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CE-Oh no he didn't!: GM's Dan Akerson says he 'wouldn't be caught dead in a Prius'
Think GM's CEO sees the Toyota Prius as a worthy competitor that, in many ways, paved the way for the Chevy Volt? Think again. Speaking to the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. this week, GM CEO Dan Akerson described Toyota's hybrid as a "geek-mobile," and flatly declared that he "wouldn't be caught dead in a Prius." Not surprisingly, it didn't long for Toyota to respond to that slam, with a company spokesman telling The New York Times that "Toyota has sold more than two million Prius hybrids worldwide, and counting. Those buyers can't all be geeks." What's most troubling to us about all of this, however, is the implication that a "geek-mobile" is somehow a bad thing -- it sounds pretty awesome to us... geeks.
CE-Oh no he didn't!: NVIDIA chief calls Galaxy Tab 'a large phone,' can't wait to show you some real tablets
We've literally been waiting for Tegra 2 tablets since CES in January, but that isn't stopping NVIDIA boss Jen-Hsun Huang from extolling their virtues yet again, this time on a roadmap that points to just after next year's CES. In his company's most recent quarterly results call, Huang was bullish about the disruptive potential of tablets, but insisted that they can't simply be built like the Galaxy Tab (or the Folio 100, for that matter), which uses a smartphone OS stretched out to a larger screen. "A tablet is not a large phone," says Huang, and he's of course not alone in expressing frustration with Android's current immaturity for the tablet realm, but once Google's slate-friendly OS update drops, he promises NVIDIA will be ready to capitalize: "Our tablet and phone business is going to ramp. And it's going to ramp hard." We're looking forward to all this ramping, oh yes we are. Update: Later on the call, Jen-Hsun Huang dropped a bit of knowledge on his listeners, showing Apple's iPad some love. "You can't just put an operating system on a tablet and hope that -- on a piece of glass -- and hope that you can compete against the iPad. The iPad is a wonderful product, and if you're going to give that wonderful product a run for its money, you'd better build something absolutely exquisite." Huzzah!
CE-Oh no he didn't!: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg says 'the iPad's not mobile... it's a computer'
Facebook's mobile event today may not have had the revelations many were expecting, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg did drop a bomb of sorts in the Q&A at the end. Responding to a question about a possible Facebook iPad app, Zuckerberg shot back by saying that "the iPad's not mobile... it's a computer." Of course, he did quickly clarify that he didn't mean to be rude to Apple, and added that "we all love Apple products," the iPad just "isn't mobile in the same way."
CE-Oh no he didn't!: Anssi Vanjoki says using Android is like peeing in your pants for warmth
You've been asking and imploring, so Anssi Vanjoki -- straight shooter, that he is -- now has an answer. Why doesn't Nokia switch to Android? Because Google's software represents only a short-term solution that will lead to bigger quandaries down the line, says he. Anssi was even graceful enough to illustrate this point with a vivid example, saying that mobile manufacturers who go the Android route are doing no better than Finnish boys who "pee in their pants" for warmth in the winter. Yeah. We don't know where to go from here either. To be honest, there's a legitimate point behind this trash talk, as the FT notes some analysts agree with Anssi that relying on Android as the universal OS may lead to "permanently low profitability" with users failing to distinguish among different brands if they all offer the same experience. Then again, tell that to HTC. [Thanks, Maark]
CE-Oh no he didn't!: IBM's Palmisano says HP 'used to be' an inventive company
The finest putdowns are usually the simplest. To wit, check out IBM's Chief Executive Trashtalker, Samuel Palmisano, whose elegant use of the past tense relegates HP's current status to that of a mere has-been innovator. Now, says Sam, HP is forced to acquire new companies just to keep up, thanks in part to Mark Hurd's slashing of investment in research and development. Speaking of Hurd, Palmisano also thinks HP failed its investors by handing him a fat severance package as he promptly jumped ship to Larry Ellison's Oracle loveboat. Another reason why Palmisano isn't worried about HP is that he sees the PC era as already over, describing IBM's sale of its PC business to Lenovo as an act of foresight, and adding that he "couldn't give it away today." Clearly they don't mince their words over at International Business Machines.
