The Twelve Diva Days Of Christmas Holiday Giveaway WINNERS ANNOUNCED!
December 17th, 2012 by ChristenAs we come to the end of one of our most successful year’s yet, we’re so happy to share in the giving spirit of this holiday season by announcing the winners of one of our biggest promotional giveaways ever!
Over $2,000 in cash and prizes in this year’s Diva Days Of Christmas giveaway and with fabulous prizes from our sponsors: Case-Mate, Plantronics, Boy Meets Girl USA, XBox, Windows, HTC, Windows 8, Lane Bryant, Sears, Fabulous Furs, Sprayground and General Motors.
Thank you to all our loyal readers that entered, shared and supported Divas And Dorks in 2012! We can’t wait to bring you exciting promotions, giveaways and more in 2013!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
Now You Can Stream Over 30 Million Songs With XBox Music Live
October 15th, 2012 by ChristenYour Microsoft XBox is becoming more of a complete entertainment console that your originally thought. Long gone are the days of your Xbox just being a gaming system. Now it’s a complete entertainment system for every member of the family! Xbox Music will launch later this month with hopes of making a dent in the digital music industry.
Microsoft will roll out the new music streaming service to many customers on Tuesday as part of an update to the Xbox gaming console, and then the company will release it as a built-in feature on Windows 8 PCs and tablets starting on Oct. 26.
Xbox Live was first announced at an event in June of this year. The service will let users stream more than 30 million tracks worldwide across Microsoft’s ecosystem of Windows 8 mobile devices and PCs, as well as the Xbox. Think of it as Microsoft’s in-house version of Spotify.
Customers will have the option to stream music for free (with ads) or else pay $9.99 a month for an unlimited streaming subscription. Microsoft will also let customers purchase songs through Xbox Music for $0.99, which will operate similarly to Apple’s and Amazon’s music stores. What’s more, Microsoft plans to roll out a feature that will let users scan and match tracks they already have in their music collections and make these available for streaming from the cloud, just like with iTunes Match.
For Microsoft, Xbox Music represents a kind of do-over in the music market. The service will replace the Zune Marketplace, Microsoft’s online store for music and other entertainment offerings. Microsoft discontinued the Zune last year after the music player failed to compete against the iPod.
With Xbox Music, Microsoft appears to be acknowledging just how important it is to have a viable music service for mobile devices — like the soon-to-launch Surface tablet – in order to compete against similar offerings from Amazon and Apple.
If you currently own an Xbox, would you consider subscribing to Xbox Music unlimited subscription? Depending on your sounds system, it could eliminate ever having to buy another CD or MP3 again… What do you think? Sound off below…
Microsoft Monday (LIVE BLOG)
November 7th, 2011 by Christen
Our special friends at Microsoft has taken over our Monday with a series of events – in which we can’t help but proclaim today as Microsoft Monday! Everything from the new Windows phone, XBox 360 games, holiday gifts and more – if it’s Microsoft, then it’ll be here. Check back often as we update our Microsoft Monday (live) experiences hourly with up to date news and more right here on DivasandDorks.com.
12:00 noon – Arrived to Casa Nonna for the Microsoft Open House luncheon
12:30 – All the new Windows phones have great photo-taking / sharing quality!
2:00pm – At the @Microsoft Open House Event at The Manhattan Center
2:15pm – Entertaining at home with Windows (via your livingroom)
Control your entire home entertainment system with the wave of the hand & voice activated controls…
Get your ski on… (Even if you’re nowhere close to the slopes) thanks to the Xbox Kinect!
2:41pm – From entertaining to the home office…
Use Bing travel to find the best airfare & hotel prices to plan travel for the holidays…
3:01pm – Lisa with Microsoft discuses how easy it is to find the best travel deals on the web using Bing!
3:15pm – Iron Chef winner Alex Guarnaschelli discusses how she uses tech from the kitchen (as Executive Chef of The Darby & Butter in NYC) to everyday life with her family…
3:50pm – Me & Santa hanging out! I think he likes Divas & Dorks…(What do you think?)
4:00pm – Just made it to Herald Square (35th & 6th) for the Windows Extravaganza… It’s HUGE!
4:30pm – DJ Virman spinning live!
6:00pm – The Windows Phone event is underway
Absolutely addicted to the Smore’s from the event…thanks Sweetery NYC!
You Play Like A Girl…
June 16th, 2011 by ChristenWho says that gaming is a guys-only sport? I remember playing all the hot new games (back in my day) including, Super Mario Bros (The Original), Duck Hunt, (remember the Power Pad) and even battle games like Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter & 007. (That is, until my younger brother kicked my butt so hard in 007 that I refused to pick up another gaming controller ever again.)
If you’re a girl that’s into the games, this is for you! Interpret, a leading entertainment, media and technology market research firm, today released its Interpretations report, “Games and Girls: Video Gaming’s Ignored Audience,” which finds that the large female gaming market is more nuanced than its casual-centric reputation suggests, and that opportunities to profitably meet the needs of women and girls with games tailored to their preferences are underutilized.
The report examines the changing demographics of the female gamer and how, despite widespread interest in gaming among women and established market representation (50% overall), marketing efforts have largely ignored the group. According to Interpret’s New Media Measure™ syndicated study, console use among female gamers has increased significantly in the past two years – and not just for the Wii. In fact, 21% of women gamers now use an Xbox 360 and 16% a PS3, up from 17% and 12%, respectively, in 2009. Furthermore, women demonstrate increasing but under-acknowledged variety in genre preference – 44% prefer genres other than Casual, Exercise, and Music/Rhythm.
“Women not only exhibit different gaming behaviors than men, but also express attitudes about gaming that are dissimilar to those of their male counterparts,” said Courtney Johnson, Interpret analyst. “For instance, they are much more likely to prefer to play solo than men, and play games for less competitive and more narrative- and character-driven reasons. It remains to be seen whether developers and marketers will effectively invest in understanding and exploiting the undertapped female gaming market.”
