CrunchGear |  |
- Apple and Facebook Should Be Terrified Of Google-Tinted Glasses
- HTC And Sprint Officially Unveil The New EVO 4G LTE
- India’s Low-Cost Tablet To Get Test Market In Philadelphia Schools?
- Google’s ‘Project Glass’ Augmented Reality Glasses Are Real And In Testing
- Fly Or Die: Nokia Lumia 900
| Apple and Facebook Should Be Terrified Of Google-Tinted Glasses Posted: 04 Apr 2012 06:38 PM PDT  Google’s augmented reality eyewear is coming to disrupt your face and your business model. If you don’t even have to pull your phone out to take a photo, get directions, or message with friends, why would you need to buy the latest iPhone or spend so much time on Facebook? It could be a year before Google eyewear reaches stores, but that’s why these and other tech companies need to strategize now. If they wait to see if the device is a hit, the world could be seeing through Google-tinted glasses by the time they adapt. Apple and Facebook’s bet might be to team up… If you haven’t heard, Google today announced it is beginning public tests of augmented reality glasses with the codename Project Glass. A mouthwatering mock-up video of what the device might eventually be capable of shows someone using voice commands to send messages, take photos, share to Google+, see the locations of friends, view maps, get directions, set calendar reminders, and more. Cramming all the functionality into a sleek set of glasses is going to take time and effort, but the Google(x) skunklabs is on it. There’s a dozen ways the product could flop, most obviously if the glasses are awkward and unstylish, but also if they’re too heavy, expensive, fragile, or the world is just not quite ready. Let’s forget those for a second. Say Google figures it out and the retail version of Project Glass becomes wildly popular. How will this disrupt Apple and Facebook, and what should they do to defend themselves? Here’s what I see as their best courses of action: Apple Should CompeteProject Glass takes a ton of the things you use your iPhone and iPod for and puts them into your glasses. The glasses will likely run a version of Android and since they’re voice controlled, they could turn into Google’s competitor to Siri. People might buy Google glasses rather than snapping up the latest Apple device. But Apple is the world’s greatest hardware company. Hopefully somewhere deep inside its headquarters there are some scientists figuring out how to turn an iPhone into glasses, not just a wristwatch. Apple should seek to capitalize on Google’s lack of hardware experience, and spend some of its cash reserves to lock up critical component manufacturers. Even if Project Glass ends up an ugly mess, Apple could still make eyeglass computing beautiful. This technology sure seems like the future, so Apple needs to be ready to pounce. Facebook Should Team Up With AppleFacebook is no hardware company and isn’t big enough to become one. Not having its own mobile OS or device is hurting Facebook, and eyeglass computing could turn into round 2. The video already showed Google+ as the preferred sharing method. Unlike an Android phone where you could just open the Facebook app, Project Glass won’t necessarily allow third-party apps, at least at first, and could make them harder to access than Google+ which will be baked in. Though Facebook and Apple have been on strained terms so far, and Facebook hasn’t even gotten directly integrated into iOS like Twitter, the two companies could bond over the common threat of Project Glass. Apple needs somewhere to share the content you’d create with its glasses, or why create it in the first place? Facebook needs to make sure Apple lets it get deeply embedded, with or without Twitter alongside it. (Though, Facebook, should probably start with today’s iOS). Postscript: If Apple or Facebook consider eyeglass computing as marketable to mainstream in the next few years, today should give them a jolt. It’s early though, so they’ll only need to be scared if they don’t plan. But here’s the kicker…Despite its lack of hardware experience, Google is the best positioned company to make, or at least provide the software for eyeglass computers. It has Android, Google+, Maps, Gmail, Gcal, Latitude, and more. Glass might go belly up, but if not it could breathe life into some of these sluggish services. That’s why it’s ridiculous when people call Project Glass a diversion or waste of resources. Seems to me like Google’s vision is 20/20.
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| HTC And Sprint Officially Unveil The New EVO 4G LTE Posted: 04 Apr 2012 02:57 PM PDT  It’s hardly a surprise anymore (as is usually the case) but here it is anyway – Sprint CEO Dan Hesse and HTC President Jason Mackenzie have just taken the stage at their collaboration event in New York, and just officially unveiled the new EVO 4G LTE. First things first — there’s still no official release date yet, though the device will launch sometime in Q2 and pre-orders are set to begin on May 7. The Evo does have a price tag though, and Sprint customers can expect to shell out $199 for it whenever it sees the lit of day. For all my moaning about design (more on that later), my mother always taught me that it’s what’s on the inside that counts, and that’s where the EVO shines. Nestled behind its gigantic 4.7-inch 720p Super LCD 2 display is the same dual-core, 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 chipset that powers its One X cousin, along with 1GB of RAM to help keep things snappy. As expected, the EVO 4G LTE also runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, with HTC's thoughtfully-redesigned Sense 4.0 UI on top of it. Some people (myself included) tend to bristle when custom overlays are thrown into the mix, but as I noted when I got to play with the One X, it's much less clunky than the Sense of days past. All in all, it’s the same general formula as the lovely HTC One X, just with most of the visual appeal sucked out of the hardware. Much to my chagrin, the redesign first spotted in that leaked press shot a few days ago was indeed legit, and it extends far beyond the device’s ho-hum front. The back appears to be clad in both glossy and matte black finishes, with a strip of red metal dividing the two (it's also where the wee little kickstand is). Right smack in the middle of the glossy black zone is the The EVO 4G LTE's 8-megapixel camera pod is mounted, which (as on the One X) will be paired with HTC’s new camera software for some solid shots. Thankfully, the EVO 4G LTE does stand out in one place where its more handsome brethren don't — it includes a discreet camera button along the lower right side, while the others relegate the shutter button to the touchscreen. It may seem like a minor quibble, but it strikes as a rather thoughtful addition considering HTC’s renewed focus on mobile photography. Now, seeing a device's specs laid out in front of you is nice and all, but if you want to see the thing in action, stay tuned — I'll soon be jumping into the fray to score some hands-on photos and video.
