Wednesday, December 11, 2013

YouTube Top 10 2013


YouTube I want my years back. Just kidding of course. We love spending time on YouTube, even more then some of us are willing to admit. The popular web video service has announced their top 10 most viewed videos of 2013.

Among other interesting statistics Google has announced that more then 80% of YouTube visitors are from outside US, witch means that YouTube is a excepted worldwide. Some of the users have come together and made a video called ‘YouTube Rewind: What Does 2013 Say?' mixing the most popular YouTube videos.



Top Trending Videos of 2013

  1. Ylvis – “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” by tvnorge
  2. “Harlem Shake (original army edition)” by kennethaakonsen
  3. “How Animals Eat Their Food” | MisterEpicMann by MisterEpicMann
  4. “Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball (Chatroulette Version)” by SteveKardynal
  5. “baby&me / the new evian film” by EvianBabies
  6. Volvo Trucks – “The Epic Split feat. Van Damme” by VolvoTrucks
  7. “YOLO (feat. Adam Levine & Kendrick Lamar)” by thelonelyisland
  8. “Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise” by CarrieNYC
  9. “THE NFL : A Bad Lip Reading” by BadLipReading
  10. “Mozart vs Skrillex. Epic Rap Battles of History Season 2″ by ERB     
Top Trending Music Videos of 2013

  1. PSY – “GENTLEMAN M/V” by officialpsy
  2. Miley Cyrus – “Wrecking Ball” by MileyCyrusVEVO
  3. Miley Cyrus – “We Can’t Stop” by MileyCyrusVEVO
  4. Katy Perry – “Roar (Official)” by KatyPerryVEVO
  5. P!nk – “Just Give Me A Reason ft. Nate Ruess” by PinkVEVO
  6. Robin Thicke – “Blurred Lines ft. T.I., Pharrell” by RobinThickeVEVO
  7. Rihanna – “Stay ft. Mikky Ekko” by RihannaVEVO
  8. Naughty Boy – “La La La ft. Sam Smith” by NaughtyBoyVEVO
  9. Selena Gomez – “Come & Get It” by SelenaGomezVEVO
  10. Avicii – “Wake Me Up (Official Video)” by AviciiOfficialVEVO

Microsoft and 12 Days of Deals




If you are looking for great deals this Holiday season, you might want to look at Microsoft's retail stores. Their 12 days of deals has some greate discounts. Microsoft was planning to keep each day a secret, so ou don't know what's the offer for that particular day, but people on the Internet have different ideas.

During this period Microsoft is lowering prices on hardware and software. Flagship WindowsPhone smartphones Lumia 1020 and Lumia 1520 and tablets from Microsoft Surface 2 and Pro are one of the better deals in the Microsoft retail store. They are also lowering the price for the GTA V, not that the game has any trouble selling, it already broke all of the records in sales.

This far the leaked list has been proven accurate, so if one of this items is on your holiday's wish list it's a good idea to visit the Microsoft retail store.

Source right here.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Pirate bay Moves Again



Pirate Bay has moved again. The popular torrent site has changed their domain, they are no longer on the .sx domain, now they are at .ac domain. This change is due to the domain name seizure that happened over night according to the Pirate Bay team.

So the site basically moved from one island to another. Because the previous domain was located Sint Maarten that is a Dutch protectorate. New domain is located on the Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, this island is controlled by the UK. British government however is not a fan of Pirate Bay, this site is blocked by all of their ISPs. So it looks like the famous torrent site might be moving again really soon.

Previously the sites owners were jocking how they were going to move their servers into space. Considering how much they have been moving the site lately space maybe the right option for Pirate bay.

More on the story from the source right here.

Game of Thrones Telltale Game




New Game of Thrones game is coming. The game will be based on the HBO series Game of Thrones, which is based on the popular book series A Song of Ice and Fire written by George R. R. Martin. TV series season 4 is expected to premiere sometime this spring on HBO.

Telltale games already has some good tittles out there. The Walking Dead , The Wolf Among Us, Tales from Borderlands and now they are adding Game of Thrones to that list. New game will feature gameplay and story-telling, something that Telltale is famous for. This means your decisions during the game will have a great impact on the story. According to the developers there will also be large battles, cant wait to see those.

HBO will be working with Telltale on bringing you this game. Still not known will they involve George R. R. Martin into this. TV series, books and now games, people just can't  have enough of Westeros.

More on the story right here.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Google will launch Nexus TV




Google is planing to launch TV set-box in the first half of 2014. Company already has TV streaming with Chromecast, that become very popular in a short time. This is due to it's 35$ price and that is small in size, usb size, so you can carry it anywhere you go. This new TV set-box will be under the Nexus name, which is very popular and a big success for Google.

Nexus phone, tablet and now TV. Makes sense when you look at it from the perspective of Google. Smart TV's are coming and it's important not to be late for the market race. Not much is known abut the rumored Nexus TV. Will it be able to play games, what kind of Android it will be running, can it be controlled by smarthphones and tablets, what kind of streaming will it have? Of course this is all based on rumors and there are plenty of rumors surrounding the company like Google.

One thing is sure Google is planing to invade your living room one way or the other.

More on the story right here.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Morgan Freeman Picture on the iPad




Picture of Morgan Freeman on the iPad is going viral all over the Internet. That's right a picture not a photo, a very realistic picture that could fool anyone, and on the iPad not the less. So it looks like the iPad could be a new tool for the artist, maybe will even see Apple advertise stuff like this.

The artist that made the picture is Kyle Lambert and it took him 200 hours and 285,000 brushstrokes to make this incredible picture. App that he used to create Morgan Freeman's picture is called Procreate.

