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- Which Apple WWDC Notebook Rumors Are Most Likely To Come True?
- Please Stop With The Dancing, Microsoft
- Motorola’s Next Super Phone Leaked: Meet Verizon’s Droid RAZR HD
- Kinect Reveals The Next Job To Be Replaced By Computers: Sports Coaches
- Experience Metro With Splashtop’s Android And iPad Windows 8 Metro Testbed App
| Which Apple WWDC Notebook Rumors Are Most Likely To Come True? Posted: 09 Jun 2012 11:40 AM PDT  WWDC kicks off next week and in traditional fashion, a keynote headlines the event Monday morning. Much is expected from this year’s show including iOS 6 and new Macintosh desktops and laptops. So far the rumor circuit has been a buzz with talk of a complete hardware refresh including Apple bringing back the MacBook brand, adding a retina display to at least one model and finally employing Intel’s latest silicon that will also bring USB 3.0 to Macs for the first time. What follows is the first post in a series rounding up nearly every rumor concerning Apple’s WWDC notebook announcements (iOS 6 and Mountain Lion to come) no matter how far-fetched or wild — some will likely come true and others probably won’t.
Argument:
Objection:
Judgment: Likely. The MacBook Pro is long overdue for some new digs. It’s a safe bet that if it doesn’t happen at WWDC — it is a developer’s conference after all — Apple will announce the new models in the coming weeks to get a head start on the lucrative back to school season. A revival of the MacBook brand
Argument:
Objection:
Judgment: Possible. Apple is set to kill the optical drive in its notebooks, but doing so in the so-called Pro line would diminish ever so slightly the line’s professional brand. Argument:
Objection:
Judgment: Highly likely if Apple announces notebooks at WWDC. Apple’s current notebook line use relatively antiquated Intel CPUs. It’s time for an update. If Apple doesn’t announce notebooks at WWDC, look for new notebooks with Ivy Bridge CPUs in the coming weeks. USB 3.0 on the MacBook Pro Argument:
Objection:
Judgment: Highly likely if Apple announces notebooks at WWDC. This feature is dependent on the Intel chipset. A retina display in a notebook
Argument:
Objection:
Judgment: Unlikely even though retina displays is a strong part of Apple’s product branding strategy. There is little benefit to roll out very expensive high resolution displays when there isn’t much built for the new resolution yet. If this is in the cards for future models, Apple might announce high resolution support alongside Mountain Lion. 17-inch MacBook Pro to get the ax
Argument:
Objection:
Judgment: Won’t happen at WWDC. If true, this will likely come later this year. The cancellation of the 17-inch model is dependent on higher resolution screens that won’t likely be available in mass quantities until later this year or early next. A higher resolution 15-inch could in theory replicate the large screen of a lower resolution display like the one currently found in the 17-inch. Look for two other posts in the coming days detailing iOS 6 and Mountain Lion’s rumors. WWDC 2012 is set to be the biggest developer’s conference yet.
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| Please Stop With The Dancing, Microsoft Posted: 09 Jun 2012 08:40 AM PDT  Look, I get it, Microsoft. You want to show people you know how to have fun, that even Microsoft can smile once in a while. But seriously, stop with the dancing routines. Your target audience doesn’t dance. We, at best, sway with the music, but never dance. As GeekWire points out, the latest nightmare happened earlier this week at the Norwegian Developers Conference where several dancers took the stage and performed to a song with such classy lines as "The words MICRO and SOFT don't apply to my PENIS! (or vagina)" and “We are here to party and coding is our drug!” Laughter can be heard throughout the video as the attendees stand nearly motionless, likely in shock as if they were witnessing a train wreck in slow motion. This comes the week after Usher took the stage during Microsoft’s E3 keynote for a nearly equally embarrassing show.
I was sitting in the audience for Usher’s 2012 E3 performance and can attest that most of the gaming industry found the show a bit misplaced; no one got out of their seat as Usher instructed several times. John Biggs said it best, though.
And of course there is this classic 2009 video of a Microsoft Store breaking out in an not-so-impromptu flash mob-ish dance. At the time I stated the store was trying too hard, but now, three years later, as Microsoft Stores have failed to be capture shoppers like the Apple Stores Redmond is clearly coping, I think they should be applauded for at least trying something. Please, Microsoft, I beg you. A sweaty Steve Ballmer yelling and jumping around is better for your brand than employing a dance troupe to rally your remaining fans.
