Update on Surface 2 Sound Issues

Well, it looks like someone at Microsoft was working hard on Thanksgiving Day. Late on Turkey Day, Microsoft pushed out a firmware update that looks to have fixed the reduction in sound volume issues for the Surface 2 I mentioned in this post.

If you don’t have updates set to automatically install you can check for the update manually by going to PC Settings, then selecting Update and Recovery, Windows Update, Check Now. If you want to see if the update installed properly you can select View Your Update History, or go to Control Panel and select Hardware and Sound. Under Sound select Manage Audio Devices. Then choose Speakers, then Properties. Once you’re in the tab for NVIDIA Tegra Audio Properties, choose the Driver tab. You should see a driver date of 11/26/13 and the driver version as 9.17.13.2774.

I can report that sound volume has returned to normal on my Surface 2 after manually updating the drivers as described above. As to the other issues reported in the post I’m not sure if they have been rectified by this update or not.

Thanks to GBM reader, Ryan, who spotted the update and let us know in comments.

Cyber Monday 2013: Where to Look for the Best Tech Cyber Monday Deals

Cyber Monday deals will soon be here to replace the Black Friday sales that ran out of stock, and while there is not as much build up for Cyber Monday, there are many deals shaping up for Monday, and we are seeing some Cyber Monday 2013 deals start even earlier than normal.

If you are looking for the best Cyber Monday 2013 deals you will need to wait for Sunday and Monday, but you can at lease start planning which stores you will be checking and take stock of what you didn’t get at Black Friday sales to plan out your purchases for Cyber Monday.

If you want to go big on Cyber Monday 2013 you will need to be ready to buy when the deals go live if you want in on biggest savings because these deals will go very fast. If possible add an item to your cart and then do your research to compare prices and read reviews, but keep in mind you will need to check out within about 15 minutes.

Here’s a look at the Cyber Monday 2013 deals we know about and the stores you need to keep an eye on to find the best deals. Most of the Cyber Monday 2013 deals start around midnight on Sunday night, while some will start earlier in the day.

The Walmart Cyber Monday 2013 deals are mostly under wraps until after Black Friday ends, but we do know about two Walmart Cyber Monday tech deals worth looking at.

First off is a 46-inch Samsung LED HDTV for $478. There are no specifics on this HDTV yet, but at this price expect 180P, 120Hz and possibly some Smart TV features.

Next up is an iPod touch for $199. This may be a 16GB model that normally retails for $229, which means $30 in savings. The Apple Store offers a Black Friday deal of a $50 gift card which is a better deal.

It's not advertised, but there will be Walmart Cyber Monday Xbox One and PS4 deals, with consoles in stock for online sales on Monday December 2nd.

There is a 7-inch Double Power Android tablet that falls under our warning of avoiding cheap Android tablets. These are only a small number of the deals we will see. The Walmart Cyber Monday 2013 deals will run all week, starting Monday December 2nd.

Amazon Black Friday 2013 Deals to Watch

The Amazon Black Friday deals ramp up today as Thanksgiving signals the official start of Black Friday sales, and while there is not a complete schedule of Black Friday deals on Amazon, we do know what to look for from the online superstore and where you should be watching to find the best deals.

While the Amazon Black Friday 2013 deals did start earlier this week, Thanksgiving and Black Friday are when the deals really heat up. Even if you plan to do most of your shopping at a Walmart Black Friday event or at Best Buy you should keep a close eye on Amazon as you might find the same deal or a better deal and be able to buy it and walk out of line.

Many of the Gotta Be Mobile staff members who like to shop on Black Friday skip out on the lines of Walmart, even with the temptation of a 70-inch HDTV, and opt for buying our deals on Amazon. This lets us spend time with our friends and family during Thanksgiving without waiting in line. As long as you have a smartphone and an internet connection you can snag these deals wherever you are.

Read: Amazon Black Friday Tips

As we shared earlier this week, the best Amazon Black Friday 2013 deals are Lightning deals that come and go very fast. You can get a look at what is coming up and plan ahead, but be ready to add that item to your cart and then figure out if it is exactly what you want. These deals go faster than stuffing at the Thanksgiving dinner you skipped to stand in line at Walmart.

