Can Microsoft make Silverlight shine?
Goldfarb, like Microsoft, is keenly aware though, that until Silverlight fares better on the first front, many Web developers won't spend much time worrying about the second question.Microsoft is taking several approaches to trying to boost Silverlight's distribution, ranging from striking third-party deals like its pact to power the NBC Olympics Web site to bundling Silverlight into other Microsoft products. Although Goldfarb didn't use the word "bundling," he did say Microsoft is actively trying to get other product groups within the company to adopt Silverlight in some way and then distribute it as part of their product."We are working with a broad cross section of our product groups," he said, adding that evangelizing Silverlight across the company is still a challenge, even though CEO Steve Ballmer has highlighted the technology as key to its future. "It's a big ship to start turning around."One of the earliest examples of Microsoft distributing Silverlight with other products: the new version of Office for Mac that shipped earlier this year. Goldfarb acknowledges that there are many considerations in trying to decide which products to include Silverlight with, noting that people are sensitive to having software thrust upon them."What I want to avoid is arbitrarily pushing things on people's machines," he said. "Apple just jammed Safari 3.1 down as part of iTunes."The tie with Office is somewhat tenuous, however. Silverlight is part of the standard installation of Office 2008 for Mac. Office itself doesn't use Silverlight, although the highest-end version of Office now comes with a product called Expression Media, which does make use of Silverlight, Goldfarb said.Over time, Goldfarb said there's the possibility of further integration, such as having the help videos in Office 2008 use Silverlight.Microsoft also uses Silverlight as part of the latest version of the MSN Toolbar, using it to offer display dynamic content, such as RSS feeds.Another potential vehicle for distribution is convincing computer makers to preload Silverlight onto new PCs."Microsoft is already talking with leading (computer makers)," Goldfarb said, adding that the company has developed software that PC makers can use to preinstall Silverlight on new machines. Microsoft also signed a deal with Nokia to distribute a version of Silverlight for mobile phones. "Overall, our intention is to use the Web to distribute Silverlight which offers an easy download experience that takes less than 10 seconds to install but we will also work closely with channel distributors to preinstall Silverlight as appropriate," he added.Attracting mainstream developers Greg DeMichillie, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, said that if Microsoft is willing to pay, computer makers will be willing to include Silverlight."The OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) will preinstall anything if you pay them," he said. DeMichillie said that whatever its strategy, Microsoft needs to get Silverlight on more than three-quarters of Web-connected PCs to really get mainstream developer attention."The magic number seems to be something like 80 percent," he said. "I've heard that from various Web developers."While Microsoft showed some impressive technologies at its recent Mix '08 conference, DeMichillie said most Web developers want to see a lot more eyeballs before they are willing to consider an alternative to Flash. "If Flash is on 98 percent and Silverlight is on 10 percent, you don't even get to the merits of Silverlight. You just pick Flash."Goldfarb wouldn't say what percentage of machines he thought were running Silverlight, pointing to the momentum numbers given out at Mix that Microsoft was generating 1.5 million downloads of Silverlight per day. Goldfarb said the response from Web developers convinces him that Microsoft is on the right path. "We've already started to change the dialogue," he said. "People are believing. It's not a matter of 'if', it's a matter of 'when,' and 'when' isn't that far away."
Rayman- Jungle Run, The Room top Apple's games of the year
Rayman: Jungle Run, The Room top Apple's games of the year
As another year draws to a close, Apple has honoured some of the best releases across the iTunes store in 2012.This year, we had a major and an independent games publisher walking away with top prizes in the games category. Ubisoft's Rayman: Jungle Run (AU$2.99) took top prize for iPhone, and Firebox Games' stunning puzzler The Room (AU$1.99) took the top spot for iPad.Both, in our opinion, well deserve the honour.Rayman: Jungle Run is an eye-popping explosion of gorgeous colours â€" and a really fun to play arcade title in its own right. It's divided into four sections â€" Jump, Fly, Wall Run and Punch â€" each of which is based around a simple one-touch control system. Rayman runs automatically, and you control what he does by tapping or holding the screen; for example, in Jump, tapping the screen anywhere makes Rayman jump, and so forth. The objective in each level is to collect all 100 Electoons â€" not as simple a prospect as it sounds â€" in order to obtain a Death's Tooth. Five of these teeth will unlock the next level, so there's actually incentive to collect a perfect score. It's not exactly deep, but Ubisoft has created the perfect balance between challenging and pick-up-and-put-down gameplay.The Room is a puzzle-box game that sees you exploring in 3D a series of chests, boxes and cabinets that are scrawled with arcane symbols and scratchings and filled with clockworks and cryptic notes. You have to figure out how to open various hidden compartments, fix broken mechanical features to solve the box, collect the story clues and move onto the next box. It can be really tricky â€" but the marvellous thing is that it's never frustrating, with gentle clues that you can read (or ignore) to nudge you in the right direction â€" and we found ourselves, with each successful solution, feeling that excited "a-ha!" â€" accompanied by a warm satisfaction that has us gleefully returning for more. Combined with the tactile experience of touch-based gaming, and minus the pressures of points and achievements, it's a title that's actually exciting to play.Between the beautiful game design, the spooky-but-not-terrifying ambience and the mysterious storyline, it's a stellar achievement in iPad gaming.For App of the Year, Action Movie FX (free) won the prize for iPhone: a movie-making app that lets you add special effects to your iPhone-shot films â€" such as alien attacks, death rays, explosions and floods.Action Movie FX also took runner-up in the iPad category, with victory going to Paper by FiftyThree (free). Paper is one elegant notebook, kind of like turning your iPad into a Moleskine. The free app download includes the pen tool and an array of colours to get you started â€" we love how smooth it is to draw and the touch controls are genuinely clever. Additional tools are purchasable for AU$1.99 each, and you can get pencil, pen, texta and watercolour tools. They all look gorgeous. One minor niggle is that the colour palette is quite small â€" we're hoping to see an expansion in the future, but, in the meantime, it's still one of the most stylish notebook apps we've seen.The runners up also included Figure (AU$0.99) (iPhone app of the year runner up), an intuitive and stylish music-making app; Letterpress (free) (iPhone game of the year runner up), a multiplayer strategic word game; and Waking Mars (AU$5.49) (iPad game of the year runner up), a beautiful exploration game about first contact with alien life.Apple also nominated the best podcast, movie, music, TV show and book releases for 2012.You can find the full list of Apple's Best of 2012 in iTunes here.