If there are some that don't believe that this is a picture. there is a time lapse video from Kyle Lambert where he shows his skill. The video is on YouTube and it has over 10 million views in just five days.


More on the story right here. 

President Obama can't have an iPhone




President Obama isn't allowed to have an iPhone. One would thing that the most powerful man in the world can have any phone that he wants but apparently that's not the case. This decision was made for security reasons. Why and exactly witch security reasons it's not known. But apparently the BlackBerry is more secure then the iPhone, well at least for the White House standards. President Obama has been using a BkackBerry smartphone for the entire time since he has been elected.

His daughters are allowed to use the iPhone and according to the president they love it. However there are many Apple products in the white house. Even the president has offten been seen with the iPad and many of his staff also use the iPad.

More on the story right here.


Friday, December 6, 2013

Smartwatch from Nike in 2014



A new roomer from DigiTimes says that Nike is planing to launch a smartwatch in first half of 2014. Nike is already making wearable technology, FuelBand 2 was released short while ago. This is a product that is tracing you physical movement with the motion tracing technology. Nike competitor Adidas has already released their smartwatch, so this is not that unexpected.

Looks like the year 2014 is shaping up to be the year of the smartwatch. Every tech company and some others that are not in the technology market are looking to push their smartwatch next year. There are already many smartwatches out here like Pebble, Samsung Galaxy Gear, Sony smartwatch but none of them is making a big impact. So far nobody has been able to manufacture a smartwatch that is going to make a revolution i the tech industry.

Everybody is looking at Apple and their rumored iWatch to make this wrist technology popular, and become the next big thing. But there are many others companies interested in smartwatches like Microsoft, Nokia, Google and many more. So will just have to wait and see who will be able to "crack" this technology first and rule the market.

More on the story right here.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Nokia Dominates Windows Phone




Reports say that Nokia is dominating Windows Phone market. Well this wasn't really hard to guess, since they are the only company that is making only WP smartphones and have no interest in Android market. The other companies that are manufacturing WP smatphones are HTC, Samsung and Huawei. All three of these companies are more interested in Android. Samsung is currently dominating in Android market.

Just in case you forgotten Microsoft has recently bought Nokia, well not the entire company but their smartphone and tablet division. So the Lumia line of smartphones now belongs to Microsoft. It's still not known will they create a new line of WP smartphone or will they simply put the Microsoft logo on the Lumia smartphones. Surface smartphones have been rumored for some time but nothing has been officially confirmed.

As far as the stats go, Nokia is currently holding 90% of Windows Phone market. HTC is at 7%, Samsung at 1.8% and Huawei at 1.3%. Worldwide WP platform is at only 4%, but it has shown steady growth in last months, and in some markets like EU it's in double digits.




As for the smartphones the most popular in WP category are budget phones like Lumia 520. Flagship smarphones haven't had much success against competition from iOS or Android, but in budget smartphones WP is making an impact. This is mainly credited to the operating system, because on limited specifications WP is much faster and more responsive then the competition from Android.

More on the story right here

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

PlayStation 4 Sold 2.1 Million in November



Sony is saying that they have sold 2.1 million PlayStation 4 devices in the month of November. This is double of the number sold on their opening day in which they sold 1 million devices in North America alone. Since then they have started to sell the console in UK and Europa. This is the official statement on the PlayStation blog.


In what is shaping up to be a historic year for gamers, I’m delighted to share an important new milestone with you. PS4’s North American debut on November 15th was PlayStation’s largest ever, with more than one million gamers picking up a PS4 in just 24 hours. Now, with PS4’s global launch expanding to a total of 32 countries worldwide, including Europe and Latin America, I’m proud to announce that more than 2.1 million PS4s have been sold.


However the competition isn't falling behind. Microsoft has started selling Xbox One in 12 countries on day one and sold 1 million devices. Witch is a new record for Microsoft and Xbox. According to the projections on Black Friday, Xbox One is the best selling console with 31% overall sales. Just barley behind is the  Xbox 360 with 30% and then PlayStation 3 and 4 with 15%. Nintendo Wii U only at 6%.

Microsoft still hasn't announced any official results from Black Friday or overall sales of the Xbox One.

More on the story right here.

Monday, December 2, 2013

New Record for Steam



Steam PC platform has a new record that is worth bragging about. On December 1st there were 7 million users on at the same time, witch is an impressive number. This new record is 16% better then the old one from last year.

With all the hype from the new generation consoles that were released in the last few days, seems like every news on the web is about PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. New generation console wars have started but it looks like PC gaming is doing better then ever.

Valve recently announced that there Steam PC platform has over 65 million users. The preferred OS for Steam users is still Windows 7 with 64%, but Windows 8 is increasing it's share and is now on 20%.

during this weekend on Black Friday and Cyber Monday Valve had many discounts witch also helped to make this new record.


Wednesday, October 16, 2013

GTA V Breaks 7 World Records




Much has been said about GTA V already, since the game has been released it's been braking one record after another. Guinness has officially confirmed that GTA V has broken 7 world records. We already know that it was the first entertainment product to make $1 billion, this includes movies, games, music etc.

Grand Theft Auto 5 was released 17 September for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, it's still not released for PC or Nintendo Wii U. Rocstar Games has invested $265 million in to this game, the most expensive production of any game ever, but it was all worth it. GTA V has already made a huge profit and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon.

