The Tech Night Owl — Cutting-Edge Tech Commentary

Did Samsung Bamboozle Consumer Reports?

Gene Steinberg — Thu, 23 May 2013 07:00:18 +0000

Although the iPhone 5 has received favorable reviews from Consumer Reports, several other models, from HTC, LG, and now Samsung, rate slightly better. While CR is entitled to its conclusions, I wonder if the surfeit of sometimes useless features on the Galaxy S4 has overwhelmed the magazine's testers and granted the product a higher rating [...]

Apple’s New Product Doublespeak

Gene Steinberg — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:00:39 +0000

Based on what Tim Cook said at Apple's last quarterly conference call with financial analysts, the conventional wisdom has it that the company isn't going to release a single new product until the fall. That perceived product draught is one reason why the stock price, and media expectations, have been suffering in recent weeks, and [...]

Samsung Becoming Google’s Worst Nightmare

Gene Steinberg — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:00:39 +0000

Google has become the number one mobile platform on the planet, and one major reason is that Samsung happens to sell more mobile handsets than any other company. When it comes to profits, Samsung divides 100% with Apple, which means losses and very tiny profits for all the rest. Google doesn't make a huge amount [...]

Newsletter Issue #703: Samsung Galaxy S4: More Bits and Pieces

Gene Steinberg — Mon, 20 May 2013 07:00:04 +0000

According to published reports, Samsung is claiming that the Samsung Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone shipped some 10 million copies during the first 28 days on sale. As my friend Daniel Eran Dilger remarks in a recent AppleInsider article, this is considered a great accomplishment compared to the iPhone 5, which sold five million the very [...]

Samsung Galaxy S4: What About the Little Things?

Gene Steinberg — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:00:51 +0000

So I unwrapped a spanking new Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone the other day. It's Samsung's most popular handset, earning iPhone-level sales in the first two weeks on sale, and I had to wonder whether I had a mobile gadget, or a doorway to a magical world with all the publicity it has received. Well, I [...]

iOS and OS X: Is Apple Running Out of Ideas?

Gene Steinberg — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:00:07 +0000

How time flies when you're having fun. The first Mac OS came out 29 years ago, yet it still somehow seems a little unfinished. After so many versions and the move from Mac OS to OS X, thousands of features have been added, some have been removed or changed, yet there always seems to be [...]

So Where’s My File?

Gene Steinberg — Wed, 15 May 2013 07:00:51 +0000

Ever since the very first Mac appeared, the question "Where's my file?" has been asked over and over again. Depending on the app, it may be saved to one folder or another by default, and there may be special settings for that. But at the end of the day, the location might not be crystal [...]

What Features Do You Want in a Smartphone?

Gene Steinberg — Tue, 14 May 2013 07:00:47 +0000

One unfortunate way to compare tech gear is the spec list. The longer, the better. This is what appears to drive Consumer Reports magazine in giving one product a higher rating than another. But that doesn't mean the feature works as advertised or, for that matter, serves a legitimate need. Now Samsung's Galaxy S4 was [...]

Newsletter Issue #702: Do You Hate Apple?

Gene Steinberg — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:51:37 +0000

In fact, do you hate any company? Do you hate Microsoft if you're a Mac user, or Samsung if you prefer the iPhone and iPad? What about hating Ford if you prefer a Honda, or Mercedes-Benz if there's an Audi in your driveway? Does it even make sense to despise the company whose products you [...]

What About a Single File Format?

Gene Steinberg — Fri, 10 May 2013 07:00:26 +0000

You know the score. You receive a file from someone, and nothing you have on your Mac or PC can open that document. Nothing. It might as well be empty space as far as you're concerned, and therein lies the dilemma. How do you weigh a company's interests in having a proprietary format that requires [...]

So the iPhone 5 Isn’t Dead Yet

Gene Steinberg — Thu, 09 May 2013 07:00:18 +0000

So if you can believe some of the media chatter in recent months, the iPhone 5 was one huge failure, and therefore Apple is no longer the company to beat in the tech universe. Samsung is emerging victorious, except for the fact that, in the critical December quarter in 2012, the iPhone 5 beat the [...]

About Those 100 Million Windows 8 Sales

Gene Steinberg — Wed, 08 May 2013 07:00:54 +0000

If you can believe Microsoft, over 100 million Windows 8 licenses have been sold so far. This number is consistent with the initial uptake of Windows 7, so you have to wonder how these figures are being collected, since PC sales continue to decline. Is it possible Microsoft is just lying? Well, probably not. But [...]

What if You Didn’t Own Software Licenses?

Gene Steinberg — Tue, 07 May 2013 07:00:32 +0000

As you know, when you buy an app, you don't actually own it. You own the license to use it for as long as you like. And that can be a pretty long time, although new computers and new operating systems may make it impossible to use. So if you have Word 5.1a, released in [...]

Newsletter Issue #701: They Know What Apple is Going to Do

Gene Steinberg — Mon, 06 May 2013 07:00:13 +0000

Apple is legendary for having a strong penchant for secrecy. The game plan is simple: Until they are ready to announce a new product, you won't hear anything about it. Well, at least officially, yet in the weeks before the launch date, there will be a lot of rumors and speculation about what's going to [...]

Why Expect Apple to Do All the Innovation?

Gene Steinberg — Fri, 03 May 2013 07:00:40 +0000

So it's popular these days to expect that Apple is forever destined to inspire the tech industry on a regular basis. At the same time, tech and financial pundits seem to be crying from the top of their collective lungs that Apple can no longer innovate as well as they used to. New products are [...]

The Tech Night Owl — Cutting-Edge Tech Commentary

Did Samsung Bamboozle Consumer Reports?

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Apple’s New Product Doublespeak

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Samsung Becoming Google’s Worst Nightmare

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Newsletter Issue #703: Samsung Galaxy S4: More Bits and Pieces

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Samsung Galaxy S4: What About the Little Things?

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iOS and OS X: Is Apple Running Out of Ideas?

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So Where’s My File?

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What Features Do You Want in a Smartphone?

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Newsletter Issue #702: Do You Hate Apple?

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What About a Single File Format?

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So the iPhone 5 Isn’t Dead Yet

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About Those 100 Million Windows 8 Sales

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