CrunchGear |  |
- Survey: iOS 6 Leads To Decrease In Device Satisfaction Among iPhone Users
- Managing Diabetes With Your iPhone: Glooko Now Supports 17 Different Glucose Meters
- Hands-On With B&N’s 7″ Nook HD, 9″ Nook HD+: The Fire HD Better Watch Its Back
- Sony Invests $642 Million In Olympus, Becomes Largest Shareholder
- Google Maps Goes Diving, Provides “Seaview” Of Great Barrier Reef, Hawaii and Philippines
- Swiss Researchers Build A Flying Robot That Can Right Itself When It Crashes
- The Sweet, Sweet Cruelty Of Apple’s New Lightning Connector For iPhone 5
- NYPD Launches ‘Anti-Apple Picking Campaign’ To Protect iPhone Owners From Thefts
- The Ostrich Pillow: Because Who Doesn’t Love A Good Nap?
- Apple’s Schiller On #ScratchGate: Aluminum Scratching Is Normal
- The Twelve South HiRise Looks Like A Mac Pro Mini, Is Actually An iMac Stand And Storage Locker
- IHS: iPhone 5 Costs Between $207 and $238 To Make, Depending On Storage
- Barnes & Noble Announces Nook Video Apps, Launching This Fall
- Smart Money For Smartphone-Controlled Smart Homes: TechStars Alum Mobiplug Gets $2.7M Led By Foundry Group
| Survey: iOS 6 Leads To Decrease In Device Satisfaction Among iPhone Users Posted: 26 Sep 2012 04:55 AM PDT  Apple’s iOS 6 doesn’t appear to be doing the company any favors when it comes to user satisfaction, according to a new poll conducted by mobile customer research firm On Device. The survey of just under 16,000 iPhone owners in the U.S. found that compared to iOS 5, those with iOS 6 were slightly less satisfied with their devices. The drop is small, but still noteworthy because On Device says this is the first time it’s seeing a drop in satisfaction. “We have always seen an increase in device satisfaction as consumer upgrade their mobile operating system from one version to another,” On Device CEO Alistair Hill explained in an emailed statement, adding that that’s also traditionally been the case among Android OS versions. The company notes that especially compared to the jump between iOS 4 and iOS 5, which shows strong improvements, the drop from iOS 5 to iOS 6 seems especially unusual. Consumers have not responded well to the replacement of Google Maps with Apple’s own mobile maps offering, which seems to be the primary source of a lot of frustration. That’s likely the problem that’s led to much of the dissatisfaction seen in the On Device survey, since aside from some issues with how the App Store now displays search results, I’ve seen few other complaints. It’s also worth noting that despite a slight decrease in satisfaction vs. iOS 5, generally satisfaction is still very high overall, and Apple still seems to have a significant lead on Android devices, according to a recent study by J.D. Power. In other words, while iOS 6 may have some disappointing features, judging by these results it looks unlikely to have a material effect on iOS device sales going forward.
