Archive | June, 2009
Facebook Servers Performing Admirably
Well we’re about a half hour into the “land grab” and so far so good. I’ve been checking the Facebook page frequently, and I’m not noticing any kind of reduction in load times (at least that is noticeable anyway).
I’ve grabbed my name on there. I’m now facebook.com/eoswald, although I would have preferred the shorter “edoz” — note that your username must be at least five characters. I’m glad that the social networking site is doing this, albeit a bit late.
Are you participating? Did you get the name you wanted? Let us know in the comments.
Update: We have our first squatter issue of the new Facebook era. A man named Morgan O’Neill has picked up a username which is the name of Engadget editor-in-chief Joshua Topolsky. We’ve attempt to contact Mr. O’Neill to see why he selected this name.
Livespeakr: Little Big Speakers for the iPhone
12. June 2009
There’s a surging sea of portable speakers out there for iPods, but ones designed to work well with iPhones are a rarer breed. Which is why I’m impressed with DGA’s Livespeakr, a collapsible, battery-powered speaker setup that was designed with the iPhone in mind and which delivers very good sound quality considering its cost ($99 list in black or white versions; $85 at the Livespeakr site) and size.
How Bright Do You Keep Your Notebook Screen?
12. June 2009
(Here’s another guest post by Pat Moorhead, Vice President of Advanced Marketing at AMD. Pat’s postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies, or opinions. You can find Pat at Twitter as @PatrickMoorhead.)
The current defacto standard used by PC makers to measure notebook battery life is MobileMark 2007 (MMO7). This piece takes a look at the basic facts behind the notebook brightness settings recommended by MM07, comparing that to some typical home electronics devices and the average settings some consumers are using for their notebook displays.
Okay, What’s The Fastest Way to Get Your Hands on an iPhone 3G S? (Which is Not Necessarily the Same Thing as the Smartest Way.)
12. June 2009
I’m not saying it’s a good idea to try and buy an iPhone 3G S on next Friday, the day the phone is released. For one thing, the single best thing about the phone is likely to be iPhone OS 3.0, which every iPhone owner will be able to snag as a free download two days before that. For another, many iPhone 3G owners will qualify for larger discounts on the 3G S if they wait a month or two before upgrading.
But what if you absolutely must have a 3G S on the day of launch–and not only on the day of launch, but as early as possible on that day? (Hey, maybe you’re a tech journalist who wants to write about it while it’s still hot, hot, hot.) You’ve got multiple options, and they all have theoretical virtues and potential pitfalls?
Preordering from Apple for shipment. Apple says that iPhone 3G Ss will arrive on June 19th, the day of the phone’s release. It doesn’t say when on that day to expect them, though. And given that shipping is free, I’m thinking that they’re going out by some method that’s cheaper than priority overnight and therefore they may show up in the afternoon.
Preordering from Apple for in-store pickup. I did this at my local Apple Store, and it was kinda confusing–I used a Web-based signup form, and it never asked me for my name or gave me confirmation that I was all set. And it mysteriously talked about me buying a last-generation iPhone 3G even after I specified that I wanted a 32GB white iPhone 3G S. Given that I have no proof that I preordered, I have these visions of showing up and being turned away. In any event, the Apple Store rep I talked to told me that the store would open at 8am, and that both those who preordered and those who didn’t must wait in the same line. That likely means that it’ll make sense to show up really early. 5am, perhaps? No, 4am sounds safer.
Preordering from AT&T for shipment. The AT&T site seems to be dedicated to the notion that every piece of information must be phrases in a way that’s slightly too vague to be useful. Here’s what it says about shipping schedules:
Pre-orders for iPhone 3G S will be shipped with overnight priority and will be processed to arrive as early as June 19, 2009, if submitted by 12 p.m. noon C.T., June 17, 2009.
You might assume that “shipped with overnight priority” means that the phones will be shipped via priority overnight, and will arrive in the morning. But I’m guessing that AT&T really means that it’ll give priority to getting these phones out for arrival the next day. In any event, it’s very clear that it makes no guarantee that they’ll arrive by June 19th. I’m not sure whether that’s because it’s less confident about supplying demand than Apple is, or whether it’s simply covering itself by promising nothing.
Preordering from AT&T at a local store. AT&T stores are opening at 7am on the 19th–an hour before Apple Stores–and only for folks who preordered. Which makes preordering for local pickup from an AT&T outlet sound like the most efficient wayt to get a 3G S early. But when I tried to order one at my local AT&T shop, the rep told me that I might not get my phone until the 20th.
Thinking all this over makes my brain hurt. But here are some apparent facts:
- AT&T isn’t promising anyone an iPhone 3G S on the 19th.
