We got a Kinect for the Xbox One (or Xbone, as Kimberly affectionately calls it) after seeing people dance with people around the world in the middle of the mall. So we got two dancing games (one included with the Kinect). And holy crap, I am WAY out of shape. LOL Aside from the fun dancing games, the voice control of the system is AWESOME. It's super-cool to be able to say "Xbox On" and have the whole A/V system turn itself on. Or to pause/play movies with voice commands. Gestures are taking a long time to get used to, but they're pretty handy too. No pun intended. Overall, we're both loving the Xbox One. We're having tons of fun playing through the Halo series together, and I'm really enjoying Assassin's Creed Unity (bugs and all). Just started in on Call of Duty Advanced Warfare too.
I also traded my MacBook Pro for a Surface Pro 3, which I've been wanting since it was announced. Spec for spec, it's a match, but I moved up from an i5 to an i7 processor. I freakin' love it too. It's big, real big, for a tablet, but it's beyond awesome for reading comics on and also as a laptop, as it's more than powerful enough to do anything I need. Plus, the pen is a huge boon and very helpful when working with photos. It's basically a portable, self-contained WACOM Cintiq. And given the announcements to day on Windows 10, it's really going to get amazing soon. Can't wait to install the Preview bits when they drop next week.
I also moved from T-Mobile to Verizon, which sounds backwards given the pricing and policies, but T-Mobile's coverage just doesn't cut it for me. I don't even get signal at my desk at work. Given that Kimberly's had Verizon forever, I've been able to mentally track where she has coverage and I don't, which is a lot of places when we go on road trips. I love what T-Mobile is doing to shake up the industry, but I just can't have network drop-outs and spotty coverage. Verizon has always been the holy-grail of coverage for me, so I'm happy that I don't have to worry about it anymore. Anyway, in doing so, I picked up the last Lumia Icon that the store had (it was discontinued back in October, though the Lumia 930, the GSM version, is still an in-production flagship phone). Again, going from a Nexus 6 to that seems backwards, but I've always greatly preferred the interface of Windows Phone, even if the app support is less than stellar. Really, everything is there but 1st party Google support (Gmail, G+ and Hangouts), but I've found 3rd party solutions for everything (and Gmail/contacts/calendar all work perfectly fine with the built-in apps). But I get a 20MP OIS camera (which is phenomenal, btw), keep the Qi charging that I love so much and get the OS that I like the most. Spec-wise, it's still flagship-level, with a Snapdragon 801 and 2GB of RAM. I couldn't be happier. And again, with the incoming Windows 10 improvements, it's gonna rock even more. Again, really looking forward to installing the Preview next month.All that said, I never thought a 5" phone would feel tiny, but after the iPhone 6 Plus and the Nexus 6, it's like holding a tiny toy. lol
Speaking of all those Windows 10 announcements I'm referencing, there's some big stuff in there. Common Core means that the computer, phone, tablet and Xbox One will all share characteristics. Visibly, that means the interface will be even more common between all devices. But beyond that, it's a far deeper integration and some (not all) shared code that will make it very easy for someone to make an app and target any device running Windows 10. The app stores will all be together, and apps will work the same across platforms (with some adjustments for the interfaces themselves). That's pretty awesome to start with (and makes a lot of sense). But beyond that, you'll be able to stream your Xbox One games to any Windows 10 device on your network (kind of like the Vita can do, or the Wii U with it's tablet), there will be continuity between all devices (ie pick up where you leave off instantly when using the same app) and, a big one for me, a music locker service using OneDrive's unlimited storage through Xbox Music, which is completely cross-platform. It'll be like Google Play Music (which is awesome), but will also work for me not matter what mobile device or ecosystem I'm using. Oh, and also the return of the Start Menu, dynamic and smart switching of the interface for convertible devices (like the Surface) depending on if a keyboard is attached or not (desktop interface when docked to a keyboard, tablet interface when not), and a lot of other tweaks and optimizations. Also, it's a free upgrade from anyone going all the way back to Windows 7. I know a lot of what Microsoft does today is still a direct product of the Balmer Era, but it really does feel like a fresh company, eager to please consumers and enterprise alike across a full range of products.
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