This might use Android tech, but it’s not a mobile. Its intended use cases fit into the 10% of the time you tagged for consoles, not the 45% you tagged for mobiles.
https://www.dreamspark.com/
http://www.microsoft.com/bizspark/
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/express
http://www.microsoft.com/web/webmatrix/
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/essentials-home
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-HK/skydrive/home
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/web-apps/
edit: Man, I hate the UDN crap on the forums - this is my third try (going to copy and paste it) to post this edit. It keeps sending me to the front page when I hit save…meh.
It’s not a case of trying to push one over the other or another; rather it is a case of recognizing the competition pushes each to continue innovation. Where would Google be without MS? Where would MS be without Google? Etc, etc, etc.
As for the Ouya, I’m not sure that’s innovation as much as socialism.
I’m all for competition too. I know that Google wouldn’t even be considering half of these moves if someone else (like MS) hadn’t already defined the market. Not sure where the socialism comment comes from…?
I think of it this way. Millions of years ago, there was bountiful amounts of food all over the world (especially in the ocean). This lead to crazy amounts of mutations and new species. Now look at the wide variety of life in the ocean. All the different sizes, shapes, colors, behaviors; and those are just the one’s that survived this long. It’s crazy! It’s all because someone would mutate (try something innovative) and, even if it was completely impractical, there was enough resources to support it. It could then thrive long enough for these crazy mutations to become more refined and turn into something truly new and useful. (The miracle of evolution.)
The point, of course, is that when there is more opportunity for new ideas to emerge (and survive), then and only then, will we truly start seeing a new era of innovation. I believe that the Ouya is a great step in that direction.
I’d call it innovation.
I don’t see it as “making a cheaper Xbox”, I see it as “bringing a mobile-style market to bigger screens”, which is a completely different proposition despite the consumer-end results looking pretty similar.
I’m very interested to see how it pans out, too. Mobile stuff seems to me to be successful because it’s mobile as much as because it’s bite-sized.I can only buy from PSN or XBLA when I’m in front of the relevant console, where I have access to the iTunes App Store in my pocket all day.
Many tablets have HDMI connectors for TVs - you can hook up a BT keyboard/mouse combo.
It’s not bringing something new. It’s not bringing better performance or anything of the like.
It’s bringing a cheaper option to the masses.
A Tegra 2 Trim-Slice will run $210-340 or so. You can run Android or Linux. Heck, I believe you can even run MeeGo. We’re going to have Windows 8 that can run on ARM. The Tegra 3 is already out there and the Tregra 4 with DX11 should be out Q1 2013.
Then we have the $99 Ouya…offering what? A cheap option for the masses. It’s akin to OLPC laptop/tablet - but aimed a little higher, since it’s going to be looking for folks with a TV and internet, etc.
Cuz no one these days has TV or internet.
First, this will have far greater computing power than your phone. Also, I would love to be able to sit down on the couch, browse through a huge library of crazy new games and play them on the big ol’ 50" with a game controller. Who wouldn’t want a constantly refreshing library of free game in their console?
I’m constantly looking through the PSN library for new demos, but all you can ever get are demos (or pay $10 to $50 for a game). I’m absolutely going to get one, and I’m sure millions of others will too. Evidence that there is certainly a market for this.
You realize that you can currently connect a device to your TV to do that (that there are even TVs that do not require you to connect a device, they have the device)…?
It’s not creating a new market in the least. It’s providing a cheaper solution within that market. With cheaper, what comes to mind is worse performance than what is already out there.
I find this whole discussion kind of mind boggling. Step away from the code, browse the internet from 3-4+ years ago…
Actually , I like the option to just pay for games sometimes , . Better then dealing with ad after ad
Yes, I have one of those fancy shmancy internet tvs with their fabulous “game market”. Its laughable really. The nail biting tension of “can I move the right block to get the mouse out of the room?!” Painfully lame.
Again, this device will also have much more computing power than plugging my phone into the tv.
I run adblockers when I surf. I go to the bathroom, go for a smoke, make a sandwich, etc when commercials come on the TV. I tune out ads when they play on the radio. When I get crap in one of my email accounts, I mark it spam.
If there’s something that I believe I may need - I’ll head over to Google or Bing and search for it. I’ll read up on it. If there’s something newsworthy, I’ll see it on one of the sites that I visit.
Etc, etc, etc.
We do realize, of course, that ads are what make free radio, television and games possible. Personally, ads have never bothered me, and I don’t see why people get in such an uproar over them.
How dare they tell me about coke’s new product line! Those sadistic, invasive corporations! Really?
Its not that im in an uproar , id rather just pay up front and have an add free experience
Given there are no specs for it… how on Earth are you going to say that?
It’s a proposal to build a $99 Android Console.
You still have free TV there?
No such thing in NA anymore lol.
In the US…ahem: http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/
I like this part: “Signal strength calculations are based on the traditional TV reception model assuming an outdoor antenna 30 feet above ground level. Indoor reception may vary significantly.”
In some areas, it will work great - in other areas…forget about it.
That wasn’t directed at anyone specifically. Just my general experience with gamers when they see ads in games.
So? This isn’t a tablet. I know I can plug my mobiles into my TV, but none of them are designed to be used that way and, as a result, I don’t do it. Even if I did, if I were using that for anything other than watching videos I’d still end up looking at the tablet itself most of the time, because that’s how they’re designed to be used.
Anyway, sure, it’s technically possible to do everything this can do without this device in particular. Nobody’s arguing with that. But a lot of people won’t bother to do it unless the device in question is purpose specific for it, which renders it irrelevant.
This is, of course, an assumption. However, considering its sole purpose is to play video games and is about ten times the size of my phone, I believe its a safe assumption.
NVIDIA learnt from the Tegra2 fiasco, the ‘Xoom is an overpriced piece of garbage, let it die’ problem they caused themself by selling the tegra chipset at a completely unrealistic, insane price, given the crap performance it had.
Tegra3 really is this low cost nowadays in the lower versions, thats why the Nexus7 tablet gets away with 200 bucks for a 7" tablet on a Tegra3 1.3ghz
It’s important to consider what the Nexus 7 does to get to that price point: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/technology/personaltech/nexus-7-googles-new-tablet-seriously-challenges-the-ipad-state-of-the-art.html?pagewanted=all
Much like Amazon did with the Kindle Fire, they’re hoping on subsidizing the cost. In this case, they’re looking at Google Play - in a manner that Amazon looked at…well, Amazon.
There’s no HDMI. No expandable storage. No back camera… No Flash. Lack of landscape.
No doubt it’s faster than other tablets at that price point. Nice resolution, responsive, etc, etc, etc. It’s a Kindle Fire killer…so to speak.
For $50 less though, I can get HDMI - expandable storage - landscape - Flash…