Is this false advertising from Apple?

When the new iPhone and iPods were released a few weeks back I checked the Apple store like a lot of people I guess. But on there front page and in their store they have info that’s a bit deceptive I think.

I know they still sell the old models and that’s why they have “from A$219” under the iPod Touch but they show it under a photos of the new model iPod Touch that actually start at A$329. They should not have a photo of the new model and suggest it starts from a lower price than it really is.

As you can see they do exactly the same thing for the iPhone as well.

Other companies can’t advertise their top model and put prices down for a completely different, lesser model can they? For example Panasonic don’t advertise their 55inch TV and have from $xxx and quote a price for their 20inch model, not do Holden Vehicles advertise their Commodore but quote prices for their Barina. Or if you want to compare similar items – Sony store doesn’t do the same for their mobile phones, neither does Samsung or HTC. Only Apple can get away with it I guess.

Remember Napster

I remember this old program, everyone was using it.
It was the easiest and quickest way for free music. Of course it was illegal but no-one really thought of that back then – it was just some new way of free music. Remember the only other option was CDs back when it started,

SBS On Demand for PS3 Australia – fantastic stuff

I noticed on the weekend that I could have SBS Catch Up TV on our Sony PlayStation 3 (do you call it PS3?). To get the little app just turn your PlayStation on, go to the TV/Video Services section and under the rainbow-coloured My Channels icon you’ll find a small SBS On Demand application ready to download.

Once the app’s been downloaded, you’ll have access to a pretty well sorted version of the SBS On Demand website from the TV/Video Services menu and it looks to have a really good range of videos to watch. Video quality is not bad about the same as the ABC iView one.

So now us Australian PS3 owners have the fantastic ABC iView, the great SBS On Demand and the really, really poor Plus7 catch up TV channels.

Geez, the Seven networks Plus7 is so poor, I don’t bother looking. The range of shows is so small and so old it isn’t worth the effort. Last time I looked , I went to play a Get Smart TV episode – it isn’t even the original ‘60s series but the really bad ‘80s one. They should just shut it down or offer a lot more as it is I am sure no one even looks at it.

Sony Australia PS3 3.73 update

Sony has released a new firmware update for the Australian PS3 . You can get it via wi-fi on your PS3 and click System Update, that is the easy way or you can download it from http://au.playstation.com/ps3/support/system-software/detail/item420189/Update-features-%28ver-3-73%29/

When searching for what the update offered I find it strange that people ask on Yahoo Answers questions like

PS3 3.73 Firmware free download?? where can i download it?

All they need to do is go to the Sony PS3 site, I am sure they have done it before.

Anyway the update is not mandatory and the only thing it mentions is – Playback quality during use of some PlayStation 3 format software has been improved. The update takes less than 5 minutes so not a long time to do it.

And on some systems the firmware 3.73 also turns your PS3 white, so only proceed if you don’t want your Black PS3 changing colour.

Star Wars Fan Documentary – Returning to Jedi (Episode VI)

This is the last Star Wars documentary that I have watched in this series. This one is about (as if you can’t tell by the title) Star Wars Return Of The Jedi (Episode VI). This whole series has been great. I love the little out-takes and the alternate camera angles so you can see how thing were really put together.

These are so much better than what is in any extras disks that Lucas puts out. Check them all out if you call yourself any type of Star Wars fan. Let me know what you think of these movies please.

By the way did you know this movie was originally going to be called Revenge of the Jedi? And it could have had a much better story – Episode VI was awful. Here’s what Gary Kurtz the producer of Ep. IV and V said about what Ep. VI was meant to be. –

The one story thread that got totally tossed out the window, which was really pretty important I think, was the one of Vader trying to convince Luke to join him to overthrow the Emperor. That together they had enough power that they could do that, and it wasn’t him saying I want to take over the world and be the evil leader, it was that transition. It was Vader saying, “I’m looking again at what I’ve done and where my life has gone and who I’ve served and, very much in the Samurai tradition, and saying if I can join forces with my son, who is just as strong as I am, that maybe we can make some amends.”

So there was all of that going on in Jedi as well, that was supposed to go on. So the story was quite a bit more poignant and the ending was the coronation of Leia as the queen of what was left of her people, to take over the royal symbol. That meant she was then isolated from all of the rest and Luke went off then by himself. It was basically a kind of bittersweet ending. She’s not his sister that dropped in to wrap up everything neatly. His sister was someone else way over on the other side of the galaxy and she wasn’t going to show up until the next episode.

New Pepsi Max Flavour for Australia – Pepsi Max Citrus Oxide

I got an email a few days back – one of these online survey jobs like the McDonalds Family Meals in Australia – and it was all about a new Pepsi Max flavour that Pepsi wants to sell in Australia. It will be called Pepsi Max Citrus Oxide. It is not the Pepsi Max Ceasfire Lime flavour but a completely new caffeine drink.