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| Managing Diabetes With Your iPhone: Glooko Now Supports 17 Different Glucose Meters Posted: 25 Sep 2012 10:22 PM PDT  According to the Center for Disease Control, 25.8 million Americans (or 8.3 percent of the population) have diabetes, while an estimated 79 million people (aged 20 and older) have prediabetes — making it one of the most pervasive diseases in the U.S. Startups like Rock Health grad Omada Health and Glooko are addressing diabetes head-on, from prevention and intervention to making the lives of those who live with the disease better — through technology. Glooko launched in late 2011 to bring those with diabetes a better way to collect and view the information they need to control their blood glucose readings, allowing them to download readings from their meter to their smartphone, for example. Essentially, then, Glooko is a digital logbook for those who regularly check their blood sugar levels. While you’ll find dozens of such logbooks in the App Store, most of them require the owner to manually enter their blood sugar data. Glooko is differentiating itself from the pack by attempting to become agnostic to the type of glucose meters people use (of which there are many), allowing a wider set of people to connect their meters to their smartphones. That means that users don’t have to purchase and learn how to use a whole new measurement device. Today marks an important step forward for the startup in its move toward being device agnostic: Glooko announced that it is releasing a new version of its “Glooko Logbook” app for iOS devices that supports six additional blood glucose meters, including those from Bayer, Walmart and ARKRAY. This is especially relevant, as Walmart announced its new “ReliOn” meters back in July with the promise that it would save its customers $60 million annually. Supporting Walmart’s brand, Glooko co-founder Sundeep Madra says, goes along with its philosophy of innovating in conjunction with what people are already using. Succeeding in the health care space can mean having to go against what the tech-savvy startup mentality would do — if it’s too complicated and too new, too fast, it can be tough to succeed. But Walmart reaches a massive set of the population, and by supporting its meter, Glooko is opening itself up to a big audience. But more importantly, with these new additions, Glooko now supports 17 different blood glucose meters, so now users can just connect their $40 Glooko cable to one of those meters and an iOS device and download all their readings into a Logbook with a few clicks. The app also gives users the ability to take notes about carbs, insulin, and other wellness factors, and lets them share their logbook summary with their doctors via email or fax. Plus, Glooko is one of the few mobile apps that meets all FDA compliance — a tough measuring stick for many App Store players — which gives it a leg up in the reliability and trustworthiness department. Diabetes is one of the fastest-growing diseases, so it’s good to see the startup making progress in helping 25 million Americans to manage their health. And while this news may seem somewhat incremental, it’s also a sign that the startup is getting closer to meter agnosticism, a critical part of bringing that better health management to all of those 25 million. Glooko raised $3.5 million in series A funding earlier this year from The Social+Capital Partnership, Bill Campbell, Vint Cerf, Judy Estrin and Andy Hertzfeld, Venky Harinarayan, Russell Hirsch and Xtreme Labs.
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| Hands-On With B&N’s 7″ Nook HD, 9″ Nook HD+: The Fire HD Better Watch Its Back Posted: 25 Sep 2012 10:00 PM PDT  B&N is making some big strides in the land of digital, and though these new tablets aren’t the most gorgeous slates I’ve ever seen, they do have what it takes to be contenders against the Fire HD, if reading is your first priority with a tablet. Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest seller of physical books, is yet again trailing in the footsteps of Amazon with High-Def iterations of their tablet, the Nook. In case you missed it, Amazon just recently launched the Fire HD, in both 7-inch and 8.9-inch flavors. Yes, this announcement is very familiar, but that’s not to say it doesn’t have value. So let’s get started. DisplayThe first thing you’ll notice about the new Nook tablets is their displays. Both employ the same technology that’s made Nook displays great for the past two years, eliminating the air gap between the touch surface and the LCD display. But to take it a step further, B&N has bumped up the resolution to be on par with a Retina display. The 7-inch Nook HD, which has undergone a bit of a facelift, has a 1440×900 resolution display, totaling 243 pixels per inch at a 3:2 aspect ratio. The laminated display offers 80 degree viewing angles, which is true even in bright outdoor light thanks to the 400 nits of brightness. The 9-inch Nook HD+, which is meant to compete more with the 8.9-inch Fire HD than the iPad, has a 1920×1200 resolution display, offering up 256 pixels per inch at a 16:10 aspect ratio. In both cases, this is about as crisp as I’ve ever seen a magazine, a page of a book, or a catalog. We matched it up against the new Fire HD in both video and text tests, and in both cases the Nook HD was noticeably brighter than the Fire HD. Design/HardwareAs I mentioned before, the 7-inch Nook HD looks quite a bit different than the