Month: December 2012

So there has been all the talk of Amazon stepping up their game and there has been rumors in the air of them releasing a smartphone. Well, I think that is grand but I also think it will crash and burn..and here is why.

You Can’t Win by Riding the Back of Another OS

If Amazon releases a phone, it will most likely be a forked version of Android just like the tablet is.  Which is where the problem begins.  When you fork a OS it means you always have to wait for the code to be released before actually updating your own.  This is why the Kindle Fire HD is running on Android 4.0 not 4.1 and definitely not 4.2.  Now it probably does not matter to much since Amazon completely changed almost everything about the OS, but there is still that point…that at any give time your OS will always be running one major version behind the rest.

Ecosystem is Everything

Android’s claim to fame is that it is the ecosystem that works well with other ecosystems.  So If you are a Amazon person you can pull in MP3s, Books, and hopefully Video onto any Android Phone.  We see this done with the Droid DNA, and I feel this might start to become a trend.  However, because Amazon is forked, they have no access to Google Apps…which is one of the perks for being in the OHA.  In addtion you can’t even market it as an Android phone even thoug it runs Android Apps, so you now have to really market your App Store, to people who already have the same App in the Play Store.  Anyway, all those Googleytes out there that need their Google apps like Search, GMail, Maps, and the like are out of luck.  Oh plus, if you have moved content over to Google that also means no access to Play Store or Google Music, Drive, Currents…etc.  Again this matters, because most of Google Apps are available for iOS and Android which account for over 80% of the smartphone market.  With Amazon services being available as a simple app download you get the best of both worlds by just getting an Android or iOS phone.  While you will miss out on services by moving to an Amazon phone.  This aspect matters more on your primary device than on a tablet which is more of a secondary media consumption device.

The Field is Getting Serious about their Stuff

With Blackberry 10 on the horizon and Windows Phone 8 trying to make their mark, what can Amazon bring to the table as an innovative smartphone for users?  Price?  Sorry the Nexus 4 already did that.  Services? By Using a forked version of Android it will be gimped from the start.  Cloud Services? Well Amazon is chasing behind everyone else here as MS, Apple, and Google…have cemented a robust offering of cloud services both for entertainment and productivity.  Amazon is only focusing on the entertainment side, which is great for Tablets, but you need both for SmartPhones.

Final Thoughts..

In the end I think it will be great for competition, and in turn great for consumers as everyone will really have to start thinking outside the box.  However, Amazon becoming a major player?  I just don’t think it will happen.  Now I could be wrong and Amazon takes a different approach to this maybe making an Amazon experience Android phone through HTC, like the Droid DNA, but even more Amazon’d out.  There could be some sort of exclusive to it, like 5% off any Amazon prime purchase through some special Amazon app on the phone. That would be major. But hey I guess we will have to wait and see.

Everyone is always releasing these best of 2012 post which some I agree with and some is pure garbage so I figured I will release my own, as it doesn’t take a genius to to make a list of the best in tech.

SmartPhones

First off lets talk about phones.  Just toss the whole Fanboy  Android vs iPhone deal out the Window, and tell your little whiny Windows phone friend to be quiet.  There was no best phone of 2012, in my opinion there were 3.  Yes of course there was the iPhone 5, Apple’s iconic phone which honestly had some major updates this cycle.  It has a better, bigger screen and 4G LTE.  Yes I know some of you will say it is so much more, but lets face it the majority of people see 2 things a bigger screen and 4G LTE, which for all intensive purposes might be, “Meh” to others, but it is major for those iOS users.  In addition, add the Galaxy S3 to your list.  As much as I hate touchwiz, it is a pretty nice device with some nifty little features, and everyone I know has that damn phone.  Finally of course the Nexus 4, yes I know it does not have LTE, but yo, that thing is $300 unlocked, who ever heard of that.  Not to mention, it is finally putting the Nexus line on the map, something Google has had a hard time doing.

Tablets

Nexus 7, no not the iPad Mini, or Kindle Fire….the Nexus 7.  This tablet had Apple fans dropping their iPads and buying 2.  When has an Android tablet ever done that.  Kindle Fire was just too….well…Amazonish, and no Google Apps, we all know how we love our Google Apps.  The iPad mini, was basically Apple forcing themselves to make a tablet so they don’t lose market share.  I mean no retina display, no GPS, and 329.00 for that thing….I think not.  I don’t care how beautiful that thing is, people don’t buy tablets to adorn like a work of art.