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| Motorola’s Next Super Phone Leaked: Meet Verizon’s Droid RAZR HD Posted: 09 Jun 2012 07:50 AM PDT  The Droid RAZR HD is coming. It’s yet to be announced, but several leaks foretell its coming. And the next Droid is set to go spec-to-spec with the Samsung Galaxy S III. This thing looks killer. The leaked pics show a device clearly born of the same DNA responsible for Motorola’s hottest Android models. The backside appears to be made of carbon fiber like the RAZR and RAZR MAXX. There are microUSB and microHDMI ports on the device’s side like on the Droid X/X2 and Bionic. The casing’s relatively thick casing is spurring rumors across the blogosphere that this model might even pack the RAZR MAXX’s massive 3000 mAh battery, which, if included, would give this Droid a significant selling point over the Samsung Galaxy S III. Per leaked benchmarks further detailed below, the screen is reportedly 1196×720 with several pixels likely dedicated to on-screen buttons. This is a significant step-up from the RAZR’s 540 x 960 screen and matches the Samsung Galaxy S III pixel for pixel. A stray Nenamark benchmark further details the upcoming phone, revealing its Snapdragon S4 dual-core heart running at 1.5GHz. Fanboys will be quick to point out that this is the same clock speed and chipset used in the SIII headed to Verizon, but the Droid RAZR HD reportedly only has 1GB of RAM where Samsung’s latest rocks 2GB. So far pricing and the target release date has yet to be announced (or leaked). That said, if Mr. Blurry Cam can get his hands on a unit, chances are the release is not that far out and considering the RAZR MAXX’s recent price drop, expect this model to cost either $249 or $299.
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| Kinect Reveals The Next Job To Be Replaced By Computers: Sports Coaches Posted: 09 Jun 2012 07:00 AM PDT  “It’s just as good as getting a personal instructor,” says basketball coach Julio Agosto, speaking on the Xbox Kinect’s new dribbling game, NBA Baller Beats. Agosto, an Emerald City Academy Basketball coach and father to b-ball Internet phenom, Jashaun Agosto, tells TechCrunch that Kinect’s digital eye is able to recognize and reward enough advanced dribbling skills that the new NBA game could replace human instruction at his basketball camp (at least the dribbling portion). This latest Microsoft development brings one more job closer to the chopping block of skills that can be done cheaper and more conveniently by a computer: sports and fitness coaches. Baller Beats plays a lot like Rock Band but with a basketball; gamers are rewarded for dribbling to a (rockin’) beat, with the familiar vertical scroll of colorful, raised buttons indicating when users should bounce the ball, and in what direction around the body. Evolving from its Rock Band inspiration, Baller Beats is the first title to recognize objects, allowing wanna-be athletes to hone their muscle memory with the very tools used in real-life gameplay. “Even a pro player can get a good workout,” gushes Agosto. Since this system is made for the home, players can practice to their heart’s content anytime they want. Interestingly, Agosto argues that much of his dribbling coaching is cookie-cutter. Among the most important tasks he performs is training burgeoning young b-ballers to keep their eyes on their opponent, simply by asking them to read how many fingers he’s holding up as they dribble. Baller Beats performs the same functional incidentally, since gamers are forced to watch the screen as they play. Advanced skills, such as dribbling through one’s legs, is equally monotonous, requiring a coach to passively monitor players as they perform hundreds of the same movement with pitch-perfect form. Observing an athlete’s form is essentially the same as spotting the correct outline of the human shape–the exact function that Kinect’s dummy digital eye uses to recognize movement. Agosto says the same is true for teaching proper shooting technique, for instance, by ensuring his students keep their elbows pointed downward. In other words, it’s not that Kinect is some Skynet-like genius, but that many of the tasks that “experts” routinely perform are no more sophisticated than the assembly-line construction that robots replaced decades ago. Back then, robots replaced jobs that used our limbs; now they’re replacing our eyes. The encroachment on sports and fitness training is just another notch on the wall for our robot competitors. Last year, the New York Times found armies of lawyers being replaced by computer software, which can just as easily dig through legal documents for keywords. In Florida, automatic learning software is replacing teachers, who have been reciting similar lectures for years. Computers may not be able to replace high-level thinking…yet. But, in the meantime, what other seemingly sophisticated jobs are we doing that could be next on the automated chopping block?
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| Experience Metro With Splashtop’s Android And iPad Windows 8 Metro Testbed App Posted: 09 Jun 2012 06:52 AM PDT  Splashtop made waves (thankyouverymuch) in April when the mobile app company launched the Windows 8 Testbed Metro for the iPad. This iPad app allowed owners to experience the few highs and many lows of Windows 8 Metro. As Engadget put it then, it must be a bit uncomfortable for iPads, but it’s a very impressive app offering nearly all the functionality of Metro including the many multitouch swipe functions. And now it’s available for Android tablets, too.
The price is still the same: $49.99 but its current 50% off for an unspecified limited time. The app runs at a resolution of 1280 x 800 resolution and supports Android tabs ranging from seven to ten inches. Like its iPad counterpart the app supports Metro’s UI touch gestures allowing developers and consumers alike to experience most of Metro on their current devices. Sure, it’s a bit pricy even at the $25 promotional price, but the app is fully functional even if it’s not as smooth as the real thing. If Windows 8 calls your name, it’s best to jump on the platform now. For most people Metro is not love at first sight. You have to learn to love Metro. [Google Play] [iTunes] Click to view slideshow.
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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 6/10/2012 05:21:00 AM
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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 6/10/2012 05:21:00 AM
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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 6/10/2012 05:22:00 AM
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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 6/10/2012 05:22:00 AM
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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 6/10/2012 05:22:00 AM
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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 6/10/2012 05:22:00 AM
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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 6/10/2012 05:22:00 AM
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