ForcaTech Blog

The NXE was the biggest change/improvement to the Xbox . Lots of improvements seem to be coming to us in this next update as well including ‘Games on Demand’ allowing you to download games right to your Xbox and Netflix Movie Parties where LIVE Gold members can watch the same movie with up to 7 other friends in a virtual theater.

What does this Xbox LIVE Update include?

Netflix Updates

Now you can watch movies with your friends no matter where they are and manage your queue from the comfort of your couch.

• Movie Parties – Xbox LIVE Gold members can sit together in a virtual theater with up to seven friends no matter where they are while your Avatars watch a movie, flirt or even throw popcorn at each other.
• Manage Your Queue – Browse the Netflix Instant Watch video catalogue, choose from the most popular movies and genres and add to your queue all from the comfort of your couch – no computer required.
• Enhanced Playback Experience – Enjoy a smooth viewing experience when your internet bandwidth fluctuates.
• Friends Info – Richer information is now displayed in the Friends channel and in the Guide showing what you and your friends are doing.

Avatar Marketplace

Express yourself! Deck your Avatar out with the latest clothing and props from the top brands and game franchises. Please note that only limited content is currently available in the preview.

Clothing

Download premium items, including branded apparel from your favorite fashion labels and Xbox 360 games such as “Halo.”

• Props – You can now equip your avatar with animated items they can carry around and interact with.
• Awardables – The ability to earn Avatar clothing and props as rewards within games has been added. Please stay tuned for an update on supporting titles.

Games on Demand — Please note that Games on Demand will be available in the preview beginning early August.

Enjoy 24 x 7 access to a growing online library of popular full game titles on Xbox LIVE whenever you want them, in the comfort of your living room.

• Purchase Options – Browse and download a great selection of full Xbox 360 games using Microsoft Points, direct debit, or credit card.
• Game Manuals – Game manuals for Games on Demand titles can be viewed, downloaded or printed on Xbox.com.
• It’s Yours Forever! – As with other Xbox LIVE content, Games on Demand titles are linked to your Xbox LIVE account, so you can delete and re-download anything you have already purchased to the same console or another console.

User Ratings

User ratings help you find games that other people think are awesome!

• Rate it – You can now rate every game on the Xbox LIVE Games Marketplace using a 5-star system.
• Sort and Find it – Now you can easily find the games that everyone’s been raving about by visiting the Top Rated games in the Browse All category of Xbox LIVE Games Marketplace.

Xbox LIVE Parties

Everyone loves to Party! Check out the new and improved Xbox LIVE Party features.

• Party Reconnections – If you are accidently disconnected from your party, Xbox LIVE will automatically reconnect you.
• Streamlined Party Invites – Invites are now just one click away! No need to click through multiple screens to get all your friends together.

Video Display Options

We’ve made it easier for you to see your entertainment in the highest resolution possible on your TV using an HDMI connection.

• Display Discovery – Make sure you can see and hear your entertainment in the highest resolution and sound quality possible with the option to override and select audio and video formats independent of the information your television sends to your Xbox 360 console.

Other Improvements

We’re always listening to you for feedback, and this Xbox LIVE update will include numerous dashboard updates.

• Gold Member Veterans – Xbox LIVE Gold members get to show it off with a stamp on your Gamer Card that tells people how long you’ve been a Gold member.
• Indie Games – Xbox LIVE Community Games has been renamed Xbox LIVE Indie Games. We feel this new name better represents the independent spirit of these titles.
• Achievement Browser – We’ve revamped the Achievements browser so it’s now easier to read through all the achievements while playing a game. You can now also launch a game directly from the browser.
• Achievements Tracking – A new view inside the profile panel which includes a summary of Achievements earned across all the games played, and shows of all your completed games.
• Streamlined Navigation – Streamlined navigation, including new entry points in the dashboard for Active Downloads, redeeming codes, recovering Gamertags and more.
• Voice Messages – No more blank voice messages! When recording a voice message, a warning will pop up if no audio is detected.
• Friends List Sorting – It’s now easier to find your friends! Find and sort your friends by activity, Gamertag or online status by pressing the Y button while viewing the friends list in the Guide.
• Memory – Time stamps now appear in the memory area, which particular handy when managing saved games.

Account Management

We’ve made some changes to make your life easier.