As another year draws to a close, Apple has honoured some of the best releases across the iTunes store in 2012.This year, we had a major and an independent games publisher walking away with top prizes in the games category. Ubisoft's Rayman: Jungle Run (AU$2.99) took top prize for iPhone, and Firebox Games' stunning puzzler The Room (AU$1.99) took the top spot for iPad.Both, in our opinion, well deserve the honour.Rayman: Jungle Run is an eye-popping explosion of gorgeous colours â€" and a really fun to play arcade title in its own right. It's divided into four sections â€" Jump, Fly, Wall Run and Punch â€" each of which is based around a simple one-touch control system. Rayman runs automatically, and you control what he does by tapping or holding the screen; for example, in Jump, tapping the screen anywhere makes Rayman jump, and so forth. The objective in each level is to collect all 100 Electoons â€" not as simple a prospect as it sounds â€" in order to obtain a Death's Tooth. Five of these teeth will unlock the next level, so there's actually incentive to collect a perfect score. It's not exactly deep, but Ubisoft has created the perfect balance between challenging and pick-up-and-put-down gameplay.The Room is a puzzle-box game that sees you exploring in 3D a series of chests, boxes and cabinets that are scrawled with arcane symbols and scratchings and filled with clockworks and cryptic notes. You have to figure out how to open various hidden compartments, fix broken mechanical features to solve the box, collect the story clues and move onto the next box. It can be really tricky â€" but the marvellous thing is that it's never frustrating, with gentle clues that you can read (or ignore) to nudge you in the right direction â€" and we found ourselves, with each successful solution, feeling that excited "a-ha!" â€" accompanied by a warm satisfaction that has us gleefully returning for more. Combined with the tactile experience of touch-based gaming, and minus the pressures of points and achievements, it's a title that's actually exciting to play.Between the beautiful game design, the spooky-but-not-terrifying ambience and the mysterious storyline, it's a stellar achievement in iPad gaming.For App of the Year, Action Movie FX (free) won the prize for iPhone: a movie-making app that lets you add special effects to your iPhone-shot films â€" such as alien attacks, death rays, explosions and floods.Action Movie FX also took runner-up in the iPad category, with victory going to Paper by FiftyThree (free). Paper is one elegant notebook, kind of like turning your iPad into a Moleskine. The free app download includes the pen tool and an array of colours to get you started â€" we love how smooth it is to draw and the touch controls are genuinely clever. Additional tools are purchasable for AU$1.99 each, and you can get pencil, pen, texta and watercolour tools. They all look gorgeous. One minor niggle is that the colour palette is quite small â€" we're hoping to see an expansion in the future, but, in the meantime, it's still one of the most stylish notebook apps we've seen.The runners up also included Figure (AU$0.99) (iPhone app of the year runner up), an intuitive and stylish music-making app; Letterpress (free) (iPhone game of the year runner up), a multiplayer strategic word game; and Waking Mars (AU$5.49) (iPad game of the year runner up), a beautiful exploration game about first contact with alien life.Apple also nominated the best podcast, movie, music, TV show and book releases for 2012.You can find the full list of Apple's Best of 2012 in iTunes here.
