"If you don't have an iPhone, you don't have FaceTime on your phone, which makes it this easy to talk face to face with another iPhone, this easy to talk with a Mac, and this easy to talk with an iPad. FaceTime: just one more thing that makes an iPhone and iPhone," a voiceover says as a hand demonstrates Apple's video-chatting feature.
iPhone maker Apple has dished out the iOS 5 Beta 3 for developers, which brings its AirPlay streaming service to FaceTime. AirPlay allows iOS users to stream content to connected televisions. Users would first have to purchase an AirPlay streaming device to stream videos to their TVs. Allowing AirPlay for FaceTime, will make it easier for users to stream the video chat on a TV.
There is no guarantee the feature will make it into the final version of iOS 5 since it has only surfaced in the beta 3 version. Of all the features of the iPhone 4, I have never once used FaceTime.
Reports say that PC’s will have the ability to play Xbox 360 games using Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 platform. In an attempt to make PC games relevant, Microsoft has merged its Games for Windows under the Xbox.com domain.
The company is also aiming to extend the lifespan of its Xbox 360 service before it unveils the next-generation Xbox console (called by many as Xbox 720).
Is it profitable for Microsoft to bring its Xbox 360 games to PCs?
The post on gamesforwindows.com stated, "Games for Windows Marketplace will fully transition over to Xbox.com. Back in May, Insideris reckoned they had word, apparently on good authority, that Microsoft were planning to allow Xbox 360 games to play on Windows 8-laden PCs.
Why would Microsoft want people to play Xbox 360 games on a PC? Sure, expanding the 360 user base to include Windows 8 PC users may sound grand on paper, but who is really going to want to buy and play console games on their PC?
We know from Microsoft themselves that Windows 8 will come with Xbox Live integration, but could it go as far that we can actually play our games from out PCs? Well so long as Microsoft are the creators of Windows 8 and the hugely popular gaming console then yes it is very possible.
Technology Blogged has claimed that this new feature may be integrated to ensure the steady sales of Xbox games until they launch their next generation console. Imagine having a Windows 8 laptop and playing a game like Call of Duty on your Xbox Live account on the go. Would this rumored feature lose Microsoft sales though?
At the moment some really dedicated gamers often buy multiple copies of games for each of their platforms, for example PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.
Enthusiast sites have spewed multiple dates as to when the new Mac OS X Lion software will be released, with Apple thus far only say it would come in July.The information corroborates supply-chain checks from Wall Street analysts and Apple's own corporate moves earlier this year.
Apple released the "gold master" of its operating system, Mac OS X Lion earlier this month, while also ramping up production of the new Macbook Air. Analysts are expecting the new software to boost Apple's margins as well. While the Mac Book Air prices has yet to be determined, Apple has said Mac OS X Lion upgrades will be $29.99.
Lion’s Mail supports Exchange 2010, and that’s a big deal. Addressbook and iCal are also compatible, which makes Mail a viable alternative to Outlook. Microsoft Outlook has had this feature for years, btw. It's smarter with Lion’s Mail. Search for email attachments, too. Finding information in a clogged email box is easier, definitely.
In OS X 10.7 Lion, FaceTime is now fully integrated. FaceTime is a videochat client that allows you to make calls to other Macs running FaceTime, as well as iOS devices with front-facing cameras. That means the iPad 2, iPhone 4 or iPod touch. FaceTime will follow you anywhere -- to any Mac you log onto, even if it doesn't have FaceTime running. FaceTime connects to your OS X Lion Address Book. If you're calling Mac to Mac, FaceTime supports up to 720p HD video calls.
Spotify gives people access to more than 15 million songs on computers for free as long as they listen to a few 15-second ads. Spotify is the latest in an array of companies to offer a subscription music plan with the cooperation of the major music labels. The most popular of the subscription services, Rhapsody, has more than 800,000 paying subscribers.
But none of the existing plans have what Spotify offers: an enticing free service that offers a huge chunk of listening and gets consumers to bond with its interface. Pandora, a popular Internet radio service, allows for unlimited free listening to songs with audio ads, but it doesn’t allow users to pick specific tracks and its library of songs is far smaller.
