Kinect vs. Move - Sony's Last Stand?

Microsoft is getting ready to release their Kinect peripheral add-on for the Xbox 360 console shortly (as in less than 2 days shortly) and attempt to re-revolutionize the gaming industry while using a similar platform to Nintendo, as used in the Wii - only minus the controller. Sony, on the other hand, is using a very similar architecture to Nintendo's Wii platform with the PlayStation Move. The move, using "wand" controllers, captures users' motion and actions using the Eye Tool and sensors within the "wands". Who will prevail in this battle? The answer might surprise you. Read on.

While Nintendo has no plans to cut the price of their Wii console anytime soon, Microsoft has both cut prices and released an updated iteration of their console to the mass markets. Sony, on the other hand, had previously released an updated version of their console in the PS3 "Slim" (which is a pretty misleading title, since there's really nothing slim about it..). However, Sony has no price cut in line for the PS3. Would it be necessary? My answer is yes. With Microsoft offering a lot more with their Xbox 360 - if nothing else were to be mentioned, just the fact that Xbox Live has over 5 million users worldwide with the membership being $49.99/year should be sufficient enough - Sony is already having a tough time clawing back the market share that Microsoft captured back in 2005-2006, prior to the PlayStation 3's launch. Basically put, Sony has been playing catch-up in a one-legged race and has not had much ground to stand on over the last several years. Microsoft's Kinect takes the innovation of wireless controlling to a whole new level - YOU are the controller. Sony felt it necessary to pseudo-borrow from Nintendo's approach and use almost the same algorithm they use, only make it wireless where the secondary controller does not have to be attached to the first controller. What is the end result? The same experience. Sony needed this time to shine and take brilliant ideas and turn them into solid platinum. What they ended up with is, at best, silver - a "move" they cannot afford in this losing battle (pun intended).

So, there you have it, folks. It looks as though Sony is singing its last hurrah. With the only games that fueled sales for a while (Uncharted and God of War) now fizzled away in popularity, the fates are twisting their heads in Microsoft's direction. Where Microsoft is becoming less relevant in the PC and mobile worlds, they are sitting pretty in a Julius Caesar-like position in the gaming realm. Sony's only hope now would be if they joined forces with the juggernaut of the mobile world - Apple, Inc. To tell you the truth, it doesn't seem too far-fetched of an idea and would benefit both companies. But, that's for another entry...

Apple's hardware + Google's software = The Holy Grail

Not to get religious or anything with the title, but the combination of both Apple's hardware and Google's Android software would make one stop and admire for a moment, the sheer marvel of such a creation. It would almost be like some untold, unseen relic emerging from the ashes of the "smartphone wars" unscathed, like a thing of true beauty. Or maybe I'm just thinking too far outside the box...


Imagine, though, for a moment, that Google and Apple collaborated on such an effort to bring forth the "ultimate" phone. Google tried (and failed, might I add) with the Nexus One. They thought they could capture what Apple had done with the iPhone hardware and add their thing of beauty Android 2.2 (Eclair) software to the mix and have a hands-down winner. They might have done just that, had they not followed Apple's mistake with the ordering and activation process - to a complete and miserable tee. However, try as hard as they could, Google could not find the "perfect" hardware to showcase Android's technical prowess. Even the Droid family of phones doesn't have the complete hardware package to take the iPhone 4 head-on. Even with the "integrity issues" of antenna quality, the iPhone 4 is still the reigning king of hardware. You may disagree, but numbers don't lie. Apple is seeing quite a large number of activations with the iPhone 4 (as we all may remember, the activation mishaps that happened on pre-launch day, June 15). Google's Android OS, however, is steadily ascending the ladder of success and already more than nipping at Apple's heels - it's already amputating iOS 4's legs with a foaming, rabid mouth. Now, with a collaborative effort of Android's OS (especially with the forthcoming Gingerbread, set to bring even more to the Android offering table) and Apple's technical hardware expertise, the "ultimate" phone would be brought forth in a blaze of glory. What would it be called? Does it even matter? What's for certain is it would probably bring about a hailstorm of antitrust allegations and be the hottest device since the second generation iPod. It would have the radiance of a "retina display" and Apple's A4 technology, along with the sturdy casing we've all come to know and love (minus the antenna issues, of course - since Apple would probably have that all sorted out by this time, anyway) with the technical elegance of the Android OS.


