn-by-turn direction apps (like TomTom) and social networking apps (like Loopt). With an app like TomTom becoming location-aware in the background, now you can leave the app and still receive turn-by-turn directions. For example, you can set and begin your route, jump into iPod to select a song, and TomTom will still read aloud the directions using GPS. Turn-by-turn direction apps are fairly power intensive apps, but most users have them running in the car when their device is connected to a power source. An app like Loopt, which is used more often when an external power source is not charging the device, will use cell towers rather than GPS to find your location. Privacy concerns are also addressed. Today, whenever an app wants to use location services, a notification bubble asks you to approve the service. In OS 4, a new status icon (shaped like an arrow) will appear in the status bar at the top of the screen to inform you exactly when an app is tracking your location. In the settings menu you can enable or disable location services per app. Also, an icon will appear next to the app name in the settings menu if that app has tried to access location services within the last 24 hours.
Push notifications – We already know all about Apple’s Push Notification service. A third-party sets up a server, they send their notification to Apple’s Push Notification server, then Apple sends it to the phone. Building on push notifications is a new service called…
Local notifications – These are just like push notifications except you do not need a server. The notifications can come right from the phone. For example, a TV Guide app can alert you to the premiere of a new TV program you wanted to be reminded of, and all this can be done right on the phone instead of going through back-end servers.
Task completion – This service works just like Xbox’s Active Downloads feature. Say you are uploading photos to your Flickr account. Today if you were to exit the Flickr app, the upload would stop immediately. With OS 4, if you leave the app the photos will continue to upload in the background.
Fast app switching – This is what allows an app to pause and save its state in the background when you leave it for another app. When you return to it, the app will resume exactly where you left off. So if you are playing a game of Tap Tap Revenge and decide to check your missed calls, when you return to the game it will start right where you left off. All this is done without using any CPU power. Continue reading Apple details iPhone OS 4: Multitasking! & more
When Steve Jobs hosts an Apple keynote event it’s a given that someone will splice together all of the superfluous adjectives used to describe the new product or service at hand. Last week’s announcement of the iPad is no exception, and this time that someone is Neil Curtis. Curtis says all adjectives used in this video were taken from the iPad keynote alone, and no scene is ever repeated. Magical!
[Via Gizmodo]
Today Apple announced its latest technological advancement, the Apple iPad. Before I jump to my initial reactions let’s break down all the announcements from the keynote event led by Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
The specs: The iPad features a 9.7 inch (1024×768 VGA) LED-backlit glossy fully capacitive multi-touch display with ISP technology (allowing for a wide 178° viewing angle); it’s powered by Apple’s custom-designed 1GHz Apple A4 chip (it’s a system-on-a-chip, packing the processor, graphics, I/O, and memory controller); it also includes a built-in accelerometer and ambient light sensor, AGPS, a digital compass, WiFi 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1, and 3G (more on that later). It will ship with 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB solid state drives. Input and output includes a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, a 30-pin dock connector, a microphone, built-in speakers, and a SIM card tray. It supports the usual video, mail attachment, language, and accessibility extensions. It packs a built-in rechargable lithium-polymer battery that lasts up to ten hours with usage and supports over a month of standby life. It’s also environmentally friendly. It has a very minimalist design; the external controls include the on/off (or sleep/wake) button at the top, mute and volume up/down switches to the right, and the home button at the bottom of the face. It’s dimensions are 9.56×7.47, 0.5 inches thin, and it weighs 1.5 pounds.
