Hasta La Gadget!

Apple is planning to give the 802.11ac wireless networking standard a big boost in 2013, according to a new report from TheNextWeb. Sources tell the blog that Apple will partner with Broadcom to bring the next-gen Wi-Fi tech to new Macs. 802.11ac is the successor to 802.11n, but it has yet to make its way to many shipping notebooks.

802.11ac “Gigabit Wi-Fi” offers theoretical maximum networking speeds of roughly  three times those currently offered by 802.11n. The standard is still in Draft, which means that it hasn’t received final approval by the IEEE, and isn’t likely to until at least later in 2013. Still, Apple has shown itself willing to ship products using draft versions of wireless standards in the past, and it’s a fairly common practice among consumer device makers. Routers have also already been brought to market which offers 802.11ac networking speeds, although so far, Apple’s own AirPort devices don’t boast those capabilities.

TNW reports that the Wi-Fi chip being developed by Broadcom for inclusion in Macs is still in development, but that if all goes according to plan, they will make their way into new Macs shipping this year. As with Thunderbolt, it may take a little while for consumers to see the added value of the inclusion of 802.11ac as mobile devices, routers and other gadgets catch up. Ionically, 802.11ac support was rumored for inclusion in Apple’s AirPort base stations, Apple TV and even potentially mobile devices around the same time last year, but that never materialized. This new report suggests that in fact, notebooks could be where we see it pop up first among Apple’s hardware lineup.

Slowly but surely, Chinese smartphones are making their way into consumers’ hands. While Huawei is a leading infrastructure company, it started designing and manufacturing smartphones only recently. So far, the company preferred to sell white-label smartphones to carriers around the world. But in 2012, Huawei has shipped 85 percent of its devices under its own brand, compared to a scant 20 percent in 2011.

Chief Marketing Officer Shao Yang declared to Le Monde that the company plans to become one of the top 5 smartphone brands in 2014 and one of the top 3 in 2016.

That’s why Huawei invested more than 200 million dollars for its branding strategy. According to an IDC report, Samsung is currently the leading brand in China, followed by four Chinese companies — Lenovo, Coolpad, ZTE and Huawei. Apple, despite its apparent popularity, is sitting in sixth place.

At the same time, the Chinese market is very promising. Evidence of this lies in growth prospects. China Mobile (which, if you’ll recall, is the world’s largest wireless carrier), only has 79 million 3G customers out of its 700 million subscriber base. Huawei doesn’t want to miss out on that opportunity, as many subscribers will switch to a smartphone in the coming years. It is a good revenue opportunity as well, as margins are usually higher with smartphones compared to feature phones.

The branding effort is still a work in progress as Microsoft, Apple and Samsung spent more than a billion dollars each in advertising campaigns in 2012. But Huawei has a few assets compared to many of its competitors. Like Samsung, LG and RIM, Huawei manufactures its own phones. Apple, Nokia, HTC, Motorola and others rely on third-party manufacturers like Foxconn, which increases costs and reduces flexibility.

The other key advantage is that Huawei is a Chinese company. As current market shares show, there is a national bias in favor of Chinese brands when it comes to smartphones in China. Huawei can easily become an important entry-level smartphone brand in the world, after conquering the Chinese market. Even though it is one of the lesser-known brands in the U.S., the company should showcase new devices at CES next week and will lay out the company’s strategy for 2013.

Apple is looking to shift production of its mobile device processors to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company sooner rather than later, according to Taiwan-based newspaper The Commercial Times (via AppAdvice). A new report from the publication claims that Apple will have TSMC, the world’s largest chip foundry, begin production of the A6X (found in the 4th generation iPad) as early as the first quarter of 2013.

While The Commercial Times isn’t always accurate as a source of rumors, a potential shift of processor manufacturing from Apple’s current partner in Samsung to TSMC has reportedly been in the cards for some time now. A report from August 2011 saw Apple kick-off trial production with the Taiwan-based processor foundry, and there were rumblings that TSMC would get a much larger share of Apple’s processor business back in November. Today’s report also agrees with one from December that suggested Apple’s shift to using TSMC’s 28nm process in its chip production (vs. Samsung’s 32nm method) would happen earlier than expected, though at the time the Taipei Times reported that the second quarter of 2013 was a likely start date for the shift.

Other evidence that suggests Apple could be working with TSMC to start building A6X processors sooner rather than later include the construction of a massive new chip factory in the U.S., which was revealed by The Oregonian around mid-December. Apple’s A-series processors are currently built by Samsung in Texas, so replacing that supply source with another U.S.-based production facility makes sense. Apple has also been making other moves that indicate it’s reducing its dependence on Samsung as a chip supplier, including poaching a top Samsung chip designer, and reducing the Korean company’s role in the chip design process.

