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Talkcast tonight, 7pm PDT/10pm ET: Crowdfunding edition!
All-new dial-in experience! See below -- do not call into Talkshoe, we won't be there. Be sure to set up Fuze Meeting before the show if you want to join in live. We come, once again, to Sunday evening, and with that comes the TUAW talkcast! Tonight's topics will include the usual Apple-related news, but we also have a special guest. Joining us tonight is friend of the show Ross Rubin, who will be discussing his new venture, Backerjack, covering crowdfunded products. Reminder on new-style talkcasting: With some help from the fine folks at Fuze, we're using a new system to record the show. This should let everyone listen in live -- and, if you want, raise your hand as you would in the Talkshoe room to get unmuted and chime in. You can join the call in progress (meeting # is 20099010) at 10 pm ET from any computer via this link; if you download the Mac or Windows Fuze clients ahead of time, you'll get better audio and a slicker experience, but browser-only will work fine. Just click the phone icon to join the audio once you're in. Using an iPhone or iPad? Grab the native clients from the App Store and get busy. (Even Android users can join the party.) Still feel like using the conventional phone dial-in? Just call (201) 479-4595 and enter the meeting number 20099010, then press #. While the Fuze web and native clients have a chat channel, we'd like to reserve that for host participants, requests to talk and other real-time alerts... so the full-on chat for the show will appear in this very post at 10 pm tonight. You'll need Twitter, Facebook or Chatroll credentials to participate in the chat. We'll remind everyone to check back in at that time.
Switched On: The why of the 'i' buy
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. For the past few years, the media has met iPhone introductions with skepticism that precedes great sales success. This has become such a cliché that the superstitious might worry what would happen should new iPhones be introduced to universal praise. But there was no cause for worry as far as the iPhone 5c and 5s were concerned. In the weekend following their initial availability, Apple reported that it sold 9 million iPhones, which set a new record for the company. A few of the reasons behind this success likely had less to do with the strength of the product per se. The new iPhones were launched in 11 countries as opposed to nine in the previous launch. The fast-growing market of China was one of those. It was also the first launch to include Japan's NTT DoCoMo. And back in the U.S. this marked the first time that new iPhones had been launched on all four major US carriers -- a significant shift from the product's first years as an AT&T exclusive. In fact, T-Mobile, the newest carrier to participate in an iPhone debut, has been particularly aggressive about promoting its Jump service that encourages upgrades, and its competitors have introduced their own upgrade-facilitation programs that grease the upgrade wheels for Apple and others.
Switched On: Three days without Google Glass
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The television. The PC. The cellphone. We take the things in these sentence fragments for granted today, but they took many years to enter the mainstream. Could Google Glass herald the next great product that we will one day wonder how we lived without? Based on three days of not using the product, you may want to ask someone else.
Switched On: Extreme takeover, Home edition
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Facebook's management doesn't see any dichotomy in the phrase, "Go big or go home," at least as far as it might pertain to Facebook Home. After being dogged for years with questions about whether the Land o' Likes would create its own smartphone despite consistent denials, the company explained that its own phone wouldn't give it the reach it would need for its more than 1 billion members. With the exceptions of the iPhone and the Galaxy S series, a successful handset today might sell 20 million units. That's a number that many services would dream of reaching, but it's just one-fiftieth of Facebook's user base. And yet, Facebook Home will start out factory-installed on only one device: the HTC First, a mid-range Android device available exclusively from AT&T. Home is also available as a download from Google Play for a handful of other popular Android handsets, including the Galaxy S III.
Switched On: Chrome on the range
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. If Chrome OS didn't start out with an inferiority complex living in the shadow of the massive adoption of its cousin Android, and with Eric Schmidt dismissing the hardware that would run it as cheap and interchangeable, the hardware companies that were early to adopt it didn't help matters. Chrome OS arrived on devices that weren't priced competitively against then-popular netbooks. Since then, though, the Chrome hardware story has been on a steady upswing. Thanks to Acer, Chromebooks broke the $200 price point. Thanks to Samsung, they made the leap to the ARM architecture, enabling longer battery life in a thin form factor. And thanks to HP and Lenovo, Chromebooks have joined the portfolios of two of the biggest names in corporate computing. While it may be nowhere near Android's scale in terms of overall devices, Chrome OS is now offered by three of 2012's top Windows PC manufacturers. That is certainly enough to show up on Microsoft's radar. Into this fray comes the Chromebook Pixel and it has clearly learned from other successful ecosystems.
Switched On: A 4K in the road
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The past decade has now seen at least three industry-wide technologies vie for the future of television -- HD, 3D and now 4K or UHD. The first of these -- HD -- represented a massive change for television that affected nearly every aspect of the TV experience from how it was captured to how it was consumed. A decade later, it is nearly impossible to purchase a TV that does not support high-definition. The second -- 3D -- was a mixed bag. While the technology became commonplace on high-end TVs, it has remained relevant for only a small fraction of programming. The question, then, is which of these paths, if either, 4K will follow.