The software: Although it was not specified, the iPad runs an updated and iPad-optimized version of the iPhone OS software, presumably version 3.2. When you press the home button you enter an all-touch experience that is extremely similar to what you find on an iPhone or iPod touch today. After you get passed the lock screen, you are brought to your customizable home screen. Jobs noted that users will have the option to change their background images with preloaded screens or their pictures. The iPad will ship with the following apps: mobile Safari, Mail, Photos, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, YouTube, iPod, Video, and Maps (powered by Google). All of these apps are similar to their iPhone/iPod touch counterparts; they have simply been modified and enhanced by Apple to perform on a larger touch-based device. Two noteworthy enhancements include menu popovers and split-view workspaces that really take advantage of the larger display. And thanks to the built-in accelerometer, all apps support landscape and portrait modes. Side note: If you own a Mac and use iPhoto, the iPad will recognize this and further organize your photos into events, faces, and places categories. Most apps support an “almost life-size” virtual QWERTY keyboard that pops up when it’s needed.
The iPad comes with modified but familiar iTunes and Apps Stores. It will run “almost all” of the current 400,000 apps that exist in the App Store today. It runs the apps unmodified in two ways: you have the option to use them in a tiny format (so you don’t lose pixel quality) or you can tap a “x2” button that expands and scales the app full screen by automatically doubling the amount of pixels. Apple was quick to note that an updated version of the iPhone SDK (available today) will give developers the tools to modify and enhance their apps for the iPad. This will allow devs to take advantage of the larger screen and more powerful internals the same way Apple did with their apps. The keynote featured modified apps from Gameloft (Nova), EA (Need for Speed: Shift), MLB.com At Bat, The New York Times, and a paint app with Photoshop-like capabilities called Brushes.
Apple introduced a few new apps themselves. iBooks is Apple’s new e-reader app that serves as a place to read your collection of books and a portal to Apple’s brand new iBookstore. Here you can browse, preview, and purchase books from HarperCollins, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, Macmillian, and Hachette Book Group. Apples notes that they welcome all book and textbook publishers to join this new outlet for readers. Pricing details were not enclosed, but a demo revealed a number of books costing $12.99 and $14.99. The eBooks support the popular ePub format and are a visual treat. Once you purchase a book it is placed on your Bookshelf. Simply tap a book’s cover to start reading. You can change the font, font size, and search the text for keywords. The sleek UI includes tap or swipe gestures for page turning. Apple also intro’d a new version of iWork, built from the ground up for the iPad. iWork’s Keynote, Pages, and Numbers can be used to create slideshows, documents, and spreadsheets, respectively, right on the iPad. They will be sold separately at $9.99 each in the App Store.
Syncing the iPad to iTunes with a PC or Mac is done just like an iPhone or iPod does it. You can sync photos, music, movies, TV shows, contacts, calendars, bookmarks, and apps to it via the included 30-pin connector to USB cable.
Internet access: Apple is giving the user two options here. You can buy the iPad with built-in WiFi or you can opt to purchase an iPad that packs both WiFi and 3G service. The 3G service will be provided by AT&T with two different plans: (1) up to 250MB of data per month for $14.99; (2) unlimited data for $29.99. AT&T also throws in free use of designated WiFi hotspots. The AT&T plans are prepaid with no contract, so you are free to cancel a plan at any time. You also have the leisure of activating the 3G service on the iPad without going to a store or calling a company. It was noted that international deals should be sorted out by June, all iPad 3G models will come unlocked, and they use “new GSM micro SIM cards.”
Pricing and availability: There will be a total of eight different iPad models on the market. The first group of three are WiFi only and include 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities priced at $499, $599, and $699, respectively. The second group of three are WiFi +3G and include the same capacities, each with a $129 price increase (so $629, $729, $829). The WiFi models will be available for purchase in about 60 days (late March) and the WiFi + 3G models will come soon after in about 90 days (sometime in April).
Accessories: Apple unveiled four accessories for the iPad. The first is a standard charging dock that doubles as a digital picture frame. The second is a keyboard dock ($69); it charges the device and also includes a full-sized physical QWERTY keyboard that attaches to the iPad via the 30-pin connector. The third is an Apple designed black case ($39) that can also be used as a stand for watching video. The fourth is a camera connection kit ($29) that allows you to import photos to the iPad via your camera’s USB cable or directly from an SD card.
