Jan
18

SOPA, PIPA, and Why You Should Care

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Google protests SOPA and PIPAIf you’ve browsed the Internet today, January 18, 2012, chances are you’ve seen quite a few website talking about protesting something called SOPA and PIPA.  A few weeks ago, there was some backlash against GoDaddy, the ubiquitous domain registration company, because they didn’t fall in with a lot of other online companies in protest against this bill.  They lost quite a few customers as a result, but it hardly made an impact on their business.  Today, a more widespread protest was launched, calling for 24-hour blackouts of various websites like Wikipedia, Reddit, WordPress, Mozilla, and many others.  Even Google is showing their support with a blacked-out logo on their homepage today, with a message asking to “Tell Congress: Please don’t censor the web!”  The link takes you to a page where you can sign the online petition to protest this draconian resolution.  I’ve already signed it, but I thought it might be a good idea to explain exactly what SOPA and PIPA are and why this legislation isn’t a good idea.

SOPA stands for the Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R.3261), a bill in the House of Representatives.  PIPA is the Protect IP Act (S.968), a bill in the Senate.  The intent of these bills is to “provide tools for law enforcement and copyright holders to protect their intellectual property rights.”  Yes, piracy is wrong, and yes, there should be methods to protect intellectual property, but the problem with these bills is how they intend to exact this protection.  These bills are aimed to protect the entertainment industry from the spread of online piracy, which is a noble effort, but the methods they intend to use are less than noble.

Vast majorities of the online websites that offer pirated content are located outside the US, and the bills want the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block the domain names where these sites can be found.  They also want to sue US based websites that contain links to these sites, no matter how the content is presented.  The bills also seek to cut off funds to infringing websites from any US based advertisers.  While this might not seems like a bad way to go about things, the problem is that the bill wants the action against the supposedly infringing website before any judgment that the site is indeed engaging in any infringing conduct.  With these bills, the mere accusation of impropriety would allow the site to be shutdown and sued.  With the ambiguous wording in the bills, it would open the door for major social media sites and search engines to be subject to these measures.  Sites like YouTube, SoundCloud, and others that allow people to freely express themselves could be misconstrued as sites that condone piracy to the wrong judge.  You might think such a travesty of justice might not happen in the US, but when you consider the other countries that might follow suit with similar legislation, their standards might not be set so high.  Not only would censorship run rampant, but also the entire standard of how we access the Internet with domain names, the DNS system, would be less stable and secure.

These bills, if passed, will introduce vast potential for censorship and abuse, all while making the Internet less safe and less reliable.  What’s worse is that these measures wouldn’t stop online piracy, as any website can be accessed by a direct IP address, the string of octets you sometimes see. (192.168.10.58).  Piracy will remain rampant, and the rest of the Internet will suffer as a result of these measures.  The Senate will be voting on this bill on January 24th, so do what you can to learn more and act.  Hopefully the collective voices will be heard and we can find a better way to combat online piracy.

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Jan
07

Two Outstanding iPad Accessories

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The holidays have come and gone; with them arrived a couple of new accessories to compliment my iPad 2.  The vast number of third party accessories that accompany any Apple product is overwhelming, and with the amount of care and logic that go into every Apple product, it’s hard to find an accessory that truly adds value to the Apple experience.  Today, I’ve got two different types of accessories that have wowed me, one is very practical, and the other is just a lot of fun.

iCadeWhen I was a kid, I played video games in arcades.  The games were engaging, fun to play, and almost anyone could learn to play in a few minutes.  With the advent of iOS, we’re seeing the same type of simplicity that really works for games: fun, engaging, and easy to learn.  The iCade, from Ion Audio, is an iPad accessory that is a small replica arcade-style cabinet.  (http://www.ionaudio.com/products/details/icade)  It allows you to play certain games on the iPad with controls that are faithful reproductions of the arcade controls I knew and loved.  It features a sturdy control stick on the left, and eight sizeable buttons on the right, all of which have an authentic arcade-style feel and functionality.  It connects with the iPad via Bluetooth and the cabinet can hold the iPad both horizontally and vertically.  There is an app available in the App Store, Atari’s Greatest Hits, which brings some old classic favorites to the iPad, which are a lot of fun to play with the iCade.  While the app does have additional games available for purchase, all 100 can be obtained for $9.99, a good value for the amount of fun you’ll have.  The iCade itself is priced at $99.99, which might be a bit steep, but I found mine for half price right after Christmas, so keep an eye out for deals on this one.

