Archive for 2012
CES: This is Bat Country
Jan. 12, ‘12: Perhaps the best thing to come out of CES this year is some of the writing. I don’t mean the breathless descriptions of boring gadgets or the usual CES-still-matters-no-it-doesn’t debate. I’m talking about the articles where the act of attending … Continue reading →
Vizio’s Google TV remote control
Jan. 11, ‘12: Not as hilarious as the first Sony one, but still — all those buttons? This is still an obvious area for improvement.
Microsoft hits pause on web TV service because shows cost too much
Jan. 11, ‘12: Yinka Adegoke, reporting for Reuters: “They built Microsoft TV, they demoed it for us, they asked for rate cards but then said ‘ooh ah, that’s expensive,'” said one senior media executive who had been involved in the talks. That’s one … Continue reading →
Kickstarter of the week: Hidden Radio and Bluetooth speaker
Jan. 11, ‘12: I’m still on the fence about whether I should pick one these up as my kitchen speaker, buy a Jambox, or save up for something more ambitious. But it looks cool, and has far surpassed its funding goal. With $737,000+ … Continue reading →
Peter Kafka: Why the future of TV won’t be here soon
Jan. 11, ‘12: There’s plenty of cool new tech at CES for watching television. But the real future of TV — where you can pick exactly which channels and content you want to pay for, instead of today’s giant, overpriced bundles — is … Continue reading →
Apple’s supplier responsibility page
Jan. 9, ‘12: As discussed on this week’s This American Life, here’s where Apple publishes its lengthy reports on social responsibility among its suppliers. (They state the percent of suppliers in compliance, and describe certain violations, but typically don’t disclose the specific suppliers.) … Continue reading →
This American Life: Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory
Jan. 9, ‘12: Mike Daisey was a self-described “worshipper in the cult of Mac.” Then he saw some photos from a new iPhone, taken by workers at the factory where it was made. Mike wondered: Who makes all my crap? He traveled to … Continue reading →
Welcome to SplatF 2.0!
Jan. 9, ‘12: After a week in the lab, I’m happy to release the first significant revision to SplatF’s design and feature set since it launched six months ago. The big changes should last a year, I hope, and will help me make … Continue reading →
5 years ahead
Jan. 9, ‘12: Five years ago today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone for the first time, completely changing the mobile industry. (If you haven’t watched his keynote lately, you should. It is his best performance ever, I think.) That means today … Continue reading →
Here’s what I’m actually looking forward to in tech this year
Jan. 6, ‘12: “Predictions” season is over — thank goodness. But the folks at SAY Media — my advertising partner for SplatF, and my new employers via ReadWriteWeb — asked me to write a piece for their weekly newsletter about some of the … Continue reading →