Estimates peg App Store at 500,000 apps
Estimates peg App Store at 500,000 apps
Apple's App Store has crossed an important benchmark, jumping past 500,000 apps in the App Store when combining apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. That's according to Chomp, 148apps and Chillingo, which have put together an infographic of some of the milestones and trends on the way to that number.The infographic pulls out some interesting data points about the progression of the App Store, particularly the price and makeup of the store's volume. Paid apps, for instance, account for 63 percent of the App Store's overall library, and average out at $3.64 an app. Altogether that would cost you $891,982.24 if you wanted to buy the entire library of paid apps.Individual applications are also broken out for both news significance, and chart-topping prowess. That includes Rovio's Angry Birds, which has claimed the top spot in the paid apps category for a cumulative 275 days, followed distantly by The Moron Test, which held the spot for 38 days. Then there are titles like Texas Hold 'em, the first and only iOS game from Apple, which the infographic notes has not been updated in nearly two and a half years.Applefirst launched the App Store in 2008 alongside the release of the iPhone 3G, the company's second-generation handset. When the iPhone was first introduced, there was no software development kit for it, with Apple pushing developers to use the Web instead. Since launching, the App Store's gone on to bring developers more than a $2 billion in revenue, with Apple taking a 30 percent cut of each app sold. The road to 500,000 has been brisk. In January, Apple announced it was up to 350,000 applications, meaning it's taken a little more than four months to tack on another 150,000. To put that in perspective, the jump from 10,000 to 100,000 early on in the store's lifetime took about a year. Competitor Microsoft this morning announced it had just reached 17,000 apps in its Windows Phone Marketplace, which opened up near the end of 2010.Apple's lead in the battle over who has the biggest app volume could be nearing an end though. A report released by analytics firm Distimo near the end of April estimated that Google's Android Market would surpass Apple's in volume sometime in July. That estimate was made based on several months of growth tracking on multiple platforms. Android's split approach, allowing multiple application stores as well as the side-loading of applications, was singled out for opening up the possibility for those numbers to grow even faster than those of Apple, which must approve each application.Apple has not yet made any official mention of hitting 500,000 apps, and AppShopper--another third-party app tracking service--says Apple is about 5,000 shy of that number. Apple is expected to provide more precise information about overall volume, and any changes at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off in a few weeks. A section of the infographic. Click to see the entire image.Chomp, 148apps and Chillingo
Apple's App Store has crossed an important benchmark, jumping past 500,000 apps in the App Store when combining apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. That's according to Chomp, 148apps and Chillingo, which have put together an infographic of some of the milestones and trends on the way to that number.The infographic pulls out some interesting data points about the progression of the App Store, particularly the price and makeup of the store's volume. Paid apps, for instance, account for 63 percent of the App Store's overall library, and average out at $3.64 an app. Altogether that would cost you $891,982.24 if you wanted to buy the entire library of paid apps.Individual applications are also broken out for both news significance, and chart-topping prowess. That includes Rovio's Angry Birds, which has claimed the top spot in the paid apps category for a cumulative 275 days, followed distantly by The Moron Test, which held the spot for 38 days. Then there are titles like Texas Hold 'em, the first and only iOS game from Apple, which the infographic notes has not been updated in nearly two and a half years.Applefirst launched the App Store in 2008 alongside the release of the iPhone 3G, the company's second-generation handset. When the iPhone was first introduced, there was no software development kit for it, with Apple pushing developers to use the Web instead. Since launching, the App Store's gone on to bring developers more than a $2 billion in revenue, with Apple taking a 30 percent cut of each app sold. The road to 500,000 has been brisk. In January, Apple announced it was up to 350,000 applications, meaning it's taken a little more than four months to tack on another 150,000. To put that in perspective, the jump from 10,000 to 100,000 early on in the store's lifetime took about a year. Competitor Microsoft this morning announced it had just reached 17,000 apps in its Windows Phone Marketplace, which opened up near the end of 2010.Apple's lead in the battle over who has the biggest app volume could be nearing an end though. A report released by analytics firm Distimo near the end of April estimated that Google's Android Market would surpass Apple's in volume sometime in July. That estimate was made based on several months of growth tracking on multiple platforms. Android's split approach, allowing multiple application stores as well as the side-loading of applications, was singled out for opening up the possibility for those numbers to grow even faster than those of Apple, which must approve each application.Apple has not yet made any official mention of hitting 500,000 apps, and AppShopper--another third-party app tracking service--says Apple is about 5,000 shy of that number. Apple is expected to provide more precise information about overall volume, and any changes at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off in a few weeks. A section of the infographic. Click to see the entire image.Chomp, 148apps and Chillingo
The 404 676- Where Mark Zuckerberg sees dead people (podcast)
The 404 676: Where Mark Zuckerberg sees dead people (podcast)
Big thanks to Sony for sending us to last night's prescreening of "The Social Network". Of course, all three of us loved the film, and without giving away any spoilers, we spend some time at the beginning of today's episode of The 404 Podcast to discuss everything we loved (Sorkin's screenplay, Reznor/Ross's score, actor performances, etc...) as well as our suspicions about the truthfulness of the story, but with a 100 percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, you should definitely see for yourself!It seems that at least one story on The 404 per week is dedicated to the movie "Hackers," and this week we're celebrating the 15th anniversary of the movie's 1995 release by running through Alexander Sotirov's Cyberpunk Style Guide. The photoblog showcases some of the movie's best wardrobe choices, which includes a lot of multipocketed vests, latex leggings, rollerblades, and at least one cat shirt. Of course, Jeff's favorite scene featuring Angelina Jolie in a NJ Devil's jersey is always represented on the site as well.It's hard to believe, but George Lucas and his visual effects teams at LucasFilms and ILM are actually re-re-releasing the six "Star Wars" films in 3D, starting with "The Phantom Menace" in 2012. After that, Lucas will release one "Star Wars" film per year in 3D, and Lucas says by 2012, enough theaters around the country will have the 3D technology to support a wide release. Sounds like a plot to squeeze a billion or so more dollars out of the series, and while many fans were irate about the changes and additions to the beloved classics, apparently the 3D releases will also include even more never-before-seen footage. For die-hard fans who can't wait, the Star Wars films will also be available in high definition on 2D Blu-ray next year.Episode 676PodcastYour browser does not support the audio element. Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) |Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video  Follow us on Twitter!The 404Jeff BakalarJustin YuWilson TangAdd us on Facebook!The 404 Fan PageThe 404 GroupJustin YuJeff BakalarWilson Tang
