Memorial Day Special Treat: Preview of the first 8 songs from Miranda Lambert's upcoming album "Platinum"

As those of you that know me are aware, one of the first things I started reviewing online was music.  I still listen to and write about music quite a bit, and was just passed a link to this preview of Miranda Lambert's upcoming album.  Have a safe Memorial Day, and please remember to take time to keep our men and women in uniform, and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom in your thoughts and prayers as you spend time with family and friends.

Get More:

Miranda Lambert,

Miranda Lambert videos

New Channel available for AppleTV Owners - WWE Wrestling!

Part of yesterdays update to the Apple TV was the addition of a WWE channel, allowing fans of the popular Wrestling network to subscribe to content and access PPV events directly from their AppleTV for a $9.95/month charge directly billed through iTunes.  Follow the link for more info.

World Wrestling Entertainment Channel Now Available for iOS and Apple TV - Mac Rumors:

World Wrestling Entertainment Channel Now Available for iOS and Apple TV

 

Photo Review: Paper - FaceBook has never looked better

Today FaceBook released a new way for iPhone users to interact with their network, a stunning app simply called Paper.  The design team, led by former Apple designer Mike Matas and the team he brought to FaceBook with him in 2011 when his digital publishing company Push Pop Press was aquired.

Paper is a free download from the App store, and signals a completely new way to interact with FaceBook, bridging the gap between news sources and your news feed.When you first launch the app you are greater by a short video into showing off the application with the simple title screen shown here.

You are then guided through the process of adding additional news sections to your "Paper"The tutorial guides you through the process explaining how the sections relate to each other.There are plenty of preconfigured sections available, and I would guess more will be coming as the application grows.Once you finish adding sections, you are taken to your news feed. As you use the app, blue pop-over dialogs guide you through using the program.

Adding a post has the same elegance of the rest of the app. They did this thing right, and it shows they didn't miss a trick.News sections are just as clean and easy to navigate. Swiping up takes you deeper, swiping down takes you back out closer to your timeline.Once you've tapped on an article to bring it up, swiping up "unfolds it", taking you to the website that is the source of the original article.

Photos on your timeline display full screen, and pan when you turn your phone if they are wider than the phone.Re-posting a photo looks just as clean as anything else in the app. These guys really did a great job.

Conclusion

The folks on the Paper team have done what they were asked to do - try and disrupt FaceBook from the inside before someone outside had the chance to.  Drawing on every design element Apple gave them to play with in iOS 7 this team has put together a smooth application that after just a few hours has replaced the regular FaceBook app on my iPhone, and I'm sure it will on yours as well.  Trust me, once you spend a little time with it you will never go back.

Kickstarter Project: Dustcloud

Dustcloud is an interesting new Kickstarter project that has me intrigued.  The idea and proof of concept evolved in Prague during 2012, while the people involved worked together in a bar in the old city.  They came up with a spy game, and started brainstorming how they could make it work online.  The result took them to China to design hardware, and resulted in an ambitious project.  Their goal is to build a combination social network and online role playing game based on cold-war era espionage and assassination.

 

The only issue is that it's ultimate success will depend greatly on rapid adoption.  In Europe it would be easier, as travel between countries is much more common, but in the USA unless a large number of players in major cities are involved it would become boring pretty quickly.  It is definitely an interesting idea, and one that I plan to keep an eye on though.

You can find more details here.

Kickstarter Project: Geek A Week Year Five Two

For several years artist Len Peralta has been drawing Geek trading cards in his "Geek-A-Week" series.  It started as paintings which were published on his website, and then ThinkGeek actually printed up and sold the first series.  Since then he has relied on KickStarter to fund additional expansion, and he is getting ready to start on his 4th set, titled Year Five Two.  I've long been a fan of Peralta's work, and have all of the cards printed so far, so when I got an email from him today announcing this project's release I had to get it out to all of you.  Follow the link below and take a look at his work, the new designs, and the rewards available.  Len is a very talented artist who has done a lot to help further the advancement of Geek culture with the campy style of this painting series.