You can sign up for email alerts, follow Amazon deals on Twitter and on Facebook to get alerts, and you can install the Amazon app for faster shopping on the go.

Here are five categories that you should pay attention to when you are doing your Black Friday shopping on Amazon this year.

There are a lot of Kindle Fire Black Friday 2013 deals at brick and mortar stores where you will need to line up for a few hours, but we could see Amazon offer $30 or so off of the Kindle Fire HD.

If users are lucky Amazon will offer a very limited deal on the Kindle Fire HDX, which is the latest version with MayDay live tech support built-in.

The Kindle Fire HD Black Friday 2013 deals are most plentiful, but there are options for the new Kindle Fire HDX, and one old Kindle Fire deal.

There are several in store deals for the Kindle Fire HDX, but they use gift cards. With more retailers turning to gift cards, Amazon might include an Amazon gift card instead of an up front discount.

Watch the Kindle Fire page, homepage and the deal alerts for any Kindle Fire deals as this is one that Amazon will surely promote front and center.

Amazon is well-known for offering great HDTV deals throughout the year and Black Friday is no different. Amazon already offers a listing of HDTV Black Friday deals with discounts up to 50%, but the savings may go bigger on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

Amazon is already cutting 50% off Samsung HDTVs for Black Friday.

The Amazon Black Friday HDTV deals might even include one that matches the Walmart 70-inch Vizio HDTV for $998. We already know that Amazon is planning these Black Friday HDTV deals, but there will likely be more in the form of Lightning deals.

50-Inch Toshiba HDTV for $499, a savings of $400Haier 46-Inch HDTV for $349, a savings of $200

Check this page, and keep checking it, to see the latest Amazon Black Friday HDTV deals as they come and go during Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

This is also a good time to look or iPhone cases, iPhone accessories and Android accessories and cases on Amazon. We could also see Amazon discount some Android smartphones for Black Friday, but it’s not promised. Check this page for the latest deals.

Save on iPhone and Android accessories at Amazon Black Friday sales.

Look for deals on Lifeproof, OtterBox, Speck, Spigen  and other big name cases on Amazon during this sales event. We are already seeing 25% off OtterBox cases and 50% off Bluetooth headsets.

The Amazon Black Friday 2013 sales already include many video game items for the Xbox 360 and PS3, and we will see even more discounts on games and consoles. Look for a focus on console bundles, games and accessories like 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound headsets.  Here’s a few of the deals Amazon promises,

Halo 4 Game of the Year Edition for $19.99, a savings of $20Batman Arkham Origins for $39.99, a savings of $20Buy an OUYA Game Console and get an OUYA Wireless Controller for free

And here’s a bigger list of Amazon Black Friday video game deals. If you are open to shopping in store, check out our overall Black Friday video game deal roundup.

Odds are Amazon won’t have any big discounts on the Xbox One and PS4, but we could see some game deals and even a limited stock of each console would be considered a deal right now.

Third party retailers like Amazon offer better Black Friday deals on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro than Apple typically does on Black Friday.

Read: Best Apple Black Friday 2013 Deals

Expect some MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Black Friday deals at Amazon.

We don’t know what Amazon has in store yet, but it is possible they will meet or beat the Best Buy MacBook Air and MacBook Pro deals, delivering $150 to $200 off select models – without paying any sales tax up front, which can be a significant savings.

How to Use iTunes Radio

When Apple released iTunes Radio earlier this year, they brought streaming music to iOS and iTunes users. iTunes Radio competes with Rdio, Spotify, Pandora and Google Play All Access Music. While each of those offers a free version, they also let users pay a monthly fee to get ad-free music. Apple’s iTunes Radio comes with iTunes Match, which only costs $25/year.

We will show users how to use iTunes Radio on both a Mac or PC running iTunes and on an iOS device, like the new iPhone 5s, iPad Air or iPad mini with Retina Display running iOS 7 or later.

