by Conrad MacIntyre
By Conrad MacIntyre
Microsoft VP Rami Teller announced that the company’s new Windows 8 operating system will RTM (Release to Manufacturing) in the first week of August, launching publicly in “late October.”
Well, now we know that Surface for Windows Pro (or whatever it's called) will be released just before the next-gen iPad in late January (assuming the timetable they gave at the launch event is accurate). And the Surface for Windows RT may run head-long into the iPad Mini. Fun.
Ben Brooks on HTC's recent victory in the Swipe to Unlock trial:
I’m actually really glad Apple lost this patent because it’s something that just seems silly to not have on touchscreen devices.
This is a rare time when I disagree with Ben. Swipe to unlock may seem "silly not to have on a touchscreen device" now that you've been using it for 5 years. But Apple came up with that idea to overcome a potential problem. And now that Apple has figured out an excellent solution other companies should be allowed to just take that idea without putting in any of the work? I strongly disagree.
Right now Apple sells and markets devices by showing users why they need/want such a device. The amazing screen on the retina MacBook Pro. The amazing form factor of the MacBook Air. The intimate web and portability of the iPad. The amazing do everything, go everywhere iPhone. 10,000 songs in your pocket iPod.
How does Apple market a seven inch iPad if they are only making it because it would be cheaper to buy? What is demonstrably better about a 7 inch tablet?
Drew Olanoff on Apple's ban of the Galaxy Nexus:
If the Nexus did catch on with some people, it would most definitely cause some disruption in Apple’s plans, which is what competition is all about. Instead, sending this all to a court for litigation limits everyone else’s opportunity to truly innovate.
And later:
If Apple wants to protect its IP, that’s fine, and that’s America. If Apple wants to be the best, it should just focus on making the best, and let the consumers decide.
The problem is that other OEMs (Samsung is especially shamless in this regard) are just stealing Apple's design ideas and UI ideas, and even names. Innovation is not the problem, copying is.
Citi analyst Walter Pritchard (via The Next Web:
At the meeting with MSFT Windows execs, we were able to try the Surface touch keyboard (we weren’t at LA launch) and also use it conjunction with new Office (RT- version). All works well. The keyboard is responsive and natural (same size as laptop keyboard), with only downside being there is only slight raised delineation between keys, meaning you have to look at your fingers while you type. With short words, we were able to type accurately, although longer words were more error-prone.
Touch-typists rejoice!
Bill Gates (via CNET), interpreted:
I actually believe you can have the best of both worlds. You can have a rich ecosystem of manufacturers and you can have a few signature devices that show off, you know, wow, what's the difference between a tablet and a PC.
Translation: Our OEMs blew it. We can do better, but I don't want to just come out and say that. But I kind of will anyway. In related news, you can have your cake and eat it too.
You don't have to make a compromise. You can have everything you like about a tablet and everything you like about a PC all in one device. And so that should change the way people look at things.
Translation: Yes, we've been trying the same approach since 2002 and no, we do not see a problem with that. Also, we are courting Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis to join Steve Ballmer as co-co-co-CEOs.
There were a few things that could have been done differently to bring it (a Microsoft tablet) to critical mass...
Translation: We should have waited to see what Apple would do from the beginning. Than added a kickstand.
I'm sure Apple is terrified.
Google sent out the following to Chrome Extension Developers via email:
We are updating our ad policies to allow extensions to monetize through ads.
Now, slide over to the Chrome Web Store's 'Popular' section and notice that two of the top seven extensions are "AdBlock" and "Adblock Plus". I wonder if they'll monetize through ads?
Michael Steeber on Mozilla's new Firefox phone OS:
The entire operating system is built around the open standards of HTML5, allowing all of the device capabilities to be built as HTML5 applications. This is a stark contrast to the closed, rather locked down nature of the iOS ecosystem.
