The Geekcast

  News: ************   Geek This Week:   Aaron: Decided to re-watch Star Trek: TNG. Compiled one of my 1 Second Everyday timelines.   Gozer: Games: bought Tearaway, playing the crap out of Assassin’s Creed started up Liberation again, bought a Neutrino Wand   *************   Feedback and items of Note:   Hey guys, I have been enjoying playing some classic NES and Atari 2600 games on my ouya. These include super Mario bros., Duck Tales, Top Gun, Frogger, and Pitfal! I have decided to make a video game for the ouya . It would be an in-depth fire fighter simulator. It would be way better than the stupid wii game, Real Heros. I will be aiming for its completion in April of 2015, for my dads birthday. He is a fire fighter and would love a game that actually got it right.  The few fire fighter games that have been released either put too mutch restriction on what you can do, such as you can't walk around the station while waiting to get a call or even having random call outs period. Or having medical calls and performing CPR on a person who's heart has stoped. Many game developers just don't care. But by the amount of people who have downloaded fire fighter mods for GTA 4, people would enjoy this game. It will be made by a 14 year old and his hackintosh. I hope to port it to iOS, Android, and Mac.  Gozer, shure you want to get rid of your ouya? They have Sega emulators. P.S. ALL THE GAMES ARE FREE!!As always love the show   Dawson 8th Grade Geek Hi fellow geeks, I am a bit behind since I'm only listening on commutes and am doing Insanity workout DVDs instead of running during winter (usually listen to podcasts while running) So this will be off topic. One item i hope you will help with for a new dad, is baby proofing tech. My wife has joined some mommy groups and will eventually need to host, and our house is far from toddler ready. My daughter is only 3 months, but the point when she will start to be able to push buttons and walk around is coming, plus play dates from the mommy group will bring even more little button pushers. I am mildly afraid for them touching wires, more of unplugging or messing with home automation devices and so on. One thing comes to mind is how to keep a kid from throwing a remote or something else at a big screen TV, hmm. On the geek front, starting next year I will be embarking on touch screen coffee table computer version 2.0. Will update on how it goes, want to have it ready by Superbowl Sunday.   -Yakov   **************   Sponsors:   Check us out on Stitcher! Visit http://www.stitcher.com/geekcast and sign up. Not only can you catch the podcast through the app, but if you use the code ‘geekcast’ within the app and you’ll be entered to win $100! Audible: Try Audible Now and Get 1 Free Audiobook Download with a 14 Day Trial. Choose from over 85,000 Titles. Continue your membership and receive 1 audio book credit a month for only $14.95 per month!  Just visit AudiblePodcast.com/TheGeekcast  

  News:   Amazon Couldn't Even Shoot Its Drone Promo Video In The US Because It's Illegal Last weekend, Jeff Bezos announced that Amazon is experimenting with drones that will deliver packages within 30 minutes. Amazon calls the drone delivery ser...

  News: ************   Geek This Week:   Aaron: iMac 27” Review, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Review   Gozer: Xbox One Hands on review, Pebble Review   *************   Feedback and items of Note:   Hey guys. I am enjoying my brand new iPhone 5c. It isn't as cool as my moms iPhone 5s but it was better than nothing. I ordered the iBlason holster case for my 5c after hearing Gozer talk about his for the 5. Hopefully, either Thanksgiving break or Christmas break, I will build a hackintosh from the ground up. It will be a fun project. As always,love the show   Dawson 8th Grade Geek   Hey guys I have picked up an ouya at my local target for $90. I was thinking about waiting until Christmas but after I learned they have free NES and Gameboy advance emulators I decided to get it immeaditly. I am also looking forward to rooting it to get the google play store and play need for speed most wanted. Also I have finished my novel are language arts teacher assigned us. It is part of NaNoWriMo, or national novel writing month. I have over 8,000 words. As always love the show   Dawson 8th grade geek Hey guys, I hope you haven't podfaded because it's the holiday season and I need y'allses advice!  Also, I need to keep up with the world of general tech and apple....come back! 1.  Gozer, would you get the XCom update pack? Or any good games that dropped recently?  We have an XBOX360 and a PC that are used for games? 2. Do y'all have any thoughts on Chromebooks?  I'm looking to replace my Nook Color since it got lost.  I like it for books, although I enjoy the iPad better but it was nice for Netflix.  Also the plan was to give that to my daughter for her first tablet...but I guess not.  I'm an android so I'm not thinking to get an iPad, but I would like something with a full web browser.  Also, I don't have 500$ for a Windows tablet with the attachable keyboard.  And I'm not totally sold on Windows 8.  Or 8.1 or whatev.  So anyways....I guess I'm asking for a tablet-ish device, full web browser, option keyboard, about 250-300$. Any ideas? Thanks!   -Diana   **************   Sponsors:   Check us out on Stitcher! Visit http://www.stitcher.com/geekcast and sign up. Not only can you catch the podcast through the app, but if you use the code ‘geekcast’ within the app and you’ll be entered to win $100! Audible: Try Audible Now and Get 1 Free Audiobook Download with a 14 Day Trial. Choose from over 85,000 Titles. Continue your membership and receive 1 audio book credit a month for only $14.95 per month!  Just visit AudiblePodcast.com/TheGeekcast  