Geek A Week: Year Five Two by Len Peralta — Kickstarter:

Help artist Len Peralta create 52 brand new Geek A Week cards! Another full year! New design, new geeks!

CES 2014: The Brick is Back (kind of)

The Brick, from Binatone brings the '80s backThose of you in your 30s like me likely remember early cell phones from TV.  Huge brick shaped things with no battery life that were hugely impractical but were the only portable option short of the suitcase phones that Motorola first launched.  The folks at Binatone have brought back the basic design with a modern battery that can last up to 3(?) months on a single charge.  In addition to being able to be used as a very basic cell phone with any SIM card, it can also function as a bluetooth handset, allowing you to make and recieve phone calls without the distraction of a smartphone when you don't want it around.

I don't know if the idea will take off, ut I have reached out to the folks at Binaphone for a demo unit to see how it works. 

 

You Can Have a Zack Morris Brick Phone Without Going Back In Time:

You Can Have a Zack Morris Brick Phone Without Going Back In Time

 

CES 2014: Sphero announce newest addition to line of smartphone controlled robots

Sphero today announced the upcoming release of their newest connected toy, the Sphero 2B.  Sporting dual wheels instead of their previous ball, the newest addition should add some great new games and features to their ever growing catalog of interactive toys.  Check out the video and information below for more details.

 

Sphero 2B: The newest addition to the Sphero family of connected toys | Sphero Robot Ball:

Introducing Sphero 2B THE NEWEST ADDITION TO THE SPHERO FAMILY OF CONNECTED TOYS

 

Apple Store Problems

As anyone who knows me can attest, I have for more than 12 years been a very Large Apple fan. Going to work for AppleCare in 2007 was a dream come true, and leaving to launch this site and Fatboyheaven.com was a very hard decision.

I set the stage thus to let you know that in this light the fact that my experience with Apple today has me re-thinking my love of this company. I placed an order for in-store pickup of the new iPad Air last night, and was given a guaranteed pickup of today. I have been in the Apple Store since receiving an alert almost 2 hours ago informing me that my order was ready for pickup. The iPad with a crisp white label and my name is here in the store managers hands, but I am leaving without an iPad today. Something has gone wrong in the system that transmits online orders to the store, and my order is stuck in a limbo state to the point that no one in the company can even cancel it.

For a company that is renowned (and often heralded by myself and this website) to have a failure of this magnitude is ludicrous.

I was hoping to have a hands on review up for you all to read today, but I am not likely to have an iPad in my hands before the store closes tonight.

For this I apologize deeply, and hope that I have something to review at some later time.

Things they sent me to review

OK, this has been a crazy summer filled with construction dust and contractors while we remodeled our kitchen.  normally each of these products would have their own post, but I am buried under review units and need to catch up, so we will do quick hits on everything.

Atari Arcade Duo

The Atari Arcade for iPad

The Atari Arcade is very cool if you love classic gaming and still have an iPad 2/3 laying around.  It is powered by the 30-pin connector on your iPad, so no batteries are wasted.  Would have been better if they had added a USB or 30-pin port to the back to charge through though.  In all it works nicely and gives you that satisfying arcade joystick feel to bring games like Pac-Man back to their visceral glory.  Can be found cheap online.

 

HP X2 Windows 8 Convertable Tablet/Laptop
The HP X2 windows 8 Tablet with Laptop Dock

The X2 is the first Windows laptop/tablet I have liked in a long time.  Light weight and sturdy, the X2 is decently powered and makes great use of the Windows 8 Modern UI with it's responsive touchscreen and above average spec sheet.  I love that the keyboard dock doubles battery life (up to 16 hours of moderate use) without adding too much weight.  If I wanted to go back to windows, this would get me there.

