So you’ve had all the family togetherness, awkward dates, spoiled sports stars and overrated high-brow writing you can take this weekend? We’ve compiled The Favs, some of the best connected entertainment stories from this past week to feed your need for intellectual growth short of going back to work tomorrow morning. Some of it’s original reporting, and some of it is the work of others.
[divider] Entertainment [/divider]
Iron Man 3 Review
It’s not every year that movie goers are treated to a picture in which one man explores the limits of technology to fight crime and the forces of evil. As it turns out, the average actually works out to be about once every two years. The Verge offers their take on the latest installment in the Iron Man franchise. Iron Man 3 Review
[divider] Windows Phone[/divider]
Maintaining Quality Low End Smartphones
One of the things that devices based on Google’s Android struggle with is the ability to create devices at every price point and still have a quality user experience. So far, Microsoft has been able to use the Windows Phone 7.8 and Windows Phone 8 chassis specifications to create low-cost devices -mostly by optimizing the operating system for just one internal system-on-a-chip motherboard and then drive the cost down as much as possible as the chip ages. Our friends at All About Windows Phone attempt to ask the tough questions about how Microsoft can maintain the level of quality of Windows Phone, on lower priced devices like the Nokia Lumia 571. Making Sure Good Enough is Always Good Enough
[divider] Xbox [/divider]
What is ‘next-gen’?
We’ve been on something of a crusade since the announcement of the Wii U. Contrary to what Nintendo would have you believe, in our opinion the Wii U is nothing more than last generation’s hardware with a next generation controller. (We’d argue that even that last part is dubious since the Wii U’s controller features a resistive touch screen, but we digress.) GamertagRadio has an exceptional long form examination of what it takes to be a “next generation console” in the actual sense of the term. What is Next Gen?
Of a Gaming Focused Xbox Reveal and This Not Being 2005
Now that Microsoft has revealed that users can expect an updated Xbox console (yes, we know -big surprise), there seems to be a growing number of traditional gaming fans who want this console’s launch to focus on traditional gaming improvements like more friends on Xbox LIVE, and only talk about the latest new titles. Yeah, those people are nuts. Of a Gaming Focused Xbox Reveal and This Not Being 2005