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Switched On: Rubber brands
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. More Info Android 4.1 Jelly Bean review: a look at what's changed in Google's mobile OS Sony Xperia Tablet S hands-on Samsung Galaxy Camera One sits far atop the Android smartphone heap while the other has recently stepped up its efforts to compete more aggressively by acquiring the stake of its decade-long joint venture partner. But at the recent IFA event, electronics giants Samsung and Sony both acknowledged the importance of their smartphone sub-brands by stretching them into new product categories. For Sony, its Xperia sub-brand hopped across to its tablet while Samsung brought the Galaxy brand to a connected camera. How these companies have stretched these brands reflects their relative position both in terms of where they've moved from and where they've moved to. For Sony, the move of Xperia to another product category represents somewhat of a full circle (as does the return of the Sony brand to handsets itself). Part of the early playbook for Sony Ericsson was to bring established Sony Electronics brands -- notably Cyber-Shot and Walkman -- to phones focused on imaging and music in the heyday of the feature phone, which the joint venture clung to for too long. Xperia, in contrast, was the company's first "native" sub-brand meant to evoke "experience", of course. And while many in the line have been well-received, they never translated into a strong global market share for Sony Ericsson.
Switched On: Low flame
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. For many products -- TVs and the iPod, for example -- the leap to color displays represented an evolutionary change. But color was just part of the big leap that Amazon made with the Kindle Fire, moving from a reading appliance to a converged device. There was no couching it as "a reader's tablet", the positioning Barnes & Noble had sought with the Nook, even though Amazon now claims that it has the "best content ecosystem." Still, as discussed two weeks ago in Switched On, Amazon still managed to fly well under Apple's radar with an inexpensive, smaller tablet, one that broke a "magic" price point of $200.
Switched On: The old adventures of new 3D
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In the unmarked office of 3-D Vision, Inc., you can see a television or PC display a videogame or movie with a convincing stereoscopic effect. That might not seem very unique. However, the television is a CRT from the 1990s, the video game is Super Mario for the Nintendo 64 and the movie is The Wizard of Oz, made in 1939. Despite the growth in 3D television sales, the requirement to wear 3D glasses has loomed as one of the most significant barriers to adoption. 3-D Vision's technology still requires glasses, at least for now. However, with some caveats, it overcomes some of the other, oft-overlooked barriers to 3D adoption by creating 3D video from 2D content on 2D (or 3D) displays. On televisions, this is achieved via a small set-top box -- a prototype of which approaches the size and noise level of a mini-fridge -- that plugs into the video source and the TV and converts the video in real-time with virtually no latency. The box should be available early next year.
Switched On: Trading places
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. If widespread rumors hold true, the coming weeks will see two of the most successful tablet vendors invade each other's screen size turf. Apple, which once rebuked the 7-inch tablet as unfit for normally proportioned human hands, appears ready to try its own hand at an iPad rumored to be on the larger side of the 7- to 8-inch range. Amazon, which lagged its bookselling rival Barnes & Noble in bringing out a color tablet, stands ready to introduce an infernal successor to the Kindle Fire that may include a display that is close to 9-inches or larger. It's not quite the first ride along the screen size escalator for either company. For Apple, a smaller iPad would fill in the iOS screen size gap between the iPhone and iPad. For Amazon, also rumored to be working on a phone, a larger color tablet would revisit the ground it explored to lackluster results with the Kindle DX. That product hasn't kept up with even e-paper-based e-readers with advances such as touchscreens and side-lighting, both of which are found in the latest Nook Simple Nook.
Switched On: The watch and the workhorse
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In mature, competitive markets flooded with products, many brands come and go. Last week, though, two companies came to New York City to celebrate milestone anniversaries of their electronic products. Lenovo celebrated the 20th anniversary of the ThinkPad as Casio marked the 30th anniversary of the G-Shock watch. The notebook PC remains among the most versatile and complex devices consumers use today while the watch is one of the simplest. Yet some commonality between these two products may include lessons for other technology products that wish to remain around for decades.
Switched On: Surface damage
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. As Switched On discussed a few weeks ago, and as Microsoft noted in its recent 10-K filing, it is an unavoidable truth that the company getting into the hardware market will cause conflict with its partners. The extent of that conflict, though, depends on many variables and Microsoft can -- and must -- take steps to ameliorate it.