As far as the Guinness world records, this is what Craig Glenday had to say about the game: "GTA totally deserves to be recognized as an icon of modern British culture, and we're thrilled to be able to feature the game in the record books. Gaming is no longer a niche hobby, as GTA 5 has proved, and how exciting that it's taken on the might of Hollywood and won! I'm also doubly proud as a Dundonian to welcome this home-grown series back into the Guinness World Records book.”

This is the full list of the 7 world records that GTA V broke so far:

1. Best-selling action-adventure videogame in 24 hours

2. Best-selling videogame in 24 hours

3. Fastest entertainment property to gross $1 billion

4. Fastest videogame to gross $1 billion

5. Highest grossing videogame in 24 hours

6. Highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours

7. Most viewed trailer for an action-adventure videogame


Seven world record so far, not bad, not bad at all, but we expect this number is going up very soon

More on the story right here.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Smart Watch From Nokia



Nokia has been bought by Microsoft, well not the entire company but the part of the company that makes smartphones. According to their contract, the company from Finland can't make any new smartphones before 2015. But can they make a smart watch? Or will this project also end up in the hands of Microsoft.

From the leaked photos it looks like some kind of smart watch, only thing connecting it with Nokia is the logo on the device. Smart watch doesn't have any buttons on it, so this concept should be interesting. It's no secret that Nokia was planing for a long time to make some kind of portable device you can wear on your arm. Remember the Nokia 888 project.

Another rumor from Nokia is that they are working on HTML 5 platform for smart wearable devices. That means smart watch and smart glasses. This HTML5 platform may be based on “Here data”. Former Nokia Maps that are becoming very popular on different operating systems and are bringing great profit for the company. Looks like the company from Finland is not planing to be late for the new markets that are just opening with wearable smart devices. They don't want to make the same mistake they did with tablets.

More on the story right here.

Microsoft Wants Windows on HTC Android Phones



We all know HTC is having some serious financial troubles and looks like Microsoft has a proposition for them. Basicly they want to take advantage of their financial troubles. Microsoft WindowsPhone operating system is doing very well at the market and HTC sales of smartphones are not going very well either. Solution, let's team up for better results.

Microsoft wants HTC to put their WP platform on Android devices. If HTC agrees to this they would be speared from paying the licence on WindowsPhone OS. That means they would get WP on their devices for free. HTC already has WP smartphone lineup but their focus is on Android devices. Flagship phone HTC ONE is running Android.

HTC has recently reported their financial results and they have their first annual loss since the company has been founded. The loss is over $100 million. This putts the company in very bad position, so some sort of deal between Microsoft and HTC is very likely to happen. At this point it looks like they don't have any better alternatives. These negotiations have just started so it's very hard to say what the final deal will be like. One thing is sure HTC is running out of time so they definitely need to change something and fast.

Microsoft OS on smartphones WP is currently on only 4% devices worldwide and you can be sure that the giant from Redmond isn't going to be happy with that. Sure, they have bought Nokia so they can start making their own smartphones but they also want other companies to make WP devices.

More on the story right here.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Apple Event October 22




According to sources Apple is holding their next event on October 22. Apple still hasn't send any invitations  for this event so this is still a rumor. What is expected at this event? Well nothing else but the iPad lineup. Introduction of the iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2.

Not much is known about the new iPad's. There have been leaked photos and different rumors about the new elements in the tablets but nothing has been confirmed yet. Apple likes their secrecy. Most interesting things that everyone is expecting is the Retina display on the smaller iPad Mini 2 and the fingerprint scanner on the larger iPad 5 similar to the one on the iPhone 5s. New processor A7 has also been rumored for both tablets.

From other things Apple TV could get an update. That's the small black box you hook up to your TV, not the iTV  that has been rumored for a long time.

Another thing interesting about October 22 is that Nokia is holding their press event on that date. Where they plan to announce 6 devices. One of those devices is Nokia tablet that is running Windows RT. Not enough? Well there is something else. On that date Microsoft is starting sale on the new Surface tablet lineup, Surface 2 and Surface 2 PRO. Apple is always saying that they are mining their own business and not looking at other companies, not very easy to believe is it. Anyway October 22 should be an interesting day.

More on the story right here.

Facebook Building it's own Town




Facebook is investing $120 million in it's new project. It has nothing to do with the social network or anything online for that matter. The company is building a small town for it's employees. The town will be located near the companies main building in Menlo Park.

Town is within walking distance from tho companies headquarters. It's going to be spread across 630,000 square-foot rental property called Anton Menlo. This will include 394-unit housing community so only 10% of Facebook employees will live in this town. Town will include everything from gym's, bars to doggy day care.

Facebook is hopping that the employees will be happier living together and will interact more. So in fact they are trying to bust creativity and team spirit.

More on the story right here.

Nike FuelBand Event on October 15




Nike has send out invitations for there press event on October 15. On the invite it simply says “NikeFuel Forum” so this means that the next FuelBand will be announced at this event. FuelBand is a fitness product from Nike.

What can we expect from the next FuelBand is still not known. According to the source it should have some of these features

  •  The design will be similar overall and still wrap around the wrist (current model shown above).
  •  The new FuelBand will be constructed with new materials that will result in a much more durable design that could sustain stronger environmental conditions.
  •  The new FuelBand will include much better battery life allowing customers to not worry about charging their FuelBand up every couple of nights.
  •  While versions with Heart Rate monitoring capabilities have been rumored, we’re hearing that said functionality may not make the cut for this model.
  •  The new FuelBand will be built with Bluetooth 4.0 low-energy to connect to new smartphones and work more efficiently. This plays into the improved battery life factor.
  •  The display and general software operation of the device will be nearly identical to the current model.
With all the smartwatches being released recently and even more of them are announced or rumored. It's going to be interesting to see if Nike can bring something new and unique.