Finally the real best of 2012 is Project Glass..this is what tech companies should be doing, thinking outside of the box, not iterating their smartphones and calling it, some new innovation.  I still watch this YouTube video and I’m like can’t wait till this is live.  Yeah I know most have seen it but I will show it again, because it is just that cool.

With Google announcing their Scan and match service for Play Music and the recent addition of the Warner catalog a couple months back, Google’s Play Music can actually flex some muscle. For us Android user music management is always that thing which could easily drive you bonkers. This is just my perspective on the 3 major services from an Android user.

iTunes has the most content then any of the other 2 services, with most artist making it a priority to add their music to iTunes before any other digital store. In addition there are a lot more “iTunes Exclusive” content here than anywhere else. iTunes offers a match service to ease the hassle of uploading music, however there is a cost of 24.99 a year, which in the grand scheme of things is not bad. With iTunes 11 everything is completely integrated into the cloud (iCloud) and brings the ability to stream music to iOS devices without downloading it. iTunes additionally gives users AirPlay capabilities to stream music Wireless in your home.

My big issues with iTunes are that all these great features are utterly useless for someone who uses another platform outside of iOS. Yes, there are some apps which try their best to replicate those features, but it is never the same. With using iTunes with Windows or Android you will still be required to sync your music, either by syncing it to another service or syncing it directly to your phone. In addition with no native app, you have to use 3rd party apps like DoubleTwist and the like, if you want to setup some sort of wireless syncing to your phone. Even with that it still requires you to be at home or by the computer/laptop in which you are downloading the music to. These apps are great, but the one thing they do not offer is the ability to purchase music right from my phone. Actually you have to be on a computer that you installed iTunes on to purchase music, you can’t even purchase music from a web interface, so it is really limiting. Yes, there is iCloud, but unless you have an Apple device you basically cannot use the service. In addition, for those of us with huge libraries, there is no way to stream your iTunes library to an Android phone which also makes it annoying if your out of town and in the mood to play something that is not currently synced to your phone.

Amazon MP3 is actually a really nice service. For starters it’s catalog is not as big as iTunes, but they carry all of the major labels, so there is a 90% chance most people will always find what they are looking for. In addition there is a native app for Android users, which allows you to purchase and play music directly from your phone. Music could be downloaded or streamed from the Amazon cloud player, and you could always just go to Amazon.com and purchase music there which can be dropped into the cloud player and then accessed from your phone. Like iTunes there is also a match service for up to 250k songs compared to iTunes 25k for 24.99 a year.

My only real big issues with the Cloud Player are that the Android App leaves a lot to be desired..namely being the way it handles offline music…it just downloads everything to the device. Now some people might think that is great, but there is no way of managing what you want on the device and what you don’t unless you start browsing directories and deleting stuff. Also because it does it this way it makes there is no way to just download a playlist for offline play. In addition the you have to use their weird software for downloading music on your desktop which is the buggiest thing I have ever used.

Finally we come to Google Play which is technically supposed to be the standard music app for Android users. The main issue with Google Play their library and who actually has access to it. Even with the expansion of Google Play in Europe and other countries and the addition of the Warner music library, Google Play still does not have as much content as it’s rivals. For the average type of listener this may not be an issue, but for folks constantly looking for new artist and new music, there may be some artist that are not there. I have a friend you has 2 albums on iTunes and not one on the Play Store. However many of these issues are solved with Google Play’s ability to sync outside libraries (Window Media Player, iTunes, etc..) to Google Play. For me the majority of my stuff I find and if not I buy from Amazon and upload it to Google Play. Google play now additionally offers a match service for up to 20k (This kinda sucks) songs for free, so that is a big plus for many folks.

Google Play pretty much does the same things as Amazon MP3, but I feel it does it a tad bit better. For the most part syncing of your music between devices is effortless. The minute you purchase music on the web or device, it will be synced and show up on your tablet or phone. There is no telling the player to sync music as everything happens in the background. In addition Google Play handles offline playback by caching music to your device, by simply “Pinning” a song, album, playlist or even an artist. If you are running out of space you can simply unpin something to add something else. I usually keep just playlist cached to my device, so whenever I add a new song to the playlist, the app knows to also save the song to my device since it is in a playlist that is set for offline playback (Amazon MP3s does not do this). In addition downloading music to your computer is just downloading a compressed file, unlike Amazon or iTunes which is not as straight forward.

