Archive | July, 2011
Sony’s Tablets: Definitely Not iPads
For products which still haven’t been officially announced, Sony’s upcoming Android tablets sure haven’t been publicity-shy. Sony first teased us about them back in April. And on Wednesday, it held press events in New York and San Francisco at which it showed them off and released more details, such as the fact that the smaller S1 will be available exclusively in a version for AT&T’s HSPA+ network–although not full specs, or pricing, or a shipping timeframe other than “later this year.”
I attended the west-coast edition of the sneak peek. When I see new tablets these days, I’m continuing to reflexively ask the question “Why should somebody buy this instead of an iPad?” It’s too early to come to any firm conclusions about the Sonys, but both pass the obvious-differences-from-Apple’s-tablet test.
The S1 is a 9.4″ model with a wedge shape that angles te screen for comfy typing and feels like a folded magazine. (It’s a major departure from every other current tablet–but it does remind me of the original 2007 version of Amazon’s Kindle.)
The smaller S2, meanwhile, stretches the definition of “tablet” a bit. It’s a clamshell device with two 5.5″ displays which, in unfolded mode, can operate independently or as one big screen. It’s reminiscent of Acer’s Iconia and Toshiba’s experimental Portege, but the hinge makes more sense on the S2: the screens are small enough that a folded-shut unit will fit in a pocket. (Try that with your iPad.)
On the software side, Sony is going through a fair amount of effort to make these tablets stand apart from the Android herd. They both have a feature called Quick View which is designed to load Web pages much faster than the standard Android browser. (For what it’s worth, it worked in Sony’s demo.) They’re also designed for extra-responsive scrolling, and are PlayStation-certified devices that can play some older PlayStation games, and will come with Sony’s Reader e-book store and Qriocity movie and music services. The S1 includes a universal remote feature (which leverages the built-in IR port) and Sony is working with Adobe to help developers build Adobe AIR apps that make good use of the S2′s twin screens.
The Sony models will suffer from some issues that are endemic to Android tablets, such as a selection of tablet-friendly apps that’s still skimpy. And while I’d like Adobe’s AIR to work well, its close technical kinship with Flash worries me: I’ve yet to use mobile Flash on a device where it wasn’t pretty darn terrible. But I don’t think the fact that these tablets aren’t here yet is a problem. Heck, given the generally disappointing state of the non-iPad tablet market to date, I think that tablets that haven’t shipped are in better shape to do well than those that have arrived–at least if their makers use the extra time to make them rock-solid. Here’s hoping that the S1 and S2 end up feeling finished in a way that the original Galaxy Tab, the Xoom, the PlayBook, and the TouchPad do not.
Defending Netflix
13. July 2011
My friend and former colleague Ed Albro of PCWorld thinks some of the angst over Netflix’s price hikes is a tad overwrought.
EA Buys PopCap, is Dead Serious About Mobile and Social Gaming
13. July 2011
While most major video game publishers continue to treat mobile and social gaming with caution, Electronic Arts is doubling down.
EA will buy Popcap Games, creator of the popular Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies, for $650 million plus $100 million in common stock. That’s the second-largest sum that EA has ever spent on an acquisition. The largest was a $775 purchase of a holding company that owned Bioware and the now-defunct Pandemic Studios.
It’s hard to say exactly what EA plans to do with Popcap, but we’ll likely see its hit games expand to new platforms (many PopCap games aren’t available on Android) at a faster pace. EA CEO John Riccitiello also told All Things Digital that his company wants to take on Zynga, developer of Farmville, in social gaming.
WSJ: Amazon Tablet in October
13. July 2011
The Amazon.com tablet still isn’t official–but it now seems inevitable.
Inside RIM
13. July 2011
It’s always sensible to be skeptical when you read news reports based on anonymous sources. But BGR’s story on the troubles at BlackBerry maker RIM–which has juicy tidbits like the statement that founder Mike Lazaridis once said there’d never be a BlackBerry with a camera or a music player–is a fascinating read.
A Tablet Magazine For Your Tablet
13. July 2011
In the old days of personal technology, you knew a topic had arrived when it got its own magazine–be it PC Magazine or Computer Gaming World. Tech magazines–at least ones printed on dead trees here in the U.S.–are very nearly extinct now. But a startup is going to try a 2011 version of the idea: it’s launching a magazine about tablets…that’ll be distributed exclusively in digital form on the iPad. TabTimes’ editorial staff includes a couple of grizzled veterans who are friends of mine, Editor George Jones (formerly of Maximum PC and GamePro) and News Editor David Needle (ex-InternetNews.com and InfoWorld). The publication debuts this fall, but they’re already tweeting.
