Modern Warfare 2?

Why yes I bought the much anticipated sequel to Call of Duty Modern Warfare. And yes I already spent my entire weekend playing it! In my opinion, the game is really good. It's a well deserved sequel, providing an amazing gaming experience. Online multi-player mode is one of the best that you can have out there. I have it for the 360, so playing it on live is fantastic! I've also had plenty of time playing it for the ps3 last week and have to say the online multi-player and co-op special ops game is pretty amazing as well. The story mode on the game is also pretty interesting to say, so you don't feel like all you are really doing is shooting those shooting at you. You feel more of the game play and the story. I am still nowhere near completing campaign mode, instead I have been playing special ops with random people online and also with my friends. There is no better way to play FPS' than with your best friends or other people online. As long as you are not playing by yourself. For the PC however, MW2 is best played through LAN seeing as there are no dedicated servers as there are for the ps3 and the 360. So, in the end I give Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 a 5/5 stars when played on consoles, and 3/5 when played on the PC for lack of server stability for online multi-player gaming.

Update on Google Wave

Okay guys, so Google Wave. Lets discuss. Google Wave is as said by Google "email made in the 21st century". I enjoy it. I love using it. It's a great way to collaborate about anything with anyone connected with Google Wave. Well, at the moment Google Wave is in private beta, and mainly the people who have Google Wave accounts are tech enthusiasts or someone in that general field. Basically what I am trying to say is that mostly it has smart people with similar interests. The general public does not have access to it yet, therefore spammers and trollers don't have access to mess it up right now. Now, that aside i'll tell you some of my experiences of using Google Wave.

When I first used Wave, I searched for a public wave that was discussing the tv show Heroes. We literally spent the whole episode with out side commentary. We asked questions about the show, answered each others questions, made predictions about the episode. We did it all. And it pretty much reminded me as if we were talking in a forums about the show. Only we did it in real time. We made a new wave for the next episode and low and behold when the next episode came out we all discussed there again. Already I liked Wave. Next I used Wave to find other people who use the Steam game client for PC games. I found a whole list of waves but found one where everyone was sharing Steam ID's. Let's just say I have a whole new list of friends on Steam to play games with. I've used Wave to talk to classmates about project assignments, sharing images across multiple computers, threading whole conversations and sharing it with others, even comparing school schedules.

I used Wave most recently to set up dates with my friends who are coming back for thanksgiving vacation from college. We set up what we are going to do, what places, shared links to things happening that day, and even added other people to the wave that we knew who we thought would be interesting if they came along.

Google Wave is going to be a sure big hit when it finally opens to the public. My only concerns is how spammers will attack it, and also how it would be once its flooded by other users. Only time will tell but I know this, I love Google Wave and how easy it makes communicating. Have I mentioned that Google is actually listening to the developers? We wanted an easier way to view public waves without being placed in it automatically, and look at what they did, they added a follow/unfollow button. Thanks Google!

Sorry!! :[

I know i've been negectful, and I know that since getting Google Wave I haven't posted anything new, but in my defense, I finished installing Borderlands and have been hooked for a few days :] So I WILL be updating, with news about Google Wave as soon as I can, tomorrow morning I have Economics so I should do a quick review then :] It seems I do most of my blogging during my economics class, but I can't help it if it's boring.

Google Wave

Guess who JUST got an account? :D

The buffalo is out of the pen

New social networking site geared towards tech enthusiasts has been finally released from the private beta today November 2, 2009. Techno Buffalo is founded by John Rettinger, a well known tech enthusiast who has been doing reviews on gadgets and other things electronic for years. His previous website jon4lakers.com, is now down because Jon is focusing on his new website technobuffalo. The site gears itself on allowing users to create their own tech blogs, and be able to monetize from it. It allows users also to set up public profiles and meet other people who are tech enthusiasts just like them. It seems that it is a bit similar to Chris Pirillo's geeks.pirillo.com, but something tells me its going to be alot different. Im actually thinking of moving my blog from here to technobuffalo, but we will see how that works out. I really want to get a bigger audience, and maybe by moving to a site geared towards tech enthusiasts I will get the feedback that i need. Well we'll find out eventually how technobuffalo will go after its first FULL day of release. Last time it was released, it was shut down after 3 hours due to heavy traffic (which is a good thing). If you want, you should check out the website, create accounts, and start reading the blogs. Its a good place for information about all the latest in tech news.

