Xbox One, Major Updates for the New Console

Straight from the Xbox Wire- Last week at E3, the excitement, creativity and future of our industry was on display for a global audience. For us, the future comes in the form of Xbox One, a system designed to be the best place to play games this year and for many years to come. As is our heritage with Xbox, we designed a system that could take full advantage of advances in technology in order to deliver a breakthrough in game play and entertainment. We imagined a new set of benefits such as easier roaming, family sharing, and new ways to try and buy games. We believe in the benefits of a connected, digital future.

Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback. I would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One.

You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc. The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world.
So, today I am announcing the following changes to Xbox One and how you can play, share, lend, and resell your games exactly as you do today on Xbox 360

An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games 

After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.  

Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today

There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360. In addition to buying a disc from a retailer, you can also download games from Xbox Live on day of release. If you choose to download your games, you will be able to play them offline just like you do today. Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console -- there will be no regional restrictions. These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One. The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray.

Nintendo Launches New Red and Blue DSi

Nintendo's DSi has been overshadowed by the company's 3DS, but that doesn't mean the company will leave the DSi in the dark. Nintendo's DSi was a predecessor to the company's latest handheld, the 3DS. The DSi comes with the same dual-screen design and offers both front- and rear-facing cameras. Unlike the 3DS, however, it doesn't come with glasses-less 3D support.

Earlier this year, Nintendo dropped the price of the DSi to $99 from the earlier $149. The DSi XL, which delivers the same device with larger screens, was brought down to $129.

According to Nintendo, the new red and blue DSi handhelds can be found at retailers "as early as this week." Nintendo already sells several other colors, including black, pink, and a much lighter blue.

source- Cnet

Apple releases iPhone 2.2 update

Apple released a hefty update for the iPhone on Thursday night.
The 2.2 software update is available through iTunes, and it's packed with lots of goodies. Apple released its 2.1 software update in September.

Some of the highlights of the update center on GPS and Google Maps. For example, version 2.2 includes Google Street View in Google Maps, which allows users to see a 360-degree view of locations taken with cameras mounted on Google's cars. It also added walking directions in Google maps with information on public transportation stops.



In addition, the iPhone can now download podcasts over the air using a Wi-Fi or 3G network. Previously, users had to download podcasts into iTunes on their computers and then sync their files. Now iPhone users can also turn off the auto-correction on the virtual keyboard, which I must say is a nice alternative to allowing the iPhone to guess what you're trying to type.

Other improvements include a bug fix for scheduled e-mail fetching, improved stability and performance for the Safari Web browser, improved phone quality to reduce dropped calls (hooray!), and improved sound quality in visual voice mail messages.

But there are still lots of things missing--for example, cutting and pasting. And the iPhone still doesn't support MMS messaging nor does it have GPS turn-by-turn directions.

source- www.cnet.com

Google tunes search for iPhone display

Google has customized its search results for the iPhone's display, getting around some awkward presentation issues.

"Results are formatted to be neatly displayed on the mobile screen, so there's no need to scroll side to side. Local search results now include easier-to-press 'Get Directions' and click-to-call links. Maps are shown by default in the case of a single listing or accessible by the 'Show map"' link for multiple listings," said Google mobile team programmers Steve Kanefsky and Rob Stacey in a blog postTuesday night.

The older look can be retrieved by scrolling to the bottom of the search results page and clicking the "Classic" link, but I much prefer the new look.

The new packaging, however, isn't integrated with the iPhone itself, which has a built-in Google search option accessible via the magnifying glass icon at the top of each Web page. Those results are formatted for a much larger screen, at least on my iPhone. To get the fancy search results, you first must point the browser to www.google.com.

The new Google search page on the iPhone packages content better.

-Stephen Shankland

source- http://news.cnet.com