Android Rules the World in Number of Smartphones; Apple Watch Coming to Kohl’s
Posted: November 3, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android, Apple Watch, Black Friday, Dick's Sporting Goods, iOS, Kohl's, Macy's, Nike, Smartphones, Tizen Leave a commentA report out from strategyanalytics.com says that Android now accounts for 88% of global smartphone shipments in the third quarter of this year, with a total of 375 million phones. Apple slipped to 12%, mainly on losing ground in China and Africa. Other operating systems only account for .3% at this point, including Tizen. Apple’s iPhone running iOS obviously does far better in the US and in the narrower market for higher priced phones.
Kohl’s Department Stores will start selling the Apple Watch at 400 locations ahead of Black Friday. 9to5mac.com says they’ll roll out the smartwatch starting November 15th. Kohl’s has 1100 stores, so you’ll have to check ahead if one near you will carry the Watch. Macy’s has the Watch, but only in 180 stores. You can get the Nike+ version of Apple Watch at Dick’s Sporting Goods and Nike stores.
Panned MacBook Pro Best Selling MacBook Ever; Amazon Black Friday Pre Sales; China’s Alibaba Dwarfs Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Posted: November 2, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Apple, Black Friday, China, Cyber Monday, iOS, Macbook Pro, Phil Schiller, Singles' Day, Touch Screens Leave a commentDespite all the complaints about the new MacBook Pro models losing ports, and all the rest, macrumors.com says Apple has gotten more online pre-orders for the new generation than any previous MacBook Pros. Marketing chief Phil Schiller said the volume even surprised him. He underscored that Macs and iOS devices are fundamentally different…saying they tried touch screens, but that the ‘L’ shape with a screen facing you, keyboard & trackpad or mouse just work better for productivity. Schiller says they experimented with touch screens on Macs, and decided it wasn’t a great experience.
Black Friday 2016 is almost here, but Amazon has again kicked off the savings a little early, with deals every day until the big day. It looks like the biggest deals on large electronics like TVs will wait ‘till actual Black Friday. Meanwhile, in China, Alibaba is expected to generate $20 billion in sales on Singles’ Day this year, according to the research firm Fung Global Retail and Technology. By comparison, Americans spent $5.8 billion online last year on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined, the largest sales days in the US!
Google on Self-Driving; Good News (Finally) for Samsung; Trio of Fresh Spring iPads; Facebook Marketplace
Posted: October 4, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android, Apple, craigslist, Facebook, Galaxy Note 7, Google, iOS, iPad, Marketplace, Samsung, Self Driving Cars, Smart Connector Leave a commentIn an interesting spin on self-driving cars, the head of Google’s program denies that they are building such things at all. Dmitri Dolgov says they’re really more like in the superhuman driver-making business. According to recode.net, he drilled down to make the point, talking about how the self-driving system has to recognize hand signals from human pedestrians and bike riders, and act appropriately. He points out that they already have run the system on Prius’, Lexus, their own ‘Googlemobiles,’ and now are working with Fiat Chrysler. Google wants it to be like getting into a rental car…it may feel and handle bit differently, but same basic system everywhere. Google says the cars communicate to learn from each other, but there’s firewall between that part of the software and the driving part, to prevent hacker access.
Now that the firebomb models have been replaced, Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s are flying off the shelves. Bgr.com reports that samsung sold 30,000 phones its first two days back on sale. Anything over 10,000 a day is considered good. They expect the demand to drop off, as it does with all new smart devices, but it appears they have dodged the bullet…or bomb…on what is considered the best Android handset you can by right now.
Apple will be freshening all 3 iPad sizes this spring, according to a Mac Otakara report picked up by macrumors.com. The 12.9 inch Pro will get a True Tone display like the mid sized model has, and all get upgraded to the 12mg camera. the Mini will get True tone, 4 speakers, and a smart connector. All 3 will have quad microphones…AND…keep the 3.5 mm headphone jack!
Facebook has rolled out Marketplace on Android and iOS. Appleinsider.com says it allows people to buy and sell goods locally like on craigslist. Facebookies can filter by price, category, and location, or just browse categories to see what’s out there. A tap on an item will jump to photos of the product and the seller, along with a price and general description. Shoppers can save an item, make an offer, or message a seller for more details. Sellers are identified not just by their usual Facebook details, such as friend connections, but also by how quick they are to respond to messages. Location is generalized.