- Apple does seem to be promising phones to those who preorder, and chances are high that you can walk out of an Apple Store that morning with one if you’re willing to wait in a potentially long line. Especially if you preorder, but probably even if you don’t. (With both the first-generation iPhone and the iPhone 3G, I had a phone in my hands within 45 minutes or so of the store’s opening on day one of the launch.)
- I think it’s possible that the lines for this iPhone will be less insaaaaaane than those for the first two models, but it’s hard to know. The conservative move would still be to show up before dawn.
- Preordering from Apple for shipment sounds like a reasonably safe way to get a phone on the 19th, but it might not show up until the afternoon.
Given all that, if I were trying to be among the very first people to buy an iPhone 3G S, I’d preorder from an Apple Store and wake up at the crack of dawn on Friday. I’m not saying I’m going to do this. But if I do, you’ll be the first to know…
Heads Up: Internet to be Reinvented Next Week
12. June 2009
As TechCrunch’s Robin Wauters is reporting, browser company Opera has scheduled a product announcement next Tuesday for something it says will reinvent the Web. Sounds ambitious!
I got an invitation to a Webcast that’s more specific. But only slightly so:
With 15 years of continuous innovation, Opera will introduce a technology that will forever change the fundamental fabric of the Web.
Whatever this news is, it’s presumably something more substantial than, say, a mere confirmation that Opera 10 is coming out of beta.
I won’t hazard any guesses as to what Opera is up to, but I hope that whatever it is, it’s an open standard: It would presumably be pretty tough for anything to forever change the fundamental fabric of the Web unless it’s supported by every major browser. Unless it’s something that goes beyond browsing as we know it?
Anyhow, I’m attending the Webcast and will report back then. Lemme know if you think you know what Opera will tell us. Or if you have any theories anout whether it’s even possible for the Web to be reinvented at this point…
5Words for Friday, June 12th 2009
12. June 2009
Comments Off
Friday? Already? That was fast…
Twitter verified accounts: really verified?
Goodbye analog TV, old firend.
Pre gets Missing Sync utility.
And Evernote’s cool note taker.
Verizon Pre in January. Maybe.
One Windows 7, Indivisible?
12. June 2009
Over at ZDNet, my friend Jason Hiner has published an open letter to Microsoft, arguing that it’s not too late for Microsoft to scrap the six planned editions of Windows 7 and release the new OS in only one version. I admire Jason’s bold Hail Mary, but it’s presumably way too late for his scenario. Presumably Microsoft considered streamlining the Windows 7 lineup long ago–it caught plenty of flack over all the Vista variants–and made a willful decision to err on the side of more versions rather than fewer. If it hasn’t gone with a game plan like Jason’s by now, it’s just not in its DNA to do so.
I like Jason’s proposal that customization of Windows 7 for different types of users be done through feature packs rather than different versions of the OS. But I suspect that Microsoft is now deeply invested in the philosophy of offering different versions of its OS that it can sell at different price points to PC manufacturers who sell everything from $300 netbooks to $3000 luxury PCs. (Apple can sell OS X in just one version in part because it’s its own customer for OSes and doesn’t have to try and make everybody happy.)
The main problem with all those versions of Windows 7 isn’t that multiple versions of a product is inherently problematic. (Choice is good, no?) It’s that the differences between the Windows variants are subtle and hard to remember. At least it’s not yet as nightmarishly complicated as trying to decide which version of Crest toothpaste to buy.
Microsoft got this right with Windows XP, which came in two reasonably easy-to-distinguish variants: Home and Pro. And in the era of the really cheap PC, I think the company does need a really cheap version of Windows, so Windows 7 Starter Edition makes sense, too. If Microsoft were to offer three versions of Windows–plus an enterprise pack for corporate users–it would offer both choice and clarity. But I suspect we’ll have to wait until Windows 8 before there’s any chance of the Windows lineup getting simpler. And even then, it seems equally likely that it’ll get more complex.
The Technologizer Review: Amazon Kindle DX
12. June 2009
For decades, books have come in two major variants: Big, expensive hardcovers and smaller, cheaper paperbacks. Now Amazon.com’s Kindle e-book line has splintered in a similar fashion: The company has started shipping its $489 Kindle DX, which feels like it’s playing weighty hardcover to the more portable, paperback-like $359 Kindle 2. Like its little brother, the DX is brilliantly cool in some respects and surprisingly clunky in others. Overall, it’s good enough to tempt serious book junkies right now, but also whets the appetite for more advanced book-reading gizmos to come.