  News:   COD Ghosts Will it beat out Black Ops 2? Next Gen Consoles? Native 720p on Xbox One?   Console Comparison Chart   What to buy??   http://www.ign.com/wikis/xbox-one/PS4_vs._Xbox_One_vs._Wii_U_Comparison_Chart One string attached: T-Mobile's 'free' 200MB of data isn't free for financed tablets   T-Mobile earned a huge amount of goodwill from consumers last month when the carrier announced it would be giving away 200MB of free data to all tablet owners. But the company has stumbled somewhat in implementing its generous offer. And it's taking criticism for failing to make clear one important exception: any customer buying a new tablet through T-Mobile's attractive $0 down financing won't be eligible for truly free data. One requirement when financing a tablet is that you maintain "a paying service agreement" with T-Mobile from month to month. In layman's terms, that means you'll need to sign up for a postpaid (but contract-free) account. The cheapest way to do that is to opt for a $20 plan that includes 500MB of data. The 200MB bonus is added on top of that, so all told you'll receive 700MB of monthly data to burn through on your device. "We are happy to extend credit to you for a device with a value of several hundred dollars, but we do require that you establish a paying service relationship with us," reads a new press release from T-Mobile that seeks to clear up any confusion. For anyone buying a new iPad Air (or any tablet that works on T-Mobile's network) outright, you'll get 200MB of free data every month just as promised.   http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/5/5069612/tmobile-free-200mb-data-offer-not-free-for-financed-tablets Google Search iOS app now offers hands-free voice search   Google Search for iOS finally seems to have caught up with its Android counterpart. Released Tuesday, version 3.1 of Google Search for iOS updates Google Now, which provides notifications, reminders, and other personalized taps on the shoulder. Prominent among the enhancements is hands-free voice searching. You can trigger a search just by launching the search app, uttering the phrase "OK Google," and then speaking your query. In return, your iPhone or iPad either displays or speaks the hopefully appropriate response. The hands-free voice search requires an iPhone 4s or later. Notifications can now alert you to specific items without even opening the Google Search app. You can ask Google to remind you of appointments, tasks, and even news items. Google Now also offers iOS users new cards that can display movie and concert tickets, boarding passes, reservation confirmations, and other bits of information. Finally, Google has beefed up the overall app. The search page is more streamlined. You can use gestures to zoom in or remove panels. And you only need to sign in once to use all other Google apps. Google Search is compatible with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch and requires iOS 6.0 or later. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57610916-93/google-search-ios-app-now-offers-hands-free-voice-search/ ************   Geek This Week:   Aaron: Not liking the ‘free upgrade’ vs ‘paid upgrade’ app battle happening.   Gozer: Killzone Mercenaries for Vita, Another XBone launch game delay, grand opening of the home theater   ************* Feedback and items of Note: **************   Sponsors:   Check us out on Stitcher! Visit http://www.stitcher.com/geekcast and sign up. Not only can you catch the podcast through the app, but if you use the code ‘geekcast’ within the app and you’ll be entered to win $100! Audible: Try Audible Now and Get 1 Free Audiobook Download with a 14 Day Trial. Choose from over 85,000 Titles. Continue your membership and receive 1 audio book credit a month for only $14.95 per month!  Just visit AudiblePodcast.com/TheGeekcast  