original iteration, while its 9-inch counterpart actually shares almost all the same design language as the original Nook (instead of a triangular hole in the bottom corner, there’s a circular hole). The Nook HD has a bit more of a raised bezel than the previous model, which B&N refers to as a thumb rest. However, the total width of the device is still noticeably thinner (10mm) than the Fire HD, making it easier to hold in the hand. It weighs just 315g, and almost feels cheap because of how light it is, though that probably isn’t aided much by the plasticky, glossy finish on the front side of the tablet. On the other hand, the 7-inch tablet is much thicker than the Fire HD. The tablet is powered by a 1.3GHz dual-core OMAP 4470 processor, though the battery has been kept the same size from the earlier generation model. Still, B&N promises 10.5 hours of reading and 9 hours of video playback in 720p. That sounds like a fib, right? I thought so, too, but the company says they’ve retooled their software to be far more efficient, making up for all the processing power needed by that dense resolution and upgraded processor. It comes in 8GB and 16GB configurations. The Nook HD is available in “Snow” and “Smoke,” otherwise known as “white” and “gray”. The 9-inch Nook HD+ looks much like the original Nook tablet, which I’ve already said. It has the same dark grey bezels, loop-holed corner, and soft touch back panel. I feel that B&N may have a bit more trouble selling this one. True, it’s about 20 percent lighter than the iPad, at 515g, and it has plenty of internal storage and whatnot, but it’s slightly boring. There are still no cameras (though there probably shouldn’t be) and, like little brother, it feels almost too light to be a solid, well-built device. At the same time, the display is quite beautiful, and reading books to the kids at night or paging through a magazine would certainly be quite pleasant on this tablet. The same dual-core OMAP 4470 processor is clocked up for this tablet, running at 1.5GHz. It comes in the original slate color (just like the first Nook), in 16GB and 32GB models, though both the Nook HD and Nook HD+ support an SD card up to 64GB. Oh, and the operating system and UI account for about 3GB of storage, which makes that expandable memory a must. For both tablets, Barnes & Noble is selling an adapter that offers HDMI out, letting you push your video content to the big screen. As expected, they both support Bluetooth and have WiFi connectivity, as well. SoftwareB&N didn’t have the software finalized during our briefing, so it’s not quite fair for me to make hard and fast judgements on performance. I did, however, get to peek some cool new features that may be enticing. For one, the new Nooks now have personal profiles, which is similar to the Fire HD’s parental controls. Parents can keep content divided among members of the family, and give older kids the ability to buy content or surf the web while younger ones can simply read their books, watch appropriate video content, or play their games. The email program now supports Exchange, allowing you to view documents and PowerPoint presentations, and the company has also added “Nook Channels.” This is essentially content recommendations on steroids. The Nook takes into account your reading habits, purchasing decisions, and how you got to those decisions, to offer you various “channels” you might like to browse through. There’s also a new tab in the upper right corner called “Nook Today.” This brings you the weather, a single recommendation for your day (whether it’s a book, movie, or magazine), and an easy read. By that I mean, the Nook will scrape a popular article from the day to make it readable in three minutes or so, letting you have a nice escape during your lunch break or subway trip without having to delve into the next chapter of your book. As we reported yesterday, B&N has introduced Nook Video, which is a cloud service that streams digital video content to your device. You can purchase and rent video in both SD and HD, which, for the 9-inch model, is 1080p. The new Nooks are also bringing with them support for Catalogs — over 100 vendors are creating digital catalogs for Nook users — which have interactive hotspots that let you read up on a certain chair in a Pottery Barn catalog or a particular sweater in a J.Crew catalog. And with that, the Scrapbook feature only makes sense. Scrapbooking allows users to “rip” out a page, using a two-finger swipe downwards, to save that particular page to various Scrapbooks. You can save your favorite pictures, articles, and catalog pages to Scrapbooks of your choosing to save for later, and each keeps the same level of interactivity as it did to begin with. Price And AvailabilityBoth the Nook HD and Nook HD+ are available for pre-order today in both the U.S. and the U.K., with shipping to begin in late October. Barnes & Noble wouldn’t be any more forthcoming than that on shipping, but it seems like everything’s on track. Here’s your pricing:
ConclusionWithout being able to test the battery life and final-build performance myself, it’s hard to recommend these tablets fully. But based on what I saw — the display, the new features, and the sheer comfort in the hand — it’s hard to push you fine readers away from these new offerings. Especially at these price points. My only concern is the B&N ecosystem, which is far from that of Amazon or Apple. But if you like to read, the Nook HD or HD+ may be just what you’re looking for.
