The Best of 2011
We are moments away from ushering in a brand new year. The twelfth year of the 21st century.
Profound discoveries and amazing accomplishments have happened in 2011.
And as for The Tech Fire, it would behoove us not to talk about some of the best technologies this past year had to offer.
The iPhone 4s and Siri
iPhone’s are old news. New updates and versions of the phone come out often, and people have become desensitized to its amazing capabilities. But this year, the iPhone 4s was released, with Siri. Siri is a voice controlled “personal assistant” available with the new iPhone. You speak, and she listens. Then she performs. This voice-controlled app organizes, answers questions, and tells you what to do. The future is here.
Microsoft Updates Xbox 360 With New “Metro” Interface
Change has come to the the Xbox 360! That is…in the form of a UI update. The interface that most gamers had been using was known as the NXE or New Xbox Experience. Well, out with the old, and in with the even-newer!
For the uninitiated, this new experience is known as Metro, and has been built around the Kinect, Microsoft’s revolutionary motion-controller, capable of extremely high-accuracy motion detection from the user. The new menu system has undoubtedly been re-designed to fit the likes of the non-gamer, further proving that Microsoft aims to bring its console, as well as ease-of-use, to more than just gamers. The new design takes on a modern, indeed very “Metro” look; simplicity+power at its core.
Navigation is now literally as simple as waving your hand naturally in front of your screen, in order to take you wherever you want to go. The same goes for voice-activated search; say “Bing” or “Xbox”, followed by what you’re looking for…and whoosh, you’re there! Xbox information and other media news is displayed first thing as you boot up your system, as well as music, social applications, and even Bing search, from Microsoft.
