Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He has written for the TechCrunch network since 2007.
Some posts he’d like you to read:
The Dangers of Externalizing Knowledge | Generation i | Surveillant Society | Choose Two | Frame Wars | The User’s Manifesto | Our Great Sin
His personal website is coldewey.cc.
Early in 2011, upstream suppliers of displays and components let a few of Amazon’s secrets into the open, and these early, incomplete indications were actually on whole quite correct. Now we’re seeing more of the same kind of thing predicting the coming year’s announcements from Amazon, and the predictions seem just as reasonable.
The news is what you might expect: a diversification of the Kindle Fire lineup, with a focus on display quality — and presumably thrift, considering the series’ low price. → Read More
A federal judge has ruled that Asus’ Transformer Prime tablet does not infringe on Hasbro’s Transformers trademark, in spite of the suit actually making sense. Just “Transformer”, or just “Prime”, might have flown right by Hasbro’s lawyers without a second look — those are words, after all — but putting the two together seemed like tempting fate. As expected, Hasbro took Asus to task in December.
But the judge has initially sided with Asus, saying that people were unlikely to confuse the tablet with Hasbro properties, noting they had also waited too long to file the suit.
As a little kicker on the story, court filings have revealed that the device has produced pre-order numbers that are, shall we say, less than legendary. → Read More
A recent post by a defecting Googler (at his new and previous home, Microsoft) suggests that a fundamental reordering of Google’s priorities has made it far less than the company it once was. A sudden comprehension of the danger posed by Facebook’s ever-expanding platform caused the company to enter a sort of berserker state, focusing solely on reinventing social while neglecting or amputating anything that didn’t fit into its new mission. Or so the tale goes.
There have been times recently when I’ve felt the need to deflect a few of the slings and arrows trained on Google. This time, however, they are well-deserved. Google’s big bet was based on bad instincts, jealousy, and hubris — not the curiosity, experimentation, and agility that have characterized them theretofore.
Could Google+ ever have been anything but a failure? → Read More
Google’s Chromebooks haven’t exactly made a splash, but apparently not everyone has been scared off. Sony seems to think there’s gold in them thar laptops, and they’re making their own. For now it’s known as the VCC111 (probably shorthand for “Vaio Chromebook Computer, series one, 11-inch display”), according to documents and pictures from FCC testing.
The understated look continues with these Vaio Chromebooks, even as far as what appears to be a matte black unbranded shell. A white version is also shown in the test setup photos. But the most interesting thing is the processor, which is listed simply as T25, and may in fact be Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chip by that name. An ARM laptop? Hey, if Microsoft can do it, why not Google and Sony? → Read More
All the talk these days is of the new iPad and its magical screen. Apple isn’t the only one who can do that, you know. In fact, most display makers are looking forward to post-HD resolutions as one of the big selling points of the next generation of displays. Other tablets are already approaching iPad levels of pixel density and it would be foolish of the likes of Google and Microsoft not to be planning for it.
Fortunately, Microsoft is well aware of the trend and has plans in place for dealing with pixel-dense displays (or “Retina” to the vulgar). → Read More
Back in August, Google announced that it was teaming up with nonprofit Foundation for a Sustainable Amazon to map a small section of the massive Rio Negro river (tributary of the Amazon) near Manaus. As expected, it took quite a while, but the results are now available for you to play with.
The area they covered is a sort of inlet west of Manaus and the coastline northwards from there. The idea is apparently just to provide a way for people to see what it’s like there without hopping on a plane and chartering a boat. The project resulted in 50,000 still pictures, which have been stitched into 50km of shore, forest, and village for your Street Viewing pleasure. → Read More
Jailbreaking, a term that has come to encompass several practices but generally refers to a user obtaining root access on their device, is controversial in a strange way. Companies like Apple and Nintendo hate it, and most users don’t care about it. Yet it’s constantly in the news because it is, in fact, a philosophical conflict.