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| Sony Invests $642 Million In Olympus, Becomes Largest Shareholder Posted: 25 Sep 2012 07:34 PM PDT  Sony is expected to approve a plan to invest around $642 million (50 billion yen) in Olympus. As the Japanese manufacturer of cameras, optics and reprography products is currently facing a trial for having hidden investment losses for the past 20 years, it has been looking for a potential investor for months. By injecting that capital investment, Sony will become the largest shareholder. After rumors of a Panasonic investment in June, Reuters confirmed from three different sources that Sony and Olympus are ready to announce an investment that would represent 10 percent of the capital. Olympus reported a net loss of $630 million (49 billion yen) for the last fiscal year, mainly due to wrong financial decisions and the repercussions of the past scandalous affair. Today, the company and three former high-ranking executives pleaded guilty. Over a couple of decades, around $1.7 billion of losses were faked. Olympus announced in June that it would cut 2,700 jobs and scrap 40 percent of its factories in order to reduce costs. Last quarter, the company reported a 60 percent drop in operating profit. With that investment, Sony will become the largest shareholder, and the two companies will create a new business unit focused on medical equipment. As a brand-new market for Sony, it is a way to diversify its revenue. Yet, last quarter, despite $19.2 billion in sales, Sony’s operating profit was down 77 percent to only $79 million. Standard & Poor’s downgraded Sony, as well, which could make investment more difficult in the future. As Vic Gundotra said in another situation, “two turkeys do not make an eagle.” When it comes to Japanese investments, they are often hard to understand for a foreigner. Two companies following a downward trend won’t find an easy solution by partnering. It remains to be seen if they can now focus on producing innovative new products.
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| Google Maps Goes Diving, Provides “Seaview” Of Great Barrier Reef, Hawaii and Philippines Posted: 25 Sep 2012 04:52 PM PDT  Thanks to a partnership with The Catlin Seaview Survey, Google Maps now displays Street View-ish images of the Great Barrier Reef and popular underwater spots around Hawaii and the Philippines. Clear your calendar. Forward your emails. It’s time for an undersea adventure. As Google explained in a blog post today you can now use Google Maps to swim with a turtle, follow a manta ray or lose yourself watching the sun set over a reef. You can go diving in Maui’s Molokini crater or join snorkelers in Oahu’s Hanauma Bay. And of course all this is possible without swim lessons or sunscreen thanks to the magic of Google Maps. The video below shows how the amazing imagery was captured. Using a special one-off camera called the SVII, divers for The Catlin Seaview Survey swam at 4 kilometers an hour to capture the stunning footage. Right now the imagery is very limited. Outside of the links above, it’s rather difficult to find an area to go swimming. Seaview spots are marked with an orange circle that’s only revealed when the Street View icon is dragged onto the map. Even then, these spots only show up when the map is zoomed in nearly all the way. It seems Google announced this service a bit prematurely. Google pulled the announcement post shortly after it went live but later reposted everything. Several of the outbound links — to maps.google.com/ocean and The Catlin Seaview Survey — did not resolve at the time of this article’s posting. But the data is still in the maps right now. You can still leave your cubical behind and explore ancient boulder coral at Apo Island within a Philippines marine reserve. Who needs a vacation when you have Google Maps.
