I'm Literally About to Tweet History...

I want you to think about what I just said....tweet history. No, no one died or no cure for cancer. The simple act of tweeting is now considered "history". The United States Library of Congress....yeah....believes that the day to day incessant ramblings and ravings of the general population deserve to be immortalized in their normally exclusive archives.

Apparently intellectuals believe that this is a good idea as well; according to them, normal means of information conveyance have depicted people of a higher stature, or for lack of a better description, people with something at least semi-coherent and meaningful to say. But now, everyone from the noted child molester, murderers and general scum of the planet have their thoughts filtered in to the general public's; which isn't much different either. I don't know how many times I've gone into my Twitter account to check CNN's or the New York Time's headlines of the day and seen 14,000 'tweets' about someone's life sucking, too much "drama", what time the Kardashians start or that little "Tweet-king" himself, Justin Bieber (I didn't know who or what he was until I was alerted to him when I yelled "WHO THE F*** IS THIS GUY?!" in Book's-a-Million.) who is for some reason a trending topic for the last 6 months.

Apparently the Library has been doing stuff like this for a decade or so, since Web Sites began the to enter the fray as a useful and reliable source for information. The Tweets will be taking their place right by the information gathered from the Net during events such as presidential elections and the 9/11 attacks and the Library has amassed more than 167 terabytes of digital material, more than what the text of the 21 million books they've collected would equal.

This is not the material I want to be seeing when I'm excavating what's left of Washington, D.C. after the world ends. I don't see how the everyday tweets of the general (and IMO uneducated) masses are an "immense impact on culture and history." (<- That came from the director of communications for the Library if you can believe it.)

Am I the only sane person left in this country or are there other survivors of the Stup-ocalypse left out there? Calling all survivors, we must collect our own knowledge to weather the coming storm....hopefully, we will outlive the attrocities that will soon be commited and re-educate the remaining populace with actual knowledge.....knowledge that can be used to re-populate the Earth with people that aren't brain damaged at birth from the stupidity consumed by their moronic parents....

Just my take on the matter; I could be crazy and this could be the best thing to ever happen to the human race....or it could be another reason EVERY country in the world thinks we're a bunch of over-weight, uneducated hypocritical idiots. Just saying...

-Armand

3D Gaming?

Within the coming months, some families will have their presence graced with a marvelous new toy; a 3D HDTV. Now, the kids, (or adults even) who are even the slightest bit into gaming will most likely wonder: "Hey, I wonder if there are any 3D vidjma-games that you can play?" Well Sony has the answer.

For those of you lucky enough to both own a PS3 and be financially endowed enough to buy a BRAVIA 3D TV you'll be getting a small collection of ready to play 3D games: Wipeout HD, Motorstorm Pacific Rift, PAIN and Super Stardust HD, and you'll get them via voucher code, most likely in the box of said TV, (3D glasses not included.)

Are we really that close to entering this new generation of gaming? (Good/Useable) Motion controllers or lack thereof (NATAL) are getting closer; this holiday to be exact, and 3D TV's capable of 3D gaming? I don't know what to expect but all I know is I'll be so pissed off if I can't connect my good ol' NES to my new BRAVIA.

-Armand

iPhone OS 4.0....so many win...

Over a hundred new features. That's what Steve Jobs said when he began talking about the iPhone's new OS coming this summer (this fall for the iPad). After scouring his hour long presentation twice I finally found out the most deserving items to outline and discuss.

There are going to be several past-due improvements:

For the camera: We're going to see a 5x-digital zoom for picture taking as well as tapping to focus during video-taking. We'll also see places tagged in pictures you take; i.e. Taking a picture in Tokyo, Japan will be tagged as having been taken in Tokyo, Japan.

There will be the ability to gift apps to other people

FINALLY be able to change the Home Screen background
The ability to hook up a bluetooth keyboard and on the same note as typing there will be a spell-checking feature.

Now with those minor features spoken for, let's get to the main part of the presentation: The Seven Tentpoles. These are to represent the biggest innovations and changes to the physical OS:

Tentpole #1: Multitasking - That's right folks. Multitasking.

1.      Double clicking the Home button is what is used to bring up the multitasking dock

·         Boasts less battery consumption

·         No "sluggishness" when switching apps

·         Allows for Task Completion; i.e. Flickr app takes a long time to upload pictures; now you can go to a different app while that task finishes without interrupting it.

