Netflix for XBOX 360 Gains Kinect Support

     Netfllix, the popular video streaming service, recently announced some updates for the Netflix app on the XBOX 360. Netfilix for XBOX 360 will now support Microsoft's Kinect peripheral device, which allows users to control games and multimedia with their movement.
     Netflix users on XBOX 360 will now be able to play, pause, and choose movies with their body and voice. All users have to do to access this feature is launch the Netflix app and download the update. Users can then access the Netflix movies and control them with their body.
     Traditionally, Kinect requires users to stand up when using it. Hopefully this update will not require users to stand, and hopefully will allow you to control Netflix with your body from the couch.
     Kinect has sold very well in it's first year, and the introduction of Netflix will probably sell a few more units. Although Netflix has not yet started using this new development to help sell their service, they probably will start shortly, and this may become another Netflix selling point.

HTC Sensation Announced

     Early this morning, HTC held an announcement introducing their latest smartphone. Thanks to some early leaks, we knew a lot about the phone before the official announcement, but something official's always nice, because you don't have to rely on some leaked pictures.

The New HTC Sensation

     HTC had the tech press gather in some venue in London to hear the details about their new phone, the HTC Sensation. Peter Chou, HTC's CEO started the presentation.
     At the beginning of the announcement, just before Peter gave any details about the Sensation, he threw in a quick note that the HTC Flyer, their tablet device, will go on sale May 9th throughout Europe. Peter then went on to give the details about the new smartphone.
     The HTC Sensation will be the first phone with contoured glass along the entire edge of the screen, giving it a really slick and attractive look. It will also have an almost 35 percent higher screen resolution, due to the qHD technologies in the SuperLCD screen.
     The Sensation also comes with a new user interface (UI) on top of Android, which allows you to launch apps directly from the lock screen, just by dragging the icon into the unlock circle. Another nice thing with the new UI is the new animations for the weather widget.
     The new phone also includes a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, which allows everything to be pretty much twice as fast as it would be in a single-core smartphone.
     HTC is competing with iTunes, as along with this announcement, they announced a new service called HtC Watch. Watch lets you rent and watch movies from any HTC device, and the HTC Sensation will be the first phone to support it.
     The Senstion will be available through European carriers from June. There is no word on US availability.
      This seems like a great phone for anyone who wants a sleek design along with some great features. The two major setbacks with this announcement are that there is no word on price or US availability.

Kindle; With Ads

     Amazon has been recently trying to be able to lower the cost of their popular Kindle eReader, and today they announced one of their latest attempts.
     The company announced earlier today that the Kindle will now be available for $25 cheaper. This is the same Kindle hardware as the current version, so what's the reason for the price drop? Amazon will be introducing a new advertising UI for the Kindle device.
     In the new $114 Kindle, you will see an ad when the device goes into screensaver mode, as well as under the main menu UI. There will be no ads when you are reading, and Amazon made sure to point our that the ads will be completely unobtrusive.
     To go along with the new Kindle, which Amazon is calling Kindle with Special Offers, Amazon created a new application called AdMash. AdMash allows users to vote on ads that appear on the screensaver, and is designed to bring you more targeted ads, and ultimately making the ads more successful. This ad voting system would follow in the footsteps of Facebook and Hulu.
     Another really cool feature, one that may even make someone favor the ad-based Kindle over the regular one, is the special offers that will be sprinkled in among the traditional ads. For example, one might see an offer for buying a $20 gift card for $10.
     The new Kindle is available for pre-order now, and will be available for purchase on March 3rd.
     This a great step for Amazon in bringing the Kindle's price down. With the price of the Kindle when it was first announced at $399, getting it down to only $114 is a great feat, and will probably be good for everyone: Amazon, the consumers, and the advertisers.

A Google A Day: Huh?

     Early this morning, Google announced a new "product" on their official blog. Google announced that, partnered with the New York Times, they would be launching a trivia game. This trivia game, called A Google a Day, is different compared to traditional trivia games in the sense that, unlike normal trivia, you are encouraged to look up the answer.

