Chipotle's New film.

In a beautiful, bold move, Chipotle has developed a film that depicts a journey to bring real food back to the people. Accompanied with a game element as well for the IOS there is a lot of buzz around Chipotle and it's efforts to change it's image. Check out the video here: The Scarecrow

A new page?

Starting a new page soon called "Critique This". This will be available on my blog and will hopefully be a place where Animators and Digital Artists can come to find resources in the way of tutorials and instruction, but I also want it be a place where artists can show there work or provide links to their current work and projects.

Sony Bravia Smart Stick

Chromecast step aside, the new Sony Bravia Smart stick is in the house. This looks to be a promising new way to get Google into your living room. With a range of google tv features this could definitely be the answer for alot of you TV watchers out there wondering how to make the most of your network. Of course you'll need a TV with an hdmi connection but most higher end TV's will have that these days. No word on pricing but lets hope it's not that much more than the chromecast was at $35.

Siri, Watch out! Cortana is on her way.

Siri has been the main stay of social interaction with our devices as we ask her for directions and recommendations, or even to schedule our day for us. But there are rumors on the horizon that Microsoft is working on a new gal in town. The rumored zCortanaApp is meant to be a Siri type app for the windows phone. It is not clear what features will be available, but there is a lot of buzz around the possibility that Cortana maybe the next big thing. Step aside Siri, let us hear what Cortana has to say. Link Here: Cortana

Windows 8.1 The start button is back for real!

So I mentioned in an earlier post that the start button that Microsoft brought back in Windows 8.1 Preview really wasn't worth writing home about. Well it seems WinAero has heard my cry and created an addon for 8.1 called StartIsGone, this addon is free for both 32 and 64 bit versions of windows, although it doesn't restore the start button to all its former glory it does give some hope for all you Windows users out there who just have to have it. Here is the link: StartIsGone

The new iphone cometh!

I don't know if you all saw it, but they did release the iphone 5c and 5s models of the iphone. Not  having an iphone myself I can't really comment on how great it is, but I do know that for someone who already has one or even just uses the ipod touch. These new models will be something of a draw. I did want to talk about one of the new features of the phone and that is the finger print scanner. Seen as just a novelty by most when added to laptops a few years back the finger print scanner was woefully understated and scared more people then it excited, but I think on a device such as a phone it could be quite beneficial for security and ease of access purposes. Hopefully they have a better scanner than most on the market, which are very touchy and unreliable at best. Even though it's really cool and could be of some use, I don't think it a necessary feature, but then again what features on smart phones are really necessary?

It could lend itself better to an ipad that has multiple users and could handle multiple log-ons for that device. Each person having there own setup and logon based on the finger print, but on the iphone its another one of those oooh neat features that most apple users will love. Here is the link. New iphones

Why is it called a Smart TV?

It seems to me that the Smart TV is just a simplified version of a Wii or an Xbox, or even services that already exist such as apple tv. If all we care about is that we can watch Netflix on it, then why even get a Smart TV if you already have a Wii? I understand that they are really slim and super nice and the pixel ratio's are insane, and movie watching on them is awesome, but these fake "apps" that they load on the TV's can be accomplished using some other method already available. What I really need is a Wireless TV..., a TV that can connect to my network, and surf the web, showcase my own networked photos, and still hook to my DVD player and other devices. The "Smart" portion of the TV just seems like an overkill.

And why is it that when we label something Smart it really isn't? Is that suppose to mean we're  Smart for buying it, or that the company is Smart for making us buy something we already use someplace else? It obviously doesn't apply to the intelligence of the TV, it can't guess my favorite shows, or hold a conversation with me, or do my work. So why is it Smart?

It seems to me that a truly Smart TV would allow me to choose the channels I want, whether from a cable provider or not, showcase my game devices, connect to my network, show me the video feed from the security camera on my house, sense when I'm sad and play an uplifting show for me, clean my house, and offer sound advice. These TV's aren't "Smart" so lets stop calling them that, if anything we should call them WIFI TV's. Or Internet ready TV's.

Lets put "Smart" back where it belongs describing people who are truly smart and brilliant and accomplished, don't diminish the word by applying to electronics that definitely aren't smart.