PlugBugThe second accessory that I’m using daily is a practical solution to an issue that owners of iPads (or iPhones) and Mac laptops face daily: finding enough electrical plugs for your devices.   The PlugBug Charger, from Twelve South, solved this quandary elegantly with inspired design and functionality.  (http://twelvesouth.com/products/plugbug/)  The PlugBug incorporates a 10W USB port that piggybacks on the standard Mac laptop charger.  The result is a unified charging device that occupies one electrical outlet, which might not seem that incredible, but the functionality is just half the allure.  Twelve South really upped the bar with this accessory in that the design of the product, and even the packaging, impressed the heck out of me.  While it stands out from the stark white charger with it’s bright red color, it integrates perfectly with the original charger, almost as if Apple designed it.  Of course, it charges any iOS device reliably, but for mobile warriors that have a multitude of power needs, this solution is one that you definitely need.  Pricing for the PlugBug is $34.99, and at the time of this writing, is unavailable due to the incredible demand.

Accessories can add value and functionality to a product, provided that they are well thought-out and implemented with style.  With the iCade and PlugBug, all of these qualities have been embraced.

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Dec
29

Jawbone UP – a new way to track your movement

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The marriage of technology and fitness has been progressing rapidly with the advent of smartphones.  As more processing power and capabilities are crammed into hand-sized devices, enterprising companies have been using this platform to capitalize on the peoples’ needs for healthy lifestyles.  Most recently, Jawbone, a major player in cell phone accessories, has entered this arena with UP, a wristband that tracks movement and activity for the wearer.  (http://jawbone.com/up)  Partnered with the iPhone app, this fresh new gadget had me eager to explore its capabilities.

Jawbone UPThe UP wristband comes in a variety of bright colors and sizes, though for my testing, I opted for a black one in the largest size possible, which fit my wrist comfortably.  The exterior of the UP device is mostly rubber and it touted as sweat-proof and water-resistant.  The band contains a motion sensor, a vibration motor, a rechargeable battery, and a 3.5mm plug.  This plug is how you connect the device with the iPhone to download the activity from your wristband to the free app that Jawbone provides on the App Store.  There are two main functions that the band facilitates with the motion sensor, one for waking activity and one for sleeping activity.  A quick press of the button on the wristband switches between the two modes.

During the day, the motion sensor tracks the number of steps you take, determining your distance traveled, calories burned, pace, and more.  At night, the motion sensors track the number of hours slept, light sleep versus deep sleep, awake time, and evaluates the overall sleep quality.  The vibration comes into a play when you set timers and alarms for your activities.  During the day, you can have UP alert you when you haven’t moved for a certain amount of time to keep you in your target range of activity.  When sleeping, UP can be set to wake you at a certain time.  What’s neat here is that the detection of light and deep sleep that UP features can help you to wake when most effective.  For example, I set the alarm for UP to wake me at 6:30AM, but if it detects that I’m in a light sleep cycle, it will wake me before I fall into a heavy sleep.

Once UP is synchronized with the iPhone and the app, it displays your activity via attractive graphs that help to illustrate your progress with your daily goals.  The app also features a food journaling function that allows you to track your meals and how they affect your energy levels.  You use the iPhone’s camera to take a picture of the meal, and afterwards, the app asks how you feel.  In my opinion, there’s a lot more that can be added to this aspect of the app, but there are already a lot of calorie-counting apps that take this quite a bit further.

The Jawbone UP is available at a number of retailers, but AT&T stores here were some of the first to carry this revolutionary new device.  When I picked mine up from the newly renovated store in Moss Bluff, I also got to check out another Jawbone device, the JAMBOX, a small wireless speaker that can fill a room with sound.  Pricing for UP is $99, and JAMBOX retails for $199, and Jawbone is known for their quality products.

Since my initial review of the product, Jawbone has announced a refund program for UP wearers that have had issues with their wristband.  I can report that in wearing my Jawbone UP consistently for two weeks straight, I experienced no issues with the device or its functionality.  All in all, I like this new type of peripheral and even with the issues some users are reporting, I’m sure the next version of UP will work out these kinks and bring even more useful features.

