Nintendo Wii 2 – A spin off on the iPad?

buy Lyrica canada pharmacy I read an interesting article on wired.com this morning about reports of Nintendo’s follow up gaming console to the Wii having a touch screen in the controller. This idea sounds fascinating and at the same time brings on a world of possibilities. The last paragraph (the last sentence particularly) I found to be the most thought provoking.

“We don’t yet know what Project Cafe will let users do with this reported screen-in-a-controller. Will it be used like Four Swords, to give players their own view of a given situation? Like Pokémon Battle Revolution, as a controller? can i buy clomid at a pharmacy Or like iPad, putting the entirety of the game onto your own personal screen instead of the television?“

I am a video game nerd. I play less now than when I was younger, but I will still always find time to occasionally pick up the sticks. Enjoying playing video games with friends, I have always found multiplayer gaming to be a fun experience, but I also like to play solo games, and even casino games at this pokie spins login to make some money online. The last (iPad screen) possibility would be revolutionary for in-house multiplayer gaming. It would eliminate the need to have 4 player games all on one TV. Online multiplayer games where you have to take turns with your friends (thinking Call of Duty) would improve drastically. Personal gaming screens would make playing four player Mario Kart four times better, looking the same as a one player game of Mario Kart.

Lets cross our fingers this is happening. Then quality virtual gaming in 3D like in these new games which will allow you to legal start sports betting in kentucky. Then becoming one with the machine like in the movie “Tron”. Technology can be unbelievable.

Apple claims trademark infringement against Amazon for using the phrase “App Store”

I have been tweeting all morning about an article I read about Amazon’s new “Android App Store”. The blip towards the bottom is what got me going.

“Another obstacle Amazon will face is a lawsuit Apple filed March 18, which claims that Amazon is improperly using the term “App Store,” which Apple says it has trademarked.”

This quote got me thinking about Economics. I was an Economics and Math major in college. I am always thinking about Economic fairness. This lawsuit filed by Apple has everything to do with the opposite. They want to gain a competitive advantage in the market for apps by saying they coined the word “App Store”. Here are my thoughts on the validity of that lawsuit.

They can’t trademark the word “App” because that has been established as an abbrevation for the word application long before computers. People were sending in “Job Apps” and “College Apps” for as long as the word “Application” has been around. It is human nature to abbreviate a word so easy to abbreviate. We all know they didn’t invent the word “Store”. But apparently they invented the combination of the two words.

That is a joke in my opinion. An “App” is a product. A store is a place to sell a product. This would be like saying the first store to sell shoes and use the word “Shoe Store” should be allowed to trademark it. After all, shoes are the product they are selling in the store.

This discussion can get political but really think about what is fair. Economics teaches us that competition is good for the market place. Monopolies or businesses that are near monopoly status are bad. Competition is good because when the market is competitive it leads to a diverse offering of products and fair prices. Apples attempt at trademarking the phrase “App Store” is all an attempt to gain a seemingly bogus competitive advantage. You can’t get mad at them for doing it, but it isn’t fair to us, the consumer.

So taking away competition from the market is bad. Apple regulates their “App Store” in case you didn’t know. I know stories of frustrations with Apple in regards to apps. Stories involing some apps being approved and some not being approved or taking way longer to be approved that were coded the exact same way. Do we really want our phone apps coming from one place? And to add to that a place that regulates?

I’d like to add that I love Mac OSX and use Apple devices as a computer, mp3 player and phone. They still have the best quality and just need to keep focusing on that. Not pointless, waste of money lawsuits.

Mac Users – Maximize Your Computer through Repairing File Permissions

Macs are famous for not getting viruses. This is great. There still can be issues that are very common for Macs that slow down your computer. Many people don’t know about this simple way to fix your Mac that may be crashing on you or moving slower than expected.

Repairing file permissions is as simple as opening an application and clicking a button. Here is an eHow page on repairing disc permissions. Ignore the end of the list. All you need to worry about is opening Disc Utility and choosing to “Repair Disc Permissions” on your harddrive. The “Verify” step is pretty pointless but won’t hurt anything if you do it.

Hopefully that is simple enough. You can contact me at galin@gpmwebsolutions.com or on twitter if you have any questions.

Speed Up Your Old 3G iPhone – Downgrade to older software Release

If you have an iPhone 3G and upgraded to the new iPhone operating system, iOS 4.0 or above, you may notice your phone moves slower than it did before. Here is a very useful tutorial I followed.

Useful iPhone 3G Downgrade Tutorial.

Steps to Downgrading iPhone 3G

1. Download the files the tutorial tells you to. (There RecBoot link wasn’t working but I found it on google – link to RecBoot download.
2. Put the phone in DFU mode using the tutorials instructions.
3. Restore the iPhone and use RecBoot to boot restored and downgraded iPhone.

If you really want to play around with your iPhone go to jailBreakMe.com. Voids your warranty but not considered illegal.

iPad 2 – Never Buy a First Generation Apple Product!!

Every year there is a new version of an apple product. That may not be a fact I am citing, but it might as well be. Currently, look at the iPhone, iPad, iTouch, iBook… even the operating systems are new every year for their computers.

This is Apples business plan. It is pretty obvious. The iPad 2 was announced early this week. In comparison to the iPad 1 it sounds epic, mainly because of just one feature: The front and rear cameras. This is perfect for Face Time. Video Conferencing will take off even more. I am planning on purchasing one just for that convience. That and being able to demo sites well to my customers at out of office meetings (which the iPad 1 accomplished).

That being said, do you know what is going to be better than the iPad 2? The iPad 3. Do you know what will be better than the iPhone 4 (that seems like it just came out)? The iPhone 5. Apple succeeds in using this business strategy because they are so far ahead of the competition when it comes to developing these devices. The Kindle and Android based readers all sound lame now that we know about the iPad 2 and its one of a kind features.

Basic economic principles tell Apple stockholders to beware since in the long run competition tends to catch up to the leader of the pack. Also, beware since their marketing strategy revolves around a person (Steve Jobs), who will eventually be dead since everyone dies. Well I guess by that logic Disney should be doing terrible.

Anyways, this should indicate to never buy a first generation Apple product. It is always lightyears behind the second generation product. I have an iPhone 3G in my pocket. It is terrible. This is because I have friends with iPhone 4s to play with. I notice how the battery actually works, the speed is quick, and it has a beautiful resolution, always making me feel terrible about my phone. My advice: Wait a year before purchasing anything from Apple, it will always get better.