Hulu Plus: Thank God for Trial Periods

Hulu has been a great way to catch up on our favorite shows for a while now, but one thing has always been missing from this service: [non-PC] device access.

This feature has been in such high-demand, that others have been trying to implement ways to attain this, all-the-while, Hulu has been quick to disable it. Everyone knew that Hulu had to have this up their sleeve, and sure enough it was delivered as the subscription-based Hulu Plus.

I started watching a TV series on Netflix and when I reached the end of the available Instant Streaming seasons, I decide to give Hulu Plus a chance.

A Month with an iPad -- A "Haters" Perspective

Well, many of you that have had the privilege of meeting me probably already know my stance on Apple products in general. Needless to say, it's not normally positive.

Recently, however, I was provided quite the gift from my employer: an iPad 3G.

Given my public stance, I was "greeted" with many friendly faces willing to take the device off my hands, but rather than do that, why not indulge in a bit of hypocrisy and keep the fabled tablet and see if perhaps it could convert me?

You Never Come to Visit!

Well, actually, I suppose I never come to write!

As always, I wish I updated this more, as I really enjoy writing, but alas, sometimes coming up with ideas can be difficult.

I'm going to be picking it up, but in case you don't see me, you can find me on Twitter hiding as @MattAlmendinger or you can follow my latest 140 character rants in the sidebar!

iPhone Slayer: Windows Phone 7 vs. Android vs. webOS vs. BlackBerry

There are many contenders now holding Apple's beloved iPhone in their cross-hairs. Each with their own agenda on how to tackle it, yet also needing to stay ahead of the other potential slayers.

So who will win the coveted "iPhone Slayer" prize? The safest and easiest answer is simple: consumers.

More after the jump...

MWC 2010 - What did we learn?

Well another Mobile World Congress has come and gone. So what did we learn? Let's take a look at some of my favorites from Engadget:

• Opera makes crazy fast browser for iPhone, App Store most likely disagrees
• RIM thinks cellphones are the future of the internet. Invests in new browser based on emerging rendering engine "web-kit" or "WebKit" or "WebKitty" or something like that...
• HTC thinks good things do some in small packages
• Microsoft creates new operating system, calls it Windows 7. Err, Phone Series.

In what was mostly just "okay" things popping up, the show-stealer was Microsoft. Going against everything Microsoft has traditionally held dear, Windows 7 Phone Series is a fresh start. A new beginning in a market that Microsoft used to easily dominate.

Sacrificing backwards compatibility and hardware vendor creativity, Microsoft has decided that they will dictate general design and interaction with the fledgling OS. This is a huge deal to me because Microsoft has traditionally boasted that they merely create a foundation and that the artwork is done by their partners.

This is quite the gamble for them, but now is the time for separation. Perhaps the version numbering is a sign of the potential success of this platform, as Windows Mobile 6.5 is the outgoing OS in Microsoft's stable. Windows 7 made many people confident that Microsoft can build a modern OS that is both easy-to-use and reliable. It has become it's lucky number, but will 7 be a hit for the phone, too?

Whew!

Well, my goal was to continue this blog after returning from my trip in Japan, but I was rather lazy.

I'd like to pick this up again and hopefully discuss some of my coming projects/ideas. So, if you're still reading this...awesome! If not, well...my mind is blown as to how you are consuming this content.

I'm off for now, but let's talk again soon, mmmkay!

We're back!

We made it home safely--and quickly too! I was able to push the last photos of Akihabara and Shibuya (just a couple of night shots).

Ryan is working on a centralized website for everything so I'll try to post a link so you can see everyone else's pictures, as well.

Here's a direct link to all of *my* photos from our trip.

Sayounara Nihon!

Our time has finally come to an end, which of course means we have to leave. We'll be back home soon, but you'll have to wait for the final pictures of Akihabara and Shibuya until I get home =P.

We don't have to leave here until Monday at 3:30 pm (1:30 am there in Ohio), but I am without internet since we only paid through Sunday.

I hope that everyone has enjoyed the pictures as I've gotten to experience such a wonderful country and wish that all of you could have come along and joined with my time. I've seen enough to know that I need to come back =).