last100

Thoughts on Google Chrome OS

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:19:23 +0000

The big news this week, of course, is that Google is developing its own Operating System dubbed Chrome OS. Cue the headlines about the search giant, once again, taking aim at Microsoft. And of course, on one level that’s absolutely correct. Just like any other newly launched OS needs to take market share away from Redmond in order to succeed. But it won’t be easy.

While Google says it wants to build an OS from the ground up in order to make it easier for users to get on the web and utilize web-based applications – and view more Google ads – managing user expectations will likely be the bigger challenge. For all the technical hurdles that Google will undoubtedly overcome – faster boot up times, greater security, support for next gen web standards (HTML 5 etc.) – weaning users off of Windows will be no easy task. The failure of existing Linux distros to become the defacto OS for Netbooks, despite getting a head start and backing from OEMs, doesn’t bode well for Chrome’s chances unless Google is able to redefine not just the OS but what users expect from their PCs.

Sure, I’d be happy buying a Netbook or Mobile Internet Device (MID), for Chrome OS will sensibly run on ARM-based chips not just Intel/AMD, knowing full well its purpose and limitations. I’m also, unlike 90+ % of the PC population, not emotionally or habitually tied to the Windows brand. But explaining to mass users why their iPod, printer, 3G dongle or whatever, doesn’t work properly on Chrome OS or why they can’t install Office or their favorite IM client, or simply why the UI looks a bit different, will be a hard sell. Google says it’s committed to web-based applications running on Chrome OS but it will inevitably be forced into supporting binary installations and/or to ship its own default ‘native’ apps for things like managing a music library/iPod syncing and multiple device drivers, if it’s to have any chance of winning over consumers.

That sounds a lot less like building an OS as a gateway to the web and more like building a traditional – kitchen sink an all – OS afterall.

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Palm Pre to launch on O2 in the UK, just don’t mention the competition

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:45:34 +0000

It’s now official: The Palm Pre will launch exclusively on Telefonica-owned O2 here in the UK.

When?

“In time for the holidays”, say Palm and O2, with no word yet on pricing. My guess is that we’re talking early October, enough time to ramp up for Christmas spending.

Either way, it’s a pretty long time to wait, especially since O2 will have been busy pimping its other flagship exclusive. Apple’s newly launched iPhone 3GS.

And then there’s the rest of the competition.

Handsets already on the market in the UK that will/are to varying degrees going head-to-head with the Pre and iPhone include Nokia’s N97 (see my review), which is already getting its own TV and other advertising blitz, Vodafone’s Android debut, the HTC Magic (reviewed here), and Samsung’s HD video capable touch screen monster, the i8910 HD.

But perhaps more significant are the growing number of handsets, announced or known to exist, that will debut closer to the Palm Pre’s UK release.

First out of the gate is HTC’s newest Android phone, the Hero, with its Palm Pre-esque custom User Interface. We also know of Samsung’s Android-powered I7500 (another O2 offering), Sony Ericsson’s Satio (previously known as Idou), another touch screen device but one with a headline grabbing 12 megapixel camera. There’s also the expected BlackBerry Bold 2, Sony Ericsson’s own Android debut, and likely another flagship from Nokia.

That’s one crowded smartphone market, and knowing the competitive nature of the mobile phone space here in the UK, most, if not all of these Palm Pre competitors will come highly subsidized (or made to look that way), with pricing closer to “free” with a 18-24 month contract.

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Weekly wrapup: Review: HTC Magic (Google Ion, T-Mobile myTouch 3G), and more

Steve O'Hear — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:24:33 +0000

Here’s a summary of the last week’s digital lifestyle action on last100. Note that you can subscribe to the weekly wrapups, either via the special weekly wrapup RSS feed or by email.

Mobile

Review: HTC Magic (Google Ion, T-Mobile myTouch 3G)

It goes by many names. The HTC Magic on Vodafone here in the UK, Google Ion, when handed out as a freebie at the search giant’s developer conference, and the myTouch 3G on T-Mobile in the states. But, whichever way you slice it, the second Android-powered Google phone, manufactured by HTC, is an improvement over the original T-Mobile G1 in almost every way.

After pressure from EU, Apple dumping iPhone’s Universal Dock Connector? (microUSB)

The European Union (EU), after applying pressure to the industry, have announced that Apple had joined competitors, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, LG, Research in Motion, Samsung and others, in agreeing to switch to the micro-USB standard from next year.

Internet TV

The Pirate Bay sold, plans to go legit. Users urged to become capitalists.

