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I’m often asked by friends if they should buy an Apple TV. They usually head to the Apple Store to buy a new iPad or iPhone, and while there, they come across Apple’s little set-top box. For just $99, it seems like a bargain. And so, they ask me if they should plunk down the cash to buy one.
The first question I ask when I field the question is, “do you own an Xbox 360?”
Time and again, if they say yes, I tell them to skip the Apple TV. If they tell me that they don’t have an Xbox, I’ll tell them that they should buy one if they want to be entertained. Only if they tell me that they have no interest in gaming or don’t want to spend the extra cash to buy the Xbox will I tell them to get their hands on the Apple TV.
Now, I’m sure that there are many Apple fans out there that are appalled by that advice. Those folks use their Apple TVs each and every day, and they’re generally quite pleased with the experience.
However, the more objective among us might quickly determine that when it comes to a full-fledged entertainment experience for the living room, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to choose an Apple TV over a game console, like the Xbox 360.
"The Apple TV is hobbled in many ways"Let’s face it: the Apple TV is hobbled in many ways. You can’t store content on the device, and the iTunes content library is limited. Plus, I just don’t see what’s so unique about it. The device features Netflix streaming, which is great, but I can find that elsewhere. And although its $99 price tag is great and all, I can get a Blu-ray player, complete with Netflix integration, for about the same price.
The Xbox 360, on the other hand, delivers a far more well-rounded experience. It has Netflix, Hulu Plus, and all the other desirable streaming options consumers expect to find, but it also lets me stream my content to it. Even better, I can play games or pop in a DVD if I so desire.
We also can’t forget about Microsoft’s desire to make the Xbox 360 a more television-focused hub in the living room. Currently, dozens of television content providers have signed up with Microsoft to offer content, and over the next several months, I think we’ll quickly find just how desirable that offering is.
I’m a firm believer in owning the best gadgetry in any market. And although the Apple TV is a solid set-top box that probably bests those from Roku and Boxee, among others, it’s no match for today’s game consoles.
At the end of the day, living room entertainment is about finding products that solve the many needs customers have. The only issue is, the Apple TV doesn’t do that – yet, anyway. The Xbox 360, on the other hand, does.
Why I’d Take An Xbox 360 Over An Apple TV Any Day is written by Don Reisinger & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Today is International Data Privacy Day, an event backed by companies like Intel, Ebay, Facebook and Microsoft, and dedicated to educating data owners about best practices in protecting the privacy of consumer data.
The need to keep people from being exploited on account of violations of their privacy is clear, well-known, intuitive and amply articulated by highly capable people. The up-side of making use of peoples' data is far less so. The two concerns are closely tied together. That's something Bill Gates is likely very aware of, if his comments 10 years ago are any indication.
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The forthcoming era of computing is all about data. In as much as that data is associated with people, it's essential that data owners feel secure in the belief that they can make use of their data in computing without concern it will be misused.
Bill Gates got this about the last era of computing, the first instances of e-commerce and the web. He wrote a famous company-wide memo ten years ago this month all about the importance of what a controversial hardware-based security paradigm called Trusted Computing.
"If we don't do this, people simply won't be willing -- or able -- to take advantage of all the other great work we do. Trustworthy Computing is the highest priority for all the work we are doing. We must lead the industry to a whole new level of Trustworthiness in computing."
Regarding Privacy in particular, the Gates memo put some things in ways we can relate to today, but other things seem antiquated.
"Users should be in control of how their data is used. Policies for information use should be clear to the user. Users should be in control of when and if they receive information to make best use of their time. It should be easy for users to specify appropriate use of their information including controlling the use of email they send."
Users should be in control of when and if they receive information to make best use of their time! Can you imagine that? Info overload as privacy violation. It makes sense, yet it seems hopelessly antiquated too.
"In the past, we've made our software and services more compelling for users by adding new features and functionality, and by making our platform richly extensible," he wrote.
"We've done a terrific job at that, but all those great features won't matter unless customers trust our software."So now, when we face a choice between adding features and resolving security issues, we need to choose security. Our products should emphasize security right out of the box, and we must constantly refine and improve that security as threats evolve."