The big Kindle has access to the same impressive collection of 285,000 books (many for under ten bucks) as the small one; it also offers the same catalog of thousands of blogs (including Technologizer), magazines, and newspapers. Its 3.3GB of available memory holds up to 3500 books and other reading materials, which arrive in seconds via the wonderfully seamless built-in EVDO connection, which carries no service charge. The display technology remains the monochromatic E-Ink, which looks good in bright light and somewhat murky otherwise, and which sips power so sparingly that it can run for two weeks on a charge if you shut the EVDO connection off. Like the Kindle 2, the DX has a rudimentary Web browser and MP3 player, plus the ability to play audiobooks.
Another DTV Transition Cost: Tech Trash
11. June 2009
Tomorrow the United States will finally make the transition to digital television. The government went to great expense to ensure a smooth transition, and planned it for years. But what happens to all those aging TVs when people toss the rabbit ears and decide to buy a new set?
The answer: no one really knows. CBS ran a report called “The Electronic Wasteland” on “60 Minutes” in November 2008 that tracked some of the tech trash back to rural areas of China. Children were found with high levels of lead in their blood, and played in toxic ash. Government officials, gangsters, and economically disadvantaged people were complicit in hiding the activity.
E-waste from cell phones, monitors, and PCs contains cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, and PVCs. CBS’s report said that the U.S. municipal waste stream contains 130,000 computers a day, and 100 million cells phones per year. Those toxins can lead to cancer, lead poisoning, and kidney disease. Tha’s why there are recycling centers, right?
As it turns out, even some recycling programs are fraudulent. Last month, an environmental group called Basel Action Network (BAN) uncovered a recycling scheme that was sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society. The tech trash that was supposed to be recycled was tracked to international shipping containers.
That violates domestic and international law that is supposed to protect developing nations from environment discrimination.
We spent billions to keep our TVs broadcasting, why not spend money to manage toxins? Here’s a thought: hardware makers should be required to receive and process their old products, and you and I should absorb some of that cost.
Random Idea: Bring Back Shareware for iPhone Doom
11. June 2009
Six years ago, an article in Wired held popular gadgets to a gold gaming standard: Can it run Doom? The article left open the question of when Apple’s iPod would achieve this technological feat.
That day is coming next week, when Doom: Resurrection goes on sale for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Using many of the same textures and sprites as Doom 3 for the PC, the handheld game will lead a wave of 3D titles designed for either the iPhone’s 3.0 operating system or the new, more powerful 3G S model.
The only problem is, Doom: Resurrection isn’t your typical 5-minute time-waster that usually flies through the App Store. It’s a five-hour game that took a lot of effort to build. John Carmack and Escalation Studios haven’t announced a price, but given that a remake of Wolfenstein 3D costs $5, I’m guessing — wildly, I’ll admit — that the new Doom won’t cost any less than $10. If I’m right, is Doom’s star power enough to justify the premium?
Practically, it’s too late for this, but maybe now’s an opportune time to bring back gaming shareware. I’m talking about a substantial chunk of the game, not a one-level demo. Instead of swapping discs in the old tradition, players could spread word of the game virally by messaging the download link to their friends. What gamer worth his or her salt wouldn’t download free Doom?
Once a critical mass is established, surely some of the players will spring for the full-featured game, which would include (in my mind) new weapons, more episodes and online multiplayer. With OS 3.0′s capabilities for downloading new content from within the game, it’s certainly possible. As more iPhone developers push the hardware, they’ll need more than a few screenshots, a price tag or even a brief demo to sell their product.
In the 1990s, shareware was a great tool for bedroom computer game programmers who had no other way to market their work to the masses. With the iPhone and iPod Touch, we’re seeing a resurgence of these small-time developers, looking to strike gold in an increasingly crowded playing field. If there was ever a time to bring back gaming shareware, this is it.
Europe Gives Internet Explorer the Boot from Windows 7. Big Deal!
11. June 2009
Looks like any lingering question about the European Union’s antitrust case against Microsoft delaying the release of Windows 7 just ended. Earlier today, Cnet’s Ina Fried reported that Microsoft will release versions of the new OS that are sans Internet Explorer for sale in Europe. Microsoft has confirmed its intentions.
The Europe-only versions of Windows 7 will have an “E” appended to their names (such as “Windows 7 Home Premium E), and their existence apparently eliminates concerns that Microsoft is competing unfairly with Mozilla, Opera, and other browser makers by bundling IE with the world’s dominant operating system. European consumers and businesses will be free to download IE or any other browser, of course. And Microsoft says that PC manufacturers will be able to bundle IE if they so choose, in which case the end result will still be a computer with Windows 7 and IE 8 installed.
Bing Share Nominally Better than Windows Live
11. June 2009
The tech world was aflutter last week as Bing catapulted itself to #2 among all search engines. That fun lasted one day. Now that things have come back to earth, data from analytics firm StatCounter show that Bing is only performing nominally better than Windows Live did.
