Travelling Soon? Leave your Netbook and iPad in Your Bag

In some somewhat exciting news for frequent travelers, the TSA has announced on it's blog that any devices "smaller than the average laptop" can be left in your carry-on bag in the X-Ray.

I travel at least a few times a year so this is a huge advantage for anyone who travels with their devices, since you don't have to dig for your laptop and grab another bin to stick your 10 pound laptop in. This certainly creates new value for smaller devices, including any netbooks and of course, the iPad since it would be perfect for flight.

So next time you travel, keep your "smaller than a laptop" device in your bag and let me know how it goes.

Wow, What a Month!

Hey everyone!

 

Photo courtesy of cnet

I know it's been quite a while since I've provided any information on account of Spring Break and a few very, very hectic weeks of school.

Now that those are over, I thought I'd give a quick recap about what's gone on in the past few weeks that could have some major impact on the tech market.

The Apple iPad was released this past weekend (300k devices sold) to generally positive but mixed reviews. A lot of users were puzzled as to what devices they could actually replace with the device, saying that it's size impedes using it as a portable media device but the lack of complex multitasking made it difficult to justify replacing a device such as a laptop or netbook. Ultimately it seems, the device is fulfilling the role I expected to it to: entertainment. I think the hype for the device to "change the media landscape" created unrealistically high expectations for the iPad to be the one and only device a given user would need. While the tablet format may be useful in some applications, as noted by Josh Topolsky in the linked Engadget review above, the input of text and other business like functions fall short and are actually impeded by the device's large size.

There's also been exciting news that the iPhone may be ported to other carriers in late Summer/early Fall of this year. Verizon is said to be getting a different version of the device than AT&T but hey, it'll work for all of the Verizon users foaming at the mouth for an iPhone or AT&T subscribers looking to jump ship and onto the Verizon bandwagon. Gizmodo's Jason Chen was featured on G4's Attack of the Show last week adressing all of the rumors, and with word coming straight from the WSJ, the rumors might be more than just rumors. I'm sure there are many crossing their fingers on this one.

In Apple unrelated news, Sprint announced it's first Android 4G handset, the HTC EVO 4G. It looks to be a pretty exciting device, mimicking the general size of the just-released HD2 running Windows Mobile, but with Android 2.1 and an updated version of HTC's Sense user interface. The thing has an 8 megapixel camera capable of shooting 720p HD video, the same Snapdragon processor as Google's Nexus One running at 1 Ghz, and a full GB of memory for loads of apps. All this with Sprint/CLEAR's 4G network providing broadband speed to the device and this device could be the herald in a new era of mobile computing and devices.

That's all for now! I'm back and in business so look for new updates soon!

Verizon Looking to Take the Next Generation of Mobile/Data Services; Boasts 4G speeds higher than expected

Just a quick update before I head to class, Verizon's test markets for 4G have been going extremely well. It is pursuing Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology which has shown to be good for up to 100 Mbps downstream. Actual speeds are not that high of course, but from what they say, they are seeing mobile download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps which is on par with what most people have for home use to sometimes several devices.

Live videoconferencing and mobile streaming of 1080p video has been tested successfully by Verizon, and our we will soon become even more interconnected in richer media than before. As opposed to being just a phone call or text message away, imagine being a video chat away from your friends, family, and colleagues on your mobile device. The phone call may be completely phased out over time (other than when performing activities like driving) in lieu of mobile video chat. That could mean huge things in terms of the richness of mobile communication.

Apple vs. HTC... FIGHT!

 

So for those who haven't heard, Apple has decided to sue phone maker HTC for 20 separate patent infringements. Apple, who has had some quite ludicrous (at least in my opinion) patents granted over the past few years has "decided to do something about it," said Steve Jobs. Yes, the same Steve Jobs who years ago was recorded on video emulating Picasso in that "good artists copy, great artists steal." 

Now my argument isn't that our patent system is broken, as many believe it is. I'll leave that to those who feel the most strongly about it. Mine is in the principle that fundamental interfaces exist that cannot be inherently patented. I call into question a few of the litany of patents that include such gold as "unlocking a device using gestures on an unlock image" and "touch screen device, method and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics."  

Now I understand that there are several methods to unlocking a phone device, but there's one thing that can't be removed from the system, my finger. I feel as though Apple has simply tried to screw the consumer out of the touch screen interface on any other mobile device. Virtually all Android phones use this gesture, in addition to the button like Apple's, to unlock the screen. My problem with Apple being granted this patent is that it is so fundamental to the functionality of the touch screen interface on so many devices that not having this functionality almost defeats the purpose. After all, I had thought the days of butt dialing were over. 

In my mind, I keep drawing an analogy between Apple patenting a device such as the keyboard, or some other commonly accepted user interface for communication and functionality in a device. It would be my argument that unlocking the phone by a touch screen slide is fundamental to the usability of a touchscreen device, and thus should not have been allowed to be patented.  I want a device with those functionalities that isn't an iPhone, and I'm not the only one with that sentiment. If great artists truly steal, I want to see Apple innovate upon what they have currently built. Isn't that what competition is about? Sure there can be a million phones that do exactly what the iPhone does, the challenge for Apple is to make something better. It almost seems as though Apple is burnt out on innovation and wants to cash in on what it has already done. 

Of course, the main problem that Apple has is not with HTC. The main problem Apple has is with Google, who is the main supplier of the OS that HTC installs on the vast majority of their phones and the root of the main issues within the suit as laid out by Apple. Apple was smart not to go after big daddy Google yet, although Google has announced it's support of HTC in the suit. It will be very interesting to see how this turns out. 

Many think it will be simply settled outside of court, which is probably the most likely. However, that still doesn't solve the problem Apple has with Google. In my opinion, Apple knows that they can't win a bout with the tech giant one-on-one, but will they turn on other Android supporters to take down the herd before taking on the main prize? 

No matter what happens, there will only be one true loser from this squabble: the consumer.