Fire up iTunes on the computer and click on the Library drop down button in the upper right corner. Clicking the arrow that appears will display a list. Choose Music. Just clicking the button will open the Library in the main window. An easier way to maneuver around iTunes is to choose to show the Sidebar from the View menu.

From the Music screen, click on the Radio tab and turn on the Radio service by logging in. If you’re not already an iTunes Match customer, iTunes will offer to let you sign up or sign up at Apple’s website for $24.99. It’s well worth the annual fee since it removes ads, lets users upload music and it becomes available from iCloud on all devices. It even works with music purchased from Google or Amazon or music ripped from a user’s own CD library.

Use one of the Featured Stations to start listening to music on a computer, phone or iPad with iTunes Match set up on it. The stations show up in the upper row on the iTunes Radio screen.

To create a new station, click on the plus button next to the words My Stations in the middle of the screen. Type a search in the search box that pops up (see above). Choose from the search results and it starts to play the station. The resulting screen will let the user customize the station.

Now, as iTunes plays songs, the listener can favorite a song by clicking the star on the play bar at the top of the screen next to the pause button. To the right of the play/pause button there’s a skip button to advance to the next song in the radio playlist. The price of the song shows next to the play progress bar. Click it to buy the song playing.

To keep songs from playing explicit lyrics, turn on the feature in the upper right corner of the My Stations section.

This works a lot like it does on a computer in iTunes.

On an iPhone or iPad open up the Music app. Find the Radio button at the bottom left of the screen and see the same featured stations from iTunes on the computer. Scroll down to the plus button and tap it to add a new station (see below). Enter a search item to search for the kind of station to set up and then choose from the results. Users can also pick from the music genres listed below the search button.

Once a user sets up a station it will sync across all devices. The listener can star a song, skip it or buy the song, just like the person can on the computer.

Steeri is The Driverless Car We All Think Might Happen

It’s a very cold weekend in most parts of the U.S. so perhaps a little satirical humor will offer some warmth. Even better, the target of the satire is a favorite for many, and that’s Apple’s Siri. Well, actually it isn’t Siri. It’s Steeri.

The very funny folks at the Smart Department have produced a quite humorous look at what Apple’s promised iOS in the Car might look like if it was run by Siri. It’s called Steeri. It takes over and takes you of a ride you don’t expect. Or does it? I think the satire works so well because it plays right into what many think might be the case with cars that drive automatically or controlled by voice, or essentially driven by any input other than what we do today. Over the top? Then you haven’t been using Siri much lately. To be fair, Siri has improved quite a bit. But, could it ever improve this much? That’s why this is called satire.

If you’re driving in the cold winter weather this weekend, keep in mind that there are brighter and warmer days ahead. Let’s just hope they don’t look and sound like this.

Xbox One: A Gadget Only Microsoft Could Make

Last’s weeks Xbox One release was met with shouts from fans, detractors and longtime followers of the company’s plays in the consumer space.

Of course, the most noise originated from users who aren’t fans of the decisions made by Microsoft as of late. There was also an audible cheering from fans who are simply ecstatic to have a next-generation Xbox One to call their own. Though both extremes are valid, I think those paying attention to Microsoft’s handling of the Xbox One will realize that the device perfectly encapsulates Microsoft as it is today.

Take the company’s approach to the console itself. Rather than create a next-generation gaming system that simply allowed users to do the same things they could on the Xbox 360 with higher fidelity, Microsoft choose to put future entertainment ambitions at the forefront. Sure, the Xbox One is a next-generation gaming system, buts it’s also a television set-top box that comes closer to meeting consumer standards than most living-room focused products.

Instead of relying on DVDs and just an updated controller, the company made the decision to ship every console with a completely overhauled Kinect sensor and set a baseline for what users expect from its future consoles. Yes, attempting to innovate while facing a competitor who’s perfectly content with not pushing the envelope and coming in at a lower price is bold.

