July 16, 2010
Ugh Apple
Wow Apple.
Today’s press conference is even arrogant for you.
Apparently all the arrogance also blinds you to your own contradictions:
1. Smartphones have weakspots.
a. They claim other smartphones show signal loss when gripped the wrong way. Probably true. But this does not put any real data on the iPhone 4’s data loss. Saying that other radio devices are subject to radio interference, does not address that your own antenna design might lead to even more radio interference.
b. If this is just a matter of gripping the phone the wrong way, a bumper should not fix the problem. This is clearly a defective antenna design.
c. you show impressive pictures of these phone testing facilities. You seem to imply you tested the crap out of the phone. This either states that you knew of the problem and still sold the iphone or your great testing procedures forgot to have a person hold the phone in their left hand.
2. AppleCare Data
a. They claim that only .55% of smartphone users called in to complain about their antenna. That’s still over 17,000 calls to applecare alone about antenna issues. How does this compare to other issues? What about complaints at the apple store? Complaints at at&t stores? Complaints online?
3. Return Rates
a. Return Rates don’t include additional data about restocking fees. They also don’t reflect the other phone options available on AT&T. People are also waiting to see what apple is going to do about the antenna problem.
4. Drop Calls
a. You claimed that the iphone 4s has the best reception yet. Then you also admit that it has a higher dropped call rate than the previous version. You also don’t include data on incomplete calls or dropped data connections.
5. Bumper fixes the antenna problem
a. You spent the previous 4 points defending that you don’t have a problem. Yet you’re offering a fix.
Meh.
Nerd Alert | Posted by Bryant at 01:06 PM | Comments (3)
April 30, 2010
Tips on using a global smartphone overseas
My folks are going to Europe for a trip. Fortunately for his birthday, I got my dad an HTC Imagio which is a world phone from Verizon Wireless.
In addition to working on Verizon's network here in the states, it also had a Quad Band GSM radio which lets it work overseas in places like Europe.
The phone also features a WiFi radio, which will let him use Skype to make cheap international calls, check email, and browse the web.
I've created a little tip sheet for him to use that will help use the smartphone while he is overseas.
Nerd Alert | Posted by Bryant at 10:54 PM | Comments (2)
April 29, 2010
South Park Avatar Generator Review
So I know their avatar generator has been around for a while, but today while browsing SouthParkStudios.com, I followed a link to a "new and improved" avatar generator to generate this:
The first indicator that this was not going to go well was the fact that there is no asian skin tone. There's caucasian, african, hispanic, and gay tan. Looking at my skin gay tan was the closest match.
I then proceeded to fill out the rest of what I looked like today at work.
What I'm left with is an avatar that could be me or possibly another asian male 20-35. And it isn't because we all look the same.
Cures for Boredom | Posted by Bryant at 02:17 PM | Comments (1)
January 05, 2010
New Tech for 2010 - iSlate
The other major technology of the future or at least 2010 seems to be the Tablet PC.
Didn’t we already try this in the year 2000? Didn’t the largest technology company in the history of technology companies at that time try pushing this? Didn’t we decide that they were terrible?
Enter the iSlate or iPod Bigger. Steve Jobs will probably try and sell this thing as something new something different, something but it’ll just be an iPod with a bigger screen. And like why 3D is bound to fail, this is going to die because it doesn’t really solve any new problems, and it will be awkard to use.
The iPhone has been an undoubtable success. This is because it is a portable device that let you take data and connectivity everywhere with you. You put it in your pocket and you can use it almost anywhere, work, train, lecture etc.
Do you know why Bluetooth headsets failed? It’s because it never became socially acceptable to wear or even carry around. Not only were the damn things annoyingly easy to lose and forget, they immediately made you look like a douche. While they afforded some convenience and functionality, there wasn’t enough it could do that you couldn’t do buy simply holding your phone to your ear.
The iBig is going to sport a screen that is between 10-11 inches. Unless half the population suddenly decides to go “European” and carry around a purse, you’re not going to take this thing around with you. So if you’re only using this thing at home, why not use that other device that has a keyboard, better screen, better processor, better everything?
Ok, so you bought your purse and you do end up carrying this thing around, don’t forget your charger, because with a screen at 10-11 inches, this thing is going to require a constant tether. Also don’t forget to pay Verizon an extra 30 bucks for the data plan that its going to require. Oh and you’ll want to be sitting down to use it. Why sitting down? Pick up a notepad and try “typing” on it with two hands. Next pick up the notepad you just dropped on the floor. Good thing your notepad didn’t have a 10” piece of glass on it.
But Steve will say you’ll be able to do much more with the new device, like watch TV shows anywhere. Grab your fully charged iBig out of your satchel and sit down because you’re going to spend the next 30 minutes of your life watching a tv show in your lap. If people wanted to carry around an extra device to watch TV on, Sony would still be making watchmen.
“But Sports Illustrated and Time magazine will have stunning new readers to read content.” I can only see this as working if the iSlate doesn’t have a web browser. Why would you virtually leaf through a periodical when you can go check news.google.com or espn.com or even reader.google.com? Also this really requires that the same content is not going to be available on your laptop that’s sitting 10 feet away.
They might demo video calling. This is going to fail the same way video calling has failed since the 80’s. In order for video calling to work, you’re going to need to have your celestial bodies aligned just right so that you can make your once a year call that lets you emulate what you saw Steve do on stage.
- You and your calling friend are going to have to purchase the device
- You and your friend are going to have to be both online in an area with significant bandwidth
- You and your friend are both going to have to be wearing clothes
- You and your friend will both want the other person to know where they are
- You and your friend both live in a world where cell phones don’t exist
This last bullet point is probably the most critical bullet point for the entire device itself. People already own smartphones. While sometimes you wished the screen could stretch so you and your buddy could watch a youtube clip at the same time or you could share photos, you don’t actually care enough to want to carry around a larger device. Otherwise you’d be carrying around your laptop with you everywhere.
Regardless, Apple will probably put on a pretty good show. Many of the features which I made fun of in this article will probably make for a pretty good show on stage. But unfortunately this device is probably doomed for failure.
Nerd Alert | Posted by Bryant at 06:07 PM | Comments (7)