·         Fast App Switching leaves the app you were just in at its exact position; i.e. you won't lose progress in games or apps such as Tap Tap Revenge.

2.      Background Audio

·         Distilled the 3^rd party services used to make music apps like Pandora and made them party of the OS.

·         Will be able to run Pandora while using other apps

·         Will be able to run Pandora in “iPod mode” when your phone is locked.

3.      Voice-over IP

·         Skype used to have to be on the whole time for you to make and receive calls; now you can receive calls while doing other things

·         Shows up as a red call bar (green for normal phone)

·         Calls come in even when phone is locked

4.       Background Notifications

·         Using apps like Tom Tom normally require you to have them open so you get their notifications but now you get them even when you’re using another app.

 Tentpole #2: FOLDERS!!! - Yay!

1. Organize your apps

·         Press on an app as if to move it, drag it on top of another app and it creates a folder.

·         Folders auto name based on contents but you can rename them

2.      Expands number of viewable apps

·          If every space on every page was taken by a folder, you could increase the number of viewable apps from 180 to 2,160.

Tentpole #3: Enhanced Mail

1.      Unified inbox for multiple email accounts

·         Quickly move between different inboxes if you don’t unify them

2.       Open attachments with apps

3.       Organize messages in thread form instead of individual messages

Tentpole #4: iBooks!

1.      Same UI as the iPad

2.      Same iBook store as the iPad

·         Buy once, read through all devices

·         Syncs pages and bookmarks

Tentpole #5: Enterprise

1.      80% of Fortune 100 Companies use iPhone/iPad for business.

·         Encryption for email

·         Mobile device management

·         Wireless app distribution

·         Multiple Exchange accounts

·         Compatibility with Exchange Server 2010 and SSL VPN

Tentpole #6: GAME CENTER!!! - XBL Arcade for Apple?

1.      More than 50,000 individual game titles for the iPhone/iPad

·         Normally connected through services like OpenFeint and Plus+ gamers don’t really have a set matchmaking system or leaderboards.

2.       Social Gaming Network

·         Invite friends

·         Matchmaking

·         Leaderboards

·         ACHIEVEMENTS!!!

·         Only a “preview” during OS 4; more supposed to arrive later

Tentpole #7: iAd: Not a bad idea IMO

1. Mobile Advertising facts

·         Avg. user spends roughly 30 minutes in apps a day.

·         Based on the number of apps downloaded and individual users there are about 1 Billion ad impressions daily

·         Helps devs with making money on “free” or cheap apps

·         iAd will give Devs up to 60% of revenue.

2.  Mobile Advertising on a whole new level

·         Normally ads in apps are bland and take you away from your current task in a game or place in a news feed.

·         Now ads will be built to keep you in your place in the app

·         Will have more interactivity; i.e. downloads or sound bits

·         Will have more “emotion” than a typical plain text web ad

·         Will be in HTML 5 so videos will be embedded in the ads as well

3.  Bought out mobile ad company Quattro: “We are thrilled to let you know that Apple has acquired Quattro.” – Quattrowireless.com

Well thats about it for what was revealed at the conference. Also you should note that if you have an iPhone 3G or the original as well as the iPod Touch 2nd Gen or the original you won't be seeing all of these features due to the device's capabilities. So sad....oh well I get 'em all!!! I can't wait to multitask changing my background while playing EliminatePro while listening to Pandora while ignoring Skype calls while clicking a new movie ad and using that picture as my background. WOOT!

-Armand

iPhone OS 4.0 Preview - Working on it!

I just watched and re-watched Steve Job's Keynote presentation about the new update and I'm gonna be putting out a full listing of what was discussed and what to expect! I should be done with it later today...

iPad might not be so bad...

l, not short of the norm, I was seen waiting in line this past weekend to get my hands on Jobs' coveted iPad. A short while later I was tapping and sliding my way around the new App Store as well as some of the other interesting features that it sported. I actually take back some of what I said in my previous post, in which I gave it a 2.5 out of 5.

Although the device doesn't support Flash, I was extremely surprised to find out that some of the internet had prepared for the launch of the iPad and well....Flash didn't seem to be too much of an issue. I went to the New York Times website as well as CNN's to find that they had already changed the way their videos are delivered. Instead of them being Flash, they're embedded MOV files that are easily played with no more hassle. Unfortunately, after checking the sites on my iPhone, (then checking for an update through iTunes to no avail), I found that the update was only for the iPad.

