Category: Gear

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 3, 20143:56 pm

Ten Months, 26 Stories About Apple

As a personal exercise exploring the tone of my BetaNews stories about Apple, I reviewed all of them written over the past 10 months—just 26, which isn’t many. I did this because, despite the last two posts (here and here) about Apple apologists, reader response does matter. Some critics harp about balance, and I admit there’s no glowing love for the company expressed in most of my stories.

There shouldn’t be. What some people call negativity, I see as constructive criticism. Then there is straight news reporting, which needn’t praise or raze. I prepared the list for myself and post it here mostly for my reference. But it’s a good look at my most recent news stories and analyses about Apple.

Apple by Joe WilcoxAug 27, 20146:50 pm

Give Us iPhone Air

Some sincerely given advice/analysis: Apple should call the next handset iPhone Air. The name better fits product and marketing objectives for the two other Airs—iPad and MacBook—and communicates clearer connotations about benefits. Besides, getting away from numbering would make iPhone nomenclature more consistent with other Apple products and make way for getting off the obsessive upgrade treadmill.

Gear by Joe WilcoxAug 4, 20145:11 pm

Smartphones come of Age

Wired hits a homer with an incredible August issue on smartphones. As battery life and utility expand, so does my device’s use as secondary—and sometimes primary—device. Nokia Lumia Icon is all the digital device I carried to San Diego Comic-Con 2014. Snap. Edit. Share. And I took notes during the panels. It’s not a question if my smartphone replaces a PC but when.

Five years ago (this month) I asserted, perhaps a bit prematurely, that “Your Next PC is a Smartphone“. That was before the tablet craze sidelined attention, but I’m convinced the smartphone’s day is come—and so do Wired editors.

Apple by Joe WilcoxJul 29, 20148:07 pm

My Daughter’s iPhone is Too Destructible

Sshould I blame daughter or device? Last night, she texted: “My screen cracked again. I’m so sorry”. That’s the third shattered iPhone 5s since May; two 5ers busted before that. Clearly, she’s fumble fingers, but something just doesn’t seem right. The college student sticks the damn device in a protective case. Did Apple put pretty design before damage durability?

I spent several hours searching for smartphone breakage data today—on the web and contacting several sources compiling stats. Strangely, the most compelling comparisons are years old. For example, in late 2010, SquareTrade reported that iPhone 4 accidents exceeded the 3GS and devices from competing smartphone manufacturers. In a 2012 survey of 2,000 iPhone users, 30 percent had damaged their device in the previous 12 months.

Gear by Joe WilcoxMay 27, 20144:27 pm

I am a Chromebook Convert

Two years ago this month, I adopted Chromebook as my primary PC. Except for brief betrayal last summer, mine is the Chromie lifestyle since. “Can I use Chromebook as my primary PC?” It’s a question I see often across the Interwebs. The answer is different: You can use Chromebook as your only computer.

The only PCs in my home are Chromebooks. There are no Macs or Windows machines doing double duty. Chromebook is more than good enough. Most people will be surprised just how satisfying Chromebook can be—and how affordable. For 96 cents more than the cost of one entry-level MacBook Air, you can buy from Amazon four HP Chromebook 11s. User benefits are surprisingly similar.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 11, 20143:45 pm

HTC One M8 is a Worthy Phone Camera

I snapped this cat around sunset under overcast skies using HTC One M8. Both renditions are cropped. The left is otherwise untouched. To the right, I applied the phone’s UFocus feature. The One uses a duo-lens system to capture photo and additional depth information. I applied depth-of-field centerpoint to the cat’s face, which blurs rest of the image. I cropped afterwards. UFocus can also change the focal point, even after shooting.

Quite a few reviewers ding The One for having only a 4-megapixel camera. I shake my head and laugh. Look back a few years when 4MP was state of the art, and the same reviewers raved. Here’s the problem I see: Relativity. Making relative assumptions about A to B. Not long ago people praised 4MP for printing large photos, close-cropping, etc.—cited criticisms today. Now that there is 8MP and greater, 4MP is looked down upon.

