Microsoft Stores opening next to Apple Stores

Microsoft is going to be releasing there own chain of stores very similar to the Apple Stores. They even hired someone who helped design Apple Stores. There saying that they are going to have the same general look and features of a Apple Store, even reporting to be located next to Apple Stores.

“We’re going to have some retail stores opened up right next door to Apple stores this fall,” COO Kevin Turner stated during a Webcast conference Wednesday, according to a report published by Reuters.

They will most likely will sell HP, or Dell computers since they sell the most PC’s. It will probably do the same thing Apple Stores do you can get help with your computer, if your computer gets a virus or breaks you could get it fixed there. I think it’s a good idea by Microsoft to give the customers a more solid place to bring there computers. I’m not sure on how if it will work or not, lets see what Apple does to retaliate.

WWDC ‘09 Recap

Overdue recap of WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) which was from June 8-12. It hosted the latest news from Apple, the first thing Apple started the steve-less presentation was with an update to the MacBook line. The major MacBook change was the Aluminum MacBooks getting a spec bump and now being called MacBook Pros. Now there is only one MacBook which is the White plastic one, in my opinion they should bring back the black one as well if they’re going to keep the plastic line still. They also lowered the price of the MacBook air for the SSD drive by $700, which is a huge price drop.

Then they talked about Snow Leopard they showed a live demo of Dock Expose, and talked about Open CL and Grand Central. Then they released the price of Snow Leopard, which is $30 to upgrade from Leopard and $129 for the full version. That is crazy $30 for the full upgrade to Snow Leopard note you have to have Leopard already installed in order to use the update, I don’t know how Windows will top a $30 upgrade. They took Safari 4 out of beta and released it available now. Bundled into Snow Leopard is Quicktime 10 which is Quicktime Pro on steroids you can know do video trimming within the software it self, they have one click publish to YouTube. The major thing for me within Quicktime 10 is going to be its screen recording feature.

Apple started to talk about iPhone Software update 3.0 which they gave a definite release date, which is June 17th. They main things for the update is MMS and tethering but a huge but is that AT&T is not going to support MMS or tethering so you can’t use it anyways. Which really sucks AT&T hasn’t had the time to update their network for this update (Known for 6 months +). So if you’re not in the U.S. and your network allows it you can use it but for everyone in the U.S. can’t use it until AT&T supports it. It will also have a digital compass.

The big release for the day is iPhone 3Gs, which isn’t a major update from the iPhone 3G but it’s good enough. It now has Video recording capabilities VGA 30 fps which is really good, and you can do minor editing of the video on the iPhone plus quick publish to YouTube. They updated the camera to 3.0 mp, and gave it a nice spec bump. The pricing is an a lot it’s going to be $399 16 gb, $499 32 gb these prices are if you don’t have an upgrade option. It’s $199 16 gb, $299 32 gb if you have an upgrade option or a new customer. They lowered the price of the 3g to only $99, which is a really good price.

MSI Wind OSX86 Project

Matt Bebich Radio

Last month I started my podcast over at http://radio.bebich.org, I’ve already posted 5 episodes and I plan on doing them every Monday. I’m on iTunes just search “Matt Bebich Radio” you will find me. I want to start up a podcast with me and at least 2 other people. Discussing weekly tech news, if you want to learn more and possibly be a co-host contact me at matt@bebich.org. This is only an idea I’m not sure if it will really happen. In the mean time tune into my personal podcast.

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Ubuntu 9.04 netbook remix

Yesterday May 7th 2009 I installed Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope netbook remix, It was a very simple install used a 4gb USB flash drive to accomplish it. There is a guide on the Ubuntu website on how to setup the flash drive. It only took about 10-30 minutes probably because it was on a flash drive. But never the less it really impressed me, right when the OS started up I loved the U.I. I’m still in the noob phase with Ubuntu getting better at it day after day. It’s really easy to use especially with the built in add/remove applications utility. The user interface is the best part about the whole thing. I can say I don’t like the regular Ubuntu U.I. but the netbook remix is “A” grade. It kinda reminds me of the Boxee U.I., Boxee runs on Linux as well. All in all I most likely will not be putting OSX86 Project on my Wind. The only issues I have had is the Network utility prompting for a password every time you login, but I fixed that. The microphone didn’t really work out of the box as well had to set a couple options before that worked (http://cuthut.com/M5). I will be updating on my experience as they come a long.

