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Random Thoughts

Tim — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 00:22:54 +0000

Got a chance to play some HAWX 2 over the weekend. Easily a front runner to be the most disappointing game of the year for me. Not because it is awful (it isn’t), but it has a load of frustrating issues including poor collision detection (that almost renders the last mission unplayable) and brain dead AI.

On the motion control front, this is Kinect release week. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft ships it and gets some compelling titles released during its launch period.

Microsoft has already launched their latest console update. It includes an ESPN (3) channel. It is honestly quite impressive. I only wish someone could get more content providers to commit to this type of online distribution. Given all the wars as of late between content providers and distributors for TV programming it is clear the current methods aren’t going to work in the long haul.

Finally, for those of you in the USA, please remember to vote tomorrow if you haven’t already.

Android 2.2.1 Deployed to T-Mobile myTouch 3G Phones

Tim — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 10:24:29 +0000

This morning I had pleasant surprise. Looks like T-Mobile is finally deploying Android 2.2 to the original myTouch 3G devices. It seems to be a bit less lag when doing certain things like switching screen with several apps running, but at the same time it doesn’t magically turn the underpowered CPU in the device into a powerhouse like those in the Droid X or Samsung Galaxy S either. Still a welcome, if not late upgrade.

Official T-Mobile forum post here.

Consumer Reports Posts First Look at Volt

Tim — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:29:25 +0000

Consumer Reports Cars Blog has posted a video first look at the first (preproduction) Volt off of the assembly line. Except for the center console, it sounds like they are generally impressed with the vehicle.

AT&T to Follow Comcast in Rebranding Effort

Tim — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 01:52:03 +0000

Apparently if your product or services aren’t any good just change the name of it.

See this post on DSLReports for more information.

I believe this video from The Colbert Report summarizes AT&T’s history of this nicely.

iPad Doesn’t Sell out

Tim — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 01:57:19 +0000

Despite predictions that it would sell out within hours, according to this Computerworld article the iPad didn’t sell out on its first day.

Granted the sales numbers were still quite impressive, and for some people the device is a great synergy of Apple’s ease of use and a media centered tablet device. However with its locked down approach limiting its usefulness in several areas including productivity applications, it probably won’t fully replace any of the devices most technophiles already have. It looks like several other manufacturers will be putting out similar devices this year. It will be interesting to see what they do now that Apple has broken the ice.

Playstation Tries to Get in Motion with Move

Tim — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:10:53 +0000

Sony’s showed off their motion controls at GDC. This video at GameSpot does a good job of showing it off. Looks like Sony will be ready to go this holiday season with a full lineup. With Natal coming as well, will Nintendo be able to continue its dominance of this generation of console’s with only its 1st party titles being the real difference between itself and its competitors?

AnandTech Posts SSD Update

Tim — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:19:04 +0000

According to AnandTech, OCZ’s Vertex 2 Pro using the SandForce SF-1500 controller is dead as a retail product and will instead be sold instead in limited quantities as the Vertex Limited Edition. There also a number of other interesting updates in the article including updated Crucial C300 benchmarks.

RockYou Password Breach Analysis

Tim — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:37:27 +0000

I’ve seen quite a few articles about the approximately32 million passwords that were exposed during the breach of RockYou, but this is the first article I’ve seen using Google’s Gmail password strength meter to do some further analysis.

Read the article here.

myTouch 3G System Update (Not Android 2)

Tim — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:59:58 +0000

Looks like a system update is going out to all the original myTouch 3G units. Based on the description it sounds like a backport of a fix already included in newer versions of Android and isn’t the update to v2 that most people are looking for. The wait for the magic number 2 continues.

Apple iPad Announced

Tim — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:33:57 +0000

Apple announced its tablet-like device yesterday. With pricing as follows:
WiFi 16GB = $499
WiFi 32GB = $599
WiFi 64GB = $699

WiFi + 3G 16GB = $629
WiFi + 3G 32GB = $729
WiFi + 3G 64GB = $829

AT&T Unlimited plan = $29.99/month
AT&T 250MB limit plan = $14.99/month

I personally don’t see much value in the device. There are a few cases where something like a netbook wouldn’t be a better choice, but the screen is the wrong type for an eReader and it is pretty expensive for a large iPod Touch. Still no real multitasking either. Hopefully this will help motivate competitors to enter the market. There is definitely a hole in the computing market for a device like this to fill.