After not sleeping a wink last night—I ended up getting some work done at 4:00 am—I flew home from Atlanta and promptly fell asleep. Please excuse the brevity. –Paul
Tech tidbits from around the web.
9/29/2016 5:10:54 PM
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Watch the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remastered launch trailer
I feel like I’ve seen this before, but there’s so much Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remastered footage out there it’s hard keeping it all straight. Check out the launch trailer:
Watch the entire Gears of War 4 prologue
And speaking of awesome YouTube videos of upcoming Xbox One games, Microsoft has for some inexplicable reason posted the entire 20 minute Gears of War 4 prologue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA_EoX6rr5w
It’s going to be a busy Fall. If by busy I mean playing games.
“Which features does Microsoft still need to add to Windows 10 Mobile?”
Apps? I’m going to go with “apps.”
Microsoft exec sees the end of the QWERTY keyboard
In an interview with the UK’s Evening Standard, Microsoft’s Dave Coplin says it’s “bizarre” that that 21st-century workers still relied on typing technology invented in the 19th century.
“We have these amazing computers that we essentially use like we’re still Victorians. The Qwerty keyboard is a great example of an old design being brought forward to modern day. We’ve not really evolved. We still use this sub-optimal design.”
“We’re looking at technologies now like voice and gesture recognition, and facial tracking that may make the keyboard redundant.”
“We think that computers in the not-too-distant future will be able to understand all of those things and infer on my behalf my intent, meaning and objective that I’m trying to do.”
Sounds exciting. He types. From a 19th century QWERTY keyboard. That was made by Microsoft.
New Amazon Fire TV Stick offers cheapest way yet to get Alexa in your home
Amazon this week released a new version of the Fire TV Stick. Big deal, right? But this one is being promoted as the cheapest way to get Alexa in your home. The Wall Street Journal reports:
On Wednesday, Amazon introduced its second-gen Fire TV Stick, keeping the same $40 price, but including a voice-capable remote that lets owners talk to the artificially intelligent assistant.
By speaking to Alexa, you can not only find something to watch, but also purchase hundreds of items from Amazon’s online store, check the weather, get a news update or play a song on Spotify. Amazon says Alexa is currently able to understand 3,000 distinct commands.
The new Fire TV Stick is the cheapest way to get Alexa
I guess it does other video-y-type stuff too. I know. Who cares?
Blackberry will no longer build its own phones
A Blackberry press release notes that the firm will no longer build its own phones.
Our new Mobility Solutions strategy is showing signs of momentum, including our first major device software licensing agreement with a telecom joint venture in Indonesia. Under this strategy, we are focusing on software development, including security and applications. The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners.This allows us to reduce capital requirements and enhance return on invested capital.
Some have misreported this as “Blackberry won’t be designing its own phones” anymore either, but I don’t read it that way, and that of course doesn’t make any sense. For whatever it’s worth, Apple doesn’t build its own phones either. No one does.
186
<p>Easy.. easy… did some take away our desert today?</p>
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<p>On what typewriter did your mom verify that speed back in the 30s?</p>