Google TV: The Critics Are Being…Critical

The Wall Street Journal‘s Walt Mossberg and The New York Times‘ David Pogue are often among the first tech writers to review major new products. In the case of Google TV, however, they took a bit more time. Both wrote about the platform for their columns this week (here’s Walt’s story and here’s David’s), a few weeks after the first reviews. (such as mine) appeared. Neither of them is impressed–they have overlapping-but-not-identical lists of usability gripes, and come to the conclusion, as I did, that it’s just not ready for prime time.

At this point, I think it’s fair to say that Google TV, as represented by the first products that incorporate it–Logitech’s Revue and Sony’s TV and Blu-Ray player–is a critical dud. (I got a advertising e-mail from Logitech that optimistically referred to happy critics writing positive reviews, but it linked only to Oliver Starr’s review at TechCrunch, which is the most favorable one I’ve seen.)

I’m curious how well the Logitech and Sony products will sell this Christmas, especially since they compete with much cheaper options, such as the Roku players which start at $59.99. Also unknown: Is Google going to stick with Google TV for the long haul, or will it turn out to be a Wave-like fling? I hope that the company sticks with the idea and improves it–for one thing, I think the people who buy Google TV devices this year are getting an alpha product and deserve to get a more polished update. For another, I still think the idea has plenty of potential–a Google TV with fewer bugs and kludgy design decisions and a more harmonious relationship with Hollywood could be a winner.

LTE and the Dawn of Tiered Pricing…Ugh

Leave it up to Verizon to be at the forefront of making your wireless data more expensive. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Thursday, Verizon executives said they see the switch to LTE and 4G as a perfect time to introduce speed caps on data services.

This would be similar to what cable and DSL providers have been doing for a long time, although it wasn’t completely clear whether in exchange for these speed caps — and obviously higher prices — would we see the end of caps in bandwidth.

Verizon may be leaning toward making higher bandwidth plans slower and lower bandwidth plans faster, however. “If you want to pay for less speed, you’ll pay for less speed and consume more, or you can pay for high speed and consume less,” chief financial officer Fran Shammo said. CEO Ivan Seidenberg said that unlimted plans will not go away — the company would see what its customers find “fair” and go from there, whatever that means.

Honestly, I find this news troubling — since wireless services are requiring an ever increasing amount of bandwidth and also faster data speeds. What this means is data costs for consumers are likely to skyrocket. I don’t see how this is in any way good for us at all. It more seems as a method to dig deeper into our pockets and leaving us little choice other than to go along with it.

I’m hoping this isn’t a trend in the industry – but knowing the way the carriers operate, it probably will be.

Google Apps Users Get Full Google Citizenship

Google Apps–the suite of Web-based productivity tools that’s useful for everybody from individual consumers to big businesses–is among Google has come up with to date. But if you have a Google Apps account, there’s been far more stuff that wasn’t available than was: everything from major services such as Picasa and Google Voice to potentially useful obscurities such as Google Base. That’s because logging into a Google Apps account only provided access to Gmail, the Google Docs office editors, Google Sites, and a few other services.

Starting today, that’s changed: Sign up for Google Apps, and you can use your account to access more than sixty Google services. Why did it take so long? The company says it wanted to make sure that its infrastructure was ready to handle it. And it wasn’t always sure that companies would want a consumery service such as the Picasa’s photo albums to be part of a business-oriented offering like Google Apps. But it says that many customers have asked for Picasa, Blogger, and other services that haven’t been part of Apps. And some of the new arrivals, such as Google Analytics, are very businessy.

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Splashtop Brings Its Windows Remote Control to the iPhone

Splashtop is best known for its lightweight, fast-booting operating environment, which comes preinstalled as a Windows alternative on hundreds of PC models. In August, it branched out with Splashtop Remote, a remote-control program for the iPad that let you control a Windows computer from your tablet. And now it’s launched an iPhone/iPod Touch edition.

Like the iPad version, Splashtop Remote for the iPhone is cheap–it’s ninety-nine cents, compared to $29.99 for LogMeIn’s Ignition. It’s designed for local use–it works over Wi-Fi connections, not 3G. It does indeed let you maneuver around your Windows machine, launching and running apps and doing stuff you can’t do on an iPhone (such as watch Flash videos and play Flash games). And the performance is snappy enough that even video playback is decent.

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OnLive MicroConsole Costs $99, Subscription Option Coming

Although OnLive’s cloud gaming service is able to run on almost any computer, the key to success could lie in its MicroConsole, a tiny TV set-top box that’s still unreleased.

That’ll change on December 2, when the OnLive MicroConsole launches for $99 with a controller. One free game will also be included as a holiday promotion, and pre-orders are starting now. Games on the service cost between $4 and $9 to rent and $5 to $50 to “own” (access to the games, which stream from remote servers, is guaranteed for at least three years).

The cost of the MicroConsole is less than I was expecting, but just as interesting, I think, is this line at the bottom of OnLive’s press release:

“In addition to its rental and Full PlayPass plans, later this year OnLive will add a monthly flat-rate plan, providing unlimited access to a broad library of quality games and indie titles.”

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QRnormous!

That’s one big QR code, all right.

Sun Power

Last Gadget Standing Nominee: Dexim P-Flip Solar Power Pack
Price: $79.90

Solar powering your older iPhone has become fairly run-of-the-mill, but whither goest the iPhone 4? The P-Flip is the world’s first foldable, portable, rechargeable power dock for the iPhone 4. According to Dexim, it can extend talk time up to eight hours, video or game time up to 15 hours, or audio playing time up to 60 hours. The unique design is composed of two solar panels that convert the sun’s rays into juice for your iPhone, taking about 15 hours of exposure to natural sunlight for a full charge. But the two panels also serve as a foldable docking stand for hands free viewing. The Solar-Powered P-Flip is now available in the Dexim Amazon.com store for $79.90 and includes a charging cord, a screen protector, cleaning cloth, and a case.