In the end everyone has their preference and what they are used to, but I think for those of us on Android, we are finally seeing some good things happening with Google Play.

So,

Yesterday Google released their much anticipated Maps App for iOS and causing craziness last night, and FanBoys on each side stirring up trouble. Android Fans pissed that Google gave the iPhone Maps, Apple Fans still pushing Apple’s Maps as better. I guess you can’t please everyone.

Anyway a few days go Eric Schmidt made the comment, “The Platform War is Over and Android won” which I agree with, but with some caveats. I believe Eric is talking about the platform war in regards to the race to get user market-share. That has always kind of bean what the platform war is about. Companies create services and hardware to attract more and more users, Google needs it to push more ads, Apple and Samsung needs users to sell more hardware. Anyway I won’t get into business model differences here.

My point is that the Platform War was more of a battle, to see what OS will become dominant. What platform will more users be using. The answer is a resounding Android and you really can’t argue with that. However, the platform battle is a big chunk of the larger Ecosystem War. Google, Amazon, and Apple are the big three players on the ecosystem side. Samsung and other OEMs do not play in their league, and will probably never play in their league.

Each ecosystem offers a robust App Catalog, Music, Video, Books, Magazines, and services all integrated together for the user. However each company is fighting the Eco-System War differently.

Amazon provides users with a forked Android experience taking the popularity of Android and using that to create their own App Catalog which is basically Android Apps. They key here is that Amazon now has app exclusives and offers competitive pricing pulling Android users into their store. Amazon additionally has Music, and Video offerings which rival that of iTunes in pricing and availability with Amazon starting to offer their complete ecosystem on the Android and Apple ecosystem it will eventually start poaching users from iTunes. Amazon does not have it’s own smartphone which is the primary device these days. So it does create an issue when you have to relay on another Ecosystems primary device to put your ecosystem on.

Google’s Ecosystem is built on Android, and is a different beast. Google considers Android the Ecosystem of ecosystems, touting it as an OS that is designed for you to choose the ecosystem of your liking. However, because Google basically controls the Android OS, they make sure Google services are more deeply integrated into the OS at it’s core. This includes features like Google Search and Google Voice, which is much more integrated than Skinned versions of Android. Now Google’s move is to offer their services to as many users as possible. Because Google does not sell products like Apple, or Product and Services like Amazon. Google sales targeted ads. That is how they make their money. So the more people that are using Google services the better Google is at targeting ads accurately. This is why you do see Maps, Search, Chrome, Drive, Earth, and other services for iOS. I think we will eventually see Google Music, Google Magazines, Books, and other content come to the iPhone as a native app as well. Yes I know Android phones will balk, but it is business, I think as Android becomes more polished the OS will be able to stand on it’s own. I think we are at that point that the majority of people want Android because of Android. I predict Google Now will stay an Android exclusive until the OS is 100% polished, and then they will port it out to iOS.

Now we all know Apple’s ecosystem, it is more of a closed wall ecosystem on the mobile side. They do not offer their services natively for any other OS. You basically need to find an app that will be able to tie into iTunes, AirPlay, iCloud, etc…This aspect basically forces the user to purchase Apple hardware if they want full integration to their services. Is it right? Yes, it is right for Apple, they are a hardware company, and that is how they make their money. Think if Apple just the iTunes app for Android, that will cut into their bottom line because they are no longer making money off the hardware purchase which is about 60% of Apple’s profits. If Google loses an Android user because of Maps (It will happen but it won’t be anything major) Google still makes their cash because that user is still using their services and is still tied into their ecosystem.

Long story short Apple provides probably the best streamlined ecosystem compared to Amazon and Google, when the user completely buys in to Desktop, Phone, Tablet, and TV. However we all know the majority of people operate in mixed platforms something Like iPad, Android Phone, Windows Desktop, and an Apple TV or Roko. When that is the typical device make up of a user it is inevitable that the company that wins the Ecosystem war will be the company that has more interoperabillty between the different platforms.

So who wins? I honestly don’t know I think the battle for the Television space will play a huge role on how the ecosystem battle shifts. I do feel Google is winning on the shear fact Android has more users, and their services are accessible to more people regardless of platform. As Google begins to create more native Apps on iOS rivaling Apples services Google can start making huge jumps ahead.

Anyway just my thoughts…what say you?