Just because the Firefox OS runs an HTML5 platform doesn't mean it is "open" or "closed". It simply means that is the development framework. Apple uses and supports a lot of open standards, AAC, h.264, HTML5, CSS3, and many others.
An open standard does not equal an open OS.
AppleInsider reporting that iOS is responsible:
The 65.27 percent share of Apple's iOS platform, which is found on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, was up from 62.65 percent in May. Apple's share has steadily risen, growing from a 53 percent position in August of 2011.
Apple's next closest competitor in mobile browsing market is Google's Android platform, which took 19.73 percent in the month of June. Android has also seen its share grow since last August, when it took 15.98 percent of mobile browsers.
Okay, so what? Filter that stat through the lens of this stat and it becomes much more impressive (Joel Mathis, reporting for Macworld):
ComScore’s report, released this week, was based on a survey of 30,000 smartphone subscribers. The company reported that Apple’s iOS platform ranked second to Google’s Android platform—31.9 percent to 50.0 percent, though Apple’s 1.7 percent growth in share from February to May doubled Google’s gain during that time.
Before Microsoft unveiled the Surface tablet last week in Los Angeles, it unveiled the mouse. More specifically, the 1983 Microsoft Mouse, which CEO Steve Ballmer hailed as an example of the company’s 30-year history in hardware.
Carr then goes on to rave about the Arc Touch mouse and the new Surface (including an emotional attachment to the kickstand, apparently) and about the superior quality of Microsoft's hardware designs and implementations...
Nick Eaton in 2009:
[A] Game Informer survey of 5,000 readers found that the Xbox 360 has an astounding 54.2 percent failure rate. That means 54.2 percent of Xbox 360 consoles fail in one way or another.
That’s well above the reported failure rates of Sony’s PlayStation 3 (10.6 percent) and Nintendo’s Wii (6.8 percent).
I'm not saying Surface is bad, it might be awesome. I'll be interested to play with one when they are released. But when we glow about Microsoft's history in hardware let's not forget their most successful hardware device.
Ewan Spence on the strategy for Google's loss-leading Nexus 7:
The Nexus 7 strategy is based around the Google Play store, where apps, music, and media can be purchased and consumed on the new 7 inch tablet. As a launch offer every tablet will come with free credit to spend in the Play Store – once you buy something the hope must be you’ll keep on buying with your own money.
Interesting, but it doesn't really jibe with what is well know about Android's users (Gene Minster, via Apple Insider):
In other words, it appears that Apple has roughly 85-90% market share in dollars spent on mobile applications
Should be interesting to see how this shakes down, but suffice to say that I doubt upsetting your hardware partners to try and make it up in purchases from a customer base that aren't big spenders may not be the best bet.
John Naughton, writing about Apple case against Googorola getting thrown out:
This is a landmark judgment, one of those moments when someone – in this case an eminent judge rather than a small child – points out that the emperor is indeed stark naked. Patent wrangling between technology companies has become both pathological and pointless. It is also a gross abuse of intellectual property law that uses the courts as tools for gaining competitive advantage. The people who should be deciding whether Apple's phones are better – more functional, reliable, easier to use – than Motorola's are consumers, not judges. By striking a blow for common sense in what had become a madhouse, Posner has set a really encouraging precedent.
I agree with the specific example and, furthermore, believe the entire patent system to be horribly flawed. That said, there needs to be a way to stop people (Samsung, I'm looking at you) from blatantly stealing everything Apple does. Like phones, tablets, Siri, and "ultrabooks"(read: MacBook Air Clones). I don't know for sure what that is, but something needs to change.
John Brownlee on the theory that AirPlay Streaming is limited to Macs with Sandy Bridge chips to make use of Intel Insider DRM:
If true, this has got to be infuriating to Mac owners who arbitrarily don’t have an AirPlay-compatible Mac. As is often the case, AirPlay Mirroring on Mac is just another example of how DRM usually only inconveniences legitimate customers, while pirates, as always, figure out a way around the safeguard.
