1110consulting

Xbox 360 updates the Live and System menu

sadamson — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:46:31 +0000

After quite a while, Microsoft has updated the menu system of the Xbox 360. It is a simple and quick update (which is very nice to not have to dig around too much or wait more than a couple of minutes to see the fruit of the labor).

Now, first thing most will notice is that the menu system and avatar solution seem very “wii-like”. That is fine, but a year+ to the game make me feel like they took something that worked and slapped the MS face on it.

That being said, there is Netflix HD streaming tied into the system, the menu is nice to navigate but since it has changed quite a bit it took me a while to figure out where to go to play the game I had in the drive.

Any other experiences, comments - please let us know.

AppleTV gets update

sadamson — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:39:55 +0000

For those of you with AppleTV’s check the software update for a new release of the software that ties in better with iTunes 8.x.

AppleTV is on of the Apple items I have looked at over the years and one of the biggest stopping points is I do not yet have a HDTV. The AppleTV will work with composite in, but most say it does not look or work as well.

With the latest software and iTunes integration I’m closer than ever. I have been looking at a refurbished from Apple ($50 or so cheaper) and still has the same bells and whistles and I’m thinking about Boxee on the system too (Hulu, CBS, others) it becomes more of a internet playback device than something tied right into iTunes.

Anyone care to comment?

google’s iphone app update

sadamson — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:06:33 +0000

The long-awaited google app has hit the Apple iTunes App Store (download again even if it shows the “old” version and sync).

I did it and it is there in all it’s glorious voice recognition splendor… I played a little. Using my 1st Gen iPhone with the system it works AWESOME!

Put the phone to your head, small tone and speak. Take it away from your head and it “works”. Fills in a google search and poof! Find the weather, stock price, movie times, Chinese restaurants…

I found in the tests I just did 90% speech accuracy and quick and great search results (plus well formatted for the iPhone). Open iTunes and get your download on!

yahoo’s next step

sadamson — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:56:31 +0000

After a long time and a lot of wonder as what would happen to yahoo!, it was announced that Jerry Yang (Yahoo’s founder and CEO) will be stepping down. (Info from the NYTimes too)

The company was talking about being bought by Microsoft and no one really wanted that, but that was when the stock was ~$40/share. Yahoo closed at under $11 today.

The kick in the pants was the ~$30 was too low for Yang and they passed… Granted the market is in a mess right now, but it will be amazing to see what happens to the stock on Tuesday…

macbook and macbook pro trackpad update

sadamson — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:45:06 +0000

Apple released an update for the buttonless trackpad on the macbook and macbook pro tonight. Following the update, the system reboots and installs a firmware update on the machine to update the software - during the update the trackpad is unresponsive (normal).

So far the trackpad is running well on my machine (other reports?) and seems to be a bit more sensitive. Hopefully Apple will continue to take this great technology and improve upon it.

Have a new macbook or macbook pro - start software update (no download link yet) and update your machine.

google calendar

sadamson — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:09:13 +0000

right now is exactly why i question the benefit of putting your data in “the cloud”. working on scheduling something with a friend for the week by my google calendar is not responding… urg.

anyone else having these issues. i’ve also pulled the google into iCal (which works very well - when the calendar “can be found”). i love google, i love their tools (i’m waiting impatiently for the iPhone update like many others) but dead in the water right now. anyone have any ideas?

google video chat

sadamson — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:23:31 +0000

google will take over the world…

a number of years ago, google introduced gmail. huge storage, no cost. then they rolled in gchat. works well, integrated via the web into gmail - it’s there so why not use it…

yesterday, google rolled video and audio chat right into google. a co-worker chatted with me this morning from his mac to my pc.

the image size was kept small - i did not have a video camera on my machine - but it ran smoothly, audio was good and would be a very easy step from google chat to google video (without leaving the browser).

i am planning on trying it with others - but for right now, hopping into ichat is an option, skype, and aim are always around (thought download required) - why not just use the web interface many of us are already staring at…

Flip Mino - Cheap HD Camcorder

sadamson — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:52:13 +0000

Over the years (and children) we have gone through the image capture gamut. When our first was born we got a MiniDV Sony Camcorder. We took video of the birth and some for the next few months. Then the still camera we had (I believe it was a Canon at the time) had video features so we would snap quick moments of video on that.

Now with the current iterations of point-and-shoot cameras, video quality is excellent, length is almost limitless for the usual shots (singing happy birthday) and we rarely shoot video of either of the kids… The younger got the shaft

Now Flip Mino has released a small (credit card-sized 3.30z HD camcorder that records up to 60 minutes of video) and cheap HD video recorder ($230). 2 hours of use/charge (via a USB port/arm) and an amazing product. The standard flip mino was a hit among the college-aged crowd since they could capture their adventures day in and day out, post on youtube.com

Over the last few months my wife has started a new venture - professional photography using an AMAZING Canon DSLR but with the size and use that camera is a process. I’m really tempted… For the cost and convenience you could carry around 2 small devices (until canon or someone comes up with a point-and-shoot that will provide a similar solution).

For the time being, looking for a simple, inexpensive camcorder, check out the Flip.

iPhone 2.2 in a week?

sadamson — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:49:09 +0000

Since the release of iPhone 2.0, I have been very happy with the solution. It works well with Exchange, software and the phone itself is A LOT more stable and some nice new features - though STILL NO cut & paste

iPhone 2.2 will take things to the next, next level. Google street view, some new advances in the software and hopefully some general speed boosts (and HOPEFULLY) cut and paste.

Parallels 4.0

sadamson — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:35:24 +0000

I have been using Parallels for about 2 years now. I do not use it a lot, but when I do use it - it is easy to work with, quick and powerful. Today (Tuesday), Parallels announced an upgrade from version 3 to version 4. The new version is cleaner, more feature rich and for $40 (the upgrade price) you can download and activate the new version.

Following the upgrade, the system will look for version 3, update the system and convert any existing parallels install to version 4 files. Parallels claims a 50% speed increase (I noticed Ubuntu 8.10 loaded and ran a lot faster and smoother) and I really like the ability to pop into an OS, work and then suspend or even shut down quickly.

If you require the need to run something other than the Mac OS from time to time, Parallels is a great solution. VMWare also has a solution (Fusion) that does all of the same things (with some additional strengths/weaknesses) but personally come back to Parallels as my option. Thoughts - let us know…