Category: Editorials

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The Problem With Android Wear Watch Screens

Wearable tech will be hot. The smartphone market is maturing and starting to plateau, so manufacturers are pushing into new territories to expand on our relationships with data and services. Google’s Android Wear platform is an excellent step in the right direction to legitimize this new market segment.

It does suffer from one fatal flaw however: Battery life. 

pebble smartwatch review somegadgetguy direct sunlightPlaying with several different solutions for wrist computing, my favorite so far are the watches that can best replicate the experience found on traditional time pieces. Namely a screen that can always be referenced for small pieces of information no matter what orientation it’s worn, not depending on any gestures to activate it. I mentioned as much in my last FFC VLOG.

Of course in technology land, compromises have to be made. If you want crazy new features, you have to accept some new limitations.  Continue reading “The Problem With Android Wear Watch Screens”

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Can a Corporation Commit Homicide?

gm-logo_100168934_mI try not to get too political on this blog, when I do I try to focus on the tech industry. Recently however, an interesting case made a little noise, and I’m curious how my readers feel about it.

You’ve no doubt heard of General Motors recent issues with faulty ignition switches installed in GM cars which have caused at least 54 accidents and 13 deaths. It was a difficult case for the courts to sort as the GM we have today didn’t technically carry the liability of the company which existed before the auto bailouts. The NHTSA determined that GM delayed reporting the problem and ordered the company to pay out a $35 Million civil penalty.

However, prior to this penalty, individual accidents have already been judged. In 2004 Candice Anderson was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide after a collision which took the life of her fiance. Though she had no drugs or alcohol in her system, she was determined to be at fault. She plead guilty to the charges to get a reduced sentence, thankfully not serving any jail time, but she has a felony conviction on her record.

With GM in the news, she recently discovered that GM counted her fiance’s death as one of the 13 lives lost due to these faulty ignition switches.

Continue reading “Can a Corporation Commit Homicide?”

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FFC VLOG: Viewer Question – Will Samsung bring Image Stabilization to UHD Video?

This VLOG comes from a viewer question.
Paul F. asks:

“Will Samsung fix the Galaxy S5’s 4K video stabilization with a software update in the future?”

Well Paul, let’s take a look at the GS5, and whether Samsung will be able to do that!

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Netflix to End “Network Congestion” Warnings Following Verizon Cease and Desist

netflix-logoNo company has been working harder to illustrate streaming performance on different ISP’s networks than Netflix, and they’ve collected years worth of data on which companies are actually living up to their “high speed” claims.

This month’s speed report from the video service is chock full of all kinds of inside baseball info on what the relationship is like between companies like Netflix and ISP’s like Verizon. Following a controversial deal in which Netflix agreed to pay Verizon for more stable streaming service, we’ve actually seen speeds on Verizon’s networks dip, with their FiOS service now slotting in behind two DSL carriers. What exactly is Netflix getting here for their “Fastlane” money?

netflix congestion warning

Starting out as a test platform, Netflix started broadcasting “congestion” warnings, alerting customers that Verizon’s network was having difficulty streaming high quality video. This prompted a cease and desist from Verizon, and Netflix countered with this letter.

To ensure that these customers get the level of service they pay you for, it is your responsibility to make sure your network, including your interconnection points, have sufficient capacity to accommodate the data requests made by those customers. To try to shift the blame to us for performance issues arising from interconnection congestion is like blaming drivers on a bridge for traffic jams when you’re the one who decided to leave three lanes closed during rush hour.

Continue reading “Netflix to End “Network Congestion” Warnings Following Verizon Cease and Desist”

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When Web “Myths” Become “Real” – Two Girls Stab Classmate Over Slenderman

slender-man-600This is sad, tragic, and horrific. My heart goes out to all of the families involved. I hope my comments regarding this situation don’t read as insensitive, but it’s also a fascinating example of our relationship with media.

By now you’ve likely seen the headlines that two twelve year old girls plotted to kill a classmate, stabbing the victim nineteen times. What wasn’t immediately clear was the motive for this heinous act. Today we’ve heard word that the two girls who committed this crime did so as a tribute to Slenderman.

sl-65For those unfamiliar, Slenderman is an internet scary story initially created as part of a photo editing contest on the Something Awful forums in 2009. Readers of the forum were impressed by this impossibly tall and thin figure wearing a suit, and plaguing children. Others quickly added to the fictional mythos. The popularity of the figure exploded, and early in the viral phase of sharing, many sites purported to have the “True Story” of this mysterious figure, adding to the reality of the creation. Some sites even went as far as creating historical backstories, linking Slenderman to ancient wood carvings and Dark Age superstitions.  Continue reading “When Web “Myths” Become “Real” – Two Girls Stab Classmate Over Slenderman”

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Sign Me Up. I’m Ready For Driverless Cars In California.

google self driving carThe open road. The freedom. The romance of wide open throttle on a long stretch of asphalt.

None of that exists in Los Angeles anymore.

Sure, on a holiday weekend at three in the morning you can let loose a little, but the normal condition for Los Angelinos is a bumper to bumper, stop and go, passive-aggressively, road ragey experience. You can’t live in the state for any length of time without witnessing the most common stories we all share. The jerks who skip the line of cars to merge at the last possible second. The jerks who cut you off while driving ten miles an hour slower than you were going. The INSANE number of people doing anything else instead of focusing on driving, even watching videos on tablets (actual pic from one of my commutes)… Continue reading “Sign Me Up. I’m Ready For Driverless Cars In California.”

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Let’s Speculate: What Will Apple Do With Beats Electronics?

dr dre jimmy iovine billboard beats audioI’m leaving this one up to you folks! The pundits are weighing in on the announcement that Apple will be snatching up the love child of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine for $3.2 Billion. The general consensus? No one really knows why Apple is making this move now, or what they really stand to gain from it.

tim cook apple logoIt makes some sense following the announcement that the former head of the Nokia camera division was moving to Apple, that Cupertino is looking to make a bigger multimedia push for future devices, but if the Beats buyout is approved, it’ll mark Apple’s biggest acquisition in the company’s history.

Also, Beats recently bought out HTC’s stake in the company to fly solo. At the time they discussed diversifying the brand and moving into more professional audio solutions. An Apple buyout would seem to contradict those plans.

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine Buy Beats Back From HTC

Drop me some comments below. What does Apple really stand to gain here? Does the Beats brand help restore some of Apple’s “cool factor”? Will consumers be more likely to consider Apple products if they come with Beat Audio?

Honestly, my readers out there are probably better informed than the pundits commenting on this story, so let’s speculate! Go nuts!

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Samsung, Apple, Lawsuits, and Consumer Fatigue

samsung appleBy now you’ve probably seen that a Californian Jury has handed down their decision in the most recent legal saga between Samsung and Apple. Who was the big winner?

Nobody.

Neither side really came out ahead. Sure Apple was awarded more money, but both sides walk away with a mere fraction of what they wanted. Apple claimed Samsung infringed on five patents covering covering functions such as slide-to-lock, universal searching, quick linking, automatic word correction and background syncing. They were asking for $2.2 Billion, and the jury awarded them $120 Million. Samsung claimed Apple had infringed two of its camera patents, one related to video compression and transmission, and asked for $6 Million. It was awarded $150,000. Continue reading “Samsung, Apple, Lawsuits, and Consumer Fatigue”

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