Author: Marcus

Categories
Reviews

Apple TV vs Google TV

Apple and Google have competed with each other year after year. When Apple comes out with a new iPhone, Google comes out with another Droid phone. The competition has been great for the markets and nobody has complained. I believe that the competition brings many great debates between these two major corporations. The newest debate is between Google TV and Apple TV.

We all saw this in the near future, Google trying to compete with Apple TV and it has come out with a bang. Google features 4 GB of RAM and a 1.2 GHz Intel Atom Z515 that is featured in many netbooks. Google TV has dual HDMI and dual USB ports. Google certainly has a faster processor than Apple and is not afraid to show it. The TV box itself is bigger and not the most attractive thing next to your TV. It definitely is not home friendly and I would definitely try to hide it so it is not an eye sore. Google has brought in almost every internet source to push into this little box. It boasts Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube, NBA Game Time, Blip.TV, VEVO, Pandora, and Napster. Google runs their Android O.S. to power their TV. It is a proven O.S. that is built in the Android phones. The problem with the Andorid O.S. is that it has no regulations. Many users will soon come across bugs and will start to notice that Google TV will run slower. Google will be releasing an sdk for developers to start making their own apps. Apple TV does not have this feature, but an App Store may be coming soon. Google does support flash, something that Apple cannot say and probably never will on their devices. Google lets you “Fling” which allows you to start a show on your phone, pause or stop it, and pick it back up again on your TV. Many of these features are very handy when it comes down to the wire, but Google may be trying to push this feature just so that it looks better on paper.

Apple has certainly made a name for themselves in this department with the Apple TV. Apple TV has been around since the start of 2007. Apple has 256 MB of RAM and 1 GHz from the Apple A4 chip. The A4 chip is also in the iPad and iPhone and is extremely reliable and nobody can say that the A4 chip is not great. The A4 chip has impresses us all on the iPad. The iPad looks extremely and runs almost flawlessly.  Apple TV has an HDMI port, optical audio, and micro-USB. Apple TV is a looker, it is definitely prettier then the Google TV, but that is what Apple does best. They make great innovative designs that attract many buyers to the product. It is definitely something that you want to be shown right next to your TV. Apple TV has iTunes, Netflix, YouTube, and Flickr. Apple definitely has less video and non-video content but, that is something that Apple is not afraid of. Apple has iTunes which is extremely proven to hold many videos and music videos. Apple does have set backs because of what Google TV has brought to the table. Google has had more time to make the Google TV but Apple will not take any excuses. Apple is a lot easier to control, considering the fact that everyone is familiar with Apple’s devices. Apple TV features AirPlay which allows users to stream content from their iPad or iPhone to their TV. You can also start watching a movie on your device, then continue from where you left off.

Both of these products are extremely good. Apple hasn’t disappointed us again with their simple and easy interface that makes it very user friendly. Google has definitely surprised me with all of their features that makes Apple TV look slower and smaller. Google boasts more content and video and non-video content. Apple of course has their own remarkable operating system, but the android O.S. isn’t to bad itself. Many people will have trouble choosing between these two products because they are just that good. The competition has been brought forth from Google and they definitely have no disappointed. People that are die hard apple fans, or like the user friendly and sleek design. On the other hand, if you are willing to try something new, Google TV will certainly match every expectation you have for the device. Google has certainly not disappointed us and has made a strong statement that better things will come in the future for Google.

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Categories
Reviews

Quick Look

Quick Look is a quick preview feature developed by Apple. It operates on the Mac OS X v10.5 “Leopard”. The Quick Look feature instantly let’s you preview your documents without ever having to open them. All it takes is a single click and your files are presented to you instantly. Quick Look works with almost every file including PDF documents, movies, Keynote presentations, Mail attachments, and Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. Make the most of your Quick Look feature because it is just that handy. You can listen to songs, flick through movies, and more without even having to open up the document.

There are many features such as the index sheet, zooming and examining your trashed files. The index sheet feature allows you to look at many different windows without having to flick through them one by one. The previews of each file will shrink down to one grid, once you click on one window; it will automatically open up to full size. To zoom into different objects, you hold down the option key and a magnifying glass will appear. To zoom in and out, you use the scroll wheel on the mouse. To put a whole bunch of files into your trash is a complete hassle. Not only do you have to examine each one very closely, but once you trash them they are usually gone forever or you have to replace them back onto your desktop. Luckily Quick Look works with items in your trash so that you can quickly go thorough them to check if you deleted anything important.

Quick Look is actually very handy because it makes your life easier and less complicated. Quick Look makes your computer hassle free and finding documents are easier then ever. The time machine allows you to store your documents once you trashed them. When you go back to check the document, Quick Look is there to help you look at the file quickly and then restore it back onto your desktop. Quick Look doesn’t just look in the finder, but also your Mail and iChat. If you receive an email with a bunch of attachments, you can use Quick Look to put them all onto a grid and see the attachments all at once. Many people always need to find that one document that you saved many years ago. Quick Look helps you go through those hundreds of documents you saved quickly.

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Categories
News

App Store “To Approve or Disapprove”

Apple’s App Store has over two hundred thousand apps and it is still growing. Since its launch in 2008, Apple has allowed third party application developers makers to develop and submit new applications to be approved or disapproved to run on iOS devices all over the world. The approval process of Apple’s App Store has been   controversial throughout the world. Apple is constantly updating their guidelines. Recently, new guidelines letting more “fair play” in Apple’s monopolized ecosystem. For example, the existence of an iOS version Adobe’s Flash Players and the opportunity of a Google Voice app to be existent.

Apple is sometimes rather lenient when accepting apps, but can also be harsh to disapprove of them. . According to Stackoverflow, the average time it takes Apple to review an app is about two weeks. This depends on how complex your app is, if your app is simple to use and easy to figure out, your app can be evaluated in about a week. When you do finish your app, the third party app maker has to make the adjustments to Apple’s rules. Such as, when Apple changed their software to iOS 4, the third party app maker has to manage their own app to fit the new software. They also have to fix the bugs that affect the apps when they either start up or crash in the middle of the game. Your app can be seen by anybody who has an Ipod product, and your app can be the talk of the world, or the nobody of the app world. The success to an app is great idea, doesn’t crash, and is winnable or has a solution to a problem.

I think that Apple has the perfect-ehh mixture of being lenient with apps but can also drop the hammer on some. Many reviewers such as engadget.com have expressed that having multiple apps of the same thing is not a good thing. Like the flashlight app, is there really a need to have fifteen of the same kind of app? I think that Apple needs to get rid of some of the apps that are appearing to many times through the search engine. Over the past two years, Apple has developed a great presence in the mobile application industry. Apple has taken many risks by letting third party app makers into the App Store, but also has great reward. In order to improve, Apple needs to look into applications on the App Store since there is an existence of “garbage” applications. I think they need a better filtering system that gets rid of apps that are duplicates of one another.

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