Mac OS X Unwired: A Guide for Home, Office, and the Road
by Tom Negrino and Dori Smith
Today's wireless news from around the Web:
Google Glass Year In Review
(source: MobileCrunch)
It’s been a little over a year since Google started teasing something it called “Project Glass.” The futuristic, wearable computer that would change the way that you interact with the world was nothing more than a series of rumors for months before it was “formally introduced” in April 2012. Not known for hardware and not having a current bonafide physical device that was popular among consumers, many opined that this was Google’s way of begging for attention. It might have been, and it definitely worked. In thirteen months, Glass has gone from Star Trek fantasy to reality. It’s been quite the whirlwind of activity. The “wearable computing” age is upon us, and it’s been widely reported that Apple was working on a watch, therefore many assumed that Google was working on a similar device to keep up. This was clearly not the case and Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin took special interest in the Glass project and has been leading the charge going back to when prototype weighed around eight pounds in August 2011. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane, as a lot has happened over the past year in Glassland. It’s real(ish) The video from Google itself got sent people’s imaginations into overdrive. It was called “One day…” and gave us a glimpse into the life of a daily user of what Google had up its sleeve. We now know that the “One day…” reference had more to do with what the product could become, not what it would be in its first iteration: The user experience in this video is aspirational, at best, as the current iteration of Glass is more of a compliment and utility to your day, rather than the augmented reality “enhancer” as this video demonstrates. Still, the elements that make Glass handy are all there, taking calls, getting directions and taking pictures from a new point of view. Immediately after the video, and public admonishment that the project was real, the press wondered out loud if Apple should compete and that other companies should stand up and take notice. We also now know that the rumored final name for the device, Google Eye, isn’t likely. Good thing, because it sounds way creepier than Glass. We’ll get to more “creepiness” later. It was clear that Glass was getting a lot of attention, both positive and negative, from the start. Even Jon Stewart did a parody
Switched On: Hinging on success
(source: Engagdget Mobile)
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
The announcement of the Acer Aspire R7 was the best example of the company's assertion that it was moving from computers designed with touch to computers designed for touch. But if having a fancy, even unprecedented, hinge is what defines a touch-optimized notebook, Acer is a bit late to the party.
Last October, Switched On discussed the role that laptop-tablet hybrids -- namely convertibles and detachables -- would play in the differentiation of Windows 8 devices. Both types have seen their share of support. Detachables have included HP's Envy x2, ASUS' Transformer-inspired VivoTab and Microsoft's Surface. (Dell's XPS 10 is available only with Windows RT.)
Android's Design Principles And The Calculus Of The Human Pleasure Response
(source: MobileCrunch)
Android UX and interaction design leads Helena Roeber and Rachel Garb gave a talk at Google I/O this year about the Android Design Principles (ADP) they helped create and introduced back in 2012 with the launch of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The ADP foll three simple principles, essentially "enchat, simplify and amaze," but there's much more to those principles that that relatively slippery and non-scientific language might lead you to believe.
How Hike, India's Fast Growing Mobile Messaging App, Is Banking On SMS & Local Diversity To Beat The Big Boys
(source: MobileCrunch)
It’s still practically a newborn but Indian mobile messaging app Hike is already channelling almost a billion messages a month between its 5m registered users. Those numbers sound insignificant when you stack them up against the big beasts of the messaging space – WhatsApp claims 200m+ monthly active users, and 600bn messages – but Hike’s growth is impressive when you consider it's 4 months old.
Grubless? Online Takeout Giants GrubHub And Seamless In Talks To Merge
(source: MobileCrunch)
Today, thanks to the maturation of the web, digital tech, and smartphones now in seemingly every pocket, startups are finding it easier than ever before to build scalable solutions to finally address the many inefficiencies in our food manufacturing, production and distribution systems.