Switched On: Moving forward with leaning back
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Just a few months have passed between the introduction of the Droid DNA and the new HTC One, but it seems that HTC has been turned upside down in that time. While the Droid DNA was introduced in conjunction with Verizon and can't be a wholly representative picture of how HTC might have introduced the device otherwise, it was a spec- and design-driven product -- a 5-inch, 1080p display with a 440-ppi density that appeared to spill over onto sides that included a microperforation. In contrast, little was said about the HTC One hardware itself until later in the device's introduction, surprising because the HTC One is not only the most attractive handset the company has ever built, but also certainly one of the most attractive on the market. While it is an Android device, the casing builds upon the tapered, Windows Phone-inspired 8X, substituting aluminum for polycarbonate. That said, there is also the spillover glass effect found on the Droid DNA. The HTC One retains the 1080p display found in the Droid DNA. However, since the screen is smaller, the pixel density is even higher (468 ppi) than in that record-breaking device.
Switched On: An ARM's race with Intel
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. As one would hope in dealing with two products that share the same name, Microsoft has maintained strong consistency between the Surface with Windows RT and Surface Pro. Allowing for a bit of girth variation, there's a similar industrial design as well as common features that have been nearly universally lauded (the snap-on keyboards) and lambasted (the underwhelming cameras). There's also an identical user interface as far as "modern" Windows apps are concerned. This has created an interesting lab test to see what customers really want from a Windows tablet in 2013. The early and unsurprising results indicate that it's really backward compatibility -- even at a premium of half the battery life and nearly double the price. Lenovo, which offers its Yoga 11 convertible as a Windows RT tablet, will also bring out the device in a Windows 8 version. Indeed, if one is attracted to some of the advantages that Windows RT offers on its ARM-based variants, such as the Snap and Share features, multiple devices with integrated keyboards, broad driver support and desktop Office compatibility, its toughest competitor is Windows 8.
Switched On: The 2012 Switchies, Part 2
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The last Switched On covered some of the major Switchie awards for the year, but there are many other products to recognize: The "Category's Meow" Award for Best New Category Creation goes to Supermechanical's TWINE, a small blue box that can relay information about its environment via WiFi to a website. Its fellow Kickstarter project Ninja Blocks followed suit with a more proactive two-way link to pick up an Honorable Mention. The "Mulligans Do" Award for Best Product Revamp goes to the Apple iPod family. After a bit of staidness in the venerable iPod nano, Apple came back with larger screens and slender profiles on both the iPod nano and iPod touch. Honorable mentions go to the Kindle family of e- readers, particularly the Kindle Paperwhite, and the Samsung Galaxy S line of smartphones from Samsung, which took a huge leap forward with the Galaxy S III.
Switched On: The 2012 Switchies, Part 1
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. It's that special time of year between the holiday sales and the pre-CES hype that presents an opportunity to consider some of the most innovative devices of the year. Switched On is proud to present the Saluting Wares Improving Technology's Contribution to Humanity awards, also known as The Switchies. This year marks the seventh annual Switchies, which are decided based on a rigorous examination of the opinion of me, and do not reflect the opinion of Engadget or its editors. For that latter honor, nominees will need to win an Engadget Award. This week's Switched On will cover many of the major award categories while next week's will cover some of the more obscure ones. Let's roll out the red carpet then.
Reality Absorption Field: Apple's wireless way
While it was announced amidst the October departure of Scott Forstall, the news that Bob Mansfield would un-retire to oversee all of the company's semiconductor and wireless work didn't get as much attention. Obviously, we are moving toward an increasingly wireless future. The technologies Apple chooses to adopt and how it adopts them will play big roles in terms of its platforms' capabilities and compatibility. Short-Range In 2012, we saw Apple gain a lot of attention for a new Lightning cable connector to replace its venerable 30-pin iPod interface. But while iPhone watchers were contemplating adapters and docks, phones from competitors such as HTC and Nokia adopted wireless charging and NFC. Apple passed on NFC in the iPhone 5 -- somewhat justifiably, from a pure payments perspective. Nonetheless, NFC has other applications as Samsung has been showing off in its commercials. While a bit late to the Bluetooth party, Apple has become an enthusiastic backer, supporting the technology well throughout the product line and being one of the first companies to implement Bluetooth Smart, the low-power version of the technology that is now finding its way into such objects as activity monitors, watches, and even light bulbs. While Apple will likely eventually adopt NFC, there is work going on in the Bluetooth camp on standards that could compete with NFC. Apple, of course, would prefer to deal with one radio instead of two. Medium-Range With the introduction of its first AirPort cards for the iBook way back in 1999, Apple led the industry in supporting Wi-Fi. Apple's efforts helped push the technology ahead of what was then a promising competing standard called HomeRF, backed by Intel. Nowadays, Wi-Fi is available throughout Apple's product line as it is for many other tech companies, and Apple has built AirPlay on top of it. It seems likely that Apple will support the next generation of Wi-Fi, 802.11ac. It remains to be seen, though, if