How OnLive Can Be a Success

Photo from centralasian

There hasn't been a new contender in the gaming console market in a long time.  It's a tough market to break into with the likes of Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony dominating the market for years.  But recently a new company has emerged with a home console that takes a vastly different approach then the big three.

This company is OnLive and they made a pretty big splash with their idea back at the 2009 Game Developer Conference.  They have already released their gaming service on the PC and Mac, but does their home console strategy have what it takes to succeed?  Click the link to read what I think OnLive needs to do in order for their home console to be a success.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Photo by floodllama

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my US readers out there.  Today I give thanks to my beautiful wife, my family and my friends.  Oh, and also all the lovely technology, gadgets and video games that exist.  What are you guys thankful for?

To all of my international readers, it might not be Thanksgiving for you today, but I hope you all have a enjoyable day too.

Worthwhile Black Friday Deals

Image Source tshein

Black Friday is upon us and all retailers are going to be fighting for your hard earned cash.  Most years people camp out the night before and wait in long lines in the cold weather.  I am sure this year will be no different.

Now I personally don't go and camp out in the long lines the night before.  If there is a deal I am interested in, I take my chances that I might be able to get it during the day.  I just do not think that there are any deals that are really worth all the trouble to ensure that you get it.  But I know that I am the minority here, and most folks enjoy Black Friday.  So I have complied a list of products that I recommend and that have good deals.  Hit the link to check out the list

Participate in the TBone's Mind Community

Image from Scott M

One of the main reasons I started this blog was because I wanted to have a place where I could go and discuss my thought's on technology with others.  Not just discuss tech news and announcements, but also discuss industry trends and changes that should take place in the technology we all love. 

Creating and maintaing an online community is one of my success goals for TBone's Mind.  The only way I will be able to achieve that goal is with your help.

At the end of each post is an area for folks to comment.  I encourage everyone who comes to this site to leave a comment on a post that interests them.  If you have a question, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer.  Or if you know the answer to someone else's question, then please feel free to answer.

We will all benefit from having different folks give their insight and perspective on topics.  Many of the readers of TBone's Mind are from outside the US and can provide a completely different perspective then me.

All points of view are welcome in the comments.  If you do not agree with my opinion, feel free to let me know yours.  I will not remove anyone's comment unless it's derogatory or is what I consider spam.  So let your opinions flow and lets build a diverse online tech community.

We shouldn't blame Apple, we should blame ourselves

At 10 am EST you could hear the moans of disappointment across the internet.  People were outraged because Apple's major iTunes announcement was that The Beatles entire song catalog was now available on iTunes.  There was no announcement of iTunes Live Streaming, no cloud storage solution, no canceling of Ping, and no redesign on the hated iTunes 10 logo.  But I am here to tell you that the only people we can blame for this disappointment is ourselves.  Read on to find out why.

Facebook's Idea of Email

Image from MaximumPC

To no one's surprise, Facebook announced their new email/messaging service today.  If you have no idea what I am talking about then stop right now and read this post first.  If you do know what I am talking about then continue on past the break to see if the rumors were true and if anything unexpected was announced.

No One is Going to Poke Facebook Email

On Friday the internet exploded with news that Facebook is going to reveal their new email service, that some have called a gmail killer, tomorrow.  Not much is known about this new service and what exactly Facebook has planned, but some seem to think that Gmail is doomed.  We won't know for sure until after the event on tomorrow, but I am here to tell you that Gmail and other mail services have nothing to worry about.  Click the read link below to find out why.

What Twitter Can Do For Your Blog

I admit I was a little slow to get on the Twitter bandwagon.  As a technology lover I usually jump all over new things, but I just didn't feel an urge to join Twitter.  Maybe it was because Twitter was so popular and was everywhere in the media, or maybe it was because I just didn't get the point.  But now that I started blogging, I am starting to understand the power of Twitter.  I am also starting to understand that Twitter has a bit of a learning curve.  Click the read link to find out what Twitter can do for your blog.

Why Can't we Print From Our Smart Phones?

Image credit: Databazaar blog

Now I know there are apps you can buy on the iOS App Store and in the Android Marketplace that will let you print from your phone, but why isn't it built into the operating system itself?  If smart phones are the next phase in evolution for computers, it should be a standard function.

Now honestly I admit, the need for me to print something from my phone doesn't popup very often, but when it does it becomes an issue.  Not enough of an issue to buy an app, but enough to make me wonder why this hasn't been solved by now.  I do have some theories why I think this is a feature that hasn't become a standard yet.  Hit the read link to see what they are.

7 Reasons Why Microsoft's Kinect Will Fail

Microsoft's Xbox 360 Kinect?  I give it less then a year.  Once the initial launch craze dies down we won't see another positive news story about it until Xbox owners rejoice when Microsoft announces it will stop supporting Kinect.  At least we will have a couple of months of hilarious Kinect injury videos until that happens.

Welcome to the second post in my series of why Kinect will succeed or fail.  In this post I will discuss seven reasons why I think Xbox 360 Kinect will fail.  If you want to read the seven reason why I think it will succeed then click here.  To read the seven reasons why it will fail, click the read link below.