What’s missing: Multitasking, camera(s), Flash video support, and HDMI out, for starters. We’ve come to accept that the iPhone and iPod touch cannot do multitasking, but there is no reason that the iPad cannot support at least two applications running at the same time. The powerful 1GHz chip can beautifully render HD video, load up and present pictures extremely quickly, and run graphics and power intensive games. For a processor that’s described as “a screamer,” the lack of multitasking capabilities is a real shame. How about a camera? Though rumors pointed to front-facing and standard webcam implementation, there should at least be one backfacing camera installed for video chat. And don’t tell me the the processor can’t handle that. The lack of Flash video support in mobile Safari is a real bummer; forget about watching Hulu videos on it. (This is Apple’s decision; Adobe is able and willing to share Flash software.) The inclusion of HDMI out would have made perfect sense. The device can play HD videos downloaded from iTunes; why not give the user the ability to extend their viewing experience to the TV? What of the newspaper/magazine digital revolution? I expected Apple to make a big push with partnerships with Time and The Wall Street Journal, formulate subscription-based models, and so forth. I guess things will start small with the intro of updated apps and this will eventually lead to more significant changes. Lastly there’s the decision to go with AT&T for data, again. The latest round of rumors were really pushing for an Apple-Verizon Wireless partnership for the iPhone and the tablet. Guess we’ll have to wait on that, too.
And that brings me to my initial reactions. Rumors of an Apple tablet have been swirling for years, nearly for a decade, in fact. All of us highly anticipated and theorized its pending existence as the never-ending rumors continued to pile up over the years. I imagined the mysterious Apple tablet to revolutionize the portable computer industry just as Apple forever changed the landscape of the mobile phone arena with the iPhone. Having watched today’s keynote in its entirety I was left surprisingly underwhelmed by the announcement of the iPad, though I do see a bright future for it. Continue reading Apple introduces the iPad; does it live up to the hype?
First let me start by saying that I am sorry about all the confusion. I had originally promoted this page to be a source for a “liveblog” (meaning up-to-the-minute live coverage) of the Microsoft keynote. Unfortunately due to many mishaps I was forced to cut the live out of liveblog. However, I was able to successfully record everything that did happen and you will find a full summary of the keynote below. Also, be sure to check out the large gallery of pictures from the event. As a press member, I was able to get up close and personal to Steve Ballmer and crew, so check ’em out!
After waiting in line for about an hour, I walk into the Hilton Center presentation room and quickly grab the closest seat to the stage. At about 6:15PM, the announcer gives his usual instructions to turn off cell phones and be seated for the keynote. Music from Franz Ferdinand and Phoenix abruptly gets louder as everyone expects the show to begin. Promptly at 6:35PM the lights in the room go down, then up, some computers crash, and the main center-stage screen turns black. The announcer explains, “…we’re having a small power problem.” Funniest sight of the night–a few of the computers set up on stage went into Windows recovery mode. Oh boy. Finally, at around 6:54PM the lights go down for real this time, the CEA logo shows up on screen, and the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Got a Feeling” plays behind a short video of what’s to come this week on the show floor. Then Gary Shapiro came out to welcome us to CES (“the world cup of innovation”) and say how bad the economy has been and how well the tech industry has plowed through it. Finally, at 7:00PM (a full half hour behind schedule) Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is introduced to the stage.
Ballmer begins by saying how technology has impacted people all around the world, even through economic hardship. To show an example, he plays a video that contains SNL’s Seth Myers. Myers talks about how tech has changed his life, with focus on voice chat, video games, eBay, and Twitter. He summarizes it all by saying, “Thanks technology…oh I’m wasting my life.” The bit was funny and received a good amount of laughs. Next Ballmer explains that the presentation will focus on three aspects: the evolving PC, the cloud, and natural user interfaces (or NUIs).
