Apple Fails to Innovate on their “Hobby”
September 2, 2010 by admin · View Comments
There’s a new box for your HDTV that sells for well under $100, streams premium content over the Internet from Netflix, Amazon, and Major League Baseball, and even supports “apps” like Pandora. Think it’s from Apple? Think again.
The Roku HD
Two years ago upstart Roku started selling a set top box that did nothing but stream Netflix to televisions. Early this year the company rolled out an update that added significantly more new content to the device, with 50 app-like “channels” already out and many more on the way. Roku is just one of many startups selling devices that bring Internet content to televisions.
Everyone expected Apple to throw the gauntlet down this week on the fledgling IPTV industry’s scrappy startups with a long awaited update to the AppleTV.
The online rumor mill buzzed with anticipation as yesterday’s announcement drew near, with many “in the know” claiming the next version would be a revolutionary departure from the current product, running the same software that powers the iPhone and iPad. Geeks throughout the world were already dreaming up the television-based apps and using phrases like “[this] will change everything.”
That turned out not to be the case.
The new AppleTV
Apple CEO Jobs instead introduced a less expensive and scaled down product that removed the internal hard drive found in the original and switched to a rental only model for purchasing content that alienated most television networks. The only new feature added was Netflix streaming capability. Yawn.
The new device will sell at $99, half the price of the old one. And while that’s a great deal for an Apple product, it’s more expensive than the innovative Roku.
Is the AppleTV a total dud? Definitely not. It’s almost a no brainer for those with large content libraries purchased through iTunes. It will stream previously purchased content off of Macs, PCs, and even iPads and iPhones to an HDTV.
But for those without much purchased content, the $69 Roku HD is worth serious consideration. The Amazon streaming service works wonderfully on the device and is priced competitively with Apple’s iTunes.
And there’s more competition on the way. The makers of Boxee, a free software based TV product for computers, will offer the aptly named the “Boxee Box” later this fall, and Google will have an IPTV product available from a number of manufacturers later this year and next.
For once Apple is finding itself behind the rest of the market. While the industry stakes are high, these sub-$100 devices take out much of the risk for consumers. This will be a fun battle to watch.
The Roku HD is available now for $79 through Amazon (affiliate link). The new $99 AppleTV will be released later this month and is available for pre-order at Apple’s website.
Review: iPhone 4 Arrives to Lousy Reception
June 25, 2010 by admin · View Comments
Thousands of Apple fans, myself included, lined up throughout the nation this week, eager to be among the first get their hands the latest iteration of the iPhone. And while the phone arrived to much fanfare Thursday morning, the reception (or lack thereof) it received when customers brought it home left much to be desired.
One of the key new features of the device is its new design, replacing the plastic shell of the previous model with glass and a stainless steel band that wraps around the device. The stainless steel component also doubles as an antenna, something Apple CEO Steve Jobs boasted as “brilliant engineering” in his June 7th keynote address to software developers.
And while audience members responded to the new antenna design with ooh’s and ahh’s, reality sunk in quickly on launch day as YouTube videos surfaced demonstrating the phone dramatically loses signal when a hand covers the bottom left side of the unit. Watch one of the first demonstrations of the issue below:
My own experiences mirror those findings of the video author. Holding the phone with my finger or hand on or near the bottom left of side of the unit is enough to quickly reduce a strong signal to a weak one. The phone dropped significantly more calls this evening in my home as compared to the previous model, the 3GS.
As early adopters flooded the Internet with complaints throughout the day, Apple acknowledged the flaw in a statement released to popular gadget blog Engadget:
Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.
Jobs, who of late is known for responding directly to customers who email him, advised a disappointed customer to “just avoid holding it in that way” according to the Engadget article.
A solution may only be an additional $29 away. Other iPhone 4 owners today reported that adding Apple’s new rubber “bumper” accessory was enough to prevent a user’s hand from interfering with the antenna. This of course adds some additional bulk to what Job’s describes as “the world’s thinnest smartphone” but should correct the interference issue.
That major gripe aside, the iPhone 4 is an impressive and well built product. Its new high resolution display is exceptional, and the phone’s ability to shoot and edit HD video complete with motion graphics is simply unmatched in the industry at the moment.
New AT&T customers and those eligible for an upgrade can purchase a 16 gigabyte iPhone 4 for $199, or a 32 gig version for $299. Supplies will be short for the next several weeks.
