Anticipating the PlayStation 4

The official—and long-awaited—confirmation of the PlayStation 4 from Sony was something that those in the gaming world have been whispering about for years. And here it finally is! The event held in New York City by Sony provided some insight into the direction the company is moving, with a lot of promising ideas at the forefront.

One statement, however, resonated throughout the entire conference: the concept of PlayStation 4 “being a saving grace for game developers”. And while this is good on one end, could that possibly be a problem for Sony in the years to come? Many feel that the PS4 should be a great system for both developers and the gamers that fuel the industry. Aren’t those who buy the games supposed to be the first priority?

The new hardware for the PlayStation 4 (PS4) presents a new level of creativity and innovation that developers can harness to create new and exciting games with more complex graphics, technology capabilities, features, details and story lines than we’ve ever seen.

According to experts, moving away from the Cell Processor and utilizing the X86 CPU helps developers push the limits of the past generation of gaming. This too, is great. However, it poses the problem that gamers will no longer have the option of backwards compatibility, or the ability to play earlier generation PlayStation games (PS1, PS2, PS3) on the latest Sony console. As many gamers have invested lots of money into their games, it is inconvenient that the latest console does not cater to this need.

Even though through Sony’s Gaikai acquisition older titles are made available on PlayStation Cloud, it will still require gamers to repurchase titles they may have already bought recently. This was a problem that occurred in the beginning days of the PlayStation 3.

Another inherent problem, internet infrastructure stability—or poor and inconsistent internet connection--has plagued this generation of gaming and will likely effect the PS4. Much of the features on PS4, such as streaming full games through PlayStation Network (PSN), will require really stable and decently fast internet connections which will also consume a lot of bandwidth. And while large quantities of gamers have internet connections decent enough to play games online, there are still many others who do not have stable internet to fully take advantage of such features.

If gamers have all these features, but are unable to use them, they aren’t fully utilizing the newest in gaming technology and thus, throwing their money away. Not a great marketing point, huh?

It is obvious that Sony will need to prepare for and remedy such issues to arise. This is the next generation of gaming they’re dealing with, after all.

Source Cred?

This week in class we’ve been discussing sources, which prompted me to take a closer look at one of the latest celebrity scandals and the sources that seem to be coming forward with new, controversial information. I’m talking about the surfacing of Robert Kardashian’s journals. Heard of it?

If you haven’t, I’ll give you the quick details. More information and a full In Touch Weekly article can be found, here.

The journals, dated throughout 1989 to 1990 were given to In Touch by Kardashian’s widow Ellen Kardashian just recently, the magazine reported. And they reportedly paint a very terrifying picture of life in the Kardashian’s house at this time in their lives; abuse and heartache pour from the pages of the late lawyer’s personal journals.

The journals allegedly describe Kris Kardashian as an abusive mother, physically beating her daughter Kim and also go into detail about Kris’s extramarital affairs.

Kim and her family, however, are fightingback against the claims, saying that they are untrue. Kim’s been fighting back via Twitter, primarily. Her Twitter can be found, here. 

Her retaliation via Twitter:

“10 yrs since dad passed &this woman he married 4 2 wks before he died needs 2 get a job instead of trying 2 destroy families w fake stories”

“So my dad's ex is selling ridiculous stories again to tabloids! Do not believe it! Sad when people need $ & get desperate.”

“PS that story that my mom beat me & threatened to kill me hahahhahaha! I'd beat her! JK truly laughable! #NOTTRUE”

Noteably, Kim calls Ellen out on the fact that Ellen and her father were together briefly before his death, prompting many to believe this is all just a means of getting attention by Ellen. 

So, this whole issue of sources. Ellen Kardashian and In Touch are claiming one thing, while the rest of the Kardashians deny, deny, deny. What can we trust? Who’s the more credible source? With the journal entries not in public view, one may conclude that Ellen is lying, creating a publicity stunt with her as the center. However, in the heat of her own personal scandals aside from this recent issue, Kris may have her family behind her denying the claims whether or not they are true. Families tend to stick together, you know.

What would either party gain from lying?

As a journalist or even just as a media consumer, you have to be able to take these things with a grain of salt and until further investigation into the journals and the claims within them, we can’t really know. But there is a lot to say about source reliability.