Ballmer dives in with the mention of their latest foray into the search engine business with Bing. “Bing and we Bing. Bing, Bing, Bing!” OK, Ballmer, calm down now. “I want to take a closer look at some of what we delivered in 2009.” (1) Xbox: Project Natal is coming soon; over 39 million Xboxs around the world; over $20 billion in total game revenue; new Xbox Live account is created every second. (2) Bing: over 11 million new users; anticipates what users are really looking for (remember, it’s a “decision-engine”); Maps, PhotoSynth; Microsoft and HP are teaming up—Bing will become the official search engine on all HP computers. (3) In-car technologies: Ford Sync (new look is on the way); Fiat sold its one millionth with Blue & Me and eco:Drive; Microsoft is partnering with Kia Motors to create a new in-car system based on Windows due out Q3 2010. (4) Zune: Zune HD, Zune Marketplace; video offered on Xbox Live. (5) The mobile space: Windows Mobile; he holds up a HTC HD2 (running WindowsMo 6.5), which is revealed to be coming to the US on T-Mobile. (6) Windows 7: 3 goals–faster, simpler, enable a world of new possibilities for developers, manufacturers, and consumers; “Windows 7 is the fastest selling OS in history,” 94% customer satisfaction, “There’s a Windows 7 PC for everyone,” “4 million Windows applications in all.” “enough talking about Windows 7, let’s show you.” After touting Windows 7, Ballmer introduces Ryan Asdourian, Senior Project Manager at Windows, to the stage to show off some new Windows 7 PCs and more.
There’s a bunch of shiny computers sitting on a long table to stage left, and Asdourian walks Ballmer on a tour through them. There’s an Sony all-in-one PC, a Lenovo A300, the stunningly thin Dell Adamo XPS (he demonstrates the touch lid), the ASUS NX90, a bunch of tiny netbooks including ones from Lenovo, gaming laptops (Ballmer puts on 3D glasses as Asdourian plays a quick round of a racing game), and smaller PCs, the Acer Revo and Dell ZinoHD. They were going to top it all off with a PC built into a TV, but due to the early technical difficulties they could not. Bummer.
Asdourian exclaims he is now going to play the part of a student to show off the software side of things. He tours Ballmer through a bunch of new features in Windows 7. First he shows off the new Bilo e-reader software. Bilo will offer over one million books, it allows pictures and embeddable video, and it can even read the text aloud to you! Then the not-yet-released PowerPoint 2010 is launched. They demo document syncing between two different PowerPoint windows, show off a few new snazzy PP transitions, and Ballmer types “Developers, developers, developers.” Yes. Many laughs. Next Asdourian plays a video in Windows Media Player of a Seahawk mascot jumping out of a plane. Ballmer calls this act insane, but not as crazy as the Seahawks season. Ouch. Then he switches over to Bing and talks about Bing Maps. He uses Bing Maps to reveal the exact location the plane jumping took place, showing off some very neat 3D effects and zooms. He also showed off a new Maps effect–the ability to make surroundings more “realistic.” He added animated snowflakes to the maps location. Cute but not functional; moving on… Asdourian shows how you can watch TV on your PC. “I can watch four HD channels at once time here.” Next he demos front-end Internet TV using Windows Media Center in Windows 7. Networks like CBS and The CW offer content here. He “surprises” the audience and says that he in fact was the Seahawk fan who jumped out of the plane and reveals another video to prove it. OK, enough, we get it. Microsoft Mediaroom is next. Mediaroom 2.0 is “the next version of Microsoft’s IPTV solution for service providers. He announces that AT&T subscribers to UVERSE will be able to use it on their Xbox 360s later this year. This announcement is pretty rad; AT&T UVERSE subscribers will have the ability to use their 360s as a set-top box! He demos Mediaroom on the big screen and shows how you can transport video content to a mobile device (he uses an HD2 to prove his point).