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| Swiss Researchers Build A Flying Robot That Can Right Itself When It Crashes Posted: 25 Sep 2012 01:39 PM PDT  Just as man-hacks can repair their trajectories as they whiz towards Gordon Freeman’s head, these little robots from the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems can now pick themselves back up when they crash. This little feature solves a problem that has long been the bane of flying robotics hobbyists everywhere as they watched their AR Drones and other bots fling themselves to pieces against walls and plant life. Designer Adam Klaptocz said that he took his designs from nature and the prototypes he built can shoot out little legs that helps the robot right itself and take off again when it suffers from a hit. These robots could also fly in the dark because they are able to withstand a few wrong moves. The robot, called the AirBurr, has a low center of gravity and a set of powerful propellers than can send the robot soaring again. I especially love the last part of the video where the thing falls into a box and gets itself out like a spider that mated with a radioactive eggbeater.
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| The Sweet, Sweet Cruelty Of Apple’s New Lightning Connector For iPhone 5 Posted: 25 Sep 2012 12:13 PM PDT  Apple’s new iPhone 5 comes with a completely new connector, a first since the introduction of the 30-pin model alongside the 3rd generation iPod (though that version received updates including video capabilities along the way). The new Lightning connector is 80% smaller than the 30-pin version, and it has a much better name than “30-pin dock connector.” But in many other regards, it’s a bit of a mixed bag for consumers. And yet, after a few days of frequent use, I love it. Here’s why. First, actually, let’s talk about what’s not so great about Lightning. There’s the proprietary nature of the connector, which mostly means that it’s not based on a universally adopted standard like Micro-USB. Micro-USB, many argue, would make things much easier; the cables are already everywhere, since accessory makers and other smartphone vendors use them frequently in their products. Replacements, both at home and in stores, would then be incredibly easy to drum up. Another problem with Apple’s version of proprietary in the case of Lightning is that there are indications this version is much more locked down than previous versions, thanks to the inclusion of a so-called “authentication chip” identified by Double Helix Cables (via AppleInsider). According to Kyle Wiens of iFixit, who I spoke with earlier today, that means users should wait and get cables only from Apple itself or from properly licensed manufacturing partners – those knock-offs on eBay or elsewhere on the web are definitely a risk. It doesn’t help that Apple’s own cables are in short supply (2-3 week lead time on Apple’s site), and expected to stay that way for a while at least due to the complicated manufacturing process involved in their creation. That’s causing some problems for iPhone 5 owners already, and is bound to lead to power deficiency issues. I’ve already ordered a couple of backups, but it could be a month before I see them. In the meantime, look for tweets from me similar to this one: Wiens says that users can expect Apple and third-party vendors to catch up, though he believes the Lightning connector isn’t built for dock integration in the same way as the aptly-named dock connector was, and in fact that’s likely why Apple didn’t release a dock of its own. Manufacturers aren’t likely to release the kind of one-size-fits-all docking products users have enjoyed up until now; instead, generation-specific devices aimed at the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5 alone become much more likely. Despite the problems listed above, the Lightning connector is a great addition to Apple’s mobile devices. Mostly that’s because it can be inserted whatever way one wants, a trick achieved (as AppleInsider explained in detail this morning) via dynamic assignment of pin function. After years of using cables that are very specific about which way they’re plugged in, spending the past four days using one that couldn’t care less has been nothing short of amazing. You might think I’m exaggerating, but think about it this way: take the most menial, mind-numbing repetitive task you do during the day, something that’s simple enough to accomplish on a one-time basis but that has to be done about 25 times, and just get rid of it. Forget it altogether. Doesn’t that feel better? Now multiply that feeling, since it’s making its way to iPods next, and will inevitably come to the iPad, too. iPhone 5 users should brace for a change, if they haven’t already. Getting over a technology we’ve been dependent on for nearly 10 years as Apple users won’t be easy (and could be costly in environmental terms), but Lightning actually takes a fundamental, basic part of using and living with a mobile device and improves on it, something that can’t be said for Micro-USB or any other combined data/power connection standard, and that’s worth some temporary discomfort.
