Shelly Palmer Digital Living - Blog

Thank You, Internet, For Killing the Xbox One’s Innovation

shelly@palmer.net (Shelly Palmer) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:18:01 +0000

I’m not sure if I’m more upset or sad right now. After the internet whined and whined and cried and cried, Microsoft just reversed course on its DRM and online check-in policies. You no longer have to check in every 24 hours — “After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again.” — and you can “Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today.” Great news, right internet?

WRONG.

Why? This is the infuriating part:

These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One. The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray.

Gone is any notion of a family share plan, which was infinitely better for all parties involved than loaning a physical disc. Gone is the convenience of having all of your games installed on your hard drive, so you’d be able to swap from one to the next with no need to swap discs. Gone is all innovation.

What we’re left with now is an Xbox 360 with better graphics, a top-notch Kinect and TV integration. That’s about it. The PlayStation 4 is no better — it’s just a PlayStation 3 with Gaikai streaming support coming next year.

Every truly “next-gen” feature has been wiped from the Xbox One. I’m honestly, genuinely saddened by this.

I give up. You’ve won, internet. Be glad you got your way. Great job.

Microsoft Reverses Stance on Xbox One’s DRM, Online Check-Ins

shelly@palmer.net (Shelly Palmer) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:15:17 +0000

Microsoft is making a major U-turn today by reversing some of its controversial Xbox One policies. In a statement on the company’s Xbox blog, Microsoft says it’s making policy changes “as a result of feedback from the Xbox community.” Microsoft is reversing a 24-hour online check, noting that it will not be required to play offline Xbox One games. “After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.” Microsoft is also reversing its used game policy, noting there will be no limitations to using and sharing games. “It will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.” Microsoft previously revealed it would support installing games to HDD from disc, without a requirement for the disc, but the changes mean that the disc will now required to be in the tray for the game to work.

Read the full story at The Verge.

Vine Teases New Features Before Rumored Instagram Video Debut

shelly@palmer.net (Shelly Palmer) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:02:20 +0000

Let’s be honest, it can be a lot of fun when rivals try to mess with each other’s big launch events. Thus, Twitter just put up a vague blog post that promises more features to come for its popular Vine video app. And as AllThingsD just reported, a new video offering from its Instagram photo-sharing unit will be the sole product launch at a Facebook event this Thursday. Which means, it was time for Twitter, which has the most popular such product in the space, to crow. “Over the next few weeks, we’ll be introducing some exciting new parts of Vine,” said its blog post today. “As always, we’ll share details on updates as we release them.” Instagram plans to release its video product at a press event at the social networking giant’s headquarters, according to sources, marking the first time the robust, 100-million user photo-sharing network will offer more than static images.

Read the full story at All Things D.

Google Asks for Permission to Disclose FISA Request Numbers

shelly@palmer.net (Shelly Palmer) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:02:20 +0000

Google has filed a petition with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court citing its first amendment rights as it asks for permission to disclose controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requests. The company revealed in a Google+ post that it is seeking to separate out federal criminal requests from those related to national security: “We have long pushed for transparency so users can better understand the extent to which governments request their data—and Google was the first company to release numbers for National Security Letters. However, greater transparency is needed, so today we have petitioned the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to allow us to publish aggregate numbers of national security requests, including FISA disclosures, separately.”

Read the full story at The Next Web.

Facebook on iOS Update Brings Easier Privacy Control

shelly@palmer.net (Shelly Palmer) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:02:11 +0000

Facebook for iOS has gotten a small update on Wednesday that adds a couple of nice changes. Foremost is the ability to very quickly edit the privacy of a given post so that it’s visible only to the people you choose. This is accomplished by tapping on the small downward chevron next to any post, which presents you with an ‘edit privacy’ option. Once you’re in there you can choose to have it seen by friends, family or a particular list. Note that this can also be defined before you post the item as well, it’s just made a bit easier to do it after the fact now. In addition to the slightly easier privacy controls, Facebook for iOS also now supports ‘emoticons’ of sorts that tie into their actions feed. This means that you can post what you’re feeling, reading, watching, listening to, drinking, eating, playing and more.

Read the full story at The Next Web.