Remote Desktop Applications Add Missing Functionality to the iPad
June 4, 2010 by admin · View Comments
I contributed the following article to CTWatchdog.com:
Apple’s new iPad is taking the world by storm, selling over two million units in only its first two months on the market. Apple has smartly positioned their new product as a media consumption device, downplaying its ability to replace a full fledged PC.
iPad is mostly a faster and larger version of Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch – lacking much of the horsepower and functionality consumers have come to expect from a personal computer. Some tech pundits have wasted no time in panning the iPad, pointing out that less expensive “netbook” PC’s can do more given they run full versions of Linux and Windows.
Coming to the rescue are a number of new applications that “stream” a running PC or Mac to the device – allowing iPad users to take full control of their home or office computer from anywhere in the world. The iPad’s touch screen is certainly no replacement for a keyboard and mouse, but the apps work well enough to accomplish basic tasks.
Two Choices
LogMeIn’s “Ignition” ($29.99) and Antecea’s “Desktop Connect” ($11.99) work with both PC’s and Macs, and only require the installation of lightweight desktop applications to make the connection, no router configuration necessary.
It works like this: the screen display of a host desktop or laptop computer is transmitted over the Internet to the iPad. The host computer in turn accepts commands from the iPad’s screen, translating those screen taps into mouse movements and keyboard entries. The result is the ability to quickly interact with the host machine from an iPad connected to the Internet via wifi or 3G.
Nearly any application on the host computer can be run from the iPad. Email, word processors, accounting packages, and many other applications all function as expected. Games and other multimedia intensive applications are not recommended given bandwidth limitations.
Gotchyas
Both the LogMeIn and Antecea products work well for minimal tasks, but heavy usage gets a bit clunky. This is due in large part to the iPad’s touch-based interface design that requires both apps to simulate mouse movements. Clicking buttons and accessing menus are easy enough, but other controls requiring finer precision like clicking and dragging prove to be more difficult.
Using the onscreen keyboard in both applications adds additional challenges. Given that the keyboard can take up nearly half of the iPad’s screen in landscape mode, portions of the remote computer’s screen will be blocked. Both apps allow adjustment of the screen when the keyboard is pulled up, but it does severely limit functionality. Utilizing a bluetooth keyboard eliminates the problem, but of course also prevents handheld usage.
Polish vs. Value
If both apps do the same thing, why is the Antecea product more than half the price of the LogMeIn offering? The answer is largely in the polish. LogMeIn is a publicly traded company that has been offering remote access services for the last seven years, and the app’s overall design reflects that. Antecea is a smaller independent developer with far less overhead.
LogMeIn has two service levels, one free and one for an annual charge, but for the iPad software the free service will suffice. Antecea’s service is free, but requires a Google account in order to connect back to the desktop machine. Both apps can also be installed on your iPhone and iPod touch for no additional charge.
Unless you have an existing LogMeIn account, my suggestion would be to give Antecea’s offering a try. The $11.99 price is very reasonable for a product that functions largely the same as its more expensive competitor.
My Review of the Logitech Harmony 300 Remote Control
May 31, 2010 by admin · View Comments
I am a member of the Amazon Vine program. Each month Amazon.com sends me products to review for their site. This month I received the Logitech Harmony 300 Remote Control
It’s nice to see Logitech taking their successful Harmony line to the low-end and introducing a more affordable version for people who don’t need all of the bells and whistles of their higher end remotes. It’s basic transportation, but far beyond any of the similar remotes in this price range – especially in how easy it is to program.
Read my full review at Amazon.com (affiliate link).
Why I Switched Off Syphir
May 3, 2010 by admin · View Comments
As a habitually disorganized person in the physical world, I welcome smart tools that help me organize things virtually with little or no effort.
One of my favorite desktop apps to accomplish this task is Hazel, recommended by my favorite virtual organizer Merlin Mann. I set Hazel to automatically delete files on my desktop or downloads folder after 3 days of inactivity, forcing me to keep things organized.
So I was excited when Merlin espoused a similar app for Gmail on Mac Break Weekly recently called Syphir. While it doesn’t yet have all of the bells and whistles of Hazel, it is well on its way to enforcing rules that can keep inboxes tidier than Google’s filters can do. There’s just one problem. Take a look at this:
Google recently implemented new security safeguards that give users a better idea as to where accounts are being accessed from.
I was alarmed this morning when I noticed my account was being accessed from a half dozen IPs all over the country, including one that resolved back to MIT and others that resolved to Amazon EC2. After momentarily freaking out, I came to the conclusion that this was all Syphir traffic. Sure enough, once I disabled the Syphir service my account returned to normal.
In fairness, Syphir is handling user security responsibly. They utilize Oauth and OpenID linked to a Google account so passwords are not stored on their servers. Nevertheless, the fact that my account is being accessed from any number of servers throughout the United States simultaneously makes it next to impossible to detect unwanted visitors.
