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Posted: 15 Dec 2011 01:00 AM PST

Kickstarter: Cam Crate, A Simple, Rugged, Waterproof Camera Case

Posted: 14 Dec 2011 06:42 PM PST

camcrate

The last few times I’ve brought my camera out into the wilderness, I’ve had a few fears regarding its safety. Sure, a foam case will prevent the lens from getting scratched and so on, but what it is mauled by a bear, or we are attacked by werewolves? Most hard cases, like those from Pelican, are reliable but bulky, designed for air travel with multiple lenses, but not hiking or climbing and quick access.

This Kickstarter project, the Cam Crate, hopes to make a simple hardened case for your full-size SLR and its attached lens.

The outside is hard molded plastic, the inside is soft foam, and there’s a nice big water seal and latch to keep the dew out. It should withstand getting hit by rocks, dropped on the trail, and possibly the werewolf thing too. It even floats, so it can get away from vampires (they can’t cross running water).

Right now it will fit a 5D or D7000 or similar-sized camera, but not one with a battery grip or integrated base grip like a 1D. It’s deep enough that a reasonably sized tele or big prime should fit, though I’d check the measurements before going in for it.

It’s got plenty of time left on its Kickstarter counter. It’ll sell for $80 if it’s successful, but the $50 donation level will get you one if you’re willing to buy on faith.

First Android Dedicated GPS Unit Actually Looks Pretty Decent

Posted: 14 Dec 2011 04:48 PM PST

allsp

Considering Android is getting on in age, it’s surprising it hasn’t been featured on more “miscellaneous” devices. Phones and tablets, sure, but we haven’t seen many, say, DVD players or PMPs using the OS. And certainly not GPS devices, whose proprietary libraries and interfaces were developed at great cost, leading the companies that made them working desperately to squeeze every last penny out of them. But perhaps we’re about to see that change.

GPS maker Holux and sporting map app company SatSki have put out the All Sports GPS, a handset-like unit that has multiple sports-related mapping tools, lots of live maps (Google of course, OVI, OpenStreetMap, and more), and a location and distance-focused interface. Average speed, altitude changes, all that stuff.

It also has Facebook and Twitter baked right in, so you can tell all your friends your coordinates. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have access to other Google services like GMail or the market, though there is a sub-market called the All Sports App Market that probably will have a few random useful apps.

Sure, it’s not a breakthrough device, but it’s rugged, hackable, and full of location-y goodness. I doubt this is the last one of these devices we’ll be seeing. Garmin and the rest can only fight for so long before they too are assimilated.

No availability or pricing is available right now — nor specs or anything really, let’s hope this thing exists.

[via Gizmag]

It’s Official: Verizon Galaxy Nexus To Launch On December 15 For $299

Posted: 14 Dec 2011 02:31 PM PST

verizon-galaxy-nexus-540x389

Well it’s about time — after months of breathless waiting, Verizon has finally confirmed that the LTE-capable Galaxy Nexus will indeed launch on December 15 (i.e. tomorrow). The word comes courtesy of 9to5Google, who received a release from Big Red themselves celebrating the device’s long-awaited release.

As expected the device sticks to Verizon’s new standard pricing model for top-tier 4G smartphones, and people looking to nab at Nexus at the $299 price point will have to sign up for (or extend) a two-year contract. If the thought of slogging to a Verizon store or third-party retailer tomorrow fills you with dread, you’ll also have a shot a snagging one when the online sales begin at 1AM EST.

Interestingly, Verizon has yet to put an end to their double data promotion, so potential Galaxy Nexus buyers should also be able to lock in a 4GB monthly data plan instead of the 2GB plan for $29 — not a bad bonus when you’re buying one of the most-anticipated smartphones of the year.

There isn’t much else to say at this point: we’ve reported tirelessly about the device’s specs, and we’ve taken in-depth looks at Ice Cream Sandwich’s features over the past few months, so really all that’s left is to breathe a sigh of relief as we wait for sales channels to open.

Oh, and here’s the full release, in case you were planning to celebrate the occasion by poring over every word:

GALAXY™ NEXUS™ BY SAMSUNG NOW AVAILABLE ON THE VERIZON WIRELESS 4G LTE NETWORK

First Smartphone to Combine Android™ 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the Power of America's Fastest, Most Reliable 4G Network

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless, Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) and Google™ announced Galaxy™ Nexus™ is available starting today in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $299.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.

Customers can browse the Web, stream music and more at blazing speeds using the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network. Galaxy Nexus customers can enjoy access to the 4G LTE network in 190 markets covering over 200 million people across the United States, and fly through the Web with fast download speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps within the 4G LTE Mobile Broadband coverage area.

Galaxy Nexus runs Android™ 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, which brings an entirely new look and feel to Android. Galaxy Nexus offers customers a redesigned user experience with improved multi-tasking, notifications, Near Field Communications (NFC) sharing with Android Beam™ and a full Web-browsing experience. The lock screen, home screen, phone app and everything in between have been rethought and redesigned to make Android simple, beautiful and useful. Galaxy Nexus also features an ultra-thin 9.47mm design with a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED™ Contour Display to watch movies, view pictures and play games that come to life in 720p (1280×720) resolution.

Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) features:

· Redesigned user interface – software navigation buttons, a first for Android smartphones, and a dedicated recent apps button to make multi-tasking easy

· Face Unlock – use state-of-the-art facial recognition to unlock Galaxy Nexus

· Android Beam™ – quickly share Web pages, apps, contacts and YouTube™ videos with friends by simply tapping two compatible phones together

· Redesigned Camera – introduces panorama mode, 1080p video capture, zero-shutter lag for instant photo capturing, and effects such as silly faces and background replacement

· People Application – browse friends, family and coworkers, see their photos in high-resolution and check their latest status updates from Google+ and other social networks

· Cloud Services – keep email, contacts, photos, music, browser bookmarks and other data synced to the cloud, available across multiple devices so customers never lose important data

· Google Music – upload up to 20,000 songs to the cloud, discover and buy new music from Android Market™, and stream it instantly on Galaxy Nexus and from the Web for free

· Google+ – Create a Google+ account right from the phone and check status updates, manage circles, quickly share updates and photos, video chat with up to ten friends with Mobile Hangouts, and chat with groups of friends with Google+ Messenger

· Support for Google Mobile™ Services – Gmail™, Google Maps™ with 3D maps and free turn-by-turn navigation, Google Earth™, Movie Studio, YouTube, syncing with Google Calendar™, a redesigned Google+ app and access to more than 300,000 apps, millions of eBooks, thousands of movies to rent, and millions of songs available to download from Android Market

Additional features:

· Dual-core 1.2 GHz application processor and HTML5 Web browser – optimized dual-core processing with Android 4.0 combined with lightning fast 4G LTE connectivity for fast downloading of graphics, applications processing and Web browsing

· Mobile Hotspot capability – share 4G LTE or 3G connection with up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices

· 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with zero-shutter lag for instant photo capturing, autofocus and LED flash with full 1080p recording

· Front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video chat

· Textured soft-touch back cover – enhances the ergonomic feel and makes the phone slip-resistant

· Bluetooth® 3.0 technology – support for headset, hands-free, stereo, phonebook access, human interface device (HID) and object push for vCard and vCalendar

· 1 GB RAM and 32 GB on-board memory (actual formatted capacity will be less)

Pricing and data packages:

· Galaxy Nexus is available now in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $299.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.

· Customers that purchase a Galaxy Nexus by Samsung will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan beginning at $39.99 monthly access and a smartphone data package starting at $30 monthly access for 2 GB of data.

Customers can visit www.verizonwireless.com/galaxynexus for more information on the Galaxy Nexus. For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.


Developing…

Guess Where This Crab Lives! (Hint: Inside An Xbox 360)

Posted: 14 Dec 2011 12:58 PM PST

Screen shot 2011-12-14 at 3.47.14 PM

We’ve all been there.

After years of faithful service and happy memories, the trusty old (insert gadget here) is tuckered out and needs replacing.

Some of us recycle our old gadgetry (and bravo/a to you), while others might try to sell it on the cheap, eBay-style.

But here‘s something I bet you never considered doing with your old… say, Xbox 360:

That’s right. What you’re looking at is a fully functional salt-water aquarium housed inside an old Xbox 360 console. Of course, the console no longer operates (just in case anyone is that hopeful), but the existing power cable and connection are still in use, as well as the external supply box. On the inside, however, you’ll find live corals, fish, crabs, shrimp, and snails.

Spencer Shepard of Blue World Aquariums first removed all the innards of the Xbox, cut a viewing window, and then had the tank custom built to fit the console. He then hooked up the wiring for the lighting using the existing power cable and connection, with the low-voltage power supply and controller hidden inside the external power supply box. The tank is lit with the help of a color-changing LED strip, which is controlled by a wireless remote.

Clearly not all of us have the time or the skills necessary to complete such a task, but if you happen to have an old Xbox around and had been contemplating a fish tank, take this as a sign.



Virtual Active iOS App Detects Your Exercycle Speed, Takes You On World Tour

Posted: 14 Dec 2011 12:43 PM PST

The Canals of Venice

At the few times when I find myself on the bike or elliptical at the gym, I’m always frustrated by the lack of anything interesting to keep my eyes on. The TVs are showing something boring, the magazines are sweaty and old, the people too are sweaty and old, and I end up staring at the wall. Why am I telling you this? Because someone has created a solution to this particular first-world problem that seems rather promising.

It started as a sort of hack by which a Redditor connected his exercycle to his Xbox 360. Since then he’s taken what he learned there and produced an iPad app, Virtual Active, that detects how “fast” you’re going on a cycle or elliptical by measuring the vibration, and moves you at a corresponding speed through a picturesque landscape.

