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Daily Roundup: Apple outsells Samsung, Microsoft invests in Android and more!
Apple sold as many phones as Samsung did last quarter; Microsoft is investing in Android; and SkyMall might be saved. Head past the break to find all of today's top stories in the Daily Roundup.
SkyMall's savior might be one of the products that it used to sell
Rumors of SkyMall's demise might have been exaggerated, at least if the CEO of Scottevest gets his way. Scott Jordan, head of the company that makes coats with pockets sufficient to carry your entire gadget haul, believes that he's the man to save the moribund publication. According to the businessman, SkyMall was "doomed to fail." Presumably because being trapped 30,000 feet in the air isn't enough to convince you to buy a beer pager or protein-infused ketchup.
Apple's missing spark, HoloLens, Skymall and other stories you might've missed this week
Microsoft dives head-first into augmented reality, President Obama addresses the State of the Union -- and the internet-- and (say it ain't so!) Skymall files for bankruptcy. Get caught up on these stories and more in this latest edition of Weekends with Engadget.
Daily Roundup: The future of HoloLens, VR at Sundance and more!
Can Microsoft deliver on its ambitious HoloLens project? Meanwhile, filmmaker Shari Frilot brings virtual reality to Sundance and Google starts disclosing unpatched security issues in OS X. Get caught up on today's technology news in the Daily Roundup.
Crapgadget purveyor SkyMall is filing for bankruptcy
You'd be forgiven for thinking that SkyMall, the ubiquitous in-flight magazine featuring things you'd only buy when drunk on tiny liquor bottles and jet lag, was already dead. Well, it's alive -- but it appears not for much longer. SkyMall has just filed for bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal reports. Its killer? You guessed it: internet access and more gadgets on planes. The wider availability of in-flight WiFi "resulted in additional competition from e-commerce retailers and additional competition for the attention of passengers, all of which further negatively impacted SkyMall's catalog sales," said CEO Scott Wiley. Guess you'll just have to get your day of the week clocks and zombie garden statues elsewhere. [Photo credit: Shozu/Flickr]
Sky 3D channel comes home October 1 with Ryder Cup, EPL, movies and more
The Sky 3D channel has so far been officially available only in 1,500 or so UK pubs, but now its residential launch for all Sky+HD customers is slated for October 1. The 2010 Ryder Cup will serve as a launch event with three days of live coverage from Celtic Manor as the US and European teams do battle; the first ever in 3D, but the third such event it's covered in high definition. Golf fans won't be the only ones catered to, Premier League football will be returning once the season starts and today's announcement coincided with a SkyArts 3D filming arranged by the English National Ballet. Hollywood's major studios have already agreed to provide 3D movies including Bolt, Monsters vs. Aliens, Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince and more, while Sky has commissioned its own original 3D flick, Flying Monsters presented by Sir David Attenborough. Not quite ready for the 3D revolution? Feel free to put that on the backburner -- at least until the 2012 London Olympics -- as the network is also adding content from HBO, a large slate of new comedies, Anytime+ VOD, and a Sky Mobile TV iPad app. With an HD channel count of 43 and plans to reach 50 by year-end, there should be a little something there for everyone to enjoy.
Logic Wireless 150LGW projector phone reminds us of that Bolt we once saw
Remember the Bolt from CES 2009? Man, that was ages ago. If you'll recall, projector phones were actually all the rage for around 4.67 minutes at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, and ever since we've been dealt months of nothing alongside one lone ranger of something in the LG eXpo. Evidently Logic Wireless is hoping that we'll forget all about the Bolt that never shipped and instead focus on the next best thing: the 150LGW. Available for order now at Skymall (of all places), the projector phone looks significantly slimmer and more stylish than the company's first crack, and aside from the inbuilt PJ, there's also twin SIM card slots, dual cameras, an Office file viewer, quad-band GSM radio, Bluetooth and Symbian running the show. We aren't too sure we'd be willing to shell out $499 without any proof that this thing is worth its salt, but you can bet we'll be on the hunt for it once CES 2010 opens up next week.
Checking in on the Skymall Index
Back in February I humbly introduced the Skymall Index -- a highly unscientific, completely unofficial, 90% tongue-in-cheek metric for determining the scale of the iPod ecosystem by checking the Skymall catalog for iPod appearances and dividing that number by the count of old stock photos of obsolete Macs. On a flight from NYC to Detroit recently, I figured it was time to review the SI and check out the late spring 2007 catalog (is anyone else slightly weirded out by Alexander Innovation Wizard's gadget fist of power, or is it just me?). To keep the formula normalized (like that matters) I'm not going to factor in the appearances of old iPod models in charger photos; however, I am counting any Mac with the Apple logo redacted out as a 'vintage' stock photo, just out of spite. Anyway, on to the tally sheet:iPod peripherals, not counting multi-device chargers: 16, with the coolest being the Viewsonic PJ258d projector with built-in iPod dock, perfect for those nights on the deck with your inflatable screen. For what it's worth, almost every device that supplies electricity shows an iPod as one of the charging targets; even the Power Dome II utility generator is billed with "charges almost anything -- even your iPod!"Stock photos of old or obscured Macs: (including a Titanium PBG4 and a Wall Street PBG3 on facing pages of the Improvements section... yikes!): 5, but with a couple of MacBook Pro machines to bring things up to current spec. The trend of wiping out the Apple logo seems to be on the rise, but the machines are easily identifiable regardless.A bit of scrawling on the back of an envelope later, we come up with a current Skymall index of 3.2, compared to 1.83 the last time around. Not too shabby. Also worthy of note in this pass through the Skymall catalog: while a couple of vendors already advertise compatibility with the iPhone, there are exactly zero peripherals that say they work with the Zune.
The SkyMall Index: measure the iPod ecosystem
If you fly, you know the airborne retail experience: the SkyMall catalog, sitting in the seat pouch, reminding you that you really should have brought something to read. The compilation of useful household products (fake rocks to cover unsightly yard objects!), kitschy health & gadget items, and clothing (Carabella Collection, which my wife refers to as "the slutty clothes catalog") also includes plenty of iPod-related gear. In an effort to avoid direct in-flight childcare responsibilities, I decided to audit the iPod appearances in the current SkyMall catalog and contrast them with the number of vintage prop Macs used to demo computer furniture, as a proxy for Apple's past.iPod-compatible items advertised: 11, including chargers that support multiple devices but used an iPod in the catalog picture. Coolest: Icuiti iWear-1A video goggles.Macs used as props: 6, with two current and four old. Most egregious old Mac prop: a tie, between a WallStreet PB G3 on a telescoping desk, and a rolling CPU stand that appeared to contain a Power Mac 8100 -- both sent a cold shiver down my spine.The result: for the early spring 2007 Skymall Index, an iPod rating of 1.83 -- not bad! The iPod is easily the most visible single brand in the catalog, and shows up nearly as often as cellphones do. Now, I'd better get my order in for that pair of adult footie pajamas I've always coveted.Thanks Heidi!