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| NYPD Launches ‘Anti-Apple Picking Campaign’ To Protect iPhone Owners From Thefts Posted: 25 Sep 2012 11:39 AM PDT  As the iPhone 5 went on sale last Friday, the impressive number of stolen Apple products in New York City should continue to grow. So far this year, the NYPD statistics state that 11,447 devices were reported as stolen to the police department — an increase of 40 percent year over year, representing 3,280 additional thefts. It has launched an initiative called the “Anti-Apple Picking Campaign” in order to turn the tide. Even more impressive, the recent increase of Apple thefts has affected the overall number of crimes in the city. With a 4 percent increase in serious crimes, the police are now tracking Apple devices separately from other stolen objects. Without judging thieves’ smartphone and tablet preferences, the natural tendency to steal Apple products could be attributed to their high resell value. That is why the NYPD “Operation ID” program allows buyers to register their devices so that the police can find their owners in case of thefts. On Friday, officers were stationed in 21 Apple, Verizon, and AT&T stores and accepted registration forms. On those forms, the NYPD specifically advises iPhone owners to activate Find my iPhone in the settings. Finally, even though Apple offers free engraving for the iPad and some iPod models, consumers can also bring their devices to the closest police station in order to engrave a uniquely identifiable serial number prefixed by the letters “NYC,” bringing engraving to the iPhone for the first time ever — although you don’t choose what will be engraved.
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| The Ostrich Pillow: Because Who Doesn’t Love A Good Nap? Posted: 25 Sep 2012 07:57 AM PDT  I tend to take naps everywhere — on park benches, at my kitchen table after lunch, and most certainly on the subway. In fact, I’m convinced that I have some sort of sleep disorder, despite my doctor’s insistence to the contrary. But with or without some official diagnosis, I seem to have stumbled across the sweet elixir to my napping happiness. It’s called the Ostrich Pillow, and even though it’s been around for about a year, it only recently made its way on to Kickstarter. It’s essentially a giant oversized hat, that stretches all the way from the top of your head down to the crown of your shoulders, with a small hole for your nose and mouth, and holes up top for your hands. The idea is that, as napping becomes more and more commonplace in work environments, users can strap on their ostrich pillow and doze off for a power nap. It seems to have everything covered, except it appears to lack proper neck support. I’ll need to get my hands (err.. head?) in one to find out, but based on the pictures you may wake up with quite the crick. Here at TechCrunch, one of our fearless leaders has discovered that a solid nap during the work day actually improves performance, much to her surprise. Other companies are also jumping on the nap time bandwagon, including Google and Cisco. According to Fortune, 6 percent of companies included nap rooms in their facilities in 2011, and 34 percent of ~1,500 respondents were allowed to nap at work. Oh, I almost forgot… Romain, our intern, also sleeps at work. It’s the beginning of a new era my friends. Click to view slideshow.
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| Apple’s Schiller On #ScratchGate: Aluminum Scratching Is Normal Posted: 25 Sep 2012 07:37 AM PDT  Apple SVP of Marketing Phil Schiller has reportedly responded to a customer complaint regarding the scratching border of a black and slate iPhone 5, via an email received by 9to5Mac this morning. Schiller apparently responded to concerns by pointing out that aluminum is naturally subject to scratches, and that minor chips over time are to be expected with the iPhone 5′s construction materials. 9t05Mac received the complete email, and verified the headers to make sure that it was indeed a legitimate email coming from the Apple exec. The body of the email from Schiller reads:
As we reported yesterday, aluminum is relatively soft, especially compared to glass, and will scratch more easily than more durable materials. If you have an iPad or MacBook Air/Pro, you can probably personally attest to aluminum’s susceptibility to surface scratches. One of the big problems appears to be that Apple has opted to use aluminum with a black surface coating on the darker iPhone 5 model, leading to higher visibility of scratches as the aluminum’s natural color shows through when it’s damaged. The use of aluminum has a pretty considerable upside, however, since drop tests have generally shown that it’s far more resistant to significant damage from taking tumbles. Dings and dents are one thing, but a shattered back is something that’s hard to come back from, at least barring expensive repairs. Really, Schiller is just pointing out the obvious, but this is the first comment we’ve seen about the issue from Apple leadership. We’ve reached out to Apple for additional comment and will update if they provide any.