The creator assures me that the accelerometer is up to the task, and no configuration is necessary. You just put your iPad, iPhone, or what have you on the bike, treadmill, or elliptical, and it figures itself out. I’ll believe it when I see it, of course, but it sounds real enough.

It’s free to download, but you purchase videos from different locations: the Alps, the Grand Canyon, even my own Pacific Northwest.

Potential problems: the videos themselves are expensive ($8 each) and quite large (~800MB for around a half-hour video). Gym bunnies with disposable income might lap it up, but it’s a bit expensive for those of us not as dedicated to our fitness, or not as concerned with having fun while exercising.

The BitGym technology behind the videos will expand into games and other types of video entertainment, though. The first will be Fit Freeway, which will use the accelerometer to determine speed and head tracking to steer. Don’t worry, nobody looks cool at the gym, so I doubt anyone will notice you twitching around. User-created videos and other things are on the horizon as well.

Pretty cool stuff — if it works. Nice to see a random but promising hack we covered turn into something legit. There’s more info at BitGym’s site if you’re interesting.

An iPhone Lover’s Take On The Galaxy Nexus

Posted: 14 Dec 2011 11:42 AM PST

1

You have to hand it to Google. They know that I prefer Apple products and have been generally critical of many Google moves in the past couple of years. And yet, they’re unafraid to give me their newest products to test out. To be honest, I’m not sure Apple would do the same. But I think this is a smart move on Google’s part. On one hand, they may get a negative review but they know that many will discount the negativity coming from me. On the flip side, if it’s positive: gravy train time.

Thus: my thoughts on the Galaxy Nexus. But before I begin…

Rather than do a full-on review — you’ve probably already seen plenty of those — and given that I now write an Apple-centric column for TechCrunch, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to continue my “An iPhone Lover’s Take…” series. For some background, here are my previous stories from the same angle on the Nexus One, the HTC EVO 4G, the Nexus S, a Windows Phone, and even the iPhone 4.

My colleague Jason Kincaid took a similar approach for a post a few weeks back, but did it from a slightly different angle — call it: An Original iPhone Lover Who Learned To Love Android Until Switching Back To The iPhone… Reviews The Galaxy Nexus. Oddly, he just had just switched back to the iPhone after years of Android use — but he says the Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich in particular may get him to switch back yet again. Meanwhile, GigaOm’s Darrell Etherington also looked at the Galaxy Nexus from an iPhone user’s perspective and ultimately decided the iPhone 4S was still the device for him. So I’m here to break the tie.

I’ve been using an iPhone since the day the first one launched in 2007. It is without question my favorite and most-used gadget of all time. Over that same span, I’ve tried about a dozen different Android devices ranging from the G1 to the Nexus S — the results have been decidedly mixed. I pretty much hated the G1, generally liked the Nexus One, thought the EVO 4G was more or less crap, and basically enjoyed the Nexus S. But none, in my mind, could touch the iPhone.

So what about the Galaxy Nexus?

I was given the device shortly before I took off for Europe a couple weeks ago. Given that it’s unlocked and I got a 3G SIM, I’ve been using it a lot — just as much as I’ve used any of the other Android devices listed above. For a few nights, it has been my primary device when I’ve been out and about. Unfortunately, I have not been able to test any sort of 4G network with it, so consider all of this a Galaxy Nexus 3G review.

First and foremost, the Galaxy Nexus is way too big. The 4.65-inch screen is nice when I’m sitting on my couch, but out and about it feels like I’m Zack Morris holding his Gordon Gekko phone. I’d consider myself to have average sized hands for an adult male, and the screen is so large that it killed several one-handed operations for me (especially since many Android apps use a top nav system). I’ll admit that for some apps, like Gmail, having a screen larger than the iPhone’s 3.5-inch variety is very nice. But 4.3-inch may be better. This is just too big.

While the screen is too big, I am happy that Google has finally decided to get rid of hardware menu buttons and go all-in on the screen. Previous Android hardware was always made worse by the decision to include fixed nav buttons along the button. With Ice Cream Sandwich, all these buttons can now be software-based. There isn’t even a home hardware button like the iPhone has anymore — it’s all software.

I like this. The iPhone home button wears down over time and it makes noise when you click it. (Of course, the Galaxy Nexus still has a wake/power button of the right side.) I hope Apple does something more inventive with the button if they choose to keep it in future iPhone hardware iterations. Perhaps a multi-touch top on the button that allows you to swipe between open iOS apps would make the continuation of the physical button worth it.

I also like the inclusion of an indicator light on the Galaxy Nexus. Both the Galaxy Nexus and iPhone have options to vibrate or give you audio cues to alert you to new messages, but if the phone isn’t on me, I often miss those. The light allows you to see if you have new message waiting without having to turn the screen on. This is one of the few things BlackBerry got right that Apple for whatever reason hasn’t bothered to mimic.

