What’s going on over at Google? I’m serious. Has Google lost its way? Are Google products less “Googley” than ever before? We take a look at some of the recent Google design problems.
Klout recently announced that it raised a new round of funding led by Kleiner Perkins as the company prepares to make a big splash in 2012, but does your Klout score matter? I look at the future of Klout and the impact it may (or may not) have on the individual.
Want a quick and easy way to sell digital content online? Look no further then Gumroad. Gumroad is a web service that allows its users to sell digital content such as music, blog posts, graphics, website designs, and more with the click of the mouse.
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These days, with new tech products regularly being released and an almost limitless number of websites dedicated to them online, it’s no surprise that the internet is brimming with reviews of the latest technology. Trying to decide which new smartphone to purchase? There are many people online willing to offer you input and advice. Looking for laptop reviews? A quick Google search will bring you thousands upon thousands of results.
Of course, this saturation of information is largely a good thing. Without ever seeing a product, the consumer can learn all of its specs, see pictures of it from every angle, and gauge the opinion of both normal customers and technology experts. A person with very specific interests or needs can almost certainly find someone out there who directly addresses those issues. From a free market, capitalistic, consumer-oriented perspective, the mass of available online reviews is incredibly beneficial.
Did you update to iOS 5 and are now experiencing this error message when using your iPhone to send/receive text messages?
“Your SMS mailbox is full. New messages cannot be received until you delete some messages.”
You’re not alone. I learned about this issue from a friend of mine who updated her iPhone 4 to iOS 5 and that message popped up on her screen. At first I thought it was an AT&T issue, but then I learned it was affecting other carriers as well. Next I thought something may have occurred with her backup while updating to iOS 5 due to Apple’s server issues, only then to see someone say they were having the issue on a brand new iPhone 4S after restoring to a backup of their iPhone 4. However, there is an explanation and a fix.
I was just walking home from the gym and I ran into my UPS delivery man on my way up the stairs to my apartment, so of course, I ask him “so how many iPhone’s did you deliver today?” to which he replied, “a lot!” He then went on to tell me that UPS is delivering 800,000 iPhone 4S devices today company-wide. That’s a lot. And remember, those are just pre-orders that made it into the “Delivers by October 14th” grouping. So, yes, that is a lot of phones.
Am I surprised? Not really, especially considering over 1 million iPhone 4S’s were sold in the first 24 hours. I’m curious to know how many were sold in store throughout the day today. Guess we will have to wait and find out.
Just as quick as it appeared, Qwikster has been killed off by Netflix. You may remember our thoughts on the launch of Qwikster being skeptical. It seemed to be a rushed and reactive launch and it was. According to the Netflix blog, in a post by Reed Hastings (CEO of Netflix), they have canned Qwikster and will be keeping DVD rentals on Netflix.com.
It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.
This means no change: one website, one account, one password… in other words, no Qwikster
You think? These are some of the exact reasons we highlighted as being a potential problem in our article.
So you’re not eligible for the subsidized pricing on the iPhone 4S yet? I feel your pain. I’m not either. Granted, some of you may have it worse than I do as I only have to wait until November 25th, 2011. So I’m kind of close to being able to get my hands on the newest and sleekest iDevice — the iPhone 4S. My girlfriend however, who got her iPhone 4 on launch day (the same day and time I got it — we waited in line together) is eligible. Riddle me that.
This is a similar situation I have noticed appearing on Twitter, “my so and so got their iPhone 4 after me and is eligible, but I’m not. How does that make sense?” Exactly, how does it make sense? Frustrated and upset like many people who want the latest iPhone but don’t want to fork over an additional $250 for the same phone that costs everyone who is eligible for an upgrade $250 less, I called AT&T.
Well, there is always next year for the iPhone 5, right? Right. Despite the rumor mill churning up some juicy stuff – some believable, some not so much about an iPhone 5, larger screen, and even Sprint exclusivity the iPhone launch has come and gone and what were we left with this year? An iPhone 4S. The release of the iPhone 4S has left some with a bittersweet taste in their mouth, while others are still in disbelief over the release. Many consumers and investors (including myself) were expecting a newly designed shell and a larger screen to be included with the new iPhone, but instead, both were missing from the release. Leading me to the question — were our expectations too high?
Apple has been on a roll recently, soaring stock price, sales through the roof, and awesome brand equity. It is everybody’s favorite consumer products company. If there’s one thing Apple does well it is selling its products. It does this so well because Apple knows how to market to everyone, but it is also because the company is so meticulous in its approach to everything. Everything has to be perfectly crafted and executed. There are no half-baked releases at Apple.
In a post by Google’s Bradley Horowitz, he announced that blink-182′s +Mark Hoppus and +Tom DeLonge are going to be live talking about Google+, their tour, and their new album (Neighborhoods) at 3pm PST (6PM EST) today. They will be streaming it live on the YouTube channel AtGoogleTalks.
If you are not familiar with the Google Talks YouTube channel it brings authors, musicians, innovators, and speakers of all types to Google for talks centering on their recently published books (or in this case albums) and capturing the popular and intellectual zeitgeist of the day. In the past, Google has invited other notable people to talk including Dane Cook, Kevin Mitnick, and Penn Jillette.
According to the Michael Arrington’s new blog, UnCrunched, as well as an article on TechCrunch posted by Erick Schonfeld, MG Siegler has joined CrunchFund as a general partner. The news doesn’t come as too much of a surprise as most people who have been following the recent drama at TechCrunch probably expected something like this to happen. However, that being said, it appears that MG will stay on as a columnist at TechCrunch to cover Apple. Being that MG has gained a lot of notoriety for his Apple coverage, it doesn’t seem like much is really changing in terms of his writing at TC.
It should be interesting to see how MG’s input as a general partner will factor into investment decisions, especially since it seems he’s new to the venture capital world. It could bring an interesting new and fresh perspective to the fund. Nonetheless, congrats to MG and best of luck to CrunchFund.
BGR reports that Sprint may have secured exclusivity of the iPhone 5 leaving AT&T and Verizon with the watered down iPhone 4S. Is this true? I find it hard to believe. According to the article, Sprint would be committed to purchasing 30.5 million iPhone’s over four years for $20 billion regardless of whether how well they sell. That would lead to a nice chunk of short term cash for Apple, but in my opinion would have detrimental long term effects.
Additionally, the article goes on to say the Sprint iPhone 5 will be a 4G WiMAX device. Meanwhile, AT&T and Verizon would launch the iPhone 4S and get the iPhone 5 some time in the first quarter of next year as an LTE device. The rest of the world would be looking at the iPhone 5 as a 4G HSPA+ device.
Tomorrow is October 4th, the day a lot of us have been waiting for. Apple is expected to announce the next generation iPhone. We have take the time to break down and examine a number of the rumors.
iPhone 4S: The possibility that Apple will release a slightly modified iPhone 4S at a lower price to replace the existing 15+ month old iPhone 4 seems plausible. Prices of iPhone 4 components have come down and this would be an excellent opportunity to upgrade the iPhone 4 to make it even more appealing to customers looking for a “cheaper” smartphone. If Apple went ahead and did this it could be a huge blow to the competition.
iPhone 5: The release of an iPhone 5 is hard to say will happen for certain. Apple doesn’t always release new bodies when they announce an iPhone, just look at the 3G and 3GS. While I wouldn’t be surprised if the iPhone 5 was a completely new design with all of the speculated rumors (e.g. larger screen, CDMA/GSM, Assistant, etc), I also wouldn’t be surprised if all of that stuff was just implemented into the iPhone 4S and that was the only thing released.