Rymdkapsel - iOS Game

Rymdkapsel, an interesting new iOS RTS game

Rymdkapsel is short on graphics, but long on re-play ability and challenging.  You need to manage resources and workers to defend your outpost while trying to complete various missions and defending yourself against waves of attacking enemies.  This game has me turning my back on casual games for hours at a time.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8" Tablet

The Samsung Galaxy Note has done the impossible....it is an Android device I could see myself using every day.  I haven't had a lot of love for Android in the past, but this combination of form factor and the pressure-sensitive stylus has me warming to the idea.  The Galaxy Tab 8.0 has 1.5GB RAM, 16GB Storage, and a SnapDragon 800 1.5Ghz processor, giving it plenty of power to run any application.  When combined with the ChromeCast it becomes an easy home entertainment center as well.  The thing that I love the most is the stylus and how easily it adapts to drawing and note taking.  If you miss the days of your Palm Pilot and decent handwriting recognition, but want a display large enough to comfortably read book and watch video, this is the tablet to get for now.

Sega Genesis Ultimate Portable Game Center

The Sega Genesis Ultimate Portable Game Player

A handheld that knows what it is and does itself proud, I love having 80 Genesis classics at my finger tips for some retro gaming on demand.  It's downfall is that it doesn't save game progress, so RPG mainstays like Phantasy Star would be pointless. If you are looking to re-gain some of your youth and are OK with only having the platform and arcade titles to draw from, you can do a lot worse than this $59 wonder.

Sega Genesis Arcade Nano - Virtua Fighter Edition

The Sega Genesis Arcade Nano

This little wonder serves to illustrate just how far computing and video games have come in my lifetime.  This little keychain has as much computing power as the Sega Genesis console, and includes the contents of 10 game cartidges besides.  Easily hooks up to any TV and provides quick easy gaming fun for you or your kids.  For $19.99 you can't go wrong.  Also available in a puzzle games version with Columns and 9 other titles.

Credit Card Lightbulb

The Credit Card Light Bulb

Not much surprise here.  Flip up the bulb and it turns on.  Fairly bright and super reliable.  Would be great for emergency kits and cars, or to carry in your gear bag just in case.

 

Impossible Instant Lab

The Impossible Instant Lab

 This was one of the first really big KickStarter campaigns to draw wide-spread attention, and there is good reason.  With photo applications like Instagram and Hipstamatic taking over the camera phone market with their oddly retro photo effects, bringing back physical old school poloroids isn't a huge jump.  Being able to attach your iPhone to the device and transfer your instagram greatness in physical form is pretty cool, but can get expensive due to hard-to-find film cartidges.  Impossible thought this through though, and they have supplies available to keep you in instamatic film for as long as you would like.  The film is still a bit pricey (a 10 shot cartridge still runs about $25), but the novelty makes it a huge hit.  Available from Impossible for $299.00

 

Breaking: Amazon announces new Kindle Fire HDX

The new Kindle Fire HDX features full 1080P HDAmazon today has announced the latest in their Kindle line of tablets, the Kindle Fire HDX 7" and Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" tablets.  The 7" features a 1920x1280 display at 323ppi, Quad Core 2.2Ghz processor, dedicated video chip, and 2GB of RAM and will start at $229 when it goes on sale Oct. 18, 2013.  The 8.9" version upgrades the display to 2560x1600 at 339ppi and will start at $379 when it ships Nov. 7, 2013.  Both are available in 4G versions for $100 premium, and this time are available both on AT&T and Verizon.

Amazon is also adding a new feature to the HDX line, something they are calling the "Mayday Button".  Pressing this button will connect you to a live video chat with support personell and gives them the ability to see your Kindle's screen and even draw on it like a telestrator to show you exactly where to touch.  Not a new concept in support, but definately new to the tablet world.

In all this new offering looks amazing, and as always I'll be recieving a unit on launch day to review.  Stay tuned, this should be good.

 

New Product - Minecraft Micro-worlds

Following up on the amazing success of their first Minecraft Lego project last year, the films at Mojang have worked with Lego to release two new sets this year: The Village and The Nether.