More on Unhappy Netflix Campers
12. July 2011
People aren’t happy about Netflix’s effective price hike. I wonder what the odds are that it’ll address their concerns–or at least do a better job of explaining its actions?
The 4G iPhone Placebo Event
12. July 2011
The iPhone 4 has a “4″ in its name. It’s also the fourth-generation iPhone. But it’s not a 4G phone–which is what a meaningful minority of the people who participated in a Retrevo survey think it is. I wonder if thinking that makes you more impressed with its network speed, or less so?
Netflix’s Price Reduction is Also a Price Hike
12. July 2011
Netflix is announcing some pricing changes which are kind of confusing. The upshot seems to be this: if (like me) you want streaming access but not DVDs, you’ll continue to pay a reasonable $7.99 a month. If you want the ability to rent one DVD at a time and don’t care about streaming, you’ll now also be eligible for a $7.99 plan. But if you want streaming and DVDs–which, until recently, was the only option you had–you’ll pay more than you would have in the past.
For instance, if you want streaming plus one DVD, you’ll pay $7.99+$7.99, or $15.98–up from only $9.99. Streaming plus two DVDs is now $19.98, up from $16.99.
Pandora: Now With HTML5
12. July 2011
Pandora’s upcoming new browser-based version–which dumps Flash for a pure HTML5 experience–sounds neat.
StumbleUpon’s New iPad App is Neat, But Can We Skip the Social?
12. July 2011
StumbleUpon has always been one of my favorite iPad apps, an endless time-waster that with the press of a button sends you to seemingly random corners of the Internet. Now, it’s received a facelift.
The new app includes sorting options for photos, videos and news, along with a category view that makes it easier to find pages based on your topics of interest. StumbleUpon’s iPad app has also gained a couple of swipe-based gestures, allowing you to move forward and backward by dragging a finger across the screen.
So far, so good. But there’s one feature I could do without, and would like the option to disable: Every time you stumble to a new page, a message on top of the screen lists the username of a stranger who liked what he or she saw. Tapping the name takes you to that user’s profile, which lists age, gender and recent activity, and provides options for following that user.
MacBook Airs: Let There Be Light!
12. July 2011
When I switched from a MacBook Pro to a MacBook Air as my main computer, there were only three features I missed: the optical drive (occasionally), built-in Ethernet (very occasionally), and a backlit keyboard (fairly frequently). But according to AppleInsider, the next-generation MacBook Airs which might arrive real soon now will address that last omission.
Katango: Your Facebook Friends, Grouped Automatically
12. July 2011
When Google+ arrived at the end of June, it made a splash in part based on its defining notion: you have different kinds of friends and don’t want to share everything with all of them all of the time. This week a new iPhone group-messaging app called Katangoo is debuting. And its defining feature–which it came up with a long time before Google+ went public–is that people have different kinds of friends and dont want to share everything with all of them all of the time.
Katango’s distinctive feature is that it uses artificial intelligence to analyze all your Facebook friends, identify common attributes, and then automatically sort them into groups of people with something in common. The more friends you have, the more time this approach might save compared to you trying to organize them by hand.
Gamer Group Sounds Alarm on “Anti-Streaming” Bill
11. July 2011
A bill that targets unauthorized streaming of movies and TV shows could have a detrimental effect on a vibrant part of video game culture.
Under U.S. Senate Bill S.978, streaming copyrighted material before audiences of 10 or more would become a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. The Entertainment Consumers Association warns that the bill inadvertently targets people who stream playthroughs or walkthroughs of video games.
To get a sense of gaming’s video playthough culture, run a search for “Let’s Play” on YouTube. At present, there are more than 500,000 results. A search for “video game walkthrough” returns more than 600,000 results. A search for “speed run” returns more than 250,000 results. The Senate bill would leave all the users who posted those videos open to prosecution. The ECA calls the measure “draconian” and is helping gamers write letters of opposition to their senators.
The Today Show Disses Adult Gamers
11. July 2011
Are you a man over the age of 30? Do you play video games? Weirdo.
Lenovo’s IdeaPad U1 PC-Tablet Hybrid: It Lives
11. July 2011
The Lenovo IdeaPad U1, which combines a Windows laptop and an Android tablet into one device, was one of the most intriguing products I saw at CES 2010. It was also one of the most intriguing products I saw a year later at CES 2011.
Indeed, the U1′s path to a U.S. launch has been long and slightly vaporous, but now, it’s nearly here. According to Engadget, the U1 has arrived at the FCC for approval — a decent indication that it might graduate from trade shows to retail shelves.
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