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pasmith
Follow this memberMember since: February 2009
Peter Smith writes about personal technology for ITworld.
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Activity
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We're a week or two (depending on what you pre-ordered) away from the launch of the Playstation Vita, but gamers seem determined to be angry with Sony no matter what they do.
3 days 18 hours ago
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All kinds of movement in the streaming video business this week. Netflix launches it's first original content while Verizon and Redbox plan a competitor. Amazon isn't resting on its laurels, either.
4 days 17 hours ago
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So maybe last week's rumors were a bit too optimistic and we'll have a longer wait than expected for the next Xbox. Or perhaps something's been lost in translation. Also a few news bytes from the current generation of Xbox gaming.
1 week 3 days ago
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A pair of unrelated Netflix shorts today. Every wonder why Netflix doesn't integrate with Facebook like virtually every other service does? Blame the government! Also, better encoding thanks to startup EyeIO.
1 week 4 days ago
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Jason Kilar wants us all to know the Hulu is doing just fine, thank you very much. Also, new original content is coming real soon now.
1 week 5 days ago
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OnLive has had it pretty easy since launching its streaming gaming service about 18 months ago. Its main competitor has been Gaikai, a company that focuses on being a demo delivery service. Can G-Cluster dislodge OnLive when it enters the US?
1 week 6 days ago
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Last week saw a bit of a backlash against User Reviews at online shopping sites after the New York Times exposed a company buying positive reviews at Amazon. While such practices are disappointing, it doesn't mean you have to start ignoring User Reviews.
2 weeks 17 hours ago
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Nintendo is having a bad fiscal year. For the second quarter in a row they had to adjust financial numbers downwards. With so much riding on their new console, might a name change help?
2 weeks 3 days ago
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If true, we're talking about fairly modest hardware coming in 2013 with an improved version of Kinect to follow your every move.
2 weeks 4 days ago
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Sony's Tablet S has been on the market for a while, but one by one the pieces are falling into place to make it a first-rate device for Android-loving gamers. Here's why.
2 weeks 5 days ago | Read Article
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Audiobooks.com announced a new audio book business model: unlimited streaming. This news prompted me to think about the various ways to get digital audio books.
2 weeks 5 days ago
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Sony's Tablet S has been on the market for a while, but one by one the pieces are falling into place to make it a first-rate device for Android-loving gamers. Here's why.
2 weeks 6 days ago
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Lately there's been a lot of marketing words spent on promoting how thin the latest gadgets are, but I have to wonder if shaving a few millimeters off a device really matters to most of us.
3 weeks 17 hours ago
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Home Theater PCs aren't new but they're not exactly mainstream, either. Alienware wants to change that with its new console-ish gaming PC, the Alienware X51.
3 weeks 4 days ago
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Maybe you use Instapaper or ReadItLater to save web articles for, well, reading later. But what about videos? A new service, still in beta, hopes to make saving those just as painless.
3 weeks 5 days ago
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The idea of having gesture and voice controls for your PC is kind of appealing, right? Wave your hand to 'brush away' a window, give voice commands to launch a program. But who is going to pay $250 for this convenience?
3 weeks 6 days ago
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The iPad 1 & 2 were both launched in late winter/early spring, and there's no reason to think Apple won't keep that pattern going. As we get closer to a likely launch date, it's getting easier to believe what the rumor mill is saying.
4 weeks 17 hours ago
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Until now, getting "personal documents" onto a Kindle device was kind of a pain. Now Windows users (and Mac soon) can easily send PDFs, document files, images and even web pages to their Kindle with a few clicks of the mouse. Swanky!
4 weeks 3 days ago
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The streaming games competition is heating up. First it was Gaikai headed to LG TVs, now OnLive says it'll be on Google TV. What's the better business model? Also, Microsoft's much-rumored subscription TV service has been put on hold.
4 weeks 4 days ago
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There's more to CES than TVs, tablets and ultrabooks. Let's see what news there is for the gaming crowd.
4 weeks 5 days ago
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Microsoft's last CES Keynote was nothing to write home about, but the rest of CES Day 0 was filled with press conferences and product announcements. Here's what grabbed my eye.
4 weeks 6 days ago
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This is a big week for us gadget freaks. CES 2012 is like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas combined. We've be delighted, we'll be horrified, and by the end of the week we'll be stuffed full of new product announcements. I can't wait to get started!
