Windows Phone now accepts Microsoft Points, and other news you may have missed
Even though Windows Phone has been leading the innovation curve for the next generation of all of Microsoft's graphical interfaces --everything from Windows 8 to Xbox Live is expected to adopt the mobile OS' "live tile" system-- Windows Phone seemed to have been lost in the shuffle in Microsoft's E3 keynote yesterday.
Updates to Kinect, Xbox Live, and of course the Halo franchise took center stage, and nearly nothing was said about Windows Phone and its upcoming improvements in the gaming realm and deepened integration with Xbox Live.
iTunes 10.3 -- now available! Redownload past purchases to all your Apple devices
The latest version of Apple's flagship software iTunes has been released. The big news in iTunes 10.3 is support for the new iCloud service that can be used to automatically download apps, music and other purchases -- this is being labeled as iTunes in the Cloud. There is also newly added support for iBookstore which enables users to purchase ebooks from within iTunes.
iCloud is the replacement for MobileMe and will be made available to users completely free of charge. Once content, such as an app, has been purchased it can then be re-downloaded on any other compatible device without the need for payment. The purchasing options available in iTunes have been extended with the introduction of iBookstore that can be used to browse and buy a selection of ebooks that can be downloaded and synchronized in the same way as apps and music.
5 things Apple borrowed from Android for iOS 5
Apple's iOS 5 is slated for release this fall, presumably with iPhone 5. But the Android Army doesn't have to wait, like the iPhone idolators. Android users can have some of those features now. Looks like Apple has been doing a little copycatting. Again.
It's funny, since hardcore Apple enthusiasts are so quick to accuse whenever they see anyone copying the slightest thing from Steve Jobs' company. They're not as fast to acknowledge when Apple does the, ah, borrowing. I'm glad to do it for them.
Sony debuts PSP's successor PlayStation Vita, $249
Shown in early previews as "NGP" or "Next Generation Portable," Sony officially announced the PlayStation Portable's successor will be called PlayStation Vita, and it will be available with AT&T 3G connectivity.
Sony's new portable combines the traditional dual-analog gamepad interface with a smartphone-like capacitive OLED touchscreen, and adds a rear-mounted touchpad, and sixaxis motion sensors for a versatile gaming experience. It is also equipped with a quad-core ARM Cortex A9 processor and an SGX 543MP4+ graphics processor.
Sony's Tretton apologizes for Playstation Network outage
At Sony's afternoon E3 keynote, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) Jack Tretton issued an apology to third party partners, retailers and consumers for the massive Playstation Network outage.
To the media, who profited a great deal off of the bad news, Tretton said "you're welcome."
MobileMe isn't just free, it's going away
That's right. During Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference today, CEO Steve Jobs said that MobileMe's price would drop from $99 to free. But there's more to it. I just received email from Apple stating the service will retire in little more than year.
No surprise, iCloud, which Jobs announced today, will replace MobileMe. How many times is Apple going to change the name and function of its online service, I wonder. Anyone remember iTools, which Apple debuted in January 2000? That was a free service, too. Then in summer 2002, Apple unveiled .Mac, which would replace iTools and institute a yearly subscription fee.
5 things you should know about Apple iCloud
I'm having freaky sense of déjà vu, today. Apple may be late to cloud computing, but what's that saying about better late than never? Late has worked for Apple before, and I expect it to do so again.
Apple was late to music, when it launched iTunes in January 2001. The Napster revolution was well underway and Windows PC manufacturers shipped CD-RW drives. Now look at Apple and music. Apple was late to smartphones and tablets. Now it has shipped 200 million iOS devices, 25 million of them iPads -- in just 14 months. The list is longer, but you get the point.
iTunes hack widespread, and Apple appears to know about it
Since Betanews' original report last Wednesday, dozens of readers have e-mailed their own reports of account issues, most dealing with Sega's Kingdom Conquest. Some of these initial reports were detailed in a followup to our original piece, but we have received more since then.
(Betanews is still actively collecting reports. If you've been hacked, whether it's Kingdom Conquest or not, we'd like to know. Send your reports to ed at edoswald dot com.)
OS X 'Lion' will cost $29.99 for all your Macs -- how much will Microsoft charge for Windows 8?
Apple's newest operating system, Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" is coming next month, with Apple passing big savings to customers. But you'll need v10.6 "Snow Leopard" to get it. The announcement came earlier today during Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference.
Lion will be distributed as a software download through the Mac App Store, which is available as an add-on to Snow Leopard. Mac App Store is built into Lion. The in-app upgrade is a new distribution mechanism for Apple, and the company is passing on savings to its customers. Apple offered v10.6 Snow Leopard as a $29 upgrade from v10.5 Leopard on DVD. More typically Apple charged $129 for a single license and $199 for 5-license Family Pack.
Got pirated music? Pay Apple $24.99 per year for iTunes Match and RIAA amnesty
Apple on Monday debuted a new subscription service called iTunes Match which scans a user's library of music, and "matches" the user's songs with iTunes' database of 18 million songs. Instead of actually uploading the songs to a server like Amazon Cloud Player and Google Music Beta, iTunes Match simply identifies the song on the user's machine and then makes the equivalent song available "in the cloud" for download on other devices.
The company did not reveal whether the service will have any methods of detecting music ownership.
Apple takes away RIM's only advantage: iMessage copies BlackBerry Messenger
In Apple's unveiling of iOS 5 on Monday, the company revealed iMessage, a new feature that brings the functionality of BlackBerry Messenger to all iOS devices: iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.
The feature lets users send texts, photos, videos, contact information and group messages over Wi-Fi or 3G. It has delivery receipts and "read receipts" and live typing notifications which are pushed to all of a user's iOS devices.
Kinect Fun Labs launches today
Though the name and concept behind Kinect Fun Lab leaked before its keynote, Microsoft showed off three very cool features available in Kinect Fun Labs when it launches for all Xbox 360 users later today.
The first was Xbox Live avatar creation demo called Kinect Me, which lets you snap pictures of your face and clothing with Kinect, and it's rendered as an Xbox Live avatar. It's actually exactly the same thing that Nintendo did with the Mii Maker for 3DS, but the results look a lot more sophisticated, and the clothing-scanning feature adds a bit more depth.
Apple unveils iCloud -- real-time sync for the post-PC era
Apple CEO Steve Jobs today dispelled the rumors surrounding the company's new cloud service. For months, the rumor mill churned out thousands of webpages of guesses about iCloud. Would it be a cloud-based music locker, MobileMe revamp or something else?
Simply stated, iCloud is a synchronization service for pushing data out to all your connected devices. Jobs introduced the service during the Worldwide Developer Conference keynote this afternoon. For more than a half decade, I've said that synchronization is the killer application for the connected world.
Apple has sold 200M iOS devices, 25M iPads
During today's Apple Worldwide Developer Conference, Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iOS software, announced that to date 200 million iOS devices have shipped. Apple also shipped 25 million iPads in the first 14 months. Forstall used the data points to prepare the audience for the introduction of iOS 5.
Forstall offered other important data points:
Xbox 360 becomes cable box killer with Xbox Live update
In Los Angeles on Monday, Microsoft revealed its further plans to make the 360 a comprehensive streaming entertainment solution with Xbox Live TV, YouTube integration, and voice activated navigation and Bing search.
It's been just about three years since the "New Xbox Experience" debuted which brought Netflix Streaming, animated avatars, and live parties to Xbox Live. Microsoft today actually used the phrase "New Xbox Experience" again to describe this latest update, which will bring a new dashboard, voice controls including Bing voice search, YouTube integration, and Xbox Live TV in the fall.
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