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| The Twelve South HiRise Looks Like A Mac Pro Mini, Is Actually An iMac Stand And Storage Locker Posted: 25 Sep 2012 07:10 AM PDT  In the cut-throat world of desk organization, style often trumps functionality. In the case of Twelve South’s HiRise, style meets functionality. See what I did there? The HiRise is a little storage locker designed to sit under an iMac or Cinema Display. The front panel folds down, revealing an adjustable shelf and storage space large enough for even a Mac Mini. But that shelf — oh, Twelve South is so clever — allows the HiRise to display an iMac at the same height as a Cinema Display. Clever or not, the HiRise is a bit pricey at $79.99. However, it fixes the common complaints about the iMac in that it sits too low and doesn’t naturally match the height of a Cinema Display. So rather than resorting to propping up an iMac with a phone book or reams of paper, iMac owners now have stylish and functional solution in the HiRise. The HiRise is available now from TwelveSouth.com. It’s compatible with all Apple Displays and iMacs that use the L-shaped stand. Click to view slideshow.
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| IHS: iPhone 5 Costs Between $207 and $238 To Make, Depending On Storage Posted: 25 Sep 2012 06:25 AM PDT  Research firm IHS has followed up its virtual teardown of the iPhone 5 with a brand new physical teardown, confirming its materials list and also the cost of manufacture for the latest Apple smartphone. The physical teardown reveals that the new iPhone costs between $207 and $238, including all suppliers and cost of assembly, depending on whether you look at the 16GB, 32GB or 64GB model. That means that margins for Apple are between $442 and $611, not counting expenditures related to shipping, marketing, retail and other overhead. Apple’s margins are actually improved on high-end devices according to IHS, while lower-end iPhone 5s actually cost a little bit more to make than their predecessors did at launch. The relatively unchanged margins are impressive, given that according to the teardown, the new iPhones have double the RAM, more expensive, larger in-cell displays, an improved processor and beefed up cameras and cellular wireless chips. To compensate for those increased costs, however, Apple has managed to get lower pricing on batteries and Wi-Fi radio, and NAND flash storage prices, traditionally one of the most expensive components, has actually halved. Sandisk is the iPhone 5′s key vendor for flash memory, according to IHS, which marks a first, since IHS has found Samsung memory in past devices. Sony providing the battery and camera modules, Samsung delivering the processor and Qualcomm providing the wireless baseband processor. Apple leads the smartphone industry in profit margins, which has helped it take up to 77% of total profit among smartphone vendors according to some recent estimates. That’s unlikely to change much with the iPhone 5 and the latest generation of devices coming from Samsung and others, if IHS’s teardown is an accurate estimate of what Apple’s making on the sale of each iPhone 5.
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| Barnes & Noble Announces Nook Video Apps, Launching This Fall Posted: 25 Sep 2012 05:28 AM PDT  If your ecosystem of choice happens to be the Barnes & Noble platform, you’ll be happy to know that the book retailer is now offering Nook Video, a service that lets you buy digital copies of your favorite movies and TV shows directly from your Nook device. But that’s not all, the service stores content in the Nook Cloud, much like Amazon’s digital locker, so that you can watch the content from anywhere, including other tablets, TVs, the web, and smartphones using free Nook Video apps. Though the bookseller is a bit late to the digital video game, Nook Video is a fully functional service, packed full of content and integrated with Ultraviolet. That means users who own Ultraviolet-labeled DVDs or Blurays will have a digital copy available to them in the Nook Video app. Barnes & Noble is partnering with HBO, Sony, Starz, Warner Bros Entertainment, and even Walt Disney Studios to bring you your favorite content, including The Avengers, Brave, Toy Story 3, The Artist, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, True Blood, Game Of Thrones, The Dark Knight, The Hangover, and the Harry Potter movies. Movies and TV shows are available to rent or buy, and just like the Nook Reading apps, Nook Video apps will save your place in various movies and TV shows across devices, so you can switch between Nook tablet and smartphone without missing a beat. The service will debut this fall, though exact availability is unclear.
