Thursday, March 31, 2011

If AT&T is buying T-Mobile, why are these antagonistic ads still running?

News that AT&T was buying T-Mobile stirred the industry. Verizon would drop to send place, T-Mobile customers (and, well, everyone) could get the short end of the stick, and Verizon could buy Sprint, even if they don't think so just yet. Then why are we still seeing ads like this:



I just saw this ad run on TV. If you're wondering why they're still showing, and why T-Mobile is still competing in full force against their possible buyer, here's the reason: if the deal doesn't pan out, especially for legal concerns, then T-Mo will have to fight for it's life to succeed even harder than it is now. As the smallest of the tier-1 wireless providers, AT&T's buyout makes the no-metal company part of the gold-winning team. So while AT&T might see it as a loss for any customers switching from iPhones to Android devices on the smaller network, T-Mobile has a win-win opportunity, even Deutsche Telekom doesn't make a cool $39 billion.

But really, who switches from an iPhone on AT&T to Android on T-Mobile. Seriously guys, you can do better than that.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Google Labs chatbot makes coworkers believe you actually have friends


Lonely at the office? Need to look like someone will actually talk to you online? Chatbots are so old school, and the good ones moved to the web, so who would even remember. Google's Talk Guru is a Google Labs project that essentially puts an "I'm feeling lucky" search in the form of instant messages, but without the search. It's great for finding information, like a calculator or translation or weather patterns, and it works pretty well. It works across any client that support Google Talk just by inviting guru@googlelabs.com to a conversation. Send it an invite and voila, someone to finally talk to! Never be lonely again.

[Techcrunch via Google Labs Guru]

Monday, March 28, 2011

Analyst predicts 100 million iPhone 5 sales, what a surprise



Analysts and investors just love Apple. Go to any meeting with these number crunchers or golf players and it's "Google this" and "Apple that". The only thing you'll hear more of than that is "but does it work on the iPhone?" So, surprise surprise, one analyst at Asymco has determined that the iPhone 5 will sell about 100 million units in it's lifespan. That's one for every third person in the US, give or take a few hundred thousand.

How analyst Horace Dediu determined this is pretty simple, as seen in the chart above: historical data based on current iPhone model sales per year. According to Dediu, they've basically doubled with each new iteration. Based on this data, he's probably not wrong, considering two interchangeable factors: Verizon picking up the iPhone, and the possible delay of the iPhone 5. If the iPhone 5 is announced at WWDC, as expected, then we'll be seeing long lines at Apple, AT&T and Verizon stores, which in the US alone is over 200 million people. And more people on Verizon will likely switch, because they're waiting for the newer iPhone. If the release is delayed, then we may not have an iPhone 5, but an iPhone 4G, which besides for helping Apple out on the nomenclature of their beloved iOS device, it would sell even more units because both AT&T and Verizon are shelling out the big bucks for 4G.

[Wired via 9to5 Mac via Asymco]

Subscribe to the New York Times on Kindle? No more NYTimes.com workaround

Blip

Instead of using a workaround to read content off the New York Times website, or, you know, paying, current Kindle users who already subscribe to the digital newspaper version of the New York Times can view all content on the site for free. The catch, of course, is that it costs $20/month to get the NYTimes sent daily to your Kindle, as opposed to paying $15/month for the current online-only subscription or finding interesting and fun ways around the paywall. But if you already get the NYTimes on your Kindle, easier for you!

iPad 2 available at Radioshack tomorrow


Having trouble finding an iPad 2? That's no surprise with recent shortages, but look no further than your local Radioshack, where several stores have confirmed that the new Apple tablet will be in stock after eagle-eyed readers found the above ad in a local paper. The store closest to me has several units arriving later today, but these darn Malibu folks already gobbled them up by calling in ahead of time and putting them on reserve. Most stores don't allow that, but with all the rich people here, exceptions are made.

If, however, you've been looking for one, drop by your local Radioshack tomorrow before they're all gone. Because even with iPad 2s available in 500 stores, that's still only going to be a few per store.