News:   All the Apple announcements!!   MacBook Pro Mac Pro iPad Air   Mavericks iLife iWork   http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/22/4866718/ipad-air-to-mac-pro-everything-you-need-to-know-apple-fall-event ************   Geek This Week:   Aaron: iPhone 5s!   Gozer: Home Theater   ************* Feedback and items of Note:   Hi guys, after your "old tech" definition in todays geekcast, you might want to consider podcast i on upgrade. Your show isn't about old tech stuff, is it? :) Being graphic designer, I might give you a hand if you wish. Like the show, except hearing Dawson's song over and over and over. Take care!   From The middle od Europe/Czech republic, Peter Hey guys. Can't wait to get my PS 3 and Vita soon. I will enjoy playing liberty city stories and uncharted on my 6 hour plane ride in two weeks to Hawaii. I am sending this on the two year anniversary of Steve Jobs death. I am also writing this from the last Product steve designed, the iPhone 4s as always love the show. Dawson   Hey guys OMG there is a kickstarter to bring back all surviving members of the Homebrew Computer Club and you can back a level where you get to go and hear some of the people speak, such as Steve Wozniak. As it is two hours away I will try to convince my mom to let me go. As always love the show   Dawson **************   Sponsors:   Check us out on Stitcher! Visit http://www.stitcher.com/geekcast and sign up. Not only can you catch the podcast through the app, but if you use the code ‘geekcast’ within the app and you’ll be entered to win $100! Audible: Try Audible Now and Get 1 Free Audiobook Download with a 14 Day Trial. Choose from over 85,000 Titles. Continue your membership and receive 1 audio book credit a month for only $14.95 per month!  Just visit AudiblePodcast.com/TheGeekcast  

It's time for our annual coverage of New York Comic Con! This year we bring you post-show coverage and two amazing interviews: Anthony Daniels and Nicholas Briggs. They rocked at NYCC and we're excited to tell you all about it.

News:   Alleged Logitech game controller could turn your iPhone into a Vita   Back in June we learned that iOS 7 would include standardized support for game controllers, but since then we've seen little of the gamepads themselves. New images posted on the @evleaks Twitter account could change that, however, showing off what appears to be a press photo of a Logitech controller add-on for the iPhone. It's very similar to the blurry image published by Kotaku in June, with a directional pad, four face buttons, and a pair of shoulder triggers. It's also a lengthy add-on, appearing to nearly double the iPhone 5's length. Of course, if it is a real product, the design could change before it's eventually released. Gamepads for mobile devices haven't really caught on among players, but there's definitely a place for them — while there are plenty of excellent touchscreen games to be found in the App Store, there are still quite a few blockbuster iOS titles that could do with physical controls like these.   http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/1/4791942/logitech-iphone-game-controller-leak FreedomPop launches free mobile plan with 200 minutes The free mobile phone service includes 500MB of data, 500 text messages, and 200 voice minutes every month. FreedomPop has fired a shot over the wireless industry's bow. To commemorate its one-year anniversary, FreedomPop debuted its free mobile phone service on Tuesday. The free service includes 200 anytime voice minutes and 500 text messages per month, as well as 500MB of data. For now, FreedomPop's smartphone collection isn't all that deep. The service is available solely on the HTC Evo Design, but should work on other Android handsets later this year. FreedomPop is selling the HTC handset for $99. Heavy mobile users can purchase FreedomPop's unlimited voice and texting plan for $11 per month. The company claims that its unlimited plan saves customers more than $1,000 per year.   http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57605465-94/freedompop-launches-free-mobile-plan-with-200-minutes/ BBC to Globally Simulcast ‘Doctor Who’ Anniversary Special   BBC America is cranking event programming up a notch, as the network plans a global simulcast of “Doctor Who’s” 50th anniversary special for next month. On November 23 (in the U.S.), BBC will broadcast “The Day of the Doctor” simultaneously to millions of viewers in countries including Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, and the U.K., along with the States. Fans will be able to watch the episode at the same time irrespective of time zones, though the actual airtime has yet to be announced. “Few TV shows can still lay claim to being appointment viewing but ‘Doctor Who’ takes this to another level,” said Tim Davie, topper of BBC Worldwide. “In its 50th Anniversary year we wanted to create a truly international event for ‘Doctor Who’ fans in as many countries as possible and the simultaneous broadcast and cinema screening of the special across so many countries will make for a fitting birthday tribute to our Time Lord.” BBC America is also planning 3D screenings of the anniversary seg in theaters across the U.S. http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/bbc-to-globally-simulcast-doctor-who-anniversary-special-1200685974/ GTA Online Launch Issues - Rockstar Speaks Working to find solutions.   Rockstar has acknowledged the issues surrounding Grand Theft Auto Online's launch, and confirmed it's working to resolve them. A page on the Rockstar Support site lists all the known problems and promises updates as and when they are each sorted. Among the issues that the developer is looking into is an error message saying cloud servers are unavailable, freezing on the first race with a message saying "waiting for other players", a "failed to host" message, problems with the first race marker not showing correctly, matchmaking time out errors and general issues tied to the Social Club. The entry concludes with the message,

