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I remember sitting in this same building in the beginning of 2007 and feverishly refreshing a plethora of sites live blogging that year’s MacWorld Stevenote. And then the iPhone came out and we all know how that turned out (my and my iPhone are inseparable). And now it’s happening all over, only this time I’m waiting for a tablet – a device that is very mysterious to many, myself included.
As many have posited, the soon-to-be-announced Tablet (or whatever it ends up being called), will have to be revolutionary in more ways than one – and that’s why it’s so mysterious. Apple simply can’t take an iPhone (or an iPod Touch), increase its screen size, and call it a day. I have a feeling that this device will hail the introduction of an all-new interface (be it touch screen or otherwise) that will make everyone think, “Why didn’t we think of this before? It’s so obvious.”
In essence, the beauty of the iPhone lies in its proportions – the ability to use the device with one hand and one thumb (on that same hand). In fact, I can touch any corner of the screen with my thumb while holding the iPhone in just one hand. But when it comes to a tablet-style device that has a much bigger screen (we’re talking 8-10 inches here), single-handed navigation becomes difficult. And that’s the reason, in my opinion, Apple will hail a new set of technologies that will make using a larger-screen tablet intuitive, easy, and unique (whether it will be one handed is up in the air). And that’s not to mention the content magnet that this device will become – ebooks and magazines, videos and podcasts – the Apple tablet will undoubtedly work to increase content consumption exponentially.
And so I (im)patiently await 10 am PST for the Steve Jobs to take stage at today’s Latest Creation media event. Let the refreshing begin self-refreshing javascipt magic do its thing on the live streams (and let’s hope Twitter doesn’t go down). I’ll be here during the live stream.
Some of us have been using Google Voice (GV) for the last few months and loving it! All the while, the GrandCentral service – the precursor to GV – was still alive and well. Today, however, GrandCentral account holders began receiving emails informing them that the service will be closing its doors December 31, 2009. To us this means Google thinks enough GrandCentral users have migrated to Google Voice that it can safely wind down the old service. Here’s the full email from GrandCentral:
Dear GrandCentral User (alexluft16):
We’re writing to let you know that we will be closing down the GrandCentral website as of December 31, 2009.
All GrandCentral accounts were upgraded to Google Voice earlier this year, but since that time, you’ve still been able to log-in to your GrandCentral account and listen to old messages there. You will no longer be able to log-in to your GrandCentral account after December 31. Because of this, we strongly suggest downloading any messages or contacts that you want to keep in the next 43 days.
We will send you another reminder before closing down the site, but we suggest you take action now to download any information you want to keep.
- The Google Voice Team
For anyone who needs invites to Google Voice, we have a few left – so please leave a comment and we’ll send them out on a first-comment-first-served basis.
We’ve just discovered a new Windows 7 ad by Microsoft featuring a little girl, Kelly, talking up the new OS. In the ad, Kelly finds Windows 7 reviews on her dad’s Sony Vaio notebook and proceeds to make a slideshow about the awesome new operating system, complete with a unicorn, a kitten, and a piggy with huge ears. If you look closely, the slideshow displays four quotes from positive Windows 7 reviews (Gizmodo, Maximum PC, CNet, and ZDNet) all to the tune of Europe’s The Final Countdown.. The ad concludes with Kelly saying, “I’m a PC and more happy is coming.”
Perhaps that last part is referring to the Zune HD and a the much-anticipated Windows Mobile OS?
It seems to be an agreed-upon point of view within the Digirati crowd that AT&T is killing the iPhone. If “killing” is not your bowl of soup, then we can substitute “is highly detrimental,” “the Achilles heel,” or “the main reason I switched to another smartphone.” But aside from the few high-profile and outspoken members of the Digirati community, what real reasons exist to prove that AT&T is really the “dark side” in the relationship? In this article, I dissect the great plethora of FUD, bogus, and unfounded claims about AT&T wireless as it relates to the Apple iPhone. Read more »
The latest development channel release of Google Chrome contains the ability to sync the browser’s bookmarks. The feature will let you keep the same set of bookmarks on multiple machines as well as store them in your Google Docs. Interestingly enough, Google already has a web-based bookmark service that goes by the name of Google Bookmarks. I wonder whether the plan is to eventually use Google Bookmarks as the back-end sync destination instead of Docs (a much better fit, wouldn’t you say?). If that is the strategy, then it is my opinion that we should get ready for a huge overhaul to the Google Bookmarks service. Read more »
As a member of the geek community, I tend to get asked a lot of tech questions. As soon as people see the screen on my iPhone, the first question I get is “Wow! How did you do that?” I have non-standard icons, an awesome unlock screen, and the ability to answer texts without unlocking the phone. Should you jailbreak? What is jailbreaking? Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of each. Read more »
Just one month after GM emerged from bankruptcy, the automaker has made some big news. We speculated about what the company will announce during today’s presentation by CEO Fritz Henderson as well as what’s behind the 230 marketing campaign. Turns out we were half right – here’s the scoop!
