Nothing really clever or interesting to write about today. Well other to reinforce a point I have probably made in the past about how important it is to get information from the user as early in whatever process you are involved in. I don’t mean once but as often as you can. This is true for getting a TV, a new computer, a small application and of course a larger one. The earlier you can get the user involved the more likely you are to end up with something close to what they are after. Note I wrote “close” not “exactly” I’m convinced after a long time doing this that goal is impossible. Something that is also very useful and rarely done is to go through the motions with the user in the field, in the way they do things. This could be a simple as taking notes or doing the actual job. Without this level of appreciation it is hard to understand what is really required.
Industry News
Apple’s iOS6 has been announced, released? Mac lovers everywhere are quick to point out that iOS5 was released about the same time Android 4 came out. What they conveniently forget is that iOS has been around a lot longer than Android so comparing version numbers is just plain, well it ain’t that smart. Add a pretty graph about how most people have iOS5 installed while people using Android are spread between older versions and 4 and they close the book. Of course the way Apple manages upgrades is to all but ban access to applications that run on any older versions ramrodding mandatory upgrades so I’m not sure how showing a graph that proves that draconian policy is hardly positive.
Apple also announced recently that they were leaving Google Maps behind and surprise, surprise adding their own mapping application. They added navigation and traffic updates, whoopee break out the champagne. They did add vector based graphics that makes the scrolling, zooming and rotation a lot smoother. Oops forgot to mention that some of the new features like flyovers and real time rendering are not available for those that dare to hold onto the older iOS units. FO course according to the fanbois Apple devoices are always up to date while Android devices aren’t. Like the iPhone 5 the iOS6 features are an announcement. The new OS may be out in the fall, US time a bit before the new iPhone I guess. The first target will be the 3Gs version then iPads and the 4th generation touch.
Siri is getting an upgrade. Facebook integration is next, hmm given the latest stock prices, well they couldn’t pick G+ Shock, horror Apple is releasing the Facebook APIs to streamline integration. There will be two buttons when someone calls with an automated reminder if you ignored the call. There is new silent mode that will record that someone tried to call, how 80’s. Video calls have been added through FaceTime but no idea on how bad the signal will look over 3G wireless. Friend based photo sharing, wow! Two new e-mail mailboxes and flagged messages, be still my beating heart. All in all by the time this new and revolutionary OS upgrade is out Android will probably have so really new things and not just warmed over catch ups.
Did you know that Microsoft thought about buying Nokia but has backed off? The cause is mostly the sinking share price, I mean why buy now when it could be so much cheaper in a few months. The share price recently hit a 15 year low with a large drop in the past few months. IF Nokia has wanted to sell a while back then it would probably be owned by Microsoft today. Without any alternative buyer Microsoft can afford to sit back and wait. Microsoft is hell bent on moving into the tablet and phone market which is why Windows 8 is really a ship generation of OS as far as the normal computer user is concerned. Redmond really, really wants to create a new Metro platform. They are finally making some money from the Xbox after a few years of not so good returns. Unlike the Xbox the Windows 8/Metro/Apollo roadmap is a bit clearer.
By moving to Windows Nokia has managed to speed up their release cycle and it is too soon to work out if there will be any success with the move. There will be a Tango version next, then Apollo later. The problem at the moment is that the smartphone market is a two horse race between Google and Apple. Perhaps the answer is an easy one, make Nokia a subsidiary of Microsoft, semi-independent like the Xbox division then stand back and wait to see what happens.
What company can sell a base model notebook for $2,199? Yes, lots of Apple news this week. The new Macbook Pro with “retina display”, the latest update to the MacBook Air and Pro lines, start with a 15 inch 2880 by 1800 pixel monitor. It has a SSD instead of a regular hard drive and the models top out at 768 GB of storage. It comes with upgraded versions of Mac OS X Lion, Safari, iMovie, iPhoto, Aperture, and Final Cut Pro X. The unit comes with, and I’m not making this up, an SD slot, HDMI port, two USB 3 ports and two of the proprietary Thunderbolt ports to plug in Firewire 800 and Gigabit Ethernet dongles. Wireless but not 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4 and a few other bits and pieces. I’m sure the usual suspects are drooling.
While Apple is bragging about things that are to come Android is not so quietly activating close to a million devices every 24 hours or so. There is an Apple developer’s conference starting soon and the growth from 180000 a couple of years ago to the current level must be having a few Apple developers asking themselves if it isn’t time to change platforms.
It is that time again, every couple of weeks or so, when I pick out a story about how hackers have managed to break into something and steal stuff. In this instance it is passwords, e-mail addresses, dates of birth and other personal stuff. The source is the online fantasy game League of Legends. This is yet another reason why I do not play online games any more, well that and suffering under the painful burden that is Evony for far too long. Financial info was about the only thing not grabbed in the hacking process.
Finally for this week I decided to take a look at what Gateway gives me these days for my money. The site has changed and they distribute through dealers. There is little customisation anymore so I was stuck with the most expensive desktop mode at $1200. Quad core, i7 3.40 GHz 64 bit CPU with 8 GB cache. 12 Gb of DDR3 RAM, memory card reader, 2TB HDD, 2GB Graphics card, HDMI out, 10 USB ports but no USB 3 with Windows Home Premium. I little below the spec I was looking for but quite a machine for the low price. Gone are the $3000 days of old.
No comments:
Post a Comment