The death of desktop computers: The Bottom Line
A top Google exec says that desktops will be irrelevant in just three years time. Is that really the case? We talk to Seth Porges and Jason Hiner on the Bottom Line to find out.
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Video streaming: What’s next, what’s now?
We're big fans of streaming video into the living room, and whether its through an Xbox 360, Boxee, Roku or even hooking a laptop up, we think it's high time our cable bills started shrinking and internet video took over. Today, a Best Buy executive told the NYT that the company is looking to jump head first into the streaming game next year with a partnership with Cinema Now. Yesterday, rumors floated about Apple's intentions in the living room. What's streaming video really going to look like when it's done, and what's it going to take for us to get there? We ask Kevin Tofel of jkOnTheRun, and Jason Hiner of Tech Republic.
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YouTube hits 3rd anniversary with Google
It's been three years since the bad-boy of web video tied the knot with the company who's "don't be evil" motto runs the show. Today, the company says the viewers rack up a billion video views a day. We take a look over the last three years of YouTube with Jason Hiner from TechRepublic, and Stuart Miles from Pocket-Lint.
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LG unveils Android-capable phone, plus Apple drops AppleTV price
It's no shock that LG is showing off a new smartphone which runs Google's Android under the hood... but does this signal anything for the industry at large, or is it yet another manufacturer jumping on the Android bandwagon? We ask Brian Heater from PC Mag, and Jason Hiner from Tech Republic. They're both less than thrilled about the phone, and since Google has simply developed a solid underpinning and is leaving it up to the individual manufacturer to create a user-interface with pizzaz, something LG has repeatedly failed at in the past. But hey, at least it's progress away from the myriad LG dumphones with awful interfaces AND awful underpinnings.
In other underwhelming tech news, Apple says it's dropping the price of the AppleTV down to $229 from $329 for a 160GB model, and the company is removing the 40GB model all together. If it were us, again both Brian and Jason concur, we'd hold off on the AppleTV unless you're extremely sold on the concept, or have some cash to spend. If the latter is the case, why not be a pal and send it to the starving producers of TechVi instead?
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Why is Nokia releasing a computer?
It's odd, really... when the company's proverbial lunch is being eaten by the likes of the iPhone, Palm Pre, BlackBerry, and Android, Nokia decides to start exploring another crowded market and release a stylish netbook rather than, y'know, actually fixing its core phone issues. But putting business aside, we're actually moderately interested in what the device has to offer, since Nokia is known for its hardware chops. Jason Hiner from TechRepublic stops by to talk about what his hopes for the device are, and how it might actually be moderately successful to a certain market.
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Bing gains search share: Notable progress?
Microsoft is no stranger to wasting money on new products, but it looks like the combination of unique features and marketing muscle actually might have done something to prop up Bing. When the service launched, most tech pundits were extremely skeptical, since it's about the 5th major search launch for the company. Last month, Bing added 1% marketshare, which might not seem like much to most people, but compared to Google's monolithic 77% share of the market, any gain is somewhat impressive. Does it mean that the search engine is successful? Who's using what, and which parts of Bing do people avoid? We ask Christina Warren from DownloadSquad, and Jason Hiner from TechRepublic.
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Panel of IT experts split over Windows 7’s corporate success
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Last week on Bottom Line, we talked about Microsoft's primary problem with Vista being a lack of corporate support, and now TechRepublic's panel of 12 Chief Information Officers is split, six to six, as to whether they'll start installing Windows 7 in their corporate computing environments. Some of the respondents say they have software that still isn't Windows 7 compatible, while others are waiting out the inevitable first service pack. On the other hand, some say they're excited to give Windows 7 a go, especially since Vista was regrettable for their company.
Which smartphone are you buying?
It's been a rather eventful June thus far, with Apple unveiling the iPhone 3GS, Palm releasing the Pre, and today RIM announced the BlackBerry Tour. Each phone has its own ups and downs, but which phone is going to end up in your pocket?
We ask John Biggs of CrunchGear, and Jason Hiner of TechRepublic their takes on the latest crop of smartphones. John's phone of choice looks to be the iPhone 3GS, while Jason is eying the Pre. Both of our panelists think the real news this summer is that those cheaper, free with contract feature phones look to be going the way of the dodo, especially with a $99 iPhone on tap.
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Kindle DX impressions: Big screen, but prohibitively expensive
With a Jobsian presentation, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled the newest Kindle, named the Kindle DX — a larger screen version of the Kindle 2 that adds some features like PDF reading and an accelerometer to dynamically switch orentations. We linked to the specs earlier, so it's time for the meat: Our impressions of the device.
On the panel today is freelance writer and columnist Gary Krakow of buymegetme.com, and Jason Hiner, Editor-in-chief of TechRepublic. We're all feeling a bit of apprehension toward the device, with Gary pointing out the $490 is going to be a tough pill to swollow for most people. Jason mentions the device has a companion application for the iPhone platform, which leads to the logical conclusion: Why hasn't Amazon made Kindle software for standard computers? It's pretty ballsy to market a $490 device for reading books, when I, or any other cash strapped tech type, could get a 10.1" netbook for around the same price that can surf the web on a color screen, and the like. Sure, my netbook might not have the long battery life, or as be as comfortable on the eyes as the epaper display, all 16 shades of monochromatic wonderment, but for me, and most college students, I think we're going to save our cash for "real" gadgets.
Apple is forced to hike iTunes rates, plus Windows 7 might have an XP downgrade option
After years of blazing the online music download trail with $.99 downloads, Apple has been forced by its record industry partners to push rates up to $1.29. We talk with Jason Hiner of TechRepublic and Richard Baguley of Reviewed.com about whether the 30% increase will lead to a drop in their iTunes usage, not to mention the community at large. (Spoiler: Richard won't keep going with iTunes, Jason might, and Randall didn't like it to begin with.)
Also, we're hearing whispers that Microsoft might offer a downgrade option to Windows 7 even after XP is launched. Does that mean, in all actuality, that the company isn't prepared to go all in on Windows 7? We talk about what the potential downgrade means for regular users, and why it might run the risk of confusing Microsoft's sales message.