More on the story right here.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Microsoft Investors Want Bill Gates to Step Down




Three of the top 20 Microsoft investors want Bill Gates to resign from his position as board chairman. Steve Ballmer is already leaving as the CEO. Looks like people at Redmond want change and they want it to happen soon. With Steve Ballmer leaving and Bill Gates potentially leaving, this is certainly the end of an era at Microsoft.

It's still hard to say why the investors calling for Bill Gates to step down. Microsoft is still an IT giant and is making profit but there are still many concerns. In the mobile market Microsoft has fallen behind as Google and Apple dominate the market. WindowsPhone OS is only 3% smartphone share worldwide, while that number is increasing it still isn't fast enough . Not to mention that they have lost $1 billion on the RT Surface tablets. Looks like the investors want to dominate the mobile market like they did with the PC market and they don't believe that Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates are up for that.

Bill Gates is an absolute legend in the IT business and name that is known worldwide. It's no secret that he is doing more and more work on his philanthropic Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Still with the knowledge and the experience of Bill Gates it's very unlikely that they are going to chase him out of the company completely.

More on the story right here.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Apple Rummors: iWatch, iTV, iPad




Rumors, rumors everywhere. Nothing new for the IT giant Apple. After the iPhone lineup release the rumors on other products are all over tech websites. Next event is about iPad so there are a lot of rumors about those projects, but there is also a lot of talk about iWatch and iTV, products that are not eve officially announced by Apple.


iWatch


Apple has recently brought Nike FuelBand developer Jay Blahnik on board, so the rumors of iWach being a sport gadget became popular. Also the new smartwatch could have a flexible display. According to the rummors Apple is already testing different screen sizes betwen 1,3 and 1,5 inches. Samsung Galaxy Gear has already been release but people are mostly disappointed by the device, it's not very innovative. Apple will have to bring better user experiance if the iWatch is going to become popular and that's something Apple is very good at.


iTV


Another job opens up at Apple. Company has just hired Cable TV executive Jean François Mulé as an engineering director. Mulé status on Lindekin about his new job was “challenged, inspired and part of something big.” Ofcourse after this the rumors about Apple TV started all over the Internet. Those rumors where even popular before this news broke out. Looks like things are starting to heat up at Cupertino.

iPad 


Next Apple event is about the new iPad lineup. The event should be on October 15 but nothing has been confirmed yet. Much of the focus is on the iPad Mini, the 7 inch tablet. Will it get a retina display like the 10 inch iPad. Well according to the latest rumors and photos leaked, looks like the mini version is not getting a retina display this year. But what it will get is an 8-megapixel camera to be ahead of the competition. Tablet market is more competitive then ever. With the new Nexus 7 and Microsoft Surface 2, the tablet market is full of great products. Good news for anyone buying a tablet.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Microsoft is the Most Inspiring Company in USA




Forbes has released a list of most inspiring companies. Microsoft is on top of the list. After two years of being number one Apple has fallen on 12 place. Microsoft is fallowed by Disney and Walmart. Only two other IT companies in top 10 are Google at number 7 and Amazon at number 8.

Microsoft reclaimed this position because of their philanthropic initiatives and passionate employees. Each employee at Microsoft can donate to charity and the company will match that amount dollar for dollar, up to 12.00 dollars. Truly and impressive gesture from Redmond.


Top 25 Most Inspiring Companies:

1. Microsoft
2. Disney
3. Walmart
4. Chick-fil-A
5. Target
6. McDonald’s
7. Google
8. Amazon
9. Johnson & Johnson
10. Toms Shoes
11. The Coca-Cola Company
12. Apple
13. Starbucks
14. Costco
15. Ford
16. Whole Foods Market
17. Southwest Airlines
18. Wegmans Food Markets
19. Goodwill Industries
20. Pepsi
21. Nike
22. American Express
23. Zappos
24. REI
25. Kohl’s

There is a lot of things that will inspire people. Food, movies, cars and looks like this year IT technology is at number one. All of these 25 companies have very recognisable names and are known worldwide.

More on the story right here.


Breaking Bad Breaks Another Record




Braking Bad has ended. One of the best TV series of all time had it's last episode on Sunday. So what record did it break. Well it's the most pirated TV episode ever. Just in the first 12 hours it was illegally downloaded 500.000 times. Now that's an impressive figure, half of million people in just 12 hours.



Most of the downloads came from Australia, fallowed by USA and United Kingdom. What's interesting that people mostly download TV series from torrents when they don't have a legal way of watching. Well in these three countries there was a legal way of watching Breaking Bad finale and yet they lead on the list of pirate downloads. Data was gathered by TorrentFreak and this includes various torrent sites.

The thing that's even more interesting is that TV-insiders are not that upset over all of this illegal download. Game of Thrones director David Petrarca said that buzz created by pirates leads to more subscribers. Hes not alone in saying stuff like that, Time Warner CEO Jess Bewkes said that it’s better than winning an Emmy. Breaking Bad producers have nothing to complain about because the series finale was the most watched episode of the series.

Breaking Bad won an Emmy this year for the first half of season five. The fans were outraged that Bryan Cranston didn't win an Emmy for the leading role. So it should be interesting at the awards next year.

Source of the story right here.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Google Play Vending Machines




The search giant is now opening vending machines for it's Google Play store. That's right you heard this correctly, the IT company is opening vending machines, in today's digital age. Location they have chosen to start this practice is Tokyo Japan. Where else you would say. People in Japan are just crazy enough for this to work. Crazy by western standards. Actually in Japan vending machines are very popular. So this just might work.

