Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
The last time I wrote this up , it turned (predictably) into a flamewar in the comments. Look, whether you think the iPhone is the world’s most advanced device or a toy for people who can’t handle real smartphones (I take no stance), you have to admit that its touchscreen is the business. The test I cited before was kind of informal, but they’ve redone it with a robot’s help, and the results are even more pronounced. Continue reading at MobileCrunch…
Posted by 010081
Tech
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Here’s a story I simply do not understand. Yes, we all know that Google has pulled out of mainland China , choosing to redirect all Chinese traffic through its uncensored Hong Kong hub. What I don’t understand is, what gives Google the right to flout a country’s laws, no matter how “bad” they may seem? China doesn’t want its citizens to read up on Tienanmen Square—and? I really don’t think it’s the place outsiders to tell China how to run itself. You wouldn’t want Big China Corporation to build a factory in the middle of Texas, then demand that the state of Texas bend to its whims, would you? First, the facts. Facts are helpful sometimes. China and Google have been feuding out in the open , WrestleMania-style, over China’s demand that Google censor its search results. Google, which ostensibly does no evil, protested, saying that it’s committed to the free flow of information (provided it can tack on a few ads alongside said information). So, China says this: “Fine. Take a hike, Google.” Then Google says, “OK…” but then it reroutes all China traffic through its Hong Kong site, which isn’t subject to the same censorship regime. So, to recap: China has a problem with Google’s way of doing business, tells Google to knock it off, Google refuses, then skirts around the law for its own benefit. How can people support Google? I frequently see things like, “Well, what about those Chinese hackers?!” So one thing justifies the other, you’re saying? Even if that turns out being true, that Chinese hackers under the watchful eye of Beijing, attacked Google, does that give Google the right to ignore Chinese law? If you egg my car—punk kids!—does that mean I can walk into your house, steal your TV, then say, “What? This makes us even.” Yeah, no. If Google has a problem with Chinese hackers , then it should deal with that issue, and not use it as an excuse to do whatever it wants “just because.” I’m not defending Chinese law, but I fully recognize that it’s none of my business. If that’s how the Chinese government wants to run its affairs, so be it. It’s fairly silly to project one’s own cultural animus onto other peoples. If Google wants to do business in China, it has to play by China’s rules. What’s so controversial about that? Google shouldn’t get a free pass simply because it’s Google.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Sure, there’s something to be said for understatement, but I’m going to start mistaking these things for floor tiles. These new hard drives only come in one flavor: silver, 1TB, $199 . They’re aimed at Mac owners, which explains the price. You can get a terabyte for a hundy if you look. Also: just wait a couple days, I’m working on a review of the My Passport Studio , and its little e-ink display is the business.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
An outstanding e-mail showed up in my inbox a few moments ago promoting the release of Donkey Kong Country 2: Serious Monkey Business . It’s a remix album from OC ReMix, the people who are famous for, you know, remixing video game soundtracks. (I used one of their Street Fighter remixes in a video review about a year ago.) But, yeah, Serious Monkey Business! The album is totally free to download, and it totally brings me back to 1995/1996 , perhaps the last year I was legitimately happy. That there video is a preview of what you can expect. I don’t know, I figured at least a few of you would get a kick out of it.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Friday, March 12th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Welcome to future world, first stop: wallets. Nooka makes some of our favorite watches an now they’re making what amounts to a wallet for space explorers. Made of soft silicone, it is wear and water resistant and infinitely expandable. It comes in five colors and costs $35. Before you say $35 is too much to pay for a wallet, let me tell you who this is for. If you’re trying to reduce your wallet load – maybe down to a credit card, a drivers license, some business cards and some cash – this will do the trick. It’s not for the old-fashioned. The pockets let you organize things quite quickly and easily and unless you have a big wad of cash (who does in these trying times) you’re not going to miss the room for all your bills. That said, I enjoyed using it over the past few weeks. I kept my business cards and Metro card in it and it rode shotgun with my wallet. The silicone was a little too slippery sometimes – it would pop out of my pocket – but on the whole it’s a cool design and a cool idea. Is it for you? If you like bright colors and need a new wallet, consider it. If you’re more a meat sandwich in the woods on a brisk morning kind of guy, maybe give it a pass. Product Page: Nooka AO