Report: Microsoft is Prepping Second-Gen Surface RT Tablets with Qualcomm Chips

shelly@palmer.net (Shelly Palmer) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:01:40 +0000

Microsoft, seeking to break into the market for tablet computers, will update its Surface RT using chips from Qualcomm, people with knowledge of the company’s plans said. Some new versions of Surface will be based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors, which can deliver fast wireless data connections, said the people, who asked not to be identified because Microsoft has yet to announce new models. Nvidia , whose Tegra chip is used in the current Surface RT, will continue as a supplier for some versions, one person said. By adding Qualcomm, the largest supplier of chips for smartphones, Microsoft will be able to expand the capabilities of Surface. Sales of the device, designed and sold by Microsoft, have fallen short of analysts’ estimates, leaving the tablet’s Windows RT operating system with less than a percentage point of market share in the first quarter, compared with 40 percent for Apple Inc., according to IDC.

Read the full story at Bloomberg.

L.A. Unified School District OKs $30 Million for iPads

shelly@palmer.net (Shelly Palmer) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:01:24 +0000

Apple won a $30-million contract Tuesday from the L.A. Unified School District, paving the way for the company to provide every student with an iPad in the nation’s second-largest school system. The Board of Education voted 6 to 0 on Tuesday to approve the contract after hearing senior staff laud Apple’s product as both the best in quality and the least expensive option that met the district’s specifications. Tuesday’s vote authorized an iPad rollout at 47 campuses. However, by choosing Apple as the sole vendor, the district also made a de facto commitment to spend hundreds of millions of dollars with the Cupertino, Calif.-based digital giant over the next two years. The tablet computer by Apple “received the highest scoring by the students and the teachers,” who took part in testing different devices, said Deputy Supt. Jaime Aquino.

Read the full story at the LA Times.

Facebook Passes One Million Advertisers

shelly@palmer.net (Shelly Palmer) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:01:22 +0000

Facebook announced on Wednesday that it has reached one million active advertisers amid growing adoption among small businesses and as bigger global brands also add Facebook ads to their mix. Facebook director of small business Dan Levy announced the figure in a post, saying he would like to thank “the over one million businesses” who are active advertisers. As of April 1 2013, Facebook has chalked up 1.2 billion connections between people and local businesses in the European Union, with 295 million such connections in the UK. The company said on average there were 270 million views of local business pages in the EU in a week for the month of March, while in the UK there were 55 million such views. Facebook also said 61 percent of its monthly active users in both the EU and the UK are connected to a local business page on the social networking service as of end-March.

Read the full story at The Next Web.

Tokyoflash’s Kisai Watch Tells You That You’re Drunk, Costs $100

shelly@palmer.net (Shelly Palmer) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:00:56 +0000

The Japanese watch company Tokyoflash has long turned heads with their odd (if unreadable) designs but in a first they’ve added a breathalyzer to their Kisai watch, thereby allowing you to see just how drunk you’ve gotten at la Jetée. The video below is a bit, shall we say, obvious: the company hired a charming Scottish man to get drunk. He, in turn, does. He then tests the watch, showing off its various features. In short, the watch has a sobriety game – basically a little test of your hand eye coordination – as well as a real breathalyzer built in. While the readings probably wouldn’t hold up in court, it’s accurate enough for you and your drunk friends. Given the problems I could see associated with passing your watch around so people can blow directly into it, you may want to buy a few for your entire gang.

Read the full story at TechCrunch.

Apple TV Adds HBO GO and WatchESPN

shelly@palmer.net (Shelly Palmer) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:00:54 +0000

Apple has added two major new content sources to Apple TV, via HBO GO and WatchESPN integration. The new streaming services adds a considerable selection of content to the company’s streaming content device, bringing the HBO GO library to the platform, which offers HBO’s entire content library to cable subscribers who have the channel as part of their TV package. WatchESPN likewise offers additional content, including live programming from the sports network, including major golf tournaments, Barclays Premier League, U.S. college sports, tennis and more, as well as recorded shows and access to ESPN cable channel content. Like HBO GO, it’s also available to existing subscribers who have the channel as part of their cable package. Apple also added three new content partners, including Sky News, Crunchyroll and Qello to Apple TV at the same time.

Read the full story at TechCrunch.