Apple will support Wi-Fi Display and Wi-Fi Direct as it has adopted its own alternatives in AirPlay and AirDrop (although these are not necessarily mutually exclusive). AirDrop in particular seems like a promising way to easily move files between a Mac and iDevice without having to go through iTunes; hopefully this will be addressed now that the OS X and iOS teams are united under one manager. There are also other "whole-home" wireless technologies that Apple has heretofore passed on such as Zigbee or Z-Wave. These low-power radio technologies are at the heart of many security and home automation installations. But Apple will likely continue to refrain. Wi-Fi gateways can bridge control between iPhones and these products, and Bluetooth is becoming more competitive in terms of battery life. Long-Range In 2012, the third-generation iPad marked Apple's late jump onto the LTE bandwagon and the strong indication that the 4G technology would be the wireless foundation of the iPhone, which it was. LTE also made its way into the iPad mini, serving as a differentiator from inexpensive 7" tablets such as the Amazon Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet HD that lacked any cellular radio. Apple is already supporting LTE on many different bands across the three models of iPhones and iPads. More may be coming in the next generation of cellular-equipped products now that T-Mobile USA seems set to carry the company's products in 2013. However, it likely also has its eye on technologies, such as DIDO from Rearden Labs, that claim to leapfrog well-accepted standards like LTE. As wireless technologies continue to work their way into more objects and become cheaper and faster, Mac and iOS apps will be able to monitor, communicate with, and control a broader array of devices than ever before. Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research, a research and advisory firm focusing on consumer technology adoption. He shares commentary at Techspressive and on Twitter at @rossrubin. Views expressed in Reality Absorption Field are his own.
Switched On: Missed app-ortunity
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. This week marks Switched On's eighth anniversary. It's difficult to remember as jam-packed a week in terms of industry announcements from major OS providers as the recent seven-day stretch that included a bevy of hardware announcements from Apple, a new tablet and OS upgrade from Google, and two major operating system releases as well as an unprecedented hardware release from Microsoft. Of course, as would be expected from these dominant digital ecosystem stewards, all of the new products included elements of hardware, software and services, even if they were sometimes implicit. But each company could have done significantly more to highlight new third-party apps that were really taking advantage of that combination.
Switched On: Sell the hardware, attract the apps
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Microsoft has finally revealed details on the pricing for the all-singing, all-dancing Surface RT. True to Steve Ballmer's word, the Windows RT device is priced competitively with the iPad. It is, in fact, the same price as the entry-level, now not-so "new iPad" and with double the flash memory, an advantage that may change by the time the Surface ships. The commercial shows off the device's signature hardware features -- the kickstand and touch keyboard cover -- and plays up the "click" they make when they attach to the Surface, which is of course similar to the "click" made when an Apple Smart Cover connects to an iPad. And in a bit of irony for a product that is more focused on tapping than the mouse clicks of the desktop mouse, its campaign slogan is "click in." (It also raises the question as to why people would be constantly attaching the sold-separately touch keyboard when it doubles as a cover, but it is a commercial after all.) While expensive relative to the price of the device, Microsoft's keyboard covers represent an extension of one of Apple's best-conceived iPad accessories (the Smart Cover) and far exceed one of Apple's worst (the original iPad keyboard dock).
Switched On: Android's tablet troubles
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. If Google had to pick a device category in which it wanted Android to dominate, it would certainly be mobile phones for many reasons. Indeed, the original band of Android backers was dubbed the Open Handset Alliance. However, a strong position in tablets would not only have helped to round out the Android ecosystem, it would also have created a beachhead from which to take on Microsoft prior to the launch of its tablet strategy. Alas for Google, sales of Android tablets have been lackluster and several PC-centric licensees -- including Acer, Dell, Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba and even Android standard-bearer Samsung -- are hoping to improve their standing in the tablet market with imminent products based on Windows.
Switched On: iOS 6 gets back from the app
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Apple's App Store has more smartphone apps than those of its competitors. But the sheer size of the library is not the only source of consternation for Google or Microsoft, which would both readily concede that it's also important to obtain the kind of key apps, optimized apps and platform-first apps the iPhone enjoys. The iPhone's commanding marketplace lead is due to several factors. These include the huge number and historical affluence of its users and the ease of its App Store. The iPhone, though, was not the first phone to have apps. In fact, in its early days, it didn't have apps at all as the company urged developers to create optimized web apps for the platform similar to what Mozilla is now advocating for its streamlined mobile operating system Boot2Gecko. Apple originally put its efforts into creating archetypical apps for tasks such as calling, browsing, email and mapping. Rather than open the iPhone to third-party developers at first, it handpicked partners for various features, such as Google for maps and Yahoo for weather and stocks.
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.