The Pirate Bay has been acquired by Global Gaming Factory X (GGF), a publicly listed company in Sweden, for the grand sum of $7.8 million. Profit made from the sale will be used to fund a new political organization set up “to help with projects about freedom of speech, freedom of information and the openness of the nets”, according to a blog post published on The Pirate Bay.

Hulu really hates the TV, PlayStation 3 blocked

Based in the UK, I don’t have access to the US-only video site Hulu. But if I did I’d no longer be able to access the studio-backed Internet TV service on my PlayStation 3.

Joost admits ad-revenue defeat, trying white label biz model instead

After rumors of a third change in direction, Joost, the Internet TV startup that just won’t seem to die, has announced plans to focus less on its own online video portal and instead tout the company’s newly launched white label service to “media companies, including cable and satellite providers, broadcasters and video aggregators.”

That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading,

- Steve (follow me on Twitter: sohear)

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Review: HTC Magic (Google Ion, T-Mobile myTouch 3G)

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:24:08 +0000

Where the original G1 is clunky, in part due to its death-trap of a slide-out keyboard – OK I exaggerate but only slightly – the HTC Magic is relatively slim with subtle curves and a much reduced “chin”, which is a universal complaint of the G1.

Of course, without a physical keyboard, the Magic has to compromise with an on-screen QWERTY – more on that below – but doesn’t do away with hardware keys altogether. There’s call start and end, as well as ‘home’, ’search’ (it is a “with Google” phone after all) and dedicated ‘menu’ and ‘back’ buttons. These, particularly the latter two, when combined with the clickable BlackBerry-style scroll ball means that, for the most part, the Magic can be operated one-handed. This is something that I struggle with on the iPhone and many other touch-screen only devices, and the slightly narrower width of the phone – due to its smaller 3.2 inch screen – also makes it more comfortable to hold in one hand and that bit more pocketable, although, admittedly, this is very subjective.

On the Magic’s touch screen itself, it’s a joy to use. Like the iPhone, it’s capacitive rather resistive, responding to the natural electrical charges emitted by a finger rather than using pressure to register a touch. It’s bright with vibrant colors and, despite being smaller, the screen resolution also matches the iPhone’s 480 x 320. One thing I noticed, however, is that the touchscreen doesn’t seem quite as responsive near the edges. Finger smudges also quickly become an issue but this is common with all touch screen (and even some non-touch screen) models.

A few immediate complaints hardware-wise: The 3.2 megapixel is very average – and that’s being generous – and HTC’s insistence on omitting a standard 3.5 inch headphone jack in place of its all-in-one USB port used for headphones, charging and data transfer, makes a mockery of the phone’s media playback ambitions (the included buds are lousy). There’s also very little on-board storage, and although Vodafone’s Magic offering does come with a 2GB microSD card, it wasn’t long before I replaced it with an 8GB one.

On the software-side, and this is increasingly the battleground for today’s smartphones-come-mini computers, the HTC Magic uses the latest “Cupcake” 1.5 version of Android, which introduces a number of UI improvements, new features (such as video recording) and of course that virtual keyboard.

Talking of which, it’s pretty good as far as on-screen keyboards go (I’m not generally a fan). The auto-suggestion feature works well, offering a number of suitable choices in a strip just above and haptic feedback (a slight vibration) can be optionally turned on. When the phone is in portrait mode the keyboard is pretty cramped, switching over to landscape naturally works a lot better.

As you’d expect from a part Google branded phone, integration with the search giant’s own PIM apps is seamless. Just enter your Gmail credentials, and email, calendar and contacts are synced over-the-air, including their avatars, which show up in the Magic’s address book and caller ID. It works just like Apple’s MobileMe but without the cost. Updates can be constantly pushed to the phone in the background or can be toggled on or off on a per-application basis.

There’s also a very robust and feature-rich version of Google Maps, including street view and the location-aware social network Latitude. Using the phone’s built-in compass you can also operate street view as if you are there, which is fun if a bit gimmicky.

Photos taken with the phone’s camera can be uploaded to Picasa and videos shot, to YouTube. There’s also a native client for the video sharing site, with the option to view in low or high quality. The former is designed to conserve bandwidth when on 3G, the latter more suited to WiFi. All very nice, all very Google.

Third-party apps are a bit of mixed bag. There’s tons of potential and the Android Market, Google’s own app store, is really easy to use and has certainly filled up since I first looked at the G1. Having said that, I challenged my iPhone touting friend to pick 10 of his most used third-party iPhone apps and I’d try and find an equivalent on the Magic. For the most part I succeeded – streaming radio, podcast client, Twitter, London Underground status, cinema times etc. – but the iPhone choices are many and a great deal more polished.