Minecraft goods are huge, and gaining in popularity every day, so these should be a big hit if they can keep them in stock this holiday season.

Each set contains 488 pieces and instructions. The benefit of these sets is they include blocks not in the original set which will allow Minecraft pros to re-create areas of their own worlds more easily.

If your kid (or significant other) is hooked on Minecraft, snatch these up before they are gone.

Kickstarter Project: Sound Band

A new company named Hybra Advance Technology, Inc. from Traverse City, MI has launched an interesting KickStarter project called Sound Band.  It is a wireless headset that uses sound surface technology instead of speakers for better sound without negatively impacting your ability to hear sounds around you.


They have already completed three design revisions, and are looking for funding to enter production with the fourth design, and have already reached their funding goal in one week.  This is a great project and an interesting new move in wireless portable sound.  Take a look and consider backing them!

Special Event: Apple WWDC Keynote

Today Tim Cook and the folks from Apple took the stage to lay out the road map for the coming year in Apple Software and to announce new hardware.  As usual, Tim started the morning giving a "State of the Company" update.  Here are some numbers:

 

  • Over 6million registered developers
  • WWDC sold out in 71 seconds
  • Retail: More than 1 million daily visitors
  • Retail: 407 stores in 17 countries
  • Appstore: 50 Billion apps in less than 5 years
  • Appstore: 900,000 applications
  • Appstore: 375,000 iPad specific
  • Appstore: 575 Million accounts with credit cards attached, largest online store in the world
  • Appstore: More than $10 Billion paid to developers so far

 

New Developer ANKI, launching first product live on stage today.  Robotics and AI researchers.  ANKI Drive, autonomous capable cars, combination of computer control and human interaction.

Mac

 

  • 72 million sold last year
  • MacBook #1 Notebook in the market
  • Mac up 100% VS. Pc up 15%
  • #1 in customer sat and quality

 

28 million copies of Mt. Lion sold in last year, not standing still.  New OS is OS X Mavericks.  New naming scheme after Californian landmarks.  New features:

 

  • Finder tabs, no more million finder windows
  • Tagging! When you save a document, you can tag it wherever it is, and tags will appear in finder
  • Multiple display support built in.  Taking a window full screen on one display will not mess up your desktop.  HDTV will be able to be a full powered secondary display

 

DEMO

Tabs work like they do in Safari, allows for easier copying, finder can go full screen.  Tag field part of save dialog, tags have their own section in the finder sidebar, making finding important documents much easier.  Documents can be tagged simply by dragging the documents into the tagged group in finder as well.

Multiple displays also allows for multiple spaces on each display.  AppleTV now can be used as another full size display, with full screen applications.

New features of OS X Mavericks:

 

  • Compressed memory - compress used memory to make room for new documents without writing to disk
  • GPU video scaling
  • OpenGL 4
  • Accelerated scrolling
  • Enhanced timings reduce idle time and allow for 72% less CPU power drain

 

Safari:

 

  • First look at flattening of the OS, improved top sites
  • Shared links lets you see all the links shared by people you follow on Twitter and FaceBook
  • JAVA enhancements
  • Enhanced memory usage
  • Lower power usage
  • AppNap stops power drain by pausing the rendering cycles of apps not in focus
  • Top Sites: Very flat, dark grey with white text
  • Reading list: Puts articles in order, pre loading the next article so that they are stacked in a single page for easier reading.
  • iCloud Keychain: essentially OnePassword built in to your local system, but available on any iCloud connected device.  Will also hold credit card info, but you still need to know the 3-digit security code.

 

Enhanced notifications, allow for iOS device notifications to display on your Mac, including while Mac is locked.

Calendar Enhancements - Facebook events, flatter interface, map and drivetime awareness on events

Maps - Now on OS X, turn by turn directions, can send direction to the iPhone, display on lock screen.  SDK allows for mapping data to be sent from any app.

iBooks for Mac - Fully featured, interactive textbooks

New MacBook Air with the Haswell ULT chip, almost doubled battery life

11" - $999 w/ 128 GB, $1199 256 GB

13" - $1099 128 GB, $1299 256 GB

Shipping today

Mac Pro!