New GoPros Including Drone; Waze Gets Parking Help; Google’s Pixel Event; GM Sets Bolt Price & Pledges 100% Renewable Power
Posted: September 20, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android, Bolt, Chromecast, Daydream VR, Drone, Electric Car, General Motors, GM, Google, GoPro, Inrix, iOS, Parking, Pixel, Renewable energy facilities, Waze Leave a comment
GoPro has revealed 3 new cams- the Hero 5, Hero 5 Session, and Hero Session. Businessinsider.com says they start at $399 for the 5. They also showed a foldable drone called Karma. The Drone is $799, but can be bundled with the cams…with the Hero 5 Session the combo is $999, and it’s $1099 for the Hero 5 Black and the Karma. It has a gimbal to stabilize footage you shoot.
Parking in cities can be infuriating. Now, Google’s Waze throws you a lifeline, as they’ve partnered with Inrix to bring additional parking lot data to the Waze app. According to 9to5google.com, the beefed up parking adding parking lot data to the already available street parking data is available on both the Android and iOS Waze apps.
We reported a rumor last week about Google’s Pixel smartphone event in early October. Now it’s official. Engadget.com reports that the invites are out and the event is October 4th. Google may show 2 new Pixel branded phones, a 4K Chromecast, and a new Daydream VR headset.
GM has announced pricing for it’s all electric Bolt, due out the end of the year. Reuters.com says it will start at $37,495. This should bring it under the ‘magic’ $30,000 level with the Federal tax break of $7500. It’s supposed to go 238 miles fully charged. Also, the General has just pledged that it would move all its facilities to 100% renewable energy by 2050…that’s over 350 facilities in 59 countries! Walmart, Unilever, and Apple are also moving to all-renewable facilities.
Next Year’s iPhone Anniversary May Bring 3rd Model; Twitter Night Mode Hits iPhone; Facebook Tests Autoroll Video With Sound
Posted: August 23, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ads, Android, Apple, Autoroll video, Curved screen, Facebook, Galaxy S7 Edge, iOS, iPhone, iPhone 8, Night mode, OLED, Samsung, Twitter Leave a commentIn a report out of Japan picked up by macrumors.com, Apple is planning a third iPhone model next year with a 5.5 inch OLED screen that will sport curved edges. Earlier rumors had Apple adapting OLED screens in 2018, but now it appears one model of the iPhone 8, or 10th Anniversary iPhone, or whatever they plan to call it will have it, while the 4.7 inch and other 5.5. inch models will have the same LCD screens as the present models. OLED screens have blacker blacks, and the colors on screen ‘pop’ more. Samsung has been using them on their Galaxy series. Of course, the Galaxy S7 Edge also already has the curved screen Samsung has made for a couple years now.
Last month, Android users got Twitter’s Night Mode, and yesterday it rolled out on iOS, according to cnet.com. I like it. It darkens all the white space and pictures, and the Tweets show up as white text on a black background. It even works on my old iPad that doesn’t support Apple’s Night Mode. Find the little settings cog icon, and it’s one of the selections.
In a move certain to infuriate everyone (except advertisers), Facebook is testing out autoplaying video WITH sound! Thenextweb.com says actually, the social giant is testing two versions in Australia. One just autoplays, and another has an unmute button in the lower right corner. The so-called ‘feature’ can apparently be disabled in settings. Hopefully, Facebook will choose the unmute button version if they decide to roll the feature out to everyone.
Microsoft Claims New iOS Cam App Beats Apple’s; Otto Keeps On Truckin’
Posted: July 27, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Android, Apple, Backlighting, iOS, Microsoft, Otto, Photo App, Pix, Self-driving trucks Leave a commentMicrosoft has rolled out an app called Pix that they claim takes better photos with no settings that the standard Apple app does with them. According to 9to5mac.com, it uses AI to automatically adjust the shots…taking particular aim at making sure people are brightened up, to compensate for backlighting…one of the biggest spoilers of smartphone pictures. The app also starts shooting when you open the app, and before hitting the shutter, to keep from missing that great shot you wanted to capture. It basically shoots a burst of pix, but only offers the 3-4 the AI picks as best, so as not to gobble up your memory. I read several reviews by professional photographers, who agreed that it gets close to professional results. It’s free, and at the app store now, and coming soon to Android.