I will keep an eye on Syphir’s progress, but this flood of IMAP requests to my Gmail account is a deal breaker for me.
Review: Flip MinoHD 2nd Generation
April 28, 2010 by admin · View Comments
I am a member of the Amazon Vine program. Each month Amazon.com sends me products to review for their site. This month I received the Flip MinoHD Camcorder 2nd Generation.
As an owner of a small hyperlocal video news outfit, we bought a bunch of Flip Cameras last year to hand out to folks in town doing interesting things. For the price the Flip cams deliver exceptional video that works very well with our editing workflow (we use Final Cut Pro).
We started with the original Flip Mino but found the larger Flip UltraHD model to be a better product both in terms of functionality and durability. After spending the last few hours with the 2nd Generation Flip Mino, I believe the new MinoHD is now the Flip Camera to get.
Read my full review at Amazon.com (affiliate link)
My Review of the Western Digital My Book Studio 1 TB FireWire 400/800 Drive
February 23, 2010 by admin · View Comments
I am a member of the Amazon Vine program. Each month Amazon.com sends me products to review for their site. This month I received the Western Digital My Book Studio 1 TB FireWire 800/400, USB 2.0 External Hard Drive
Let me echo the thoughts of some of the other Amazon reviewers: The addition of the ‘smartware’ in such an intrusive way is not Mac-like and completely unnecessary. I did see the mandatory virtual CD disappear after I installed the smartware software on my Mac, but having to install anything to use an external hard drive is completely inexcusable. Western Digital loses two stars on this ‘feature’ alone.
Once installed, the included smartware software adds an equally unnecessary menu bar icon that does nothing but take up system resources. I was able to remove it from loading by going into user settings under system preferences and removing it from my startup items.
Features & Operation
Beyond the major software flaw, this is a good external storage device. There are few first party firewire 800 drives directed at Mac users, so this drive might be attractive for those looking for an easy solution to adding a high-speed time machine backup drive to their system. It is also compatible with Firewire 400 and USB 2.0… Read the rest of my review at Amazon.com (affiliate link).
Jay Leno Offers the Best Chevy Volt Preview So far
December 29, 2009 by admin · View Comments
I can’t wait for GM to finally get this car rolling off the assembly line. From watching the above video, it looks like they are getting very close to production. Jay Leno had the opportunity to test drive an advanced prototype that looks to be what next year’s mass produced version will look like.
The big takeaway? GM has produced an electric car that’s practical and won’t leave its users stranded at the side of the road. It’s sellable.
Some new things I learned from the video:
Hat tip to GM-Volt.com for the link.
Review of the Western Digital My Book Studio 1 Terabyte Drive
December 28, 2009 by admin · View Comments
I am a member of the Amazon Vine program. Each month Amazon sends me items to review on their site. This month I received the Western Digital My Book Studio 1 TB External Hard Drive.
Western Digital’s My Book Studio is a Mac formatted external hard disk that includes a high speed firewire 800 interface. While the product is good, Western Digital’s foolish decision to make their ‘Smartware’ an intrusive part of this product is not Mac-like and completely unnecessary. The Smartware software will present itself as a ‘virtual CD-ROM’ that will not go away unless it is installed.
Once installed, the included smartware software adds an equally unnecessary menu bar icon that does nothing but take up system resources. I was able to remove it from loading by going into user settings under system preferences and removing it from my startup items.
Read more of my review at Amazon.com.
My Review of the Western Digital My Passport Essential External Hard Drive
December 27, 2009 by admin · View Comments
I am a member of the Amazon Vine program. Each month Amazon sends me items to review on their site. This month I received the Western Digital My Passport Essential 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive
I have long been a fan of Western Digital’s bus powered external drives and own a bunch of them for my online video news startup. Their drives are workhorses and have withstood a ton of abuse my reporters have inflicted upon them. What I liked most was the drives’ simplicity – plug it in, format, and get to work.
Unfortunately Western Digital has made a mess of their newest generation of bus powered hard drives by forcing users to install unnecessary drivers and the addition of a persistent `virtual cd` that can only be removed through a lengthy process hidden on their support site.
Read my full review at Amazon.com to hear my experiences using this drive on both Windows and Mac.
Stuff I find interesting- Does the iPhone 4 hate the AT&T MicroCell? August 8, 2010
- FCC calls off net neutrality negotiations August 5, 2010
- The Nightmare Scenario August 4, 2010
- Long lived new windows June 10, 2010
- Vintage Apple II Sites June 10, 2010