Amazing new design.  Large black cylinder.  2x processor performance.  1866MHz DDR3.  PCIe Flash HDD, 10x fastest drive previously available.  Thunderbolt 2, 10Gbps throughput.  Dual GPU, 384-Bit memory buses.  4k Display support off of each display port. Insanely small compared to current Mac Pro, 1/8th the volume.  Full unit spins for easy access to rear panel. Coming later this year.

Made and assembled in the USA.

New Airport Extreme - built in drive bays, 2 or 3 TB drives.

 

iCloud

300 million accounts.  240 Million GameCenter users.  800 Billion iMessages.

iWork integration into iCloud:  New releases later this year of both Mobile and Desktop applications.  iWork for iCloud - web based document creation.  Clearly Apple responding to Office365.  Platform agnostic, shown using Chrome on Windows 8. Available today for developers.

 

iOS

600 Million iOS devices sold.  Number one in customer usage.  iPhone users use their phone 50% more than Android owners.  Mobile web share 60% for iOS.  93% of users are using the latest version of iOS.

iOS 7!  Biggest change to iOS since original iPhone.  New flatter interface we expected. Changed color palate. A new beginning for iOS.  HUGE developer response.  

 

  • Animated backgrounds
  • Parallax allows you to see behind the icons
  • edge to edge design
  • "We ran out of green felt for GameCenter"
  • Great use of gestures for one handed use
  • multiple pages in each folder, no more "Games 2" on my home screen!
  • great today view in notification center
  • Notification center available from lock screen

 

10 new features:

 

  • Control center - quick access to settings
  • Multitasking - Full access for all applications.  OS learns usage patterns for "Opportunistic updates".  Card like feature for running apps.
  • Safari - New full screen look.  Smart search field for one-tap access.  Parental controls.  iCloud Keychain.
  • AirDrop - Quick file transfer, system wide peer-peer wi-fi.
  • Camera - Live photo filers, 4 cameras in one.
  • Photos - Organized into moments using meta data.  Can go wider to general areas or years.  Can tap and scrub through micro-thumbnail.  Shared photo streams allow multiple people to share into Family photo or event streams.  Can see comments live in stream, including video sharing.
  • Cloud service integration - SIRI has new interface, much cleaner.  All new voice.  Much smarter, has better control over your device including settings.  Can answer more questions because of Twitter integration, WikiPedia, bing search results.  iOS in the car: 95% of cars sold today have integrated voice control of music.  On screen display of iOS using in car display.  12 car manufacturers with integration in 2014.  AppStore now auto-updates applications.  
  • Music - Much cleaner and again a flatter view.
  • iTunes Radio! - Built into the music app, curated stations.  You can build your own station based on any song you are listening to.  Favorite songs tagged for purchase in history screen.  Built into all platforms including AppleTV.  Included in iTunes Match for $25 add free.
  • Facetime Audio, Notification sync, PDF annotation.  Phone, facetime, and iMessage blocking.
  • Activation Lock - Device cannot be wiped an reactivated without linked AppleID.  
  • 1500 new APIs in new SDK

Available today for iPhone 5, later weeks for iPad and iPad mini

 

 

 

First Look: OUYA Game System

I just received and am now connecting the OUYA, an open-source gaming system that was the biggest launch in KickStarter history, and which solidified said crowd-funding site as a legitimate way to launch new technology start ups without giving away the farm to venture capitalists.

As you can see, the hardware certainly looks impressive, and since there is no physical media drive is exceptionally small. Anytime your console is smaller than your controller, you have gained ground towards portability.

Setup so far has been easy: plug the unit into the wall and an available HDMI port on your TV, pair your controller via bluetooth, connect to your wireless network, and you are set. Since this is still beta, the software is constantly being tweaked, so my unit is updating now. Stay tuned for follow ups on game play!