Big thanks to Sony for sending us to last night's prescreening of "The Social Network". Of course, all three of us loved the film, and without giving away any spoilers, we spend some time at the beginning of today's episode of The 404 Podcast to discuss everything we loved (Sorkin's screenplay, Reznor/Ross's score, actor performances, etc...) as well as our suspicions about the truthfulness of the story, but with a 100 percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, you should definitely see for yourself!It seems that at least one story on The 404 per week is dedicated to the movie "Hackers," and this week we're celebrating the 15th anniversary of the movie's 1995 release by running through Alexander Sotirov's Cyberpunk Style Guide. The photoblog showcases some of the movie's best wardrobe choices, which includes a lot of multipocketed vests, latex leggings, rollerblades, and at least one cat shirt. Of course, Jeff's favorite scene featuring Angelina Jolie in a NJ Devil's jersey is always represented on the site as well.It's hard to believe, but George Lucas and his visual effects teams at LucasFilms and ILM are actually re-re-releasing the six "Star Wars" films in 3D, starting with "The Phantom Menace" in 2012. After that, Lucas will release one "Star Wars" film per year in 3D, and Lucas says by 2012, enough theaters around the country will have the 3D technology to support a wide release. Sounds like a plot to squeeze a billion or so more dollars out of the series, and while many fans were irate about the changes and additions to the beloved classics, apparently the 3D releases will also include even more never-before-seen footage. For die-hard fans who can't wait, the Star Wars films will also be available in high definition on 2D Blu-ray next year.Episode 676PodcastYour browser does not support the audio element. Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) |Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video  Follow us on Twitter!The 404Jeff BakalarJustin YuWilson TangAdd us on Facebook!The 404 Fan PageThe 404 GroupJustin YuJeff BakalarWilson Tang
No big announcement at Spotify's SXSWi talk
No big announcement at Spotify's SXSWi talk
Spotify currently has about 7 million users, around 320,000 of whom pay for a subscription to opt out of audio and display ads, despite being technically restricted to six European countries. But eager to try out the service, many in the U.S. and elsewhere have capitalized on sneaky workarounds and Internet proxies to get Spotify for themselves. Ek presented a live demo of Spotify's desktop software and Android app to the audience, ostensibly novelties because the service isn't available in the U.S. Interviewer Eliot von Buskirk, a music journalist for Wired magazine, had polled the audience to see who had tried Spotify, and when a surprising number of hands went up, von Buskirk joked, "So everybody's from Europe?"Crowds had turned out for the keynote because Spotify is one of those rare music services that actually might have potential--its attractive design, focus on playlist creation and sharing via URLs, and simple interface have won it many fans. Some might say that Ek, a 26-year-old from Sweden, is naive because he still believes that there's money to be made in digital music--a model that's time and again proven to be a cash drain and an investor disappointment for just about anyone not affiliated with Apple. He said over and over that the music industry needs to embrace multiple revenue streams, truly believing that it's the only way that the money will come in."There isn't one business model that will save the music industry, but it's about figuring out how to use downloads, how to use subscriptions, how to use merchandising, ticketing, and all these things," he said.Ek did hint that one of Spotify's big plans right now is to get its product on other platforms. "Most of the other (non-iPhone) handset manufacturers lack a really good media player, and we've seen that people tend to use Spotify as a media player on Nokia handsets, on Android handsets, and so on," he said. "It's been very cumbersome to get your music on a BlackBerry phone or a Nokia phone from your iTunes library, and that's something we want to sort out."It's beyond mobile, too."We want to enable your library on all these devices, whether it's a set-top box, an Xbox, a mobile phone," he said. "We want to make music like water."
Spotify currently has about 7 million users, around 320,000 of whom pay for a subscription to opt out of audio and display ads, despite being technically restricted to six European countries. But eager to try out the service, many in the U.S. and elsewhere have capitalized on sneaky workarounds and Internet proxies to get Spotify for themselves. Ek presented a live demo of Spotify's desktop software and Android app to the audience, ostensibly novelties because the service isn't available in the U.S. Interviewer Eliot von Buskirk, a music journalist for Wired magazine, had polled the audience to see who had tried Spotify, and when a surprising number of hands went up, von Buskirk joked, "So everybody's from Europe?"Crowds had turned out for the keynote because Spotify is one of those rare music services that actually might have potential--its attractive design, focus on playlist creation and sharing via URLs, and simple interface have won it many fans. Some might say that Ek, a 26-year-old from Sweden, is naive because he still believes that there's money to be made in digital music--a model that's time and again proven to be a cash drain and an investor disappointment for just about anyone not affiliated with Apple. He said over and over that the music industry needs to embrace multiple revenue streams, truly believing that it's the only way that the money will come in."There isn't one business model that will save the music industry, but it's about figuring out how to use downloads, how to use subscriptions, how to use merchandising, ticketing, and all these things," he said.Ek did hint that one of Spotify's big plans right now is to get its product on other platforms. "Most of the other (non-iPhone) handset manufacturers lack a really good media player, and we've seen that people tend to use Spotify as a media player on Nokia handsets, on Android handsets, and so on," he said. "It's been very cumbersome to get your music on a BlackBerry phone or a Nokia phone from your iTunes library, and that's something we want to sort out."It's beyond mobile, too."We want to enable your library on all these devices, whether it's a set-top box, an Xbox, a mobile phone," he said. "We want to make music like water."
Droid lacks Apple's secret weapon- iTunes
Droid lacks Apple's secret weapon: iTunes
Announced this weekend by Verizon in a cheeky TV commercial, the Droid is a Motorola phone running Google's Android 2.0 operating system. The advertisement notes that the Droid will do things that the iPhone won't, like take pictures in the dark and run simultaneous apps (apparently playing music in the background, as the iPhone can do, doesn't count), and touts its open development process (a head-scratcher for non-techies, but it could mean more apps than the iPhone, someday). The first preview I've seen, from Boy Genius Report, was also positive. People are excited, and for good reason--competition drives innovation, which is good for consumers. But here's the thing: one reason for the runaway success of the iPhone--and one of the reasons why Apple still continues to sell more than 10 million iPods per quarter--is iTunes. Not so much the store, although that's an important component, but the software. Of course there are plenty of other applications out there that help you rip CDs and organize your digital music collection. And there are plenty of other sources for online music. But the real strength of iTunes is in the sync process--you plug your iPhone in, iTunes opens up automatically and recognizes it. Hit the large "Sync" button and it automatically loads your music (and video, and apps, and anything else you choose) onto it. (With some devices, depending on your settings, you don't even need to hit "Sync.") That's the simple, consumer-friendly, end-to-end experience that Apple figured out first.Contrast that with the multi-step process required to transfer music from a Windows PC to the first Android phone that was available in the U.S., last year's G1. Amazon provided over-the-air MP3 downloads for that phone, giving it a rough equivalent to the over-the-air version of the iTunes store, but let's face it: most digital music is not purchased, but is ripped from a CD or comes from some other source (legal or not). Verizon, Motorola, and Google haven't said much about music for the Droid. Maybe they still have a musical trick or two up their collective sleeves. But without some sort of equivalent to the iTunes desktop application, the Droid may be a great phone, but it won't be a great music phone.