LINK:
http://www.technobuffalo.com

add me!
http://www.technobuffalo.com/macros617

iPhone Alluminum?

New concept art has come out from sources at ispazio (via tysiphonehelp.com). Read the article and tell me what you thnk. Personally I thnk it's about time that apple made an alluminum iPhone, this may drop the price and make it more steadier, then again it could Jack up the price so who knows. Also they say it may come out for verizon wireless, something I believe could not happen due to how apple and verizon can't get along because of vcast and iTunes/AppStore. But just tell me what you think, maybe email me your thoughts and I'll post it in another blog post.

Email me at:
Atenedoro@mypeekmail.com

here's the link from tysiphonehelp:
http://tysiphonehelp.com/?p=515#more-515

Is the force with verizon?

Thoughts on the motorilla droid? Yes I do.

The motorrola droid is the first phone in the market to come using the android 2.0 operating system by google. Unless you have been somewhat under a rock for the the past week, Twitter was in a blaze over the unveiling of the droid by motorrola to come out in the verizon network. The online commerial brought out much hype, taking direct hits and launchig personal attacks on the iPhone. "idont have a keyboard, idont tether, idont copy/paste", are just some examples of the "droid does " motto. So is this going to be an iPhone killer? Well we will know on November 6th when the droid officially comes out on sale. Hopefully before then cnet reviewer Bonnie cha will have a complete review available on cnet, considering they are now in possession of the phone. By the way, it should he mentioned that the droid phone is co founded by Lucas arts, ushering their arrival in the cell phone industry. Is the force with this phone?

Quick update

In case you're not following my Twitter, I just recently bought a
camcorder from Bwana from bwana.tv. Also I have been working on
getting my access to google wave, as well as my fixing of some psp's.
Everything is slowly but surely coming along with my new projects in
the making, so just stay tuned. Don't forget to follow my Twitter
@minipeekster (yea very original) and stay tuned to everything I'm
going to be releasing in due time. Until then take care!

Windows 7

I have to say myself, someone who has a macbook pro for almost 4 months now, that I still want to check out windows 7. I used the beta back in January, and checked out the RC in July, but I must say, the final retail version is pretty slick. I really enjoy it. I was able to buy the $29.99 version because thankfully I am a college student so YAY for me. I am NOT going to do a review on Windows 7 because I feel it is TOO much to accomplish with the little time that I am able to actually blog. I can, however, direct you to other videos that have compared windows 7 to snow leopard or who have done the arduous task of using the operating system to its max to be able to give a complete and accurate review. That is going to have to wait however until a few days that Windows 7 is to have been released. I am going to post something very near in the future, its going to be the reason that I have been off the blog for a good while, and why most of my posts are short. You will enjoy this I guarantee.

Apple Event?

Yesturday in a surprise event held by Apple, 3 new products were released into the apple line. In it, were 2 new redesigned Imacs, a new Mouse called the "Magic Mouse", and a redesign of the plastic macbook.

The new Macbook now has a uni-body design similar to that of the macbook pro, but all plastic. It now has a back-lit LED screen, as well as the glass trackpad on the macbook pro's. It also sports a longer lasting battery very similar to the macbook pro's battery. The ram of the macbook has also been changed from ddr2 ram to ddr3, making it a more powerful machine very similar in performance to the low end 13 inch macbook pro, however it maxes out at 4 gigs while the macbook pro maxes out at 8 gigs. It comes with a 250 gigabyte 5400 rpm hard drive which of course can be upgraded to 320 or 500 gigabyte. It has the same Nvidia 9400 graphics card and comes with standard 2.26 ghz intel core duo processor, which can't be upgraded unlike the macbook pro.

The new imac comes in 21.5 inch and 27 inch size screens, and feature full HD 1080P display. It now has an LED backlit screen, which now makes all of Apple's computers having backlit LED screens. It features 4 USB ports, 1 SD card slot, and 1 firewire 800 port. The all in one computer has everything built in from speakers to the massive terabyte harddrive which can be upgraded to 2 terabytes. The 21.5 inch model can sport 3.06 ghz or 3.38ghz using the intel core 2 duo processor, while the 27 inch comes with 2.66 ghz using an intel core i5 processor which can be maxed out to 3.2 ghz, or if you're feeling lose with your money you can get quod core with a 2.8 ghz quod core intel i7 chip which can be boosted to 3.46 ghz. It also comes with 4 gigs of ddr3 ram with the capability of running up to 16 gigabytes. There still is no blu ray drive, so you are only left with a dvd burner.

