At CES 2011 I gave a presentation at a research track geared to technology industry insiders. One of the points I made which I’d like to flesh out in this article briefly was how general purpose tablets and specific use tablets fit into the consumer landscape.
First what do I mean by general purpose and use-case specific tablets? A general-purpose tablet is one that is capable of doing a multitude of things extremely well. Use case specific tablets are ones that have been built with a specific set of use cases in mind. The iPad and Motorola XOOM are examples of general-purpose tablets. Things like the Galaxy Tab, NOOKcolor etc are more use-case specific.
To some degree the screen size will play a major role in whether the tablet is general purpose or use-case specific. If you have used or seen the iPad then you know it capable of doing many tasks well. It is a best-in-breed portable media player, web browser, mobile game player etc. After using a number of different tablets with different screen sizes I am convinced the larger the screen the more general purpose the tablet becomes.
What I anticipate happening is that we will continue to see a number of 5-8 inch tablets come to market but all with a specific set of use-cases in mind. Some will be geared toward reading, some will be geared toward playing games, and some will be geared to entertainment and media, some for productivity and business etc. The point is that those tablets will compete on form factor and use-case. This market may seem crowded but if vendors craft their strategy correctly they can be quite successful.
On the other side of the tablet landscape we will see manufacturers compete at a general-purpose level. The hardware for these tablets will likely be very high-end from processor, screen resolution, storage capacity and more. This market I feel will be quite a bit more difficult to compete in than the smaller screen, use-case specific tablet market. I don’t expect very many companies to succeed in the general-purpose tablet landscape.
The end result, however, could be quite interesting in a family dynamic. Given that all household members may have different interests – therefore choosing different tablets to meet their needs – consumer’s homes will experience an invasion of screens all serving to accomplish different jobs.
What do you think and what size tablet screen most interests you?
Oh yes. After all the unbearable teasing since we unveiled the first ever photos of the PlayStation Phone, we’ve finally managed to get hold of the real deal for an in-depth preview. Honestly, we couldn’t wait any longer with this thing floating around in China; we’d otherwise have to wait until MWC, where we expect the phone to be launched as the “Xperia Play” (and we shall refer to this name henceforth). Before you pop the cork for us, do bear in mind that what we’re seeing here is subject to changes, so don’t be alarmed by any missing features or exposed cables in our preview. When you’re ready, head right past the break to find out what Sony Ericsson’s cooking up.
Accessory Workshop’s products have been on the market, but what stood out above the rest was their tyPad (Generation II) bluetooth keyboard. It includes a substantial leather casing for both the keyboard and your iPad. What’s great is how handy we found it to be after a thorough testing; lets just say that typing up lecture notes is now a feasible task on the iPad.
Accurately typing on the iPad over time can be accomplished, but accuracy and speed are much easier to attain using their keyboard. Unfortunately, the tyPad is a bit heavy and thicker than we had expected, but then again the addition of a keyboard will do that. What really made us feel like this product was set apart from the rest was the quality put towards its leather casing. When the iPad was first released I couldn’t seem to edge away from the original iPad case. The tyPad feels great and we trust the protection is top notch. Maybe not as protective as their tyPillow, … but certainly more portable!
We didn’t go as far as testing the spill-resistance, but obviously if a spill were to occur on the keyboard, it wouldn’t damage your iPad in any way as it is essentially connected via Bluetooth. As stated in our glimpse from CES ShowStoppers, the tyPad can be purchased for $99.99 here.
As an industry analyst for over 30 years, I have had to travel to over 55 countries for my work and spend countless hours on the road each year. And when I ended up with downtime in any location, I needed something to do other then ponder the future of tech. So early in my career I decided that I would learn about each country’s culture and especially their food.
I have been what you might call a serious foodie since I was a teenager. My uncle was White House chef to Harry Truman and he introduced me to really, really great food at a young and impressionable age. He was Filipino so his food had major Asian overtones. In fact, I am half Filipino and half German so I grew up on rice and sauerkraut and was already familiar with food diversity. Going to each country and finding what would be their top national food dish and then trying many versions of it to see which is the best has become quite a sport for me. For example, when I am in Singapore I try to find the best Chili Crab, their national dish. Or when I am in Greece, I search for the best Mousakka. Or in Japan, I try to find the best and freshest Tuna (Toro) Sushi. You get the idea.