Announced this weekend by Verizon in a cheeky TV commercial, the Droid is a Motorola phone running Google's Android 2.0 operating system. The advertisement notes that the Droid will do things that the iPhone won't, like take pictures in the dark and run simultaneous apps (apparently playing music in the background, as the iPhone can do, doesn't count), and touts its open development process (a head-scratcher for non-techies, but it could mean more apps than the iPhone, someday). The first preview I've seen, from Boy Genius Report, was also positive. People are excited, and for good reason--competition drives innovation, which is good for consumers. But here's the thing: one reason for the runaway success of the iPhone--and one of the reasons why Apple still continues to sell more than 10 million iPods per quarter--is iTunes. Not so much the store, although that's an important component, but the software. Of course there are plenty of other applications out there that help you rip CDs and organize your digital music collection. And there are plenty of other sources for online music. But the real strength of iTunes is in the sync process--you plug your iPhone in, iTunes opens up automatically and recognizes it. Hit the large "Sync" button and it automatically loads your music (and video, and apps, and anything else you choose) onto it. (With some devices, depending on your settings, you don't even need to hit "Sync.") That's the simple, consumer-friendly, end-to-end experience that Apple figured out first.Contrast that with the multi-step process required to transfer music from a Windows PC to the first Android phone that was available in the U.S., last year's G1. Amazon provided over-the-air MP3 downloads for that phone, giving it a rough equivalent to the over-the-air version of the iTunes store, but let's face it: most digital music is not purchased, but is ripped from a CD or comes from some other source (legal or not). Verizon, Motorola, and Google haven't said much about music for the Droid. Maybe they still have a musical trick or two up their collective sleeves. But without some sort of equivalent to the iTunes desktop application, the Droid may be a great phone, but it won't be a great music phone.
DoubleTwist for Android- Keep your songs in sync
DoubleTwist for Android: Keep your songs in sync
The DoubleTwist Player for Android that debuted in the Android Market this week is a good-looking alternative to Android's default media player. The Android app is the mobile arm of the DoubleTwist media library for Windows and Mac, itself an iTunes alternative focused on managing media for a variety of smartphone platforms. As such, the mobile player is tasked with syncing your music, videos, and podcasts to and from your desktop and your Android phone.The app lets you find songs by artist, album, title, or playlist. There are also shortcuts for synced videos and podcasts. The player then spins your picks, giving you basic controls to pause, skip, and shuffle.We tested DoubleTwist's PC-to-phone syncing on two Android phones. One transfer worked quickly and as advertised, but the other became a source of intense and mounting frustration with incomplete and failed syncs and even an attempt that led to a memory card error. DoubleTwist's engineers are still poring through our error log to pinpoint the problem.If your music library is fit to burst, expect a lengthy first sync that could take 10 minutes or so, though subsequent syncing should be speedier, especially if you're dealing with smaller media loads. DoubleTwist for Android automatically mounts the USB drive to facilitate media syncing.Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNETWhen it came to performance, we found the Android player itself to be reliable, but underfeatured. We'd like to see a search bar, a genre category, the ability to build an ad-hoc playlist by adding a song to the queue, and subscribe to podcasts, to name a few points on our wish list. The app could also benefit from controls on the lock screen. Plans are in the works for a home screen widget that will control the player outside the app.DoubleTwist is advertising version 1.0 of its player as free for a limited time, but there's no indication at this point how much the company intends to charge. Until the feature set gets a boost, we remain skeptical that charging for the app is justified or will increase its usage.
The DoubleTwist Player for Android that debuted in the Android Market this week is a good-looking alternative to Android's default media player. The Android app is the mobile arm of the DoubleTwist media library for Windows and Mac, itself an iTunes alternative focused on managing media for a variety of smartphone platforms. As such, the mobile player is tasked with syncing your music, videos, and podcasts to and from your desktop and your Android phone.The app lets you find songs by artist, album, title, or playlist. There are also shortcuts for synced videos and podcasts. The player then spins your picks, giving you basic controls to pause, skip, and shuffle.We tested DoubleTwist's PC-to-phone syncing on two Android phones. One transfer worked quickly and as advertised, but the other became a source of intense and mounting frustration with incomplete and failed syncs and even an attempt that led to a memory card error. DoubleTwist's engineers are still poring through our error log to pinpoint the problem.If your music library is fit to burst, expect a lengthy first sync that could take 10 minutes or so, though subsequent syncing should be speedier, especially if you're dealing with smaller media loads. DoubleTwist for Android automatically mounts the USB drive to facilitate media syncing.Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNETWhen it came to performance, we found the Android player itself to be reliable, but underfeatured. We'd like to see a search bar, a genre category, the ability to build an ad-hoc playlist by adding a song to the queue, and subscribe to podcasts, to name a few points on our wish list. The app could also benefit from controls on the lock screen. Plans are in the works for a home screen widget that will control the player outside the app.DoubleTwist is advertising version 1.0 of its player as free for a limited time, but there's no indication at this point how much the company intends to charge. Until the feature set gets a boost, we remain skeptical that charging for the app is justified or will increase its usage.