We reported a while back about Otto, the self-driving truck startup built by a trio of ex-Googlers. Now, businessinsider.com finds they already have four trucks out 24/7. Otto doesn’t plan to build trucks but kits to retrofit them. Existing trucks can install one of Otto’s $30,000 kits to produce autonomous driving capabilities. Right now in a test truck, two people ride in the truck: one behind the wheel and another studying what the truck’s LIDAR and software systems are “seeing.” But ultimately, Otto envisions that trucks will only require one person, and that the “driver” will be able to take lunch breaks and naps in the cab while the truck fully steers itself down the highway, requiring the driver to take control only on city streets. The Otto folks see self-driving trucks in wide use within 5 years.
New ARM Chip Will Be a Big Boost to Samsung Phones; Apple Working on Flexible Touch Displays; Base iPhone 7 Gets a Simple, Big Upgrade
Posted: May 31, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, ARM, Flexible touchscreen, Foxconn, iOS, iPhone, Memory, Processors, Samsung, TPK, VR Leave a commentARM will have new chips out in time for next year’s flagship smartphones like those from Samsung that will boost performance by 30% while giving 30% better power efficiency. Cnet.com says ARM claims you will be able to run a phone’s chip at full speed for the duration of a movie, game, or VR experience! It’s the Cortex-A73 computing processor and Mali-G71 graphics processor. The graphics processor gives 50% higher performance with 20% energy savings. Samsung and a couple others have already licensed the tech…no word about Apple, but they’ve used ARM in the past.
An Apple supplier, TPK…which is a division of Foxconn, has a silver nanowire tech rolling out that will allow for flexible touch screens. Since Foxconn is the major supplier of iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad, patentlyapple.com notes that there’s a high probability that you’ll be seeing these everywhere in the next 2-5 years. More to the point, TPK says they expect their clients to launch flexible touch panel devices in the 2nd half of 2016! If they’re talking about Apple, a folding 7 inch tablet or display that wraps around your arm will be one hell of a ‘one more thing! Stay tuned!
One of the most boring, yet important tidbits has just dropped about the iPhone 7…bgr.com reports it will finally ship with 32 gigs of memory instead of the nearly useless 16 gigs in the base phone. No more cheapskate Apple buyers whining about having to delete pictures and songs from their iPhones anymore!
Facebook’s Crazy 360 Degree Camera; New Kindle Out; Apple Owns Teens
Posted: April 13, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 20 months standby, Amazon, Apple, F8, Facebook, iOS, Kindle, Oasis, Surround 360, Teens, Wearables Leave a commentAt F8, Facebook revealed the “Surround 360”, a 17-lens 3D VR camera yesterday that looks like a UFO on a stick and requires almost no post-production work. They won’t make or be selling the Surround 360. Techcrunch.com says that later this summer Facebook will put the hardware designs and video stitching algorithms on Github. All the parts can by bought online for $30,000.
As expected, Amazon has launched a brighter, smaller, thinner Kindle Oasis for $290, with a leather case increasing battery life to 20 months standby time, It has a funky bump on one side Amazon says helps make it easier to hold with one hand like a book. Theverge.com says it’s available for pre-order today, and ships April 27th.
For decades, it’s been a marketing truism that if you get buyers when they’re teens, you can often keep them for life. Apple seems to be doing this…they did it with the original Macs in schools, and now with iOS and wearables. According to a Piper Jaffray survey picked up by appleinsider.com, only 12% of teens had a smartwatch. Of those, 71% were Apple’s. 69% of teens owned an iPhone, and 64% an iPad. The iPad percentage is up slightly…analyst Gene Munster says probably with the introduction of the 9.7 inch iPad Pro that can use a Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil. Parents…keep your wallet handy!
Updated iPad Air May be Another iPad Pro; Facebook Rolls Out Live Video to Android
Posted: February 26, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android, Apple, Apple Pencil, Facebook, Facebook Live Video, iOS, iPad Air, iPad Pro Leave a commentApple may not be launching a freshened 9.7 inch iPad Air in March…it may be an iPad Pro. Appleinsider.com picked up a rumor that the smaller sized Pro will have Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard support, complementing it’s larger 13 and 15 inch models. There may also be a 9.7 inch Air version, without Smart Connector and Apple Pencil support, and Apple may make the iPad Mini a version of the Air. The 9.7 inch Pro will reportedly have a rear camera flash and quad speakers…it should be rolled out March 15th.
Android phones should be seeing live video streaming via Facebook in the next week. Theverge.com says the rollout will start in the US, as it did with the iOS version, then expand to other countries within weeks. Facebook claims that people watch live video 3 times longer than video posted that was pre-recorded.
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