The rest of the Galaxy Nexus hardware leaves something to be desired. The iPhone feels like a completely and thoughtfully designed object. By comparison, the Galaxy Nexus still feels rather cheap and plastic-y. It’s not awful, but you’d think Samsung could do better at this point. Some people will like having the option to remove to the back to get at the battery, but the method for doing so remains a joke. You essentially have to rip it off. I feel like I’m peeling a nail away from a finger every time I do it — it’s that unpleasant.

The battery life itself on the device is very good. I felt like the Galaxy Nexus was lasting at least as long as the iPhone 4S on a fully charged battery, perhaps even a bit longer if some cases. Again, I didn’t try it on a 4G network, which is known to drain battery quicker. (I also haven’t had the battery discharge issues that some iPhone 4S users have been reporting since the launch.) But fear not, this is not the EVO with its temper-melting 30-minute battery.

The camera on the Galaxy Nexus is definitely worse than the iPhone 4S, both in megapixels (8 vs. 5), and in image quality. But the iPhone 4S is also a ridiculously good camera. The Galaxy Nexus is still a fine point-and-shoot replacement, in my opinion. The camera seems better than any other Android device I’ve used. One nit is that while there is a method to go right into the camera from the lock screen (just like iOS 5 has), it’s too slow if the camera isn’t previously running. You’ll hit the camera button and watch as the Android main screen loads and then the camera apps loads. This feels like more of a macro than a feature.

And let’s talk about Ice Cream Sandwich. The artist also known as Android 4.0 is very solid. There is no question that the software is much improved over previous iterations in terms of speed, but mainly usability. I really like things like the multi-task tray and some of the new widgets.

Unfortunately, the system still lacks much of the fine polish that iOS users enjoy. The majority of Android users will probably think such criticism is bullshit, but that has always been the case. I imagine it’s probably hard for a Mercedes owner to describe to a Honda owner how attention to detail makes their driving experience better when both machines get them from point A to point B. As a Honda owner myself, I’m not sure I would buy it — I’d have to experience it to understand it, I imagine. And most Android lovers are not going to spend enough time with iOS to fully appreciate the differences.

Still, if the Android team ever wants to convert (or at least convince) most iOS users, they still have quite a bit of work to do here. Then again, they probably don’t (or shouldn’t) care too much about converting iOS users over to Android. All the non-smartphone users out there remain the much bigger prize to go after (for both Google and Apple).

Other things that will sound like nits but drove me crazy with ICS included the constant focusing on text fields only to have to click again to get the keyboard to pop up. If I’m in a text field, I clearly want to type something. Why should I have to click again? This doesn’t always happen, but it happens a lot — particularly in third-party apps.

Another: why is there a separate app for Messaging and Google+ Messenger? Apple baked iMessage into their SMS app, why didn’t Google? If they’re worried about anti-competitive concerns, why would they bundle all the Google+ stuff into ICS to begin with? Similarly, why do Gmail and Email continue to be two separate apps? And why on Earth is the web browser not Chrome yet!?

The new People app social unification is nice — I love the big pictures. But my god Google needs help with their duplication/merging detection. One of my friends has four separate entries — one for his phone number, one for his Gmail/Google+, one for Twitter, and one for another email. Several others had three different entries. Most had at least two. Also, Google provides an option to link your Facebook account in Accounts & sync, but it does nothing. I’m sure this is due to the Google/Facebook fracas, but why include something in your OS that is completely broken?

Ice Cream Sandwich’s voice command functionality is a joke compared to Siri — but that may be changing soon, we’ll see.

In his write-up, Jason noted that iOS is still far behind Android when it comes to notifications, I have to disagree. I find Android’s notification tray to be far less useful than it is on iOS. For example, if I get three new emails, with Android, I just see that I have three new emails all grouped together. With iOS I can see at least some of the context. Same with Tweets. The size of the alerts in this tray also isn’t uniform in Android, so Facebook alerts seem more important with their huge logo.

I do like the ability to “clear all” in Android’s notification tray though. The iOS micro clear button remains a joke that badly needs to be fixed.

When it comes to web browsers, arguably the most important feature on any of these devices, there is no question that iOS still has a big edge here. I’ve seen arguments on both sides for why one is faster than the other — most recently, data today favors iOS — but just doing a simple use case test, mobile Safari kicks the ass of Google’s don’t-call-it-Chrome mobile web browser across the board. Some pages still refuse to render correctly on Android’s browser. And the ones that do cannot seem to get the simplest feature right: double-tap to zoom. You do it on Android and there’s a good chance you could end up looking at the middle of a random paragraph.

You’ll also still see a bit of lag in ICS when you do seemingly simple things like this. It’s still not as smooth as it should be. For the most part, ICS fixes many of Android’s performance issues, but there are plenty of times that you’ll still see stutters here and there.

And then there are the apps.

To be fair to Google, Ice Cream Sandwich is currently only on the Galaxy Nexus and it still hasn’t even officially launched in the U.S. But there’s a lot of work to do here. One app that I had on my Nexus S constantly crashes now on the Galaxy Nexus. And rather than quietly closing in the background, I get a nice big Windows-style pop-up that it has stopped running. Many other apps look fairly bad on the larger screen simply because they’re not optimized for it — again, something a wider release of ICS will hopefully fix.