Skype IPO

Skype is going to be on IPO, which means that the stock will be open for anyone to buy from eBay, yes eBay I didn’t even know eBay, bought Skype. When I found out I was confused why would eBay buy Skype? It just doesn’t make sense; there is nothing they would do with it. Unless they just bought it so hopefully someone, would buy it off of them. Well never the less Skype is most likely going to have a new owner soon. I’m glad Skype had more drop calls then my cell phone company (Verizon Wireless). They did do a good job with Skype 3.0 it has a very nice U.I. eBay also owns Stumbleupon that also brings up the question, why would eBay buy Stumbleupon. Stumbleupon is also going to be IPO; eBay did hire a new CEO that probably has something to do with it. Never the less Skype and Stumbleupon are both going to be gone from eBay.

iPod Touch Microphone ThumbTacks

SwitchEasy recently they released a microphone for the iPod Touch 2g and iPod Nano 4g. Your thinking why would you want to use a mic with the iPod Nano, the Nano comes with a built in voice recorder. You can use that to record interview or what ever you want. They say they optimized for recording quality, it’s also a very nice design. It looks exactly like a thumbtack. With the iPod Touch you can use 3rd part applications to record or even talk through voip. At $12.99 you can’t go wrong, with this microphone for your iPod. So if you’re shopping for a microphone you should give the ThumbTack for SwitchEasy a try.

iPod Shuffle 3g

Apple released the new version of the iPod Shuffle this week. They rolled out some new features for it, now they added voice over to tell you which playlist your on. It also tells you what song is playing and who the artist is. They double the song space now to 4gb so you can hold up to 1,000 songs. They design is completely changed around, it is a small slim design. It’s really tiny like you would not see it on the ground and step on it small. Apple removed the buttons from the device it self and put it on special headphones. So what that means is you would have to use Apple’s head phones in order to use the iPod. I’m sure companies are going to make 3rd part headphones that work with the shuffle. They seem to not think it will be a big hit because they are still selling the 2g iPod Shuffle, so if you don’t like the iPod Shuffle 3g you have an option of getting the 2g. It’s a solid design I’m not to sold on using the headphones to control it. I would use only use it for running or going to the gym. It’s well worth the price at $79 and the option between silver and or black.

Dropbox change syncing folder

There is an application that allows you to sync files and folders to different computers running different Operating Systems. Such as Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. All you have to do is put the file or folder in the “My Dropbox” folder and it will sync with all other computers you have assigned to your account. It gives you a lot of storage 2gb note this service is free, you could upgrade to 50gb. Today I came across a work around so you can change the folder of which folder you want to have your synced files, like on Windows your “My Documents” folder or on OS X your “Documents” folder. It is a very simple process but it does require using cmd on Windows and Terminal on Linux. For OS X they made a simple Workflow so it does it for you. They made a simple tutorial to follow. Just read this Wiki and have at it! http://wiki.getdropbox.com/TipsAndTricks/SyncOtherFolders

MSI Wind Review (Updated)

I bought a MSI Wind about 2 days ago and have been using it none stop! It’s really fun to use. I will start off with Pro and Cons of this product.

–Pros–

• Nice screen size for this little laptop
• Great battery life (I have the 3-Cell)
• A lot of Hard Drive space (160 gigs)
• Good Keyboard
• 3 usb ports
• Line in and out
• VGA connector
• Nice look and Feel

–Cons–

• Webcam poor quality
• Mic doesn’t pick up my voice good
• Comma, Period, and back slash keys really small
• Speakers poor quality
• Battery problems (My Wind has stopped charging the battery)
• Trackpad is a Sentelic (No multi touch or finger scrolling)
• Windows :p

For me this was a really purchase I recommended it to anyone. I’m going to be getting a 6-Cell battery and 1 more gig of ram. I tried to put OSX86 on it that failed miserably and I had to get a replacement, I won’t be trying that for a while. I didn’t get a sleeve like a lot of people got, maybe it’s from the people who ordered it from their website. I purchased it from a local BestBuy, I got it on SuperBowl Sunday too.