Purpose of these vending machines are to sell games for your phones. Your phone must have an Android 4.0 or higher if you want to purchase your game at these vending machines. The game is downloaded using NFC. Google is also putting two workers by the machines who can offer you a barrow you a Nexus 4 so you can try these apps.

For now this is only in Japan.

Microsoft Windows Phone in Double Digits



Microsoft can be proud to announce that WindowsPhone is in double digits. Well at least in some markets.  Worldwide WP is somewhere around 4%. Europa seams to like combination of Nokia Lumia and WP. On two big EU markets Microsoft OS is over 10%. In Great Britain it has 12% market share, France 10,8%, Italy 9,5% and Germany 8,8%. So in those two countries it's just shy of double digits.




These results are mostly credited to Nokia Lumia smartphones, and not so much to the flagship phones but rather to the mid-range Lumia phones. Which are not that expensive and offer a quality product from Nokia and a fast WP operating system. HTC and Samsung have there WP lineup but their sales results are not very good.

Across Europa Android is still the supreme ruler of the market with 70%. Second OS is iOS with 16% and then WP with 9%. BlackBerry is completely out of the game and it's market share keeps dropping. Also in Australia WP almost double it's market share form 3,7% to 6,5%. However in US it's only at 3% and in China even worse with 2%.

Keep in mind WP is the youngest operating system on the market, it's not even 3 years old. While iOS is 7 years old and Android just turned 5 years old. So we can expect more from Microsoft OS in the future as WindowsPhone matures.


Ford CEO Alan Mulally Could be the New Microsoft CEO




Ford CEO Alan Mulally is on the top of the list for the new CEO of Microsoft. If you don't know by now Steve Ballmer announced his retirement from the company within 12 months. Many thought this was great news. Wall Street didn't think much of Ballmer as CEO so after the announcement Microsoft value went up by 7%. Steve Ballmer gave his farewell speech, which instantly became a great hit on YouTube.



Until now Alan Mulally said “I continue to be focused on serving Ford.” so people thought he wasn't really interested in the position, but according to the recent rumors he is “more amenable to the idea.” Other candidate who was on top of the list so far is Nokia CEO Stephan Elop. While Elop is still under consideration he is no longer on top of the list for the job. Other great candidates are Tony Bates CEO of Skype and Paul Maritz CEO of Pivotal.

This is going to be a very important decision for the company from Redmond. They just started a transformation, where they plan to sell devices. Microsoft just bought Mokia for $7.2 billion, so they are becoming smartphone manufacturer. So in the next year they will need to prove them self in the market that's owned by Google and Apple.

I don't know about you but I will definitely miss Steve Ballmer. Maybe not so much his business decisions but his appearances on stage is something we will all definitely miss.

Moro on this story right here,

Best of Steve Ballmer. Very energetic person, who didn't hold back


Monday, September 30, 2013

64% of Gamers Will Not Buy Next-Gen Consoles




According to Reuters 64% of gamers won't buy next generation consoles this Christmas. However this poll is very limited, only 1,297 people participated in the poll. This includes Nintendo 2DS, Steam Machines, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. With all the consoles that are already out on the market, there is definitely a lot of choice for the gamers these holidays.

In the poll people would rather buy PlayStation 4 (26%)  then the Xbox One (15%). Microsoft had a lot of complaints from gamers after they announced the console, because of their decision that you always have to be online and you can't sell your own games. Later they reversed this decision. Sony's console is also cheaper $399. Xbox One is $499 but it includes Kinect while Sony does not include PlayStation Move, witch will cost $60.

Sony announced in Germany that they received more then 1 million pre-orders for the PlayStation 4. Microsoft didn't go into numbers but they did say that pre-orders for the Xbox One are better then of it's predecessor Xbox 360.

Another problem for Sony and Microsoft is that their consoles are on almost 10 year cycle.While many of the new Android consoles will be on the one year cycle. Plus there is a lot of tablets that support game controllers, and it's very easy to connect tablets to the TV. Tablets are already very powerful and with the competitive market they are getting stronger every year. So it's going to be very interesting to see ow long can these next-gen consoles rule the market. Right now even 5 years seems like a stretch.

More on the poll right here.


Garter Recomending Aginst BlackBerry




More bad news for BlackBerry. You didn't think it was possible, well guess again. IT analysis firm Gartner is suggesting all businesses to move away from BlackBerry and find an alternative in the next six months. Their recommendation is based on all the recent news surrounding the Canadian company.

BlackBerry lose in the second quarter were $965 million, they are firing half of their work force and the sales of their new smartphones are terrible. On top of all that, last week they announce they are selling the company for 4.7 billion dollars. Lot less then they were hopping for.

Official report from BlackBerry about Gartner recommendation is

"We recognise and respect external parties' opinions on Blackberry's recent news. However, many of the conclusions by Gartner about the potential impact of a sale or other strategic alternatives, are purely speculative."

Business users are recommended to move to another operating system like iOS, Android or Windows. Because hard times for BlackBerry are not ending any time soon, if they end at all. Most likely solution for the Canadian company is that it's going to be sold in pieces, but that's just rumors for now.

Nokia Lumia 520 Most Sold Windows Device




Smartphone from Nokia is the most sold device worldwide that's running Windows. This includes other smartphones, tablets and PC. This is important information for Microsoft because it shows the change in the market. Number of laptops and PC sales is decreasing, but smarphone and tablet market is on the rise. So it's no wonder that Microsoft is turning to mobile market and this is why their purchase of Nokia was important.