5 weeks 17 hours ago
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It used to be that when Netflix needed another 100 copies of True Blood it could go direct to HBO, cutting out the middle man. HBO ended that deal as of the beginning of this year. Also get ready to wait an extra two months before you can rent the latest WB movies.
5 weeks 3 days ago
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You can't go out and purchase an Asus Transformer Prime at the moment (unless you get real lucky) and it isn't clear when supply issues will clear up. But that isn't slowing down Asus's push to get Ice Cream Sandwich on its spiffy new quad-core tablet.
5 weeks 3 days ago | Read Article
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Microsoft has filed a patent for a DVR-like feature for gaming consoles. Not only would it work hand-in-hand with TV on the Xbox platform, it'd let you record gameplay, too!
5 weeks 4 days ago
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pasmith's Comments (97)
Commented on Is the Sony Tablet S the perfect Android gaming machine?
Actually, it looks there's no HDMI out on either the Tablet S or the optional cradle; Sony has gone with DNLA for sharing video but I doubt that would be snappy enough to move your games onto the TV. Hmm, that really knocks it down a few pegs as a gaming device.
3 weeks ago
Commented on Asus Transformer Prime still mostly MIA, but still getting an Android update
You were lucky then. Google "asus transformer launch shortages April 2011" (or use this link http://bit.ly/zK4P0j ) and you'll find a bunch of posts about the launch shortages.
1 month ago
Commented on Asus Transformer Prime still mostly MIA, but still getting an Android update
How long have you been waiting?
1 month ago
Commented on Google Currents vs the skepticism of the Internet
Huh, I didn't have that problem... though I must confess I quickly deleted my Google Reader feeds since most of them are 'stubs' of articles instead of full text, whereas if I got the "Edition" of the same source I'd get full text in Currents (at least in some cases). Wait, Google Reader under trending... you mean under Library, right? And I just checked and it still works for me. I'm on Android. Maybe I should check it out on the iPad.
2 months ago
Commented on Thoughts on the new Xbox 360 Dashboard and the new My Xbox Live iOS app
@Nathan - Yeah, I'm looking forward to that YouTube app as well. I'm always adding videos to my 'watch later' queue and never get around to watching them. Maybe I will once I can do it from the comfort of my couch. Oddly there's no YouTube app on the Roke (my go-to streaming box). When Microsoft talks about Kinect for Windows they mention a shorter USB as an improvement (!) so maybe Kinect functionality degrades with the length of the cable?
2 months ago
Commented on Thoughts on the new Xbox 360 Dashboard and the new My Xbox Live iOS app
I'm not familiar with the zoom-in, zoom-out feature of the old Netflix interface. What did that do?
2 months ago
Commented on Thoughts on the new Xbox 360 Dashboard and the new My Xbox Live iOS app
@mike81092 I bought a Zoom, but I have the Kinect mounted on a Tri-Mount that holds it above and behind the TV. There's plenty of clearance for the 'sight line' of the Kinect...until I put the Zoom on it. Then it says it can't see the floor. I think because of the 'fisheye' effect of the Zoom it's seeing the back of the TV. I need to find a new mount for it and try that again. Thanks for the idea, though.
2 months ago
Commented on The new Xbox 360 dashboard arrives: Will it change the way families use the Xbox?
Did you ever get it sorted out? I had to manually restart my 360 a few times before the update sorted itself out. It was doing all kinds of weird things, like telling me I had to log in, but when I did the first message I got was that it was logging me out. Eventually it all came together though. And yeah, I think they were so desperate to get the update out that they hit the button a little too soon.
2 months ago
Commented on Kindle Fire: My turn to weigh-in with an opinion
Hey, thanks for the link! A lot of the short-comings of the Fire seem to be fixable via a bit of research and side-loading, but I didn't realize Dropbox had their apk so easily accessible. Very much appreciated!
3 months ago
Commented on Hulu Plus comes to an Android tablet you probably haven't heard of
That's good to know. I've had mixed success with Flash-based video on my Acer A500. I'm honestly not sure if I've ever tried Amazon on it. Thanks!
6 months ago
Commented on I'm not buying these Nintendo 3DS rumors we've been hearing
Yeah, but even they say they're not sure how reliable their source is (for the new system rumor). On the analog stick they seem more confident. Maybe it's going to be an adhesive style stick like the one Logitech is making for the iPad? If they hadn't said it was going to cost $10 I'd be more prone to believing the analog stick attachment rumor.