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| India’s Low-Cost Tablet To Get Test Market In Philadelphia Schools? Posted: 04 Apr 2012 01:00 PM PDT  The saga of India’s “$35 tablet” is long and slightly disappointing. While the idea of low-cost, standard hardware to be distributed in needful communities is a great one, the fact is that the device itself is more or less junk. Poorly built, with a small battery, outdated OS, and low-quality touchscreen, the Aakash has not had a good reception among people who care about such things. But it’s only the beginning of the road for this type of device, and DataWind, the company that made the Aakash, has already announced the follow-up — and now they’re considering expanding the market to the US. A pilot study may be in the works for under-served schools in Philadelphia. This could be the start of something big, or it could fizzle out. A dozen or so of these per 30-kid class makes for a lot of opportunities, but troubles as well. The hardware is cheap, but probably more useful at large than graphing calculators, which cost twice as much. And as one can’t expect every kid to have their own PC or laptop just yet, something like an Aakash tablet could be a nice compromise. It can show video, administer quizzes, mirror class resources, and so on. A tool any teacher would love to have… if it isn’t more trouble than it’s worth. And there are many practical considerations. Charging the devices, keeping them clean, secure, and updated, preventing inappropriate usage, creating class-administration software… the list goes on and on. But that is, of course, part of what pilot programs are meant to explore. Right now, it’s all still in the planning stages; Philadelphia-based Wilco Electronics is hoping to set up a procurement deal for schools there and will be meeting with DataWind and presumably Philadelphia officials over the next month.
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| Google’s ‘Project Glass’ Augmented Reality Glasses Are Real And In Testing Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:23 AM PDT  After weeks of speculation and rumors, Google has officially pulled back the curtain on what they have come to call Project Glass — a pair of augmented reality glasses that seek to provide users real-time information right in front of their eyes. “We think technology should work for you — to be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don't,” wrote Babak Parviz, Steve Lee, and Sebastian Thrun, three Google employees who are part of the Google X skunkworks. “We're sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input.” Something tells me that they won’t be hurting for feedback. To call these things glasses may be a bit of a stretch — early rumors noted that glasses bore a striking resemblance to a pair of Oakley Thumps, but the demo images on Project Glass’s Google+ page (one of which can be seen above) don’t look a thing like them. Rather, they appear to be constructed of a solid metal band that runs across the brow line, with a small heads-up display mounted on the right side. The New York Times‘ Nick Bilton, who broke the Project Glass story today, went on to say that the prototype model seen in the images is just one of the potential designs currently in testing. Among others, one of the potential designs for Project Glass is (thankfully) meant to be attached to a person’s existing pair of glasses. These demo designs are far more stylish than the original reports made it out to be, but really — who cares about that right now? A brief demo video (below) highlights some of the functionality that the Project Glass specs aspire to provide: the protagonist of the video goes about his daily life aided by the glasses, which displays a circle-based UI that provides real time information like and weather and transit when needed. Further applications include the ability to send messages using your voice, instructing the glasses to take a picture, and displaying the location of nearby friends. This is terribly, terribly cool stuff, but I’d caution users to take the images and video with a grain of salt for now — not because I don’t think Google will eventually make good on them, but because they represent just one direction that the project could go in. According to Wired, Project Glass is still more of a concept than an actual product, and won’t see an official release for a very long time. It’s also worth noting that as downright magical as these things could be, there’s still very little insight into how they would actually work. Bilton’s early write-up notes that the glasses will be capable of establishing a 3G or 4G wireless connection, but how exactly Google will shoehorn those components (just to name a few) into a comfortable headset is still up the air. [via The New York Times] Developing…
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| Posted: 04 Apr 2012 07:19 AM PDT  The Nokia Lumia 900 is set to be the question mark of the week. The embargo lifted last night, so everyone and their brother is posting a review, proudly giving yeas and nays on the first hard-core Nokia/Microsoft mobile offering. But what do John and I think? Well, the answer is two-fold, but the big guy and I always find common ground somewhere. With the Lumia 900, it’s Windows Phone itself. We both agree that the operating system is solid, clean, and engaging. The phone, however, could be a bigger step up from the Lumia 800 as far as John’s concerned. He’s also like, “Big Phones? So Over.” But contrary to my employer’s opinion, I think the Lumia 900 stands a good chance of snatching up some market share for Windows Phone and for Nokia. The specs aren’t quite on par with some of the big guns out there, but the hardware feels premium even at a $100 price point, and you can’t help but reach out and pick up a Windows Phone. Those live tiles are tempting. Note: I mentioned a 4.5-inch display on the Lumia, when it’s actually a 4.3-inch display. My apologies.
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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 4/05/2012 05:10:00 AM
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