The new magic mouse is a one of a kind, allowing for some of the same touch controls as is on the iphone. Allowing you to scroll and move between pages by simply scrolling across the mouse. Its more indentured towards the bottom though, leaving you with an awkward feel. It runs on blootooth, and comes standard along with a new wireless keyboard with the new Imac's, but you can buy the mouse for retail for $80.

The new design on the white macbook has made it more appealing as well as upgrading some of the features now makes the macbook a worthy buy, with the only real differences between it and the low end macbook pro being a back-lit keyboard, sd card slot, all glass display, and the potential of 8 gigs of ram. The new imacs step up the calibur for all-in-ons, showcasing an amazing display and computer performance, as well as giving apple the edge in finally using quod core technologies, and of course using snow leopard you can feel the full experience of your processor. All in all it was a good even with some great releases.

How to add third party applications on the Zune HD

That's right, third party applications on the Zune HD. Not near the level of the App Store for the Ipod Touch or the Iphone, but its a first step. Remember to visit zhdapps.com and zuneboards.com for all you need to know about the Zune and for new applications and games available!

Here are the links for the downloads:

Visual C# 2008 Express

http://www.microsoft.com/express/vcsh...

XNA Game Studio 3.1

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/de...


XNA Game Studio 3.1 Zune Extensions

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/de...

Iphone that can't be Jailbroken?

Apple is finally taking action against the Dev Team, notable for coming up with the Jailbreaks for the Ipod Touch's and the Iphone. The new Iphone 3GS has begun shipping with iBoot-359.3.2, a new Bootrom which makes it near impossible for current jailbreak methods, has been introduced. This is the first time that Apple has taken action against Jailbreaks other than with software and hardware changes, actually changing things in line of production. For the time being, recently shipped Iphone 3GS users are going to be unable to jailbreak their devices let alone unlock them.

Now, why is Apple taking action against jailbreaking? The same reason that Sony takes action against homebrew for the PSP, it opens up the door to piracy. There are over 75,000 applications on the app store, all of which can be obtained free and illegally with the jailbreaks. Now, not everyone with a jailbroken Iphone or Ipod touch pirates app store applications, but enough do so to get the developers of the apps to harass Apple. Some time ago, there was a website called haklabs which worked endlessly to report websites that offered hacked applications. Websites like ifortnerforum were forced to shut down their application threads.

I myself have a hacked PSP and at one time I had a jailbroken Ipod Touch (its out of service atm). On my PSP, I enjoyed using homebrew applications, NOT pirating games, and on my Ipod Touch I enjoyed taking advantage of applications from Installer. The installer application was here BEFORE there was even an app store, so being able to run third party applications and beta apps before they were released in the app store like tap tap revenge (called tap tap revolution back then) was fun. I don't condone piracy, but come on Apple, stopping jailbreaking is what you need to do to stop the app piracies. Change the coding in the distributions of applications.

And come on, lets be honest, you can't stop software piracy. It's impossible. The dev team will eventually find an exploit in the new Bootrom and jailbreak it.

Zune HD Third Party Apps?

Yes, installing third party apps on the Zune HD is available. Using the XNA studio application by microsoft, along with C Studio 2008 and Zune HD extensions, you are able to connect XNA studio and install applications made on XNA to the Zune HD. The result? Very Similar to the "Installer" application on hacked Iphone and Ipod Touch's back in 2007. This means that the Zune HD is going to be seeing that 75,000 app store mark pretty soon, especially since some games on the iphone are now being ported to the Zune HD. Some of the arguments made against the Zune HD is that it doesn't have an app store, but guess what, now it kinda does?

Visit zhdapps.com for more details on how to install applications and games to the Zune HD, I will be posting videos made by the team who discovered this pretty soon.

Google Documents

I know that right now all the hype is currently on google wave, but for those of us that aren't privileged to be beta testing google wave, if we want out own collaborative tool, we have to turn to Google docs. Now, Google docs is not bad. In fact, in my belief, it can change the way that businesses operate and can make things much simpler. As a college student, I find Google docs to be excellent when it comes to group projects and collaborative work. It's as easy to share documents with others, have others edit it, and all done in real time. I can make a review and type it on Google Docs, and make it accessible to anyone I want and grant them the ability to edit it. While working in group projects, all members of the group can have access to the documents, and any edits they make are saved to the server so everyone can see them.