6 months ago
Commented on I'm not buying these Nintendo 3DS rumors we've been hearing
Thanks Steven, I wasn't aware of that. So even less reason for a 3D-less 3DS, then.
6 months ago
Commented on Spotify isn't anything special
Rdio has a 7-day free trial. Teach a man to fish....
7 months ago
Commented on Spotify isn't anything special
Sure, if I was in Europe I'd be agreeing that Spotify is awesome since, at least as far as I understand it, there aren't many, if any, good alternatives over there. I don't know if other US based tech bloggers have just gotten swept up in their own hype, or if they're just not aware of all the alternatives, or what...
7 months ago
Commented on Spotify isn't anything special
Thanks for reminding me of this bizarre feature. You share things via URL that then triggers the client to open. How cumbersome is that?! Why not just provide a nice web client? Other services let you share stuff, yes. Rdio seems to have the strongest social ties, of the ones I've tried.
7 months ago
Commented on Spotify isn't anything special
@mikemuch - That's what I have you for. :) Seriously, there are so many alternates to Spotify that it gets cumbersome to list them all, so I stuck to the ones I have personal experience with.
7 months ago
Commented on Defending Facebook's excitement over its new (obsolete) video-chat service
Hmm, your points are good ones. I stand corrected. One thing though... Facebook said it was ok for me to store my credit card and social security numbers in my profile. They told me it was very very private!
7 months ago
Commented on One reason Android tablets struggle to compete with iPads
My inner conspiracist found it interesting that there was a new Xoom display up right when Samsung's tablet shipped, but the Samsung display wasn't up. Although even the Xoom display isn't optimally positioned. I expect there to be an aisle in the computer section with all the tablets lined up, but (at least at this Best Buy) there isn't. The one exception I should have noted was the 3G tablets on display in the cellphone area. I'm guessing that's Verizon's influence at work.
8 months ago
Commented on Verizon Wireless dropping unlimited data plans in two weeks
@MikeOpager Sure they wear out, but they don't wear out faster from more data running through them. Here's my analogy. Your ISP delivers data to a router in your house, right? From there, it's all up to you to get that data from the router to a device. Does it cost you more to move a large file than it does a small file? No. Verizon isn't dumping cardboard packing crates full of bytes into their system, after all. They don't generate the data that's flowing. They just provide the pipes. No one said this is a surprise; after all Verizon has been saying this day would come for months. I was just surprised that the caps were so low, personally. Anyway, do take note of the update at the end of the post; it seems like existing customers will be grandfathered, even across hardware upgrades, at least for the time being.
8 months ago
Commented on New "Commodore 64" systems start shipping this week
Thanks! I knew someone would remember it! :)
8 months ago
Commented on The Wii U will not play DVDs, and other unsurprising facts
You're absolutely right, that was the original Xbox. Thanks for calling me out on that. I do stand by my point though: making that an option was a smart move.
8 months ago
Commented on E3 Press Conference: Microsoft desperate to Kinect with core gamers
@Rar -- This is a post about the press conference, not about playing the games (and no, I haven't played the beta, and never claimed I had). From watching the press conference, Gears 3 looks pretty much like Gears 2, only with better graphics. There was nothing in the GoW3 demo to make me, someone who wasn't a huge fan of Gears 1 and never played Gears 2, think "I need to give this franchise another try." It was exactly the kind of set-piece battle Bleszinski always brings to MS's E3 pressers.
8 months ago
Commented on OnLive offers exclusive 30 minute trial of Red Faction: Armageddon
Ugh, you're of course totally right, there is an Xbox 360 demo available. Thank you! I've corrected the post. Much appreciate the help!
9 months ago
Commented on Rackspace to wind down Slicehost
I've heard good things about linode.com. It seems similar to Slicehost from my perfunctory glance at what they offer.
9 months ago
Commented on Sony's data breach expands to SOE servers
Sorry, I should've been more clear about that. In case anyone else is confused, it's in the press release I link to: "SOE will grant customers 30 days of additional time on their subscriptions, in addition to compensating them one day for each day the system is down. It is also in the process of outlining a "make good" plan for its PlayStation®3 MMOs (DC Universe Online and Free Realms). More information will be released this week."
9 months ago















