Tag Archives: Update

Apple Releases Updated Version of iOS 9.3 Update

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Apple LogoIt sounds like it came from an overused Internet meme. But it looks like Apple has put more update in your latest iOS update. Last week, the technology company released iOS 9.3 for its ever-popular line of mobile devices. For most users, it was a seamless transition. But for others, the latest iOS update has some issues.

Some users reported that tapping hyperlinks in any application would crash the app, and possibly the device. Some owners of iDevices like the iPhone 5S and older models were critically hosed by iOS 9.3 when the update actually bricked their iPhones and iPads. And finally, some users were getting a quirky “you are no longer connected to the Internet” message when they tried to apply the 9.3 update.

That’s where the “more update in your update” comes in. Responding to these problems, Apple appears to have put a temporary hold on iOS 9.3 installations. That’s why some users were getting the “not connected to the Internet” message even tho their devices were clearly connected. It was a deceptive way to keep those devices from installing the update that would probably break them. Fortunately, Apple has since updated the update with patches for all of these issues, allowing everyone to once again download and install iOS 9.3 normally.

I’ve got a total of four iOS devices in my home and so far, I haven’t run into any issues. Still, I hope Apple has finally gotten things worked out with iOS 9.3. Otherwise, I guess we’re all gonna need to apply an update to our updated update.

Instagram Gets Revamped Explore & Search Features

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Lainstagram1st week Instagram released a major update to its mobile apps, most notably including a revamped “Explore” page and streamlined search functionality. The Explore tab will bring up trending topics and hashtags in real-time. Users will also find curated photo collections, such as Ancient Ruins, Glimmeinstagram7ring Islands, and Extreme Athletes.

In addition, search will now bring up the most relevant posts for a search term, rather thaninstagram6 displaying all posts with that tag. This will make it easier to find the most relevant, interesting content without having to comb through dozens of irrelevant images.

 

 

Instagram 7.0 is available now for iOS and Android. The update is currently only available for US users, with an international release coming soon.

Xfinity Go App Updated to Include Live Video

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Xfinity Go PlayerXfinity formerly Comcast has updated their Xfinity TV Player app which is now known as Xfinity Go on both iOs and Android. The big thing that has been added to the updated app is the ability to play live videos. The number of channels that are available live is limited. All the cable news channels are available including: Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox Business, and BBC News. The various ESPN channels are available along with Fox Sports 1, NBC Sports, and the Golf Channel. If you have kids then you’ll be interested to know that Disney Junior, the Disney Channel and Disney XD are also available. Other channels that are available include, FX,  FXX, the National Geographic Channel and finally Nat Geo Wild. It did take some time for the stream to come but once it did it ran fairly well. It did pause once and then restart almost immediately. I’m trying this in the early afternoon and it will be interesting to see how well it works at night-time when everybody’s home and using the cable bandwidth.

Most of the channels that are available have their own individual apps however the advantage that this app has is that you can get everything under one app instead of having to go to each individual app. Until more channels available though it will have limited usage when it comes to live videos. Still it is a nice addition to the all ready existing on-demand catalog. If you are a Comcast subscriber I do recommend downloading it and trying it out. It is free and available through both iTunes and the Google Play store.

Windows 8.1 Ready for Windows 8 Upgrade

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Windows 8.1
Windows 8.1

With the biggest enticement of upgrading from Windows 8 to 8.1 being the return of the ill-fated start button, Microsoft has released the upgrade version of software. Navigating to the Windows page will get you to the download link. The only way you will get the download link (at this time) is if you are on a machine with Windows 8 installed. Otherwise it will direct you to a page to upgrade.

Upgrades for Windows 8 are free. If you have Windows 7 or earlier you will have to pay $119.99 for the update. If you want to switch from Home editions to Professional ediction, that will cost $199.99

Of course, 8.1 will also have ability to connect with XBox 360 (and XBox One when released), Skype, file access from anywhere and many more features.