RIM has posted an official response to the habit of jailbreaking BlackBerry devices, particularly PlayBooks, though the post doesn’t mention the product by name. Probably because it would be hard to argue against users creating functionality for the device that should have existed there in the first place. → Read More
Initial teardowns of the new iPad whetted many a chip nerd’s appetite when they revealed that the A5X chip inside was truly gigantic. At nearly 13x13mm, it is significantly larger than the A5, which was itself already kind of a hefty bugger.
Now some clear images (from Chipworks) have been taken of the die itself (some rather rough ones with initial “floorplans” showed up earlier over the weekend) and it’s becoming more and more clear that the A5X is a stopgap measure: a last-generation product that’s overcompensating, if you will, with a jumbo-sized GPU. → Read More
Cyberlocker services are under attack from every direction: not only are their services looking less and less necessary as more personal file-sharing services (like Dropbox) become popular, but the services they do offer are viewed by the media industry as solely used for evil. In the wake of the Megaupload takedown, many cyberlocker sites are voluntarily shutting down, for fear of being sued or raided.
Hotfile is one of the sites in question, and they haven’t escaped the wrath of the MPAA. There are a couple lawsuits between the two pending, and most recently the MPAA tried to get the site shut down summarily. But Google has taken a sudden interest in the case and issued an amicus brief with some choice words for the MPAA’s tactics. → Read More
A slightly cryptic announcement by the Pirate Bay yesterday has the Internet speculating whether the site might have accidentally posted their April Fools joke early. “We’re going to experiment with sending out some small drones that will float some kilometers up in the air.”
You can be skeptical, it’s all right. One does not simply launch a fleet of autonomous server drones. But the fundamental idea of physically inaccessible data is compelling even if this first, perhaps jesting, plan disappears into thin air. → Read More
It shouldn’t come as any surprise when someone says that this year’s display, or phone, or what have you, is the best ever. After all, improving the category is what companies strive to do, right? So Apple’s claim (on Samsung’s behalf, really) that the new iPad’s display is the “best display ever on a mobile device” isn’t hyperbolic, just confident. DisplayMate’s battery of image quality tests, fortunately, agree with that assessment.
The new display is sharper than any screen its size and has better color representation than most home displays and HDTVs. It’s not perfect, of course, and the iPad is more than just a display (one has to take into account many things when reviewing or purchasing one), but it’s nice to know that the claims of superiority are, in this part of the iPad at least, justified. → Read More
I just got the new iPad in the mail, and naturally the first thing I did was load up a few of my old apps and throw some content on there. Oh god! Oh no!
One of my favorite apps, GoodReader, which opens a great variety of files and which I use to consume the enormous PDFs from Google Books, is a patchwork of pixels. My go-to Mahjong game, aliased to hell! Muji notebook – my pencil leaves a chunky trail!
Developers, I just want to tell you how critical it is that you upgrade your app to look at least passable on the new displays. The full-on big update can come later. But Apple has thrown your standard-def apps under the bus, and you need to drag yourselves out before your capricious iPad users lose faith. → Read More
At over a million digital listens, “Mr. Daisey Goes To The Apple Factory” is This American Life’s most popular episode. That’s no small feat for one of the world’s most well-known radio shows. When it aired, it set off yet another firestorm of controversy regarding the ethics of Apple (and other large tech companies) using cheap Chinese labor through major manufacturers like Foxconn. Mr Daisey, who has been touring for years with a monologue about his visit to the factories there and the moral implications thereof, provided details to This American Life to put together what was really a powerful and attention-grabbing piece.
Unfortunately, in the words of This American Life host and producer Ira Glass, “We’ve learned that Mike Daisey’s story about Apple in China – which we broadcast in January – contained significant fabrications. We’re retracting the story because we can’t vouch for its truth.”
This week’s show will take a full hour to detail the errors and fabrications in Daisey’s report. → Read More
Apptio, which offers enterprise SaaS for managing IT and operations to large companies looking to stay abreast of the latest advances, has raised yet more money from a familiar roster of investors. This $50 million round, their fourth, was led by “certain investment strategies” at T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., augmented by continuing investment from Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, Madrona Venture Group and Shasta Ventures.
