An Uptick ‘Surfacing’ At Microsoft

With the turmoil over replacing Steve Ballmer as CEO and people still not upgrading to the latest version of Windows 8, Microsoft could use some good news. Computerworld.com says they may be about to get it. The iPad still crushes all comers in the tablet market with 72% of people saying they plan to buy it when they buy a tablet, with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab at 9%, tied with the Google Nexus. The Microsoft Surface is now at 8%.

Why is this good news? Samsung and Google have dropped from 12 and 13% respectively. The iPad and Surface are the only tablets showing growth since August in the percentage of people planning to buy. It’s probably not a fluke… the Windows RT Surface beat the iPad in purchases at Best Buy on Black Friday. Even though many of those were older models sold at a discount, The Surface is showing some signs of life, and that’s good news for Microsoft.

Google and the Next Generation of Robots

Amazon has gotten a lot of buzz about their delivery drones the last week, and we’ve heard that both FedEx and UPS are also working on time. Meanwhile, over at the Google Skunkworks, the ‘don’t be evil’ company is working on revolutionizing robotics for industry. Since summer, Google has bought up 7 tech companies in their quest to build the next generation of robots. These machines would be geared to electronics assembly lines and supply chains, so don’t expect Terminator type ‘bots. Businessinsider.com says Google’s robotics division will be based in Palo Alto, with a satellite office in Japan.

Review: E La Carte

E La Carte has signed a deal with Applebee’s Restaurants, the country’s largest casual dining chain. Techcrunch.com says they plan to have100,000 tableside tablets in all US locations by the end of 2014. Some stores already have them. I had the opportunity to check out E La Carte at the Applebee’s in the Fairfield Mall. You can order appetizers, drinks, and desserts from it, as well as pay your tab. We used the tablet to order drinks, which went flawlessly, but were too full for dessert!

While E La Carte might seem at first blush to be threatening to servers, actually it has a great feature for them and math challenged diners…when you pay from the E La Carte tablet, it suggests different tip options based on percentages…like New York taxis. Instead of figuring the percentage on your smartphone in your lap, just select one of the choices, or you can write in your own amount.

To pay, just swipe your card, and sign. Note: this is the one funky part of E La Carte…there’s no stylus, you sign your name with your fingertip…not the most elegant way to leave your signature! In a nod to the past, Applebee’s may add control of the music, like tabletop jukebox controls of yesteryear. I think most people will find E La Carte easy to use, and even fun!

Young Adults Still Prefer Printed Books

A surprising report indicates that…while the internet has clobbered CDs and newspapers, e-readers and the web are NOT doing the same to books…particularly with younger people. A survey by youth marketing research firm Voxburner says that 62% of young adults 16-24 prefer reading printed books over e-books. The research found that they think printed books deliver more value than e-books, they have more of an emotional attachment to them, and…unlike CDs or newspapers….books are status symbols to young adults that let them show off their reading tastes. Pointing out the obvious…you can’t show off what you’re reading easily on a Kindle!

Airlines Already Allowing Gate to Gate Mobile Devices

If you’re getting away for Thanksgiving, and looking forward to using your smartphone, tablet, or GoogleGlass in airplane mode during take off or landing on a flight, here’s the latest on the airlines that are allowing it. According to forbes.com, you should be good to go on: Delta, JetBlue, American, United, Alaska, US Airways, Southwest, and Virgin America.

As for the calling while in flight, a large petition against it is on the White House website. The Association of Flight Attendants is ‘firmly opposed’ to calling, and a Marketwatch survey finds that 83% of us are opposed to calling on planes. If you are one of the 17% who are ok with it…picture yourself between a crying baby (which can’t help it), and a person shouting at someone over their phone to be heard above the engine noise. Still for it?

American Made iPhones?

We’ve reported that Apple is having the new Mac Pro built in Texas instead of overseas. Now, a story picked just out says major Apple supplier Foxconn is looking to build two factories in the US…one on the East Coast, and one in the Western part of the country, to build Apple’s iPhones and iPads. No word about where in the East they might break ground, but Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou has met with Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to talk about setting up shop there. Rising wages in China and an alleged lack of talent there are the driving forces, according to the report. Maybe by the time the iPhone 6S or 7 come out, they’ll have ‘Made in USA’ on the back!

Google Chairman-Encryption the Solution to Government Snooping

With all the outrage about the NSA and governments of other countries snooping in our web business, many large providers are diving into encrypting point to point traffic with much harder to crack code. Bloomberg.com reports that Google Chairman Eric Schmidt says this may actually prevent governments from censoring their populations’ communications within 10 years. He emphasizes that the solution to government surveillance is to encrypt everything. Schmidt says the type of encryption they are adding at Google won’t be crackable by the government until at least 2030.

It’s Not Just Your FICO Score Anymore!

In this hyper connected era, your FICO score is out of date. Lenders and employers are starting to use social media to check your creditworthiness. Upstarts like Lenddo and Kabbage are reviewing prospective borrowers’ online footprints for lenders…checking if your Facebook friends pay on time. A German company, Kreditech, even looks at Amazon purchasing and payment history and uses GPS data. The venerable FICO score dates back to 1989, so it’s no surprise that lenders are looking to supplement it. So now we have to worry about Facebook friends that might be deadbeats…but how many of them will co-sign your loan with you?

Two iWatches?

The Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch hasn’t been setting records, and people keep looking to Apple for the long awaited iWatch. Macrumors.com uncovered this tip from NPD Displaysearch…Apple may be looking to sell the iWatch to a more to mass appeal market than just tech nerds and early adapters…apparently, Apple is looking to source both 1.3 inch and 1.7 inch fexible AMOLED displays. This would allow them to target men with the larger iWatch, and women…who might not want a huge, chunky watch with the smaller 1.3 inch model. The report still points to a late 2014 introduction.

Review: Gunnar Technology Eyewear (A/K/A Computer Glasses)

As more and more of us spend 6 or 8 or more hours looking at a computer screen of one size or another daily, it seemed a good thought to check out some computer glasses. I do fine during the workday, but by evening, the old eyes start really protesting.

Gunnar …find them at GUNNARS.com…makes non-prescription versions ranging from $69 to $149. They use a Crystalline lens with amber tint to screen out the high intensity bluish light and glare from computer screens, and are made with a + .2 diopter. This means you will be taking them off when you look away from your screen if you don’t want things to look fuzzy at a distance.

The off the shelf glasses work fine if your vision is reasonably good…either 20/20, corrected to 20/20, or close to that. Gunnar also offers prescription versions through various eyewear dealers. I found 10 locations for prescription Gunnars on their website within 15 miles or less of me.

I tried an off the shelf model for several days, and it really does seem to help…my eyes are not screaming for mercy at the end of the day. One caveat…if you frequently have to look up at larger screens like a TV or are otherwise looking away from your computer screen, you will be taking them off and putting them on a lot, like with reading glasses. It may well be worth the hassle to reduce eyestrain from near constant screen use.