• Subscription Notification – If your Xbox LIVE subscription is about to run out, you will now be notified when you sign into Xbox LIVE.
• Updates for Invalid Windows Live IDs – If the Windows Live ID you provided has expired, you will now be prompted to update it the next time you sign into Xbox LIVE.
• Account recovery – We’ve enhanced the account recovery process to make it faster and more reliable.

What does this Xbox LIVE Update not include?

The following features will be coming in future Xbox LIVE updates, which we’ll be sure to let you know about.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Zune video and 1080p Instant On
• Last.fm

With September swiftly approaching Verizon has lowered the price of the Storm to $99–we think–in preparation for the rumored Storm 2 September release.

I still don’t think it is worth the $99 for the Storm. Remember all of those bad things that I didn’t post about? Yep. Those still stand. I am not impressed with the “SurePress”. The interface is clunky. I was severely disappointed with the Storm at its initial release. With all of the hype that was around it leading up to the release I was really hoping for a winner.

Hopefully we have better luck with the Storm 2.

Back in 2005 GrandCentral was started as a solution for people who have several numbers by giving you one main phone number. When someone called your GrandCentral number all of the other phones that you had would ring.

Now, Google has bought them out and added lots of new features. Here are some of the great features of having Google Voice.

When you sign up(get an invite) for Google Voice you get to choose one free number to use as your main number.

You can sync your google contacts(from your gmail, etc) and change ringing and voicemail rules for each individual contact. For example if you were tired of Ted calling you every morning at 6am to go to the gym then you can set it up so that when he calls you it goes straight to your voicemail instead of ringing your phone first. Or you can record him a special message pretending to be Pizza Hut or telling him to never call you again or else he will come back from the gym and find a pile of ash where his house used to be. I don’t think I will ever have the time to go in and record custom voicemail messages for every–or even several–of the contacts in my contact directory but having the ability to do so is cool!

Another feature that is potentially annoying cool is call screening. You can require people who call you to leave their name first so you can decide if you want to listen or not. If you don’t remember who Hammond is then you can wait for him to begin leaving a voicemail and listen in as he leaves the message and cut in and begin talking to him if you would like.

If not wait for him to leave the voicemail which you can later access and listen to online.

A big feature that Google has introduced is the voicemail to text. You can receive your voicemails in text format now via email or text message so you don’t even have to listen to the message to see what your arch nemesis friend said.

You can also set your text messages up to be recorded and sent online. That way in case you accidentally deleted an important text you can go online and find it. Or if you accidentally drop your phone in the toilet sink again you will still be able to send out that important text message.

When someone calls any of your phone numbers you have complete control over which phones they ring, how they ring, if it goes straight to voicemail, if it goes to voicemail but they hear it ringing on their phone as well as which voicemail it goes to.

If you have one main phone number that you give to everyone you can have it ring your cell if it is your friend, ring someone elses cell if it isn’t, ring your home phone only between 4pm and 7pm, etc.

The best part is this is all free. The only thing you will have to pay for is additional phone numbers and international calls(a few cents per minute to most places).

One problem is your outgoing caller ID is still going to show your cell phone number. Google is putting together a work around but for the time being if you have a Android phone or Blackberry(iPhone app is in the works) you are in luck. You can download a Google Voice app that allows you to dial through your Google Voice number.

I have also heard of a rumor that IF YOU ARE USING THE PHONE APPLICATION(currently only available on Blackberry and Android phones) you can get unlimited free phone calls with those phone carriers that allow you to choose your “inner circle” of friends or family that are always free. T-mobile and Verizon are two companies like this. Add Google’s phone number to your “in” group and then always use your Google Voice number to receive and make phone calls.

Now there are several reasons why I see this not working. One, even if Google Voice is just a simple forward more than likely Google Voice won’t just use one phone number to use to access your phone. Two, T-mobile and Verizon have blacklists of phone numbers that can’t be in your inner circle for this very reason. If they haven’t already I am sure it is only a matter of time before they will add Googles block of numbers to that blacklist. Finally, even when you are talking to the people in your “in” group your minutes still add up. If you are on a 700 minute plan and make 700 minutes worth of  “in” phone calls you are now out of free minutes to use to call other people. If you make 700 minutes of calls to non-free numbers then start calling your in group you will be fine.

On the other hand if some how the Google service is on the trunk level then it may not even be viewed as a call by your provider and you have yourself a big win of free minutes.

Once again I have to say it. This is just one step closer to Google’s total world domination.

