Archive | October, 2011
WebOS’s Moment of Truth
According to AppleInsider’s Daniel Eran Dilger, the fate of HP’s WebOS may be decided this week:
While webOS is now largely finished and its hardware was ready to sell, HP’s cancellation of the hardware side of the equation, motivated by dismal sales, means that a spinoff of Palm would result in a return to square one for the group, forcing it to formulate a new licensing business in a market where even Microsoft has had a very difficult time assembling a viable ecosystem of mobile licensees.
I hope it lives, even though I’m afraid it’ll break my heart again.
Roku Dips Below $50, Adds HBO GO
11. October 2011
Roku, which pretty much invented the cheap, easy-to-use Internet TV streaming box, is the sort of scrappy startup which you might have assumed would get steamrolled by mammoth competitors early on. Instead, it’s continued to do well even as Apple and Google have muscled in on its territory–in part because it’s a fine product, in part because it’s aggressively priced, and in part because the lineup of content is good and keeps getting better.
Today, Roku has news on two of those fronts. It’s introducing a new basic model called the Roku LT that brings the price down to $49 for the first time–cheap for a Roku, and absurdly cheap in a market in which some products cost $200 or more. The LT does 720p video, and joins fancier models at $59, $79, and $99. (The top of the line Roku 2 XS does casual gaming, including Angry Birds.)
Are there people who wouldn’t buy a $59 Roku who will buy a $49 one? Roku thinks so, and it does sound like a lot of fun for the money. It’ll be available from Roku and retailers in early November.
Roku is also announcing that it’s adding the HBO GO streaming service to all Roku players at the end of this month. HBO includes moves and full seasons of all HBO shows, and is available only to people who subscribe to HBO via cable or satellite. It joins more than 300 other channels on Roku, including Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, Hulu Plus, Pandora, Major League Baseball, and much more.
Finally, Facebook for iPad
10. October 2011
It’s not live on the App Store for me yet–and I like the third-party MyPad quite a bit–but there’s finally an official Facebook app for the iPad.
Wait, Isn’t the iPhone 4S Supposed to Be a Disappointment?
10. October 2011
Boy, does Apple’s iPhone 4S event feel like it happened a long time ago. In fact, it was less than a week ago, and as you may recall, many observers declared the new phone to be a disappointment. But now Apple has released pre-order data, and it seems to suggest that real folks are excited about the 4S. A million people pre-ordered in the first 24 hours, breaking the iPhone 4′s record of 600,000 in the same period.
Why the disparity in reactions? I can think of a few reasons.
Continue reading this story…
Dark Souls is a Word of Mouth Triumph
10. October 2011
Something remarkable happened in the United Kingdom last week: Dark Souls, a game with no mass appeal and hardly any marketing, outsold the blockbuster Gears of War 3.
Granted, Dark Souls launched last week, whereas Gears of War 3 was released on September 20. And Dark Souls is available on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, while Gears of War 3 is an Xbox 360 exclusive. Still, I never expected that a nerdy, dark fantasy RPG would so quickly topple a white knuckle shooter with crazy marketing and voice acting from Ice-T.
If you follow enough gamers and game writers on Twitter, it’s easy to understand what’s going on. Dark Souls, like its spiritual predecessor Demon’s Souls, has incredible word of mouth.
Qwikster: Gonester!
10. October 2011
I have a confession to make. Ever since Netflix announced its plans to spin off its discs-by-mail business into a self-contained business called Qwikster, I’ve been assuming it would reverse the decision, and have frequently checked Qwikster.com for signs it had done so. I last did it early this morning.
And now it has. In a blog post, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced that Netflix will stay, well, Netflix. I never stopped assuming this would be the eventual outcome, especially when the initial announcement was followed by radio silence. There was just too much that was too wrong with the idea–the fact that Netflix was eliminating one of its principal attractions as a service, the fact it did so with a video that almost seemed to brag about it, the name, the fact it didn’t have the Twitter handle. It was all the irrational result of some sort of bizarre midlife crisis, and the oddest part of all is that the idea got announced before the company came to its senses.
The controversial price hikes, however, remain in place.
Netflix is a fine company with a fine service, and–until recently–the way it’s navigated its transition from a snail-mail powered enterprise to a digital one has been really admirable. With any luck, it’ll get back to business so quickly we’ll forget this brief period of weirdness ever happened.
The Best iPhone 4S Plans by Carrier
10. October 2011
With three carriers now selling the iPhone, your options have gotten a bit more complex as far as monthly service plans go. We’ll take a look at which carrier’s plans are best for cheapskates, big talkers, big texters, and those who want it all—voice, data and text messaging.
Before we start, some constants between all three carriers:
The iPhone 4S starts at $199 with a two-year contract.
Voice plans include unlimited minutes to people on the same network, so even if you have the 450-minute plan on Verizon, for instance, you won’t use any minutes when calling other Verizon customers.
Apple’s new iOS software features “iMessage,” which lets you send and receive free text messages (for now, at least) between other Apple devices that have the iMessage feature turned on as well.
And with that, let’s get started.
A Strange Sort of Prison, a Strange Sort of Freedom
9. October 2011
Free software advocate and GNU creator Richard Stallman has blogged that he’s glad Steve Jobs is gone. That’s, um, gauche. But it’s not why I bring up his post. He also calls Jobs “the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom.”
Apple products? Jails. Cool ones. Apple fans? Jailbirds. Foolish ones. Got that?