The main problem I have with Android apps on the Galaxy Nexus/ICS remains the ones that are also available on iOS. When the apps exist on both platforms, it’s easy to compare them and the iOS version almost always wins — and often by a landslide. Take the latest version of Twitter, for example. It was just updated to run on both. On iOS it’s smooth, on ICS, there is noticeable stutter when scrolling. It’s much worse on Facebook Messenger and Facebook itself — no big deal, only the biggest app on both platforms.

The reason for the app differences between the two platforms remains a hot topic of debate. Again, all I know is what I see: app to app, iOS still easily beats Android in most cases. One counter-example, which I talked about on stage at LeWeb last week, is SoundTracking. I actually think their app is better on Android. But that has less to do with performance, and more to do with the fact that it can access hooks that iOS doesn’t offer, like background Spotify integration. Android developers should focus more on these benefits of Android and less on making their apps exact ports of their iOS ones. Something always seems to get lost in translation — often badly lost.

Now it just sounds like I’m focusing on the negative. It’s important to emphasize the fact that the Galaxy Nexus is without a doubt the best phone I’ve ever used that’s not an iPhone. And there is no question that it does certain things better than an iPhone — namely all of the Google apps and any third-party background/OS integration beyond Twitter, which is now baked into iOS 5. Google has also managed to just about match Apple in app quantity. This is all good — competition is good.

The next step that Google needs to take (or to help third party developers take) involves around app quality. Put simply: they need to create better tools for developers to use in order to take advantage of the strengths ICS offers. This won’t happen in 6 months, but it can happen if Google works at it.

After that, it’s the intangibles where iOS holds the huge advantage. And just like in sports, it’s not clear how well you can “teach” those. At some point, Google may simply have to acknowledge that iOS looks and feels better than Android because Apple’s entire fabric is woven with design, tight integration, and attention to detail. Google’s strengths are elsewhere; they should embrace that.

Google has done some very nice work here. Both the Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich are a new pinnacle of the Android platform. But in the end, it still comes down to something very simple: which device do I want to use day-to-day? Which phone do I reach for when I’m not doing a review? It’s still the iPhone. Without question.

Keep at it, Google.

What Will Happen If Verizon Fails To Launch The Galaxy Nexus Tomorrow?

Posted: 14 Dec 2011 10:47 AM PST

8-buttons

It seems as though Verizon and Google have really screwed the pooch when it comes to the Galaxy Nexus launch. As of this very moment, we’re on our eighth rumored release date: tomorrow, December 15. The first was all the way back on November 3. In fact, these delays and the vague availability information provided by Verizon has led some to create a site entirely dedicated to whether or not Verizon has released the Galaxy Nexus.

It’s ridiculous.

But will all these delays make a huge difference in the popularity of the device? After a chat with Forrester Research’s Charles Golvin, I’m comfortable saying probably not. But even with the blogosphere’s extensive coverage of the device, it probably won’t be a blow-out success, either.

Here’s why:

To start, the Nexus line has never made a huge splash upon launch. The Nexus One, released on January 5, 2010, only sold about 20,000 units in its first week of availability. For some perspective, the iPhone 3GS sold more than 1 million units in its first three days on the market after launching on June 19, 2009.

The Nexus S did better, though official sales numbers are hard to find (not really a great sign). Based on Android 2.3 Gingerbread market share statistics, some speculate that as of February 2, 2010 (about 6 weeks after launch), the Nexus S had sold around 500,000 units. On June 24, 2010, Apple released the iPhone 4 which sold 1.7 million units in its first weekend.

While half a million units sold in the first few weeks shouldn’t be considered a flop, the Nexus S wasn’t a runaway success by any means. And many of the users most excited about it, Nexus One owners, seemed disappointed by the new features in Gingerbread.

If we learn from history, and common sense, the Nexus line is for geeks, not a mainstream audience.

Let me put it this way. Since I work with phones every day, I often ask people what phone they own. About half the time they tell me their carrier: “Oh, I have a T-Mobile.” If I’m lucky, they know the brand. In fact, I’d venture to say that 98 percent of the people I come into contact with (who don’t own an iPhone or work in my industry) don’t know the name of their phone. Trying to talk about the OS version is a waste of time.

Which brings me to my next point: Most of the world doesn’t give a damn about Ice Cream Sandwich. To the blogosphere, current Nexus owners, and all-around gadget geeks, Ice Cream Sandwich is one of the most exciting things to happen since… well, Gingerbread. But the rest of the human race doesn’t care. In other words, the Galaxy Nexus will appeal to the same market that was excited about Android 2.3, but the excitement won’t extend beyond that in terms of pulling in new customers.

But there were some core features that might have made a dent in consumer enthusiasm. Even though NFC ubiquity is still months (if not years) away, Google Wallet is still a feature that in-store shoppers would at least want to learn more about. But now it looks like Google and Verizon are duking it out over whether or not Google Wallet functionality will even be included in the device.