Would this device ever come to fruition? Probably not. In fact, I know it won't. One, because of antitrust allegations that neither company would want to spend countless dollars on battling and two, each company stands to make more money from competition than from a collaborative effort. Still, doesn't hurt to dream of an "iPhone" with Google Maps Navigation sitting on a car dashboard. A man can dream...

Un-Googling Android = Bad News for Everyone

Apparently, Verizon inked a deal to have Bing replace Google as the default engine in the new Samsung Fascinate smartphone. If remembered correctly, Google is the daddy of Android and, thus, removing Google as the search engine is like castrating a father before he can hatch offspring. Does this make sense? No. It doesn't. It's corporate politics and it's another classic example of "bloatware" that infected so many Dell, HP/Compaq, etc. computers throughout the '90s and the early 21st century. Now, where the computer manufacturers are no longer gaining as much revenue and ad space through home computers, the cell phone carriers and cell phone manufacturers are vying for control over the mobile space through questionable actions - such as replacing Google with Bing on a smartphone.


What will this prove? Hopefully, this will prove that customers and consumers can vote with their wallets and let it be known that if Android is the operating system of choice (which polls keep pointing toward, what with their recent upshot past iOS), then that means ALL Google services are wanted with the device - not just the services the carriers "feel" are best for us, in general. Verizon has already been practicing this with BlackBerry devices, but RIM is a company on the fence - they have no stake in any advertising or search operations. Google, however, has stake in both and they provide services and content for ease of use and a better overall customer experience. For instance, Verizon is rumored to be hindering or stopping Navigation services Google is offering for free through their Android software, in order to provide customers with pay-for options. Is this what we, as the consumers, have come to expect? Is this what we will continue to pay for? Hopefully, Google takes a page out of Apple's book and starts dictating terms a little harsher in the future - all Navigation services will be included, unrestricted and Google will not be replaced by Bing, a rival search engine. As a side note, Microsoft is already getting revenue from HTC for use of Sense UI, so when will it end? It seems as if Microsoft is becoming that annoying fly in the restaurant while you're trying to enjoy your porterhouse steak and potatoes au gratin.


The time to end these practices is now and we, as consumers, must vote with our voices and wallets. For those who want the full experience of Android, BlackBerry, and even webOS, must let it be known that anything less will not be tolerated.

New notifications for Apple need to happen. Yesterday.

Gaming has been prevalent on the iOS platform since Apple created the [Draconian] application process and, thus, the App Store. However, the most annoying part of gaming on the iOS platform, while using an iPhone, is the notification system that pops up an annoying box which you must act on upon view. A box that pops up dead center on your screen. A box that you cannot ignore. At all. The most recent arrival of the Netflix application stresses exactly how much Apple needs to revamp their notification system. Yesterday.

Imagine, you're watching a film or TV show - trying to catch up on a missed episode of The Office or sneaking in a little Paul Blart: Mall Cop while on lunch break at work - and right as you're in the middle of a good scene, someone sends you a text message. What is Apple's answer for this? Pop up a notification in the middle of your screen. You have no choice but to hit "Close", which will promptly close the pop-up, or "View", which will exit your current app (or, rather, switch - for those iOS 4-compatible apps) and enter into your Messages app. Currently, Netflix is not iOS4-compatible. You know what that means? Yup, you guessed it. You will have to restart the entire process all over again and sift through a slew of menu options because someone text you. Can you get upset at the person who sent you a message and expect them to know you were sneaking in a little TV time on your phone while on lunch break (or maybe while actually working, but don't worry, your secret is safe)? Sure. But that's not something Apple can help with. What can Apple help with, you ask? They can fix their notification system to something similar to Android or even webOS. Google and Palm get it. Why can't Apple? Why are they holding onto this cumbersome, annoying notification process? Who knows. What's definite is the consensus is growing against this system. Sure, we want to know who's texting us or emailing us or even leaving us comments on Facebook. What we don't want is to have another app intruded upon because Apple can't figure out a way to devise a method simliar to Google or Palm and have those notifications come up in a little bit of a less conspicuous way. We get it. Maybe soon, Apple will get it too.