As I work with and talk to tech executives and workers who travel a lot I find that many of them have become foodies too. And many of them have become wealthier thanks to their tech work so some even take their love of food to new levels. A great example of this is Nathan Mhyrvold, former CTO of Microsoft, who after he left Microsoft went to the Cordon Bleu Culinary school in Paris to learn more about his second love, food. He has become a master French chef and in fact, he will release a 1500 page book entitled Modernist Cuisine sometime in 2011.
I recently had a chance to attend the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco to check out what was hot in the food world, but also to see how the Internet and social media is changing the ability to market their products. This is an amazing show. Every booth had some great food to show off and in many cases, they had products for you to test. That means getting bites of the best Iberico ham (I tasted 20 of them) or taste-testing the dozens of new balsamic vinegars or even the latest and greatest in Jelly Bellies. Think of it as one giant appetizer party with hundreds of h’ordeuvres to choose from.
As I talked to the many vendors at the show, all of them told me that the Internet has dramatically changed their business. Before the Internet, most of their products were sold locally or marketed through special mailings to resellers or distributors. But thanks to the Internet, they now have a world audience for their foods, as well as the ability to market them directly to customers.
But social media has also had an important impact on the food industry. For example, stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joes use Facebook and Twitter to keep customers abreast of food trends and specials. However, where social media really shines and has actually enabled a major trend in the food business, is with food trucks. I learned at the show that food trucks are becoming a hot idea and they owe their success to Twitter. The best example of this is the Kogi Truck in Los Angeles. The Kogi Truck marries Asian food with Mexican twists. They are famous for their Korean taco that serves Korean BBQ in a taco. While the food itself is great and unique, it was not until they started using Twitter that their business really took off.
Before Twitter, they would park their truck in some crowded area and hope people would come by. But by using Twitter, they can broadcast where they will be each day and now people from all over the city come to eat there, with lines sometimes an hour long. Here in Silicon Valley, Sams Chowder Mobile is the hottest truck that also draws long lines. But we also have our own version of the Kogi Truck called Seoul On Wheels, and new ethnic entries such as the Indian themed truck Curry Up Now, a French food themed truck called Spencer On The Go, and my personal favorite, Filipino themed AdoboHobo.
And it turns out that these food trucks, thanks to Twitter, are growing by leaps and bounds. Just Google “Food Trucks” and put in your city or county and you will find a list of those in your neck of the woods. For example, I Googled Food Tucks NYC and got the great article from New York Restaurant Magazine on the 25 best food trucks in NYC.
I also heard that some of the very high-end restaurants are now using iPads to deliver their menus and especially their wine lists, with quick links to the wines pedigree and ratings. It was pretty clear from talking to these food industry folks that technology and especially social media is having a major impact on their businesses.
As for the food part of the show, I did see some interesting things here as well.
The coolest thing I saw was a picture of the Mona Lisa done in Jelly Bellies. Artist Kristen Cummings was commissioned by Jelly Belly’s to do this painting and it contains over 1500 Jelly Belly’s.
Most interesting Food trend: bacon everywhere. There was bacon-infused foods of all types, which seems a big trend and I even found it in chocolate. But the best thing I tried that was bacon related was Smoked Bacon SeaSalt. This was awesome and a little of this on any food gives it depth and of course, a hint of bacon flavoring. It’s made by Caravel Gourmet. And another favorite, Bacon Jam, which can be put on hamburgers, sandwiches and blended with balsamic vinegars and to add depth to sauces. I am a big fan of bacon and pig products so I was in hog heaven so-to-speak.
Most interesting product: When I started traveling to Japan, I often hear the word Umami, which is Japanese for the 5th taste after sweet, salty, sour and bitter and one that loosely means deliciousness. Someone has tried to create a product that delivers this Umami taste experience in something called Umami Taste #5. Check out Dean and DeLuca’s description of it and you get a sense of how it could enhance the flavor of stews, soups, pastas, etc.
On the candy front, Jelly Belly introduced something called Jelly Bean Chocolate Dips in Very Cherry flavor. Tastes just like chocolate covered cherries. Also comes in chocolate covered Orange and Coconut flavors.