This reflects not only the success of Apple in attracting developers to the iPhone but also perhaps the different approaches the developer tools take themselves. Apple, I’m told, provides a lot more out-of-the-box help with UI / look and feel than Android does.

A few areas where the Magic definitely trumps the iPhone: The app store (Android Market) feels more open, so for example, there’s a BitTorrent remote control app that has the same functionality that got a similar app banned from the iPhone App Store. You can also bypass the store altogether and download apps from anywhere on the web if you’re willing to ignore the security warnings.

The Magic, when plugged into a computer can be put into USB mass storage mode so that the phone shows up as a USB hard drive for easy transfer both ways of music, photos, video or any other file type. In other words, you don’t need to be tethered to iTunes. Media playback is pretty much on-par with the iPhone in terms of file format support – sans DRM – and any MP4 video file I threw at it that had been formatted for iPhone/iPod just worked.

Sadly, though, you can’t transfer files via Bluetooth to a PC or other phone, one sign of Android’s immaturity as a mobile OS.

Multi-tasking and background notifications is another area were the Magic performs well, and prior to iPhone OS 3.0, definitely beats Cupertino’s best efforts. However, I’m not sure this is the case anymore. Although the iPhone’s ‘push’ solution is still a bit of a fudge for managing multitasking and notifications, judging by the Magic’s limited battery life – if background syncing is on for Google apps and third-party goodness, let alone home screen widgets that pull in data from the web – Apple could be right in limiting the way the iPhone handles its always-on connectivity.

I also think Android’s notification system is kind of inefficient. An icon appears at the top of the screen to indicate a new email, for example, but you still need to drag that draw open to view the first line and click on it to launch the phone’s Gmail app where you’re taken not to the full email message itself but to the in-box. Worse still, the Magic’s home screen doesn’t show the most recent emails either, even though there are numerous home screen widgets for almost everything else (weather, twitter etc.)

I’ve purposely left the best to last. The Magic’s Android web browser is closest to iPhone’s yet, although I haven’t tried the Palm Pre, which also gets favorable comparisons. Admittedly, there’s no multi-touch (pinch to zoom) or double tapping but the on-screen zoom in and out controls that appear when you move around the page work fine. You can also copy and paste links, save images, open multiple windows but, frankly, its the speed and quality of rendering and the fluidity when scrolling or moving around the page that impresses most.

Again, like the iPhone, Flash isn’t supported, although the included YouTube client and other available third-party video apps (StumbleUpon, iPlayer etc.) go someway in making up for this.

Bottom line: if you want a phone to surf the web on and can’t afford the expense of an iPhone, or are already overly reliant on Google apps (that’s me by the way), you won’t be disappointed with the HTC Magic.

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Joost admits ad-revenue defeat, trying white label biz model instead

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:35:05 +0000

In other words, the company, which was founded by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis of Skype fame, has conceded that ad-revenue alone can’t pay the bills and, instead, hopes that Old Media will.

Interestingly, on the same day as Joost’s announced change it direction, it’s been reported that rival Hulu alone boasts 10 percent of the online video ad market.

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The Pirate Bay sold, plans to go legit. Users urged to become capitalists.

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:05:14 +0000

When the Pirate Bay four were convicted of “assisting in making copyright content available” and sentenced to a one year prison term and a fine of $3.6 million, the site’s co-founder Peter Sunde played down the verdict, claiming that it was business as usual. The argument being that the site itself was never on trial, only the four individuals named in the law suit.

Today, however, we learn that, moving forward, it’s far from business as usual as The Pirate Bay has been acquired by Global Gaming Factory X (GGF), a publicly listed company in Sweden, for the grand sum of $7.8 million. Profit made from the sale will be used to fund a new political organization set up “to help with projects about freedom of speech, freedom of information and the openness of the nets”, according to a blog post published on The Pirate Bay.

The sale to a public listed company is bound to be game changing for Pirate Bay, and the site’s new owner has already revealed that it plans “to launch new business models that allow compensation to the content providers and copyright owners”. TorrentFreak also reports that the site will cease hosting torrent files itself and end operating a tracker so as to decentralize the BitTorrent “ecosystem” – reportedly nearly half of BitTorrent traffic comes via The PirateBay – and ensure that users are less reliant on the site’s servers staying up. (Update: Johan Sellström, CTO of Global Gaming Factory, has since denied that the PirateBay tracker will be closed.)