This brings their total funding raised to $91 million since their Series A in 2007 with Greylock and Madrona. → Read More
Intel is betting big on the future of human interfaces with a $21 million (143 million kronor) investment in Tobii, a Swedish company that has been working for years on eye-tracking laptops and other devices. A 10% stake, it implies a valuation of around $200 million for the 12-year-old company. In 2007 Tobii raised $14M, then in 2009 another $26.8M, and the $21M from Intel Capital continues that trend of steady R&D funding.
The news, announced by co-founder and VP John Elvesjö and reported by Computer Sweden, comes on the heels of Tobii’s newest eye-tracking device, which was announced a week ago at CeBit. The timing probably isn’t a coincidence. → Read More
The Kinect’s powerful depth- and position-sensing sensors have been put to many a noble purpose: basic artificial vision, translating sign language, controlling humanoid robots, and real-time 3D mapping of the real world. But at last it can help you pick out a pair of jeans.
You may not be aware of the alarming fact that up to 40% of clothing purchased is returned because of poor fit. Something must be done! Thoughtfully, Bloomingdale’s contracted with British body-mapping firm (it’s a thing) Bodymetrics to provide an in-store service using Kinects that analyzes and categorizes your body, the better to find you clothes that fit. At long last, our global nightmare of loose jeans is over. → Read More
Children of the 80s will fondly remember the Neo Geo, probably as the unattainable, super-expensive console that existed only in arcades and wishful dreams. For more than two decades it has remained so, and in addition to the arcade machines littering the world still, the console has engendered a fervent fanbase of sprite-loving nostalgia hounds.
SNK discontinued the hardware years ago, but the internet is a wonderful place where even the sparsest population of enthusiasts can gather together and create a meaningful market. In this case, Neo Geo fans appear to still be numerous enough that both a new handheld version of the console and a real-life new game on cartridge are being released. → Read More
Veteran tablet maker Archos has released a teaser video of a new tablet they’re going to be releasing (we presume) later this year. It’s called the G10 XS (the latest in a series of G tablets) and it has a few differentiating features that may call your name.
As others have noted, the only way for Android tablets to set themselves apart from one another is in design and specs. Archos has found one more that seems to have been mostly neglected: material. Ubergizmo reports that the shell of the G10 series will be made of “paper-thin” steel. Perhaps that’s how they managed to get the thing down to an impressive 7.6mm thick. → Read More
Microsoft has just posted an overview of the Windows 8 version of Internet Explorer 10, which shows off the features you’d expect from a modern touch-based browser: navigation gestures, full-screen content, and the expected Metro-style multitasking.
The one feature that caught my eye, however, was the “share charm.” Charms are, as you must surely know, the little contextual items that appear when you swipe in a menu from the right side of the screen in Windows 8. Search and settings are there, naturally, and function as expected (the Start one is inexplicably still called Start). The Share one, however, is more powerful and forward-thinking than I was expecting. → Read More
In 1768, the Enlightenment was in full swing, and the printing press was being employed liberally as a method of disseminating knowledge among the (then still relatively few) literate and learned. Few general-purpose reference works existed (the earliest came only a few years before), however, with much essential knowledge split between many smaller, more specific volumes. On Optics, or On the Use of Leeches, or Travels Among the Savages of the New World, that sort of thing. That year, the Encyclopaedia Britannica printed its first edition: three volumes comprising a compressed but useful near-totality of human knowledge.
It is difficult for us to conceive of, having grown up with reference works, and more difficult still for a new generation raised with the Internet and its promise of instant access to virtually any work or knowledge. So it is likewise strange to attempt to put in context the fact that 2010′s Encyclopaedia Britannica will be the last one printed. Some will stroke their chins, some will wail and tear their hair, some will shout for joy. But most, perhaps most tellingly, won’t care – indeed won’t ever notice. → Read More
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