Report- Retina Display iPad 3 to hit in 'early' 2012
Report: Retina Display iPad 3 to hit in 'early' 2012
Pouring cold water on reports that Apple intends to launch the next version of the iPad this year, a new report says the company has yet to hit the trial production phase of the device.The Wall Street Journal reported today that Apple is still in the process of pulling together parts from various vendors for a trial production of the device, which the Journal says is expected to begin sometime in October. A release is said to follow sometime early next year.Previous reports hinted that Apple might surprise with a new model in time for this year's holiday-shopping season.One point of note from the Journal's report is that Apple is, in fact, planning to offer a so-called Retina Display. That's a panel with a pixel density high enough that the human eye can't make out pixels on items like text and rounded corners. For the iPad, that means the screen size remains the same as it's been in the first two models, except with double the resolution, or 2,048x1,536 pixels. Apple first introduced Retina Displays to its own products with the iPhone 4, and it has since filtered down to the latest generation iPod Touch as well. The news follows a report last month by The Korea Times saying both Samsung and LG were vying to producehigher-resolution display panels for Apple's iPad follow-up. A report from DigiTimes earlier this week claimed neither company was reaching good enough yields of the display, which it said was keeping Apple from delivering a new version of the device this year. A release early next year would coincide with the launch schedules of the previous two devices. The original iPad was launched on April 3, 2010, with its successor arriving less than a year later on March 2, 2011.
Pouring cold water on reports that Apple intends to launch the next version of the iPad this year, a new report says the company has yet to hit the trial production phase of the device.The Wall Street Journal reported today that Apple is still in the process of pulling together parts from various vendors for a trial production of the device, which the Journal says is expected to begin sometime in October. A release is said to follow sometime early next year.Previous reports hinted that Apple might surprise with a new model in time for this year's holiday-shopping season.One point of note from the Journal's report is that Apple is, in fact, planning to offer a so-called Retina Display. That's a panel with a pixel density high enough that the human eye can't make out pixels on items like text and rounded corners. For the iPad, that means the screen size remains the same as it's been in the first two models, except with double the resolution, or 2,048x1,536 pixels. Apple first introduced Retina Displays to its own products with the iPhone 4, and it has since filtered down to the latest generation iPod Touch as well. The news follows a report last month by The Korea Times saying both Samsung and LG were vying to producehigher-resolution display panels for Apple's iPad follow-up. A report from DigiTimes earlier this week claimed neither company was reaching good enough yields of the display, which it said was keeping Apple from delivering a new version of the device this year. A release early next year would coincide with the launch schedules of the previous two devices. The original iPad was launched on April 3, 2010, with its successor arriving less than a year later on March 2, 2011.
Report- Placards say white iPhone due in spring
Report: Placards say white iPhone due in spring
Apple's long-overdue white iPhone will finally hit the market in the spring, at least according to new placards apparently popping up in Apple stores.Nestled amid the fine print on the signs is a brief line noting that the white iPhone will be available in spring 2011, according to Apple-enthusiast site 9to5 Mac.The placards may be confirmation of Apple's late-October promise that the white device will go on sale in the spring following a series of delays. At the time, Apple issued a statement saying, "We're sorry to disappoint customers waiting for the white iPhone yet again, but we've decided to delay its release until this spring."The spring forecast dashed the hopes of many prospective iPhone buyers looking forward to a white Christmas. It also followed a couple of broken promises in which Apple first said in June that the white iPhone would be delayed until July and then in July said it would ship later this year.Apple has been mum about the specific reasons behind the delay, simply saying that the white iPhone has been more challenging to manufacture than originally expected. But a late October story from Cult of Mac cited a source with connections to Apple who pinned the blame specifically on the camera. If the source is correct, testing of the phone had revealed a problem with light leaking into the back of its semi-translucent case, interfering with its ability to snap accurate pictures.
Apple's long-overdue white iPhone will finally hit the market in the spring, at least according to new placards apparently popping up in Apple stores.Nestled amid the fine print on the signs is a brief line noting that the white iPhone will be available in spring 2011, according to Apple-enthusiast site 9to5 Mac.The placards may be confirmation of Apple's late-October promise that the white device will go on sale in the spring following a series of delays. At the time, Apple issued a statement saying, "We're sorry to disappoint customers waiting for the white iPhone yet again, but we've decided to delay its release until this spring."The spring forecast dashed the hopes of many prospective iPhone buyers looking forward to a white Christmas. It also followed a couple of broken promises in which Apple first said in June that the white iPhone would be delayed until July and then in July said it would ship later this year.Apple has been mum about the specific reasons behind the delay, simply saying that the white iPhone has been more challenging to manufacture than originally expected. But a late October story from Cult of Mac cited a source with connections to Apple who pinned the blame specifically on the camera. If the source is correct, testing of the phone had revealed a problem with light leaking into the back of its semi-translucent case, interfering with its ability to snap accurate pictures.
Report- Next iPhone not coming until October-
Report: Next iPhone not coming until October?