Mainstreaming home automation

Recently, according to a WallStreet Journal article, a nearly unknown consumer company, Id8 Group R2 Studios, is going “mainstream” with home automation by possibly collaborating with three of technology’s biggest players: Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Finally, home automation, via mobile devices like cell phones and tablets, will become simpler and more affordable, according to experts.

This little-known company, founded by Blake Krikorian, founder of Slingbox debuted its only product in early 2011. “R2” is $99 software for Android devices that lets homeowners remotely control lights, thermostats, home theaters or other devices on a Crestron system.

The talks between R2 and these major corporations are said to be “preliminary” and may not go anywhere. None the less, we’re now seeing how crucial technologically controlling and “claiming the living room” has become.

The big three are already thinking about ways to tap into the living room, and the next logical step surely goes beyond media and entertainment. Both Google and Apple have already taken the first step to making their mobile devices more full-featured personal assistants. Apple has come a long way on the developments of its assistant Siri and Google’s version, Google Now.

Microsoft’s very vital Xbox franchise has made them a major player for video and gaming content and has its Kinect interface, a motion-controlled gaming console. And last year, it unveiled its Android@Home initiative, which enables various devices around the home to be controlled by mobile devices running Android. However, there are many areas for the company to tackle in the living room.

Apple has Apple TV and has plans for an actual television. But could Apple do more than just TV? Apple doesn’t make any home appliances itself, however, it has been very supportive of former executive Tony Fadell’s iPhone-controlled Nest thermostat, which it sells in Apple Stores. It also sells Phillips LED smart light bulbs, which use iOS technology and devices to control lights.

As we can see, a revolution is taking place in the home automation. The expensive and complex home automation solutions are now being replaced by cheaper and simpler solutions.

Apple is at the center of this revolution despite the fact that Apple is doing very little to promote any platform or news for home automation. It’s plausible that we can expect to be hearing about iPhone-controlled home automation in the next few years.

But how necessary is home automation? How do you know whether or not it’s even a practical tool for you? And with so much incompatible software and high expense, obviously home automation is still in its early stages of development. But technology changes quickly, which poses the question: when these devices and systems finally debut, will you want one? 

 

Technology journalists and bloggers are buzzing about this topic, such as Erica Ogg, senior writer at GigaOM. Ogg reports primarily on the Apple Inc. and its developments. Information about her can be found, here.

Sticking to your guns

Forty-five percent of Americans live in a house with one gun or more in the household. This general opinion, along with the sheer political power of the National Rifle Association (NRA) are the largest factors that which contribute to the argument, refueled yet again by the Newtown Shooting, on whether or not America should change its gun policies.

According to this BusinessWeek article by Paul M. Barrett, “the NRA wins because it’s popular with a broad swath of Americans, especially Republicans. It [the NRA] knows how to muscle politicians with perfectly legal, out-in-the-open, grass-roots campaigns.”

It’s worked for this long, and seemingly, the power of the NRA is undiminished in their fight to maintain firearm availability for Americans.

For me, it poses the question: Is there some credibility in the statement, “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun”?

Despite whether that’s true or not, here are the facts on the American opinion of guns (according to Gallup’s recent poll):

·         Fifty-four percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the gun lobby.

·         More than 80 percent of Republicans have favorable views of the NRA.

·         The slight majority of independents share the positive opinion.

·         Less than 40 percent of Democrats have a favorable view.

·         Forty-nine percent of Americans polled are opposed to a ban on assault weapons.

Additionally, in 2004, 44 percent of polled Americans said they would support a renewed ban; 49 percent opposed one. Remarkably, Gallup’s December poll produced nearly identical results on similar questions, including those about assault weapons, making a renewed ban seem unnecessary.

You can find more stats, here.

                                                                     

Many believe that these figures explain why the Republican Party opposes tougher gun control, states Barrett and I’d have to agree. Even after the Newtown Shooting, it seems that the majority of the general public, though it is a slight majority, opposes more control over their firearms.

As a member of the 45 percent that live, or have lived in a house with one or more guns, I’m torn on this issue. While I do not what to see the re-occurrence of shootings like the one in Newtown, I still believe that my father should have a right to his guns, as well as myself if need be. Many argue that a serial killer will still kill, with or without guns, or they will obtain them illegally (another issue to consider)—and this, I believe, is undeniable.

Taking into account previous failed policies pertaining to gun-free school zones, increased security expenses, and the belief that media is steering our youth to recreational use of weapons and casual violence, where do you stand on America’s next step in this process?