CE-Oh no he didn't!: Acer founder characterizes Apple as a mutant virus
Wow, a mutant virus? This analogy may sound like a ringing bell for another cat fight on the playground, but Acer founder and retired chairman Stan Shih is actually semi-praising Apple here. Speaking at the launch of an Acer touch-themed design competition, Shih said that while Apple's taking the "revolution" highway to tackle the PC market, Acer's success has always depended on its time-consuming but more pragmatic "evolution" strategy, and it'll keep doing so to lay the ground for the next 30 years or so. Here's how China Times paraphrased Shih: "Apple is like a mutant virus, escaping from the traditional structure of the PC industry, but the industry will still eventually build up immunity, thus further blocking this trend, and we believe the size of the non-Apple camp will exceed Apple's, because this is how the industry normally evolves." Assuming the second half of Shih's quote refers to the tablet market share, this certainly echoes the words of his good friend JT Wang. That said, this is also the man who's boldly predicted that all American PC brands will be gone within 20 years, but there's no promise that Apple won't be kicking out a few more revolutions in the coming years. Anyway, doesn't Acer have more to worry about for the mean time?
CE-Oh no he didn't!: Foursquare's Crowley calls Places 'boring,' becomes mayor of Bittersville
You don't have to make a physical product to be a snippy CEO, and Foursquare co-founder and chief officer Dennis Crowley is proving that. He's been playing with the recently launched Facebook Places, saying "it's not that great or interesting," and that it offers "barely any incentives for users to keep coming back and telling their friends where they are." We're going to go ahead and figure that's because Facebook isn't in the business of making games, rather in creating APIs that let others create games that capture the minds and the clicks of its teeming masses of users. In other words, don't be surprised if mafiosos start competing to become Dons of this or that Italian joint, virtual farmers rush to plant their crops in the most verdant fields in your neighborhood, and your Feed gets way more annoying than you ever thought possible.
CE-Oh no he didn't!: LG's Ma promises Optimus tablet 'will be better than the iPad'
There's brave talk, there's foolish talk, and then there's the 5nm line that separates the two. While LG's Chang Ma didn't seem to be dabbling in either during yesterday's Wall Street Journal interview, some subsequent revelations from the financial paper do quote him straying into daring new territory. Having already described the upcoming Optimus tablet as something that will surprise us with its productivity and focus on content creation, LG's Marketing VP (we know, not exactly the CEO) has apparently gone the full way and straight up claimed that "our tablet will be better than the iPad." We'll let you judge on which side of the brave/foolish divide that falls, but it's certainly an indication of searing ambition on LG's part, and should, together with the promise that the US will be "a key market" for the tablet, make pleasant reading for Android slate aficionados.
Ce-Oh no he didn't!: Larry Ellison likens HP board to 'idiots' at Apple
Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO and regular tennis buddy of the disgraced (and now former) chief of HP Mark Hurd, has decided to share his thoughts on the matter of Hurd's departure in an impassioned email to the New York Times: "The H.P. board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago. That decision nearly destroyed Apple and would have if Steve hadn't come back and saved them." The communique, also obtained by the Mercury News, included other tasty tidbits such as Ellison describing HP's disclosure of the apparently unfounded sexual harassment claim against Hurd as "cowardly corporate political correctness," and dismissing the financial irregularities that forced the former CEO's resignation as "petty expenses report errors." So, in short, the world according to Larry is populated by messianic CEOs who shouldn't be held up to the same petty standards as the rest of us.
CE-oh no he didn't!: Microsoft's Kevin Turner says iPhone 4 might be Apple's Vista
While not technically a CEO, Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner is not immune to a certain amount of executive level foot-in-mouth. Speaking at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in DC and chatting up his company's upcoming slate of Windows Phones, he couldn't help a little iPhone bashing: "It looks like the iPhone 4 might be their Vista, and I'm okay with that." Should we point out to Kevin that attempting to criticize your competition by comparing it to your own flagship products is usually counterproductive, or leave him to figure it out on his own during some early morning magnificent moustache contemplation session?