The flavour seems to be a Lemon-Lime type but has caffeine in it, just like Pepsi Max Cola does and of course no sugar. Well I think it will be Lemon Lime, they don’t actually say what the flavour is, the colour is the same as Lemon-lime sports drinks. Artificial drinks taste awful, they always leave a strange taste in my mouth. I think they would be better releasing a low sugar soft drink.

The survey was all about the marketing such as what label looks best – heaps of different combinations for that and also about a launch competition they will have. I guess they are going after the V8 rev head crowd with the competition prize of a HSV V8 car , there is also $50,000 – I would choose that.

Anyway, here is the label that I thought looked best.

Star Wars Fan Documentary – Building Empire (Episode V)

Here is the next in the series. A fantastic fan made documentary about Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back (Episode V). This Episode was my favourite, The first (Ep.IV) was OK but didn’t think much of Ep.VI. And I don’t count Episodes I, II, III , they were rubbish – well maybe not but I didn’t like them.

Star Wars Begins, A Fantastic Fan-Made Documentary for Ep.IV

I have just finished watching this full-length youtube video and it is fantastic. Any Star Wars fan should watch it. This documentary was made by a fan and not by Lucas or one of his lackies and , probably, that is why it is so good.

This is actually the film-makers third feature-length documentary and commentary about Star Wars and it’s called “Star Wars Begins“ so it is actually about the first Star Wars that was made in 1977. This is an unofficial look at the movie and has heaps of original set audio recordings, alternate takes, deleted scenes, bloopers  and different angles and an even bigger amount of comments and explainations from cast and crew that he must have pulled out form every documentary, interview and commentary track that has ever been made about Star Wars.

What makes this, for me, probably the best documentary I have seen for Star Wars is that it is played following the original movie itself. So that means when he has a deleted  or alternative scene it is added where they would have been, the interviews with cast and crew are placed over the top of the action they’re describing. The overall outcome is much more riveting than any old commentary track you get on a DVD or BluRay and so much better than what is on the new BluRay set that has just been released – if only the Star Wars Company did the extras in this style rather than just re-releasing the same bits over and over.

Anyway, have a look for yourself and see what I mean. I actually watched it in HD streamed to my TV via my Sony PS3, it looked great. I will post the video about Star Wars Episodes V and VI later after I have watched them.

Jobs to leave Apple immediately – must be very sick.

So today Steve Jobs has resigned from Apple immediately – this only means that he is critically sick I would think – poor bugger, cancer is a mongrel disease isn’t it?

His place at the top running the company will be filled by Tim Cook, who was Apple’s chief operating officer.

Steve Jobs has had a lot of health problems over the last few years that made him to take leave from the company. As recent as January he was taking an indefinite medical leave from Apple , that was the third time in recent years.

In August 2004, Jobs underwent surgery to treat a rare form of pancreatic cancer, in January 2009, Jobs said that he was suffering from a hormone imbalance that was stopping his body’s to be able to absorb certain proteins and in April 2009 he had liver transplant surgery.

It seems that maybe he isn’t well enough to stay on the job at Apple, he did look very, very frail and weak when he was doing the announcement of the new Apple headquarters.

Here is a little time line of Steve Jobs work-

• 1976 Co-founds Apple with Steve Wozniak.
• 1984 Apple introduces the MacIntosh computer.
• 1985 Jobs’ leaves Apple (pushed byCEO John Sculley.
• 1985 Founds Next Computer / Next Software.
• 1986 Buys computer graphics division of LucasFilm, and renamed Pixar.
• 1996 Returns to Apple as adviser when Apple buys Next Software.
• 1997 Named interim CEO of Apple.
• 2001 Apple introduces iTunes software and the iPod; the iTunes store follows in 2003.
  

PS3 update 3.70 for Australia – ABC iView problems

Well today I turn on the PS3 to watch a little ABC on iView and it pops up that there was a system update downloaded and ready to install. I go to install it – weary that an update might not be an actual improvement – and the agreement mentions that the TV tab will be changed to TV/Video Services.

Well, that seemed to be OK to me – maybe we will have a little more than ABC iView (a fantastic TV service – not just catch up TV but some shows are on iView before live TV), Seven Plus (which is really poor so I never use it) and Mubi (arty movies you need to pay for) . I installed the system update and it then auto-rebooted.

Now to check the cool new TV/Video Services. – what!!! nothing is there – iView on the PS3 is gone – iView is missing. Now I am cranky. The item I use most on the PS3 is not there. reboot, still not there. Start a game up and close it down then magically the new TV/Video Services is there!!!