News:   GTA 5 Sales Hit $1 Billion in Three Days Take-Two announced this morning that Grand Theft Auto V generated more than $1 billion in retail sales during its first three days on sale. “We believe this marks the fastest that any entertainment property, including video games and feature films, has reached this significant milestone,” Take Two noted in its announcement. "Grand Theft Auto is a cultural phenomenon and Rockstar Games continues to redefine what can be achieved in interactive entertainment," said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. "We are incredibly proud of the extraordinary critical and commercial response to Grand Theft Auto V." Earlier this week, Rockstar announced that GTA 5 made $800 million in one day. Analysts previously estimated that the game would earn $1 billion in its first month, but it appears they underestimated just how excited people are to visit Los Santos.   http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/20/gta-5-sales-hit-1-billion-in-three-days   iPhones 5s and 5c sell 9m in record weekend as Apple shrugs off doubters Apple shrugged off its critics, and analysts who said the high-end smartphone market was saturated, by announcing it has sold nine million iPhones in just three days. The company's share price jumped more than 5% to $492 in response, adding $4bn to its value in minutes - though it remains well below its all-year high of $543 from January. The figures are nearly double the record figure of five million in 2012, when it introduced the iPhone 5. Though the company did not release a sales breakdown between the new iPhone 5s - which incorporates a fingerprint reader - and the cheaper, and coloured, 5c, data from Mixpanel, a mobile analytics company, suggests the breakdown was 2:1 in favour of the pricier devices. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the new "gold" iPhone 5s - deemed ugly by some - was the most popular model. Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive who under Steve Jobs drove the operational side of the business - and built up its supply systems so that it could cope with colossal spikes in demand like the weekend's - expressed his delight. "The demand for the new iPhones has been incredible, and while we've sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5s, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly," Cook said in a statement. "We appreciate everyone's patience and are working hard to build enough new iPhones for everyone." The sales figures put the struggles of rival phone makers Nokia and BlackBerry into sharp focus. The value of iPhones sold was calculated at more than the enterprise value - the price minus cash - of Nokia's handset business, sold to Microsoft for €5.4bn earlier in September. And BlackBerry, which is preparing to formally announce a $1bn loss on Friday, managed to ship only 3.7m phones in the past three months. The sales come despite a German hacker group claiming to have fooled the fingerprint reader on the iPhone 5s with a scanned version of a fingerprint captured from glass, and reports of security vulnerabilities on some features. Apple also said that its new iOS 7 software has been installed on 200m devices since its launch last Wednesday - which it called "the fastest software upgrade in history". That means it may be only a few days away from reaching as many users as Google's Android 4.1.x, which has 287m users. The higher figure is in part due to the new phones going on sale in many more territories than in 2012 and preceding years. The phones were available in the US, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the UK - whereas in 2012 the list did not include China and Puerto Rico. China alone is reckoned to have contributed 3m sales. In 2011, the then-new iPhone 4S sold 4m in US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK. "It's an impressive opening weekend, but unsurprising because older models [were] still selling well immediately prior to the launch," said Ian Fogg of IHS.