In other words, like other P2P filesharing sites before it – Napster being the most famous example – The Pirate Bay plans to go legit. The problem is that I can’t think of one example where this has worked out in practice. Build a brand around the downloading of free content – albeit of dubious legality – then change the end-user proposition dramatically in the hope of paying copyright holders and staving off law suits – and end-users tend to jump ship (no pun intended).

On that note, the site’s co-founders have defended their decision to sell saying that it was time “to invite more people into the project, in a way that is secure and safe for everybody. We need that, or the site will die.” And on the issue of users jumping ship:

“If the new owners will screw around with the site, nobody will keep using it. That’s the biggest insurance one can have that the site will be run in the way that we all want to. And – you can now not only share files but shares with people. Everybody can indeed be the owner of The Pirate Bay now. That’s awesome and will take the heat of us.”

In other words, the way to keep The Pirate Bay alive as we know it is for all of it’s copyright infringing users to become capitalists by purchasing shares in the company that will soon acquire the site. Then they can all get sued collectively instead.

Now that does sound like a plan.

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After pressure from EU, Apple dumping iPhone’s Universal Dock Connector? (microUSB)

Steve O'Hear — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:24:14 +0000

When news first hit that three of the leading mobile phone industry organizations had agreed on micro-USB as a mobile phone charging standard, Apple was notably absent. The iPhone maker is particularly fond of its proprietary Universal Dock Connector, you know the one that enables all sorts of third-party after market device goodness and also generates the company a nice little revenue stream through its ‘Made for iPod’ program. Today, however, the European Union (EU), after applying pressure to the industry, announced that Apple had joined competitors, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, LG, Research in Motion, Samsung and others, in agreeing to switch to the micro-USB standard from next year.

(via Rueters)

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Pirate Bay’s YouTube competitor lives on (The Video Bay)

Steve O'Hear — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:18:37 +0000

It was just over two years ago that I posted a brief note on a daring side project from Pirate Bay, the organization best know for its law-evading BitTorrent filesharing site. The project was to build a kind of YouTube-esque video streaming site, but one that operates outside of mainstream copyright law. Today we learn that the project, dubbed “The Video Bay”, lives on.

“On The Video Bay users can share video clips without having to worry about getting them taken offline due to copyright violations, true Pirate Bay-style”, writes TorrentFreak. There’s no official date as to when the site will open fully to the public or a fixed development schedule. Instead a message posted on the site asks users for patience.

“This site will be an experimental playground and as such subjected to both live and drunk (en)coding, so please don’t bug us too much if the site ain’t working properly”.

As I noted back in May 2007, The Video Bay is an ambitious project, not just from a technical point of view – coding, bandwidth etc. – but also legally.

It’s hard to imagine how a lawless ‘YouTube’ could survive in a world where IP laws are increasingly harmonized across borders, and countries have an incentive to comply with the World Trade Organization. But then again, The Pirate Bay has a pretty good track record of evading US lawyers.

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Hulu really hates the TV, PlayStation 3 blocked

Steve O'Hear — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:17:26 +0000

Based in the UK, I don’t have access to the US-only video site Hulu. But if I did I’d no longer be able to access the studio-backed Internet TV service on my PlayStation 3.

That’s because, following the Boxee fiasco, the game console has become the latest means by which to conveniently watch Hulu content on a television to be blocked, reports Engadget.

Users who try to visit the site via the PS3’s built-in web browser are being greeted with the message: “Unfortunately, this video is not available on your platform. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

For those of you who aren’t up to speed on this story, Hulu, which provides a way to watch content that mostly originates from the TV, online, doesn’t want you piping that same content back to the TV. (I know that sounds counter intuitive but bear with me.)

The reason is because that would upset the television and cable networks who fear that being able to do so might be the final push viewers need to dump their TV subscriptions altogether.

While it can’t – yet – stop you hooking up your laptop or any PC to your otherwise dormant wide screen TV, any software or device that makes it more convenient to push online content to the TV is a no no as far as Hulu is concerned.

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Weekly wrapup: HTC unveils Android-powered Hero, Flash 10 coming to smartphones, Intel and Nokia, Boxee and MLB, and more

Steve O'Hear — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:53:03 +0000

Here’s a summary of the last week’s digital lifestyle action on last100. Note that you can subscribe to the weekly wrapups, either via the special weekly wrapup RSS feed or by email.

Mobile

HTC unveils Android-powered Hero, apes Palm Pre’s Synergy

At a press conference in London this morning, HTC unveiled it latest Android-based phone – dubbed “Hero” – but unlike the G1 and HTC Magic before it, the new handset has been given a major UI overhaul that the company is calling HTC Sense.