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Nov
24

TotalFinder Adds Needed Functionality for Mac Users

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For those of you who use a Mac, you know that Finder is an integral part of the operating system, where you can access all your files and folders in an easy to use interface.  As useful and easy as Finder is to use, as with anything, there are improvements that can be made.  One company, BinaryAge, has developed a solution that brings a number of improvements to Finder with their program, TotalFinder.  With my heavy usage of Macs, I decided to take the plunge and see what TotalFinder brings to the table for improving the functionality of Finder.

TotalFinderTotalFinder isn’t quite a standalone program, but rather an add-on for Finder that loads when you launch it.  This way, TotalFinder does not modify the files for Finder on your Mac, just the current instance running in memory.  You can opt to have the new icon for TotalFinder replace your traditional Finder icon in the dock, which is a slight modification to the graphic, but cool nonetheless.  Aside from the neat new icon, TotalFinder also brings some great functionality to Finder.

Tabbed browsing is now part of Finder.  Much like in web browsers, the tabs TotalFinder implements allows you to display multiple directories in one window, reducing the amount of screen clutter when you have a ton of open windows.  With these tabs, you can perform a great number of actions like pulling tabs out into new windows, creating new tabs by dragging folders into the tab bar, and opening dual mode.

Dual mode is another feature, where two Finder windows are displayed together, side-by-side.  I frequently use Finder like this, so having a way to automatically arrange the windows is great.  Another thing that has somewhat irked me with Finder is how it organizes files and folders where they are mixed together.  TotalFinder lets you sort the folders on top, much like Windows Explorer, which is much preferred, in my opinion.  You can also easily show hidden files in the file system, which are the strange files you see when you look at a Mac drive in another OS.

Even with multiple Finder windows open, if you’re working in multiple programs, sometimes getting to the right Finder window can be a little tedious.  Visor is a cool feature that allows you to access a Finder window from anywhere.  With a simple keyboard shortcut, you can show and hide a Finder window that appears from the bottom of the screen.  I find myself using this most of all, as I frequently use drag and drop when working within my programs.  Visor gives me incredibly easy access to my files, and the added savings of seconds really makes a difference.

As TotalFinder continues to improve, several other features are “experimental” but with my testing in both Snow Leopard and Lion, they work fine.  The one I use most is the addition of cut, copy, and paste options when a file or folder is right-clicked in Finder.  One of the biggest gripes for Windows users that are converting to Mac is the lack of “cut” functionality, but TotalFinder brings it back, which I whole-heartedly support and use.

TotalFinder is a great addition to any Mac, and the price is reasonable at $18.00.  Of course, if you want to try out TotalFinder before you commit, you can experiment by availing yourself to the 14-day trial.  Either way, once you give TotalFinder a try, I’m sure you’ll be using it as part of your workflow.

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Nov
22

Living in the Cloud

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For many people, when the word cloud is uttered, the thought of soft, pillowy things in the sky comes to mind.  With tech folks, for the last few years, the cloud means something entirely different.  The concept of “the cloud” has been around for a while, as schematics for computer architectures often depicted a cloud as a symbol for Internet connectivity.  This is a very accurate representation for most people to grasp the concept of the cloud.  Simply put, the cloud is the Internet, so when you hear the term “in the cloud”, it means on the Internet.  With the release of iOS 5, Apple has made iCloud an integral part of the operating system, bringing millions of users into the cloud.

iCloudBefore, Apple had MobileMe, a form of cloud storage in that MobileMe subscribers could utilize email, calendar, contacts, and online storage for $99 per year.  Being a Mac user with multiple machines and an iPhone user to boot, MobileMe worked well for me, as I could synchronize my data between all my machines and my iPhone.  When I heard that iCooud would provide much of the same functionality at a better price point, free, I was definitely interested.  When I updated my first iOS device to iOS 5, I started the signup for iCloud using my existing MobileMe account.  iCloud can be used with any email address for signup, and the features it provides are pretty useful.

The first thing that really makes iCloud useful is the wireless capability.  Now, your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch don’t need to be connected to your computer with a cable to sync with iTunes, get updates to iOS, and more.  Not only that, but you can now backup your iOS device to iCloud, so the horror of losing your phone and all your data if you hadn’t plugged in your phone for a while is gone.

