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Walyou

Amazon’s FireTV Is No Xbox or PS4 Killer
Darth Vader Helmet Toaster: Humilliating And Awesome
Microsoft Collaborates With Apple to Launch Office for iPad
Microsoft Confirms Windows Phone 8.1 and Cortana PA

Amazon’s FireTV Is No Xbox or PS4 Killer

Posted: 03 Apr 2014 07:00 AM PDT

The war for the living room gets hotter as we learn more about Amazon’s FireTV, although the company claims it won’t compete with either Xbox One nor PS4.

Amazon recently announced their very own set-top box called FireTV, which is supposed to play movies, TV, and also serve as a game console, too. While some might claim this is the OUYA all over again, Amazon's baby has already secured some great games such as Minecraft, Asphalt 8 and a few other games at an extremely average price of $1.85, way below the price these games see on consoles and more on pair with mobile offerings.

Still, the FireTV is not a direct competitor to either the PS4 nor Xbox One, according to Amazon themselves, as it’s a streaming box first and foremost. The console part appears once the users buy the dedicated controller which unlocks the graphics processor of the console, as well as $10 worth of “Amazon coins” which must be used on games. The price of the controller, sold separately is $39.99 controller.

Still, despite what amazon claims, wouldn’t it be interesting to bring some of the more aggressive pricing seen on some apps and mobile games to consoles? We don’t want to replace our dedicated gaming machines, but it’s competition that drives innovation, and what benefits the users. Stay put to learn more.

Source: Forbes

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Darth Vader Helmet Toaster: Humilliating And Awesome

Posted: 03 Apr 2014 06:00 AM PDT

Ever wondered what happened with Anakin Skywalker’s body after the events of Return of the Jedi? No, it’s not a plot point of Episode VII, he just became a toaster.

Preorders are up in case you want to get your own copy of this is Darth Vader Toaster from BigBadToyStore. They will set you back $45 dollars, and come out in July, which is not that far from now. The toaster, besides looking awesome as it replicates Vader’s helmet, is capable of toasting Vader’s head on one slice of bread with the Star Wars logo on the other.

You might be sad because Anakin is no longer among the living, but now, he will live forever… as a toaster, and that is awesome.

Source: Geekologie

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Microsoft Collaborates With Apple to Launch Office for iPad

Posted: 03 Apr 2014 05:00 AM PDT

For years, Microsoft Office users had to get by with subpar office solutions on the iPad. That all changes with official Microsoft Office support for iPad.

After several decades of Mac vs PC debates, the world seems to turn on its head with Microsoft’s announcement that it was launching Microsoft Office for iPad. No, it’s not the first time Microsoft has published software for an Apple product, but given the nature of the Apple App Store’s strict requirements and Microsoft’s recent Apple iPad bashing commercials for the Microsoft Surface, the level of collaboration required for this product launch is definitely a sign of a new start with Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella.

Although Apple’s share of tablet sales have dropped of dramatically the past couple years, there are still a lot existing Apple iPads out there, especially in businesses where Android’s security isn’t widely trusted, yet. Since Apple dominated tablet sales for many years before there were any legitimate contenders and the iPad 2 has been supported up through the most recent iOS update, that makes over 3 years and 6 generations (including iPad Mini) of iPads that largely haven’t needed to be upgraded to newer hardware.

On top of this, a massive number of low end tablets have recently been injected into the market, skewing Apple’s market share due to the loose definition of the word “tablet” that causes Apple iPads to fall into the same category as low end tablets with sub 1GHz tablets.

Many businesses have traditionally turned towards iPads for their tablet needs, and the presence Microsoft Office now gives iPads the seal of approval most companies need to continue sending Apple their business. Although Windows PCs might not be as prominent as they once were, Microsoft Office has never gone out of style.

Many alternatives have popped up, such as Open Office and Google Docs on desktop systems and Documents 2 Go, Google Docs, and Quick Office via mobile, but none have worked nearly as well as the Microsoft branded suite, specifically when it comes to Excel and Powerpoint.

Viewing Powerpoint presentations or Excel documents has been possible for years, but no application could properly either, so it was extremely difficult to view, much less edit. Powerpoint and Excel are very interactive tools, so this lack of functionality made the existence of any “solutions” practically moot.

Although the apps themselves are free, the Microsoft Office Suite for iPad is read-only without an Office 365 subscription, just having the functionality to properly interact with an Excel spreadsheet is enough for many. Also, Office 365 subscriptions cost less than $6 a month, so any power users that do require on the go office editing abilities don’t have to break the bank to get it.

Source: Apple Insider

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Microsoft Confirms Windows Phone 8.1 and Cortana PA

Posted: 02 Apr 2014 01:15 PM PDT

Even though a bit late to the game, Microsoft launched it’s own mobile personal assistant to compete against Google Now and Apple’s Siri.

It looks like Microsoft finally decided to have some consistency in numbering its operating systems for desktop and mobile. It might take a few months till the new version of Windows Phone hits the market, but at least it has been officially announced by the Redmond giant, and it will be available before Windows 9 comes to desktops.

Cortana, the main selling point of WP 8.1, will be launched in beta, and since it’s getting released 3 years after Apple’s Siri and two years after Google Now, Microsoft’s mobile personal assistant will have to play catch up for a while. Or maybe Microsoft has just been watching from the shadows all this time, learning the things that made the other personal assistants successful and the aspects that draw them back.

Joe Belfiore, corporate VP of Microsoft’s OS group, called Cortana “first truly personal digital assistant who learns about me and the people that matter to me most.” Unlike Apple and Google’s personal assistants, Cortana can also be contacted via text, so it’s not everything about voice commands.

In the demonstrations made at Microsoft’s Build 2014 developer conference, Belfiore demonstrated how Cortana can easily do the same things a real personal assistant does in terms of managing the calendar and relationships. In one particular demo, Belfiore asked Cortana to set an appointment at a specific time, and Microsoft’s personal assistant reminded him that he has another task scheduled at the same time. Finding schedule conflicts and making people aware of them is certainly something that sets Cortana apart from its counterparts.

Remember the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) that showed up on Windows 98 during an official Microsoft demonstration? Well, Cortana is not without bugs, and a couple of them became apparent during Belfiore’s demonstration. That’s exactly why he reminded people that “We’re launching Cortana as a beta while we train the service on the back end, with lots of voice utterances to improve speech recognition.”

Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insight & Strategy, is a bit skeptical about Cortana being able to boost WP sales, as he stated about Microsoft’s mobile personal assistant that it “is impressive but so was Siri and Google Now when it was demoed on stage, so I’m skeptical that it can make a different in Windows Phone sales.”

It remains to be seen if Moorhead is right or not, but even with Cortana, Microsoft will have a hard time trying to dethrone Google and Apple.

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