This is the one show I get to cover each year that I actually look forward to, and as a certified foodie, I love the fact that I could marry my interest in tech and food into quite a fun and informative day at the Fancy Food Show.
I’m a firm believer in Google TV. I think the platform has more promise than any other software running on set-top boxes today. With the right vision and some fulfilment on promises Google has made in the past, I think it’s quite possible for the company’s platform to entirely change the way we enjoy entertainment in the living room.
But in its current form, Google TV isn’t there. Content providers aren’t playing nice with Google and running the platform in tandem with your cable provider’s DVR won’t deliver the same appeal that DISH customers enjoy. I view the software more as a proof-of-concept than a nicely thought-out implementation.
Realizing that, I just can’t see why Logitech continues to sell its Revue set-top box for a whopping $300. Yes, I know that it’s running Google TV, and the platform can do more than, say, the software running on the $99 Apple TV, but it’s clear now that the excitement everyone had about Google TV has died down. And it’s being viewed as what it really is: an under-performing entertainment platform.
As far as I’m concerned, the Logitech Revue should be selling for $150 at most. At that price, the company will be able to drum up some demand for the device, hopefully get most of its investment back, and at least have an installed base in place for when Google gets serious about its platform.
But the need for a price cut goes beyond demand.
Earlier this month, Vizio, currently the second-largest TV maker in the U.S., announced that it will offer Google TV in some of its sets going forward. In addition, reports surfaced last week claiming ARM-based Google TV devices are scheduled to launch “soon.” With the help of ARM, vendors should be able to offer lower-cost technology, pushing down the average price of Google TV products.
Logitech continues to feel pressure outside of the Google TV market, as well.
Apple announced in December that it hit 1 million unit sales of its Apple TV. The figure isn’t staggering, but it effectively highlights that the platform is catching on. And let’s face it: Logitech doesn’t enjoy the same brand recognition that Apple does.
Moreover, Roku’s set-top boxes, which can be purchased for as little as $60, continue to sell well.
So, I’m a little confused by Logitech’s insistence on maintaining its $300 price tag on the Revue. I understand that it wants to get every last dime out of its investment and I think it believes that the device will offer more value when Google updates its platform, but by then will it be too late? At least right now, the Revue is somewhat new and relevant. In a few months, it could be just another forgotten toy that failed to catch on with the mainstream.
Say what you will about Logitech and the future of home entertainment, but unless the company starts realizing that it’s not as well-positioned as it could be, and it understands that the competition is offering cheaper and more compelling alternatives, it simply won’t see success in the set-top box space.
In the video game industry, debate rages over what kind of content is appropriate for children and what is not. Some say that the interactivity of a violent game make it a potentially more dangerous activity for the average child than watching a violent film. Those on the other side of the debate say that with the vast majority of players, violent games have little impact, and the industry should not be treated differently than Hollywood.
As readers of my columns here on SlashGear know, I’m very much a supporter of the gaming industry. And I fully believe that games should be held to the same standard as films. I personally know that violent games did not make me violent when I was a child. But as for other kids, well, I’m not a psychologist, so I can’t really say for sure.
But all this talk of what’s good for kids and what’s not often leaves out a key component in that entire debate: the ESRB’s Mature rating. The Mature rating is designed to keep kids away from potentially objectionable content. Games with a Mature rating are considered suitable only for people aged 17 years or older. It’s the gaming industry’s answer to Hollywood’s R rating.
Over the weekend, I was discussing ESRB ratings with some friends who have children. I outlined for them the major differences between the ratings and talked about some games that fit into each category. After I mentioned the Mature rating and included titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops and the Grand Theft Auto series, a friend stopped me and asked me a rather interesting question: “Why 17?”
Of course, the simple answer is that the ESRB likely followed the film industry’s lead with the R rating. But the question also made me think. Is 17 really the right age for a mature-rated title? And if not, should it be higher, lower, or eliminated altogether?
It’s a question that cannot be answered so easily. Some titles, including Medal of Honor, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and several others, certainly feature content that might be objectionable to kids. But as anyone who has spent time playing mature-rated games on Xbox Live knows, the mature rating is largely ignored by younger teenagers that want to frag you as soon as you turn around. And when they do so, they usually throw off a few obscenities to make you know who did it.