ReQuest threatens to enable DVD piracy on its media streamers, announces one sans DVD
Enjoy copying DVDs onto $5,000 boutique home servers? If you've got the dough, ReQuest has got you covered -- CEO Peter Cholnoky says that even if California courts make the practice illegal, his firm isn't afraid to push back. When CE Pro asked whether he was concerned about the fallout from the Kaleidescape lawsuit, he said, "Nope, should I be?" adding that ReQuest could convert existing equipment to use third-party DVD-copying software "in two seconds" should the courts try to shut him down. Given that the company's new $1,200 MediaPlayer (above) doesn't have the requisite DVD drive for ripping discs anyhow, that sounds an awful lot like braggadocio, but we have to say we love Peter's stick-it-to-the-man tone. Oh, and in case you're wondering, that MediaPlayer is slated to ship in June; you'll find a full spec sheet at our source link.
CE-Oh no he didn't!: Sony's Sir Howard says 'when you beat Apple, you're dominating'
Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer has always been delightfully direct, and he didn't hold back at Google's I/O conference: talking about Sony Ericsson with Eric Schmidt during the Google TV launch, Sir Howard noted that the Xperia X10 is the best-selling handset in Japan, and that "when you beat Apple, you're dominating -- it's the new definition." Strong words from a gadget titan -- we'll leave it to you to debate their veracity.
CE-Oh no he didn't!: Nokia's Anssi Vanjoki thinks cameraphones are about to make SLRs obsolete
From what we know of Anssi Vanjoki, he's a great guy and one that isn't afraid of admitting his company's mistakes. Alas, now we can also add to that dossier the ignominious fact that the fella doesn't seem to know how professional cameras work. Talking about the rapid improvement in cameraphone technology during a speech in Helsinki yesterday, Vanjoki said that very soon "there will be no need to carry around those heavy lenses." He's really enthusiastic about HD video coming to phones, which he predicts will be here within 12 months (if you ask Sony Ericsson, it's here already), but we just can't let that spectacular line about lenses slide. The glass you shoot through is, for a lot of people, the most important piece of photographic equipment and there are genuine reasons why said lenses are heavy, elongated, and typically unfriendly to pockets. Then again, this dude also thought the N-Gage was gonna be a success, so don't start selling off that glass stockpile just yet.
CE-oh no he didn't!: Reggie Fils-Aime says the iPhone OS isn't a 'viable profit platform for game development'
We can't say we'd expect Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime to lavish praise on iPhone OS gaming and the abilities of the iPad, but we figured everyone had to at least acknowledge the effect of Apple's handhelds on the market and the potential of its tablet, you know? Nope -- ol' Reg just told Kotaku that Apple "is not having an impact on Nintendo when you look at our business, our volume, our hardware, our software," and that "clearly it doesn't look like their platform is a viable profit platform for game development because so many of the games are free versus paid downloads." Snap -- although we'd bet plenty of top-tier iPhone game devs like ngmoco would argue that their "freemium" model is working plenty okay. That's not all, though, as Reggie also had some choice words about depth: "If our games represent a range between snacks of entertainment and full meals depending on the type of game, (Apple's) aren't even a mouthful, in terms of the gaming experience you get." Double snap -- we'll leave it to you to argue that one out.
CE-Oh no he didn't!: Katzenberg says 'beautifully styled' 3D glasses won't make you look like a dweeb
Another day, another CEO with more lip gloss than brain matter. Jeffrey Katzenberg has been talking to USA Today on what seems to be his favorite topic these days, 3D, and telling us that the glasses ain't no big deal. After all, "many many many people" wear glasses -- that's three lots of many for those keeping count at home -- and the new and improved 3D appendages are so "beautifully styled" that he expects them to start popping up at your local optometrist right next to the sunglasses and designer eyewear isles. In fact, this dude's sipping the corporate firewater so hard, we half-expect him to tell us that 3D offers "very high value" for money or ... wait, he said that too? Alright, we give up.
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part LXVIII: Only Apple and dope smokers claim to know the future of tablets, says Dell VP
What we'd normally brush off as pretty standard mainstream tech piece became comedy gold thanks to the acerbic wit of Dell's John Thode. The VP of mobile devices was discussing its companies entry into the tablet industry (all the while promoting the Mini 5, of course) and seemed to downplay Apple's iPad momentum. "It's really hard to kind of do the same thing over again twice or three times... [Apple] is going to have more competition here." A rational statement, but here's where it gets interesting: "If anybody tells you they know exactly what's going to happen here, they're either Apple, or they're smoking dope." Don't tell John, but we hear Gartner just hired the entire cast and crew of Dazed and Confused for a special analytics department.
