Category: Editorials

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Net Neutrality and Contacting the FCC (Before May 15th)

FCCThe FCC will be voting on May 15th to approve new rules which will essentially wreck the fair and neutral internet we all enjoy. We’ve detailed the proposal in another post, but the long and short of it is ISP’s are already allowed to degrade services as they see fit. If these new rules go into effect, ISP’s will be allowed to charge different rates to every online service. Those new added costs will likely be passed on to consumers, or might create a barrier too high for start ups to consider paying, ultimately punishing any service which becomes more popular than a carrier would like.

The announcement has sparked off a pretty visceral reaction from advocacy groups and the tech-ier folks out there. Enough noise has been made for the FCC to request comments be sent to a special email address set up specifically for this discussion: openinternet@fcc.gov.

Now the cynic in me would be afraid that email is essentially the digital equivalent of a “rectangular filing cabinet” (or rubbish bin) to keep all these complaints from filling up the important inboxes. In hedging our bets on messages actually making an impact, at least by sheer quantity, you can also reach out to the individual commissioners on the FCC by going to http://www.fcc.gov/contact-us. There you’ll also find an email for Chairman Tom Wheeler who proposed these new rules.

But maybe that’s not enough.  Continue reading “Net Neutrality and Contacting the FCC (Before May 15th)”

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OnePlus Smash Your Phone Contest: When PR Encourages Irresponsible Behavior

oneplus one smash your phoneWhen you’re a newcomer you’ve got to build buzz. OnePlus is waking into a very mature market, so they need to get people talking. They need those internet points and hashtags and Youtubes. Their hook however is borderline irresponsible.

The OnePlus One smartphone looks like it could be an attractive competitor. The specs are cutting edge, comparable to many flagship devices currently on the market, and people are already talking about the intro level price of $299. It would seem that’s not good enough though.

The first batch of 100 One phones will be filtered out to a select few contest winners. What’s the contest requirement? Smash your current high end phone, and you might be selected to be one of the first hundred.

Not just any phone will do either, the list is very specific limited to phones manufactured within the last two years. HTC Ones, Galaxy S3-5’s, LG G2’s, and high end Lumias. The current cream of the smartphone crop, all still functional and competitive handsets.

The messaging is clear if a bit mean-spirited:

“Look at all these folks ready to smash their own flagship phones for a CHANCE to get our phone. That means it’s desirable!”

Using customers’ own social media followers to spread videos, hope for a few viral hits, and a good chunk of their marketing is tackled for cheap.

It’s all in good fun right? Continue reading “OnePlus Smash Your Phone Contest: When PR Encourages Irresponsible Behavior”

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Please don’t buy this MicroUSB adapter for the Galaxy S5…

microusb adapterIn the past, we used to have to deal with the scourge of proprietary phone connectors. Buy a new phone, toss all your old accessories and re-buy cables and chargers. Then Mini-USB started catching on, and everything got a lot easier. Sure, the transition from Mini-USB to Micro-USB meant re-buying stuff, as did the iPhone switch from the old Dock Connector to the Lightning port, but you could better count on a number of people around you using the same accessories as you. It was an actual ecosystem.

Whenever something like a connector changes, people freak out, but the nice thing about the move from MicroUSB2 to MicroUSB3, is that you won’t need any adapters or new cables. The port INCLUDES a USB2 connection. It only adds a couple pins for additional speed and feature support. All of you old cables will still work, so that adapter shown at the top is pretty much useless. It’s a placebo. Please, don’t buy it.

galaxy s5 microusb3 port

If you need any confirmation, below is a video demo of using a MicroUSB2 Flash Drive adapter on the Galaxy S5’s MicroUSB3 port.

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HTC One M8 Camera outclassed by Galaxy S5, and it has NOTHING to do with MegaPixels…

Let’s get this out of the way right now. The One M8 camera is good. Maybe it’s even “very good”, but over the last year we’ve seen some excellent cameras bolted onto the backs of our phones by companies like Sony and Nokia.

WP_20140421_21_19_32_ProThe M7 was my favorite camera on an Android phone of last year, and was only bested by the likes of Nokia. It lost the resolution battle with only a 4MP sensor, but the combo of larger “UltraPixels” and Optical Image Stabilization made it one of the best devices to shoot on in indoor and low light environments. Outdoor pics were very good, low light pics were gorgeous, and video was nicely smoothed out by the stabilizing hardware.

My expectations were tremendously high for the M8.