Golvin chimed in on this matter, explaining that Google Wallet isn’t a deal-making feature. “Consumers don’t have trouble paying today. [Google] isn’t satisfying some unmet need of the consumer,” he said. “How often does it happen where you think what a pain in the butt it is that you have to pull out your wallet? Payment isn’t a problem for anyone today.”

Then, of course, there’s the issue of carrier support. Golvin explained that typically there is only one (sometimes two) devices that get a primary slot from operators to support their launch. According to Golvin, Verizon is betting heavily on the HTC Rezound. This is because, like I mentioned before, the Galaxy Nexus is a niche device. Phone geeks will learn about the phone they want from us, or other various tech sites, whereas the mainstream consumer will decide on a phone based on TV commercials and massive ad campaigns. Right now, the Galaxy Nexus is lacking in that department.

But it goes further than that, with regards to the carrier. Operators invest heavy marketing dollars into devices like, say the HTC Rezound, because they want differentiations that drive their own experience. Google products are not led by the carrier. “By definition, [Google phones] are intended to be the sine qua non of what the Android platform can do at that particular moment,” explains Golvin. In that way, Verizon (or any other carrier) doesn’t have reason to put a ton of money behind the Nexus launch.

“Anything that is more Google-centric than it is Verizon-centric in that device is somewhat problematic,” said Golvin.

And even if Verizon were 100 percent committed to the Galaxy Nexus launch, the whole thing has been a complete mess. We’ve gone through seven launch dates thus far, and I assume that tomorrow’s rumored launch won’t become a reality either. I put it to Golvin to see whether or not repeated delays on a phone dwindle consumer interest, bringing the Droid Bionic and the iPhone 4S in as examples.

The iPhone 4S was expected this summer, but didn’t make its way to shelves until October 14. Still, Apple managed to break records topping 1 million pre-orders in the first day. The Bionic, on the other hand, took nine months to make its way from the podium to shelves and certainly didn’t make the splash everyone originally expected. I asked Golvin whether or not pushing back the Galaxy Nexus (over and over again) would have the iPhone effect, or the Bionic effect.

According to Golvin the Nexus won’t do either. The Bionic was exciting to people because it was supposed to be one of the first LTE-capable handsets on the market. It got beat by the Thunderbolt, and subsequently launched as the first dual-core LTE handset on Verizon’s network. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to get the ball rolling. The Galaxy Nexus will still be the first phone with Ice Cream Sandwich, and thus, not run into the same trouble that plagued the Bionic.

“All these geeks and phone watchers out there who are eagerly anticipating this first Ice Cream Sandwich device will buy it,” said Golvin. “People who would’ve bought it six weeks ago will buy it. If it comes out in January and is still the first ICS device, those people will buy it.”

He went on to say that the Galaxy Nexus will “lose sales it might have picked up with late shoppers looking for Christmas gifts, but I don’t think it was going to be that big of a hit beyond that early geek crowd anyways.”

“It won’t be a competitor to a Samsung Galaxy S II or the iPhone.”



Pogoplug Launches New Hardware, Brings Unlimited Storage To Your PC

Posted: 14 Dec 2011 09:18 AM PST

Series4 Hero

Pogoplug is launching the fourth generation of its flagship product today, the Pogoplug Series 4. As with all Pogoplug hardware, the new device lets you attach your hard drives and plugs into your router in order to instantly give you your own personal cloud of online storage.

The service also comes with 5 GB of free online storage optimized for mobile users, and allows you to purchase additional cloud storage, if need be. However, all users of the Pogoplug device who host their own storage, can do so for free.

The pricing for the updated Pogoplug hardware remains the same as before: $99.99. It offers four different types of connections, including USB 3.0 (x2), USB 2.0 (x1), SATA/USM (x1) and SD Card (x1).

The hardware is designed to work with Pogoplug’s accompanying software suite, a freemium offering that allows you to stream your storage photos, music and movies to any PC or Mac via the web, or to your smartphone or tablet. The premium version ($29) includes the the ability to stream to any connected device, not just home computers. And for those not interested in buying any hardware, the software can function on its own to turn your computer into a software-based version of Pogoplug.

The company also offers a cheaper Pogoplug Mobile device for $79 which works with iOS and Android via mobile apps, offering mobile-specific features like automatic backup of mobile photos and videos, which, for Android users, offers something similar to Apple’s iCloud for their platform. The mobile product also works to convert your media into streamable bite-sized formats that are better for mobile viewing and sharing.

The bigger question with Pogoplug, and its now almost dizzying (and, yeah, I’m gonna say it: confusing) array of choices is why someone would choice this option over those from cloud storage and services companies including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Dropbox, Box.net and others?

While it’s true that those using the software only (no device) and those who want mobile-optimized content and backup, will have to pay for additional storage beyond the 5 GB, no-frills Pogoplug users get everything for free, save for the one-time purchase price involved with buying the hardware. And that is a bargain, even if Pogoplug’s cloud is not.