Those who were expecting Apple to ship a follow-up to the iPhone 4 this summer may be in for a longer wait than usual. A new report from Japanese Mac blog Macotakra says Apple is behind its usual schedule of ordering parts that go into the manufacturing process for the device. That change in pace could result in Apple shipping out a phone a few months later than the June time frame for the previous two models, and July for the iPhone 3G. AppleInsider, which picked up on the report this morning, notes that the later timing would result in the next iPhone missing Apple's fiscal 2011, which concludes on September 24 this year. Along with the timing news, Macotakra's report, which is based on its sources in China, notes that Apple has still not committed to changing the materials used on the back of the iPhone from glass to metal. Rumors of such a change had first cropped up in March, with a follow-up report a few weeks later by 9to5Mac that said Apple was indeed testing out prototypes of future iPhone designs with metal backs.That move had originally been said to help set the device apart from the iPhone 4 since there were many other design similarities, as well as cut down on shattering incidents for dropped phones.If the rumor proves to be true, it would likely be unwelcome news to those who had been banking on upgrading their phones this summer. But with expectations that Apple now has to juggle both GSM and CDMA versions of the device, possibly implement a near-field communications chip (and the infrastructure that goes with it), as well as cook up the next major release of iOS, there are plenty of moving parts that can push back that time frame.
Those who were expecting Apple to ship a follow-up to the iPhone 4 this summer may be in for a longer wait than usual. A new report from Japanese Mac blog Macotakra says Apple is behind its usual schedule of ordering parts that go into the manufacturing process for the device. That change in pace could result in Apple shipping out a phone a few months later than the June time frame for the previous two models, and July for the iPhone 3G. AppleInsider, which picked up on the report this morning, notes that the later timing would result in the next iPhone missing Apple's fiscal 2011, which concludes on September 24 this year. Along with the timing news, Macotakra's report, which is based on its sources in China, notes that Apple has still not committed to changing the materials used on the back of the iPhone from glass to metal. Rumors of such a change had first cropped up in March, with a follow-up report a few weeks later by 9to5Mac that said Apple was indeed testing out prototypes of future iPhone designs with metal backs.That move had originally been said to help set the device apart from the iPhone 4 since there were many other design similarities, as well as cut down on shattering incidents for dropped phones.If the rumor proves to be true, it would likely be unwelcome news to those who had been banking on upgrading their phones this summer. But with expectations that Apple now has to juggle both GSM and CDMA versions of the device, possibly implement a near-field communications chip (and the infrastructure that goes with it), as well as cook up the next major release of iOS, there are plenty of moving parts that can push back that time frame.
Report- Next iPhone might be cheaper, but not smaller
Report: Next iPhone might be cheaper, but not smaller
Is the next iPhone going to be smaller? Bigger? Or maybe cheaper?"Cheaper" is the latest in a series of confusing and seemingly contradictory rumors about the nature of the next iPhone Apple has in store. Today the New York Times chimed in to say that contrary toa previous report in The Wall Street Journal, the next iPhone is not going to be smaller, but Apple is working on ways to make it cheaper and more accessible for buyers.Apple is focused on making the iPhone attractive to a larger audience, according to the report. That includes offering a phone more easily controlled by voice commands for those who have no interest in or can't use a virtual keyboard.As for how the company is considering bringing down the cost of the phone, it wouldn't be by downsizing the screen. Rather, using cheaper internal components, less memory, or a lower-quality camera are options Apple is considering, according to the Times source who has apparently worked on several iPhone prototypes.Another source says it wouldn't make sense to make a smaller iPhone (we agree) because of how it would affect developers who make their apps formatted to a particular screen size. A "senior Apple executive" also tells the Times that Apple isn't interested in having a lineup of multiple models of iPhones.It doesn't sound like a cheaper iPhone is a sure thing yet, just something Apple is thinking about. One thing's for sure: the next iPhone isn't expected until this summer. So anticipate many more months of rumors to come.
Is the next iPhone going to be smaller? Bigger? Or maybe cheaper?"Cheaper" is the latest in a series of confusing and seemingly contradictory rumors about the nature of the next iPhone Apple has in store. Today the New York Times chimed in to say that contrary toa previous report in The Wall Street Journal, the next iPhone is not going to be smaller, but Apple is working on ways to make it cheaper and more accessible for buyers.Apple is focused on making the iPhone attractive to a larger audience, according to the report. That includes offering a phone more easily controlled by voice commands for those who have no interest in or can't use a virtual keyboard.As for how the company is considering bringing down the cost of the phone, it wouldn't be by downsizing the screen. Rather, using cheaper internal components, less memory, or a lower-quality camera are options Apple is considering, according to the Times source who has apparently worked on several iPhone prototypes.Another source says it wouldn't make sense to make a smaller iPhone (we agree) because of how it would affect developers who make their apps formatted to a particular screen size. A "senior Apple executive" also tells the Times that Apple isn't interested in having a lineup of multiple models of iPhones.It doesn't sound like a cheaper iPhone is a sure thing yet, just something Apple is thinking about. One thing's for sure: the next iPhone isn't expected until this summer. So anticipate many more months of rumors to come.
Report- Next iPad likely to include camera
Report: Next iPad likely to include camera
A document of Apple's iPad management policies, which let IT departments govern the features that corporate users can access, makes mention of the ability to disable the use of the camera. AppleInsider believes this offers some evidence that the company is planning to add a camera to upcoming models.As a further breadcrumb, AppleInsider also cited a job listing from Apple for a "Performance QA Engineer, iPad Media" in which the company is "looking for a software quality engineer with a strong technical background to test still, video and audio capture and playback frameworks." Applicants are invited to "build on your QA experience and knowledge of digital camera technology (still and video) to develop and maintain testing frameworks for both capture and playback pipelines."If the next generation of the iPad does offer a camera, it will likely be a front-facing model that will support FaceTime, said AppleInsider. Though FaceTime's new video chatting is only available on the iPhone 4, ZDNet and other sources have reported that the feature may soon find itself on upcoming versions of the iPod Touch as well as the iPad.This isn't the first sign that Apple may be ramping up to include a camera on the iPad. A beta of the software developers kit (SDK) for the iPad released in January pointed to support for a camera, though that support was removed from the March release of the SDK.Photos released by PowerbookMedic in March found Webcam holes in the final revision of the tablet's midframe, leading to speculation that the iPad would support a front-facing camera.