Switched On: For OUYA, it's game on
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In discussing the varied routes Android has taken to the television, Switched On recently touched on OUYA, the cuboid game console that will run Android games. The project has surpassed the $5.5 million mark on Kickstarter and once seemed poised to pass the Pebble smartwatch's record for overall funds collected just like it broke the record for funds collected in the first day.
Switched On: An Office outside the Metro
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The two worlds of Windows 8 -- one: a traditional desktop UI and the other: the touch-optimized Metro UI -- can, at first, seem so different that they contrast like the multiple personalities of Batman's enemy Two-Face. Yet, despite the different appearances, the forthcoming version of Microsoft's venerable operating system is not about absolutes, but optimizations.
Switched On: Android's TV triple threat
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Just two years ago, Google TV paved a way for Android to enter the television via integrated sets, Blu-ray players, dedicated TV add-ons and pay TV set-top devices. For now, the product may almost be as much of a hobby for the purveyor of questionable eyewear as Apple TV is for Apple, Google's mobile OS competitor. But it's clear that the platform isn't all things to all couch potatoes; the last several weeks have seen the launch of two new, contrasting approaches to getting Android on the big screen in the home.
Switched On: The netbook legacy
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In describing Toshiba's decision to exit the U.S. netbook market, Engadget eulogized that it was "a sad day for those who like their computers tiny." Toshiba, a pioneer in the ultraportable market with the Libretto and Portege, produced what were among the best-regarded netbooks despite entering the market late. Indeed, even with the many aspersions cast upon netbooks by one-time friends (such as Dell and Toshiba) and perennial foes (such as Apple) alike, the accelerating exit of netbooks will leave a void in the marketplace. Many consumers saw the value of a 10-inch device with an integrated keyboard that can run Windows apps, available new in some configurations for $250 or less. And yet, even as major PC companies flee the field, accessory makers such as Logitech and Zagg, as well as overfunded Kickstarter projects such as Brydge or Incase's Origami case, present new ways to unite the iPad with its most conspicuous missing component: the keyboard. It seems incongruous that a 10-inch netbook is undesirable whereas a 10-inch tablet paired with a keyboard for which it is not optimized is. And most keyboards for the iPad use Bluetooth, the use of which is verboten on flights (even as WiFi has been approved).
Switched On: The fight, the fancy, and the future
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. While Microsoft's motivations in announcing Surface differed meaningfully from Google's when it announced the Nexus One, the Redmond company took advantage of the precedent that Google set in releasing a device that competed with those of licensees. At Google I/O, it was Google's turn to again approach the hardware market, this time with three devices that took the company into new categories and targeted different competitors. The trajectory of each product reveals clues about the company's direction.
Switched On: Competing by hook or by Nook
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Microsoft has a long history of supporting bitter rivals -- even those that have long publicly disparaged the company, offering funds to Nokia, Corel and, most famously, Apple. It also has a long history of supporting e-reading. Prior to ending development last year, the company offered its Microsoft Reader software for about a decade -- first on handheld devices using Windows CE and Windows Mobile and later on desktop Windows. Those two traditions intersected yesterday as Microsoft invested in a new Nook e-book business designed to compete better against Apple and especially Amazon.com.
Switched On: When the smartphone giveth, Part 2
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In case you missed it, Part I of this article can be found here Last week's Switched On discussed the Slacker Portable, Sony eMarker and TrafficGauge, three dedicated devices that didn't make it but saw their functionality ultimately realized via smartphones. But there have been other idea for which the idea ultimately proved popular as smartphone bits rather than separately packaged atoms.
Switched On: The iPad's landscape orientation
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The two major classes of tablet seeking to grab a share of the iPad's market have in many ways been driven by operating system advances. Windows 8 will bring the new Metro user interface and ARM support to allow what has historically been the more powerful PC class to scale down. Android 4.0 unifies the platform's tablet and smartphone operating systems, encouraging it to take better advantage of the larger screen capabilities and scale up.Indeed, the full potential of the new iPad won't be known until the release of iOS 6 to fuel Apple's historically tight pairing of hardware and software; that other shoe will likely drop at its developer conference in June. Despite the lack of a new operating system or form factor, the third-generation iPad and its now price-reduced predecessor have set the stage for how Apple plans to defend against Android and Windows tablets.
