thinkfuture » android

Use It Up, Wear It Out – Consumers Hold On to Stuff Longer

Chris Kalaboukis — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:45:24 +0000

This is an interesting trend: I wonder if this will extend to reducing the “gotta have the latest iPhone/iPad as soon as it comes out” Cycle times may increase for those devices as well. Although I’m sure that the core Apple faithful will need to upgrade no matter what the cost, the brunt of consumers will probably not need to. I’ll bet that on the tablet front, we’ll see people leaning more towards software upgradable Android tablets than monolithic Apple tablets.

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Consumer spending has picked up, but for some Americans the recession has left something behind: a greater interest in making stuff last.

For a number of products — cars, phones, computers, even shampoo and toothpaste — the data shows a slowing of product life cycles and consumption. In many cases the difference is mere months, but economists and consumers say the approach just may outlast a full recovery and the return of easy credit, because of the strong impression the downturn made on consumers.

via Use It Up, Wear It Out – Consumers Hold On to Stuff Longer – NYTimes.com.

CES 2011: Year Of The Tablet

Chris Kalaboukis — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 23:31:24 +0000

Seems like the big thing as CES was the tablet: tons of iPad clones being revealed. Some other gagdetmeisters talk about how maybe there were too many tablets. Can never have too many tablets if you ask me.

I’ve used an iPad and I find it sluggish, heavy, slow, and don’t like the box Steve forces me to play in. I don’t like authority figures telling me what I can and cannot do with my devices. Many do, or either just live with it in order to partake of the “specialness” which is Apple and Jobs. If you ask me, its simply current tech that’s wrapped in a pretty package. In fact it’s not even current tech. Apple assumes that you will love the design so much that you will not care that the device is technically deficient.

Despite that, it has done one good thing: iPad has spawned a ton of competitors and upped Google’s game to provide a true alternative. The Motorola Xoom, which was announced at CES, looks like it will match or best the iPad2. Android is taking off everywhere.

Apple steps up its game and Google does the same. In the end, the consumers win, we get choice, and better devices at better prices. Free market capitalism in action! Seems like I can’t even stop talking about politics here

Anyways: CES seemed cool: tons of tablets, a new version of Microsoft Surface, which in some magical way, is able to scan and record documents without cameras, lots of 3D TV and internet connected TVs.

Personally, I’m not sure if 3D TV will take off, at least not for a long time. Connected TV for sure, but 3D TV is a way off for one reason: content. Content is king, and if there is no 3D content, why buy a 3D TV? I lay my bets on a more immersive 2D experience coming before 3D. If there was some way to turn our walls, ceilings and floors into displays, now that would be cool. The closer we get to a holodeck, now we’re talking.

Vizio Tablet hands-on preview — Engadget

Chris Kalaboukis — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 23:59:08 +0000

Android tablets will most likely eclipse the iPad this year. I see one in my future…

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We just had our first in-depth experience with the Vizio Tablet, the company’s opening overture into the world of Android slates, and we’ve got to say — we like what we see. The device — which was just announced Monday afternoon along with the company’s new smartphone, the Vizio Phone — is still rather unfinished (the model we looked at was a hand-built device), but based on this early look, the company is moving down the right roads. We had a good chance to play around with the tablet, and we’ve got all the details, specs, and an in-depth video after the break!

via Vizio Tablet hands-on preview — Engadget.

Goodbye Closed, Hello Open

Chris Kalaboukis — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 03:52:47 +0000

It’s been over 10 years, but its finally time to say goodbye.

I’ve had a Yahoo! Mail account for what it feels like forever. I liked it because no matter how many things change around me, at least that’s constant. People know my email address, no matter how many jobs I’ve held and how many places I’ve lived, my email address has stayed the same.

I guess that even though I’m all about innovation, it is still comforting to have that constant always there.

However, times have changed, and Yahoo! Mail still remains a pay service for those who don’t want to experience their mail the Yahoo way…either in the browser or locked into their purple and yellow experience.

This hit home for me now that I’m on my new Android phone. The openness of this environment appealed to me, unlike the locked in experience that you get on an iPhone.

However, when it came time to set up my email, I tried to use the native email app to access my Yahoo! Mail. Since i am a Mail Plus user and pay yearly for POP access, i figured that it would be a no brainer.

Well, half the time my mail wouldn’t POP down, the other half of the time I’d have to go into Yahoo! Mail on the browser then magically mail started flowing. The other option was the Yahoo! Mail for Android client, which I didn’t like either.

These are the 2010s. No one should be locked into anything. Despite the fact that I don’t really like the Gmail interface, having the ability to import and redirect all my mail from the 4 accounts I have into one place, then easily view all of that on my mobile phone, sealed the deal for me.

So it’s time to say goodbye to closed systems and hello to open ones. I wonder if Steve and Carol are listening to the thousands of us out there who are feeling the same.

all things aria:initial impressions

Chris Kalaboukis — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:52:35 +0000

Here are the initial impressions I had of the HTC Aria when I picked it up

1. Light

2. Small

3. Fast

via all things aria.