And Pogoplug is especially helpful for those of you who, like me, have about 5 old USB hard drives laying around the house, all with content you would like access to from anywhere, but no easy way to just get them online.

The new Pogoplug is available at www.pogoplug.com/expansion.

Microsoft And Nokia Team Up To Take Back The Low End

Posted: 14 Dec 2011 09:01 AM PST

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Say a prayer for Android. Nokia’s new Lumia 710 Windows Phone, a $49 smartphone aimed at the feature-phone set, is about to change the way carriers sell – and customers see – cellphones. Forget LTE, dual cores, and all that flummery. Microsoft and Nokia are essentially buying a few million people stuck in the 20th century a new cellphone and they’re doing it in a way only the world’s two finest proprietors of technology to the masses could.

On the surface, the Lumia 710 is redolent of the bargain basement. The amateurish (but rugged) protruding buttons and a rubberized back are a direct attack against the carbon-fiber power slabs that most carriers are flogging while the OS is all animation and pop, aimed at a market that’s used to constantly moving images associated with ad-clogged web pages and Xbox dashboards. It is, to quote Ren and Stimpy, a jolly candy phone, priced to move and ready for the anything but iPhone crowd who, whether by dint of economics or aesthetics, don’t go much for Nexii or RAZRii either.

If you’re thinking that I’m suggesting the Lumia 710 is in any way bad or too “mainstream,” think again. Nokia and Microsoft were – and, to an extent, still are – on the ropes. Convinced for too long that their vaunted N-series was still lounging in high Olympus while it was really playing-second fiddle. It took Elop and his “sell-out” to Microsoft – whose money is helping subsidize this handset – to remake the brand.

The 710 is what Nokia does best: solid, acceptably-specced hardware at a price that’s approaching free. I would equate these phones with the long-dead Wing and Shadow, two “feature-smartphones” Microsoft belatedly tried to foist on a public salivating for the iPhone and the Nokia 5310, a music phone that circulated for a few years in the wake of the app phone revolution. Those were phones aimed at the low end at a time when the low end was looking up.

These past few years have changed the way we think about phones and, although there are cheap Android and iOS phones to be had for under $100, Nokia is really aiming at parents who may be buying their kids a new cellphone (the Xbox Live app is a huge deal) and out-of-work folks who are looking for a real smartphone experience for not a lot of money. Microsoft and Nokia excel at this.

I won’t estimate sales in the millions for this model, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a slow and steady trickle of phones like the 710 in the next few years. If Microsoft knows anything it’s that low-end, commodity hardware is just fine to showcase their software and if Nokia knows anything it’s low-end, commodity hardware is a great base on which to build a business. Nokia didn’t get huge by selling the Nokia N810. They got rich selling Neo’s 7110.

That said I also feel that this is a real and credible threat to Android. A single OS provider the size of Microsoft sending out updates to an entire line, from low to high, is increasingly seeming more credible than newcomer Google pumping out Ice Cream Sandwiches and other updates to the older phones that they clearly consider dross. Microsoft, through the execrable Windows Mobile platform, learned how to code to the lowest common denominator.

Claim chowder or not, 2012 is the year of WinPho.



Nokia’s First U.S. Windows Phone Is The $50 Lumia 710 On T-Mobile

Posted: 14 Dec 2011 08:33 AM PST

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Nokia will be officially pulling back the curtains later on tonight, but the cat’s out of the bag: the company’s first U.S. Windows Phone is the Lumia 710, which will debut on T-Mobile with a $50 price tag on January 11.

Sure, it isn’t as svelte or as colorful as its brother the Lumia 800, but the Mango-powered 710 does share the same internals. The Lumia 710 sports a 1.4 GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage — nothing that sounds super-impressive, but we’ve seen before that Mango doesn’t need the latest and greatest hardware in order to run like butter.

The Lumia’s 3.7-inch ClearBack LCD display and the 5-megapixel rear-mounted camera aren’t too shabby either, and the customers can pick up the entire package in black or white. We’ve seen the 710 sport some funky-colored backplates in the past too, so I wouldn’t expect the chromatically choosy to suffer without some color for long.

With the 710, Nokia and T-Mobile have set their sights on first-time smartphone owners (a Nokia data sheet calls them “smartphone intenders”), and T-Mobile customers could do far worse for $50. Going after beginner smartphone users is a solid strategy for Nokia (and Microsoft by extension) — if they can get first-timers hooked on the simple, elegant functionality that Windows Phone is known for, they may be able to lock down those users for the long haul.

A Look At The Radical HP Rebranding That Never Was

Posted: 14 Dec 2011 07:32 AM PST

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HP is currently a company without a strong identity. This comes after a decade of products and CEOs that each fumbled in one way or another. The company needs to make a sharp statement and emerge from the doldrums that has seemingly trapped the iconic Palo Alto company. The purposed logo and rebranding (videos below) shown here would be a great first start.

