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

Update on 2013-06-10 19:25 by Drew Fleisher

I am downloading iOS 7 for my iPhone now, and will post updates with screen shots.  Please comment on THIS post to let me know what things you want to see.

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!

Update on 2013-10-15 23:03 by Drew Fleisher

OK, I've given this a few months for the game selection to improve and updates to work out the kinks, and I have to say that for an independent boot-strapped project this thing is pretty cool.  Major developers are still being courted, and may not do much depending on what happens with the offering from Steam, but in all there is some great gaming action to be found here.

First Look: Scrolls, the latest from the minds that brought us MineCraft

Today Scrolls, the latest game from the folks at Mojang who brought us MineCraft hit open BETA, giving everyone a chance to learn gameplay and strategy before the game goes world-wide in general release.  Gameplay is based on collectable card games such as Magic: The Gathering, but has some unique twists and strategy that will make it fresh and exciting.  I got my login for the beta this afternoon, and am taking this break to give you all a look!

Gameplay starts with customizing your game deck.You start by customizing your deck.  The minimum legal deck size is 50 cards, and you get a full deck from one of the three factions to start.  As you complete games versus the AI you earn gold, which can be used to buy additional cards, and allowing you to customize your deck in myriads of ways.  You also can trade cards with other players, giving you additional options to create a winning and powerful deck.

Once you have assembled your deck, to can play a quick game, or compete in trialsGameplay then begins, with quick play games to practice, and then trial scenarios allow you to win gold to use for purchasing more cards.  Gameplay is pretty simple to follow, but infinitely complex to master.  Each player has their own side of the board, and each row has an idol which you need to protect.  Once you get past the enemies and destroy three of the other players idols, you have won the game.  Likewise, if three of your idols fall, you are defeated.

When you win a game, you are awarded gold based on several criteriaOnce you win a game, awards and statistics are presented for your review.  Your ranking is based on how well you do against other players, not the computer.  The more you play, the more you increase your stats and improve your ranking.  One word of warning, the tutorial makes this game look very easy, but once you complete it the difficulty goes up incrementally.

As I get deeper into the game I will post updates, but this should give you a decent idea of what Mojang is up to.

Mojang — Makers of Minecraft:

Scrolls is in open beta! On-sale now!

Kickstarter Project to watch - nuplug

Kickstarter has allowed many great ideas to become reality in the last year or so, and this is a project that I would love to see work for the creator.  The concept is pretty ingenious.  An extension cord with USB and power outlets, but with a twist - it will clamp onto a solid surface to hold it in place.  This will help clean up the rats nest of cords most of us have by our couches and bedsides as well.

Watch the video and consider helping this guy out.  I think this will be a hit, but there are only four days left in the campaign and he still needs $14K to get it backed.

nuplug™ the most convenient outlet for your smart-devices by Michael Carpanzano — Kickstarter:

Get ready for a much more comfortable and convenient way to continue using your smart-devices while they are charging.  nuplug™ is an intuitive and functional solution for many of your power related needs, and with your support, we can make it available for everyone.

Review: Crossman Stinger R-39 Airsoft Gun Set

The folks at WOOT sent me the Stinger R-39Today another package arrived from the folks at Amazon and their sister-site WOOT, and it contained two of these great Crosman R39 AirSoft Gun Kits .  With a breakaway stock and pop-up sites, it is compact to travel, yet feature filled fun when opened up to use.  I tested it with a 30-foot range and it was fairly accurate, although the lack of adjustment on the sights mean you need to spend some time getting familiar with the weapon to become accurate.

We have a father-son airsoft game coming up with the church in a few weeks, so we'll get to battle test these guns, but they are a lot of fun in the meantime.

Review: BestDuplicator 5 Target DVD Duplicator

I received a call from my sister-in-law the other day with a request for help that surprised me: the church that she and her husband pastor needed some DVDs duplicated.  After having spent most of the last year digitizing and getting rid of physical media in our home, I don't even own a DVD player anymore, much less have the ability to duplicate DVDs.

So I reached out to some folks and got one of them to send me the BestDuplicator 5 Target 24X SATA DVD Duplicator - Professional DVD CD Duplication Copier Machine to review.  This six drive tower has a single master drive with five targets, allowing you to place any DVD or CD into the top drive and make up to five copies very quickly.  I made forty-three DVDs in an evening, and the average burn time was 8.53 minutes for each of 16 masters that I needed to copy.  Pretty impressive given that the last CD duplicator I had took more than 12 minutes to copy a 700MB CD-ROM.

Operation was dead simple.  Drop the source disc into the top drive, insert blanks into as many of the slave drives as you need.  Once all the drives are closed, the discs are analyzed and duplication begins.  When complete the newly burned discs are checked for accuracy and ejected to be labeled.  That's all.  No complicated settings, no steep learning curve to make sure nothing goes wrong.

While the modern world is going to digital streaming and instant downloads, some applications still call for physical media.  I'm not sure when or if I'll have a need for it again, but I know the BestDuplicator will be here and bullet-proof when I do.

Review: Karma Mobility Karma Wi-Fi Hotspot

The Karma Wi-Fi hotspot arrives with just a USB power cable and the hotspot itself.

Today I recieved a new 4G wi-fi hotspot with an interesting twist from the folks at Karma Mobility.  Karma has an interesting business model. You buy the hotspot for $79US, and the first time you connect you get 100MB free data, which can be linked using your Facebook account. From then on, you can buy pay-as-you-go bandwidth for $14US/GB.