News:   Microsoft Windows 8.1 free to Windows 8 users, $119.99 and up for others Those running Windows 8 will be able to get Windows 8.1 for free. But 8.1 will cost everyone else between $119.99 and $199.99 (for Pro).   Microsoft announced a few months ago that Windows 8.1 will be a free upgrade for anyone already running Windows 8. That still holds true. But Tuesday, company officials shared more on how much Windows 8.1 will cost for those running an older version of Windows. For those running Windows XP, Windows Vista, orWindows 7, Windows 8.1 will cost $119.99. Windows 8.1 Pro will cost $199.99. These prices are for either a download from Windows.com or a retail-packaged DVD product sold at retail. These are the same prices Microsoft charged users of older versions of Windows for the Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro upgrades. There are a couple new wrinkles worth noting about Windows 8.1 pricing, however. First, Microsoft is offering full-version software at retail this time around. This means there's no requirement for users to run a previous version of Windows to get these prices. (In the past, Microsoft offered those running a previous version of Windows an upgrade version, and others a full version.) Microsoft officials said they're making this change due to feedback from customers "in specific technical scenarios." Specifically, this benefits users who want to build PCs from scratch, run Windows 8.1 in virtual-machine environments, and/or run Windows 8.1 on a second hard-drive partition on the hardware of their choice.   http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57603341-75/microsoft-windows-8.1-free-to-windows-8-users-$119.99-and-up-for-others/ Amazon Instant Video Gets AirPlay Support on Apple TV   Amazon Instant Video has finally been updated with full AirPlay support. As a result, you can now use the app to watch titles from Prime Instant Video and the Amazon Instant Video store right on your Apple TV via AirPlay. In addition to AirPlay support, another new feature is integration with IMDb, which Amazon also owns. This lets you see IMDb cast and director information, ratings, goofs, trivia and quotes right within Amazon Instant Video. This harks back to the IMDb iOS app’s update seven months ago, which brought Amazon Instant Video integration. The latest update to Amazon Instant Video also includes the following enhancements: Read customer reviews Find other videos featuring cast or director Customers who watched this also watched … Concurrent downloads Improved offline experience Faster and more responsive interface Bug fixes and stability improvements The new version of Amazon Instant Video is available now in the App Store for free. The app is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad running iOS 5 or later. http://mashable.com/2013/09/17/amazon-instant-video-airplay/ ************   Geek This Week:   Aaron: Honest Trailers, iOS 7 Review   Gozer: GTA V, Breaking Bad, Chromecast & iPhone   ************* Feedback and items of Note:   Hey guys, I just got out to see the new Steve Jobs movie. I liked it but they took a few liberties as expected. It kinds of stinks that I will have to be at school. For Gozer replace radish with Reese's pieces, for y, York , and Wonka bar for W as always love the show.   -Dawson   So I haven't written -- though been listening on my 3-4 times per week 5 1/2 mile runs. I'm checking in on the last set of toys I've gotten. Oculus Rift is one -- I'm a programmer, as I said before, and one day I'll get back to doing some 3d coding (have to get my math books out). The demos are neat, and everyone, save for an 8 year old son of a friend of mine have gotten nauseous while using it -- me included. 30 minutes after walking around in doom 3 I felt ill. So, the last set of toys is on account, that we are counting down the last week till the arrival of our first child. So as I've been told,

News: Apple can’t keep a secret! iPhone 5s -Touch ID -A7 -M7 -Better camera -Silver, Gold, Space Gray iPhone 5c -Colors -Polycarbonite Both on sale on September 20th iOS 7 - available September 18th iWork for iOS FREE! iMovie and iPhoto for iOS Free! ************ Geek This Week: Aaron: Gozer: ************* Feedback and items of Note: ************** Sponsors: Check us out on Stitcher! Visit http://www.stitcher.com/geekcast and sign up. Not only can you catch the podcast through the app, but if you use the code ‘geekcast’ within the app and you’ll be entered to win $100! Audible: Try Audible Now and Get 1 Free Audiobook Download with a 14 Day Trial. Choose from over 85,000 Titles. Continue your membership and receive 1 audio book credit a month for only $14.95 per month! Just visit AudiblePodcast.com/TheGeekcast