There was no information on how many Nokia Lumia 520 smartphones was sold. Only thing is that Lumia 520 isn't a flagship phone, it's a budget phone. Even whit this still good news for Redmond. Each year more then 3 billion Windows devices are sold, but this includes a lot of different companies.

Nokia is holding their last press event on October 22 in which they plan to announce 6 devices and accessories. One of those devices is their first phablet Lumia 1520. Another device is their tablet Lumia 2520 running WindowsRT. What's interesting about this is that Microsoft has just announced their tablet Surface2, also running Windows RT. So don't be surprised to see that Lumia 2520 gets pulled from the market once Microsoft ownership of Nokia is official. Considering the work and resources that htey put in the making of Surface 2 it's not very likely that they want to compete against their own device.

More will be known once Surface 2 hits the stores and Nokia holds it's event.

Apple Most Valuable Brand




According to statistics coming from Interbrand company Apple is the mos valuable brand in 2013. We all know that technology with the brand of a bitten apple is highly valued by customers worldwide and this report just confirmed that. Putting Apple on top of the list. Until now Coca Cola company was number one, for an amazing 13 years. They are now number 3 behind Google who is number two on the list.

“Every so often, a company changes our lives, not just with its products, but with its ethos. This is why, following Coca-Cola’s 13-year run at the top of Best Global Brands, Interbrand has a new No. 1 — Apple,” official Interbrand report.

Apple brand is worth $98.3 billion, which is an increase of 28% from last year. Google's value increased by 34%. Following them in the top 10 are Coca Cola (+2%), IBM (+4%), Microsoft (+3%), General Electric (+7%), McDonald's (+5%), Samsung (+20%), Intel (-5%) i Toyota (+17%).

Biggest reason for this Apple success is the iPhone lineup witch continues to break records in sales and is known worldwide. But there are other Apple products that cant be ignored like iPad, iTunes witch has more than 50 billion downloads and iMac who's sales results are increasing year by year.

The official report at right here.




Sunday, September 29, 2013

Google Glass On Tour




Google Glass is not in sales yet but you just might be able to see it and use it in your town. The company has announced that they are taking the device on tour across United States. Google wants to promote this device and see what regular people think about it. That's right the IT giant is interested in your opinion. The tour starts in Durham, North Carolina on October 5th.

We still don't know how long will the tour last and what cities will the Google team visit. There been rumors that after this tour there is going to be a European tour, but nothing has yet been confirmed.

Nothing has been said about when will Google Glass be released. Hopefully they will talk about release date after this tour.When they get the first impressions from people all around the US.

You can fallow the tour right here

Beats Audio is Buying Shares Back From HTC




Beats Audio witch is owned by Dr. Dre the famous raper and producer is buying back their shares from HTC. In 2010 the Taiwan company bought 51% of shares from Beats Audio, witch aloud them to use their technology in smartphones. Many of the flagship HTC smartphones are equipped with Beats Audio, such as their new flagship phone HTC ONE.

Last year HTC ownership reduced to 25% and now according to the Wall Street Journal, Beats Audio is buying their shares back so they can have full ownership of the company. To buy 25% of shares will cost them $150 million.

What Beast Audio plans for the future is still not known. Will they stop implementing their technology in HTC smartphones. It's no secret that HTC is in some serious financial trouble and the new flagship smartphones didn't help much. Maybe they will continue to work with HTC but they also want to work with other companies.

MicroUSB for EU



The European Union is going to make it mandatory for all mobile devices to be charged with microUSB. Until now EU wanted a voluntary agreement with the companies to make products that are charged with microUSB. While this isn't a problem for most of the companies there are still some that haven't adopted this practice. Looking at you Apple. With this decision EU wants to help consumers who are tired of different cables coming with each different device. Another reason is to reduce down the amount of waste that is coming  from electronic industry.

The ruling still isn't official because the law needs to be voted in the EU Parliament first. But there is a big chance this law is going to be accepted and microUSB is going to be the only charger in the EU for mobile devices.

How will the IT giant Apple react to this decision. They not really known for listening to others, even governments, they like to do things their own way. But hey, EU is a huge market and Apple certainly doesn't want to loose million of costumers. So will they make iPhone with microUSB just for EU or will they include this in iPhones worldwide. Maybe they will do something else, you never know with Apple.




Saturday, September 28, 2013

China Game Console Ban Lifted




In China game consoles from foreign companies have been baned for 13 years. It has been a long 13 years for gamers in China. So far the details are not known but the State Council will release months to come.

After this decision it didn't take long for gaming companies to react on this opportunity. According to the rumors Microsoft is already planing ti invest $237 million together with streaming company BestTV. Still waiting to see on what will Sonny and Nintendo reaction be. Maybe the new announced Steam Machines or different Android consoles will see this as an opportunity for a market that's not already being dominated by another console.

The State Council has announced that this decision will be implemented in the next three years. So we still don't have an exact date when will game consoles be sold in China.

Surface 2 and Windows 8.1 Update




Microsoft announced their Surface 2 tablets last week and now it's time to advertise them. One thing the IT giant from Redmond isn't very god at is marketing. At least that's been the case so far with Windows tablets. The company has put much effort in the new tablet lineup so it's  going to be important to them that the sales results are god once tablets hit the market. In the new Surface commercial Microsoft is showing the best of Surface 2 and not attacking iPad like they did before. Witch is definitely a step in the right direction.


