Tablet wars – Apple and HP shake things up?: The Bottom Line
Several rumors are floating around the next generation of tablet devices. Apple could have lower-priced e-books than its competitors, but HP is looking to one up Apple with a lower-priced slate. To make sense of all of this, we talk to John Falcone and Harry McCracken on The Bottom Line.
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Microsoft Courier, Apple’s tablet, plus CrunchPad: What’s the future of the tablet?
We've long been waiting for the era of the tablet computer to take hold, and peering on the horizon are three interesting candidates to take tablets from speculation to spectacle. Among them: Michael Arrington's recently delayed CrunchPad, Microsoft's booklet-style Courier and the oft-rumored Apple Tablet. Will tablets actually be something people are interested in this time around? We ask Rob Enderle from the Enderle Group, and Harry McCracken from Technologizer.
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BlackBerry Storm 2: Biz centric touchscreen phone, or iPhone wannabe?
RIM has been patiently putting together the followup to the BlackBerry Storm, aptly named Storm 2, and while we're waiting patiently for the device, we're starting to see reviews from Walt Mossberg at the WSJ, and others. Is the follow up the device everyone wanted in the first place, and more to the point, how is RIM trying to change the game with its new screen? We talk to Seth Porges of Popular Mechanics, and Harry McCracken of Technologizer about the device.
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Smartphones are on the rise, but dumbphones dominate
We've seen some great choices for cell phones this year... on virtually all carriers. And whether you're into the Palm Pre, the iPhone 3GS, or any flavor BlackBerry, the era of smartphones that actually do what users want is finally upon us... but in our case "us" is a relatively small minority. 72% of phones sold are still dumb featurephones, according to NPD, and while that's not a huge shocker... what's preventing everyone from getting a truly smart phone? We ask Harry McCracken from Technologizer, and Jeremy Kaplan from PC Mag.
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The browser wars: Google on top?
It's funny that 10 years after Microsoft was busy monopolizing the browser space, we've seen a flurry of competition that makes even the most anti-competitive practices seem easy to overcome. Take, for instance, the recent report claiming Microsoft's IE share dropped 11% in March. Whether the data proves to be accurate or not, the more important takeaway is that people are leaving Internet Explorer in droves, whatever the percentage. Today, we talk to Clayton Morris from Fox News and Harry McCracken from Technologizer about the browser wars, and where they're headed.
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Is the free web in danger? Plus, what’s next for Steve Jobs?
Yes, the economic sky is still falling for tech companies. Despite glimmers of hope in the markets and data, advertising, which is traditionally a key source of income for both online content producers and application creators, isn't expected to rebound till long after the economy is on the right track. That means, at least in PC Mag editor-in-chief (and occasional TechVi guest) Lance Ulanoff's view, the end of the free web is coming. Soon. Is he on th emoney? And more importantly, will you fight for your free content? We ask Technologizer founder Harry McCracken, along with Brian Heater of PC Mag. Harry sees other platforms like the Kindle primed for innovation, since people are currently successfully charging consumers real dollars, and people seem to be paying. Brian's take is similar, pointing out that since the free cat is out of the bag, it's going to be awfully difficult to get it back in. My hope is someone will want to pay for content, maybe by going to an NPR style of begging for money. Someone's gotta do it. (Oh, and if you want to give us cash, we're more than willing to accept, for the record.)
We also talk about the news that Steve Jobs won't be the main keynote speaker for Apple's upcoming World Wide Developers Conference. Brian mentions that it might be a bit of a red herring, given the carefully worded press release, and that Apple's "One More Thing..." might be Jobs' appearance. Harry, on the other hand, thinks regardless of whether Steve steps up to the plate, Apple has plenty of good leadership that haven't dropped the ball thus far, despite Stevie J's day-to-day micromanaging absence.
What's your take? How crucial is Steve Jobs to the future of Apple in the presentation role? Could he pop in here and there without being the main presenter and still have the draw to keep up the reality distortion field? Also, is there any content you'd pay for (other than TechVi, naturally)? What's the maximum amount you'd think about investing, or do you think content will figure out how to be free, regardless of ad dollars?
Apple rumors and ghost tweeters: Ignore or listen?
On the surface, Apple's June-bound WWDC conference and the emergence of so-called ghost tweeters, that is twitter users who don't actually write all of their own material, might not seem to share much in common at first glance, other than the digerati's affection for both companies. However, both stories leave users have a choice: Buy in to what's being sold, either by Apple-obsessed rumor mongerers or 140 character writers hiding behind someone else's identity, or simply ignore them as unimportant and fake. We talk to two tech writers active in both the Mac and Twitter worlds, and find out how they sift through Apple rumors and whether Twitter puppets devalue the service.