News:   Apple Issues Invitations for September 10 Media Event: 'This Should Brighten Everyone's Day'   Apple has just sent out media invitations for its September 10 media event where the company is expected to introduce its next-generation iPhone hardware, reports The Loop. The event will begin at 10:00 AM Pacific Time and will be held at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California. The tagline on the invitation reads "This should brighten everyone's day." The September 10 date was first reported by AllThingsD last month, and was quickly confirmed by a number of other sources. Official invitations for the event were expected today given Apple's usual one-week lead time before such events. The event is expected to include the introduction of two new iPhone models: an iPhone 5S successor to the current iPhone 5 and a lower-cost iPhone 5C that will reportedly have internal components very similar to the iPhone 5 but wrapped in colorful new plastic shells. The event will undoubtedly also see a final preview of iOS 7 before it released to the public. Apple has also been reported to be launching new iPad and iPad mini models later this year, but they will not be making an appearance at this event. A number of Mac updates are also expected in the coming months, but they too are likely to held for a later date in order to give full focus for this event to the iPhone. http://www.macrumors.com/2013/09/03/apple-issues-invitations-for-september-10-media-event/   Break Me Off a Piece of That: Kit Kat Will Be the Name of the Next Version of Android   Give me a break, give me a break, break me off a piece of that … Android. No, that's not quite how the jingle goes, but the next version of Android is in fact going to be named Kit Kat. Android chief Sundar Pichai announced Tuesday via Twitter and Google Plus that Android had hit 1 billion activations and also added a little treat. The next version of the operating system -- Android 4.4 -- won't be named Key Lime Pie, as rumored, it will be called or codenamed Kit Kat. And don't worry, that's a fully licensed name and partnership too. Google has worked with Nestle, the maker of the chocolatey and crunchy candy bar, to go even further. Nestle will make a number of Android-themed Kit Kat bars. They even made this website to promote it. According to Nestle, more than 50 million specially branded chocolate bars will be available in 19 markets, including the U.S, U.K, Canada and the Middle East. When you buy the bar, you will be able to enter to win Google prizes, including the Nexus 7 tablet. According to Nestle's press release, they will also make a limited number of robot-shaped bars. Just like a real-life Willy Wonka. Nestle did not immediately respond to ABC News' questions about the limited edition bars. Google has also erected a Kit Kat statue in the shape of the Android robot in front of its Android headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. to join the other Android statues. Google has named each of its Android versions in alphabetical order after deserts, starting with Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean and now Kit Kat. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/android-44-kit-kat-google-teams-nestle-version/story?id=20146239 Future Android OSs: Lemon Merangie Pie, M&M, Nutella, Oreo, Peanut Butter Cup, Quail??, Radish, Starburst, Tic Tac, Uvula, V, W, X, Yam, Zebra Cake   Microsoft buying Nokia's phone business in a $7.2 billion bid for its mobile future One of the most enticing "what-ifs" of recent years has come true: Microsoft has purchased Nokia's devices and services unit, bringing the Lumia lineup under the Redmond roof. The move unites Windows Phone 8 with its biggest hardware supporter, giving the company the integrated mobile offering it's been looking for with Surface and other devices. When the deal closes in the first quarter of 2014, Microsoft will pay €3.79 billion for Nokia's business, plus another €1.

News: Retrode review: The best (legal) way to enjoy classic game cartridges Tiny USB device backs up your classic games for emulation, save files and all. That's where the Retrode comes in. This elegant, tiny USB device (barely bigger than a coupl...

