Matt is currently working as a writer for TechCrunch.
Matt Burns is a family man first and attempts to be a writer second. Born and raised in the heart of the automotive world, only cars eclipse his love of gadgets. He previously wrote for Engadget and EngadgetHD before moving into the party house that is TechCrunch. He learned the retail side of electronics during a six year stint at Circuit City while studying economics at the University of Michigan.
The Wall Street Journal made waves yesterday. Citing unnamed sources, the Journal reported Apple is ordering larger touchscreens for the next iPhone. Now, citing its own unnamed sources, Reuters somewhat confirmed the reported. Prepare yourself, iPhone diehards. All signs point to a larger iPhone.
The thought of a larger iPhone clearly scares people. Read the comments on my post yesterday, “It’s Time For A Larger iPhone.” They say 3.5-inches is the best size. You don’t have to move your thumb to navigate the whole screen, they say. A phone with a 3.5-inch screen fits in my hipster jeans!
But really, the main underlying thread seems to be some people are afraid that, just perhaps, Apple will adopt something from Android like the trend of a larger screen. Scary, I know. → Read More
The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that Apple is currently ordering larger screens for the next iPhone. With the usual nonsense, the WSJ cited people familiar with the matter and stated these screens measure at least 4-inches diagonally. Production is set to begin next month, they say.
The Journal better be right, though. A 3.5-inch screen is just too small now. At this point to say anything to the contrary is pure fanboi nonsense. The standard argument that consumers don’t want a large phone is tired and overused. Besides, it’s effectively proven wrong by the 20 million Galaxy S II phones sold by Samsung last year. It’s time for a larger iPhone. → Read More
The iPhone might be coming to the world’s largest mobile carrier, China Mobile. The world comes from Bloomberg quoting China Mobile’s chairman. The report also details that the phone might not hit the carrier’s 655 million subscribers yet this year. But the two sides are talking. That’s a start. Apple needs China Mobile and China Mobile needs Apple. → Read More
Lenovo rolled out its latest notebook today. It is, in a word, spectacular. The Chinese company proves time and time again that Apple isn’t the only company capable of producing class-leading designs. Lenovo’s 14-inch X1 Carbon shown here by Engadget is everything an anti-MacBook Air should be. If there was ever a true MacBook Air competitor, or, if you will, a notebook that lives up to the ultra part of the Ultrabook name, it’s the new Lenovo X1 Carbon. → Read More
Taking the term home theater in a box to a new level, Ikea made waves a few weeks back when it announced plans to start selling a self-branded HDTV and home theater system with a starting price under $1000. However, the company didn’t out all the tantalizing details at the time. Gigaom managed to get a bit more info on the system including the type of apps included on the rather impressive HDTV. → Read More
Watch out for falling prices! Verizon Wireless just cut the price of the RAZR Maxx to an attractive $199. That puts it on par with the iPhone 4S and Galaxy Nexus, making the 32GB iPhone 4S and BlackBerry Bold 9930 as Verizon’s only phones north of $199. Interestingly enough, even though the standard-strength RAZR was on sale for $99 the last two weeks, Verizon Wireless actually raised the price back to its MSRP of $199. However, that might be changing rather quickly according to our sources. → Read More
If the rumors pan out, Apple’s next MacBook Pro line will set the notebook world ablaze with a thinner chassis, USB 3.0 and a 15-inch high-resolution, so-called retina display. Of course it would pack the latest Intel silicon with rumors and logic pointing to an Ivy Bridge chipset. Sounding a different from the long-rumored 15-inch MacBook Air, this model, if it really exists, seems appropriately equipped with impressive hardware to retain the Pro designation and lead Apple’s charge against the onslaught of so-called Ultrabooks. → Read More
In an interview published by China Daily today, Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn, confirms the massive manufacturing company is making preparations for an Apple television set called iTV. Gou also states that neither development nor manufacturing has begun. Apparently, per China Daily at least, the television set will have an aluminum construction, Siri voice controls and FaceTime video calling.
This is the most solid report to date of the long-fabled Apple HDTV. The product has been rumored for the last several years. So far both Steve Jobs and now Tim Cook have called the Apple TV, the company’s set-top box, a hobby. But it seems the company is almost ready to turn its avocation into an occupation. → Read More
This Nokia Lumia 850 is not real. It’s just a concept. But I would be proud to carry that phone in my pocket if it was real.
The concept comes by way of The Nokia Blog, a fan site that found the concept made by Luxembourgish designer, BrianMFB. The 850, that once again is just a mockup, shows a slimmed down Lumia 800 that still regains a lot of the original character. The backside has tappered edges and flush mounted side buttons. The screen is a modest 3.8-inch as a 950 would likely have a larger screen. → Read More
A color Kindle might be on the way. Industry watchdog publication, Digitimes, says Amazon will launch one in the second half of this year. The report goes on to state that the new models will forgo the traditional infrared touchpanels used in the current model for multitouch capacitive panels. Digitimes expects Amazon to adapt E Ink’s upcoming color EPD panels in their ereaders so don’t expect LCD displays.