Eric S. Raymond, also a free software advocate, has also written about Jobs’ passing. He’s more dignified about it, but the gist is similar. He says:
What’s really troubling is that Jobs made the walled garden seem cool. He created a huge following that is not merely resigned to having their choices limited, but willing to praise the prison bars because they have pretty window treatments.
Steve Jobs and Edwin Land
8. October 2011
Over at the New York Times, Christopher Bonanos has a nice piece comparing Steve Jobs to the entrepreneur/technologist he resembles most by far: Polaroid’s Edwin Land. Bonanos says that virtually none of the Jobs obituaries mentioned Land, but I remembered to do so in my piece for TIME–in the third paragraph, in fact. And last June, when I wrote about Polaroid’s SX-70 camera, I found the Land/Jobs parallels so compelling that they threatened to take over the article.
Take That, Wii U: Split-Screen TV Gaming Comes to iOS 5
7. October 2011
With iOS 5, Apple is extending Airplay to any third-party app, allowing iPhones and iPads to serve as wireless game controllers for the Apple TV.
Although we’ve known about this since the summer, Real Racing 2 developer Firemint is showing off something new: split-screen gaming on the television, with up to four players racing at the same time.
And So the iLine Begins Again
7. October 2011
Having trouble <a href="pre-ordering an iPhone from AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint Hop on a plane and head to Tokyo. I'm still here, and the iPhone 4S, as in the U.S., has gone on preorder. It's available from wireless carrier SoftBank, and as I strolled around Harajuku and Shibuyu this past evening, the hoopla was underway and the crowds were forming, presumably to place orders in person.
A few photos after the jump. (The signs are hard to read, but they all make reference to the 4S.)
iPhone 4S Pre-Order Fail
7. October 2011
I don’t think Steve would be too happy with the way the pre-order for the iPhone 4S has gone so far. It took Apple until 3:41am to get the Apple Store up, and once up it was difficult to complete a transaction: for example, existing AT&T customers were experiencing issues in reserving a device. Sprint’s site crashed within minutes of the 3:01am opening, and on AT&T it said you could preorder the device, yet it’s nowhere to be found. Verizon’s the only carrier getting high marks so far for the process on Twitter and elsewhere.
Yes, I guess we should have expected this, but it seems like these pre-order events are getting worse rather than better. Wouldn’t you think these companies would figure out how to do it right after awhile? I guess not.
UPDATE (1:15AM PT): Apple’s site is still having issues, but AT&T seems to be working sluggish but half-decent. Sprint’s site is definitely slow, and Verizon’s still doing the best. Just anecdotal, but Sprint is definitely the slowest out of the group. Not surprising, considering these folks are completely new to the iPhone, and we’re likely seeing the pent up demand there.
Steve Jobs, on the Cover of TIME Once More
6. October 2011
My friends at TIME had just finished work on the issue that comes out this Friday when the world learned of the passing of Steve Jobs. They stopped the presses, called an emergency meeting–here’s photographic evidence–and put together a new cover story. (And what a cover that is.) I’m honored to say that the obituary I wrote for TIME.com became part of the print magazine’s coverage. (I also have another story in the issue, on Facebook’s new Timeline and Open Graph features.)
Steve Jobs Signs an Apple II Manual
6. October 2011
And one more memorable item of Jobsana from Craig Elliott: His autographed Apple II manual, dated on the ninth anniversary of Apple’s founding. (He still has the Apple II, too.)
The Day Steve Gave Craig a Porsche
6. October 2011
Craig Elliott, who shared the Steve Jobs thirtieth birthday video with us, also sent along this delightful photo of him with Jobs. Here’s why Steve is presenting Craig with a new Porsche:
In 1985 Apple had a promotion called “Test Drive” where you could borrow a Mac for the weekend from your local computer reseller. At the same time they had a sales contest for reseller sales people. I had just finished my undergraduate degree (Animal Science/Microbiology) and needed to make some money for grad school, so I went to work for a local computer reseller in Ames, Iowa (I was always the computer guy in the lab). At the end of the sales contest I got a letter from Apple (I knew it was legit because it was done on a yet to be shipped LaserWriter) saying that I’d won and was invited to Cupertino (my first trip to California). There were other winners from other regions (but I sold the most :) ) and I got to have dinner with Steve and Mike Murray (VP of Marketing). As a guy that had been playing with Apple II’s since 1978, it was more than a dream come true. I was 24 years old, having dinner with Steve Jobs. I personally understand the term “reality distortion field”. I also spent the week with other sales and marketing execs at Apple in interviews, a tour of the factory and meetings. at headquarters. Steve gave me the keys to a Porsche 944 and then about 3 months later, Apple called back to see if I would consider moving to California and work at headquarters. I stayed for 10 years. After my second sabbatical, I helped found a new networking and communications company called Packeteer as CEO, took it public in 1999 and retired in 2002 at 41.
Lots of people can rightfully say that Steve Jobs changed their life.
Me, too.
To Steven Jobs on His Thirtieth Birthday
6. October 2011
On February 24th 1985, Steve Jobs turned thirty. His Apple coworkers helped him celebrate by creating a short film for him. They set it to the wonderful song “My Back Pages” by one of Steve’s idols, Bob Dylan, and filled it with images from Jobs’ first three decades. You know some of them, but only some. And they include many ones of a happy, relaxed, even silly Steve Jobs that most of us never got to see.
And here it is. The tribute must have been deeply moving for Steve and his colleagues at the time it was made, and if you can watch it today without getting at least very slightly emotional–particularly as you listen to Dylan’s lyrics–you’re reading the wrong blog.
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11. October 2011
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