Here's how the International Data Privacy Day organization puts it today.
"In this networked world, in which we are thoroughly digitized, with our identities, locations, actions, purchases, associations, movements, and histories stored as so many bits and bytes, we have to ask - who is collecting all of this data - what are they doing with it - with whom are they sharing it? Most of all, individuals are asking 'How can I protect my information from being misused?' These are reasonable questions to ask - we should all want to know the answers."Data Privacy Day promotes awareness about the many ways personal information is collected, stored, used, and shared, and education about privacy practices that will enable individuals to protect their personal information.
Robert Siciliano, an Online Security Evangelist at McAfee, paints a much more negative picture in a blog post yesterday - probably even about the companies participating in International Data Privacy Day. McAfee is owned by the primary sponsor of the event, though, Intel. Siciliano speaks for many people when he says:
"Lately, it seems that barely a day goes by when we don't learn about a major Internet presence taking steps to further erode users' privacy. The companies with access to our data are tracking us in ways that make Big Brother look like a sweet little baby sister."Typically when we hear an outcry about privacy violations, these perceived violations involve some apparently omnipotent corporation recording the websites we visit, the applications we download, the social networks we join, the mobile phones we carry, the text messages we send and receive, the places we go, the people we're with, the things we like and dislike, and so on.
"How do they do this? By offering us free stuff to consume online and infrastructure for the online communities that tie us together. We gobble up their technologies, download their programs, use their services, and mindlessly click 'I Agree' to terms and conditions we haven't bothered to read."
It's a cynical perspective that refers to all the glory of the Interwebs as simply free stuff to consume with mindless clicks.
I think I prefer the description Gates might have offered. The global computer is now rich with features and opportunities, but those will be put at risk if people don't trust the network. Please, Mr. Zuckerberg, don't spoil this opportunity.
DiscussAmazon Web Services is rolling out a new feature called Storage Gateway that lets companies upload data to its cloud-storage services directly from their on-premise storage systems, the company said on Wednesday. AWS’s goals with Storage Gateway appear threefold: cloud backup, cloud bursting and, ultimately, primary cloud storage — all without having to worry about latency concerns.
The way AWS Storage Gateway works is by securely storing data as a snapshot image within S3, then porting that data to the AWS Elastic Block Storage service if desired. Once there, users can process that data using Amazon EC2 cloud computing instances. Storage Gateway keeps data on local gear while asynchronously uploading it to Amazon’s cloud. This lets companies leverage the cloud when they need it, but helps eliminate latency concerns that come with uploading large amounts of data to the cloud for backup, as well as with using local storage and cloud-based resources.
Gateways can be attached to application servers as standard iSCSI devices, and each gateway has a capacity of 12 volumes and 12 TB total. The service costs $125 per month per gateway, and snapshot pricing starts at 14 cents per gigabyte.
However, the coolest part about Storage Gateway might be yet to come. Although the current iteration requires companies to keep complete copies of their data locally, the service will soon enable an on-premise caching scenario in which frequently accessed data will remain on local storage attached to local servers, but the entire data set will reside only on Amazon’s cloud. Several vendors, including StorSimple, TwinStrata and Riverbed Technology Systems — although no longer the hyped-up Cirtas Systems – are currently pushing this approach using physical appliances, but AWS’s could be more palatable to some because it doesn’t require bringing in a new hardware or software vendor.
Regardless how companies decide to use AWS Storage Gateway, though, the bottom line is that the new service is just more evidence of AWS’s cloud market domination and its refusal to cede any user base to any other cloud provider. Last week, Amazon rolled out a NoSQL database service targeting web developers. Today, it’s a Storage Gateway presumably targeting larger businesses. It has the resources and the skills to keep building new service after new service, and that’s exactly what it looks like AWS will continue to do.
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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Continue reading Windows 8 adds sensor support, will be the PC to turn, turn, turn
Windows 8 adds sensor support, will be the PC to turn, turn, turn originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Be incredibly impressed by this BioShock Infinite fan art originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
According to Polskie Radio: "Over a thousand people gathered in Warsaw, Tuesday evening, to oppose the anti-internet piracy ACTA agreement, which PM Tusk confirmed that Poland will sign on Thursday."