Apple by Joe WilcoxMay 9, 20147:11 pm

Phablets hang Tim Cook’s Ass to the Wind

Analyst punditry is exhaustive about why tablet shipments declined during calendar first quarter 2014. Apple missed Wall Street consensus by about 3 million iPads. Tech-Thoughts analyst Sameer Singh expected tablet shipments to exceed PCs during the first quarter, and that didn’t happen. But major reason why is significant.

He writes today: “As of now, we can assume that ~20 percent of all smartphones shipped have screen sizes large enough to become acceptable substitutes for tablet computing tasks”.

Gear by Joe WilcoxJan 10, 20143:15 pm

Twenty-Fourteen isn’t Year of the Chromebook

There are reasons why I am so obnoxiously loud about bad news reporting tactics. NPD innocently kicked off a writ-storm about 2014 being year of the Chromebook. A Dec. 23, 2013, press release observes strong Chromebook commercial channel sales of preconfigured desktop and notebook PCs.

Looks like NPD pulled the PR—I can’t find it—over this whole “year of #chromebook” meme; it’s a blog and press echo chamber that continues to boom. Goddamn, my ears hurt. Even The Register, of which I expect much better, misquotes the NPD press release, too. That 21 percent market share figure refers to commercial U.S. channels only, not the entire market.

Apple by Joe WilcoxNov 4, 20134:03 pm

iPad Air is the Best Tablet

Sometimes there is revolution in evolution. That’s my surprising reaction to iPad Air, which Apple started selling on November 1. This is simply the best tablet I have ever used. Period. The fruit-logo company wisely chose to resist reinventing the wheel and build a vehicle around four instead.

For people who complain—and there are many—that Apple’s newest 9.7-inch tab shows waning innovation, let me correct the record. You are oh-so wrong. iPad Air is an amazingly refined piece of art—like a sculpture chiseled to perfection. iPad 3 and 4 are unpolished bricks by comparison. More importantly, anyone looking for a tablet to largely, or completely, replace a Windows PC or Mac, Air is it.

Gear by Joe WilcoxOct 5, 201310:53 pm

Moto X Developer Edition is Amazing

HTC One is by far the best smartphone I have ever owned. Yet, mine went on Craigslist yesterday and to a mechanic a few hours later; he responded to the listing. Then I paid off the remainder owed to T-Mobile.

Why? After saying I wouldn’t, I bought Moto X Developer Edition. In terms of customer experience, the phone and everything else that goes with it, Moto X is light years ahead of any other mobile to come into my possession—that’s a whole lot of phones over the years. iPhone doesn’t come close.

Gear by Joe WilcoxAug 25, 201310:08 am

The Problem with Moto X

I remain concerned about Motorola’s choice to launch Moto X with AT&T—the carrier that failed with HTC First (the Facebook phone), like Verizon did with Microsoft Kin, which were targeted at similar audiences. I don’t have Moto X. Motorola graciously provided BetaNews with a review unit, and my colleague Brian Fagioli has that one. A second isn’t available, which is perfectly reasonable.

So my only experience is the AT&T store, yesterday. The sales display impresses. There is a demo phone, iPad with flashy sales info, and selection of back covers so buyers can see exactly what they get if choosing to customize. Cards for the 16GB and 32GB models are there. Grab, pay, and go to Moto Maker site to personal and order the phone.

Gear by Joe WilcoxMay 3, 20135:59 pm

I Love Chromebook Pixel but It Doesn’t Always Love Me

When I reported the original iPhone launch in June 2007, there was sense of history among the people waiting to buy. Several shared similar sentiment: That we would all look back in five or 10 years and see the mobile as a defining moment in computing. They were absolutely right. I feel similarly about Chromebook Pixel, not that as many people appreciate what it represents compared to the larger number of folks rushing to purchase Apple’s smartphone.

Google’s computer is an acquired taste, and so delish you don’t easily go back. But there’s a Vegemite quality. Most people wouldn’t eat the spread, but ask those who do—they can’t live without it. Likewise, Chromebook Pixel isn’t for everyone, but is for me and possibly could be for you, if given a chance.