Vacation = Problem Fix Time

I am off for the next week and have a couple of things that will need “fixing” as my southern friends would say.

My watch is essentially bricked. I tried unpairing it from my iPhone to fix an update issue and now, it absolutely refuses to pair. It goes through the beginning of the process but then stops and unpairs again. This could have to do with a software update. I am on bleeding edge so its possible that my iPhone’s software and my Apple Watch are no longer friends.

The 2nd problem is Minecraft on xBox. If you bring it up and try to play it, the entire xBox shuts down. This is not a new problem but it is a new problem for me. The 1st thing I’ve done is to clear the xBox cache and reboot. If this works, great. If not, then I will try to uninstall and re-install. Of course, I am afraid of losing worlds I’ve spent hours and days building.

I’ll keep everyone posted. Everyone = me. The only person who reads this garbage.

Update: I’ve reset the cache on the xBox and was able to play Minecraft for about an hour before the xBox shut down.

Shazam!

Apple bought Shazam and I am very happy about this acquisition. Apple just announced that the deal has been finalized. Shazam identifies a song by listening to what you are listening to and then shows you what the name of the song is and who sings it. It even has a component to it that will show you the lyrics in real time as the song plays.

Shazam Logo

I’ve been using Shazam since it was first introduced. I can’t tell you how many songs I’ve identified with it. I’ve used it in a car, at the movies, in bars, and in restaurants.

For example, yesterday while I was playing Forza Horizon 3 on my xBox and there was a song playing that I was semi interested in. I used Shazam to find out it was a song called Bury It.

Shazam is a piece of AI that is absolutely useful and shows the true potential of the iOS platform.

xBox One X

I ordered a new xBox yesterday morning. I waited an entire year to see if the price would drop. It did not.

Looking forward to seeing how much better the graphics are. I have an xBox One S with 4k resolution but the processor(s) aren’t really designed for the advanced graphics of 4k.

Not too many options as I had when I ordered a One S. My One S is blue. I don’t recall seeing any other color available than black.

Update: NOT at all disappointed. This machine rocks!! You can tell the difference between the One S and the One X straight away. The details are amazing and the game play is a lot more smooth. Thumbs way up.

Monday Morning Post E3 Event

Good morning! Ahhh…hopefully….

I sat through the xBox E3 presentation yesterday which was a parade of “exclusive” and “World Premiere” game announcements.

The xBox One S gives way to the all new xBox One X (Project Scorpio) and will be available in November-ish with a price tag of $499.00.

If you own titles such as Forza Horizon 3 or Minecraft, those games will be getting a free update to 4k versions sometime in the fall. I believe I had a Minecraft-gasm during the keynote. I spend way too much time in Minecraft. I’ll own that.

The graphics in the racing demo were absolutely stunning. Puddles will expand based on how long it is raining and the world engines just seem to keep getting better and better.

Between Apple announcements and Microsoft announcements we should have a pretty awesome fall.

Pretty exciting.