As interest in food tech balloons, one area in particular appears to already be at the tipping point: Online and mobile food delivery. Over the last few days, we've hearing about a merger between two of the largest companies in the space. Rumor has it that "arch rivals" GrubHub and Seamless are in talks which could see them join forces as part of a merger. While our sources tell us that the talks are serious, the terms of the merger are not yet clear and, of course, any potential deal could fall through.
GrubSeam? Online Takeout Giants GrubHub And Seamless In Talks To Merge
(source: MobileCrunch)Today, thanks to the maturation of the web, digital tech, and smartphones now in seemingly every pocket, startups are finding it easier than ever before to build scalable solutions to finally address the many inefficiencies in our food manufacturing, production and distribution systems.
As interest in food tech balloons, one area in particular appears to already be at the tipping point: Online and mobile food delivery. Over the last few days, we've hearing about a merger between two of the largest companies in the space. Rumor has it that "arch rivals" GrubHub and Seamless are in talks which could see them join forces as part of a merger. While our sources tell us that the talks are serious, the terms of the merger are not yet clear and, of course, any potential deal could fall through.
HTC Pledges To Pump Up ‘One' Production While Samsung's New Flagship Ships Like Crazy
(source: MobileCrunch)
Oh HTC. You've produced one of the finest Android smartphones ever (seriously, just look at all these reviews), but you've faced more than your share of challenges when it came to actually pumping your top-tier One smartphone. As it happens, that may all soon change.
FocusTaiwan reported earlier today that HTC is preparing to pump out more of its wonderful Ones in short order -- Jack Tong, the company's North Asia president, noted that this month's production capacity for the flagship device is twice that of April, and that surge will only continue into June.
Google Now Introduces Mark Up Tools For Select Partners To Flag Flights, Hotel Stays And Reservations In Emails
(source: MobileCrunch)
Google made a relatively quiet announcement today regarding how it's pushing the developer ecosystem forward around Google Now, its intelligent personal assistant for Android devices. The company has begun extending mark up tools for emails from select partners, which help highlight flight schedules, hotel bookings and various types of reservations, to make sure that Gmail can spot that information and use it to auto-generate helpful reminders in Google Now.
Gmail And The Stock Android Email App Combined Have Over 100M Mobile Users
(source: MobileCrunch)
Google's Vikram Aggarwal, a software engineer working on the Android platform, revealed today that Gmail and Email, the native Android client that still ships on Android devices as well, now has a combined user base of over 100 million across the Android install base. It's an interesting stat, because although Gmail and Email only represent two of a multitude of email clients available on Android, it's likely that those two represent the email clients of choice for a wide swath of Android users.
Apple Boots Bang With Friends From The App Store
(source: MobileCrunch)
Uh oh.
Less than ten days after Bang With Friends made its mobile debut on the iOS App Store, Apple has seemingly changed its mind and given it the boot.
This Week On The TechCrunch Gadgets Podcast: All Google I/O, All The Time
(source: MobileCrunch)
Google's major developer conference, Google I/O, went down this week. Was it a bit of a letdown? Probably. Did cool stuff still come out of the event? Eh? Maybe? We discuss these topics and more this week on the TC Gadgets podcast. In fact, we even had Frederic Lardinois join as a guest, along with John Biggs, Matt Burns, Jordan Crook (that's me!), Romain Dillet, and Darrell Etherington as Bob McKenzie.
Amidst Tumblr Acquisition Rumors, Yahoo To Hold Product Event With Marissa Mayer On Monday
(source: MobileCrunch)
On Monday, it seems that we may get a better sense of what Yahoo plans to build in the wake of its acquisition spree, as CNBC is reporting that the company will be holding a "product-related" news event on Monday in New York City. Marissa Mayer will reportedly be speaking at the press conference, but that's all we know about the contents of the event at this point.
White Google Nexus 4 hands-on photos and videos
(source: MobileBurn)
Many expressed disappointment that Google failed to unveil a new Nexus smartphone at Google I/O, but a white Nexus 4 has appeared at the show. Here's a collection of photos and one video showcasing the new white Nexus.
Read the full story here.
