Ever want to play a top-down tower defense game in an 8-bit version of your neighborhood? If so, then you have very specific tastes, and this is for you. Using the Google Maps API, this web app takes Google's Quest April Fools prank farther by making a game out of it, and it looks quite fun.
In order to prove that the Windows Phone 7 flagships phone are faster than any other phone, Microsoft has a new marketing campaign where they invite you to bring your own phone in and pit it's speed against one of Microsoft's phones. Someone has actually managed to win this challenge but was not awarded her prizes because the employees at the store gave her a sudden excuse about needing to have widgets open that tells the weather in two different cities in two different states. She was later issued an apology and challenged to a rematch.
I'm actually very surprised that Google was able to get away with having a 50 MB limit on apps for so long. iOS has a much bigger limit, if there even is one, which allows for apps with more resources. Before this change in policy that allows up to 4GB apps in the Android Market, users would essentially download a client app that would get the rest of the files from a server hosted by the app's developer. This can be very costly for some, and drive away development on Android, so it's a good thing Google upped their limit.
Wow, that was fast! Someone got to making a Windows 8 app that brings back the functions of the start menu. This would actually make me much more likely to upgrade to the OS, because the main problem I have with it is that the start menu is gone and instead replaced with a metro interface that does not transition well from the desktop. It's nice that there are people out there that actually take the time to tweak Windows to make it perform the way people prefer. Now if only Apple allowed for that kind of tweaking officially on OS X and iOS...
Microsoft has finally released the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, the successor to the Developer Preview they released a few months ago. In this version, Xbox Live support has been added, along with the Windows Store opening for business, which lets users download new Metro apps... but not Desktop apps. Also, the Start Button has been moved to this slide-out panel to the right of the screen. I think Microsoft is taking a huge misstep with Windows 8 in terms of it's UI. They should either have all desktop or all Metro UI. Having used Windows 8, switching between the two is just weird because of how incredibly different both interfaces are. And don't even get me started with the freakin' ARM version not letting you sideload apps! And- and- and-...
I'll stop complaining now.
Well, I bet no one saw this one coming! /s
So yes, the new iPad will probably be announced on March 7. People are speculating that it will have double the screen resolution of the iPad and iPad 2 (which can be worrying because it brings more fragmentation into the app store), along with the Quad-Core A5X processor. It's also speculated that this may not have a Home Button, which I really hope does not happen.. Using those multitouch gestures to get back to the homescreen will be a pain in apps that actually use multitouch. It is also said that it will have 4G LTE, which is nice.
This is sooooo cool! It's going to be awesome to wear glasses that have all the functions of a smartphone without having to actually take a smartphone out! It allows for stuff like a HUD when you're walking around, so it can point you to a location that you specified. The only problem with this is that you may look a little dumb trying to navigate the interface out in public. (You have to tilt your head to scroll and stuff)
That's a damn impressive resolution, especially when you look at the current iPad's terrible pixel density and resolution. Although I am concerned about further fragmentation in Apple's App Store. Isn't the lack of fragmentation in apps one of the reasons you would use iOS devices instead of Android devices?
It is really not the time to be doing this. Especially since some people in different parts of the country are still on Dial-Up because that's all they can get. Also, isn't it usually a good idea to have a recovery DVD just in case your OS stops booting?
Turns out storing private information with no encryption is a bad idea. In other news, researchers today have discovered that the sky is in fact, blue.
What is Microsoft thinking!? You can't release a major version of an OS that is used by about 90% of the market and just remove something everyone has been using for the past decade. I tried the Windows 8 Developer Preview and Metro is OK, but it's not something you seriously want to use with a mouse, which is a problem for business that don't spend money on touch screens, mainly because their employees don't need them. But now they go ahead and remove the start button completely, making it a hot corner instead, which can be really hard to use at times.
When I'm at my computer, I want to be productive, and the standard start menu is the way to do that. I like pretty interfaces, but I also like things that just work, and that's what the start menu is to me.
Long story short, if you have an OS as big as Windows, don't make big UI changes like this, because it can really turn out bad and confusing.
This is the same device that actually managed to sell LESS than the 3DS when it launched. When you launch hardware you have to have good software or else it will bomb.
But the system also has many flaws, like an irreplaceable (and short-lasting) battery, expensive proprietary storage, it's too big, and it's also too expensive, which Nintendo learned the hard way after the 3DS price drop thing. Sony is going to have to at least drop the price to be able to compete. Although I do agree that it will eventually have good software, it doesn't yet, and that can really hurt the system.
...And this is why no one should use Norton. Ever. Well that's not the only reason, it's slow, it makes you pay expensive subscription fees and it tends to put pop-ups on your desktop, but this is a good reason not to use it too.