[Macrumors]

Friday, March 25, 2011

HTC Thunderbolt Dropping Wi-Fi Hotspot Connections Intermittently?


We've received a few reports that the recently released HTC Thunderbolt has been selectively dropping it's Wi-Fi hotspot connection, even with good to great coverage. As you know I've got one on-hand, and just tried it out myself. In the process of writing this post, I lost my connection (3G, not 4G) twice, both while sitting still and not moving the phone at all. Meanwhile the connection has fluctuated between 2-4 out of four bars.

Have you new Thunderbolt owners had similar problems when in a good service area? The same happened for me yesterday while playing with the handset, but with a poor connection it didn't seem like a big deal. Now it does. Since I've been able to replicate the problem, here's how it works:

When using the Hotspot feature, my computer connects and it works fine for 5-20 minutes. Then suddenly web pages stop loading, and on the Thunderbolt a message saying how many connections the Hotspot app has pops up. It should of course only pop up when first connecting, which means that the connection was dropped. Then the connection will flicker in and out.

I've reached out to Verizon and HTC, and will update with their response. Let us know in the comments if you're experiencing similar problems.

Oh, that's why Kinect is so much more fun

Humor

Oh, that's why Kinect is so much more fun


And here I thought it was because most of us grew out of pretending to be Harry Potter. Or waiting an hour after every firmware update.

[Penny-Arcade]

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Blackberry Playbook Officially Supports Android 2.3 Apps, Takes 200k Apps To The Bank


Rumors since CES about the Blackberry Playbook - from an iPad 2 killer to the biggest thing since sliced bread for enterprise users - included the possibility of the tablet being capable of running Android applications. Now, straight from the horse's mouth, RIM announces just that: the Playbook will support applications made for Android 2.3 through an emulator sort of application, thereby giving the app base around 225,000 available apps from launch (200k from the Android App Marketplace and 25k current Blackberry apps). Which is definitely a bold step in the right direction, but begs the question: isn't Android 2.3 old already?

Sure, most of us are still using 2.1 or 2.2, but the Motorola Xoom runs on Honeycomb, which is made specifically for tablets. Having a wide selection of apps available through the Android Marketplace really is great...but these are going to be phone apps.

RIM also announced that the Playbook will support C/C++, Adobe Flash and Air, and the Airplay and Unity 3 game engines. The developer SDK will be available this summer, presumably before the Playbook officially releases around the same timeframe.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Photography Page Online!


As I learn more and more about photography, I decided it would be a good idea to just show off my best works on the site. So now there's a photography page on the top bar. If that's too difficult a link to find, click here.

Here's the short history of photography for me. I started taking pictures seriously when editors started asking if I have a good camera for product shots. So I started borrowing my mom's Nikon D40x. Around the same time I'd just started classes at CSUN, so I signed up for a introductory photography class. The two went hand-in-hand. The first week we had an assignment and my teacher was amazed at how well I did. I used a photo similar to the shot above. Cheers all around made me feel like a pro.

Ironically, I had no idea what I was doing and just played around with various settings. But I did have my research on what cameras were good, and ended up giving a short 10 minute lecture to the class about DSLR brands. Fun stuff.

As I worked for Tom's Guide, I never had a need to produce high-quality and unique pictures. The site didn't really push photography much, and I was never asked to do something special. Some of the better ideas for shots I had were either too difficult or too time-consuming to do. In fact, I can't think of a single article that demanded any significant thought or effort into photography.

Then I pitched Gizmodo to review the Alienware M11xR2 and got the greenlight. I know Matt Buchanan is a photography freak, and that the senior staff drools over good pictures. Mark Wilson - who gave me the go-ahead to write the review - is especially big on photography, so I knew I had big shoes to fill. Joel Johnson even recently returned, and he oversaw the review's editing and photography (which I didn't know until after I submitted the review).

So when I sent in my shots and was told how good they were, it meant a lot. Now I aim to have at least one excellent shot - usually the headlining image - for every review. I carry my camera around more for great shots, because you never know when the moment strikes. In any case, my best stuff I'll put on the photography page for all to see.