A document of Apple's iPad management policies, which let IT departments govern the features that corporate users can access, makes mention of the ability to disable the use of the camera. AppleInsider believes this offers some evidence that the company is planning to add a camera to upcoming models.As a further breadcrumb, AppleInsider also cited a job listing from Apple for a "Performance QA Engineer, iPad Media" in which the company is "looking for a software quality engineer with a strong technical background to test still, video and audio capture and playback frameworks." Applicants are invited to "build on your QA experience and knowledge of digital camera technology (still and video) to develop and maintain testing frameworks for both capture and playback pipelines."If the next generation of the iPad does offer a camera, it will likely be a front-facing model that will support FaceTime, said AppleInsider. Though FaceTime's new video chatting is only available on the iPhone 4, ZDNet and other sources have reported that the feature may soon find itself on upcoming versions of the iPod Touch as well as the iPad.This isn't the first sign that Apple may be ramping up to include a camera on the iPad. A beta of the software developers kit (SDK) for the iPad released in January pointed to support for a camera, though that support was removed from the March release of the SDK.Photos released by PowerbookMedic in March found Webcam holes in the final revision of the tablet's midframe, leading to speculation that the iPad would support a front-facing camera.
Marvel Studios Countdown: Should Captain America Face a Civil War or His Own Death
Note: Soon after this piece was published, Marvel announced that Captain America 3 would be following the Civil War storyline with Robert Downey Jr. joining the cast.The third Captain America film is Marvel’s big one for summer 2016, and fans are already looking ahead to what’s in store for what could be the end of a trilogy. Joe and Anthony Russo (of The Winter Soldier) will be back to direct, and they’ve been dropping hints in interviews that the film is something Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has been looking forward to since the very inception of the cinematic Marvel universe. Joe Russo told Crave Online, “If you’ve been talking to Kevin the title has been in place probably for 10 years in his brain. It’s all part of the road map that he’s laid out, and it’s all part of the bigger plan.”We know now that Feige is planning for the third film to be Captain America: Civil War,while others would;ve liked to seeCaptain America: Fallen Son (or the less commercial and thus less likely title The Death of Captain America) in the star-spangled Avenger’s future. This keeps the naming convention of the last couple of Marvel’s sequels, which have used titles from popular comics as their inspiration. Avengers: Age of Ultron, for example, borrows the familiar title but not the plot of the best-selling 2013 comic series.Civil War was a 2006 blockbuster miniseries that saw hero pitted against hero when a tragedy involving young superheroes the New Warriors led to new laws requiring superpowered individuals to register their secret identities with the government. Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) was pro registration, which put him and his supporters in direct odds with Captain America, who felt that it was dangerous to let the government handle that information. The series got national media attention when Peter Parker stood on the side of registration and revealed his secret identity as Spider-Man to the world (a key moment that would be improbable to bring to a Civil War film, as Sony has the Spider-Man rights).The problem with bringing Civil War to screen right now is that none of the superheroes in the movie version of the Marvel universe have secret identities to register, which breaks the central conceit of the plot. One workaround might be to have the heroes split over who is directly on the government payroll or not (and it would still make sense in this context for Captain America to turn down this deal, especially based on his interactions with the corrupt S.H.I.E.L.D. in Winter Soldier). The other problem is that Civil War is not a Captain America story, but a Marvel universe one, and if the title is ever used for a movie it would be best served as an Avengers sequel due to its sprawling cast of heroes.Fallen Son (aka The Death of Captain America) makes much more sense as a third Cap film, since the events in the comic storyline dovetail with the events in the second Captain America movie. In the comic, Cap is assassinated by Crossbones and a brainwashed Sharon Carter. Black Widow and Falcon attempt to hunt down Cap’s killers, while Winter Soldier picks up the mantle of Captain America at the final request of Steve Rogers.It’s rare that all the pieces from a comic are already there and ready to go on film, but we saw Frank Grillo’s character Brock Rumlow survive at the end of Winter Soldier with the assumption that he’d return as his alter-ego Crossbones. Emily Van Camp made an impression as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Agent 13 (aka Sharon Carter), so the potential for that twist is already in place. Of course Falcon and Black Widow are already tied to this franchise and waiting in the wings, and if contractual obligations are to be believed, then Chris Evans may be out the door as Cap anyway. We could be looking at Sebastian Stan as Captain America for the next phase of Marvel films after 2016.Fallen Son requires far less setup than Civil War and tells a more Cap-specific storyline. Civil War may be a more well-known, bankable title, but the timing feels wrong, especially since Marvel’s been slowly setting up something “Infinity Gauntlet” related for a couple of years now. That planning should eventually pay off in a film in which all of the current players of the Marvel cinematic universe unite to thwart Thanos, and we can’t see Marvel blowing the payoff of seeing all of its heroes in one big battle so early on and in a Captain America threequel. If we get Civil War, it’ll likely be an Avengers film, and the resulting film probably won’t look much like the comic book anyway (no established New Warriors, no rights to Spider-Man, no secret identities).Which Captain America storyline do you think Marvel should;ve gone with for Cap;s third outing? Or should they do some combination of both?Captain America 3, a Marvel Studios film starring Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan, opens May 6, 2016. There are 585 days until release.Follow
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