The biggest news to emerge from the announcement is that the catchy “230″ marketing campaign that has been in play for the past week is related to the Volt: the EPA has released a new set of practices for determining a fuel economy standard for cars like the Volt (extended-range EV). Under the new methodology, the Volt will achieve a combined fuel economy rating of 230 mpg! That makes the Volt the first vehicle ever to pull of a triple digit fuel economy rating. Electrically-speaking, the Volt will consumer 25 kW/hour per 100 miles.
Henderson also announced the new GM FastLane blog, which the automaker will use to collect customer feedback on new designs. During the course of the next two years, GM will be launching 25 new models between its four remaining brands (Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac).
As soon as the webcast is finished, the media will be shown previews of the rumored new Cadillac XTS and small ATS sedans. The ATS will slot under the current CTS and will be aimed squarely at the BMW 3-series, with rear-and all-wheel drive. The XTS is the replacement for the outgoing large Caddy DTS and will be built atop the same platform (Epsilon II) that underpins the awesome new Buick LaCrosse.
These are very exciting announcements in the automotive world! As such, they should at least tickle the fancy of some non-gear heads. Stay tuned for pictures of the new models!
Maybe you’ve seen some form of the 230 ads. If you haven’t, we’ve embedded it below. The ad – in its various forms – features a bouncing, smiling, and winking electrical outlet that ends up representing the number “zero” after numbers 2 and 3. All of these appear above the numbers “8-11.” So what the heck is it all about?
Facebook has announced its acquisition of real-time social network site FriendFeed. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
This is unmistakably a move to become more “real-time” and more competitive with Twitter. FriendFeed never caught on with the mainstream public like Facebook has, instead being used by passionate tech fans the world over. The social network was the first to deploy true real-time updates – which didn’t require a page refresh to update information. It did so all while maintaining a very clean interface. Sites like Facebook regularly “adopted” (read: aped) these features.
As part of the deal, FriendFeed will continue to operate on its own and all FriendFeed employees will join the Facebook team. Most importantly, Facebook will be able to call on FriendFeed cofounders — ex-Google executives – Bret Taylor and Paul Buchheit. As Facebook realized the true power of real-time networks (real-time search), it tried to acquire Twitter. That deal fell through.
I expect FriendFeed to operate independently for the next six months to a year, at which point the stand-alone service will be discontinued and FriendFeed’s features be rolled into those of Facebook. To become more relevant in the land of real-time, however, Facebook will need to do much more on the side of mobility, giving users a bigger incentive to plug information into the social network on their cell phones. Currently, Twitter dominates that space, with an abundance of mobile apps for multiple mobile platforms.
Back in 2008, Microsoft announced Office Web Applications – the web-based version of its ever-popular productivity suite – Microsoft Office. We’ve come across more details recently, with the beta release of Office 2010: the online suite will be made up of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, will be capable of synchronizing with the desktop, will be platform and browser-independent, but will contain less features than the desktop versions of those programs. That should not be an issue, however, since most Office users use very few features in Office.
The suite will be available to everyone for free via Windows Live and to corporate users through different distribution channels. Since the announcement, such questions as “How would this affect Google Docs/Apps and the Zoho office suite?” have been widely discussed topics. Let’s take a pragmatic look at what we should really expect from Office Web Applications. Read more »
I remember sitting in this same building in the beginning of 2007 and feverishly refreshing a plethora of sites live blogging that year’s MacWorld Stevenote. And then the iPhone came out and we all know how that turned out (my and my iPhone are inseparable). And now it’s happening all over, only this time I’m waiting for a tablet – a device that is very mysterious to many, myself included.
