Technology News and IT Business Intelligence

“More and more people are getting excited about the opportunity of what PCs can do for them in their living rooms to improve their entertainment experience.” That was the message I was getting as far back as 2005, as companies including AMD, Intel, Microsoft, and yes, even Sun were exploring form factors for “entertainment PCs.” Soon, we’d be seeing brands like Intel Viiv, AMD Live, and Microsoft TV at a store near you.
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Today, Amazon posted an overview of what Kindle owners can expect in its version 2.5 software update now slated for late May.
This will be the first major feature upgrade to Amazon’s e-paper device line since the launch of the Kindle DX last year. After the launch of that model, there was a single software update, which moderately improved the user experience by stretching battery life and adding native .PDF support.
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Windows users have a lot of alternatives to the “mainstream” media players (Windows Media Player and iTunes). However, Mac OS users are not so fortunate. Aside from a couple of minor exceptions, Mac OS is an iTunes-dominated platform.
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As dorky character Ned Ryerson said in movie “Groundhog Day”: “Am I right or am I right? Or am I right? Am I right?” Apple is shuttering the Lala service on May 31. While pundits galore said Apple was moving into the streaming music business, I asserted something else: That Apple bought Lala to improve music discovery and to combat Google music search.
Apple announced the Lala acquisition in December, when I blogged “Lala could make iTunes’ Genius smarter.” As I explained then, the acquisition is about “improving iTunes music discovery and competitively combating Google search.” About two months before Apple bought Lala, Google improved its music search capabilities, which included free streams from various services, including Lala.
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Today, just as Adobe released a preview of Flash Player for Mac OS X that features H.264 video decoding, Apple CEO Steve Jobs released a letter called “Thoughts on Flash,” which explains the many reasons why there’s no Flash support on any of Apple’s mobile devices, and why H.264 is a better format.
The letter is emblematic of Apple’s increasingly verbal approach to the frantically interested but highly misunderstanding public: “Adobe has characterized our decision as being primarily business driven — they say we want to protect our App Store — but in reality it is based on technology issues. Adobe claims that we are a closed system, and that Flash is open, but in fact the opposite is true. Let me explain.”
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For the record, the connection between Hewlett-Packard and Palm, Inc. was not something most of us saw coming, and which very few reputable observers of this industry bet their reputations on.
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There are a handful of issues of contention that broadcasters (who transmit content over the public airwaves) have with the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Plan. One such outstanding dispute concerns the FCC’s proposed reallocation of unused digital spectrum from broadcast to broadband purposes — a way to get at least some of the estimated 180 MHz of spectrum wireless operators say they need, without another complete re-auction.
On Tuesday, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the formation of a so-called Spectrum Task Force, which many see as his way of connecting the necessary dots between the public airwaves (the FCC’s natural purview), wireless, and the Internet (the FCC’s disputed territory). In his announcement yesterday, the Chairman said, “To lead the world in mobile, the FCC must ensure that our nation’s spectrum is being put to its highest and best use.”
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Skyfire, the third party mobile browser famous for its ability to handle nearly every major browser plug-in and web technology has finally arrived in the Android Market today.
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Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ “Thoughts on Flash” memo is a rare glimpse into the mind of the rarest breed: A high-tech, cult figure who isn’t a geek. Apple posted the nearly 1,700-word essay earlier today, in response to the ongoing debate about Adobe Flash on iPhone OS devices. Or perhaps more directly: Adobe’s April 20 announcement that it had abandoned Flash development for iPhone OS devices; primary focus is shifting to Android.
The Flash debate got ugly earlier this month after Apple announced iPhone OS 4 would not support the Adobe technology and made developer agreement changes that prohibited use of cross-platform tools that could enable rival platforms like Adobe’s. Last week, Mike Chambers, Adobe’s Flash platform Principal Product Manager for developer relations, sounded the retreat in a blog post.
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Move over Apple, Nokia isn’t ready to give up its market share leading position just yet. After two failed flagship smartphone attempts — the N97 and N900 — Nokia has cued up the drool-worthy N8 for third quarter release. I’m suddenly excited about a Nokia handset again, and you should be, too. The N8 might also be the Nokia handset to crack the US market.
Nokia is leaning on its strengths in hardware innovation, while improving software and services. The handset manufacturer has long excelled at hardware, whereas Apple does much better with software. For example, Nokia shipped cell phones with great cameras years before Apple sold one iPhone. But Nokia has struggled to extend steller photo and video capabilities into the capacitive touchscreen era.
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