Hasta La Gadget!

The Apple Television has been rumored for a long, long time. We’ve heard that the television will come in multiple sizes, probably be priced a bit higher than the average set on the market, and integrate iCloud. Better yet, it’ll support apps, allowing for more functionality across the board.

The most talk surrounding the television cropped up last year when Walter Isaacson published his Steve Jobs biography. In that, Jobs noted that he believed that he had finally “cracked” the code for a television that would best all others in the marketplace. Analysts, ready to predict Apple’s plans, performed a host of supply chain checks to find out if Apple was in fact working on a television. Nearly universally, they said that it indeed was.

Over the last several months, however, we’ve heard precious little about an Apple television. Either the set never existed in the first place, or Apple has closed ranks and is keeping its plans extremely secretive. It’s as if the television, which was once so much a part of our lives in the technology world, is now a ghostly product that might or might not exist.

That is, of course, unless you read through the lines on what Tim Cook recently said in an interview with Brian Williams of NBC. He stopped short of actually saying that Apple was working on a television, but his admission that the industry is one that’s awfully intriguing to the company makes me believe that there is in fact a set on the way. Exactly when it will launch, however, remains to be seen.

That launch date could be extremely important to Apple’s television’s success rate.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, a host of television vendors are expected to show off Ultra HD televisions – sets that are running the technology formerly known as 4K. Although those televisions won’t be ready for the average consumer in 2013, it’s a sign that they’re going to be hitting more consumer-friendly price points sooner than later.

“Apple prides itself on being ahead of the curve”

Realizing that, Apple, a company that prides itself on being ahead of the curve, will need to decide if it wants to stick with 1080p HD or go with Ultra HD. The smart move, of course, is to go with 1080p until Ultra HD pricing comes down. However, the clock is ticking. Ultra HD might be several years away from hitting consumer-friendly prices, but the later Apple launches its television, the sooner it might become obsolete.

Meanwhile, we can’t forget the growing importance of apps in the mobile space. At CES, companies like Samsung and LG are likely going to deliver televisions with boatloads of bundled applications. If one of them includes access to a broader application store than what’s already available, it could once again make Apple look late to the game.

I guess what I’m trying to say is time is of the essence if Apple finally launches its own television. It’s nice to be Apple and have everyone interested in your products, but if you wait too long to launch a supposed “groundbreaking” device, you might actually be stepped over.

And Apple cannot forget that.

When Will That Apple Television Finally Launch? is written by Don Reisinger & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When it became apparent not too long ago that the LG Nexus 4 was selling out of the Google Play online store faster than free bricks of gold, we immediately asked ourselves: was this by design, or was it a mistake? There are two possibilities that remain even after the information being reported today by no less than the head of mobile at LG UK has been released – even after Andy Coughlin spoke up with CNET about the fact that the device “had proven extremely popular” when it was released initially to Google Play. One possibility is that yes, indeed, Google simply did not expect so many devices to be sold, so they didn’t order a supply to meet the demand – the other is more nefarious.

This set of quotes from LG also includes a couple of sentences that should be analyzed by you and I, those interested in how Google went about setting up sales for the Nexus 4. “As with any sales process, LG supplies product quantities against partners’/customers’ (ie retailers, operators etc) forecasts,” LG’s Coughlin said, “demand via the Play Store has been very high in this instance.”

See both our T-Mobile Nexus 4 review and our original Nexus 4 review for two perspectives and more details than you could possibly ever want!

The Nexus family is one made by Google to present a pure version of their newest Android operating system without mobile carrier software add-ons. In the past, Google had presented each new Nexus device as one made for developers primarily – a software developer looking to make Android apps would always benefit from having a device that not only had the newest Android software, but was able to access the newest updates from Google faster than any other device on the market. With the Galaxy Nexus from Samsung ramping up to the LG Nexus 4, the public started seeing the Nexus platform as the true Android hero, a hero for all consumers, not just developers.

The other option that isn’t simply Google not seeing this demand for what it was is the possibility that Google ordered less than they expected they’d sell on purpose, this creating artificial demand and many more interesting stories in the press than there otherwise may have been. Of course this would presuppose that Google did not have enough confidence in the selling power of the Nexus 4 for it to sell massive amounts of its own merit, and we simply cannot believe such nonsense.

Instead we must believe that the projected numbers simply did not meet the end demand and that the scramble Google and LG are experiencing is real – and that the Nexus 4 really is the start of Google’s initial vision for Android in which one device could be released straight from Google across all carriers at once. One hero device, one Nexus. Perhaps with the 5th handset this will be true – we know people want it, now it’s time for Google to make it.

Google’s Royal Nexus 4 Supply Miscalculation is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of partying with a bunch of my friends. All of them are pretty big nerds, just like me. If you’re a nerd too, you know that not much changes when a bunch of nerds get a few drinks in them, they just talk about nerdy things louder than usual. Therefore, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to hear that the Steam autumn sale was among the topics that came up that night.

