Really going to try this time......AND TECH MONDAY!!!!~!~!!1!!!

So I want to write this blog, I really do. My outlet for all of my ramblings used to be a group of nerds who sat near me and read nerd news all day. It was a magical time, a simpler time, blah blah blah.

Lets get started, I want to eventually work out a format and then get into the weeks top tech and nerd news. For this week I want to throw out some predictions for what I am calling "Tech Monday". On 11June13 the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) will kick off with the traditional Day 1 or Day 0 press conferences. The same day kicks off Apple's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC). The Keynote for WWDC is when Apple presents it's new software for the year, and in some cases new Hardware (usually Macs, but hey anything can happen with Apple). So on Tech Monday all of this will be happening at the same time. Below is a time table of the stuff I will be paying attention to.

(all PST)
E3:

• 0930 - Microsofts Press Conference
• 1300 - EA's Press Conference
• 1500 - Ubisofts Press Conference
• 1800 - Sony's Press Conference

WWDC:

• 1000 - Keynote

As you can see there will be some overlap between the two events, and the tech and gaming sites will be just vomiting out news, I expect Reddit to fail at some point. All of these events will be important for the tech/gaming/nerd /hipster crowd in some way. Microsoft, Apple, and Sony are at the top of my list.

Microsoft already debuted it's XBOX One system at an event in May. Their power house machine was sold as a device to run you living room. More of an all-in-one entertainment box than a video game machine, at least that is the perception after the event. Microsoft has promised a focus on games at E3, and I should hope so, as the hard core game audience is what sells these systems. Casual gamers and people who don't play games aren't gonna be camping out at gamestop and best buy on launch day, but gamers will. Microsoft will likely show off some new IPs and exclusives to lure in that audience. Expect a new Halo and some sort of Call of Duty news. For the FPS crowd XBOX is the center of the universe and Microsoft has to play to this crowd in order to win in the upcoming console war.

Sony has everything to gain at this event, and so much to lose. To look back a consoles throughout their existence there has always been a third Generation curse. The Sega Saturn, The Nintendo 64, Atari Jaguar, and the Playstation 3. All of these companies had hugely successful 2nd generation  systems, but failed in their 3rd. Two of those companies (Atari and Sega) never recovered as hardware producers. Nintendo floundered with the Gamecube, and then had a surprise hit with the Wii. But Sony is in uncharted territory (pun intended). The PS3 wasn't a failure, it was actually quite successful, it just failed to defeat Nintendo and Microsoft this generation. The PS3 did produce some of the best exclusives of the last generation with games like Uncharted, infamous, Little Big Planet, Killzone, God of War, Grand Turismo , etc. This will be their strongest hand moving forward.

Sony announced the PS4 back in February. The event was received well by critics and fans. Sony has yet to show off the console itself, and can be expected to be front and center at their E3 event. Also pricing will likely be announced, which may be the most critical announcement for Sony. When the PS3 was announced it came with a $599 price point, and Sony took a loss on every unit at that price. If Sony can price the system at around $399 they will be in good shape, anything higher and Sony loyalist will stick with their PS3s until the inevitable price drop. Like Microsoft their machine must take multiple roles in the living room, but the focuses should be on quality titles that players love. I want Sony to come out swinging, show us the games we are going to get a launch, shows us the games in real time being played.

During the Microsoft XBOX conference, the Apple WWDC Keynote will happen. All eyes will be on CEO Tim Cook and designer Jonny Ive as they unveil iOS 7, MacOS 10.9, some new MACs, and possibly one more thing.

Lots of rumors surrounding iOS 7, the most prevalent is the "flat" design. Flat and Minimalist designs are all the rage, and Apple's industrial design (the hardware itself) has been minimalist for years. I would say not to expect iOS7 to shift to a total flat design ala Windows 8 Metro, but to simplify and unify a lot of their stock apps. Apple tends to make small changes incrementally to their products, as to not alienate their current customers and let users adapt slowly to change. There will likely be some functional changes to iOS 7 but it's hard to say what. Some rumors suggest that widgets, similar to those on the Android OS may finally come to Apple's mobile devices, but again this is all rumor. Personally I would just love to see better multitasking support, and an easier way to access my setting, especially things like WiFi and Bluetooth.  One persestant rumor is air drop file sharing. Essentially this would allow easy sharing of files between all Apple devices over WiFi.

MacOS 10.9 is an even harder one to call, there has been very little in regards to rumors for this one, and even the most accurate tech sites are in the dark. One rumor suggested that most of the changes would be for power users, and very little would change for the everyday consumer. If history can teach us anything, it's we will probably see continued MAC/iOS integration. Missing from MacOS 10.8 Mountain Lion, was Apple's troubled Maps service and the continued lack of digital assistant Siri, both could reasonably be expected to make an appearance.

As for hardware, a refresh of the MacBook Air, possible with Retina display, can fully be expected. A new MacPro may finally make an appearance as well, but don't hold your breath. Apple has made deals with all of the major recording artist labels, which will likely lead to a streaming music service similar to Pandora or Spotify. What will be interesting is how the service works, as Apple makes a lot profit from their iTunes store as the #1 source of digital downloads. The wild card may be wearable computing. Tim Cook's appeared at D11 and made several comments on wearable computing. He made comments in regards to Google Glass and a Nike Fuel Band that he was wearing. Cook seems to believe that glass will be a niche market, but also said he didn't believe young people would wear a watch. All of this is interesting, and probably later we will see all of the clues, all we can say for sure is that apple is thinking about wearable computing and wants to enter that market. How and when is a different story.

Well enough of that, cause I'm not even paying attention.