Offices can have collaborative group discussions and share work files seamlessly with people at their workplace without having to save it and send it. There is no more need to carry around a flash-drive and keep important documents on there that could be potentially stolen or lost. I like to keep things on my documents account so that I can access my documents on any computer on campus without having to bring my macbook to school, something that people like to do but don't consider that it could potentially be dangerous. And did I mention that it's free? There are endless possibilities that you can establish using google's web application. You can create powerpoint presentations, edit excel documents, and edit word documents. Everything is done with your Google account, which you can make for free. I currently use Google docs even though I have Microsoft Office 08 on my macbook and Office 07 on my Windows partition. I prefer to use Google Docs because of how seamless it works and how well I can communicate my documents and share ideas with others.

Here is an example from a video Google posted on Youtube showing how intuitive the collaboration feature of Google Docs is.

Google Wave Overview

Courtesy of Bwana from Bwana.tv Subscribe to his videos. He does amazing reviews and talks mostly tech.

First post I make on the actual site

Very rare that I actually make a post on the computer, usually my posts are on the go from my Peek Pronto, and then when I get home I edit it and post it. Anyway I'm updating you because I am not going to be posting anything this weekend. I am feeling very under the weather and am actually going to the doctors in the morning. I have some symptoms of swine flu so I'm hoping I will be okay. So that's all I'm going to say, I'll be back Monday with a new review, maybe, or just to say I'm back. So till then, I'll E ya later! (major steal from chriss pirrillo)

Hehehe A Nice rant =]

I'm going to say this now, before you start getting into this, that it's not going to be a typical post that i'm putting on this blog. Usually I talk just tech here, whether it be software reviews or hardware reviews or what, anything that has to do with technology. Well, you can say something with tech will be involved here. See, earlier today I went to my mom's job and spoke to one of the girls interning there who is coming from RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology). And, well the conversation did not go so well. It went from, "oh cool you have a macbook" to "you stupid ho stfu you know nothing about technology how the fuck did you get into a school about it?" Yeah not my best.

So, Kathy mentions that in her school, anyone that doesn't have a macbook is considered a loser, because macs run so much better than PC's and pc's are for losers. Oh Kathy...Kathy...Kathy...Kathy...one thing you should never do, is say something so ignorant, so stupid, so FUCKING DUMB in front of a techie. A real techie knows the truth behind the mac/pc wars. Sure, a Macintosh machine is beautiful. It works well because all of the parts are manufactured by Apple. The OS is brilliant, having so many new and innovative features that you just won't find in a windows machine. And now, they are even more affordable than some of the pc's in their own category. BUT! There is NO WAY...I repeat...NO FUCKING WAY that you can compare the power from a fully suped windows machine to a Macintosh. You will not get the same power, and I can one hundred percent guarantee that. So Kathy, I'm sorry if I made you feel bad, but come on, how can a technical school be so keen on aesthetics and not on actual performance? Performance is key when it comes to working in computers, and while OS X is prettier than windows and runs smoother in some aspects, you have to see that most computing is done on windows and linux (in terms of coding and running servers).

PSP fail?

Okay, I've been on top of the psp hacking scene since 3.51 m33. Not too long, but long enough to know what needs to be known. In such, I've gained some good reputation amongst my peers as being the first to introduce homebrew on the psp in my school, along with at my job. Thing is, even though they now start using homebrew on their psp, none of them are on top of the news, or even bother to see the new upgrades. Its pretty sad really. And, of course still, when problems arise they rely on me to help solve their problems. Thus we have this new one. Apparently the psp would not read the UMD disks. Now, I ask myself, why would you need a UMD when you have a hacked PSP and play games off of the memory card? No answer. Anyway while trying to solve this I began playing around with the UMD case, poking inside of it and moving some of the things inside of it around. Sure enough, the UMD disks started to get read. Whoopdeedoo! I was finished with what I needed to do, or so I thought. The UMD drive was not the only problem. As of right now I am taking the psp apart to try and find out why the start/select buttons are not working. Neither are the triangle,x,circle,square buttons (at least in game, on the xmb they work fine). So now I have to fix this issue. On the last psp that I fixed, the wifi switch was lose and would not switch on. These problems now-a-days are more geared towards hardware issues. I am NOT a hardware modder. I am a software modder, based on homebrew. NOT HARDWARE. Why don't these people get it straight?

