GeekwithEnvy

Apple

Xbox Music Looks To Be a Great Move For Microsoft

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Zune wil be rebranded as Xbox Music in the relatively near future and I like the direction Microsoft is taking it’s re-imagined entertainment app. Xbox Music will not only be available on Xbox but also on Windows 8 PCs,tablets, and Windows Phone as well.

The new service will allow existing subscribers to migrate through the rebranding with ease and users will still have access to the same content they had before the switch. The buzz surrounding the new application is getting louder as we draw closer toward the end of the year and we hope to hear more official details on the new service soon.  Our best guess is the app will be released along with Windows 8 and could feature ad-based music streaming similar to Spotify, but it’s only a guess.

I have always liked the Zune player but I have preferred the iPod over the years mostly because I owned an iPod first and didn’t want to figure out how to transfer everything over to a new system, not that it’s overly complicated, but because I have really never had a good enough reason to switch. I have however have used Zune software for Windows and generally liked the experience. With the release of Xbox Music I will gladly jump right in as I plan on doing a review of the app as soon as it is available.

The Xbox itself is really my favorite Microsoft experience as it combines all of my entertainment needs into a simple, easy-to-use interface. Although many argue back and forth about whether PSN is better than Xbox Live, I still think that Xbox Live is done really well, even when you consider it’s faults. With my solid library of games and media on my Xbox, having a well integrated Music service, especially one with free streaming music, will complete my media experience on the Xbox.

The Xbox is really more than just a gaming console, it really has become a media hub, this was Microsoft’s goal and they have done a really god job with it. Thinking ahead to the next obvious direction for Microsoft’s console, I can only imagine that this new music service will be integrated with SkyDrive to allow for a complete cloud solution to allow you to access your media from any other device running Windows 8. This should line them up pretty well with Apple and their cloud services, with the exception of not having a gaming console.

As Windows 8 rolls out we will be anticipating the release of Xbox Music and hopefully we will be rewarded with a solid media library and music streaming app.

iOS 6 Rundown

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So, we got the update but.. what changed? I notice a few different icons on the screen but what else has happened? Well, we round up some key features of iOS 6 here so you don’t have to. Apple Logo

Facebook

Facebook is now fully integrated into the OS it self, which is really nice for Facebook users out there as it allows you to connect with Facebook without you having stop what your doing and switch apps. Facebook events are tied directly into Calendar and sharing links is super easy. ‘Likes’ are now part of iTunes and the Apps store.  It almost feels as if Facebook was meant to be a part of iOS from the start.

Maps

Well, no more Google Maps as Apple has decided it’s time to do the map business all by itself. The new map application looks really good and it would seem that, at least initially, Google Maps users should’t miss much. The new maps are quite detailed and look really slick even standard mode. I test drove the the 3D view by flying around Los Angeles and everything seemed to work really well. Turn-By-Turn navigation also makes an appearance with this map update, which has been long overdue.

Siri
Our old friend Siri gets some improvements as well, including movie reviews,facts and trailers from Rotten Tomatoes. Siri can also help you find something to eat by listing restaurants by price and rating. Need to know any sports scores? Siri covers that for you too, simply ask what the score is of a specific team and you’re good to go. You can also open applications by simply asking Siri what to launch.  Siri has seen quite a few improvements with this update and I can see Siri becoming more and more useful in the future, especially if Siri is to be integrated into new automobiles.

 

Safari

Safari gets iCloud Tabs which will allow you to view any open tabs form one iOS device on any other connected iOS device. Safari now features full screen landscape browsing, which looks great. Safari will also save entire webpages so you can view them offline later.

 

Facetime

Facetime will now work over a cellular network. Simple enough but I have yet to see it in action, I am wondering how the overall quality will be.

Phone

Well with everything the iPhone can do I think we tend to forget that it actually makes phone calls. Apple has added some features for the phone including being able to instantly send a text message to a recently declined phone call. You can also set call reminders when you decline a call or use a do-not-disturb mode to completely block all calls or only allow calls from high priority contacts.

 

Mac will also see the integration of Facebook into OSX Mountain Lion along with a few other updates in the new version 10.8.2. These are just a few of the new features on iOS 6, if your interested in everything head to Apple’s official site.

MacBook Pro Retina Display A Bit Fuzzy

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The latest version of the MacBook Pro from Apple features a retina display screen that crams 5.1 million pixels into a 15.4 inch display with a max resolution of 2880 x 1800, which looks absolutely stunning. This is the kind of technology that makes you wonder how you ever used any other display.MacBookRetina

However, once you get your new MacBook Pro home and unboxed and once you finish choosing your picture for your desktop as you drool over how much detail you can see in each image, you decide it’s time to move on and start browsing the inter webs. You open Safari and see the ever-so familiar Apple website appear and of course it looks amazing but as you begin to navigate the web, you start to see something a bit unsettling, you notice that things look a bit blurry.

Yes, it sucks but its true, much of the web just isn’t made for a retina display. Sometimes it can be bad enough to make your eyes water and that’s no fun at all, but what makes things worse is that as you begin to install and work with your favorite applications, you notice that they don’t look so good either.

There is a solution, albeit temporary but nonetheless, a solution. You can adjust your display settings by going to System Preferences->Display, then choosing “scaled” instead of ” Best For Retina Display”. Once you choose scaled, you can choose to work with larger text or more space in order to accommodate your needs. This does work well enough to get you by in most cases but it’s really only a temporary solution.

When you first run into this problem you might tend to look at this as an Apple problem but as you step back and look at the big picture here, it’s really more about the display it self being a bit ahead of everything else. Let’s not get too frustrated here, as most likely your apps will get an update to work correctly with the new display and sooner or later your favorite sites may follow, but by no means do I think that this puts the new MacBook at any disadvantage. Overall, the Retina display MacBook is designed with the future in mind as it moves away from optical drives, replaces the old hard disk with a new solid state drive, and adds in one of the clearest displays we’ve ever seen.