“So what do you think of the autumn sale?” one of my friends asked.

“Not impressed,” I replied. The look his face indicated that he agreed with me.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good deal as much as the next gamer, and I am always willing to spill some serious cash during a Steam sale. I went into the autumn sale thinking that I was going to be buying up games left and right, but we’ve now entered the final day of the sale and so far I’ve purchased two games for a grand total of $17.48. I’m in fine standing with both my bank and my girlfriend as a result, but I can’t help but feel a little underwhelmed.

There have been some good deals, to be sure – earlier in the sale, Skyrim took the stage as a featured deal, and right now Dishonored and Torchlight II, the latter of which being one of my 2012 favorites, are both 50% off. The problem, though, is that there’s going to be another Steam sale in less than a month. It’ll be big too, as Steam holiday sales always are. The autumn sale just pales in comparison to the blowout events that the holiday and summer sales have traditionally been, which leaves me wondering why we even need the autumn sale in the first place.

I understand why the autumn sale exists – everyone is going nuts over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so Valve holds a sale of its own to net some of the shoppers who have cash and are ready to spend it, provided the deals are good enough. With the autumn sale, however, it’s hard to get excited in the same way I’m excited for the holiday sale. In fact, it feels like the autumn sale is intentionally watered down in anticipation of the incoming holiday sale. It’s shorter than its summer and holiday siblings, there aren’t any publisher catalogs on offer, and the discounts don’t seem as deep. So, what’s the point when the holiday sale is knocking on the door?

Maybe this is all in my head. Maybe the problem is with me and not with the sale itself. With the holiday sale on the horizon, I’m hesitant to spend money during the autumn sale because there’s a feeling that they might be even cheaper in just a few short weeks. Even if I see a deal I know is good on a game I’ve been wanting to play, I question whether or not I should take advantage of it since I know (or at least assume) I’ll spend a lot of money during the holiday sale.

I can’t be the only one who feels that way, can I? I’d be interested to see how many people bite during the autumn sale in comparison to the summer and holiday sales, because I would imagine that the numbers for the autumn sale end up falling short. Valve – and other digitial distribution platforms for that matter – have something of a unique problem here. Most retailers don’t hold a holiday sale on the scale of Valve’s, only hosting massive sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Since PC gamers are used to blowout holiday sales and therefore expect them year after year, it makes pulling off an equally impressive Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale a bit trickier for those in the digital distribution arena.

What about you – has this been a great sale for you, or are you like me and feeling a little underwhelmed at the end of it all?

Do we really need the Steam autumn sale? is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

I’ve always been fascinated by the way Apple is viewed in the technology industry. The company is equally beloved by a massive fanbase that would defend it to its dying days and hated by those who refuse to believe Steve Jobs was really a visionary and Apple products are worth the price.

Because of those differing opinions, it’s been tough for Apple to get an objective evaluation. Those in the company’s quarters cannot possibly believe that Apple would do wrong or hurt any other firm. Those against the iPhone maker can’t possibly see a world where Apple isn’t hurting others.

But perhaps it’s time to peel back all of that and examine, once and for all, if Apple truly is good for the industry. After all, for every product Apple has killed, there have been several others that have cropped up because of the market the company created through its own devices.

So, I pose this question: does Apple actually inspire greatness in other companies?

Those who think so would say that the company’s track record proves their point. When Apple launched its Macintosh computers with a mouse, it became the standard that we all still use today. And when design became Apple’s core product concept, just about everyone else jumped on the bandwagon.

In the music market, Apple might have killed off other media players, but it propped up new business models across the digital-music arena. And if not for the iPhone, there would not have been a Samsung Galaxy S III. The iPad was an inspiration for just about every other tablet we have today.

“If not for Apple, rivals would never have tried”

Oddly, Apple might have found a way through its dominance to inspire other companies. Those firms might not think of an idea first, but they look at what Apple is doing and try their hardest to match it. Sometimes, they succeed and sometimes, they fail. But if not for Apple, they would have never tried.

Then again, there are those who see it another way. Apple’s products are great and all, they might say, but who’s to believe that another company couldn’t have come up with that concept? After all, touchscreens were on their way to the marketplace before Apple delivered it to the mainstream. And although the iPod was most popular, there were several MP3 players that could have filled that void.

For those folks, Apple isn’t necessarily as visionary as the company would have us believe. Instead, the company has found a way to communicate the right message to the marketplace at the right time. Call it luck or call it fate. Either way, Apple’s greatest strength, some say, is its ability to put what’s already been developed into a pretty package.

I guess it’s hard to say which argument is best. The fact is, Apple’s products are wildly popular and there is no debating that. And trying to make the case that something would have happened anyway isn’t always easy. But both points are valid. And they both shed some light on a company that is at once too beloved and too scrutinized.