Techno Buffalo

Tonight technobuffalo was live for open beta testing for about 45 minutes. If you don't already know, techno buffalo is supposed to be THE social networking site for tech enthusiasts. In my opinion, from the testing that i've done, I pretty much agree with what their mission statement says they are. Its an amazing social networking site that you can join if you want to find other tech enthusiasts. Its great for socializing, asking questions, and you can even make your own blog there. You can even make money from your blog using your own advertisements. Overall buffalonet offers a rich experience that you will get only for tech enthusiasts.

No blog tonight

Sorry but I have a math test tomorrow and I spent my whole day studying for my History exam. I'll try to make a posting tomorrow though so stay tuned!

Short Camino 1.6.10 web browser review (sorry busy studying)

Sorry for this terribly short review, I am trying to keep it to the point because I have much studying to do for my history class for tomorrow. I didn't want to wait to write this up tomorrow because I am trying to put a new post up at least everyday. Enjoy this and from now on you will know why my blog's title is labeled "From My Peek", because this is all typed on my Peek Pronto and emailed to blogger!! Thanks again and enjoy.

http://download.cnet.com/Camino/3000-2356_4-38260.html?tag=contentBody;photoPromoMain

On September 29th, Camino 1.6.10 was released. The Camino web browser is a Mozilla product running on a similar engine as Mozilla's firefox browser, using some of the open source encoding from Apples safari. The result from such a merger gives as much power and speed as firefox with the stability and security as well as a similar interface to safari. Unfortunately the browser uses older versions of both browsers limiting it in its capabilities of rendering advanced java engine applications and fancy html encoding. On a test run, just running on a webpage such as Facebook, the lagg of the browser showed. It was unable to load the chat application within facebook, periodically opening and closing and even opening in a separate window because it could not be contained on the same webpage. Farmville, however, ran pretty smoothly with minor control lag. On other websites such as twitter, I was hindered from accessing full portions of the site; often being told that I needed to upgrade to a newer version of firefox (what?).

Adobe flash was was a plus, streaming youtube and hulu videos much faster than on safari (still slower than chrome/firefox though). The interface of Camino is still pretty good. Interchangeable and customizable toolbar set it apart from other browsers, and its ease of use of navigation is pretty cool. It was definitely much more stable than safari 4.0 on my macbook pro. It was also less intensive on my processor than using firefox, being able to load videos on youtube while exporting a video in imovie 09 (something which usually forces my computer to lock up). Do I recommend camino as a stand alone browser? I prefer personally using google chrome simply because its engine is faster and smoother than anything on the market at the moment. Then again, I am biased and a google fan boy (insert pun here).

Sent on the go from my Peek

Camino Web Browser Review (coming soon)

I know I should wait until I have been using it for a few days before I reveal anything, but I am really disliking the camino web browser. The idea of a browser like this is pretty good, but its not built for java intensive web applications. Facebook is extremely buggy, not to mention trying to play games on facebook such as farmville, all the while chat does not work at all. In an age where social networking relies heavily on html encoding, and uses a java engine, camino can not take this demographic away from better less intensive browsers such as chrome and opera.

-More to come on camino soon.

Peek Pronto Review

In an age where Iphones and Blackberry’s dominate the world of telecommunications, what is there left for those who want simple emailing without a costly plan? In comes the Peek. It was developed to an alternative to those complex Smartphones that have costly fees for services that people don’t want or need. For just $19.99 per month, you have unlimited access to PUSH email and text messaging. Simple, right? The Peek was made for people who live on budget and want the ability to check their email and messages without a hassle. Design-wise the Peek is the thinnest messaging device in the market. The screen is a 2.5 inch wide WVGA display and features a full qwerty keyboard that actually feels nice to type on. It has a single power button on the top right of the device, and a scroll wheel similar to early blackberries. The scroll wheel is the method used for navigating the Peek’s menu, and also through your email. Right under the scroll wheel, is the back button, which will take you back one menu, or if you keep pressing it back to your inbox, which is your start up menu. When you receive a new email, a blue envelope flashes on the top left of the screen, and it can vibrate and have a special ring to it (customizable).