The twist is that you cannot secure your hotspot.  Anyone within range can connect, and when they do THEY get 100MB of free data, and you get 100MB of additional data added to your account for providing their access.  Karma is banking on the fact that people will start to recognize the Karma brand, and buy additional bandwidth when they need it and are connected to Karma hotspots in airports and at public gatherings.  I'm guessing it will work.  A hotspot with a familiar branding is more likely to get connections than one that is broadcasting a name like "ID10T B0X" or "D-Link".  And knowing that if they connect they will get 100MB of free data to check email or download a new book on their Kindle Fire before catching that flight makes it a no brainer for the consumer.

I averaged 8.17Mbps download and 1.29Mbps upload in my testing.  Not stellar speeds but certainly usable for checking email and small downloads.  And that is what the Karma is for, not streaming TV shows from Netflix or downloading torrents.  For free bandwidth, that isn't bad at all.

You can buy extra bandwidth if you need it, and it never expires.

Update on 2013-05-22 00:27 by Drew Fleisher

My good friend at Oregon City Computers asked a question and I checked to verify regarding security.  His concern was that the owner of the hotspot would be on the hook if someone who connected to it was doing something illegal using the connection.  I checked, and because the Radius server at Karma handles authentication, the IP address is assigned there rather than using Network Address Translation (NAT) in the device itself.  In other words, unlike your home Wi-Fi, Karma assigns the IP adress to your device, not the local hotspot that I own.

Special Event: #XboxReveal

Today the Xbox team from Microsoft took the stage to set the timeline for the next generation of living-room entertainment.

Their solution - XBOX ONE

Leveraging their work with Kinect, the system recognizes you and your voice, removing the need for logging in to your gamer tag.  

Fast voice control using what they call "Instant Switching", demo looking very cool.  It will also interact with WindowsPhone 8 devices and use them as remote controls using their SmartGlass system.  

Leveraging Skype for video calls, which can be used at the same time as the other apps in what they are calling "Snap Mode".  Simply saying "Xbox, snap "application name" which will bring it up along side whatever you are doing.

Hardware:

x86 architecture, 8GB RAM, USB 3.0, Blue-Ray drive, Wi-Fi Direct, 64-Bit, variable power states

Kinect leveraging USB 3.0 to stream 3Gb/sec of audio visual data to speed response.  Sensors are sensitive enough to read heart rate while using exercise applications.

Software:

3 operating systems:

1. Xbox OS

2. Windows Kernel

3. Custom switching OS to bridge the two kernels

New Xbox Live system will include personal DVR to record all game play, and allow you to save and share the recordings including a built-in video editing suite.

Developer support:

EA announcing new strategic partnership, more details coming soon (probably at E3).  New "Ignite" game engine for sports titles.  10x animation depth and detail, dubbed "True Player Motion".  Video demo from EA looks insanely realistic.

Microsoft studios was up next, showing off Forza Motosports 5.  Again the graphics look great.  Will be available at launch.  Huge emphasis on gaming experience and multi-player.

Trailers for other games were shown as well, concluding with the trailer for "Modern Warfare: Ghosts", which looked amazing.

Microsoft promises more details at E3 in 20 days, so stay tuned, this looks like it could knock Sony's PS4 announcement out of the water.

Special Event: Google I/O: What's New in Android, Chrome, and Beyond

Yesterday Google opened their I/O developers conference with some big announcements.  From a montly music subscription to a new all-in-one chat application called Google HangOuts, Google is taking technology, especially on their Android platform to new highs.  They also began the push for new smaller image and video formats to make sharing special events with family and customers more cost effective, reducing file sizes more than 25% with BETTER quality.  

Only time will tell how impacting these announcements will be, but the folks at Google sure made a splash.  Follow the link below for more details from the folks at Gizmodo.

Google I/O: What's New in Android, Chrome, and Beyond (Updating):

Google I/O: What's New in Android, Chrome, and Beyond

Athenian Grill: Greek Bistro & Market by Ilias Pappas — Kickstarter

 When we were in Kentucky, I wrote about the Ambassador Day at Makers Mark on day two of our visit.  One of the great things about that day was the amazing greek food we had from Athenian Grill in Lexington and their booth on the food court there.  Now Athenian Grill is working to open a permanent location in Lexington, and has turned to Kickstarter for funding.  While most of the awards for backers are only going to be valuable to people in the Lexington area, the $50 reward includes shipping of their scratch-made pastries anywhere in the U.S.

If you are in Lexington, or really anywhere in Eastern Kentucky, I encourage you to consider supporting Illias in getting this restaurant built, you will love his food and his passion.​

New rugged tablet trying to come to market - Meet Earl!

This is one of the most promising crowd-funded projects I've seen in a while.  The concept is a rugged e-ink based tablet, which is able to charge fully in 5 hours of sunlight.  The e-ink will keep power usage low, extending runtime to an awesome 20 hours between charges.  This thing is loaded with features and is almost ready for production, they just need some pre-orders to get them there. With a backer price of $249, this could be a huge hit for those who love the outdoors.  Check it out at the link below:

Earl - Backcountry Survival Tablet:

Meet Earl, a revolutionary tablet engineered for the most extreme of outdoor situations. Built for survival, Earl works where today's smart phones and tablets cannot. Style meets efficiency with Earl's intuitive design, fusing Android 4.1 together with an energy sipping E-Ink screen and the latest in GPS, weather sensor, and radio communication technology. With Earl at your side, stay in control of your journey no matter where it takes you.