Vudu and UFC Available for Xbox

In a move which signifies the start of a period of increased launch activity Microsoft has announced the availability of two anticipated apps for its Xbox console. Vudu, the video streaming service, and an app by the UFC for live and Pay-Per-View events continue the trend of the console being used as a media consumption device via its very popular Xbox Live platform. The company has announced plans to launch at least 40 new entertainment and media apps in the coming months.

For some time, Microsoft has been repositioning its console and online platform. Originally focused on its core function of gaming, it has now developed into one of the leading online content-consumption devices. These releases, along with several others this year, will serve to consolidate their already-strong position and perhaps serve as a spring board in its quest to grow its market share and lead the industry.

Popular UFC Event “Sold Out”

The UFC app, in particular, could help them achieve their goals. Mixed martial arts (MMA) is extremely popular, and is one of the fastest-growing sports today. Reports late last month were that the large number of downloads forced the UFC to announce that an event promised free to those who download the app was no longer available. Fans of the sport reported being able to see the event listed via the Xbox app for free, but were unable to order it.  Under pressure from consumers, the UFC released additional free Pay-Per-Views for UFC 141 prior to the December 30^th event.

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Kinectimals Show iOS Some Love

Kinectimals, the virtual interactive pet simulator from Microsoft has been released for iOS devices. The game was a favorite on Microsoft’s Xbox console and originally used the popular Kinect add-on to interact with on-screen animals. The iOS version of Kinectimals, which is available for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, now uses touch-based controls. The new control scheme is at once more personal and intuitive and gives a genuine sense of connection and immersion.

At the start of Kinectimals, you are presented with an option to choose one of five pet types: African Lion and Leopard, Royal Bengal Tiger, Cheetah, and Black Panther. The game has multiple save slots so you can choose to pick one or all five animals if you like, saving each choice separately. There is also an unlockable animal that you get as an option after completing various tasks and achievements.

The gameplay consists of two “modes.” You can play with your animal in a non-competitive setting, or you can participate in games. There are a number of challenges that initially function as a tutorial, but the difficulty increases over time. Completing challenges will enable you to level-up your pet and will earn you money and rewards. You use money earned to purchase food and other items for your animal. The games in Kinectimals are increasingly competitive in nature. You gain experience for high scores and can advance through 20 levels.

Kinectimals is a visually-appealing game, the graphics being among the best for any iOS title. The soundtrack is light and child-like, but it suits the game well. The game AI is adaptive and makes for some pleasant surprises. Ignore your pet, for example, and it will try to entice you to play in various cute ways. The title has high production values and has a certain slickness about it. Though a bit light in depth, the game is a joy to play; anyone who enjoys this genre will want to pick it up.

Coming in at about 178 MB, Kinectimals is not a lightweight title, and those with space concerns will need to consider the size of the download when deciding whether or not to pick up this title. Another thing to keep in mind is that the game makes use of location tracking. It does prominently state, however, that your information will not be shared. Location tracking can be disabled under Settings. You can also simply deny the initial request when it is presented to you at the start of the game.

Kinectimals is available now for $2.99 at the App store.

If you’re ever looking for an example of competition resulting in innovation and, ultimately, improved consumer products — you need look no further than the technology marketplace, and a little story about two rivals by the names of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.  There’s no questioning the genius of either man — but it’s also clear that, without the rivalry they shared, neither Jobs nor Gates would have achieved quite as highly.  Steve Jobs, in particular, took some painful lessons learned from his nemesis and turned them into pure Apple gold.  To understand that ironic cause and effect, you have to go back to the beginning…

Back in the eighties, in the true infancy of desk top computers, the field was crowded with companies attempting to gain market share.  At one point Atari was a market leader, with their box-like 16K contraption that offered nothing more than the most basic programming.  There was also the Commodore 64 – Atari’s main competitor.   But, as the industry started to grow,  two main players started to emerge.  One was a company called “Apple,” with its self-contained, giant-toaster-looking computer built in Steve Jobs‘ garage.  The other was a little company started by a Harvard drop out named Bill Gates.   Gates had shrewdly purchased the rights to something called DOS at the time, and then wrote a new program called Windows that made operating a personal computer much more simple for the non-technical user.

Steve Jobs had his fans

Right from the start, Steve Jobs’ company had its loyal — some would even say ”fanatical” –  user base.   Mac users were as die-hard then as they are now.  But back then, Apple was engaged in a life-and-death struggle to gain market share against this nerdy kid in Washington state who had a company called Microsoft.  The future of computing was at stake — and each of the two major players in the game was determined to win.

In retrospect, Steve Jobs and Apple really didn’t stand a chance.  Microsoft and Windows was licensed out to just about every major hardware company on the planet.  The result of that was that there were essentially two types of computers – Apple’s proprietary devices,  and every other computer by every other manufacturer in the world, all of which were running Windows and DOS.

For the consumer though,  what really made the computer was the software and programs you could run on it.  Computer gaming was a new trend back then – after all, this was a generation that had grown up in seedy mall arcades across North America.  It was an exciting development when you could suddenly play in your own living room, on your own computer.  The only  question was:  which computer would you buy?

In that dark time before the Internet, downloading, and file sharing, software was something you bought from a store.   And when you were deciding which computer to buy — your decision was largely influenced by how much software it was compatible with.  On one little wall in the corner, you’d see the Apple-compatible software – and, then, taking up ten shelves and four aisles of floor-to-ceiling space, you would see the software dedicated to Windows programs.    This is where Windows had an insurmountable lead over it’s main competitor – a lead that it has never given up.

It didn’t take a degree in psychology to know that Steve Jobs was not a happy camper when, in 1985, the company he created was wrestled away from him in the boardroom of Apple Inc.    Jobs went on to found Pixar, the company responsible for such huge hits as Toy Story and Finding Nemo.   He also created a new computer company called NeXT which was acquired by Apple in 1996 – a move that brought Jobs back into the near-bankrupt Apple organization.  As he took over the post of CEO and Overall Supreme Warlord – Jobs took those painful lessons he learned from Microsoft and turned them to his advantage.

Steve Jobs Applies the Lessons Learned…

It started with a new service called iTunes – introduced at the same time as a new portable music player called iPod; a handy little device that could hold 1000 songs in your pocket.   Then, in 2007, Apple announced that it was getting into the cell phone business and the world caught its first glimpse of the iPhone.   Shortly after that, Apple introduced the App store – a giant online software retailer where Apple was the only kid on the block.   It signalled the end of one era and heralded the beginning of another — an era where Apple no longer had to play second fiddle to Microsoft and Windows.  Steve Jobs had learned the hard way that no matter how cool or smart the device was – the real key to consumer loyalty was in having the software applications to make that device an indispensable element of the owner’s life.

Twenty years earlier, Jobs had learned from Bill Gates that no matter how smart your computer was – what made people buy it was the programs they could run on it.  Applying that knowledge, he built the entire Apple mobile empire on software that was only compatible with Apple devices, such as the iPhone, iPod , and iPad.

It’s a lesson that other companies may be learning right now — a lesson that is bringing Blackberry creator Research In Motion to the brink of bankruptcy, and a lesson that many new players in the Tablet and Smart Phone industry will learn as they fail commercially.  As the school of hard knocks taught Steve Jobs, it’s ultimately the software programs that make any device a must-have item.