Brandon LeBlanc for the Windows blog:
Starting at general availability, if your PC is running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 you will qualify to download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99 in 131 markets. And if you want, you can add Windows Media Center for free through the “add features” option within Windows 8 Pro after your upgrade.
Curious what Microsoft's motivation is to take a bath on one of its most profitable divisions – especially since it's Windows division is already losing money. I wonder what the drop in income will be for Q3/Q4 2012.
Killian Bell reports on the new crop of iPad Mini rumors:
iPad mini will feature a 7.85-inch IGZO display from Sharp, and will start at just $249.
With that kind of price tag, the iPad mini is in a perfect position to fend off any threat from the recently released Google Nexus 7, or the upcoming Kindle Fire 2. Sure, it’s $50 more expensive than its $199 competitors, but you can bet you’ll get a lot more bang for your buck.
I'm holding my breath.
Well, when you're wrong, you're wrong. M.G. Seigler:
As for Steve Jobs implying Apple could never do a smaller tablet because users would have to whittle down their fingers to use it — welcome to Steve Jobs and Apple. Jobs saying that was just as good of an indication that Apple may eventually move into the space. And now it sure looks like they’re getting ready to.
There is just too much buzz coming from too many sources to be based on pure speculation at this point. I still feel like Jobs was right about a 7-inch tablet being a "tweener" but I'll surely be playing with one when (if) it comes out.
[W]e can anticipate that Windows 7 will overtake Windows XP’s global market share in late July. Our estimates point to the changeover occuring on July 23rd, at around 3:30 Pacific, but suffice it to know that it should happen at some point this month.
I wonder how many people are still running OS X 10.0.
Ben Brooks on the future of RIM:
By the time BB10 launches it won’t matter. Forget about BB10 competing with iOS or Android — it will first have to compete with Windows Phone 8, which will be making a major play for corporate love — backed by Microsoft money, Windows, and Exchange.
I almost feel bad for RIM. I liked the idea of a Canadian company leading the charge. But they got lazy and lost ground. That's a lesson a lot of companies could learn from Apple and what Apple did in the smartphone and music player industries.
Sudara Williams essentially advocating for piracy:
Some folks would rather Google and do a five minute download than spend $15 on an album.
Perhaps that same person will blow $60 on a concert, or $25 for a piece of vinyl they will play once. Maybe they are in college, and when they get a job the situation changes. Maybe they will turn five friends into hardcore fans, who in turn will buy records, t-shirts and concert tickets.
Who knows?
I call Balderdash! There's a lot of maybes there. And no matter how old you are or how much you make there's always something else to spend your money on. This article essentially claims that pirates are *accused of "screwing over artists, stealing, and being entitled" — as they should be — because that is the unvarnished truth. Piracy is a problem and Sudara Williams are simply trying to justify it.
Having said that, Williams makes a great point a little later on:
The record industry has fought unsuccessfully for a dozen years trying to stop sharing. They have diverted ridiculous amounts of cash to this cause (broke artists, anyone?). They took blame and guilt to fascist levels – threatening, suing, trying to push through new legislation. Has anything changed?
This is what the music companies (and now Hollywood) fails to understand time and again. Steve Jobs nailed it back in 2003, you can't sue it out of existence and the answer is not to treat people who've bought the content like criminals... the answer is to compete with it. Offer something better at a reasonable price. I think most people want to be honest – just make it easy.
Emily Price on the new Google Nexus Q:
The Q isn’t on sale just yet, and that’s probably a really good thing. In its current form the software is too buggy to make it worth using at all, much less shelling out $300 for.
If you’re looking for something to stream video, there are other options out there that can get the job done for a lot less money. Some of those competing devices also offer more forms of content — Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify — than the Q can currently handle.
Where do I sign up?
The Associated Press via Twitter:
BREAKING: Chinese court says Apple to pay local company $60 million to settle iPad name dispute.
Proview earned $60,000,000.00 for the name they used for their iMac rip-off. Seems about right.