However, just because younger kids are playing these games doesn’t mean that the Mature rating’s age requirement is too strict. Quite the contrary, it might just mean that few people care.
At the same time, how would upping the age requirement affect the industry? It’s likely not something that teenagers would like to see happen, and considering 18 years old is the age at which people can go off to war, having the Mature rating’s age requirement any higher than that wouldn’t make much sense.
And then there is the question of whether or not we need age requirements at all. Should a parent be able to decide what’s right for their kids and what’s not, regardless of age? Should kids themselves have the ability to make their own decisions about a particular game, even if the title they want to play is Call of Duty: Black Ops and they’re 12 years old?
It’s hard to say. And in the end, it likely depends on the individual. But like the movie industry, the video game business likely has a responsibility to impose some kind of limitation on kids when objectionable material is readily available. It’s just debatable if age, and especially 17 years of age, should be used to judge whether or not a child can handle a respective video game’s content.
So, let’s hear from you. Is 17 the right cut-off for mature-rated games?
As you might have heard a little while back, Windows Phone 7 is the latest smartphone OS to have joined the SlingPlayer gang, meaning WP7 fanatics like Ballmer can be couch potatoes wherever they are. Well, assuming they have data connectivity — be it 3G or WiFi — and some battery juice on their phones. For better or for worse, the latest SlingPlayer Mobile app is very much like its other flavors — same easy preparation, a familiar interface, and a similarly tear-inducing $30 price tag. There is, however, one nice addition: a new “Zoom” button on the menu page, which actually chops away a good portion of the black border around the picture. Another noteworthy difference is the more stylish interface in comparison to the Android and iOS versions, but of course, some might think otherwise.
Also on the menu page is a “Quality” button for toggling between standard video quality and high video quality. Annoyingly, said switch is always set to standard at every launch. We can’t help but to think that this is for covering up the app’s shortfall — we noticed while high quality streaming does indeed have good picture quality, the frequency of buffering increased over time. Similarly, response time to our button and gesture inputs also got longer and longer — at one point it took about 20 seconds for us to change a channel on our Freeview box, and that’s with our HTC 7 Mozart sitting on the same network as our Slingbox Pro HD! Needless to say, it took even longer over 3G. We then double-checked using our iPhone and Nexus One but failed to reproduce the same bugs. Thankfully, a simple restart of the app eased our frustration, but we expect Sling Media to actually deliver a fix soon. Anyhow, there’s a video walkthrough after the break while you wait for the update.
Another Facebook change, another privacy uproar. Read the headlines and you might have thought the social network was planning to open the books on private cellphone numbers and home addresses to any advertiser willing to slip them some cash, rather than adding some more sharing options along with the usual granular control over who gets to see what of your digital details. Unsurprisingly Facebook froze its plans pending a reassessment of its privacy controls; unfortunately, nobody is taking Facebook users – and the online community in general – to task over taking some responsibility for what they share.
If you haven’t been following the story, here’s the situation in a nutshell. Facebook announced on Friday that it was planning to add address and mobile number to the personal information that could be shared with applications, websites and advertisers. As with other personal details, the degree to which that data was accessible would be managed under each user’s permissions settings: everything from a come-and-get-me open pipe to a complete block on anything being revealed. Facebook billed it as a way to “easily share your address and mobile phone with a shopping site to streamline the checkout process, or sign up for up-to-the-minute alerts on special deals directly to your mobile phone.”
Don’t get me wrong; I’m under no illusion that Facebook is doing this for altruistic reasons. Making online purchases quicker is undoubtedly handy to those who actually click through Facebook adverts, but for the social network itself it’s all about making money from its most valuable asset: its millions of registered users. Just like with a free newspaper, Facebook makes its money by showing you adverts, and it can use your personal information to tailor those ads more appropriately. Access to personal contact details, meanwhile, is even more valuable.
However, just because there’s profit to be made for Facebook, it doesn’t mean this is either bad for the user or a sign of Evil Big Business taking advantage of the general public. We manage the degrees to which we disclose personal information all the time, long before Facebook arrived and gave us a simple privacy settings page to work with. Every time you avoid giving your phone number to a door-to-door charity worker, tick the no-junk-mail box on a bank form or refuse to give your address to someone you just met at a bar, you’re exercising your own, personal privacy filter.