For $9.99 a month I can get unlimited streaming music on my computer and my iPhone, save playlists for offline listening and even share mixes with other friends who are on Spotify. Sounds like the ideal service. Napster!? See, reading about Spotify got me thinking about our old horn-headed friend. What I found was a feature set that sounded like a slightly less impressive Spotify.
For $9.99 a month Napster will let you listen to unlimited streaming music on your computer and your iPhone. About the only thing you can’t do on Napster that you can on Spotify is share mixes with your friends. I’m not trying to diminish Spotify. If people weren’t paying attention to you before Spotify, you’re going to have an awfully hard time getting their attention now.
The on-demand streaming music service snuck into the country this week with minimal advance notice. Spotify's service brings access to 15 million songs from any Windows or OS X machine, and up to three mobile devices with an upgrade to Spotify Premium for $9.99 a month. Spotify clearly is gunning for iTunes. It easily imports existing local files and playlists, including music you purchase from Apple's iTunes store.
Unlike Rdio, MOG, Pandora and others, Spotify isn't web-based. Local radio stations don't give my favorite songs much airplay. Right now the social aspect of the service revolves around Facebook. I found the process of connecting with fellow Spotify users who aren't on that social network a bit cumbersome. Spotify is looking good.
Google+ brings a new way of experimenting with extra benefits that according to some already outweigh what Facebook are offering. According to Mashable via recent Google+ statistics, male users are more inclined to use the new service above females. In fact three quarters if not more users are male, with data company SocialStatistics reporting it to be 86.8% whilst
FindPeopleOnPlus which looks at an overall figure of approximately 1 million users, states 73.7% Google+ users are men. Looking at gender stats may be phased out due to reports that Google+ will not require users to state what sex they are, in relation to rival Facebook, the user traffic is fairly level pegging with a slight increase in female users.
One of the interesting features that Google+ networking offers its users, is that of “Circles.” We have to say we like this very feature, it enables your family to be in one group, friends in another, drinking buddies, sporting friends and so on in their own group. Additional features include Hangouts, Huddle, Instant Upload and the use of Mobile Sharing.
Google+ may be the hottest thing in social networking right now. According to Google+ analytics site Social Statistics, 8.67 out of 10 Google+ users are male. Even the makeup of the site’s top 10 most popular users matches the ratio overall; out of the 10 users with the biggest followings — which includes Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Larry Page and Google+ mastermind Vic Gundotra — only one is a actual real-life woman: famous actress, writer and gamer Felicia Day.
The number was touted by Larry Page during yesterday’s earnings call, during which Page announced that Google made a record-breaking $9.03 billion during the second quarter of 2011.
Outside of Google's walls, I have espied some numbers. More than that, though, it is surely a staple of Facebookian knowledge that social networking is driven by women. Just two years ago, an analysis of social-networking sites seemed to persuasively show that Digg alone stood as an example of a male-dominated social network. For Google+ to make a significant incision into the populace it has to feel like-- to a woman's eyes--the right place to be. So wouldn't you, if you were a Google engineer, be inviting as many women as you possibly could as early as you could?
Almost 25 percent of Google+ participants are engineers. Another 10.05 percent are software engineers. Another 13.57 percent are developers. But this doesn't include Web developers (4.23 percent) or software developers (3.67 percent). 94.09 percent of those who are officially "looking" for love on Google+ claim to be--drum rumble--men.
Early Friday morning, media vans from every major news station lined the sides of this stretch of freeway that normally accommodates a half-million cars on any given weekend. Last month, the Los Angeles Police Department asked celebrities to join in its public service announcement strategy by tweeting the news of the closure to their fans.
“LAPD askd me 2tweet: 405fwy btwn 10 & 101 will b closed July16-17. Since then, other Hollywood types have joined the Carmaggedon Twitter search feed.
“This weekend, LA! Avoid Carmageddon, Gas-zilla, 405-enstein, Grid-lock-apalooza! STAY HOME. Eat & shop local!” Tom Hanks posted on Twitter.
Paris Hilton tweeted: “Hey LA, who's scared of Carmageddon? Businesses in Los Angeles have restructured their normal weekend advertising campaigns to fit this very moment. Many businesses are offering “Carmageddon Specials.”