The "A Google a Day" Homepage

     The website for the project, agoogleaday.com, shows the regular Google homepage, but the bottom fourth of the screen shows a bar with a trivia question. The area above it, with the Google homepage, is actually showing the internet as it was before the question was released, as to prevent cheating. One is supposed to search through Google and the internet to find the answer.

A Sample Trivia Question

     When I first read that Google was partnering up with the New York Times, I immediately thought that it would have something to do with news. A trivia puzzle just, well, seems strange. Anyway, the answer to the trivia question, along with search tips for how to find it, will be posted on the Google a Day website, as well as in the New York Times, the next day. 

     This is what seems to me as Google's first attempt at a game-like program. With Google working on improving Android, cleaning up their search results, and more, it just seems like a strange move, and was definitely unexpected. 

     

Is it worth to Untether Jailbreak Apple TV 2 iOS 4.3.1?

• It seems that there is still some issues in XBMC after Jailbreaking Apple TV 2 to iOS 4.3.1.
• It has been reported in some forum like Forum XBMC. Problmes such as SMB not working, No Sound, etc.
• I have also asked nitoTV personally and got his reply today.

• Now the question remained - Do you still want to Jailbreak your Apple TV 2 with iOS 4.3.1?

[HOW-TO] - Enable Multitasking Gestures iPhone 4 iOS 4.3.1

• Do you have problem of trying to edit N90AP.plist but cannot find it in iPhone 4?
• Do you have problem of enabling Multitasking gesture for your iPad iOS 4.3.1?
• Do you have problem editing the plist files?
• Try this -- Download MT Gestures from Cydia (if you have a jailbroken iPhone)
• Then follow the procedure in the Settings --> MT Gestures

• Here's a video showing how you can use the Multitasking Gestures on an iPad.
• The experience on iPad is far better than a smaller screen iPhone 4.

Other resources:-

1. Simon Blog
2. Solid Blogger
3. iJustin
4. 
   

[HOW-TO] - Untethered Jailbreak Apple TV 4.3.1 (Build 4.2.1) Using Seas0nPass

I planned to Jailbreak my Apple TV 2 this Saturday or Sunday. Finally, the untethered version is out yesterday and below is the instruction.

Seas0nPass jailbreak tool has for both Windows and Mac has been updated with the latest untethered exploit to untether the jailbreak on second generation Apple TV, running on the latest iOS 4.3.1 (4.2.1)

For those of you who don’t know, Seas0nPass jailbreak tool is like PwnageTool for Mac, or Sn0wbreeze for Windows, which can can create custom jailbroken .IPSW files for your second-gen Apple TV.
Before you proceed with the jailbreak, you will need the following:

• A Micro-USB cable
• iTunes 10.2.1
• iOS 4.2.1 (Based on iOS 4.3) for Apple TV
• Seas0nPass

All download links are posted at the end of this article.
Step 1: Download and launch Seas0nPass.
Step 2: Now select “Create IPSW” option to build your own custom jailbroken 4.3.1 firmware for Apple TV.

Step 3: Now wait for Seas0nPass to download all the files required for creating custom firmware.

Step 4: When prompted by Seas0nPass, connect your Apple TV using a micro-USB cable (leave power disconnected), and hold-down both the ‘MENU’ and ‘PLAY/PAUSE’ buttons for 7 seven seconds.

Step 5: iTunes should now open automatically to start the restore process.

Step 6: iTunes will confirm the restore when complete. Once done, your Apple TV will be fully jailbroken, untethered on iOS 4.3.1.
Once complete, remove the USB cable and connect the HDMI cable.

Required download links are as follows:
Download iOS 4.3.1 (4.2.1) for Apple TV 

Download iTunes 10.2.1 for Mac OS X
Download Seas0nPass for Mac OS X 

Download Seas0nPass for Window

[SOURCE: Redmond Pie]