This move, if true, would put the Kindle in a strange spot between a full-scale tablet and a tradition b/w ereader. Amazon has so far been very successful in marketing the Kindle’s grayscale screen against full color tablets like the iPad. The Kindle Fire showed that there is a demand for color ereaders as well, though. A color eink display might be the start of a larger content push from Amazon. → Read More
Once upon a time a company pioneered simple photo sharing. By allowing consumers to easily take and share pictures, photography became a part of everyday life.
Now, several generations removed, Polaroid is essentially an empty shell of the once iconic brand it used to be. The Instagram Socialmatic Camera is just a concept currently, but it attempts to revive the Polaroid movement with a little help from every hipster’s favorite mobile app, Instagram. → Read More
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. *Deep breath* No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.No. No. No. No. No. No.
Update: They pulled the video, which is probably for the best for humanity and Nokia alike. → Read More
The Vacuum Dock + WhaleTail by Octa, not to be confused with the whale tail made popular by Midwest girls, attempts to make holding a tablet or notebook a bit easier. The $50 device suctions onto a flat surface and then provides a flexible tail, a whale tail if you will, for additional handheld support and table top mounting. The thought is that these devices are so sleek and smooth that users need a bit of help holding them. Fine, okay. → Read More
In the riveting story of consumer electronics, the lowly point-and-shoot camera is about to be cut. Its days are numbered and cheap cameras are becoming increasingly less relevant as smartphones steal the limelight. The point-and-shoot camera will soon be just a supporting character.
Samsung sees the writing on the wall, too. Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Han Myoung-sup, head of the company’s digital imaging division, indicated that the massive Korean empire will shift away from “low-end compact cameras” in an effort to concentrate on mirrorless cameras. This bet, which is the correct move by the way, shows the company’s foresight as it’s very similar to the one Samsung made several years ago when it decided to shift away from its own smartphone platforms and instead concentrate on Android. This will pay off big for Sammy. → Read More
Sometimes you just need to clip some files to a document. In that thought Art. Lebedev Studios, makers of their infamous OLED keyboard first shown in 2006, created the Bulavkas flash drive, which can literally clip 4GB of data onto a document thanks to its safety pin design. Clever, eh. → Read More
Three months after launching the PS Vita is still a hard sale. There simply isn’t a killer title yet. Uncharted: Golden Abyss is boring, the racing games fall flat, and the best game so far, Ninja Gaiden, is tepid at best. Worst yet, several of the Vita’s relatively strong titles are simply ports of smartphone games. In the age of $5 iPad games, spending $50 on a port is downright ludicrous.
Sackboy and LittleBigPlanet might be the ace the the PS Vita so desperately need. And it’s about to hit beta. → Read More
Flipboard for Android has arrived! The app made a limited debut late last week with the Samsung Galaxy S III, but now it’s here for everyone — but not officially. You see, the app, is supposed to be exclusive to the Samsung Galaxy S III for a set amount of time. However, the 2.32mb APK hit XDA-Dev this morning, which should install on any Android device. The cat, as they say, is officially out of the proverbial bag. Here’s how to install it and start flipping. → Read More
RIM is keeping the PlayBook party going. While speaking at a BlackBerry World breakfast with RIM CEO Thorsten Heins stated the company plans to launch an LTE-enabled PlayBook by the end of the year. However, the CEO didn’t detail the projected release date, price or available wireless carrier.
This is a smart move for RIM. Rather than spending the time and resources producing another tablet, RIM is instead concentrating efforts on making sure upcoming software works on existing hardware. During a recent trip Rim’s Waterloo campus, the company made it clear to TechCrunch that it is very much committed to bringing BlackBerry 10 to the PlayBook. → Read More
The new iPad is nearly two months old and it’s still not available for immediate shipping from Apple. However, the wait time just improved to less than a week. Apple.com now lists all the new iPad variations with just a 3-5 day wait time. Happy days.
“[We're] selling as fast as we can make them,” said Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said on last week’s earnings call. The iPad is clearly a hit and up until now, buyers had to wait one or two weeks when purchasing from Apple’s online store. Unfortunately buyers in overseas markets will still have to wait more than a week. → Read More
The TechCrunch/Gadget Weekly is back with several new faces. Jordan and Chris join John and I for our first TC/G webcast in several months. In this week’s episode we discuss our recent trip to RIM’s Waterloo’s HQ and also the perils of kids and interacting with seamless technology. → Read More
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