LG Optimus G Pro Review (AT&T) - Big, blue, and blazingly fast
(source: MobileBurn)
Smartphones routinely have 5-inch screens and larger bodies, and the LG Optimus G Pro is a grand device that makes quite an impression. Is this yet another trailing device, or has LG managed to make this new phone for AT&T standout for more than its size?
Read the full story here.
Social Trip Planning App Tripshare Converts Travel Inspiration To Bookings
(source: MobileCrunch)
Tripshare, an iPad application for travel planning, is joining a crowded space. But its CEO knows a little something about the industry – Bob Dana was the former employee No. 1 and first CFO of Virgin America. He once wrote the business plan and feasibility study for Sir Richard Branson in 2003. And now he’s doing a travel startup. Dana tells us the inspiration for Tripshare was based on a personal experience he had years ago. As CFO, he spent 10 hours on a plane each week flying back and forth from New York to California. In 2006, Dana was trying to convince his family to come out to California for a vacation, so he put together a proposed itinerary to help sell the idea. “I ended up preparing this 10-page Word document that included text and photos I cut and pasted from various websites. It was intended to be persuasive in nature, and collaborative, too,” he explains. “I thought afterwards, that collaborative travel planning was something that was rather difficult to do.” But not only was it difficult to plan, it was also hard to move from the point of inspiration and discovery to actually booking the trip. This idea later formed the basis for Tripshare, which he founded two years ago. The app was originally built in conjunction with then co-founder and CTO Ken Goto, a former director of engineering at Apple. Goto has since moved on but his ex-Apple development team, including acting CTO Eric Kapke, now continues the work. The app itself has actually been live in the iTunes App Store as unpublicized beta since August 2012. However, though that app was functionally similar, it drew some criticisms from early users because of its user interface. Today’s version is an overhaul and much improved. Still, despite having done no publicity or marketing, Tripshare has been downloaded nearly 20,000 times while still a work in progress. In other words, today’s release is technically a version 2.0, but for all intents and purposes, this is the big debut. Designed for those planning vacations or other complex trips with multiple destinations or activities, Tripshare allows you to browse, collect and share information with others before booking. Using the iPad’s big screen, you can flip through photos of destinations and lodgings, create itineraries and discover flights, hotels, restaurants, activities and more. Today, the app allows you to explore more than 20,000 cities worldwide, plus 500,000+ lodging
Optimus G Pro Review (AT&T) - Big, blue, and blazingly fast
(source: MobileBurn) Smartphones routinely have 5-inch screens and larger bodies, and the LG Optimus G Pro is a grand device that makes quite an impression. Is this yet another trailing device, or has LG managed to make this new phone for AT&T standout for more than its size?
Read the full story here.
Aruba Buys Indoor Mapping Company Meridian
(source: Daily Wireless)
Portland indoor mapping startup Meridian has been sold to Aruba Networks for an undisclosed sum, reports the Oregonian today. Meridian helps people find their way within large buildings, such as malls, stadiums or airports, and enables marketing directed at a phone’s precise location. Aruba Networks is a wireless LAN vendor selling access points, mobility controllers, [...]
u-blox Announces Collaboration with Intel on Dedicated HSPA Module
(source: Wireless DevNet)
Swiss-based u-blox, a leading provider of wireless and positioning semiconductors, software and solutions, announced that the company is collaborating with Intel Corporation to bring a small, cost-effective 3G-only HSPA module to the market
Licensed Mobile Radio Infrastructure and System Integration Market Worth $2.6 Billion
(source: Wireless DevNet)
The global market for LMR infrastructure equipment, installation and system integration services amounted to $2.6 billion, according “Licensed Mobile Radio Infrastructure and System Integration” from IMS Research
First-Ever Guide Brings Together Mobile Experts on How to Make, Monetize and Market Mobile Apps
(source: Wireless DevNet)
Peggy Anne Salz and Jennifer Shambroom, top-producing marketing executive, have joined to produce The Everything Guide To Mobile Apps: A practical guide to affordable mobile app development for your business