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Switched On: The 2011 Switchies
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. It's that special time of year between the post-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 sixth 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. Let's roll out the red carpet then.
Switched On: The year of reversal
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Back in 2005, Switched On dubbed its first full year of existence "The Year of the Switch" as IBM sold its PC business to Lenovo, Apple announced plans to leave the PowerPC platform for Macs and Microsoft moved to PowerPC processors for the XBox 360. But the dramatic reversals we saw in 2011 made even some of those decisions look tame by comparison.
Switched On: Open source, open issues for webOS
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. HP's decision to contribute webOS to the open source community represents, at the very least, a detour from the company's plans to "double down" on the operating system acquired from Palm, Inc. The good news for fans of the OS is that HP will continue to invest in the software's development, albeit probably not at the unsustainable rate at which it was going it alone. And for webOS fans, the decision is certainly more favorable than another possibility that HP considered -- ending the development of webOS software as abruptly as it ended the hardware..Still, webOS faces an uphill climb if it is to emerge as a viable option for device makers. HP itself says that it may not enter the webOS device market again until 2013 and we've seen no public statements from other major device makers champing at the bit to build devices based on the software, at least not in its current state. That means that the addressable market for webOS updates is the relatively meager installed base of TouchPads and the handful of Pres, Veers and Pixis, and many owners of those smartphones will likely move on as their contracts expire..
Switched On: A road trip with Siri
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. When considering the great technology advances of the past few decades, GPS tends to get short shrift compared to such culture-rocking innovations as the internet and cellular networks. But it is a marvel nonetheless. Just a few generations ago, the idea of hopping in a car with no clue how to get to a particular destination was foolishness (or at least fodder for gender-stereotyping comedians). Today, with an inexpensive device or smartphone software, we can do so with near certainty of finding our way. Developers of navigation apps and hardware must place great care in creating an experience that doesn't unnecessarily distract the driver. For example, quite a few involve "lane assist" features that starkly indicate the options when coming to a fork in the road so that the driver avoids having to stare at the screen too long to figure out the right path. In addition, spoken instructions have long been a defining commodity. While Telenav, for example, offers a free version of its navigation app, it doesn't include such audio. And Nokia recently followed suit with its distribution strategy around Nokia Drive, leaving the version with spoken turn-by-turn directions exclusive to its Windows Phones.
Switched On: Keeping the 'app' out of Apple's TV
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Rumors continue to heat up that Apple will enter the television market next year, stepping up its Apple TV "hobby" into a greater revenue-generating vocation. The company would clearly like to repeat the kind of rousing success it has seen in smartphones. There, it entered a market at least as crowded and competitive as that for televisions whereas most of its Windows rivals have barely been able to eke out a few models with nominal share.Indeed, the challenge is not as much about competition as commoditization. At first glance, this would be a curious time for Apple to enter the TV space. The HD and flat-panel transitions on which premium manufacturer brands and retailers once feasted has long passed. "Flat-panel TV" and "HDTV" are now just "TV." And prices for smaller sets are settling into a range familiar to those who remember what they cost back in the heyday of CRTs.
Switched On: HTC goes back to the feature
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Motorola's Droid RAZR takes enough pages out of the classic textbook of smartphone differentiation to assemble its own chapter. It sets a new standard for thinness in LTE devices, uses leading-edge display technology, resists flexing, glass breakage and water damage, has a striking design and thoughtfully selected materials, stretches battery life, matches with a bevy of optimized accessories, and enables remote file and media access via Motocast software . Who's it for? Just about any Verizon customer willing to pony up. Its rival HTC has also long played the one-upsmanship game. It has invested in a software layer designed to have populist appeal. Moreover, it has catered to US carriers' priorities by being first out of the gate to support T-Mobile's 3G network (with the first Android phone, the G1) and Sprint's and Verizon's 4G efforts, as well as one of two to initially support AT&T's LTE network.
Switched On: Next for the nano
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. For all the grousing about the minimal changes from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 4S, Apple's fastest smartphone incorporates sweeping shifts compared to what the company did with its iPod line. From keeping the waning iPod classic in the lineup to leaving the still-potent iPod touch untouched save for a blanching and price reduction, the venerable digital media player line seemed all but ignored at a time of year when Apple once primed the holiday pump for MP3 players. Yet, while the iPod touch may not have received the processor boost or Siri-ousness of the iPhone 4S, it at least continues to remain vibrant via access to Apple's app store. That's not the case for the nano, once the flagship of the line. While Apple's smallest touchscreen device gained new software that enlarged the main icons and brought new clock faces, these improvements are also being offered to owners of the last-generation iPod nano via a software update.
