Author

Sean Chin

Technology

Samsung Unveil Galaxy Gear

Today Samsung unveiled a smart watch called the Galaxy Gear

There are a couple of significant downsides that temper my enthusiasm for the new Gear. First and foremost is the speed and intuitiveness of the user interface — or rather, the lack thereof. There’s a tangible lag to anything you do with the Gear, while the swipe gestures are hard to figure out and do different things depending on where you are in the menus.

My thoughts are that Samsung was trying to quickly put a product on the shelf in an attempt to prevent a highly anticipated “iWatch” by Apple later this month. I think that the Galaxy Gear is ugly, seems laggy and too clunky. Personally, I think it does too much of what a smart phone does. Tim Cook has stated previously that if they were to make a new product such as a watch or wrist band, it would have to compliment the smartphone but have features that make it standout.

Update: Sept. 11, 2013

Check out Jon Rettinger’s rant on the Galaxy Gear:

2013/09/04
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Technology

Microsoft Buys Nokia

In a major yet unsurprising move, Microsoft has acquired Nokia’s device and services devision for around $7.2 Billion.

Building on the partnership with Nokia announced in February 2011 and the increasing success of Nokia’s Lumia smartphones, Microsoft aims to accelerate the growth of its share and profit in mobile devices through faster innovation, increased synergies, and unified branding and marketing. For Nokia, this transaction is expected to be significantly accretive to earnings, strengthen its financial position, and provide a solid basis for future investment in its continuing businesses.

Microsoft is a now a vertical smart phone and tablet maker. Google and Microsoft are beginning to see the benefits of being the software and hardware makers for their devices like Apple. The likes of Dell, Sony, HP, Asus should be somewhat concerned now. Suppose Microsoft decides to only make Windows Phone 8 devices with Nokia and not them? Overall, this is a good move by Microsoft right now.

Another loser here is BlackBerry. At one point I was theorizing that Microsoft would use them for their secure enterprise services and perhaps hardware such as the Bold. In essence now, this move to acquire Nokia proves that Apple was right.

Oh yeah, free KitKats with new Android phones….

2013/09/03
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Random Stuff

September 1, 2013

Google “defragging” Android

Google’s strategy is clear. Play Services has system-level powers, but it’s updatable. It’s part of the Google apps package, so it’s not open source. OEMs are not allowed to modify it, making it completely under Google’s control. Play Services basically acts as a shim between the normal apps and the installed Android OS. Right now Play Services handles the Google Maps API, Google Account syncing, remote wipe, push messages, the Play Games back end, and many other duties.

Only about 6% of users have the latest version of Android while 93% of users have iOS on their Apple mobile devices. It looks like Google is backing away from it’s dedication of “open-source” operating systems. Didn’t work out too well for you eh?

Windows 9 and 10

Details on Windows 10 were also provided, with claims that the future operating system will be a “cloud OS,” meaning that all of the processing and computing would be done on Microsoft’s servers, and be streamed to your computer, completely eliminating the need for a powerful rig and only requiring the basic bits to run peripherals and such.

If this is true…keep digging Microsoft. This will be an all you can eat buffet for the NSA.

Ben Johnson says he’s better than Usain Bolt

“Well, he’s an all-around sprinter, 100, 200 metres,” Johnson said of Bolt during the interview that aired Friday. “But, I think Ben Johnson is the best sprinter, 100 metres.”

Is that with or without Cheetah? Ben also refers to himself in third-person numerous times in this interview. What a joke.

2013/09/02
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Technology

August 28, 2013

MBAs say values matter more than money

Eighty-five percent of respondents said learning about social and environmental business is a priority for them in their graduate school program, and 91 percent said that social and environmental issues are essential or very important to a business’s long-term success.

I am glad to see that so many new MBAs desire more than purely cold hard cash. Environmental, health care and social improvement are fields that these energetic and ambitious individuals need to contribute to. Richard Branson famously said “Have fun, do good, money [and success] will come.”

Marissa Mayer has “many enemies”

Mayer is an executive outsider not only as a woman but also as a techie. Her background is not in business or marketing, but in the actual guts of product development and management. This makes her far more of an outsider to business culture than women like Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman. Creative, technically oriented outsiders are founders, not corporate ladder-climbers: David Packard, Walt Disney, Ted Turner, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, and even Bill Gates.

Honestly, I think that Mayer is doing a fantastic job. She has been CEO of Yahoo! for around a year now and while receiving a lot of criticism, she has had many successes. She invested in Tumblr and overhauled Flickr. And just recently, Yahoo! has passed the almighty Google in US visitors. Furthermore, Apple has been favouring Yahoo in services such as default search and weather in iOS.

New Zealand bans software patents

“The patents system doesn’t work for software because it is almost impossible for genuine technology companies to create new software without breaching some of the hundreds of thousands of software patents that exist, often for very obvious work,”

This is a dramatic and bold ruling that will probably hit the rest of the world within 10 years. Or at least some rethinking of the current patent system in the US.

Nintendo 2DS

The Nintendo 2DS is a new handheld in the DS family due out on October 12 for $130, in red and blue. As its name suggests, the 2DS plays all 3DS and DS games, but in 2D.

Personally, I think it looks terrible. A 2DS will not help Nintendo with their problems. Hint #1: make a new “GameBoy” and “GameCube”. Hint #2: make games for iOS. I’d pay good money to play Pokemon and Super Mario Bros. on my iPhone or iPad!

2013/08/28
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