Continue reading “HTC One M8 Camera outclassed by Galaxy S5, and it has NOTHING to do with MegaPixels…”

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My Week Without a Smartwatch…

qualcomm toq activity tracker update smartwatchI’ve been super critical of the smartwatch. I make no effort to hide the fact that I hope people will move directly to heads up displays soon. I think they’re an evolutionary midpoint, a convenient way to continue the conversation on wearable computing started by Bluetooth headsets. Having worn watches like the Toq, Martian, and Pebble for a couple months now though, my opinion on smartwatches has changed a bit, and lately I’ve been more positive on the experience.

During my recent trip to Vancouver, I opted for a Windows Phone instead of an Android. It provided me a better camera and the ability to store maps for offline use, handy as data was something of a premium on my pre-pay SIM. Unfortunately this meant no smartwatch support. I was surprised by how much I missed wearing one… Continue reading “My Week Without a Smartwatch…”

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Anyone Can Buy Google Glass on April 15th, but Should You?

google glass cameraOn April 15th at 6am PDT Google will open up the Explorer program to anyone interested in owning their own heads up display.

Here’s the deal though, it’s still a BETA product, and it’s still fairly expensive. While it’s currently our best hope for a consumer, wearable, eye-level computing solution, you’ll have to pony up $1500 + Tax to grab one of your own.

I’m very positive on Glass, but it’s fairly apparent that Google hasn’t handled the launch of this project well. The general public is still fairly ignorant as to what Glass can and can not do, resulting in dramatic interpretations of privacy abuses. People have been written tickets for wearing them while driving, restaurants have asked customers to leave for wearing them, and an Explorer was even physically assaulted by a mob of people.

Google should be praised for pushing the envelope, but the Explorer experiment was flawed from the beginning. When it’s an invite only program for geeks, and the cost of entry is north of $1500, you have to expect that a statistically significant number of participants wont be the kind of people that you’d want as ambassadors for something so new. This has resulted in the coining of the term “Glasshole” to represent people who use Glass in a rude fashion. Unfortunately that term is starting to generically describe anyone with Glass, as it only takes one bad apple to taint the whole bushel. Continue reading “Anyone Can Buy Google Glass on April 15th, but Should You?”

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For the Traveling Geek trying to pack light… ish…

On our recent vacation to Vancouver, I wanted to pack as minimally as possible. I have a rep in my family for packing an obscene gadget backpack, and using very little of the gear I bring. I wanted to see how minimally I could pack and still participate digitally.

Goodbye backpack.

WP_20140413_20_42_05_ProMy first task was whittling down the bag I travel with. Instead of my normal Canon backpack, or one of my Booq pro bags, I opted for a small travel camera sling. I love all the pockets and dividers you get with a camera bag, even though I wasn’t packing my DSLR.

The nice thing about a sling, it keeps everything cinched down pretty tight, while allowing me to have the use of both of my arms. I’ve started using them over my old messenger bags when I’m on the go.

Only ONE phone?!?!?

WP_20140413_20_45_04_ProEven near home I tend to have two phones on me at any given time, so leaving the country with only one phone already had me feeling a little vulnerable. I opted for the Nokia Lumia Icon for a couple reasons. Even though it’s a Verizon phone, it’s completely unlocked. It also allowed me to leave my point and shoot camera at home, as the only compromise I’d have to make is not having a zoom lens.

After landing I grabbed a Virgin Mobile SIM card with a meager amount of data, but I pretty much relied on WiFi during my visit. Using a Nokia worked well for travel as I was able to download maps directly to my phone and use them offline with HERE Maps to get around town.

Only my Google+ usage suffered because stupid Google still won’t let us Windows Phone users upload pics and videos or use Hangouts. Pretty much every other social network was included in my touristy food pic uploads, even VK. No Google+, but I could upload to VK. How messed up is that… Continue reading “For the Traveling Geek trying to pack light… ish…”

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Just for Fun: When Tech PR Get Into a Twitter Fight – HTC Edition

htc pr twitter fightCompanies keep such tight reigns on their marketing and messaging, that when the occasional “human” moment leaks through it can be oddly refreshing. One of the top fights in smartphones right now is the HTC One M8 vs the Samsung Galaxy S5. You can expect a little A LOT of smack talk from these respective camps over the coming months, though it’s rare to see a company wade into a fight directly

Fanboi flame wars are tiresome, but coming direct from corporate, this was kind of fun. Here’s HTC Senior Global Online Communications Manager Jeff Gordon (@urbanstrata),  taking the bait.

Click here to enjoy the carnage.

 

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