Maybe We Should Call It “Audrey Jr.”

Last Gadget Standing Nominee: Telikin

Price: $699.99

Remember turn-of-the-century Internet appliances such as 3Com’s Audrey? Telikin reminds me of them. It’s an all-in-one computer–it looks a bit like a lost generation of iMac–and has an 18.6″ touchscreen. It runs a custom environment with support for Web browsing, Skype, e-mail, calendaring, news and weather, photos, Facebook, and more. And a feature called Tech Buddy lets a technologically savvy family member or friend remote-control the Telikin in case its owner runs into trouble or needs help figuring anything out.

I suspect that if you’re reading this, Telikin is not aimed at you. But could you see it appealing to a family member who’s less of a gearhead than yourself?

Young Entreperneur’s White iPhone Solution Gets Him in Trouble

If Apple can’t produce the white iPhone, apparently a young entrepreneur from Queens, N.Y. can help you convert your black one. 17-year-old Fei Lam has reportedly struck an agreement with Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturer contracted by Apple to produce the iPhone. Under this deal, Foxconn is sending him white iPhone 4 cases for those not willing to wait to see if Apple will ever ship the anticipated model.

We’re not exactly clear on how he accomplished this, but Lam is now selling a conversion kit for $279 which includes the front and back panels along with the home button from his own website, WhiteiPhone4Now. It seems Lam may have had friends in high places, and knew someone within the manufacturer that was willing to wheel and deal with a kid looking to make a quick buck to pay for college.

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Bad Times for Big Plastic Video Game Peripherals

While Kinect for Xbox 360 and the Playstation Move are doing pretty well, games that rely on additional space-consuming controllers are feeling the squeeze.

The latest victim is Activision’s Tony Hawk: Shred, a game that uses a skateboard-shaped controller that you stand on like the real thing. In its first week, Shred sold only 3,000 units in the United States according to The NPD Group, Gamasutra reports. Shred’s predecessor, Tony Hawk: Ride, was a flop last year, but that game at least managed to top 100,000 units in its first month, a feat that seems unlikely for Shred.

Activision’s also taking a hit with DJ Hero 2, which sold 59,000 copies last month. The original DJ Hero did twice as well in its first month last year, and was still considered a flop. Consider also that Viacom is looking to sell Rock Band creator Harmonix, or that Nintendo isn’t doing anything new with Wii Fit this year, and the case against video games with big plastic peripherals is a strong one.

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Hands On: The Xfinity iPad App

Comcast launched the Xfinity TV app to much fanfare this week, and though we knew it was coming, we didn’t know all the nitty gritty details until we got our own hands on. After a test run on the iPad, here’s my take on the good, the bad, and the future of the Xfinity app.

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Mobile Google Docs–Now With Editing

For all the cool stuff that’s going on with Web-based apps for smartphones and tablets, not much has happened yet with tools that let you edit documents right in your browser. But Google just added support for editing Google Docs word-processing files on Android 2.2 and iOS devices. (The Google Docs spreadsheet already has a somewhat peculiar editing mode.)

Here’s a video explanation:

Sadly, I’m at the Web 2.0 Summit, sans the one gizmo I really want to try this on–an iPad.

AT&T Labs Mashes Up Voice, TV, Gestures, and Twitter

“Watching TV is supposed to be fun, right?” asked AT&T’s Michael Johnston. In a press event at the AT&T Labs in New York City, Johnston and other researchers showed off  iRemote, Talkalytics, and dozens of other projects now under way for using AT&T’s long-time Watson speech recognition together with search, gestures, and Twitter analysis.

With all the hundreds of TV channels available today, it can be harder than ever to figure out what to watch, Johnston observed. But through a new iRemote app currently in development, you can speak voice commands into a smartphone to get an immediate list of “all reality shows on Thursday night”–and other categories of TV programs small enough to easily digest — on your TV screen.

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Hulu Plus Now Cheaper and Free to Try

Hulu announced today that the preview phase of Hulu Plus is over, and that the service now costs $8 per month.

If you’ve been paying $10 per month during the preview period, Hulu will credit the difference to your account. And if you haven’t tried Hulu Plus, the site is offering free one-week trials (current subscribers will get a free week as well) and a referral program that gives two free weeks to subscribers and the people they sign up. Sony’s Bravia TVs and connected Blu-ray players come with 11 free weeks, and Roku boxes get a free month.

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What an Odd, Odd Operating System

Pssst: A certain operating system has a birthday coming up on Saturday. It may or may not want us to make a big fuss, but it’s a big one and–oh, let’s just say it: Microsoft shipped Windows 1.0 on November 20th, 1985. For its first five years, it wasn’t very popular. And then it pretty much took over the world.

As is our wont when major products mark major anniversaries, we’re celebrating by investigating Windows’ odder aspects. Benj Edwards has compiled a look at the first quarter century of Windows offshoots, obscurities, and ephemera. Betcha there’s a lot more to come, too.

View Windows Oddities slideshow.

Windows Oddities: 25 Years of Microsoftian Weirdness

Contrary to popular belief, Windows is far from boring. Dig below the surface, and you’ll discover a stranger side to the world’s most popular operating system. It’s filled with twisted homages, forgotten platforms, and dead ends. In a word, it’s full of oddities.

On the eve of Windows’ 25th birthday–version 1.0 shipped on November 20th, 1985–let’s explore this underground. When we’re done, tell us about the Windows oddities you’ve encountered.