In this episode, I explore how Blu-ray can become a success and ask for some help in creating an intro for the show.
And as always, drop me a line or follow me on Twitter!
Over the past week, Nintendo and Microsoft have been trading barbs over which console--the Xbox 360 or Wii--holds the top spot for the most third-party games sold.
Nintendo was the first to "set the record straight" and released data from NPD that the company claimed showed that the Wii has sold more games than any other console when first-party and third-party titles are factored in. After hearing doubts over the inclusion of first-party titles, Nintendo then released a graph showing sales of only third-party titles, which it once again, compiled from NPD source data.
"I actually think that given the number of comments made from industry executives at E3 (or thereabouts) about how they didn't put enough resources against development of Wii games that the industry has realized that the old adage of 'only first-party games sell on Nintendo systems' is absolutely incorrect. I think you're right that the data will cause a few eyebrows to lift," NPD industry analyst Anita Frazier said in defense of the figures.
But Microsoft was suspect of the data and decided to release its own figures obtained from NPD to "clear the air." In its study, Microsoft claims "total third-party sales for the Xbox 360 since launch is currently 67,929,999 units, followed by the Wii at 33,394,311 units, and the PlayStation 3 at 19,976,325 units.
"Third-party sales for the Xbox 360 since the launch of the Wii and PS3 is 54,065,728 units, still almost double the Wii's 33,394,311 units."
On top of that, the company claims that it's actually selling more third-party titles per console sold than Nintendo, which it believes, shows its success in the space.
"No matter how you slice it, the Wii third-party game story is not a pretty one," David Dennis, group manager of corporate PR at Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, said in response to his company's report.
So which company is right? Well, it looks like they're both right in their own special way.
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In this episode, I explore the possibility of Android never being released and Google eating its investment. Will it happen? It's entirely possible.
I also misspoke: I'm looking for a 15 second intro, not a 15 minute intro! Sorry about that!
And as always, drop me a line or follow me on Twitter!
Video is the next big thing on the Web, and more and more organizations are embracing it as the way to provide an equal experience for Web surfers who don't necessarily have the time to watch television during the day.
But for all the video services, and there are many, Hulu easily stands above the rest and provides us with the best programming and experience. Call me a cynic, but watching the junk on YouTube or the ridiculous garbage on Funny or Die just doesn't do it for me. Instead, I prefer to enjoy professional programming in a way that has never been allowed before.
But the beauty of Hulu goes far beyond programming. Hulu is real proof that the entertainment industry is slowly coming around to the idea of embracing the Web and not being afraid of it, and proves a point I've been making all along: most people are honest and are more than willing to do the right thing to enjoy their favorite shows.
Hulu is the first example of how to overcome the debilitating crossroads that we're now standing in and has shown with each passing day that where there's great programming and a free service, people will flock.
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It's Friday and that means I'm going to take a look at beautiful tech! This week, I take a look at the Asus Eee PC 1000H.
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In this episode, I explain what the music industry should be doing if it wants to turn things around.
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Ars Technica has an interesting story up today detailing the Association Against Audiovisual Piracy's analysis of P2P traffic of illegal movie downloads in France between November 2007 and June 2008, which found that more people than ever are illegally downloading some of the top domestic and foreign films.
The organization found that 90 percent of all P2P downloads came from the most popular films in theaters and that a "daily average of 450,000 downloads (in December, it was 536,000 per day), and a monthly average of over 14 million downloads" was witnessed.
Allegedly stunned by the gall of all those awful pirates, the organization felt it was necessary to send one of its hacks out to make a statement detailing how appalled it was at the information it obtained. But no one saw this one coming.
"We are facing a major phenomenon that can endanger the film industry and audiovisual industries. We did not expect such figures," ALPA director Frederic Delacroix said in a statement to the AFP.
Wow. Hold your horses for a minute here. This piracy problem can "endanger the film industry?" This should probably be filed under the "dumbest things I've heard all month heading."
If piracy kills the film industry and suddenly theaters from across the globe are closing up shop, I'll be the first to laugh, and I'll bet I won't even be laughing the loudest.
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 | EPISODE 27 |
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In this episode, I make the case for DRM-free music and engage in some shameless self-promotion of my podcast.
And as always, drop me a line or follow me on Twitter!
eWeek has an interesting article up today detailing the difference in price currently being witnessed in the computing space, according to NPD. Based on the research firm's analysis, it estimates that the average Windows desktop is selling for about $550, compared to Apple's average desktop selling price of $1,543. The average Windows laptop in June was selling for $700, while Apple's laptops were going for a hefty $1,515.
After comparing comparably-equipped HP laptops with Mac notebooks, it became abundantly clear to me that Apple, although working hard to reduce prices on its computers, still has considerable work to do.
Right now, you can head over to HP's website and buy yourself a Pavilion dv7t sporting Windows Vista Home Premium, a 2.26Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, a 250GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, and 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 9200M GS to display video on your 17-inch screen for just $1,217.99.
But if you chose the Mac, you'd be paying $2,799 for a MacBook Pro sporting a 2.5Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics card, and a 250GB hard drive.
The list goes on. Mac Pros are substantially more expensive than comparably-equipped Dell machines, and aside from iMacs, which are far more competitively priced, you're not getting a bargain on any Apple product.
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