Next Ballmer takes the baton and reveals the next form factor of the PC, the “Slate PC”. (Interesting label, hm Apple?) Now sitting on the long table are three slate PCs from Pegatron, HP, and Archos. He holds up and gives a short demo of the HP model. It features multitouch and runs Windows 7. Beyond that, no other details were revealed. Kindle software is demoed with touch-based page flicking. Media software is opens and Ballmer awkwardly taps a couple times to begin playing a second Seth Meyers video. This time he’s talking about “everything important that’s ever happened in tech.” (That is, video games, cell phones, and the Internet.)
Ballmer peaces out for good (wait, no goodbyes?) and Robbie Bach, President of the Entertainment & Devices Division, walks onto stage to talk Xbox. He’s really excited about the next year in video games thanks to the impending launches of Mass Effect 2, Crackdown 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Fable 3, add-on content for MW2, and Alan Wake. For this reveal, a fog machine splashes some grey onto the stage and ceiling lights flicker like flash lights. He also describes the game as a mix between “TV show Lost as written by Stephen King and directed by David Lynch.” Doubt it but OK. Lastly, but of course, there’s Halo: Reach. The newest trailer we have already seen still gets the audience pumped for its Fall 2010 release. He discusses other services that Xbox Live offers besides online gaming, namely Netflix, Avatar merchandise, music downloads for related games, Facebook, Twitter, and LastFM to name a few. He mentions the recent Zune Marketplace integration with Live and demos its 1080p instant on streaming capability with a quick clip from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Next up is something new called Game Room. It’s a place where your avatar can enter his personal arcade and play retro classics like Millipede and Astrosmash. This spring you will be able to play 30 arcade games on Xbox 360 and a Windows PC. Oh–and you only have to buy a game once on a platform to play it on the other. Bach played a short video–ahem, a “showdown”, between avatar versions of himself and Ballmer playing the arcade games against each other. Last he dives into Project Natal goodness. He says that Microsoft has spent 30 years studying natural user interfaces and all of their hard research will culminate with Natal. He shows a video featuring a bunch of Natal developers and they explain the hard work and excitement that went into this project. Notable quotes: “What Natal does is it evaluates trillions of body movements a thousand times a second;” and “From the technology side is to make it seamless: you act, it understands.” The big reveal? Project Natal (still a codename) will be available holiday 2010. And as we know, it will work with all existing Xbox 360 hardware. After a short quip about the future of innovation, Bach thanks the audience and leaves the stage.
Wow, really? That’s it? Those are the phrases that instantly popped into my head after Bach left the stage and the house lights turned back on. Are you kidding me? For a Microsoft keynote this was terribly underwhelming. No crazy cool reveals and demos, and more importantly, no Ballmer meltdowns (although he did mention “developers” a couple times). For the most part this year’s keynote reiterated many things we had already been made aware of in the past (important MS innovations of 2009, the simplicity of Windows 7, already announced 360 titles, etc.) Sure, the Mediaroom upgrade and announcements, the demo of Bilo, the slate PCs, and the Natal release window were interesting and noteworthy, but other than that…meh. Starting with the ominious power outage this year’s Microsoft keynote at CES proved to be an uneventful gathering.
Look after the break for the intro videos for the HP “slate PC” and Xbox 360’s Game Room.
..Such as really nice, really well, great, great, really cool, better and better and better, and so on!
[Via Gizmodo]
Guess who’s back, back again? Steve Jobs graciously owned the stage in San Fransisco on Thursday during the latest Apple keynote presentation. There was lots of discussion and reveals on the iTunes and iPod front. Let’s not waste any time and get right to it. Read on for all the juicy details of the keynote.
Note: When asked why Apple did not include a video camera in the new iPod touch, Jobs responded: “Originally, we weren’t exactly sure how to market the Touch. Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? What happened was, what customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine. We started to market it that way, and it just took off. And now what we really see is it’s the lowest-cost way to the App Store, and that’s the big draw. So what we were focused on is just reducing the price to $199. We don’t need to add new stuff. We need to get the price down where everyone can afford it.”
Check out the gallery below for some official press shots of the new products and services.
[Gallery images via Apple]