Switched On: Motorola's manic modularity
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. When newly independent Motorola Mobility introduced its Atrix handset on AT&T at CES, the smartphone was generally well-received. But what drew more attention was the range of accessories that the company has continued to support through other high-end launches such as those of the Photon on Sprint and the Droid Bionic on Verizon. These products now include a car dock for navigation, HDMI dock for entertainment, and lapdock for enhanced productivity. Motorola wasn't the first company to introduce an HDMI dock, and Asus' Padfone embeds a handset more directly into another device than do Motorola's products. Taken together, though, the Motorola dock derby best positions the handset as the heart of a mobile lifestyle -- one that can be easily transplanted so that it can overcome the limitations of its native form factor. It is a fitting push for one of the few smartphone companies not vested in other traditional electronic devices such as PCs or televisions.
Switched On: The clamshell mystique
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In 2009, Switched On discussed the potential of Android on netbooks, finding an uneasy match between what was then high-flying hardware and still nascent software. More than two years later, though, the tables have turned in terms of momentum. As netbooks have settled into a relatively small part of the overall PC market, Android is leaping beyond the smartphone. In doing so, though, it is focused on tablets, not clamshells, There are a few ways today to get Android on a diminutive notebook, but all have major flaws. On eBay, for example, you can buy cheaply made 7-inch Android netbooks for about $100. These are little more than novelties with poor ergonomics and battery life. Or one can download the Android x86 distribution and fire it up on an Asus Eee or other netbooks, but this is a hobbyist pursuit.
Switched On: Android's tablet traversal
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. At AsiaD this week, Google's Andy Rubin noted that there were at least six million Android tablets in use. That number included only those running Google services. One could question whether the briskly selling Nook Color -- which is not open to Android apps at large -- is relevant to that tally, at least from a developer perspective. It will certainly be the case, though, that the Kindle Fire -- also expected to be a hot seller -- will be an important addition to the number moving forward. Still, Rubin conceded, it was a tally far behind that of the 30 million cumulative units of the iPad, which broke open the modern-day tablet category, extended its lead with the iPad 2, and will likely see another revision this coming spring. When Apple introduced its tablet device, it set a precedent for third-party developers by rewriting core applications to take advantage of the iPad's larger display with "HD" versions. And while there are still far fewer native iPad apps than iPhone apps, Apple is far ahead in the race for native tablet software. But not everyone wants to join that race.
Switched On: As Siri gets serious
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Nearly 15 years passed between Apple's first foray into handheld electronics -- the Newton MessagePad -- and the far more successful iPhone. But while phones have replaced PDAs for all intents and purposes, few if any have tried to be what Newton really aspired to -- an intelligent assistant that would seamlessly blend into your life. That has changed with Siri, the standout feature of iOS 5 on the iPhone 4S, which could aptly be described as a "personal digital assistant" if there weren't so much baggage tied to that term. Siri is far more than parlor entertainment or a simple leapfrogging the voice control support in Android and Windows Phone. At the other end of the potential spectrum, Siri may not be a new platform in itself (although at this point Apple has somewhat sandboxed the experience). In any case, though, Siri certainly paves the way for voice as an important component for a rich multi-input digital experience. It steps toward the life-management set of functionality that the bow-tied agent immortalized in Apple's 1987 Knowledge Navigator video could achieve.
Switched On: The four Ses of the iPhone 4S
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The most surprising thing about the iPhone 4S is that people were surprised by the iPhone 4S, for there is ample precedent to the company both confining upgrades largely to a speed bump and to saying no to a host of potential new features. As to the former, the iPhone 4S is straight out of the playbook of Apple's successful upgrade of the Apple 3G to the 3GS, although the competition wasn't as strong as it is today. Similarly, when Apple first lowered the price of the iPod touch below $200 in 2009 amidst widespread speculation that it would add a front-facing camera for FaceTime (which it did in the next generation), the company noted that it didn't think the product needed any more "stuff." So, what, then, defines the iPhone 4S? The differentiators can be thought of as four "Ses."
Switched On: Assets in gear
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Ecosystems take years to build and depend on other companies. Really, who has the time these days? Plus, they kick in only if a product reaches critical mass. Microsoft and SanDisk demonstrated the risk a few years back with their digital media players in seeding the market with third-party cases and docks using their own proprietary and now abandoned connectors. Over the past year, though, we've seen a number of tech companies take a new approach to mobile product development -- the corporate showcase -- where they convincingly shun any notion of silos by throwing just about everything they've got into a product.
Switched On: No new wires, one new caveat
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In the decade that WiFi has blanketed home networks across the United States, several technologies aimed at using existing wiring in the home have met with limited success. These have included MoCA (Multimedia over Coax, which has been adopted by some service providers for implementing multi-room DVRs) and HomePNA (originally for phone lines but later expanded to coax cable as well). At least three dueling standards have also sought to bring high-speed connectivity over electrical wiring. HomePlug, the most successful of these, has had several iterations. The latest – HomePlug AV – is rated at a theoretical throughput of 200 Mbits/sec. However, power line technologies have been held back by high prices and occasional interoperability problems. But a new approach seeks to be the one protocol to rule them all, operating over phone lines, power lines or coax. Dubbed G.hn, the ITU standard promises up to 1Gbps theoretical throughput, with real-world usage over electrical lines expected to reach between 250Mbps and 400Mbps. If that sounds appealing to you, you're not alone. Service providers like the idea of G.hn since it allows them more flexibility than previous efforts. In fact, they like it so much that -- despite G.hn's capacity -- they have insisted on quality of service standards that could limit or prevent consumers from installing it themselves after they buy adapters from retailers.