Although there still is no multi-tasking except between native apps, (i.e. music and texting or some combination) there are some bonuses to having such a big screen with only one app at a time. First off, its a big screen. Seriously, it's huge compared to the iPhone of the iPod Touch and its functional too. I discovered increased responsiveness and tracking when I scrolled and played games and such. Second, the screen is gorgeous. I personally would've went with a matte finish on it (for better viewing outdoors) but the gloss brightens all the images and movies I tested, as well as YouTube HD and a clip from Battlestar Galactica that was on the iPad by default.

The UI is definitely something I didn't expect to be so good. I literally had no trouble at all going from app to app, page to page and scrolling around at all. The new Mail layout is fantastic with the ability to delete multiple e-mails at the same time and see them as you queue them for deletion. The Photo app still requires that you use iPhoto for creating your own albums or if you use Windows to sync everything after you organize them in different folders. Getting past that, the Photo layout was simply delightful. You can look at them from a few different ways like usual; album, individual or slideshow. The slideshow has a new setting called Origami which has a fun folding effect and displays multiple pictures on the screen at once without cropping them at all. While going through albums, you can pull your two fingers apart over any of them and see the contents in the album without actually going to it; pull them apart completely and the album opens up and you can pinch to tuck it away and keep browsing. Definitely an improvement over the iPhone/Touch.

The reason the iPad even caught my eye as somehting I'd want to buy was because when I first heard of it, I was in the market for an e-reader and I was severely onsidering Amazon's Kindle DX model for the large screen and capacity. Mr. Jobs then dropped the news and immediately I wanted to see the reader in action and the store it would have to obtain the books from. I was not disappointed in the least. I tested the normal features of an e-reader; text/page color, bookmarking, and (because my favorite author Clive Cussler likes to use maps/diagrams) how well it displayed in-book pictures. Once again I wasn't disappointed. Not only were those items taken care of, organizing your collection and the layout were just great. The iBook store was well done as well. Search by whatever you please and you should find something; Apple has been aquiring publishers like there's no tomorrow. I was very pleased to see that all of Clive Cussler's books were readily available to demo and purchase as well as many others. One thing that caught my eye though was the price of said books, slightly more than Amazon's $9.99 or less for all books deal. Most of CC's were about $12.99 and some I saw were a bit more as well.

I play a lot of games on my iPhone. Right now I'm actually playing Simpson's Arcade and I was playing Call of Duty: WaW Zombies. A great concern of mine was how do I play my favorite games on the hugeness of the iPad. Well its not too difficult at all really. All of your apps that you've poured cash out for will still work on the iPad and most I've discovered have updated for the iPad. Some you may find have different versions with newer and better layouts specifically for the iPad such as Twitterific and I'm sure others will follow. I noted that while playing the Simpson's Arcade on the iPad that there was a little x1/x2 zoom button on the bottom right corner. Tapping that switches between the app's intended size which is iPhone/Touch size and iPad size; surprisingly on the games I tried there were no issues with pixelation from the zoom at all.

All in all I definitely raise my original review of the iPad from a 2.5 out of 5 to a 4 out of 5. I was expecting a lot more than what they had put out but at the same time they made up for their shortcomings with features that are definitely things that are functional as well as look good. I still wish it had a camera and mic for voice notes or just general recording, as well as multi-tasking. I don't know if I'll be getting the original one or if I'll wait for the price to drop but with the V1 being a good device I know I'll be waiting in line with cash in hand for the second one.

-Armand

HTC EVO 4G....can I trade in my iPhone?

You tend to hear a lot of negative comments towards touch screen phones that aren't iPhones; they have become the bar and have yet to be surpassed. "The touch is too slow" or "The keyboard isn't big enough", "Crap camera" or "The UI (user interface) is very unfriendly"; all familiar things you hear about the Droid or Blackberry Storm or Palms. Not the case with the HTC EVO 4G. I was legitimately impressed when I saw this phone in action thanks to Engadget's sneak peek of this marvel.
First and foremost, it will have a huge 4.3 inch LCD screen as compared to the iPhone's 3.5 inch. The keyboard is much larger and has cursor arrows for easier navigation through your composition. The UI on the EVO is great, very fluid, pull down menus and side scrolling are not glitchy at all from what I can tell as well. Get this now, it has two cameras. Seriously. One is an insanely huge 8 megapixel camera with flash that can take videos up to 720p! Its second camera is a front mounted 1.3 megapixel camera for those quick shots for your Facebook or whatever your fancy.