So,

2013 is coming and it basically means new stuff, new phones, new tablets, new tech, new everything. Google I/O, WWDC, CES, and every other major conference out there. So looking back on 2012 it was the year everyone got their Smartphone’s in order. Apple gave us LTE, Google gave us Project Butter…and everyone’s experience is pretty much on par with each other…..so my point.

2013 Will be the year of the Battle for the Big Screen. Smartphones are pretty much moving in an iterative stage and the next step is integration across devices. So remember that Sphere called the Nexus Q that wass 299.99 and ended being free to those who pre-ordered. Well I think it will come back under Android@Home. I was seraching for something and I came across an old blog post from Slash Gear talking about the ins and outs of Android@Home and I saw something that looked familliar

via cdn.slashgear.com

Yeah it is a sphere that can read NFC tags off of CD’s and download music into your Play Music Account. Reminds you of something? You can read more about it herehttp://www.slashgear.com/slashgear-101-androidhome-09212910/.

But my whole thing is that Google is not trying to have Apple one up them on the TV, so I think they may completely rethink Google TV. They released it to OEMs which basically just could not get it right and now it is time for Google to take lead…like they did with the 7″ Tablets platform, so this is what I am guessing.

• The Nexus Q will be merged with the Google TV. Offering a full package audio and video streaming box or sphere.
• The Device will also be a Miracast device to handle mirroring from Tablets and Phones
• The device will also be a hub for home automation services connected through WiFi Direct or WiFi

Now the Cable Provider issues. As we all know Google TV is a layer on top of your cable box enhancing your experience. However, since Cable Providers are annoying they did not let the system tie in with the DVR effectively limiting your experience. The point of Google TV is to have one input to access anything you need be just clicking a button on a remote and I think this is how it can work.

• Work with the Cable Companies to have them push DVR Access in their Apps.On Demand is now being added to the Apps so the only thing which is needed is DVR content
• The Your DVR button on the Google TV should be linked to the Cable Providers App which will launch directly into a DVR activity when you click on it, this can be managed through the Intents system so you can default that action to any TV App, TWC, Xfinity, Dish or any other app. Once you select a show to watch it will just switch your DVR to that selected recording. The Cable companies App controls everything.
• Also Add a On Demand Button which will also launch the same type of activity into the on demand portion of the App. Which will launch the on-demand show directly on the cable box when selected.
• Add Tie-Ins to content providers applications like IMDB, HBO, Showtime, and TNT.
• Finally everything should be searchable though the Universal Search similar to Universal search on the phone. If you search for things like NCIS, you will get a list of episodes available on Live TV, Through the DVR, On on Demand, or through any other app. It will also give you Youtube clips, IMDB information, and Wikipedia Entries

I think in the end everyone benefits. Cable Companies will completely control the access to their media through their own app, it will not be a direct tie in. So in turn their app will be controlling their DVR. This will allow users to have access to all media content from one input. The app would have to be modified for TV, but I don’t think this will be some difficult task, and it would just layer on top of what you are currently watching on the actual TV, regardless of what that is.
Anyway just my thoughts…

So,

Like everyone else we got another Google Now update today. I count at least 4 updates since Google Now went live on JB in July. Google’s core apps, are not built into the Android OS, so these Apps can be updated at any given time multiple times between release cycles keeping Google’s apps fresh and up to date.

I feel this separation of apps might create an issue for Apple trying to keep up with Google’s apps. Google Now is a perfect example, where it has been updated about 4 times in about 6 Months, Siri has been updated about 3 times in the past year. This allows Google to just load features when they are ready instead of having to wait for a major OS update that cannot happen that often. In addition Google has even moved the Calendar app into the app store, which shows a trend. I think by the time Android 5.0 comes out we might start seeing the Phone app and SMS app move to the play store allowing people to choose a Nexus like experience by just downloading the app.

I really think that integrated messaging will be next major thing on Android, and it will most likely be the evolution of Google Talk. Basically an API based messaging app that can link into Facebook, whatsapp, and others. With Google Voice having the option to integrate itself into the app, similar to what happens with the Voicemail and Phone app. The how crazy part here is that it would start as a downloadable app, like chrome started. Google will probably update every other month fast tracking the features and integration, and probably finally make it the default app on the next OS release.

Ok I’m starting to ramble…

Long story short if Apple is really trying to compete move away from the perceived OS staleness, moving their Core Apps out the OS and into the App Store on a more frequent update cycle might be the way to go. It would make the competition intense and force all companies to really start thinking outside the box with the future of their OS’

What do you all think?