RIM - what happened!?

The BlackBerry Torch. What was supposed to be the savior for RIM's ailing BlackBerry lineup and technology turned out to be so much of a flop in less than a month, amazon.com had to reduce the price by $100 to entice buyers. Will it be enough?

My guess is no. RIM failed to address the problems of BlackBerry OS 5 and put this pseudo-touch screen concept into a package almost as small as the Palm Pre. Only the Pre did it elegantly. And, honestly, the Pre doesn't have a whole helluva lot less horsepower under the hood than the Torch. What went wrong?

It seems apparent that RIM doesn't feel threatened, as of yet. The marketshare numbers put up by Apple with the iPhone and the various manufacturers under Google's Android haven't been enough to scare RIM into reality. Why? Perhaps because the name "BlackBerry" has become a staple in the corporate sector. Perhaps because Mike Lazaridis is tougher in his stubborn stance than a coffin nail. Either way, it would be wise for RIM to start taking notice of the revolution going on around them and start putting out a viable, quality product to compete in this marketplace. While the Torch may be a positive sign of things to come, hopefully it won't be too late for them. iPhone and Android already have enterprise features and these features are becoming more robust every day. RIM may soon find itself playing catch-up in a market it once dominated.

After all, let's not forget what happened to Palm...

Why Android vs. iOS is a good thing for us, the consumer

How many times have you been stopped by a friend to have them show you a feature on their newer-esque Android phone (Droid X, EVO 4G, etc.) to have it compared to your iPhone 3GS/4? We all know what occurs next: a battle of wits about which operating system is better, which one has more features, which one has a better media player, and the list goes on and on. Conversations like these can last for hours and, on rare occasions, even days. And we've become accustomed to these arguments. We actually, in some cases, yearn for them. Why? Competition.


We, as humans, love being in constant competition with one another from our favorite sports teams to card games and even predictions of weather. It's just our nature. So of course when the operating systems for our phones are in constant competition with each other, we gobble it up like white meat turkey breast on Thanksgiving Day. Which makes the iPhone (iOS) v. Android competition all the more savory. Here we have two companies, which started off on a great journey together, and then branched off to battle each other for the majority piece of that market share pie. How is this good for the good people of cellular land? Again: competition.


As the battle wages on between Google and Apple with their respective mobile operating platforms, we will see mobile technology blossom into something more epic than anything produced on a viable home computing platform within the last 10 years. We are already seeing more integration with the internet and the technologies it has to offer with our mobile phones now than ever before. Phones have become more saturated with endless features (some necessary, some unnecessary) and offer us more power to complete the tasks we need access to while on the go. As iOS 4 offers something, Android will offer the same and, possibly, even improve on it. And vice versa. It's what will keep these two titan mobile operating systems in constant competition and it's what will strengthen the market place for years to come. We are already seeing the pros and cons of each operating system, but as the competition and war wages on, we will see each platform take similar features and bring them to users in varying degrees of user-friendliness. One thing is for certain: as the competition continues forward, us as consumers will benefit with the increasing selection of powerful capabilities offered by each platform.

Hiatus for The Nooge - iPhone 4 review coming soon..

Seems it's been a while since I've posted on my own blog. When you're the only poster for your own blog, people tend to notice when you're gone for a while (as evident in my last post date of June 19th, 2010). Some reassuring news: I have received my iPhone 4 on June 24th, as promised by AT&T. As a side note: the problems and occurrences that have affected a number of users globally have not affected me, at least not on a major scale. My "review unit" (which is actually my day-to-day phone) does suffer from occasional degradation on the proximity sensor - I can actually touch buttons from time to time with my face, if tilted, thus "fooling" the sensor. Stay tuned within the next few days, as I'll be posting my full review and thoughts on Apple's new product.