What's it run on you ask? Well let's see, just Android 2.1 with a Snapdragon QSD8650 1.0GHz processor, 1GB of built in memory and 512MB of RAM, that's what.

The phone even has a kick-stand. WTF? That's so awesome. Definitely helps when you just want to sit back at work and browse YouTube and such.

Here's a side-by-side with the iPhone and the Nexus One:

Definitely looking to hear more about this awesome piece of tech, according to Sprint "Summer" is the planned release window. Check out Engadget's article to see it in action with two videos and a gallery of comparison shots.

-Armand

iPhone - To Game or Not To Game

Being a gaming blog you expect to see news here about multiple games, their systems and news; I'd figured that I would write about the 360 and PS3, DS and such but I never thought that the iPhone would be one of the platforms that I wrote about for serious gaming.

I've had my iPhone for almost 6 months now and I've browsed the App Store a lot more than I should have; but in doing so I'm starting to see an interesting trend. People like to game on their iPhones. Not just little farming games like Tap Farm or tapping games like Tap Tap Revolution but we're talking Call of Duty and Final Fantasy's on the device you're supposed to talk on.

I have several big name games myself: Call of Duty- World At War- Zombies, Final Fantasy I & II, a South Park game, Monkey Ball, and Where's Waldo to name a few.

As I'm writing this in fact, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is now available on the App Store. More and more game developers are seeing Indie games blowing up on the iPhone and they want in. Just browsing as I type this I see several games from Ubisoft and EA in the "Top Paid" section of the store. Even Street Fighter IV is on here....

My question in this, is it because people unconsiously want to game or do they just buy it to pass the time in a line; or maybe a little bit of both? Phones used to be just for talking; texting then made the scene, then e-mails, IM's and basic games. Now I'm playing Monopoly on my iPhone after I check my Twitter, G-mail and Facebook...(Everything I said goes for the iPod Touch as well). Oh well, progress is progress, right Skynet?

-Armand

Oh iPad...so sad....

I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't excited for the revealing of the iPad. I'd say that I was downright giddy when Steve Jobs called his little conference and began to introduce the iPad. I was giddy up until I saw it actually. And the more he talked about it, the less excited I became.

When I imagined the iPad, I had pictured this awesome slim tablet that had a camera and mic built into the front, Macromedia Flash capability, huge screen, multi-tasking and decent price point. What we all got was a giant iPod Touch.

There is actually little separating the iPad from the Touch. Key differences are the size and power behind it but it is no where near a computer. It has a 9.7 inch diagonal screen that will probably encounter more damage and cleaning issues that the iPhone or iPod Touch do. It utilizes Apple's groundbreaking multi-touch capabilities but it still has the same mini-dock and layout as its smaller counterparts. The battery on the other hand is amazing for the device; it sports a ten hour span for audio, video or just surfing the web and e-mails. Also, depending on whether you want just Wi-Fi or 3G + Wi-Fi is another matter, (AT&T I believe is the one doing the 3G plans separately.)

The price point I feel would be reasonable if it just had more...

Wi-Fi only

$499 - 16GB

$599 - 32GB

$699 - 64GB

Wi-Fi + 3G

$629 - 16GB

$729 - 32GB

$829 - 64GB

See? Not too bad but with the lack of current features I feel like the best idea is to wait until the 2nd generation of iPad is released.

LACK OF FLASH SUPPORT!!! Why don't you listen Apple? It works on your computers but you can't make it or let it work on your devices? I don't know how many sites I can't go to because there's no Flash on my phone. I could let go of all my other vices with this device if it had Flash. I would wait in line for two days if it had Flash support.

With a release date set in stone of April 3rd, I don't know what the initial wave is going to be like. There are always the typical Cult of Steve people who buy every device Apple puts out, there's the people who thoroughly enjoy Apple products and have the cash to nab one at the get go, there's the people who will get one when they have the dough so they look cool or the people like me who are horribly skeptical and question the product to make sure it fits my needs. In my honest opinion, I give the iPad a preview review of 2.5/5. Sorry Steve.

-Armand