When taking photos with your devices, it used to be a process to download them or share them with your other devices or computer.  iCloud now features PhotoStream, a new way for your devices to share photos.  Any pictures you take on your iPhone or other device are stored in the cloud and are quickly available on your other devices through PhotoStream.  Provided that your Mac is running OS X 10.7, otherwise known as Lion, you can get your photos to it just as easily using Photostream.  I should mention that Mac users will need to upgrade to Lion to take advantage of the iCloud features, which is a requisite step when upgrading from MobileMe.

iCloud also allows provides you with 5GB of online storage, which you’ll be using in conjunction with all the photos in PhotoStream, email, and other features.  For free, 5GB isn’t bad, but the option to get more storage is available for a nominal fee.  10GB will cost $20 per year; 20GB will cost $40 per year; and 50GB will cost $100 per year.  Overall, that pricing seems pretty fair, but I’ll wait until I’m running out of room before I bite.

Another thing that iCloud provides is easier app management.  One of the last updates to iOS 4 allowed users to see purchased apps in the App Store and install them on other devices, but with iCloud, you can set it where any app purchase installs to all your devices.  Some people might get good use from this, but I share my iTunes account with my family, and I don’t necessarily want my kids’ purchases on their phones to install on mine.

One last component of iCloud that I’ll mention is iTunes Match.  For $24.99 a year, Apple will store your music with iCloud.  In addition to storing all your iTunes purchases, Apple claims to allow you to store music you’ve ripped from CD’s and other sources as well, but I found that a limitation kept me from testing this feature.  For iTunes Match, you need less than 25,000 songs in your library that have been acquired from other sources.  Since I converted my entire CD collection to iTunes, this pushes me way over this cap, so I can’t really say more about this part of iCloud.

Even without using iTunes Match, iCloud includes a lot of features that make it a terrific service for iOS users and a welcome addition to the Apple family of products.

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Oct
27

iOS 5 Arrives With Fabulous New Features

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iOS 5In my last article, I had a chance to vent about my adventures with my new iPhone 4s.  This iteration of the iPhone comes preloaded with the latest and greatest version of the operating system, iOS 5, but it was available for the masses on October 12.   The devices that support this new iOS are the iPhone 3Gs, 4, and 4s, the iPod Touch 3rd and 4th Generation, and both the iPad and iPad 2.  As soon as could, I updated my iPad 2 and my wife’s iPhone 4 to iOS 5 to begin testing out the new features this latest update brings to the table.  There are quite a few things iOS 5 has added, but I’ll just expound upon the ones I really like.

The first thing I really like with the new iOS is the new Notification Center.  The jailbreak community has had a nifty notification hack for a while; it was so nifty that Apple hired the programmer that came up with it.  With iOS 5, you can swipe down from the top of the screen to see the notifications that are most recent, along with the weather, stock ticker, and more.  You can customize which apps show up in the Notification Center in Settings, which can be helpful if you don’t care to be reminded about Words with Friends.  When notifications come in, they don’t interrupt your current activity and just appear in a small bar at the top of the screen, then disappear.  This is a better system by far and a welcome addition to the iOS.

The new Reminders app is touted as “a better way to do to-dos”, and it is looking to replace quite a few other apps that have made it onto iPhones and iPads everywhere.  Since this is part of iOS 5, it integrates with iCal really well; it also provides a certain degree of Outlook integrations.  One cool feature of Reminders is the ability to create locations so that you can get a reminder for something when you are near a geographic location.  Setting reminders to pick up things when you get to the grocery store or to remember to pick up a package after you leave the office is of great benefit if you’ve been known to forget something every once in a while.

There is a new replacement to the old Messages app that handled text messages on your iPhone.  iMessages still manages all your text conversations, but now, any messages sent between iOS 5 devices are not considered text messages, and for people on phone plans that are limited to a certain number of texts per month, this is a godsend.  For iOS devices that aren’t phones, like the iPad or iPod Touch, iMessages uses an email address to facilitate the sending and receiving of messages, but they are displayed in the familiar interface you’re used to when sending and receiving texts.

A few other mentionable things are the ability to take photos from the lock screen, using the volume up key to take the photo, tabbed browsing and reading lists in Safari, text formatting like bold and italics, AirPlay mirroring, Twitter integration, and new multi-touch gestures for the iPad 2 that really help you to get around and switch between apps.  Of course, along with iOS 5 comes iCloud, but that deserves an article all to itself.