Perhaps I’m being unfair. After all, it only takes a quick glance at sites like Lamebook (often NSFW) to see that many Facebook users have problems with over-sharing, accidentally making public posts out of what were meant to be private messages, and generally forgetting who out of their friends and family can read what they’re saying. Maybe Facebook does have some intrinsic responsibility to shepherd its members through the difficult journey that is online life; perhaps the privacy pages really won’t be complete until there’s color coding, pop-up warnings and a virtual cash register showing just how much you’ve lined Mark Zuckerberg’s pocket.
This constant push-me-pull-me with Facebook does users no favours. Every time the privacy patrol scream, and Facebook backtracks, it reinforces the idea that the site itself is solely responsible – should be responsible – for making safe use of the information we share online. Don’t get me wrong, if Facebook was looking to sneak in a “we can sell your identify” clause into the T&Cs, that’s something worth shouting about. When, though, we muster the same amount of vitriol for sharing options that already have safeguards – safeguards that satisfactorily protect our email address and other details – it looks more like abdication of responsibility. We want to trust Facebook do “do the right thing” – based on our own interpretation of what “the right thing” is, exactly – so that we won’t have to. We can spend our time looking up old crushes, posting photos of ourselves looking fierce in clubs, and commenting on videos of cats.
Privacy is important, but the responsibility begins at the individual level. Just as you don’t hand out your address to strangers in the street, maybe giving it to every website that asks isn’t all that sensible either. Relying on other people, or companies, to protect us universally is a naivety we abandon before adulthood in the real world, yet something many seem determined to cling to online. That’s before you get to the thorny issue of lost or stolen data. In the end, it’s your life, your number, your face: it’s up to you whether it’s an open book.
2011 may be the year of the tablet, but as a segment it’s still painfully immature. Our hands-on with ASUS’ Eee Slate EP121 last week triggered the usual arguments, dismissing the 12.1-inch tablet out of hand because of its perceived “old” technology. Admittedly, there are plenty of points where the EP121 could fall short: ASUS reckon users will see up to 8hrs runtime, which seems hopelessly ambitious for a relatively slimline slate with a Core i5 processor, and the display was frustratingly glossy. Still, the dual-mode hybrid touchscreen is its crowning glory for those who understand that there’s more to a stylus than most – Steve Jobs included – would have you believe.
While the EP121 will happily let you stab at Windows 7 with your finger – or two, since capacitive multitouch is supported – it’ll also let you whip out the included active stylus and get far more precise. Art apps are the obvious beneficiary, with the Eee Slate turned into a self-contained Wacom Cintiq, but there’s also digital handwriting recognition for a surprisingly accurate alternative to onscreen keyboards. Float the stylus nib above the screen and you can move the pointer without making a selection, for hover functionality; there’s also pressure recognition, so the harder you sketch, the thicker the line.
Unfortunately, most users have only ever come across two types of touchscreen: the resistive panels common on pre-iPhone smartphones and the capacitive screens Apple’s handset helped popularize. Active digitisers are something most people are unfamiliar with, so they associate a stylus with a dumb plastic toothpick, something that’s most likely a compromise for undersized on-screen icons. Throw in the generally underwhelming experience of resistive touchscreens on commercial devices – in markets on self-checkout machines, for instance – and you can see how it could be boiled down to a two-player battle in which capacitive technology pulls ahead.
Microsoft isn’t helping things with software, either. Devices with active digitisers – or hybrid pen/touch displays – generally run Windows, and the Microsoft OS still falls well short when it comes to tablet usability. It’s been more than eight years since Windows XP Tablet Edition launched, and while the handwriting and speech recognition engines have improved behind the scenes, visible tablet accommodation to the end-user has barely evolved.
Ironically, Microsoft has had the answer – or at least a potentially significant part of it – under their nose all the time, in the shape of OneNote and the team responsible for it. Billed as a digital notetaking app (which supports searches of handwritten notes, among other things), OneNote is actually a great example of how Windows and stylus control can work together in a way far more intuitive and flexible than putting finger to screen.
