Redbox and Verizon team up against Netflix

This week Netflix should start getting worried, iPhone classes, and say goodbye to the PlayStation Network name.

In an interesting move, Verizon and Redbox have teamed up to have a new streaming service and even possible downloading of movies. The standard DVD kiosks will remain, but you will be able to stream movies to your smartphones, TV sets and maybe game consoles or streaming boxes like Roku. This could have a huge impact on Netflix if this new partnership will allow new movies to be streamed, which is Netflix’s weakness. This service is expected to launch in the second quarter of 2012.

Google’s prototype HUD glasses might have been spotted in the wild. These glasses have head-up displays which can use Google’s cloud-based location services and give the wearer information about their surroundings. It gathers information by using a tiny front facing camera and is reported to only use HUD information in one eye, not both. 9to5Google reported that this product is nowhere near complete, so we won’t see these for a few more years.

London’s Kensington and Chelsea College is now offering classes to learn iPhoneography.

The course is designed to teach students how to take photographs with their iPhones, sending them to different post-production processing apps, and finally creating stunning pictures.

“With the right apps and skills, the iPhone can be a powerful creative tool,” Professor Richard Gray said. He will teach basic photography theory, composition, lighting, and color skills. This course will start next month.

If you have a PlayStation 3 or a Japanese import of the PlayStation Vita, you might have noticed something different as of Tuesday; the PlayStation Network has been changed to the Sony Entertainment Network.

The company was quoted, “This helps us get closer to our goal of establishing a global comprehensive network platform of services across games, movies, music and more, all accessible from one convenient account.” Users will not have to change their usernames or passwords. Oddly this change did not come to the PlayStation Portable.

The latest build of Windows 8 is missing something we’ve all gotten used to, where the heck is the Start button? Instead of a start button, the empty space will be replaced with a “hot corner.”
If you hover your mouse or swipe your finger over that spot it will transfer you between the Metro UI and the desktop. The super bar from Windows 7 will remain. Windows 8 will include an enhanced “charms bar,” which are transparent icons that have the action to search, share, devices, and settings panels, all of which the Start button did.

I’m going to start a new end section where I ask you guys a question. This week’s question is, “What do you think about the iPhoneography class? Would you take it if it were offered at VSU?”

You can email your answers to me at smsetser@valdosta.edu or comment directly on the online article at http://www.vsuspectator.com/category/Features/. Have a great week!