Maybe we’ll dig deeper into iCloud in my next article, but for now, get iOS 5 on your device and start to realize the benefits this latest update provides.

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Oct
21

The iPhone 4s is Here!

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iPhone 4sWhen Apple announced the iPhone 4s, a great number of people seemed to be disappointed that it wouldn’t be an iPhone 5, but given the previous rollout of the iPhone 3Gs after the 3G, I thought that to be plausible and expected.   As I lean heavily on Apple products and I had upgrade pricing eligibility, I got up extra early to pre-order my iPhone 4s at 2AM on October 7.  I didn’t actually get to pre-order it until about 3AM thanks to a non-functioning online Apple store, but they were kind enough to throw AT&T under the bus and claim it was a problem with their servers.

On the morning of October 14, I finally received my iPhone 4s and immediately jumped right in to get things started.  I was greeted by a screen that wanted me to plug it in to iTunes to activate it, which is par for the course on a new iPhone.  Suddenly, my smile started to turn upside down as my numerous attempts to activate it were unsuccessful.  After a fruitless call into AT&T support, then Apple support, I made a trip to the local AT&T store.  There, we discovered that my phone was seemingly defective, but because I had purchased it from Apple, my only recourse was to send it back to Apple or visit an Apple store.

Thankfully, I happened to be heading to Houston that evening and after another call into Apple support on the way, I was assured that I would be able to exchange my defective iPhone 4s for a working unit at the store.  When I arrived, I was able to walk right in and get started on the exchange, but that was the most crowded I’d ever seen an Apple store.  In fact, when I left, there was a line of about 40 people waiting outside the store.

After a couple attempts to get the “new” phone working, they went ahead and replaced it with another unit.  I must admit that the level of service I received at the Apple store was fantastic, as the manager himself dealt with the exchange and waited with me for the activation to process.  When it was completed, he even gave me the protective case of my choice as his way of trying to make up for my problematic experiences.  While this by no means made up for the four hours I spent on the phone and in various stores, it certainly made me feel a little better about my Apple experience.

The iPhone 4s is exactly the same as the iPhone 4 from Verizon in appearance.  Feature-wise, the new iPhone 4s brings a few new things, like the faster A5 processor and the superior 8-megapixel camera.  This iteration of the iPhone is also the first to work on both CDMA and GSM networks, as AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint all had the iPhone 4s available at launch.  Sure it is faster, and yes, it takes better pictures, but the biggest thing that impressed me was Siri, the voice-command feature that understands natural language.  Siri is fantastic, and I’ve been using it quite a bit in my day to day activities: composing text messages and emails, setting up events on my calendar and reminders, searching for places or things on the internet.  This alone is worth the price of the upgrade for me.

Of course, the iPhone 4s shipped with the latest operating system for the iPhone and iPad, iOS 5.  This brings to the table a ton of new features, and we’ll take a look at these in my next column.

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Oct
06

Mr. Jobs, Rest in Peace.

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Rest in Peace, Steve JobsOn October 5th, we all heard the news that Steve Jobs had passed away.  Mr. Jobs was combatting a rare form of pancreatic cancer and a few months back, he had stepped down from his position of CEO at Apple.  If you follow my column, you know that I tend to lean heavily toward writing about Apple products, a direct correlation to my having and using Apple products in my daily existence.  While this may hold true now, it wasn’t always the case.  Though oddly enough, when I think back, I suddenly realized that I have been an Apple user since I first touched a personal computer.

The first computer in our household was an Apple II Plus, which came with a whopping 48Kb of RAM.  I don’t recall if we had the upgrade to a total of 64Kb, which was the most the Apple 6052 microprocessor could support.  We did have a 5.25” floppy drive at first, and I remember eventually adding a second one, and the graphics were brought forth on a CRT that displayed monochromatic text.  I learned how to make it perform the tasks I could using BASIC, which for the limited things I could do, was good enough.  I was around 9 years old, and it was something to behold.

Over time, I was introduced to the Apple IIe, the Apple IIc, and the Apple IIGS in various environments like school or at a friend’s house.  By that time, my household had adopted a IBM compatible computer and I had begun my path down Microsoft lane, learning MS-DOS and seeing each technological leap Apple made from afar, with an occasional Mac here and there that some lucky classroom or friend might have had available.