If Siri were paired with a GPS app
We all love Siri. Whether it's the fascinating and sometimes unintentionally humorous comments that it makes, or the fact that it's surprisingly useful in a variety of situations, Siri has captured the imagination of many iPhone users. In a guest post for our sister site Engadget, NPD Group executive director and principal analyst Ross Rubin mused about how great it would be if Siri was paired with GPS navigation capabilities. Rubin's got a point -- right now Apple's intelligent assistant can give you directions, but won't verbalize the turn-by-turn instructions. And navigation apps (and standard GPS navigation units) are, in Rubin's words, "about as passive an experience as watching TV." Rubin imagines a mix of Siri's conversational interface with GPS navigation. As an example, he wonders if you could ask Siri "How's the Grand Central Parkway looking?", and have the app report back on how good or bad traffic currently is on that highway and suggest whether you should switch to another route. It would be even more useful to have Siri and GPS navigation capabilities to accept off-route, unplanned side trips. Rubin uses the example of heading to a party and getting a call from the host asking you to pick up a cake. You'd ask Siri to find a bakery along the way and add that side trip to the route to the party. As he notes, currently you'd need to pull over, search for the bakery, and then add that destination to your trip. The post by Rubin ends with the words "GPS technology has always shined when we are on an unfamiliar path. Pairing it with an intelligent network agent, though, could imbue even a familiar journey with an unfamiliar level of convenience." What do you think? Is Siri-powered navigation coming to future iPhones? Leave your comments below.
Daily Update for December 12, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Engadget Distro Issue 12 -- Now with more exclusive content!
You asked and we answered. Engadget Distro Issue 12 is here, and it's full of original content. We've got not one, not two, but three never-before-published features for you this week. Michael Gorman takes you on a tour of NASA's next-gen spacecraft, Brad Molen goes behind the scenes at AT&T to reveal what it takes to make a smartphone, and analyst Ross Rubin makes his Distro debut to pose the question: What's next for the nano? This week we'll also bring you our Nokia Lumia 800 and Motorola Droid RAZR reviews and follow HotHardware's Dave Altavilla in his ascent to geekdom. And last, but certainly not least, Box Brown gives you a healthy helping of iPad 3 rumors in the Distro comic. So, pick up that iPad or hit the PDF link below and get ready for a nice long read. Distro Issue 12 PDF Distro on the iTunes App Store Like Distro on Facebook Follow Distro on Twitter
Switched On: Apple's cloud conundrum
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. It is hard to believe that Apple has been trying its hand at the Internet services space since the year 2000, when it launched iTools. Like nearly all of iCloud, with which it shares its trademark vowel prefix, iTools was free. Unlike iCloud, though, its collection of services was all over the map, ranging from Web page creation to greeting cards. iCloud marks the third reboot of Apple's Web services suite since that foray. In the intervening years, we've seen .Mac (essentially a subscription version of most iTools features), and MobileMe, which paved the way for the contact and calendar synchronization that will be free as part of iCloud. Modern-day Apple has shown an appreciation for seamless network access since the launch of the iMac in 1998, which eschewed floppy drives in favor of network-based sharing. One can even trace a belief in the power of the network further back to eWorld, AppleLink, and even the Mac's early, simple networking technologies, AppleTalk and LocalTalk. Internet services are clearly complementary to advanced devices running sophisticated software -- two areas where Apple excels. So why has the cloud rained on Apple?
Switched On: As Windows loses its windows
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. You say you want a revolution? Well, you know... . you might get one if you're a patient Windows user. With Windows' eighth major release (at least according to Microsoft's math), its name is becoming metaphorical. Taking on a default look that is rooted in Windows Phone 7 -- the first "Windows" to eschew windows -- with a smattering of Media Center, the next major version of Windows marks an overhaul of the initial user interface. Indeed, it is even a more radical departure than Apple made between Mac OS X and iOS, which preserved a scaled-down dock and icons, or between Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X. Apple's and Microsoft's approaches are similar in at least one way -- each has one operating system for PCs and another for phones. Clearly, though, the longtime operating system rivals have taken different tacks with tablets.
Reserve Power: Stand Off, Part 2
Ross Rubin contributes Reserve Power, a column focused on personal perspectives and products. Last week's Reserve Power introduced six handset stands for propping up your miniature movie theater. This week's column takes on a half-dozen more, names my favorites, and concludes with a chart detailing which phones fit which stands.