For a while, with the Courier project, it seemed like the company had recognized its strengths and was set to take advantage of them. Rather than the “must do everything your desktop does” attitude that infects current Windows tablets – and leaves them mixing pen, finger, keyboard and mouse paradigms and failing at them all – Courier looked set to do one core set of skills very well, something that no other current tablet offered. Rather than ASUS’ Eee Pad models, which bill themselves as ideal for content-creation as well as consumption and then deliver that by merely bolting on a physical keyboard, the active stylus would have allowed for precise digital handwriting and sketching – with pressure sensitivity, angle recognition and more.
No, perhaps it wouldn’t be the best device to run World of Warcraft on, or to do your company spreadsheets, but Microsoft appeared to be finally saying that some things were best left to your desktop or notebook. Courier could have been another step on Microsoft’s path to an Apple-style ecosystem of devices and services – all held together by its beloved cloud – and offering not just a facsimile of the iOS platform but a legitimate alternative based on something Steve Jobs refuses to countenance: that a stylus can still be a legitimate input option for a mobile device.
This isn’t meant to be an eulogy to Courier, but nor is the stylus ready for its obituary. The iPad has made great strides in popularising the tablet segment, but it’s also left Apple’s rivals scrabbling to create me-too alternatives that offer buzzwords like “content creation” with little more than a half-hearted nod from the spec sheet. The irony is that Microsoft is probably in the best starting place to take advantage of that, and yet seems the most reluctant to use its position.
The EP121 is far from perfect, but it’s also no iPad-clone and for that ASUS deserves some credit. The stylus-savvy will recognize it for its strengths and make up their own minds whether the hybrid display and Windows 7′s naivety balance each other out. They won’t have much in the way of choice, though; look at the tablets announced at CES 2011 this month, and you’ll see the vast majority avoid the stylus like the plague, in preference to solely finger control. Unfortunately, until the tablet segment matures enough to countenance anything other than another would-be “iPad killer”, the stylus will continue to get its unfair reputation.
I’ll be the first to admit that when Blu-ray first launched, I was skeptical. I wasn’t sure if the new technology was a worthwhile investment for someone like me. Sure, it delivered more storage and higher-quality video and audio, but I simply saw it as another way to take my hard-earned cash for little benefit over DVD.
Over time, I realized that my perception was off. Blu-ray has not only become my go-to platform when I want to buy movies or television shows, but it has also helped me replace the need for DVD in my home. Practically my entire DVD collection has been wiped out in favor of Blu-ray. And as time has gone on, I haven’t missed my once-beloved DVD one bit.
But now my time is being split between watching Blu-ray content and streaming video via services like Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand. I’ve found that not having to get off the couch to watch something I’m interested in is far more preferable than finding the DVD copy and popping that into a player. Call me lazy, but that convenience is something that makes streaming a staple in my home.
However, when I pit streaming against Blu-ray, I can’t help but choose the latter option when I want to sit back, relax, and enjoy a movie. The streaming option is certainly much easier to get up and running, and if I went all-streaming, I could reduce all the clutter in my entertainment center, but then I would lose the higher-quality video and audio that comes with Blu-ray.
Streaming is great, but do me a favor and pop Avatar into your Blu-ray player, running on your 1080p set, and tell me that isn’t the best way to enjoy that film. Yes, most streaming services, like Apple’s iTunes content on the Apple TV, are available in 720p, rather than 1080p, which makes the comparison a bit unfair, but isn’t that central to this entire argument? Until streaming can match Blu-ray in terms of overall quality and sound, it’s simply not the best way to enjoy content.
Luckily, companies like Vudu realize that. The company offers a 1080p option to customers that actually looks quite nice. But even in those cases where folks get 1080p content from Vudu, it can’t quite live up to the audio-visual quality we enjoy on Blu-ray.
And as convenient as Netflix is, the company’s streaming option in no way comes close to matching the experience of watching the same film on Blu-ray.
As much as I enjoy the many streaming services I use, they have a long way to go to match Blu-ray. Yes, streaming is convenient, and yes, it’s getting better by the day. But to say that it can be a replacement for Blu-ray, at least right now, is simply outrageous.