7 Reasons Why Microsoft's Kinect Will Succeed

Microsoft's Xbox 360 Kinect will be a smashing success.  In one years time we will forget about the PlayStation Move and Nintendo's Wii will be stumbling to figure out how to make the next Wii to reclaim the success they once had.  Why do I say this?  Because Kinect is advanced motion technology that doesn't require silly glowing orbs to work.

Ok that might be a strong statement, but in my first of two posts I will discuss 7 reasons why I think Microsoft's Kinect will be a success.  I will shortly follow this with 7 reasons why I think it will fail, but for now click the link to see my 7 success reasons.

Update:  Click here to read TBone's 7 reasons why Kinect will fail

This Helped Me Buy a Good Mattress

Not my actual room or mattress

So I know this is a bit off topic and doesn't really fall into the category of technology, but I think it was helpful and I want to pass it on.

My wife and I just got our mattress delivered today, and we are pretty happy with our selection.  If you have ever bought a mattress you should already know this, but companies make it as complicated as possible to compare mattress brands.  They basically have a different mattress name for each store they supply to, so there is not an easy way to compare.  Oh, and they do this on purpose, those bastards.

Thankfully one of the blogs I read, Get Rich Slowly, has a great post on buying a mattress.  Some of you might have read this info before, but this is the most consolidated info source I could find.  The writer walks through brands, terminology, what to look for in a mattress, stores, and other things.  It was very helpful to us and hopefully it will help you guys.  Check the link below.

How to Buy a Mattress

P.S. - Get Rich Slowly is a great personal finance blog.  I read it frequently and it has helped me out a lot over the years.  J.D. Roth runs a great blog over there.

Save Money Everyday with Amazon Deals of the Day

Image from Amazon.com

Amazon has a great site feature which is well publicized but honestly took me years to discover.  Ever since I have discovered it I have been able to score some of the items I have wanted for great prices.  It has honestly changed they I shop for items on the web.  Now I don't use it to buy things everyday, but I do check it everyday to see if something I want is featured and on sale for a good price.  The feature is called Amazon Gold Box Deals.

The easiest way to check out the current deals is to look on my own page.  For your convenience I have included the Amazon Daily Deals widget on the right side of my page.  To be honest this is a quick and consolidated way to get access to all the daily Gold Box deals on Amazon.  finance

XBOX 360 Kinect Review Round-Up

Review Round-Ups are a collection of reviews for a product from sites that I read before I decide on going ahead with the purchase or not.

XBOX 360 KINECT REVIEWS

• Kotaku
• Joystiq
• Engadget
• Gizmodo
• Wired 

TBONE'S TAKEAWAYS

• Reviews seem generally mixed.
• You will need a lot of space to use Kinect.  Most sites noted you need at least 6 ft for single player games, and 9 ft for multiplayer local games.
• Gotta move those coffee tables so they are not in front of the TV, otherwise Kinect won't be able to see your feet
• Most sites said the voice commands seemed to work really well, but current implementation is limited
• Navigating the XBOX Dashboard with Kinect (read: using hand motions) is limited and needs work
• Almost everyone was pretty excited about the future potential of the product.  Microsoft just needs to work out some bugs and expand functionality.
• Launch lineup of Kinect games is pretty weak with the pack-in Kinect Adventures and the sold separately Dance Central being the stand outs. 

 

Facebook's Mobile Event was a Snooze Fest

Image from Engadget

Most people were thinking that today's Facebook Mobile event would finally reveal the speculated Facebook phone.   Well, it did not.  In fact Mark Zuckerberg flat out said they would not be making a phone.  Instead he said that Facebook was a software company and that they would be concentrating on a software mobile platform.  As you can imagine, this lead to a pretty boring press event.  But there was one thing that caught my interest, hit the read more button below to see what that was.

Why Aren't We Able to Vote Online Yet?

For those of you not aware, today was voting day for midterm elections.  I am sure most of you voted today, but I am gonna be honest, I did not.  Why?  It's not because I am one of those people that doesn't believe in voting.  I am proud that I have the right to vote, and believe if you don't vote then you lose your right to complain.  But the actual process of voting needs to move into the 21st century.

With the iPad and New MacBook Air, is Apple Confused? Cause I Am.

Honestly I am surprised no one has really talked about this yet.  When Apple first announced the iPad, they made the argument that the user needs three product categories, a phone, a laptop, and something in the middle.  That something they said was the iPad.  Bigger screen and more horsepower than the iPhone, made especially to consume content.

The MacBook is meant to be used to create content since they have desktop like processors, dedicated graphics cards, and full size keyboards with multi-touch track pads.  But the new MacBook Airs have all  of those things too, or at least some version of them.  They also have many of the same features of an iPad like a long battery life/standby time, instant on from suspend state, and portability.  So where do the new MacBook Airs fit?

I don't think Apple is trying to create a new fourth category of device, but it doesn't really fit in the iPad or MacBook category.   Most people would just say that it fits in the netbook category, and I kind of agree with them, but Apple has said many times they don't see the point of netbooks.  So who is Apple trying to target?  Is this just what they think a laptop should really be? I think the answer to that question is yes.

The MacBook Air is just a temporary placeholder for what all MacBooks will be once the chipsets and batteries get small enough.  For the time being I think they are just targeting the netbook crowd; Steve Jobs just never wants to go back on previous statements that he has made.  So the real question is, do you see a need for the MacBook today?  Or will you just rather have a full featured laptop and an iPad?