The signing is scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan.
#Insert joke here:
How do you hack a Polish government official's laptop?
…the username and password are written on the sticker.
On 25/01/12 At 06:34 PM
According to ministerial decree 34 published Wednesday in the "Official Gazette", the company will be entitled to the benefits provided for in Decree 5906 of September 2006.The iPad 2 of course fits within those specifications, weighing in at just over 600 grams with only slight variation among the various models. The ordinance also permits the production of accessories, cables, power supplies and manuals associated with the allowed tablet devices. While the ordinance applies generically to tablet devices, it has clearly been written to support Foxconn's plans for the iPad.
The determination provides for exemption or reduction of the IPI (Excise Tax), PIS and Cofins for companies investing in research and development of technology products.
Last April, Foxconn announced a major push to bring iPad production to Brazil, but the company's efforts were slowed as it negotiated with government officials over tax breaks and other issues. As recently as October the company had signaled its intention to begin production by December, and while the company has missed that target it now appears ready to move forward.
Foxconn's Brazilian iPhone and iPad factory (Source: Cult of Mac)
The launch of iPad production in Brazil comes at a key time for Apple, as CEO Tim Cook noted just yesterday during the company's earnings conference call that Brazil is its next area of emphasis after China among the "BRIC" countries with newly advanced economies. Russia and India are the other two countries in that grouping and Cook acknowledged that Apple has begun to "go deeper into Brazil" as its next target, although he cautioned against any expectations of Apple retail stores arriving in the country over the near term.
High import taxes on foreign-made goods have prevented Apple from making significant inroads in Brazil, with iPad pricing currently starting at the equivalent of US$925 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi iPad 2. With Foxconn moving iPad production to Brazil under the new tax incentives, Apple should be able to offer more competitive pricing on the device as production ramps up. Photos of a Brazilian-made 8 GB iPhone 4 showed up in late November, suggesting that Foxconn is also ramping up domestic production of new iPhone devices for Brazilian customers.
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It looks like Apple loves recycling so very much, it's taking it across the Atlantic. The UK will also get to some cash for their technological old rope, with the Reuse and Recycling programme arriving to take that pesky dated tech off your hands -- and remunerate you for the effort. The news arrives not long after Apple published its annual responsibilty report, detailing its eco efforts across its supply chain. The project extends across iPods, iPhones, iPads, Macs and PCs -- and it doesn't even matter if they work. The program will assess whether there's cash value somewhere in it and will either credit your account or offer up free recycling options. Check the source to see whether your device qualifies, and just wait for the money to roll in.
Apple takes its recycling programme across to the UK, might pay for your old stuff originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The last time you cleaned out your inbox, how many of those emails were auto-generated notifications from social networks and other websites? Unless you're particularly aggressive about turning off default notifications, it was probably more than a few. You've been meaning to get around to going through and changing all those settings, but - oh hey, hang on, there's another email.
Editing the notification settings on a few big Web services doesn't sound like a big deal, and in reality it's not. But in all the digital, real-time chaos of life online, it's easy to put off. You might zap one when you think of it, but what about the rest of them? Are you really going to sit there, hunt them all down and annihilate them?
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It's with this very basic, but nonetheless undeniable reality in mind that one teenaged entrepreneurial duo set out to create Notification Control. It's an incredibly simple, single-page Web app that does one thing. It links you to the notification settings panel of many major social networks and websites.
Yes, that's it. It may seem almost ridiculous that anybody would need such a tool, and it doesn't pull off any great programmatic feat. But truth be told, simply providing all of those links in one central, command-and-control interface is all many people will need to actually go through and tweak their notification settings in a way that's more conducive to reducing clutter and preserving sanity.
Notification Control is the brainchild of Ben Lang and Tim Kendall, both of whom are in their late teens. It lists popular services like Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Pinterest and others and provides a direct link to each one's notification settings. Naturally, you still need to sign in to each service to access the preferences; There's no special cross-site authentication magic going on here. Kendall and Lang are just reaching out and helping you do something you swear you were going to get around to doing yourself, eventually. Maybe.