First let me say I am not encouraging ANYONE to go swimming with their iPhone or strapping it to any fast moving air borne device. That being said enjoy:

I am guessing these guys are just recording the video to the phone but I am sure–if there aren’t already–we will start to see video streaming apps for the 3GS. All you would need then is a 2nd 3G device or another iPhone 3GS that you can use to control your plane from home and your command center–or Emperor workstation–would be complete. From your internet connection in your moms basement you could control and see what the plane saw and fly around the world–granted we are able to solve our energy concerns and we could create a Iron Man-like power source. I am going to keep my fingers crossed.

Back in February we heard that Microsoft would eventually be releasing retail stores but weren’t given any details.

Now its out that this fall we should be expecting Microsoft Retail stores near Apple stores. This initially doesn’t jump out at me as being a great idea for Microsoft. In the past Microsoft has done things suspiciously similar to Apple in an attempt to out do them–failing miserably in my opinion.

A few examples to prove my point:

On a side note however, if this fall when we see the Microsoft stores begin to pop up then I would love to see some Natal demos! That would be sure to bring plenty of people into the Microsoft stores–not that they aren’t going to walk next door to the conveniently placed Apple store right after though.

Friendly reminder we just got from Microsoft. If you are interested in getting your free–legal–version of the Windows 7 RC Build 7100 in 32-bit or 64-bit head on over to Microsofts download page to snatch it up while you still can.

Notice: Downloads will end August 20

Thanks for all your help building Windows 7. We are on our way to the last big milestone: Release to Manufacturing. Starting on October 22, you’ll see it on PCs and store shelves. As we gear up for that, it’s time to wind down the Release Candidate testing program.

If you or a friend needs a download, you’ve got time. We’ll continue to offer the RC download until August 20, 2009. After that, you won’t be able to get the download, but if you have the bits, you can still install the RC and get a key if you need one. (To get a key, just go to the Downloads page and follow the instructions.)

More information has come out about the motion sensing response to Nintendo’s Wii from Microsoft. Gates himself has let is slip that Microsoft is serious about Natal and that they may be planning to use it in more than just video games:

‘[The concept also works] for media consumption as a whole, and even if they connect it up to Windows PCs for interacting in terms of meetings, and collaboration, and communication…I think the value is as great for if you’re in the home, as you want to manage your movies, music, home system type stuff, it’s very cool there.’

Since the device is able to detect movement, distance and audio of multiple people it opens the door for all kinds of fun functionality at home and at the office. Not to mention the limitless power that Microsoft will have once they have a camera hidden in every home. You think you can use Windows illegally?!? Not now that we can see you! Now facial recognition will be required to activate Windows instead of your serial key.

On a lighter note, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO has confirmed that we will be seeing natal next year and in the same speech said:

‘The new device will be equipped with technology that is “really, really, close” to an actuality. The console, which was described as having a “natural interface,” will have a built in camera with the ability to recognize movement and voice.’

So will we be getting a new console as well next year? We think not. After this statement Microsoft responded by saying:

‘As the Xbox team stated at E3 two weeks ago, we are not even halfway through the current console generation lifecycle and believe Xbox 360 will be the entertainment center in the home for long into the next decade. Project Natal will be an important part of this platform, but we have not confirmed a launch date at this time.’

We got to see the scripted videos from the Xbox website as well as the live footage but this was cool to see people who didn’t know the system have the ability to jump in there and play it. Given it is a little buggy now but they have until next year to work out all the kinks.

Rumors have been bouncing all around for several months about Amazon potentially acquiring Netflix. While I am sure there are some good things that would come from this I think that good would also come from them remaining separate. Competition is good.

We will update when we hear word one way or another.

Gmail now has quick and easy to use tasks integrated into the Gmail interface much like your chat client. Usable? Yes. Functional? Mostly yes.

This obviously being inspired by another large company who has been accused of taking over the world market seems like it would have come sooner. Still, better late than never and it comes with features we would want like in email ‘add to tasks’ options, print options, etc. Give them a try if you are a gmail user and let us know what you think.

Yes. If you thought your Emperor Workstation was complete you may have forgotten one tiny 15 ton addition. These guys have created the most awesome–or at least largest–WiiMote mod I have ever seen. Control of two 15 ton crane arms is yours with nothing more than your Wii remotes. Just make sure you have the right remote when you go to play tennis.

