News Of The Day 10/4/2011

And it's a day of calm . . . oh I'm kidding. It's Big Apple Announcement day, and thus a massive progeeky news day! Let's dive on in!

Apple:
Apple unveils the iPhone 4S. OK so t's not the 5 everyone expected, but it's pretty powerful – and includes a kind of verbal-command personal assistant. Frankly it seems to be the "5" in all but name.

Here's the high points.

And my high points?

  • The addition of Sprint further expands their audience
  • There's a lot of improvements hardware and software-wise
  • Siri, the assistant, is getting a lot of attention. That may interest – and distract – competitors

Economics/Geekonomics:
We're still getting all the data, but the greek mess appears to be winding down and it sounds like Greece will still be in trouble and some banks are hosed.

Music:
The Zune HD is dead. This is because Microsoft is moving towards Windows Phone devices – which is a bigger trend to follow actually. They're putting their eggs in two baskets – Phone and 8 (you are learning to develop in these I hope).

Adaptions and Remakes:
Fuel for our resident analyst Scott:

Comics:
A CG Batman series in 2013 on Cartoon Network that seems to be extra odd – unusual villains, a replacement for Robin, etc. Perhaps bigger is the "DC Nation" block which sounds like a near variety-show format of comicdom, and might provide room for innovators and newcomers (hint, hint). I also get the vibe DC's goal is to do multiple interpretations on everything possible.

Geek Law:
Amazon re-invites associates it shut out after the California out-of-state tax bill was repealed. I think it's actually good for them due to bad blood – but the taxes are coming one way or another.

Tablets:
Kindle Fire pre-orders sell like crazy. I'm sure you're surprised.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: OK, do you care about the iPhone 4S?

Steven Savage