How I plan to use my HTC Magic Android phone

As my obsession with mobile continues – the new frontier – I’ve made the decision to take out a second mobile phone contract. But with a twist. I don’t plan to make (or receive) a single call on handset number two. Instead, it will be used for data only (Web browsing, third-party Internet-connected apps and email).

Flash 10 coming to smartphones this October? Apple and RIM still missing in action

The real reason why Apple doesn’t want to embrace Adobe’s Flash is that it would offer third-party developers an alternative “runtime” on which to develop and, perhaps more importantly, distrubute apps for the iPhone, bypassing Apple’s control (and that of its partner carriers) and the iTunes App Store itself.

Intel and Nokia announce “long-term relationship” to develop Intel-based mobile devices

This one feels like a bit of a re-announcement but over time could well amount to more. Chip maker Intel and handset maker Nokia held a joint press call today to tell the world about a new “long term relationship” to share R&D and key technologies to develop a new mobile platform or range of devices that “go beyond today’s smartphones, notebooks and netbooks”.

Internet TV

Boxee grows up with official Major League Baseball streaming partnership

Forget the ongoing spat with Hulu, PC-to-TV media player Boxee has announced an official partnership with MLB.com.

Nokia testing “long form” video service

We’ve known for a long time that Nokia wants to be seen as much as a services company as a handset maker, so it shouldn’t be all that surprising to learn that the company is exploring different ways to deliver online video to mobile phones.

That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading,

- Steve (follow me on Twitter: sohear)

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Zatz Not Funny: Boxee, DTV transition, Squeezebox, and more

Steve O'Hear — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:41:59 +0000

A periodic roundup of relevant news from our friends at Zatz Not Funny…

Dicussing Boxee on TechVi

Dave Zatz: Last night, Ben Drawbaugh (EngadgetHD) and I discussed Boxee’s recent news with Randall Bennett of TechVi.

Fallout from the DTV Transition

Dave Zatz: It’s been two weeks since the digital television switch was universally flipped in what’s effectively a government spectrum fundraiser.

Hands On with the Sungale Widget Photo Frame

Mari Silbey: I’ve had something of an obsession with Wi-Fi photo frames ever since eStarling brought the first one (disastrously) to market. So naturally I jumped at the chance to get my hands on the new Sungale touch-screen, Wi-Fi, widgetized photo frame – colloquially known as the ID800WT.

New Logitech Squeezeboxes on the way

Dave Zatz: It’s been quite some time since the Squeezebox Duet and Squeezebox Boom Internet audio streamers hit the shelves in 2008. And word on the street indicates Logitech will be refreshing their lineup in short order.

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How I plan to use my HTC Magic Android phone

Steve O'Hear — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:08:55 +0000

Vodafone HTC Magic running on a SIM Zero contract on 3

Handset and contract number one will remain my trusty Nokia E71, with its fantastic physical QWERTY keyboard, superb voice call quality and reception, and huge battery life (3-4 days at a stretch). This will be my all rounder: voice, sms, email, BBC iPlayer, live radio streaming and occasional web.

Contract number two will power my shiny new HTC Magic, which runs Google’s Android OS. The phone is a Vodafone exclusive here in the UK but I picked one up on eBay – somebody’s unwanted upgrade – and the great thing about most Vodafone contract phones, as I’ve discovered, is that they come unlocked so that you can use them on any compatible network. In this case, I’ve signed up to a second contract with UK carrier 3.

But why choose 3?

The answer lies in their new “SIM Zero”, SIM-only 30 day rolling contract. Basically, it costs nothing per-month with no inclusive calls or texts – these are charged separately at fixed rates – but does allow you to pick from any of the available add-ons, in this case 1GB of mobile Internet (data) for just £5 per month. It will also be the SIM card that I’ll use most often when I’m sent a new phone to review.

The end result is that my all rounder, the Nokia E71 is costing me about £20 per month to run with an inclusive bundle of voice minutes, texts, free skype-to-skype, and 1GB of data. And my second handset – let’s call it my touch screen mini Internet tablet, the Android-powered HTC Magic – is costing me £5 per month to keep the lights on.

I know what you’re thinking, why not just carry one handset and save some money in the process. It comes down, in part, to the compromises of both devices. The Nokia E71 is super reliable – battery wise and reception – and has a keyboard I much prefer. The HTC Magic on the other hand has a superior web browser and much better over-the-air syncing with Google’s apps. And there’s the growing library of really cool third-party Internet-enabled applications and my general interest in Android as an up and coming mobile OS.

Besides, two or more mobile devices is just how I like to roll.

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