When the iPod first arrived, I was heavily into digital music, but I didn’t adopt one as my portable player until the first iPod mini.  I knew that this technology was impressive, but I was still a PC guy, and while I thought that Macs looked kind of cool and were good for things like graphic design, music production, and video editing, there were a ton of PC applications that could do it just as well.  My peers that used them would try to tell me how good they were, but they just couldn’t put it into a perspective that I could understand.

By 2005, Apple had already released their iMac line of computers that resembles their current form:  a graceful and sexy single piece of machinery that encased the flat-screen monitor and computer all in a single, svelte unit.  When I first heard that they now had the ability to run Windows due to the Intel processor Apple adopted in 2006, I purchased my first iMac just to “kick the tires” on their operating system, OS X, and besides, I could always run Windows on it.  Three months later, I had purchased a second one for my wife.  Six months after that, I purchased my first MacBook Pro for portable use.  While I do have Windows installed on one of my Macs, after I got a bite of that Apple, nothing was quite as juicy nor did it taste as good.

Of course, many Apple products later, which have included iPods, iMacs, MacBooks, MacBook Pros, iPhones, and iPads, I have been and will continue to be a loyal Apple customer.  No, I don’t worship at the Apple store and I don’t have an Apple sticker on my car, but I’ll be damned if I can’t admit that every Apple product I have elected to buy is wonderful.  Steve Jobs reclaimed the throne at a company that had once ousted him, and his return heralded a changing of the times.  His vision for technology changed our entire world, and I, for one, will miss him.

Rest in peace, Mr. Jobs.

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Sep
19

The Downfall of Netflix

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NetflixI have been a Netflix subscriber for over 12 years.  As such, for a marginal monthly fee I’ve enjoyed a great number of movies and TV shows without the cost of purchasing them or the trips to the video rental store.  As their popularity and customer base grew, Netflix continued to gain steam; along their ascension to the top of the video rental apex, they managed to shut down “Mom and Pop” video stores and put the nail in the coffin for a few major chains as well.  Since their IPO in 2002, Netflix was regarded as one of the dot.com success stories; the company shifted the video rental paradigm for physical media and became a household name.

In 2007, Netflix launched into a new segment of the video rental marketplace, capitalizing on the proliferation of high-speed Internet and the spread of portable computing devices.  Their video streaming services went live with only a thousand titles at launch, but quickly their momentum grew and now, practically any device with “Internet capabilities” touts Netflix as one of its features.  With the progress of mobile phone technology in smartphone and tablet computing, the market for Internet streaming video increased exponentially.  Like any technological frontier, Netflix started to find some competition along the way, more so than any comers to their physical media rental business.  Still, Netflix is the clear leader in video rentals and seemed poised to be the obvious choice for ruling the video-streaming marketplace.

When Blu-Ray media hit the scene, they did give subscribers the option to receive Blu-Ray discs (if available) for a nominal fee of $2 per month.  While this might have seemed steep for some, it was an option, but when I purchased my first Blu-Ray player I certainly forked over that $2.  I’ve also opted for devices at my home that have Netflix capabilities built-in, paying more for these optional features to take advantage of the streaming services and lessening my need to have a vast collection of physical media to appease the entertainment needs of my family.  All said and done, I felt these up charges were reasonable, adding value and convenience at a token cost.

Now, in recent months, some more drastic changes have taken place.  The first shocker to the Netflix loyal subscriber base arrived in July in the form of a price hike.  For years, you could get have one movie at a time checked out and stream content for $10.  Suddenly, the price rose to a minimum of $16 for the luxury of having both physical media rentals and Internet streaming capabilities, charging $8 for each service.  While some were outraged, I didn’t feel as strongly.  While a 60% increase might be excessive, I use the service quite a bit and prices hadn’t been changed in a long time.  I went along for the ride since Netflix had been so good for so long.

In the beginning of September, it was announced that the partnership between Starz and Netflix would be coming to an end in February of 2012.  While this might not seem so drastic, as Starz is a premium content channel falling behind HBO and Showtime in terms of popularity, Starz also happens to control streaming media for Sony and Disney, which covers a great deal of streaming content that Netflix offers.  As it stood already, their streaming content selection was lacking compared to that offered on physical media, but this blow to the video behemoth rocked their stock value again.