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| Posted: 25 Sep 2012 05:27 AM PDT  That was fast: Mobiplug Networks, a startup focusing on smartphone-controlled smart home technology, which was featured only in August as part of TechStars’ most recent class in Boulder, Colorado, has today announced a new CEO and news that it has picked up $2.7 million Series A round of funding, led by Boulder-based VC Foundry Group. Bullet Time Ventures, SK Ventures, Social Leverage, Clarion Direct Investment are among the other strategic investors, the company noted today in a statement. Its new CEO, meanwhile, is Tim Enwall — a serial entrepreneur who was most recently the CEO of Tendril, a company working in the adjacent area of energy consumption metrics. Prior to this, Mobiplug had received $118,000 in funding as part of the TechStars program, $18,000 in seed funding and an additional $100,000 convertible debt note. Earlier this month, Foundry Group announced that it had raised a third fund of $225 million for investing in early-stage tech startups based in North America. Some of its past investments include Zynga, Jiraffe, Awe.sm and Modular Robots, among many others. Mobiplug has created a single box that behaves like a home hub that can automatically link up all WiFi-enabled appliances and electronics in your home — these can include a thermostat, door locks, lights, TVs, garage doors, and home security systems. Through a smartphone app, users can then control these devices from wherever they are. This is not a totally new technology — given that Xfinity, ADT and others also provide similar services. Where it is disruptive is in how it integrates all WiFi-enabled devices — no matter the protocol or make — and doesn’t require users to sign on to expensive contracts for the service. Linking up a fragmented landscape of WiFi devices in a single system has been one of the gating factors in the growth of smart home technology, says Enwall. “Getting wirelessly-enabled household items like locks, thermostats, lights, outlets and shades made by different manufacturers and based on different protocols to talk to each other is an enormous problem to solve, which is keeping this market from exploding. We're fixing that." he said in a statement. While many users out there are may not be as WiFi connected as they can be, with wireless controls becoming increasingly common, the product will also become increasingly relevant. Solutions like this one are likely to become more common also as more people become conscientious of how to better manage their own electricity usage. As part of the investment, Foundry Group’s Ryan McIntyre is joining the board of directors for Mobiplug. He had been a mentor for Mobiplug during TechStars, and says that Enwall’s appointment was one reason why he feels Mobiplug means business. “I was really impressed by the co-founders and their ability to solve the thorny technical and interoperability problems that are currently holding back the home monitoring and control and Internet of Things (IoT) industry from mass adoption,” he said in a statement. “And when Tim Enwall decided to join Mobiplug, we felt confident that the addition of his experience and leadership to this already talented core team could really disrupt the market and lead this growing space.” In addition to being the CEO of Tendril, Enwall, according to his LinkedIn profile, has been a principal at Comstock Ventures, and has also founded, built up and sold a consultancy to Gartner. The company will be using the investment to continue business development and to staff up. Areas where Mobiplug are looking to hire include mobile development (iOS and Android), mobile UX, mobile UI, cloud platform, and wireless protocol and embedded Linux engineering. Release below.
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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 9/26/2012 05:26:00 AM
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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 9/26/2012 05:26:00 AM
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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 9/26/2012 05:26:00 AM
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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 9/26/2012 05:26:00 AM
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