2012 was an interesting year in many respects, but it was a particularly interesting year for gaming. 2012 had its share of ups and down, but looking back on the year as a whole, I’d say that it was ultimately good for gamers, developers, and the industry in general. A lot happened throughout the year, and even though we saw vitriol from gamers climb to pretty frightening heights in some cases, there were some pretty cool things happening that you may not have noticed. Needless to say, if 2012 was any indication, then 2013 should be one of gaming’s biggest years yet.
- Google Glass creators talk “staring” and the social implications of wearables
- Xbox One vs Xbox 360: What’s Changed?
- Xbox One: Everything you need to know
- Opera web browser for Android leaves Beta: we go hands-on
- Google Glass Original Prototype eyes-on with Isabelle Olsson
- Google Glass creators talk of final consumer device release
- Google I/O 2013 on-site Wrap-up: Glass, Developers, and Services on tap
Columns
How Popular Is the Wii U, Really?
I have a Wii U. And although I find its motion implementation quite fun at times, and the addition of a second screen a good idea, I haven’t played it at all in the last couple of weeks.
I decided to conduct an informal poll with other people I know who also own a Wii U. I asked them if they’ve been playing with the console much since its launch. Nearly every person said that they played it somewhat heavily in the first week after launch, but little after that.
Sorry Facebook, a 10 second Poke just isn’t enough
Facebook’s new Poke app – borrowing the name of its “remember me?” digital jab to the ribs, but the functionality of “sexting” app Snapchat – is an interesting start, but ten seconds sells it short. The headline grabbing purpose of flaunting your undercarriage (and the one to which Facebook coyly and obliquely refers to with a reminder that you can report anything you’re uncomfortable with) will undoubtedly get plenty of use from teenagers and cheating spouses, but with some timer tweaking Poke could become a legitimately useful “Getting Things Done” style tool.
Why the Dual-Screen TV Experience Does Nothing For Me
With the launch of Nintendo’s TVii service for the Wii U, the idea of dual-screen entertainment in the living room is coming center stage. Wii U owners will need to decide if the concept of viewing not one, but two, screens to enjoy entertainment in the living room is really for them.
BlackBerry 10 jumps the shark with tiered service fees
Those of you out there with a BlackBerry device know better than anyone that the platform carries with it not just support from the carrier, but from teams of restless developers and software heroes working with RIM, as well. This week at their third-quarter 2012 earnings call the heads at RIM released information on how BlackBerry 10 will deal with the Service Fees that are associated with RIM offering support to users all along their contracts with carriers – and the news is not being received well.
Instagram took the lazy, sneaky way out
Congratulations, internet: your often-ugly filtered photos are safe. Instagram‘s decision to backtrack on its contentious Terms of Service changes have rolled back the clock to how things used to be, the halcyon days of another usage policy you didn’t actually bother reading. Maybe it’s a victory for a vocal user-base, but it also seems a missed opportunity for a legitimately useful change in how our rights are expressed in an age where the cloud has become all-pervasive.
Google didn’t sell Motorola Home so much as it gained Arris
If you’ve been watching Google over the past few months (or years if you watched closely), you’ve been seeing them move closer and closer to a fully armed and operational battle station made to take on the smartphone universe top to bottom. What we’ve just seen this evening here in the USA is a trade (though they call it a sale) between Google and the broadband media technology company known as Arris with “Motorola Home” being given to Arris in exchange for $300 million in Arris shares and a seemingly much more significant monetary lump sum ($2.05 billion) – but hear this: Google will own about 15.7% of Arris at the close of this transaction: this could potentially be much more important than the TV Set-top business they’ve just sold.
Amid Instagram Madness, What Terms of Use Should Take for Granted
In all the hubbub around the new Instagram Terms of Service, there is one refrain that keeps repeating. It’s one I’ve heard plenty of times before, and it’s the reason I was hesitant to even tackle this issue. I see plenty of pundits saying that I must be an idiot if I did not read the original Terms of Use. I should always read the Terms of Use. What was I expecting? These policies have always already been spelled out in the Terms of Use.
You Better Watch Out, You Better Not Google
It’s a strange time of year to be of my ilk in America. The houses are mostly decked with lights, although I live in that rare North Texas neighborhood of refreshing ethnic diversity where the smells of wonderful cooking waft through the air to mark myriad holidays that our Christian brethren don’t celebrate. The trees appear covered in tinsel and ornaments in the shopping malls, the school classrooms, and the corporate lobbies. The music is relentless and oppressive. Opposing signs admonish me to not forget the religious aspects of the season, while a large man who curates a white beard year round charges $20 for a picture of small children sitting on his groin. It is Christmas, the time of year when many of you celebrate, while the rest of us decide to what extent we are going to lie to our children.
Do Apple Fans Love Tim Cook?
Almost as soon as Steve Jobs became a household name decades ago, Apple fans loved him. They viewed Jobs as their fearless leader; someone that, in good times and bad, would find a way to help the company and best all others.
Over the years, numerous books and articles have been written on the late Jobs’ God-like status among his legion of followers. Apple fans have historically rejoiced at the very mention of his name, and whenever he took the stage to show off a new product, those folks viewed it favorably simply because their leader said it was the best product around.
When Will That Apple Television Finally Launch?
The Apple Television has been rumored for a long, long time. We’ve heard that the television will come in multiple sizes, probably be priced a bit higher than the average set on the market, and integrate iCloud. Better yet, it’ll support apps, allowing for more functionality across the board.
The most talk surrounding the television cropped up last year when Walter Isaacson published his Steve Jobs biography. In that, Jobs noted that he believed that he had finally “cracked” the code for a television that would best all others in the marketplace. Analysts, ready to predict Apple’s plans, performed a host of supply chain checks to find out if Apple was in fact working on a television. Nearly universally, they said that it indeed was.
The Paradoxical Power of the Tiny Tweet
How did Twitter suddenly become the most powerful force for consumer advocacy? I can’t complain, because I’ve reaped the benefits, but it is fascinating that this tiny service, minute in so many ways, offers so much power to the individual user. It’s become easy, almost second nature, to wield this power over the mightiest of corporations. What’s most shocking, by far, is that it actually seems to work. You can really bend the will of a multinational conglomerate using Twitter in ways that seemed impossible talking to a representative of the same company face to face.
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