All of these decisions didn’t exactly harmonize Microsoft’s base of users. There are some gamers who are absolutely offended by Microsoft’s decision to create one device that costs users $100 more than the competition. Many users weren’t fans of the Metro interface that Microsoft introduced in Windows 8, and you can bet they aren’t too happy with having that same interface here. Early on Microsoft was even willing to upset the used game market if it meant it could, theoretically, make it easier for gamers to switch games and share digital titles with friends and family. Yes, it back tracked on that it, but there are still users clamoring for both of those features. This is a Microsoft that isn’t afraid to make tough decisions that everyone won’t agree with. It’s not a characteristic we’ve much of from Microsoft until recently.

Finally, the Xbox One is a device that only Microsoft could have created. The console’s headline features are a perfect snapshot of just how many businesses and technologies Microsoft has. The foundations of Xbox OS belong to Microsoft’s HyperV and Windows businesses. Its voice and search technologies are from the TellMe and Bing Teams. Its Cloud Compute servers are powered by Microsoft’s Azure platform. Microsoft is one of the few companies who could create a project like this, and this is the same company industry watchers browbeat year after year for not working in unison.

Of course, there are things here that perfectly represent one of the biggest things this “new” Microsoft gets wrong. We all know that the Xbox One will evolve overtime, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. However, the Xbox One’s software doesn’t feel done. Big name apps like Comcast and AT&T U-Verse are flat-out missing, Xbox Music lacks access to the same music video catalog users had access to on the Xbox 360.

The Xbox One doesn’t allow users to customize it outside of pinning apps in one section of the Dashboard and changing their tile color. This is an issue we’ve seen with Windows Phone and Windows too. Not a single product outside of what SkyDrive and Outlook feels done by the time it goes to consumers. I suspect that it’s a side-effect of shipping software products so often. However, I don’t think end users care why it’s a constant struggle for them as much as they want to see one idea fleshed out in an initial release.

Like it or not. The Xbox One is Microsoft as it exists today. A bold, divisive, monolithic company who prefers to meet deadlines in the hopes of not arriving into a market too late. I suppose whether these characteristics are good for the Xbox One or Microsoft as a whole depends on whether consumers respond well to either.

Final Draft Writer on Sale for $29.99

Maybe you want to write a new script about Black Friday and all of the chaos it brings. You’re standing in line, being jostled by throngs of desperate shoppers and the idea hits you for the big climactic scene. You don’t want to lose that idea, so you take some notes. Well, you could be putting it into script writing software on your iPad.

Aspiring screenwriters probably already know of Final Draft. Many in show business consider it the  industry standard in screen writing software. If you want to write for the stage there are templates for that as well.  There is also a version for iOS called Final Draft Writer. These are expensive tools for professionals. Final Draft for the desktop runs $249. Final Draft Writer for iOS normally runs $49.99 Both Apps are well done and offer a wealth of tools for those toiling to create the entertainment titles we’ll see on the big screen or on the stage in the future.

If you’ve ever been tempted to take a look at Final Draft Writer on iOS, this might  be your chance. Final Draft Writer is on sale for $29.99, a full $20 off the regular price of $49.99. Many in the script writing biz swear by Final Draft, and with the iOS version you can now edit scripts on the go, as well as create new ones.

Some of the features include:

*Professionally formatted TV, Film and Stageplay templates to help get you started
*Automatic More’s and Continued’s
*SmartType remembers your Character Names, Scene Headings, and more
*Quickly change elements with Tab and Enter quick-navigation
*Character Highlighting allows you to keep track of your characters for table reads or character development
*Shows Active or Collated Revisions with Colored Pages
*Includes production features like Scene Numbering and Locked Pages
*Quickly switch from one revision set to another
*Easily add text and paragraph styles to your script
*Track key information with Cast Reports, Scene Reports, Location Reports, and more
*Export to PDF
*Bluetooth keyboard compatibility

I’ve used Final Draft and Final Draft Writer for play scripts and find that it is an excellent writing tool. Note that Final Draft 9 is coming out in 2014, so if you purchase Final Draft 8 now, you’ll be eligible for a free upgrade when it is released.