Switched On: The great slate debate of Windows 8
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Just as Windows Phone 7's "touch-only" interface threw away the past to create a streamlined, more approachable experience, Microsoft is creating a "touch-first" experience for Windows 8 that has more in common with its new phone software than previous versions of Windows. This "Metro-style" UI will be able to run on virtually any modern PC, with screens from 10- to 30-inches and above. The touch interface will be only occasionally relevant on desktops, though, more so on laptops. Where it's obviously meant to shine is on pure slates -- will consumers really flock to Windows 8 for such slates, though?
Switched On: The accidental handset company, Part 2
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Last week's Switched On discussed why Google's ownership of Motorola is unlikely to bring major changes to the balance of power among Android licensees. But Motorola also has significant interests in the set-top market. And, of course, there's the question of Android's main licensed rival, Windows Phone 7. In both of those cases, though, there is also unlikely to be noteworthy change, reinforcing the acquisition as a purely defensive move. Read on for more.
Switched On: The accidental handset company, Part 1
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Tech company acquisitions often seek to reshape a company or even the entire industry. Buying Applied Semantics catalyzed Google's rise to online advertising dominance. Apple's purchase of NeXT transformed the former's operating system's roadmap. And HP's merger with Compaq created a $40 billion powerhouse vendor of Windows PCs. That's not the case for "Googorola," a portmanteau that the world formerly knew only as an Italian blue cheese often crumbled into steak salads. Indeed, Google's recent announcement of its intent to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion may turn out to be the highest profile acquisition ever aimed at maintaining the status quo. Presaged by a blog post from Google's chief legal officer and punctuated by lockstep statements by Motorola's rival Android licensees praising legal protection, the blog post announcing the acquisition promised to "supercharge" Android. But the subsequent Google conference call regarding the merger reinforced that the "IP" Google seeks to acquire does not stand for "Incredible Phones." Google seeks to invigorate Android simply by having the freedom to progress unencumbered along the successful path it already has largely staked out.
Switched On: The webOS triangle
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. HP's decision to discontinue production of webOS devices has been widely seen as the final nail in the promising operating system's coffin. Statements from HP on the future of webOS app development sound absurd in the current context. How can, for example, HP continue to promote the webOS app catalog as it has pledged to do when there are no ongoing devices on which those apps can run? How would developers even test apps? The answer may lie in a complex ongoing reorientation of the webOS triangle consisting of the HP corporate entity, PSG (Personal Systems Group, HP's PC business) and webOS. HP hasn't said exactly what it is doing with webOS. However, the combination of publicly expressing commitment to the operating system while dismantling its own devices points strongly to licensing. In fact, it's highly consistent with it; if HP simply wanted to wage war with (or sell) Palm's patent pool, it wouldn't need webOS developers any more. HP made no secret of its interest in licensing webOS while it was still producing devices based on that operating system. As Switched On discussed last month, though, there is a long, bleak history chronicling the difficulty in building devices based on an OS that a company is licensing. In other words, pursuing both of the contrasting business models of Apple and Microsoft results in inherent conflict.
Switched On: TabCo's tease
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology Tomorrow, we will find out whether TabCo is a FabCo, a DrabCo, or a skunkworks LabCo, ending the best guessing game to hit the tech industry since the identity of Fake Steve Jobs. The significant spend on the PR campaign (to quote TabCo's Web site, "That skywriting stuff isn't cheap, you know. Neither are these videos.") as well as a reference to "a large colony of nerds" have led many to believe that TabCo is a large corporation. (Its Web site says it is a global company and TabCo is planning to launch in the US in August and Europe in September.) But there are also signs to the contrary. Take, for example, TabCo's founder and CEO -- the Google-elusive Ian "IQ" Quincy (TabCo has used pseudonyms such as "Beige Foul" -- a clear reference to Apple engineer Gray Powell), who has played a major part in the campaign. Let's dive a little deeper.
Switched On: When apps meet traps
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. They've gone by many names -- "programs," "executables" and "applications" -- and the development of technologies such as HTML5 calls their nature into question. But the explosion of apps that have set the mobile device market alight over the past several years have been around for almost as long as digital computing has. Disagree with that statement whilst chatting with those who took early programming classes, and you may be staring down a punch card to the face. In terms of consumer technology, though, apps have migrated from PCs to video game consoles (where they've been long burnt into ROMs) to smartphones and tablets, and now -- perhaps -- back to televisions proper. One thing we've learned over the course of that history is that companies will rarely refuse an opportunity to turn a successful "purpose-built device" into an app platform given enough marketplace success.