As of yesterday Windows 7 has now been Released To Manufactures. Everything is on schedule for the October release however there is still alot that has to happen before then. Manufacturers still need to test OEM copies on their hardware to make sure it will work with their configurations, language packs still need to be created an all kinds of other operating system involved activities.

For those who have missed it Windows 7 is going to have the free upgrade for new PC buyers from now until release just like they did with Vista. It isn’t going to apply to every new system but most manufacturers are jumping on the band wagon. When you purchase a new system at your local retailer that comes with Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate come October you will get a free upgrade to Windows 7 for your respective version.

The official Windows 7 prices are as follows:

Windows 7 Home Premium: $120 for upgrade; $200 for full version
Windows 7 Professional: $200 for upgrade; $300 for full version
Windows 7 Ultimate: $220 for upgrade; $320 for full version

Microsoft WAS offering a discounted upgrade for pre-orders but you have already missed out on that. You can preorder for full price now or wait to see if some other deal comes along.

Rumors have been bouncing around about a Windows 7 ‘family pack’ bundle with 3 licenses for $137. Again this is just a rumor so we will just have to keep an eye out.

Oh and those who jumped on the Release Candidate are in luck–kind of. You will not have to reinstall Windows 7 when it is released. The bad news? This is just like upgrading from XP  where all of your files get bundled into a folder called Windows.OLD. So this means you have to reinstall all of your programs, set up all of your preferences and migrate all of your files back to their correct locations. Turns out I don’t really feel like this is good news.

[UPDATE]: So in a wave of anticipatory man-drool the rumors have been flying all over the place about whether or not build 7600 is going to be RTM. Per the official Microsoft blog the RTM is not complete yet but who knows! They could just be upset that it has leaked to the usual places already and that the less than legal market has stolen their thunder. As soon as we get some legit information we will let you know.

Samsung has announced its 22″ LD220 DisplayLink LCD. Using display link software you no longer need an available VGA or DVI port. In order to add a 2nd, 3rd or 7th much needed LCD monitor all you need is an available USB 2.0 port.  You won’t even need  to have 6 available USB ports to add your 6 additional monitors. Each monitor has a USB hub with at least 2 USB ports and you can daisy chain your monitors off of them.

This is a great solution forApple users who want to get around all of the annoying video adapters or laptop and netbook users who are limited to one display port.

The Emperor Workstation is quite possibly the best $40,000 computer work station on the market. Complete with 3 LCD monitors, 5.1 surround audio, air filtration system, ambient lighting, reclining, 360 degree pivoting, pod tilting and more all controllable from a touchscreen panel on the left side of the chair.

The workstation comes with a computer under the seat or the place for a laptop dock behind the seat. The Emperor comes default with 3 – 19″ LCDs but when you are spending this amount of money it won’t be a problem to upgrade. For more info on these chairs that are available now check out the NovelQuest website.

I don’t think there can be any debate that this–simply put–is the most advanced water dispenser you will ever never own.

The Whirlpool Chaac Water Dispenser–designed by Alfredo Ruiz and Rolando Hdz–has every feature you could ever hope for in a water dispenser. The hot and cold water dispenser filters your tap water and instantly dispenses hot or cold water into your glass. The dispenser is able to detect the size of your glass and automatically fill it with the right amount of water so you won’t even have to bother with watching it fill your glass.

The display shows you just how hot or cold the water is as well as lets you adjust that. Just in case you forget which you selected in the few seconds it takes to fill up your glass the water stream is illuminated blue or red to let you know whether you are getting hot or cold water into your glass.

This is all great but I doubt this will ever hit the market and even if it does the cost to features ratio may be too much for most people to justify. Personally, I would expect a dispenser this advanced to give me a selection of multiple hot and cold drinks including my favorite carbonated beverages. Maybe we will see that in the Chaac 2.

Real life post on a local online community classified. Here is the text from the post:

“1987 GOLD honda accord on 13s..Talk about getn STATUS… It does RUN. Has New tires, New gold 2 hours custom spray paint job of 6 cans @6.23 a can, and stunts on 13” chrome hubcaps. Has radiator leak. Drives okay… but you have to keep putting coolant in it… but thats with most off road cars anyways. It has dings and dents on the body.