The story goes that the designs shown here were drawn up by Moving Brands and released a few months back (prior to the ousting of Apotheker.) The abstract four line logo is a clever play on the classic HP logo using a 13-degree slant, which is already a common feature in many HP products. As The Verge notes, it’s a bold design and perhaps one that’s too radical for the slow-moving corporate machine that is HP. But it’s hard to look at that logo and not dream of HP rising from the ashes with those four lines proudly displayed on its standards waving over the consumer electronics battlefield.

HP’s current CEO, Meg Whitman, has the daunting task of steering HP. She’s the fifth leader in as many years with the task. So far during her time at HP’s helm the company’s stock has slowly regained lost value. One of her first major announcements was that HP’s personal systems group, the part of the company that makes PCs, would stay within HP rather than being spun off. She is in a sense reorganizing HP, an HP that needs rebranding as much as it needs to stop hawking printer ink that costs more than the printers themselves.

Moving Brands details their purposed rebranding here. Apparently the project began way back in 2008 and was just recently released to the public. Clearly the new logo and branding has not been implemented, and seeing how the design company released it themselves, HP will probably never use it. Companies tend to package rebranding with a major marketing campaign to maximize exposure. But HP needs to do something along these 13 degree lines. They might make capable computers but there is little excitement around the brand.

UnderConsideration astutely notes that “HP's logo has been around for so long that it's not really questionable anymore, it just is and it just exists.” Per Moving Brand’s charts, the slated HP letters first appeared in 1941. Over the years the two letters have seen little change, more often updates involved adding and remove a surrounding shape like a rectangle or circle. But the two letters, H-P, representing the company’s founders, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, have remained constant. And they should. However, HP is a stale, lifeless machine and needs a shot of energy. Whether HP will ever implement Moving Brands’ four line logo (they won’t), or instead uses something different, the logo and HP brand need to evolve to help springboard the company into a new era of exciting products — yeah, the logo is just the start, and HP actually needs to make exciting products as well but that’s a topic for another “HP Sucks” post.

Roku Keeps The Updates Rolling, Adds More Motion Games, MKV Support And Soon, An iPhone App

Posted: 14 Dec 2011 06:08 AM PST

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Roku is back with yet another update for the company’s tiny media streamers. This update adds a bunch of welcomed features to the Roku 2 and Roku LT including games and system enhancements.

Roku introduced games to its platform with its latest generation of streamers. But so far the only official game has been Angry Birds, which, you know, is also playable on your smartphone, browser, tablet, and probably some refrigerators. However, this update brings Downhill Bowling 2, Castle Warriors and Frisebee Forever and are all designed to work with the motion control Game Remote.

Update 4.2 also adds MKV playback from USB sources and improved WiFi performance. It also address the battery life of the Bluetooth Game Remote and intermittent audio drop-outs. Lastly, the new firmware paves the way for iOS and an Android remote with the former launching relatively soon.

The update is slated to roll out within the next 48 hours and notes in its official release that users can check for the update through the Software Update option in the Settings menu.

Cost Of U.S. Consumer Electronics Returns Estimated To Reach $16.7 Billion In 2011

Posted: 14 Dec 2011 05:56 AM PST

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While consumer electronics (CE) merchandise returns are often an overlooked scenario for consumers they are undoubtedly top of mind for manufacturers and retailers because of their billion dollar price tag. "Put another way, manufacturers spend about 5 percent to 6 percent of revenues to manage all aspects of a customer return. For retailers, returns represent approximately 2 percent to 3 percent of sales," according to a new study put out by Accenture.

What's more shocking is that, typically, only 5% of those returns are due to defective products. The other 95% of returns are either because of product frustration or buyer's remorse. In the end, the items make their way back to stores in good shape but at a cost to retailers and manufacturers, the study continues.

The report, based on several Accenture surveys and a few older 3rd party studies, does offer several "prevention-based" solutions to alleviate the situation for both retailers and manufacturers alike.

And while one of the report's major recommendations is for increasing metrics (which has a tiny element of "sales-y-ness" to it—after all, metrics and logistics are Accenture's gig) I have to admit, it makes sense within the context of the report. Being empowered with statistics on return histories would be powerful information to have as you plot supply chain course changes. The other detailed recommendations of encouraging and empowering consumer research, creating more accurate advertisements, and developing more involved customer service routines also make sense to this blogger.

As we speed toward the holidays and the gadget Mecca that is CES, gadgets are on all of our minds for sure. Honestly, how can it be avoided when it seems like you can't get through a single NFL game on television without being exposed to 15 mobile phone commercials that all talk about benefits, but not about of the reality of the device. It's no wonder that many consumers are confused about what they are getting.

The paper is definitely not some Aristotelian epic but it is a quick, decent read and it brought awareness to a concept I hadn't thought about before…nestled all snug in my insulated consumer experience. The bottom line of this report is that, in their lust to sell, CE retailers and manufacturers would be wise to do so with an eye toward preventing the return. That's good advice.