Apple announces iPad 3, upgrades to Apple TV, new software – March 7, 2012
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Also see:
- Apple Unveils Hi-Res, Quad-Core, 4G iPad — from Wired News by Christina Bonnington
Apple announces iPad 3, upgrades to Apple TV, new software – March 7, 2012
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Also see:
SoundCloud as a teaching tool — from fractuslearning.com
Excerpt:
Because of the diverse ways we use audio in the classroom, there are a number of very different applications for SoundCloud as a teaching tool.
Dragon TV – Now at your service — from Nuance.com
Excerpt:
Finding ‘what’s on’ television – not the easiest experience with today’s expansive channel options and a non-intuitive means for searching for what you want. Click, click, click, click until you just give up!
Those days are now over thanks to Dragon TV! Just tell Dragon TV what you want to watch and it delivers it instantly! Really, it’s that simple.
Just say…
From
http://www.lifewithsiri.com/siri-links
Also see:
What is Siri? — from Apple.com
Siri is the intelligent personal assistant that helps you get things done just by asking. It allows you to use your voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, and more. But Siri isn’t like traditional voice recognition software that requires you to remember keywords and speak specific commands. Siri understands your natural speech, and it asks you questions if it needs more information to complete a task. Siri uses the processing power of the dual-core A5 chip in iPhone 4S, and it uses 3G and Wi-Fi networks to communicate rapidly with Apple’s data centers. So it can quickly understand what you say and what you’re asking for, then quickly return a response. Siri is currently in beta and we’ll continue to improve it over time.
Also see:
Voice Control Will Disrupt Living Room Electronics — from techpinions.com by Patrick Moorhead
Excerpt:
In what seems to be a routine in high-tech journalism and social media now is to speculate on what Apple will do next. The latest and greatest rumor is that Apple will develop an HDTV set. I wrote back in September that Apple should build a TV given the lousy experience and Apple’s ability to fix big user challenges. What hasn’t been talked about a lot is why voice command and control makes so much sense in home electronics and why it will dominate the living room. Its all about the content.
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From DSC:
Below are some items concerning the continued convergence of the telephone, the television, and the computer — it involves the smart/connected TV as well as human-computer-interaction (HCI)-related items. But this time, I’m focusing on a recent announcement from Microsoft.
However, I have to disagree that, given this announcement, Microsoft will now rule the living room — or at least I surely hope not. Why do I say this? For several reasons.
1) How long has Microsoft Office been around? Years and years, right? If you think that Microsoft should control your living room, I ask you to show me how I can quickly and easily insert some audio-based feedback with one easy click of a record button within Microsoft Word. Go ahead and check…such a quick and easy method is not there….still…and it’s almost 2012. (BTW, here are some resources on this if you’re interested in seeing how this could be done, but you will quickly notice that this is not a streamlined process — and it should have been so years ago.)
2) Performance/not doing what it’s supposed to do. My Dell PC running Windows 7 still can’t even shut itself down half the time. It just sits there with wheels-a-spinnin’ at some point…but not powering down. I’m not sure why this is the case, but I never have had trouble with this simple task on my Macs.
3) Regarding troubleshooting Microsoft’s solutions, an entire support industry has been built on supporting Microsoft’s software — go to a local bookstore and see how to get MS certified on some particular package/application/service — none of the books are thin.
4) Security has never been Microsoft’s strong point.
Bottom line:
I think you get my point. Microsoft has a loooooonnnnngggg way to go in my mind before I want their products and services controlling my living room.
With that said, I do congratulate Microsoft on being more innovative and forward thinking with the Xbox announcements mentioned below. I just hope that items such as usability, user experience, security, and streamlined interfaces are high on the list of their priorities/deliverables.
Disclosure/note:
I do use PCs with Windows a significant amount of the time and they do a nice job with many items. But if I were to assign grades to Microsoft, usability, performance, and security are not items that I would give A’s to Microsoft on.
Upgrade: The Xbox 360 Slim game console.
Also:
Adobe moving towards HTML 5 for mobile computing-related apps
Some relevant articles on this announcement: