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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Apple is trialling yet more televisions, if you believe the chunnering from the supply chain, and – so eager analysts would have us believe – is one step closer to taking over your living room. Whispers of new test hardware using big Sharp LCDs and Foxconn’s production skills come on the heels of research suggesting a fair number of consumers are desperate to throw more money at their Cupertino addiction, as well as CEO Tim Cook’s tongue-in-cheek “it’s an area of intense interest” comments last week. Yet in reality, despite the hype, little has actually changed from the last batch of rumors, and we’re no closer to chucking out our BRAVIA for a Siri-controlled set.
The gaming industry is ready yet again for a major change. Every five years or so, gamers are asked to toss away their old hardware and buy the new stuff. The cost, of course, is high, and the effort to actually get a new console is somewhat ridiculous in the beginning, but like good, trusting gamers, we oblige.
The so-called “next generation” is starting now. Nintendo has launched its Wii U, and that device delivers HD graphics and a vastly improved experience compared to the company’s previous console, the Wii. For now, the console is sold out and likely will remain so for the next few months.
Apple’s iPhone 5 is now available unlocked for those who don’t want to even think about being stuck with a carrier. However, the unlocked handset won’t come cheap – the device ships for a starting price of $699 for a 16GB option, and quickly goes up to $899 for the 64GB version.
To put that into perspective, Apple’s iPhone 5 ships for a starting price of $199 for those customers that are willing to be caught in the grips of a major carrier, like AT&T or Verizon. The top-of-the-line 64GB model goes for $399 when it’s locked down.