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Most people in the world hear Hewlett-Packard and think “printers.” And who can blame them? Since the relatively recent emphasis on the “HP” instead of “Hewlett-Packard,” and the general consumer move away from printers, HP hasn’t really done anything noteworthy — well, other than thrive despite the decline of the business in which they made their fortune. It’s like the old joke about the bricklayer and the sheep — but instead of drowning their sorrows in gin, HP is drowning them in money in an effort to rebrand the company. To that end, they’ve created a series of ads with the questionable tagline “Let’s Do Amazing.” It’s not much of a time investment: a few 30-second spots with Flight of the Conchords ‘ Rhys Darby bumbling around some professionals who appreciate what HP does. Won’t you join me for a look? It reminds one not of the consumer-oriented (and also HP-centric) Laptop Hunters ads from Microsoft, but of more generalized stuff like ads from GE and HTC. Healthymagination , another linguistically questionable series, strives to show how GE is everywhere, working with everyone. HTC modestly states they are “Quietly brilliant,” which suggests that you just don’t know how awesome HTC is because they haven’t told you. “Let’s Do Amazing” suggests that marketing couldn’t think of anything specific that only HP does. The tagline thing is, I think, a misguided trend, since the taglines never last more than a single ad campaign and the most important part, the product and the company that makes it, are often deliberately sidelined so the “concept” can show through. Remember the Seinfeld/Gates ads? All anyone remembers is Gates wiggling his bum. Apple’s Mac/PC ads, while conceptual, at least focus on features, however misrepresented. The take-away is easy. What is the take-away from these HP ads? “All these people use HP for stuff I never see or use.” Does HP want to place themselves in the meta-technology sector, like IBM? Then why advertise with a popular actor and people like Dr. Dre? HP used to make crappy PCs and tons of printers. Now they make decent PCs, tablets and touchscreens, and are doing seriously good things with AMD in the mid-range/ultraportable sector — but we don’t really see that, or anything really, in these ads. They grab your attention but fail to advance their case in any way with the viewer. Still, it’s nice to see HP pushing back; we can probably expect a few more like these, and maybe even catch a glimpse of something somebody might be able to buy . Update: Eh, maybe I’m crazy about the name. I thought everyone called them “Hewlett-Packard” until like 2000. Maybe not.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
With a list of allegedly infringed patents as long as my arm , Apple could be considered as filing this lawsuit with nothing but the idea of getting what’s rightfully theirs. I imagine that’s true as far as it goes, but there’s a little more to it and I think this conflict may expose even further the cracks that are appearing in our patent and trademark system. I was going to write a big ol’ thing on this, but the fact is that I’d just be duplicating the analysis over at Brainstorm Tech and Daring Fireball . The situation is evolving, and we’ll see how the cookie crumbles — but either way, there are many intelligent things to be said about the patent system and how what was designed for the industrial age doesn’t work in the information age.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Watch the latest business video at video.foxbusiness.com In case you missed it, TiVo launched new products last night, the TiVo Premiere . The big news isn’t the hardware, it’s the software that’s dramatically different than the previous versions and the CEO went on to Fox Business to explain it to the talking heads. Oh and he said this, “Hulu would be great. As soon as they authorize it we are hoping to find a way to do it.” Interesting, eh?
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Well lookie at that, GameStop is selling a 250GB Xbox 360 drive separately from a console. Microsoft has said in the past that they don’t plan on selling the larger drives without a bundle, so I doubt these are a new or official product, but rather GameStop coming up with something on their own. The listing for the drive popped up on GameStop’s website for $129.99 , but the product isn’t available until 3/23. There’s also not a whole lot of details about rather it’s new, used, or whatever. So either someone accidentally leaked some info a bit early, or GameStop finally figured out what to do with all those hard drives they’ve been taking in trade in on the Elite consoles. My guess is the latter, but only time will tell. It does fit their business model, selling the used drives separate from the console sounds very much like something that they would do. [via Destructoid ]
Posted by 010081
Tech
Sunday, February 28th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
The guys behind Shanzai.com – a blog covering the very best in China and Indian shanzai products – are taking the world of shanzai online with a new crowdsourcing site called Shanzaistudios.com Basically, its your standard crowdsourcing model or better yet “Social Production” – the site puts up a product they can manufacture in China and everyone visiting the site gets to help form the final design that gets made and sold. While the first product is very interesting to tablet fans (a tablet bag ‘natch) its how deep they plan to go that is exciting. While in Hong Kong, I was able to chat with one of the founders and they were telling me that ultimately this is the way to get a more personalized cellphone or a tablet device, but starting smaller and building it up is their initial goal. Said the founders: “Actually, we see the key to success in crowdsourcing or social production as we call it is finding the right manufacturing partners who understand the business model and have the flexibility to meet the different demands of our community. This is very different approach than mass volume production but it is one that shanzai manufacturers understand instinctively because they themselves have grown by developing niche market products in small-size lots.” Beyond the tablet bag, they are getting into LED lighting which they have direct contacts at factories in China to manufacture and they are looking to hear what the community that grows really wants to get in to. Don’t like the JooJoo or the iPad , this could be your shot to help make the one you really want. Crowdsourcing success is going to depend on the quality of the people in the crowd. I’ve not yet seen this work in a true social way, but sites like Crowdspring.com (for logo designs), Kickstarter.com (creative projects investments) and Local-motors.com (the design of a car) are going for it in various ways. But in a world where the dictatorship of Apple makes the most coveted products, do we need a bunch of wanabee-Jonathan Ives try to make something for a group to buy? Can a group of 10, 100 or 1,000 agree on something they would all buy? Who’s got Mark Burnett’s number? I’ve got a reality show to pitch him.