JetBlue offered Long Beach to Burbank flights, bypassing the 405 altogether, for $4. Travel and Leisure reports that Terranea, in Rancho Palos Verdes, is “offering refugees of the shutdown” a third night for 40.5 percent off the rack rate with their “405 Freeway Package.”
Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica has a “Live Like a Local” package (overnight parking included) with rates from $405 a night.
If it is at all possible, drivers are being asked to simply stay home. But if you must to drive into Los Angeles this weekend, you need to plan ahead, and you can bet that is what truck drivers are doing.
Even drivers in the Valley, are being warned to expect big delays on Los Angeles freeways this weekend. The closure of the 405 Freeway has drivers expecting major traffic headaches, especially those who drive for a living.
Caltrans will begin closing on and off ramps on the 405 at 7 o'clock Friday evening. By midnight, the freeway will be completely off limits.
In that time, crew wills tear down Mulholland Bridge, making it wider and longer. Fresno trucking company owner Ganduglia has three drivers currently traveling through the area. For his part, trucker Gerald Wong is glad he's headed north to Oregon, and far from the 405.
Cisco Systems customers suspect the company will use Cisco Live 2011 this week to begin reclaiming its lost share of the Ethernet switching market partially by introducing the Nexus 7009—a smaller version of the popular 7000 chassis at a price that is easier to swallow.
Cisco executives have said the company's message at Cisco Live would center on switching and cloud infrastructure and that it would make technical announcements that could change the face of the switching portfolio. Cisco has always differentiated its products with custom silicon that enables much higher functionality, but in recent years competitors have used merchant silicon to build cheaper 10 GbE switches.
EtherealMind blogger Greg Ferro says that the merchant silicon used by competitors has contributed to Cisco's weakened hold in the switching market. Cisco announced the Nexus 3000, based on merchant silicon, which is touted as the super-fast switch to turn to when users need lowest possible latency for high-frequency apps.
As Cisco works to refocus efforts around routing and switching, users would also like to see the company shape up SMARTnet, the technical assistance and support program that every shop is forced to invest in with Cisco networking components.
The current 10,000 figure is inconsistent with previous layoffs. During the tech bubble and the financial crisis, the company cut 20% and 6% of its workforce. Cisco's business model is being challenged and its pricing aggressively to retain market share. Cisco announced an upgrade to its Catalyst 6500 systems, a move that is expected to help the company preserve its market share by delaying customers from switching to another system.
Despite the specter of perhaps the largest layoff in Cisco's history overhanging its annual customer conference , the company last week conducted business pretty much as usual at Cisco Live!
"We're structuring Cisco to be leaner, drive innovation faster," Chambers told the customer audience. Cisco has lost share and profits in switching, and its foray into consumer electronics has been disappointing.
Cisco also had a bloated management structure that stalled decision making, delayed product development and slowed the company's progress.
The upheaval still to come at Cisco did not dilute the company's mission at Cisco Live! Cisco also enhanced its data center and cloud portfolio with extensions to its Unified Computing Systems blade server chassis, its WAAS WAN acceleration appliances and its IronPort security line.
It was a curious announcement as Cisco had cited Catalyst 6500-to-Nexus 7000 switch migration and transition as a factor that eroded profits in its fiscal second quarter and helped set in motion the restructuring that Cisco's now facing.
Network topology issues may preclude enterprises from posting internally sensitive videos to a cloud service like YouTube, says Guido Jouret, Cisco's vice president of enterprise video and CTO of emerging technology.
Cisco Cloud CTO Lew Tucker hosted a panel of users, integrators, equipment manufacturers and service providers to discuss if enterprises in general are ready for the cloud. Cisco also used Cisco Live! It hosts racks of servers, switches and storage for high-level enterprise and government customers, including EBay, Cisco, cloud provider Joyent, and Global Cash Access (GCA), a leading provider of cash access, handling and information services for 1,000 casinos worldwide.
GCA is a Cisco Nexus switch, UCS, ASA firewall and MDS SAN customer - and also a customer of Cisco integrator Nexus -- contracting with Switch to collocate one data center at SuperNAP, while the company operates another at its Las Vegas headquarters.