Sending and receiving mail on the Peek is easy as well; the Peek Pronto runs on a PUSH network, so all of your emails are instantly sent to you as soon as it is sent. The Peek Pronto also supports 5 email accounts’ POP, IMAP, and now Exchange, so you can get email from work and school servers. It also allows for downloading of your contacts from your email, which currently works with aol, yahoo, hotmail, and gmail. I found this especially usefull considering the only email account that has all of my contacts is my gmail account. The Peek has an excellent battery life, allowing you to be able to use your Peek for days at a time before you need a recharge. Recently with the new software upgrade, the Peek now supports full text messaging. Simply typing the 10 digit number on the address line allows you to send messages to a cellular phone. It runs on a faster server than PUSH and uses the 3jam services, so the recipent gets a number that they can associate with your Peek and in turn reply to your message. Currently with the newest software upgrade, the Peek supports a new feature called "Peek Social" which allows you to update your facebook and LInkedIn accounts from the device. There are also a wide array of 3rd party services that you can use along with your Peek Device; for example using twittermail to update your twitter account, and ping.fm to update all of your different accounts at one time.

In the future, further support for twitter/IM/and social networking in general will be added to the Peek. The Peek Classic is currently on sale at Target for $9.99 and will cost $19.99 a month for the service, or you can pick up the Peek Pronto at radio shack for $39.99 and the monthly service of $19.99. Recently the Peek company has released a Peek Pronto with a lifetime of service for $299.99 at amazon.com.

Peek's CEO Amol Sarva on NBC (my personal review in the works)

Ipod Classic Versus Zune 120

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For some time now, Apple has dominated the market place with its intuitive IPOD. It is compatible with many formats, plays tons of videos, and has UBER storage. Who wouldn’t get one?

When the Zune first released, it was plagued with buggy firmware and faulty hardware. Many people (myself included) found that after dropping the device once, it would be easily damaged. It was also bulky and heavy, much larger when compared to the then IPOD Video. Another annoyance people found was the lack of removable hard drive space, meaning you were unable to use it as a portable drive for your files and backups. Zune had rough beginnings indeed, controlling only a small share of the mp3 market by the end of its first year.

Now let us fast forward. Zune software has again updated. A newer Zune, the Zune 120 released with 120 gigs of storage. The touch pad is more responsive, the number of crashes has gone down, and its slimmer than the older Zune. The Zune software has a more refined navigation, much better than the IPOD classic, and its sound output has better quality. Not to toot the horn of the Zune, but the screen is huge, doubling the viewing size of pod casts and videos than on the IPOD. The Zune subscription pass, a unique music subscription service offered only by Microsoft, allows a monthly paid subscription to millions of songs archived on the Zune Marketplace. Its wireless capabilities have also increased, allowing you to view the Zune Marketplace, and tag songs heard through the Zunes built in radio for later purchase.

The IPOD classic was also modified in the past year. The addition of the genius play list allows users to create a smart play list of songs grouped together in similar categories. This is a new feature, introduced first in the IPOD touch with firmware 2.1, and allows users to find new similar sounding music. Similar to the way Pandora Radio works; users found it much easier to locate new music. It still features the cover flow option and has a vibrant colored screen. It sports a portable hard drive capability, which makes it a plus in the market, but other than the genius play-list feature it has no real new functions.
So who wins? Do the new features of the Zune make it a better product than the IPOD Classic? Or does IPOD still hold a viable market share because of its name? What do you as a consumer believe? The IPOD Classic 2g, or the Zune 120?

Zune HD Review

Well, I've had the Zune HD for almost a week now. I guess now is the time to explain the history over my purchase of the device, and the interesting things that happened concerning it. I placed my order on zune originals at zune.net the day it was released after upgrading my zune software. I originally had the 30 gigabyte Zune in White, and its been a good companion over the years. Of course I had changed from the Zune to the IPOD for a while, but it was the Zune Software, not the device itself, that kept me wanting to return to the Zune. Well, to shorten this story, after I placed my order, I noticed something was off. Microsoft had not charged me after I placed my order. From previous online purchases, I had learned that often it was the case that immediately after an order was placed, I was charged for it. This time, that was not the case. After talking this over with my friends and co-workers, I had figured the best thing to do was to leave it alone. After a few days, I was beginning to have second thoughts about purchasing the Zune, and when still Microsoft had not charged me, I figured the order may not have gone through and that's why I haven't heard anything. I was pretty content and had not given it a second thought until exactly one week after my order was placed.