Before the switchover to Bing, Windows Live in the last week of May averaged a 5-6% share of the market in the US, save for a one day anomaly on May 29 (it hit 12.81% that day). Bing took over on June 1, and generally experienced a good first week, peaking on the 4th as we had reported.
However, since then it has fallen dramatically, and over the last several days, seem to have found a bottom right around 6-7%. So that’s right, all this Bingmania has resulted in basically a overall gain of a percentage point or two in market share.
To be fair, it seems Bing is starting to make a move up again. However, its clear from these results that a significant portion of the Web surfing public tried and then passed on Bing.
It has to be somewhat disheartening to Microsoft that so far Bing has generally fallen on deaf ears. I bet they’re hoping that the $100 million they’re about to spend on advertising isn’t all for naught.
Point of solace for Microsoft however: it does appear that when Bing does gain, its coming at the expense of Google. You could take that this way — that Google searchers may be considering Bing a worthy alternative.
Microsoft Kills Off Money. What’s Next?
11. June 2009
It’s not the least bit surprising, but now it’s official: Microsoft is discontinuing its personal-finance program, Money, after ending updates and yanking the application out of retail stores last year. The program joins Encarta and Flight Simulator among famous, venerable Microsoft products whose lives are coming to an end.
I don’t see this as bad news for Microsoft. Actually, it’s an encouraging sign of rational behavior: the company is being brutally realistic about prospects for some well-known products, which is surely smarter than trying to continue being all things to all people forever. But I do think that the end of these brands is part of a larger trend that’s still nascent: The start of the end of shrinkwrapped software.
Money, Encarta, and Flight Simulator all flourished in the era when doing stuff with PCs nearly always involved going to a store, buying a box with one or more discs inside it, and installing software on a hard drive. The shrinkwrapped-box part of that process already feels archaic; software remains relevant, but it’s hard to imagine any future except one in which traditional applications largely give way to Web-based services (and application/service hybrids) over the next few years.
Of course, the rise in Web apps doesn’t automatically spell doom for successful desktop software: Money, Encarta, and Flight Simulator could have theoretically kept on going in largely or completely Web-based form. But it would have been a tricky leap. In a way, it reminds me of what happened in the early 1990s, when Windows began to catch on. Over the next decade, most of the best-known applications of the DOS era–hits like Lotus 1-2-3, Harvard Graphics, dBASE, and many others—failed to be anywhere near as successful in Windows as they’d been in DOS. They didn’t always go away completely, but they were rendered irrelevant.
(Intuit’s Quicken, an application which managed to triumph over Money despite Microsoft’s best efforts, is going a far better job of reinventing itself for the road ahead–but it too is going to find the transition hugely challenging.)
You gotta think that many, many other notable applications–and not just Microsoft ones–will join Money in the deadpool over the next three to five years…
5Words for Thursday, June 11th, 2009
11. June 2009
Comments Off
Lots of little Microsoft stories:
Free anti-virus from Microsoft.
Microsoft kills off Money completely.
Smartphone total cost of ownership.
This Just In: The iPhone 3G S Has a 600-MHz CPU and 256MB of RAM
10. June 2009
That didn’t take long! Apple may not want to talk much about the iPhone 3G S’s innards, but someone at T-Mobile Netherlands apparently didn’t get the memo. As everyone suspected, the new phone has a 600-MHz CPU (up from 412-MHz in the 3G) and 256MB of RAM (double the 3G’s capacity). I still wish Apple simply told us this, but I approve of it keeping things simple by calling the phone the iPhone 3G S and saying that the S stands for speed; if it were a different sort of hardware company, it would call this model something like the iPhone 3G 600/256…
Please, AT&T, Just Tell Me How Much You Want For an iPhone 3G S
10. June 2009
I swear that I’m not trying to turn Technologizer into an AT&T bashfest. But I’ve spent part of my afternoon girding myself to get an iPhone 3 GS. I’m ready to pre-order and pay up. So far, though, I’m just confused.
I started at the AT&T Store at my local shopping center. A helpful rep looked me up in the system and said that I didn’t qualify for a discount–I’d have to fork over $599 for a 16GB 3G S or $699 for the 32GB model. He stood there expectantly. But I arched an eyebrow and asked him if he was sure I didn’t qualify for some sort of discount.
He told me that I might, but said that I needed to dial 611 on my phone to find out. Why didn’t he mention this until I asked? How come he couldn’t determine it himself? I don’t know.
Now on Technologizer...
History Needs Piracy |
7 PC Building Tips |
My Favorite PC, the iPad |
The First Microprocessor |
|
12. June 2009
6 Comments