News:   Microsoft: Xbox One Won't Require Kinect to Work   It turns out that the Xbox One will run perfectly fine even if Kinect isn't, well, connected to it, according to chief Xbox One platform architect Marc Whitten. Speaking with IGN last week, Whitten revealed that "like online, the console will still function if Kinect isn't plugged in, although you won't be able to use any feature or experience that explicitly uses the sensor." That doesn't mean gamers will be able to avoid buying the accessory, however. Microsoft's upgraded Kinect will still ship with the Xbox One. It just won't render the whole system a brick if it breaks or is powered off, or if some folks who've expressed privacy concerns over Redmond's potential for capturing and tracking the movements of Xbox One users simply want to shut it down permanently. How "off" can the sensor be without affecting non-Kinect-related Xbox One functionality? In case there are still some skeptics out there, here's what Whitten told IGN: "You have the ability to completely turn the sensor off in your settings. When in this mode, the sensor is not collecting any information. Any functionality that relies on voice, video, gesture, or more won't work. We still support using it for IR blasting in this mode. You can turn the sensor back on at any time through settings, and if you enter into a required Kinect experience (like Kinect Sports Rivals for instance), you'll get a message asking if you want to turn the sensor back on in order to continue." Whitten also confirmed that the Xbox One will ship with a mono audio headset, as seen in a recent in-house unboxing video, which he said features improved audio quality that "is night and day compared to chat on the Xbox 360." The Xbox One platform architect also told IGN that gamers' Xbox 360 avatars will transfer over to the new console, elaborated on how Live Arcade will work on the Xbox One dashboard, talked resolutions and frame rates for Game DVR video captures, and more. Update: While the Xbox One won't require the Kinect to function, Microsoft said it has no plans to sell the Xbox One without the Kinect.   http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2423002,00.asp Elon Musk reveals plans for high-speed Hyperloop In a blog post today, Elon Musk revealed plans for an alpha version of his much-anticipated Hyperloop, an innovative transportation system that would move passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than 30 minutes. According to the plans (PDF), the Hyperloop would transport passengers in aluminum pods traveling up to 800mph, mostly following the route of California's I-5. The estimated cost would be $6 billion for the passenger-only model, or $7.5 billion for a larger model capable of transporting cars. On a following conference call, Musk said he expected a prototype unit might take only three or four years to complete given the right project leader, including a couple years to acclimate themselves to the project. "If it was my top priority, I could probably get it done in one or two years." The biggest puzzle was how Musk's low-power loop would maintain such high speeds without tremendous power losses to friction. According to a Businessweek article, published with the post, the solution is keeping the interior of the Hyperloop at low pressures, which lowers friction without risking the dangers of a full vacuum. "I think a lot of people tended to gravitate to one idea or the other as opposed to thinking about lower pressure," Musk told Businessweek. "I have never seen that idea anywhere." The system would also reduce friction by mounting compressor fans on the front and rear of each pod, actively transferring air from the front of the pod to the back. In addition to following existing highways, the Hyperloop would minimize its physical footprint by elevating the tubes on columns 50 to 100 yards apart. Much of the route could be constructed on the median of California's I-5,

News:   Google’s New Nexus 7: The Budget Tablet to Beat Does size still matter? Just a year ago, Google introduced its Nexus 7, a mini tablet for $199 that posed a real challenge to Apple’s bigger, pricier iPad. Three months later, Apple retaliated with its own small tablet, the iPad Mini, though its $329 price wasn’t, well, mini enough for some. Now, a year after the introduction of the first Nexus 7, Google has unveiled a revamped version of its mini tablet with better features and a slightly bigger $229 price tag. Starting July 30, this new Nexus 7 is available in a dozen retail outlets including Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Amazon. The most notable difference between this new Nexus 7 and the iPad Mini is screen quality: The Nexus has a resolution of 1920 x 1200 with 323 pixels per inch, and the iPad Mini’s screen resolution is just 1024 x 768 and 163 pixels per inch. It is also slightly lighter than its Apple rival. So what’s not to like about the new Nexus 7? For one thing, its 7-inch screen isn’t as big as the nearly 8-inch iPad Mini’s. While an inch of difference isn’t remarkable, smartphone screens are growing to over 5 inches, making the Nexus 7 look more like one of those than a tablet. Another drawback: In my test, the new Nexus 7′s battery life was underwhelming. Compared with the same battery test of the iPad Mini and first Nexus 7, it fell short at just six hours; the others clocked in at 10 hours and 27 minutes and 10 hours and 44 minutes, respectively. Google claims the battery life can last over nine hours, but the company tests it in Airplane mode (Internet connection off), with screen brightness set to 44% while playing video. I keep Wi-Fi on in the background and screen brightness at 75% while playing video. This new mini tablet comes in two sizes that are Wi-Fi-only: a $229 16-gigabyte model and a $269 32-gigabyte model. A version with a built-in LTE Internet connection on Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile will be available in coming weeks for $349 with 32 gigabytes. Meanwhile, Apple’s iPad Mini is available in three flavors each of Wi-Fi-only and LTE: 16-, 32- and 64-gigabyte models ranging in price from $329 to $659. The new Nexus 7 runs Android 4.3, the latest iteration of Google’s Jelly Bean mobile operating system. While not a major upgrade from the last Jelly Bean release in October, it does add a few new features. One notable extra is Restricted Profiles. Rather than simply giving you the ability to create multiple user accounts for one tablet, Restricted Profiles allow user accounts with preset restrictions on access to apps and content. I tested this by creating a Restricted Profile named “Pretend Kiddo” in Settings, Users, Add User or Profile. I then went down a list of my device’s apps and switched access on or off, according to what I wanted Pretend Kiddo to be able to access. Certain apps in this list clearly say “This app can access your accounts,” so you know what you’re turning on or off. Creating a Restricted Profile requires that the primary tablet owner use a lockscreen, so that other users without full access can’t get to everything else. In addition to limiting what the Restricted Profile can access, specific app settings, such as in-app purchases and age restrictions, can also be tweaked. Another new Android feature allows users to play games against friends while keeping track of their achievements using Google Play Games. This is a lot like Game Center on Apple’s iOS. The Nexus 7 also caught up to the iPad Mini in cameras: It now has a built-in rear-facing camera, unlike its predecessor, which only had a front-facing one. Both iPad Mini and new Nexus 7 cameras have the same megapixel counts: 5 megapixels on the rear-facing camera and 1.2 megapixels on the front-facing one. Neither device has a built-in flash. I snapped photos both indoors and outside in the natural light, and found the outdoor images looked better, though the inside ones were adequate.