So, let’s open the floor up to you: does Apple inspire greatness in other companies?

Does Apple Inspire Greatness In Other Companies? is written by Don Reisinger & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In some respects, the iPad mini was a disappointment. Despite the hour’s worth of hyperbole at Apple’s press event, the tablet itself was an exercise in parts bin engineering – the processor from an old iPhone, the screen resolution from an old iPad – without the game-changing element that (yes, whether innovation or derivation) has punctuated Cupertino launches of before. Yet, despite more powerful, or pixel-dense, or flexible rivals beside it, the iPad mini has quickly become my go-to slate. The reason behind that is the hardest to quantify and yet, perversely, may be the most important for why we choose the devices we reach for. Science fiction has a lot to answer for, at least for my expectations of tablets.

Some sort of thin, highly portable slate appears in most sci-fi franchises, and we don’t generally concern ourselves with whether Picard is an iOS or an Android user. Star Trek’s generic PADD (“Personal Access Display Device”) is the default example; not for nothing are the physical computing interfaces used in sci-fi super-author Iain M. Banks’ Culture novels described inexplicitly as “screens”, their names boiled down to the core of their purpose.

Regular people aren’t particularly bothered by platform wars, they’re more interested in what a device can do for them. Like the characters in the post-cornucopia world Banks describes, it’s convenience that triumphs over OS affection. Which device is the first you reach for when you need to check Facebook, or Twitter, or your email.

It’s easy to lose track of “normal” users. That’s not even drawing a line between the tech enthusiasts who write device reviews and those who read them; it’s the gaping chasm between that cohort and their more sanguine counterparts in the mass market. Users for whom the “appliance” aspect of a tablet is entirely in keeping with the manner of its daily use: it must do its job, predictably, when picked up; offer sufficient multimedia, apps, and content to warrant having it in the first place; and – arguably most difficult to achieve – be something those users want to pick up in the first place.

The iPad mini grows on you because it ticks that final, core box with aplomb. Early reviewers fought bitter battles with those who had only seen the smaller iPad on their computer screens, desperately attempting to put into words and photos and video what comes down to a visceral reaction around a lissom slice of metal and glass. It embodies that science-fiction fantasy of a wireless window into the digital world.

In contrast, Google and ASUS’ Nexus 7 – which I have, and which I love, and which I have suggested to many as an ideal, affordable tablet – sets out its stall at the budget end of the market, and in doing so sacrifices the just-rightness of feel in your hand. The compromises Google and ASUS made in design and materials, though no less valid for their intended purpose than the decisions Apple came to in creating the iPad mini, leave me reaching for the iOS model first when functionality could be served by either.

“Ironically, Samsung actually got there first”

Ironically, perhaps, Samsung actually got there first with the Galaxy Tab 7.7, but failed over pricing. The 7.7-inch tablet was quietly replaced earlier this year by a more inexpensive alternative, Samsung having discovered part of what stopped Apple from using Retina: that a small, high-resolution, high-quality display looks great, but few people will actually pay for it. For the Galaxy Tab 7.7 specifically, its 1280 x 800 Super AMOLED HD panel and slick metal chassis were simply too rich for most buyers’ wallets, especially given Verizon’s $500 on-contract pricing for the sole model officially offered in the US.

Could Apple have launched the first-gen iPad mini with Retina? Marco Arment has said better than I could the challenges Apple faced had it tried to squeeze Retina resolution into the tablet. As he concludes, the final product – while it may have delivered that all-important pixels-per-inch figure – would have been a more meager offering overall, with varying degrees of sacrifice in battery life, bulk, and price.

Is it shallow to value the aesthetic and its approachability even when it comes at a price, whether that be in purely financial terms or in specifications? Maybe, and yet to some extent we all do it and thus it is a valuable metric in itself (or perhaps we’d all be using command line interfaces on clunky beige boxes rather than MacBooks, VAIOs, and whichever ultrabook is flavor of the moment). This isn’t a level playing field; not all things are equal. Not everybody has more than one tablet within arm’s reach. Not every app we simply must have access to is available on every device. Personal taste and platform loyalty often trump more rational decisions based on need, and budget, and what “does the job.”

I’m not saying the iPad mini is the best tablet out there. “Fit for purpose” means different things to different people; if you’re a gamer, or want to watch HD video, or do multimedia editing on your slate; or, if you need direct compatibility with Office, or the usability of a keyboard developed hand-in-hand with the tablet hardware itself; then there are alternatives more suited to those needs. But, with all that said – and here perhaps Apple should worry, as since its “cheaper” tablet arrived, I’ve hardly reached for the full-sized iPad 3 that sits on the shelf beside it, another victim to ease-of-use and hand appeal – the iPad mini has become the most used of the tablets I own.

The iPad mini won me over (and Star Trek is to blame) is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.