Other commercial is for Windows 8.1 which is arriving October 17. In this ad they are showing what upgrades the new operating system is bringing to it's users.Some of the new updates are customizability of the Start Screen, ability to run more than two apps at once, allusive Start button and more. We are happy to see that the Start button is coming back. Who says Microsoft isn't listening to their customers. If you already have a Windows 8 then this upgrade is free.


And if this isn't enough there's more news about Surface 2. Delta company is replacing their manuals and other outdated equipment with Surface 2 tablets. The previous decision from Delta was to equip their staff and pilots with 19.000 Nokia Lumia samrtphones, and there were planing to get the new Nokia Serious tablets, but after Microsoft bought Nokia they decided on Surface 2. This is what Delta company had to say on this decision

“In less than two years, Delta cockpits will be paperless as we roll-out the Microsoft Surface 2 tablet running Windows 8.1 RT as our company-issued device,”

Windows 8.1 and Surface 2 tablets are not even released yet and they are already selling. Looks like Microsoft is serious about taking some market share away from Apple and Android in the market that they are dominating so far.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Netflix HD Streaming




The online streaming service Netflix is now offering HD streaming for all members. Their service Super HD streaming in which you get 1080 HD format is now available for all Netflix subscribers. Until now it was limited to members witch Internet provider was part of Netflix’s Open Connect. The company gave a statement

“Based on the performance data we’ve seen, and in response to member requests, we are now expanding availability to give all our members the ability to enjoy Netflix in the best possible quality,”

They also have a Super HD option witch is available only if you have devices like PlayStation 3, Apple TV and Roku. Netflix is also working on making this services open to all members.

Netfix didn't say anything about bringing their online streaming to other countries. So far they are available in North and South America and just a few European countries. The rest of the world still can't subscribe to Netflix. Another problem is that outside of US number of TV shows that you can stream is very limited. These are definitely some of the problems Netflix has to fix if they are going to be number one online streaming service worldwide.

Valve Announced Steam Controller




On Monday Valve announced SteamOS and on Wednesday they announced Steam Machines and today they announced the final thing remaining the Steam Controller. It really wasn't hard to guess what was coming.

Official statement from Valve

Openness  
 The Steam Controller was designed from the ground up to be hackable. Just as the Steam Community and Workshop contributors currently deliver tremendous value via additions to software products on Steam, we believe that they will meaningfully contribute to the design of the Steam Controller. We plan to make tools available that will enable users to participate in all aspects of the experience, from industrial design to electrical engineering. We can’t wait to see what you come up with.



Steam Controller can be use by any device that is running a Steam client, that means you can use it on your Steam Machines and PC.

This was the third and final announcement from Valve, the end of so called Valve week. It still feels like they could of done this with just one event, but hey more pres time is more pres time. Will Valve succeed in their attempt of invading your living room, will see when the devices start selling early next year.

Xbox One Gets a 10 Year Support




Xbox One hasn't been released yet and Microsoft is already promising 10 year support for their new console. Xbox 360 is still selling at the market. The console is eight years old and will still get another three years support from Microsoft, which is a total of eleven years. This is good news for everyone that is thinking of buying the new Xbox One console.

Microsoft Corporate VP Phil Harrison said

“For us, it’s not just about the launch date. It is about the start of the journey where the console will be improved and will be adapted and changed.”

Xbox One is coming to the stores in November, with the price of $499, Kinect is included in the price. According to the rumors preorders from all of the major retailers have been sold out, so we guess this good news for Microsoft. No official numbers have been released yet.


Thursday, September 26, 2013

Valve Phase Two: Steam Machines




Valve has just announced Steam Machines. This is their second of the planed three events this week. If you don't remember on Monday they introduced their operating system SteamOS, and you guessed it Steam Machines will be running SteamOS.

However Valve will not be making these Steam machines themselves, they will be made by third party partners. There will be many different hardware developers that will be making different consoles. According to Valve this is the best way of making consoles because there is many different profiles of gamers.

Steam Machine will be in beta phase this year and Valve is offering 300 of them for free. If you are interested go on this link and maybe you will be among the lucky ones that get the free console. We can expect Steam Machines to hit the stores early next year.

The third and final Valve event is on Friday.


Oculus Rift Attack on the Death Star



Still didn't hear about Oculus Rift project, don't worry you will definitely hear something about this gadget in months to come. Oculus Rift is a new technology that's trying to bring virtual reality to people everywhere. It's not released yet but you can order a developer edition that's going to start selling in November. The price is $300.


Boone Calhoun made a demo Star Wars: Trench Run in witch you fly X-wing and try to destroy the Death Star. The X-wing isn't 100% as in the movie but it still looks pretty good. Playing  a game in virtual reality is something the gamers have wanted for many years and Oculus Rift is bringing that to gamers worldwide. Could this project be the revolution in gaming that we are waiting for, time will tell. But we certainly hope so.

Oculus Rift project collected 16 million dollars of investments, 2.4 million was collected on Kickstarter. The second version of Oculus Rift is in the making. It's suppose to be smaller, lighter, wireless, bring 1080p resolution and better motion sensors then the developer edition.

Check out this YouTube video and see how the project works.

 


Curved Smartphone from Samsung




Curved screens for smartphones, you know that technology that almost every company is talking about but no one has yet released a phone with a curved screen. Well Samsung is planing to change that. D. J. Lee form Samsung has announced that the company is launching their first curved smartphone next month.

“We plan to introduce a smartphone with a curved display in South Korea in October,”

This isn't the first curved screen from Samsung, because they are already selling OLED TVs with a curved screen. Curved OLED TVs are still pretty expensive so will have to wait and see what price will the curved smartphone have. South Korean company didn't say anything else about this smartphone so we are still in the dark about specifications and just how flexible will the smarphone be.