Less than a week later, subscribers that use streaming services on more than one device at a time started getting messages about having a one-movie limit on the membership.  This threat struck close to home, as my family often watches programming in one room for the kids while my wife and I could watch something else in another.  After the word of this development spread online, Netflix made an announcement that this was a glitch they were trying to fix.  Whatever the story, another chink in the armor was struck.

Most recently, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings sent out a personal email and posted a blog announcing the latest change: Netflix would spin-off their physical media rental business into another company, which they christened “Qwikster”.  This missive, formulated as some sort of apology for the price hike two months ago, alienated the core customer base that brought Netflix to their meteoric rise: physical media rentals.  Netflix investors ran from this newest calamity, and their stock closed on Monday, September 19 at a value less than half of its peak two months ago.  To top this off, apparently whomever decided to name their new company didn’t do too much research, as the Twitter handle @Qwikster is currently being used by a young man whose hobbies include smoking marijuana, playing soccer, and plenty of sexual innuendo.  His avatar features the Sesame Street character, Elmo, seemingly smoking a joint.

I’m at a loss for what happened to this company.  I can justify price increases, and I can certainly understand how business dealings can fall apart between companies.  What I don’t understand is why a publicly traded company would continue to push away its customer base by making so many traumatic changes in so little time.  Couple that with some really questionable naming decisions for a new controversial company that will continue to distance stockholders and subscribers and it suddenly became clear to me:  maybe they had shared that left-handed cigarette with Elmo.

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Sep
05

Hands-On with the HP TouchPad

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The impact of tablet devices on the computer industry is astounding.  Apple revolutionized the tablet with the inception of the iPad, and countless of other PC manufacturers have scrambled to release their own devices in an attempt to keep up with the Cupertino company.  Recently, HP has announced and released their TouchPad; after their acquisition of Palm, it seemed to be the perfect platform to run the rebranded WebOS on which they spent so much.

HP TouchPadAfter it’s launch on July 1st, accompanied by heavy marketing, less than six weeks later HP made the announcement that they were discontinuing the device.  Within days, the pricing on the HP TouchPad was dropped to $99 and $149 for the 16GB and 32GB models, and a mad rush for any stock available caused chaos in stores and for online merchants.  Thousands of orders were canceled for online buyers and limited stock would trickle in to big name retailers, leaving lines of eager bargain hunters outside the doors.  During one of these resurfacings, I was able to get my hands on this tablet to give it a try and see why HP had abandoned this tablet competitor.

Once I turned on the 32GB model I had purchased for $149, I immediately noticed that the tablet is a little thicker than the first iPad.  The buttons are minimal, like the Apple tablet, and it is housed in a shiny black plastic.  It features a 9.7-inch screen like the iPad, a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera, and a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor provides the horsepower.  It does weigh a little bit more at 1.6 pounds, which isn’t a big deal, but it is a noticeable difference.  While HP had planned to release the TouchPad with integrated 3G and 4G versions, only the WiFi model was released.  For some folks, that will be impractical for portable usage, but around the home or office it works fine.

The WebOS interface is attractive, giving you some app icons at the bottom of the screen for a web browser, email, calendar, photos, and chat.  Other apps can be acquired through the HP App Catalog, where you can download free and paid software to use on the WebOS platform.  Some notable ones that HP provides for free are Douments to Go, the full version of Angry Birds, and Box.net, a cloud storage utility.  What is remarkable about Box.net is that TouchPad owners are eligible for 50GB of online storage for free.  Normally, this would run you $19.99 per month; so buying a TouchPad at the heavily discounted price yields a great bargain on the online storage.

Out of the box, the TouchPad is noticeably slower than an iPad, even with the dual-core processor.  After some research online, several tweaks can be made to speed up the performance substantially, and once completed, I was very satisfied with the TouchPad’s speed.  In completing these tweaks, the TouchPad is opened up to a great deal of other apps through Preware, a third-party WebOS development community, comparable to the jailbreaking capabilities on the iOS platform.

Future development of the WebOS platform is up in the air, but the rush is on to migrate the HP TouchPad to the Android operating system.  Recently, the first steps have been made to port this OS to the TouchPad, which will definitely breathe new life into this orphaned tablet device.  Either way, for $99, the HP TouchPad is a heck of a deal and a great way to put the future of computing into your hands.

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