“The car does have jumping capabilities and can ride a wheelie on front and back wheels with a skilled driver of course…Do not attempt if you suck @ driving. Reason for selling: it’s too dang ballin for us. We want to tone it down a bit and maybe get a Rally Van. I only put PREMIUM 91 gas in it and change the oil every 20 jumps and not a jump more. Pick up this ballin whip for cash money only.. for a steal @ $500 O.B.O! or trade for something else that runs of equal or better value. “

This guys obviously aren’t really interested in selling this vehicle or are trying to cater to a specific audience. One way or another I think we can all learn something about salesmanship from this.

In 1961 GM invented the first robot. Their robot wasn’t what we picture now when we hear the word. It was designed to take hot, forged metal parts for vehicles and dip them in water to cool.

Our view of robots has changed considerably since then. Now robotics are a crucial part of manufacturing and our daily lives. We go to the grocery store and while putting our keys away and pulling out our grocery list the doors are opened automatically for us. We go to the bank and in stead of standing in line can put our magical piece of plastic into the machine and it will dispense the money we ask it to–hopefully. Our trash cans get rolled out to the corner so in the morning the robotic arms of the garbage truck will dump our trash out and put our can back.

Now–using machine learning–robots can change and ‘grow’ almost as a human would. In the past in order to get the unbelievably realistic Einstein to make facial expressions programmers would have to program each of Einstein’s 31 individual facial muscles. Computer scientists from the Machine Perception Laboratory at the University of California have now–using machine learning–made it possible for the robot to learn facial expressions on its own.

As the robot began to learn new facial expressions and what the different muscles did it began fine tuning facial expressions to create new ones. Researchers explain that it is a slow process for the robot to learn new expressions much like a human does–scary.

One day I am sure, they will become completely self aware and we will all be doomed. Until then enjoy these robot videos!

Like I mentioned in an earlier post about the features of Firefox 3.5 some browsers–Chrome 2.0+ and Firefox 3.5+ to be exact–now have location based services available using the W3C Geolocation API.  If you are using one of these browsers and go to Google Maps you will notice a new little box with a circle inside.

This–theoretically–allows Google Maps to locate your position. Location based services like this have been more or less a fad in the past and none have really caught on save location based cell phone applications.  Only time will tell for this one.

My experience with location based Google Maps has been less than ok. When I clicked the button, told Firefox  to allow Google Maps to access my location–and remember my settings–I was told I was about 60 miles off of where I really was.

Come on location based services! You can do better than that. Its not like I am in the sticks on a poor connection either. I am in a decent sized city on a fiber internet connection and that was the best they could do.

I’m not complaining really. The less “they” can find out about us the longer we can postpone the apocalypse–which is fine by me…

After a big upgrade to our 386 my Uncle–plainly–explained to my Dad that, “…you will never need more than 80MB”.  I remember several years later upgrading to 500MB on our 90MHz Pentium PC and thinking, “I will never run out of room for my games”. Of course 6 months later I was hurting for space again while I tried to install SimCity 2000 and didn’t have the 20MB of space required for the install.

It has continued like this even after upgrading to hundreds of Gigabytes. Pulling 30 minutes of HD home videos from your camera takes up almost 5GB. Installing the latest game can take well over 10GB. Every PC sold from your local electronics store comes with several hundred Gigabtyes. While it is true that alot of that space goes to waste soon even the standard home users will be in need of Terabytes not just Gigabytes.  The picture below from Mozy gives us a look into what we will need in the near future.

1.2GHz processor, 512Mb DDR2 RAM, Gigabit Ethernet and USB 2.0 now fit in a box smaller than the power adapter for some electronics! Plenty to run a small server for a website, email or media sharing.

In the picture above you see the wall plug, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, miniUSB port and SDIO slot.

Connect hard drives, webcams, etc to your USB 2.0 port and let the sharing begin! There are many different flavors of this device from several different companies. You can buy it pre-configured from most or buy a developer kit that you can toy with yourself.

The only thing that this micro computer is lacking is video out but maybe a DisplayLink device would work?

We had high hopes when we first saw the G1 Optimus Prime Head with Built-In USB-Powered Speakers from the Big Bad Toy Store.  Its a shame that all of our hopes and dreams were crushed when we learned that this decapitated transformer doesn’t transform.

It does however play sound from computer or other 3.5mm jacked device. The closest thing that this autobot does are the fold out speakers. The helmet folds open like ears–unlike any transformer we have seen–in order to expose the speakers.

Still for those die hard Transformers fans this is a great desk decoration that is quazi-functional too!