CE-Oh no he didn't? Part LXVII: Steve Jobs lashes out at Google, calls Adobe 'lazy'
According to a report in Wired (and a source whom the publication says "could not be named"), Steve Jobs spoke to an audience of Apple employees at a town hall in Cupertino and... pulled zero punches. If you believe what you read, Jobs tackled a handful of major issues that have been buzzing the company lately, namely its run-ins with Google on a number of topics, and the lack of Flash support in its mobile devices (most notably in the upcoming iPad). On Google, Jobs had this to say: "We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won't let them." According to the attendee, another topic was brought up but Steve wouldn't let the Google issue go, stating his thoughts on the company's famous 'Don't be evil' line. In Steve's words? "It's bullshit." Furthermore Jobs had a handful of choice words for Adobe, calling the company "lazy" and claiming that "Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it's because of Flash. No one will be using Flash. The world is moving to HTML5." Of course, these amazing nuggets of wisdom come from a source which Engadget cannot verify, so it's possible there are misquotes or items taken out of context, though from the sounds of things, this kind of talk falls right in line with what we'd expect from the man who said Microsoft "had no taste" and makes "really third-rate products." We eagerly await Eric Schmidt's response.
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part LXVI: Acer founder predicts extinction of US PC makers within 20 years
Oh, this is as tasty as it is salacious. Acer founder and former chairman (now retired) Stan Shih has come out with the bold prediction that US computer brands are on the way out -- if they do not adjust to the new reality of a PC market focused on low cost. When asked how he foresees Acer and ASUS establishing their brand credentials in the USA when they're engaged in constant price wars, Shih resolutely stated that lowering costs and prices is the way to do it. Drawing an analogy to the fate of US television brands (pow!), Shih pointed out his belief that American vendors aren't capable (slap!) of delivering the sort of affordability that the market is set to permanently demand. As harsh as his words may be, let's not forget Acer recently jumped Dell for the number two spot in volume of global sales, so let's not ignore what may in fact be prophecy rather than mere prattle.
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XLV: Symbian's Lee Williams rips into Android, implies Google is evil (video)
Strap yourselves in, folks, we're about to launch the Mudslinger 3000 again and figure out if any of it sticks. Lee Williams of Symbian starts off with a few attack volleys relating to Google's "fragmentation" of UI elements, and the resultant closed APIs being a nightmare to code for. With so many divergent UI elements and styles, he argues, developers would suffer, and the consequence would be a less vibrant app ecosystem. His major gripe with Google's mobile OS, though, has to do with the pervasive "cookie-ing" of customers, which raises the specter of privacy concerns. When asked directly by our buddy Om Malik whether he considers Android "more evil" than Apple's iPhone OS, Williams replied: "I don't view Apple as evil, they're just greedy... Google, come on! When you have to say in your motto that we're not evil, right away the first question in my mind is, 'why do you have to tell me that?'" All this must be tempered by the knowledge that Android is set to overtake large swathes of the mobile OS space, and some retaliatory trash talking is probably to be expected from the incumbent smartphone leader. Om does ask another sage question, in querying why Williams thinks companies are making such large investments into Android, and you'll find the answer to that and much more in the video past the break. [Via MobileTechWorld; Thanks, fido] Read - Lee Williams interview with GigaOM Read - New York Times: 'Big Cellphone Makers Shifting to Android System' Read - PCWorld: 'Android, Symbian Will Own Smartphones in 2012'
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part LXIV: Microsoft's Greenberg says Xbox will outsell PS3 for 'entire generation'
Didn't think Microsoft exec Aaron Greenberg could top himself after saying that Hulu on 360 was like "asking out a really hot chick on a date?" Well, think again, 'cause Greenberg recently sat down with GameInformer for a fairly wide ranging interview, and he took the opportunity to toss a few bombs in Sony's direction. The biggest of those is that he's "confident" that the Xbox 360 will "not only outsell PS3 for the full calendar year, but for this entire generation" -- adding that it's "similar to a game of baseball, it is not about just winning one inning, but instead being able to win the game by consistently delivering across all nine innings." Greenberg also went on to say that Sony's expected good showing in the September sales numbers is merely a "short term bump," and that "it is not a real concern to us." Hit up the link below for the complete interview, which also includes talk of the Zune HD, Xbox Live, and Microsoft's plans for the holiday season.[Via PC World]
