Each week, Neowin will be looking back at the top news stories for the week of October 29 - November 4, 2010. For those of you who missed this week in the news, here is our short roundup of all the hottest news items of the week:
#5 Xbox Live mandatory update rolls out November 1st
By: Alan Cone
This week Microsoft pushed a mandatory update to every Xbox 360, including an updated Dashboard and new services to many parts of the world, including Netflix, ESPN, Last.fm, Zune Marketplace, Facebook, Twitter and Kinect support for every Xbox 360 owner. The update will prompt users next time they attempt to connect to the Internet.
#4 Flash content on the iPhone, iPod and iPad - seriously!
By: Andrew Lyle
Skyfire released their browser to the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad this week, which brings Flash video to any iOS device. The browser downloads the Adobe Flash video to its servers and renders it in HTML5, delivering it to your iOS device for you to watch and enjoy videos.
You can check out our review of Skyfire here.
#3 Kinect has problems recognizing dark-skinned users
By: Andrew Lyle
With Kinect debuting this week, the reviews and reports came flying in, but this one an unexpected twist for Kinect. It originally was reported by GameSpot that Kinect had trouble recognizing dark-skinned users in its facial recognition feature, but not body movements. This didn"t impact how dark-skinned users played the game, but features like facial recognition login was not available or accurate. However, it later appeared that Consumer Report debunked this rumor and said it was due to the poor lighting.
#2 WP7 vs Android - Part One: The Basics
By: Owen Williams
Neowin took a look into Windows Phone 7 this week, covering all the features of the operating system. In part one of our coverage, we talked about the basics of Windows Phone 7 compared with the Android. Check out the article and our comprehensive coverage of Windows Phone 7.
Don"t forget to check out:
WP7 vs Android - Part Two: Communication
WP7 vs Android - Part Three: Features Galore
Feature Focus: Windows Phone 7 - Gaming
Feature Focus: Windows Phone 7 - Zune
What did our readers have to say?
Neobond said, "Very informative as I am about to upgrade myself and look forward to reading more of these before I make my decision
"
Quick Reply said, "The problem is, is that Android is not just an Operating System, it a is an open platform for anything. WM7 is an Operating System and a Fixed User Interface. The WM7 UI may be good, but that is how it is going to stay. With Android, the UI can be replaced, and that could include a UI that has the same advantages of WM7, if not better. In fact it is only a matter of time until there is a UI available which is a blatant clone of WM7- But you won"t see any Android-based UIs on WM7."
#1: iOS 4.2 on iPhone 4 - First Impressions
By: Matthew Jones
Neowin took a look at iOS 4.2 for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The new features include AirPrint, better MobileMe support, in-page text searching, font changes to the notes and several bug fixes including the DST and the lockscreen bug, where anyone could gain access to your contacts, photos and even email your contacts.
iOS 4.2 is expected in the near future, and will be a free upgrade for all iOS devices.
What did our readers have to say?
Mohitster said, "i like the printing ability - will come very handy!"
Electric Jolt said, "Maybe some development went into further optimization of iOS 4 on iPhone 3G perhaps? I can"t believe printing isn"t available for iPhone 3G users. I can"t believe they are shutting us out in the cold like this so harshly! If you cannot implement a light-weight way of printing from a device like the iPhone 3G, something is wrong with your code..."