Windows 8.1 also drops us deeper in the rabbit’s hole to a unified OS and forcing us to use the Metro screen more. My biggest gripe on this is programs like Skype, which lost a lot of functionality when the Metro screen upgrade came out.

Windows also took out media center. While I was promised a free upgrade back in Windows 8 (and never got it), the service is now separate from Microsoft and will cost you $99.99 to get it.

Sad.

 

Apple TV Updated with More Content Including HBO Go and Watch ESPN

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Apple TV Today Apple updated the Apple TV and added several new channels to the line up including HBO Go, Crunchyroll, Qello, Watch ESPN and Sky News . With both HBO Go and Watch ESPN you must have an account with an authorized cable or satellite provider. Plus you also have to have a subscription to HBO for HBO Go to work. Also when you set up the services, some ask for your id and password and others like Watch ESPN and HBO Go have you input a code into a web site. It would be nice if you could do everything on the Apple TV.

Clearly this is not for the cord cutters, however hopefully it is a step down that road. I do see this as the next step in the development of the Apple TV. People talk constantly about Apple producing a TV I always thought this was bunk, it made no sense to me. The problem has never been the physical TV, the problem has been the content and how it is presented. Unfortunately, neither Apple or any other tech company has control of the content. Those who do the control the content, like cable and satellite providers along with the content creators and the traditional TV corporations all have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Hopefully overtime Apple and other companies like Roku, Microsoft, Amazon, Netflix and Google will be able to break through this stranglehold and we will be able to easily get the content how, where and when we want it. The current Apple TV or an updated version of it would be a good platform to handle this without Apple getting into the actual business of building TVs

Facebook Revamps its News Feed

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Newsfeed Facebook introduced an update to News Feeds today. The idea behind News Feeds is to have a personal newspaper with all the content you are interested in one place. When it was first introduced according to Facebook, the News Feed was mostly text, with some images. Now News Feeds are primarily visual with images and videos becoming increasingly important. Facebook is trying to redesign News Feeds to meet what people are looking for today.

The first thing they announced was that images are now going to be front and center and more vibrant. This also means that ads will be more prominent, which is something businesses have been looking for. When a video shows up on your timeline, it will show who of your friends have shared the video. Facebook will also allow you to have choices of news feeds, so now you can just see all the music your friends are sharing and also the post from artist that you are interested in one news feed and another feed for all the public pages you are following. The sidebar will have a list of your feeds, the feeds will be listed by how you use them, with the most used at the top. Facebook News Feeds will also be consistent on how it looks and works over various devices. It will also be more responsive to the size of the device.

Facebook is letting a few people see the new News Feed first and then as is usual for them they will slowly release over time to the public. You can request to get in early by signing up on the wait list, however I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting to get in. I have to admit I looking forward to the ability to choose various feeds based on what I want to see at that time. I do wonder how they are going to integrate interest list into the new news feeds, they might have said but I missed it. I do know one thing that once it is released to the public there will be people complaining about the changes and those who will complain because it hasn’t changed enough.

XBox adds Voice, Gestures with TV Update

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Xbox 360
Xbox 360

A new interface for XBox 360 game console users allows you to use your voice to navigate through the games, TV shows, movies and music.

Steve Ballmer showed off this technology back in September, but starting this Tuesday, this becomes reality. It adds not only remote gesture control, but also remote voice commands. Therefore, if you don’t have a Kinect motion controller, you still can control without a remote.

The Associated Press got a special demonstration of the new features. When the Microsoft employee said “XBox Bing ‘Iron Man’,” a search for Iron Man came up. When the employee said “XBox, show movies,” a list of movies from various sources appeared.

With over 57 million XBox units sold, Microsoft is expecting to make a real impact in the cord cutters market. Adding pay channel partners like Verizon FIOS means that XBox will get into the Over the top TV market with a vengeance. You will have to use over-the-air or alternate cable methods to get network TV like NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox.

The real question is how this will affect your household. Will you cut your cord over this update? Will you start to use the XBox as more than a gaming system?