Biegert & Funk has made a name for itself thanks to its iconic clock design that tells time the way we tend to convey it to one another in conversation – with written words in five-minute increments, spelling out “half past twelve” or “a quarter to five.” After creating a number of wall and desk clocks with this design, the firm made a lot of people’s wishes come true and revealed the QLOCKTWO W, a wearable version of the design that fits on the wrist. One has been sitting on mine for the past couple of weeks, and in that time it has managed to make a strong impression on both myself and my friends and family.

With only a 10 x 11 grid of letters making up 110 characters in total (that’s less than a tweet), the QLOCKTWO W can display any time, and even though it only spells out five-minute increments, if you’re more exact, four dots at the bottom of the watch’s face indicate the specific minute, and you can cycle through to a view of the seconds ticking by with a couple presses of the QLOCKTWO’s single button. It also displays the calendar date (and if you’re unaware of the month and year, you likely have more problems than a watch can fix), and is available in English, French and German versions.

The QLOCKTWO W comes in three different finishes – polished, brushed, or black stainless steel. The face of each measures 35 x 35mm, which with a square-faced watch wears roughly similar to a 40mm standard round watch. For me, since I prefer smaller faced watches, it’s a perfect size. The square design and the non-tapering wide 24mm leather strap make it appear more substantial than you might expect, however, and it definitely attracts a lot of curiosity from onlookers.

Click to view slideshow.

Biegert & Funk have done a phenomenal job with the overall look of the case and strap, which isn’t surprising given their history as a design firm. The QLOCKTWO W’s most impressive feature is its display, however. When you activate the display, words light up to reflect the current time. Unlike other watches that use a push-button LED illumination trick to show the time, I found the lighting on the QLOCKTWO to be incredibly even. The letters on the face are relatively small, but they show up clear and very easy to read thanks to the well-engineered backlighting. The amount of time the light remains active also seems perfectly engineered for reading and for showing others when they ask for the time.

In general I tend to find it hard to continue to wear watches that use a push-button activation mechanism just to display the time, but the QLOCKTWO W has managed to beat that personal preference. You can also activate a demo mode to have it display the time constantly, but you’ll burn through your battery pretty quickly doing that. One other thing to note is that while the display is among the best LED-lit watch faces I’ve ever seen, it still isn’t great for reading in bright sunlight, though in all other conditions, including overcast days, it’s easy to read without a struggle.

The Biegert & Funk QLOCKTWO W is a comfortable-wearing watch that tells the time well and does so in a manner that’s unique without being difficult or obscure. It’s also a wearable work of art thanks to the iconic design of the face and smart, industrial minimalism of the case. Starting at around $650 (a price at which you can start to get some impressive automatics), it is likely to appeal to a niche crowd, consisting not so much of watch fanatics who appreciate good design, but of design fanatics who value a good watch. Whoever the buyer, however, the QLOCKTWO W makes for an interesting, attractive addition to a collection, one that practically oozes good taste.

I’ve backed an embarrassing number of Kickstarter projects, almost all of them in the hardware/gadget categories, and I’ve been disappointed more than I’ve been delighted. The Slim wallet by Supr however bucks the trend, delivering a front-pocket wallet that finally and truly deserves the honor of actually being carried in that place.

Minneapolis-based Supr Good Co. initially launched the Slim in August, with a funding goal of just $10,000 and an estimated shipping date of September for their minimalist wallet design, which essentially is just an elastic sheath measuring only 3mm thick. The U.S.-made wallet still boasts classic good looks despite its simplicity, however, thanks to a striking contrast-stitched “X” front-and-center where the two ends of the elastic material used in its construction meet.

Because of the wallet’s simplicity, a reviewer like myself doesn’t need to mince words: this is pretty much a perfect slim wallet for those who want just the basics in a lightweight, convenient package. I carry just four cards and some bills, all of which tuck into the Slim snugly in a way that leaves me confident nothing is going to accidentally fall out or go missing. It manages to be slimmer than the Fossil front pocket wallet it replaces, and a lot lighter, too. I’ve also varied the number of cards I’ve had in there over the past week, and so far, the elastic shows no sign of excess stretch or an inability to return to holding fewer cards securely.

Supr missed their original shipping target by a fair margin, but they were very transparent about their reasons for doing so, and they did also eventually deliver a terrific product. The online shop hasn’t officially opened yet, but you can register your interest for the Slim when it does start to ship to the general public. Kickstarter may not have the security of ordering gadgets from established companies, but when it works, it results in some amazing stuff that you aren’t likely to be able to pick up elsewhere.