  News: New FiOS top speed is half that of Google Fiber—and 4x the price 500Mbps FiOS now available for $310 per month.   In an attempt to go after more lucrative, higher-revenue customers, Verizon announced Monday that it would be boosting its FiOS service to 500Mbps—for $310 per month. By comparison, in original Google Fiber locale Kansas City, 1Gbps of service starts at just $70 per month. (Comcast charges $320 for 305Mbps speeds on its network.) Last year, Verizon boosted its speeds to 300Mbps—of course, that’s still limited to the small part of the United States where FiOS is available. (Verizon has essentially halted new FiOS rollouts, meaning that if it's not available in your area, it’s unlikely to show up anytime soon—for now, only 5.8 million Americans have Verizon’s fiber service.) While rollout of significantly faster broadband across North America is limited, we’ve reported on developments in some parts of Northern California, Vancouver (Canada), rural Vermont, and Seattle. And Google Fiber is only reaching specific areas of the Midwest and Western United States and probably won’t be nationwide anytime soon. However, one Verizon technician told Bloomberg that the company is holding back. “We can support up to 10Gbps on our network,” said Fowler Abercrombie, a manager of the FiOS development team in Irving, Texas. “We’re watching the market to see where it goes next.”   http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/07/new-fios-top-speed-is-half-that-of-google-fiber-and-4x-the-price/   NPD Group's U.S. Games Industry Sales (New Physical Sales Channel*) - June 2013 5-week month; Reporting Period 6/2/13 through 7/6/13   Overall   Retail sales declined 15% year over year. Software   (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC)   1. The Last Of Us (PS3)** Sony (Corp) 2. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS) Nintendo 3. Minecraft (360) Microsoft (Corp) 4. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (360, PS3, PC, NWU)** Activision Blizzard (Corp) 5. NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, WII, NWU, PSP, PC)** Take 2 Interactive (Corp) 6. Injustice: Gods Among Us (360, PS3, NWU)** Warner Bros. Interactive 7. Donkey Kong Country Returns (3DS, WII) Nintendo 8. Deadpool (360, PS3) Activision Blizzard (Corp) 9. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)** Electronic Arts 10. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS) Nintendo   http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=627656 ************   Geek This Week:   Aaron: Doctor Who at SDCC, iPad shopping with MIL   Gozer: Day One App, Pacific Rim & The Last of Us * Spoilers *   ************* Feedback and items of Note:   Aaron, I am so sad. I have run out of Dr. Who on Netflix