People from Samsung also announce that they are launching a new series of smartphones the F series, maybe the F series will be the curved screens lineup.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Smaller Surface from Microsoft




Microsoft announced it's new Surface lineup at the event this Monday, and accourding to the rummors they are already working on the new smaller Surface tablet. Witch is not surprising becouse of their competiton. The iPad Mini and many other Android 7-inch tablets such as Nexus 7 are selling very good and Microsoft can't ignore this.

The new rummored Surface should have a 7.5-inch(4:3) screen whit a display resolution of 1,400x1,050. Will it be called Surface Mini and when is the realese date is still unknown. Probably early next year. Cost of the tablet is another issue, Surface 2 starts at $449 so the smaller version should be cheaper then that if it's going to sell.

Windows 8.1 is going to be released in October, maybe then we will hear more about this smaller Surface.

Apple Paid EA to Postpone Plants Vs Zombies 2




Plants Vs Zombies was a big hit on all platforms. In this game you play the role of the Gardner whose house is invaded by zombies and he uses plants to defend the house. You have to use defensive strategies to kill wave after wave of zombies. The game is addicted and fun.

Plants Vs Zombies 2 was announced some time ago and so far it has only launched on iOS. No Android or Windows version of the game yet. Everyone thought that Apple paid EA for this decision but it was never any evidence, until now. The head of EA Frank Gibbeau made a comment saying

“Apple gave us a truckload of money to delay the Android version [of Plants vs Zombies 2].”

In the past EA has done exclusives with Sony and Microsoft, so why should we be surprised they are doing similar things with Apple. EA doesn't have a great reputation as a company, in the United States EA was voted the worst company two years in a row. They even had more votes than the banks, and we all know how much people hate the banks.

The game should be released on Android next month. In China it was already released on Android and it's selling better than the iOS version. Worldwide the game is a big hit on the iOS with more then 25 million downloads.

PopCap refused to comment on this situation saying

“We can’t comment on internal meetings.”

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

SteamOS from Valve




Valve is planing to announce three things during this week. First thing they announced was the operating system called SteamOS. This OS is based on Linux architecture. Basically it's free and can be used by anyone.
The new SteamOS want be just for games, Valve is planing to invade your living room. Well this is what is written on their site.

 In-home Streaming


 You can play all your Windows and Mac games on your SteamOS machine, too. Just turn on your existing computer and run Steam as you always have – then your SteamOS machine can stream those games over your home network straight to your TV!

 Music, TV, Movies


 We’re working with many of the media services you know and love. Soon we will begin bringing them online, allowing you to access your favorite music and video with Steam and SteamOS.

 Family Sharing


 In the past, sharing Steam games with your family members was hard. Now you can share the games you love with the people you love. Family Sharing allows you to take turns playing one another’s games while earning your own Steam achievements and saving your individual game progress to the Steam cloud.

 Family Options


 The living-room is family territory. That’s great, but you don’t want to see your parents’ games in your library. Soon, families will have more control over what titles get seen by whom, and more features to allow everyone in the house to get the most out of their Steam libraries.



On the next event we expect they will introduce some hardware that's going to be running SteamOS.

Women 40% of All Gamers




If you think gaming is just for nerdy guys, well let's just say you couldn't be more wrong. Microsoft just announced that 40% of the online service Xbox Live population are women. So if you are looking to meet women Xbox Live isn't a bad place to start.


"That's a giant change from when we launched our platform," said COO Kevin Turner.

These 40% women gamer results are only for the United States. Although they were proud to say that Xbox Live has 48 million members in 41 different countries. They also talked about how consoles are not only for games anymore. Because 42% of Xbox Live members watch over 30 hours of movies or TV each month.

Maybe that's one of the reasons that Microsoft announced it's on TV show Hallo, that is produced by Steven Speilberg.


Monday, September 23, 2013

9 Million iPhones in Three Days




Nothing new here, another Apple product successfully launched. People all over the world waiting in line for the new iPhone. In just three days they sold 9 million of them. So far we don't know how many of those were iPhone 5s and haw many of them were the plastic version iPhone 5c. Last year the iPhone 5 sold 5 million in it's opening weekend .

Because off all this demand right now there is a shortage of the new iPhones, but Tim Cook assures us that they are working hard to make more phones for the customers. This isn't the only record for Apple this weekend, there new iOS 7 is already spinning on over 200 million Apple devices.

The competition is stunned by this results from Apple, some rumors say that Samsung even send spies into the lines in front of Apple stores, so they can find out why are they looking to buy the new iPhone. Yeah good luck with that Samsung.

BlackBerry gets a $4.7 Billion Buyout





Guess this is the month that the former mobile giants are getting sold. Microsoft boutgh Nokia a few weeks ago and now BlackBery is getting sold as well. BlackBerry was in financial trouble for some time, just a few days ago they announced layoffs at the company. Today they agreed to a buyout offered by Fairfax Financial Holding Limited. Fairfax already owns 10% of BlackBerry and they have offerd to buy the rest of the shares for $9 a share and make the company private.


Prem Watsa the CEO of Fairfax said “We believe this transaction will open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry, its customers, carriers and employees. We can deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company with a focus on delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions to BlackBerry customers around the world.”

However nothing is being said about there plans for the future of this Canadian company. Will they still make phones, will they sell the company in pieces, will they move to another OS like Android? Guess will just have to wait and see what the plans for BlackBerry are.