I received an email from zune originals stating that they apologized for my order being late (they assumed I ordered express when I only ordered Standard), and wanted to compensate me with $15 in Microsoft points. Well, who am I to turn down free points now? Notice they still did not charge me for the order. So now I began thinking. "Am I getting this free?" They still haven't charged me, and I'm even getting free points for an order they messed up. Things were looking pretty neat. Eventually a few days later the Zune HD arrived. Still Microsoft did not charge me, and as of this point that I am writing this, my money is still in the bank in my account. So now lets get on to the review.

On first look, it is considerably smaller than the older Zune as well as the IPOD touch. It is also considerably lighter. Design wise, it is similar to the design of the IPOD touch. On the top of the device is the power/lock button. It has a button on the bottom center of the device that is used as a "home" button similar to the IPOD touch, and has a dedicated "media control" button on the left of the device which brings up the media controls on the screen. The particular device that I ordered had a custom artwork done by...i forgot his name....and it looks awesome. The screen is an OLED screen, which is the first device of its kind to have a screen like that. Now, the screen is smaller than the IPOD touch being only 3.3 inches and the resolution is slightly smaller being at 480x272, but that beautiful OLED screen just shines colors 100x better than on the IPOD touch. The accelerometer is also a place where the Zune surpasses the touch. It is EXTREMELY faster than the touch. The processor on the Zune, an Nvidia Integra Processor, surpasses the touch in too many ways, giving you much more performance and power.

Software wise it runs Zune software 4.1, which you need to connect to the Zune software upon initial boot-up in order to run. It features a unique interface, which was a plus for me being stuck in the IPOD touch's springboard for such a long time (even though it WAS hacked and I had winterboard, it was still boring). On the right you have the generic menu that you would find on the Zune running 3.0 firmware, with the added internet and apps options. On the left you have a new set of menu options. You have a history set, which shows any recent things that you have done on the Zune, from looking at pictures to being on a website and also to playing music on the radio. You can also ping items to a "pins" set, which can include songs, albums, play-lists, websites, pictures, and radio stations. It is an absolutely amazing feature, which cuts down time when wanting to listen to just your favorite tracks or show someone a certain photo album. It also has a "new items" set, which puts all new albums, pictures, videos, and podcast that you have recently added to the device. This is wonderful for music junkies or when you upload content on a regular bases and often forget what you have added.

Now something that everyone wants to know when comparing it to the IPOD touch. What about the web browser? Now, before I get into this, I need to applaud Apple for the safari browser that they have implemented on the touch and iphone. It is YEARS beyond the current competition. Their mobile browser is the best mobile browser that you will find on ANY device, being the closest to offering the same experience you would get on a desktop computer. Now, lets compare the Zune browser to the IPOD touch browser. Its decent, offering a similar experience. Something that I do not like about it however, is that it automatically loads up the mobile version of websites. You can however, just click the button on the mobile site that allows you to view the desktop version of sites, and it is extremely close to a desktop site. It is the closest that you will find to any device that can compare to the browser on the touch. It offers several of the same functionality with the multi-touch screen, allowing you to pinch in and out to zoom in, and the accelerometer moves the screen based on the position that you have it.



I recommend the Zune HD highly to anyone who is in the market for a new media device. Although I must say, the app store on the touch still looks enticing, I love the Zune software and it is because of that and its new features that I bought it, well sorta bought it :).

Zune HD Unboxing

Hello World

Weird how I keep switching from blogs. I used to write on xanga, but people I knew in real life started finding me on that and of course the community has been steadily dying for the past couple of years. Wordpress was pretty interesting, but i just couldn't catch onto it. I've been an avid fan of google, and since, well blogger is google owned I figured why not give it a shot. I'm going to be using this blog for anything tech related. All of my rants (I have lots of them) and my thoughts of future products as well as reviews are going to be posted here. I hope that I can entertain as well as inform, and hope that as I continue to write here I can improve myself. I want to be a tech blogger for bigger sites like cnet and engadget, and hope to get some fame from here. Well, here goes to a good future in this blog, so i'll see you later.