It looks like Microsoft is kicking ass with their mobile phone division:

Microsoft is cutting 2,850 more jobs beyond the 1,850 that the company announced would be eliminated earlier this year. The new cuts will hit phone hardware and sales.

The entire computer world has moved to mobile, with everyone on either iOS or Android, while Microsoft is at the gate after the flight has taken off. They began efforts to reboot Windows Phone a few years after the iPhone came out (2008-ish), but as we can see by their job cuts in mobile, it has not been successful. If you look at any chart of mobile market share they rarely come up.

This failure in Microsoft’s mobile hardware efforts is interesting in light of the 300 million active devices that are (supposedly) running Windows 10 as of this past May.

Meanwhile, today is your last chance to get Windows 10 for free, because, you know, it’s that great that people will want to buy it tomorrow.

IDC: Smartwatch shipments fall for the first time; Apple only company in top 5 to decline:

The smartwatch market has hit its first bump, and it’s all Apple’s fault. Vendors shipped a total of 3.5 million smartphones worldwide last quarter. This Q2 2016 figure is down 32 percent from the 5.1 million units shipped in Q2 2016, marking the first decline on record.

It should be noted Apple has 47 percent of the smartwatch market, with Samsung a distant second with 16 percent. Also note Microsoft’s marketshare is so small it isn’t even on the list yet.

I’ve got my eyes on an the next Watch I expect Apple to announce this September/October. The original Watch was released April 2015.

It’s time for an update.

Consumer Reports: Samsung phone not actually water resistant:

The problem appears limited to the Galaxy S7 Active, a rugged model available only through AT&T in the U.S. The standard S7 and S7 Edge models have the same claims on water resistance and passed tests.

Consumer Reports, a non-profit organization that is well respected for its product testing, said Friday that it can’t recommend the Active because it doesn’t meet Samsung’s own claims. By contrast, Consumer Reports rates the S7 and S7 Edge phones as “Excellent” for their displays, battery life and cameras.

Nice try, Samsung.

Microsoft is giving students a free Xbox One with Surface Pro 4 purchases:

Microsoft is tempting students to buy a Surface Pro 4 this week with a new promotion running at its retail stores in the US. The software maker is taking $300 off when students buy a Surface Pro 4 and Xbox One. “So basically a free Xbox One with the purchase of a Surface Pro 4,” says Terry Myerson, head of Windows and devices at Microsoft, in an interview with The Verge. The deal goes live today and will run until August 14th.

Has Apple ever had to give away hundreds of dollars worth of tech to get kids to use it?

Erik Person thinks of some possible scenarios (via Daring Fireball) for how Apple can replace the headphone jack on the iPhone, as it has been rumored to be doing.

I think his ‘Wired, Option 1’ is the most likely:

It is possible the new headphones will be wired and will plug into the Lightning port on your iPhone. This will work great for your phone, but ideally you would still be able to plug into your Mac.

I don’t know the technical aspects of how thick the wire between the earpieces and the iPhone would need to be, but if it were as thick as the standard USB-Lightning charging cable, that would be pretty obnoxious. On the plus side, it would not tangle easily.

In none of his scenarios does he suggest wired headphones that plug into the Lightning jack on the iPhone and wirelessly charge/sync through induction with your Mac. I’m envisioning a base that plugs into your Mac/MacBook via USB, so technically it would be a ‘wirelessly-wired’ solution. I mentioned this last week.

I’m thinking something like the charging stone for the Palm Pre:

I’m thinking about magnets too. Apple loves magnets. They introduced the Magsafe connector on the MacBook Pro in 2006, magnets to hold MacBooks closed, magnets to hold smart covers to iPads, and magnets to hold induction chargers to Watches.

So, yeah. Maybe we get another magnet.

I updated Dropbox earlier today and I noticed the UI is a little bit more Instagram-y:

Instagram UI for reference (current and previous):

More info on the new “productivity” features here.

I’m not sure I’ll ever use any of the features they listed, but as long file syncing remains rock solid, I’ll continue to be a paying Dropbox customer.

Gary Hustwit, the creator of the films Urbanized and Helvetica, is back with a new Kickstarter project, RAMS. RAMS, “…is the world’s first feature documentary on legendary designer Dieter Rams.”

Sign me up.

via CNet

Photo by: Ken Landau

I remember when tech news sites were mocking Apple when they introduced gold color finishing on iPhones, and then on the ‘new’ MacBook.

Seems the mocking is over as Samsung and LG continue to copy Apple’s product designs.

Check out the web page for LG’s new, ultra-thin laptop, the ‘gram’ (really? the whole product name is lowercase?)

And as David Barker noted on Designer News, they even pasted in a shot from Final Cut Pro on OS X.

And here’s the new MacBook Apple debuted in 2015:

Tony Larsson on why you shouldn’t worry about identity theft (via Life Hacker):

Bringing a product to market takes a huge investment of time, energy and money. This means that if a person wanted to capitalize on your idea, they would need to stop current endeavors and refocus their life on this new task.

It is highly unlikely that the person you are sharing your idea with would want to do that. Also the type of person that would completely change their life course on a whim, probably lacks the focus necessary for executing the idea in the first place.

Most people don’t execute their great ideas. Most of the time peoples’ ideas turn out to be shit anyway.

Actually, many of ideas of successful people start out crappy as well. The difference is the successful person has the grit and drive to iterate on an idea until it becomes something great.

While I generally agree with Larsson, I would be careful about who you share your great ideas with if you live in Silicon Valley or San Francisco. Don’t get what I call, “Zuckerberg’d”.

Budweiser is one of the worst-tasting beers ever made, and unless it’s 100 degrees and there’s nothing else to drink at a barbeque, I won’t go near it. I have a few friends who can afford any beer they want but they’ll get a Bud if we go out to a bar and I just don’t understand how they can enjoy the taste of it.

All this dislike being said, this can redesign by Jones Knowles Ritchie is sharp.

Techcrunch: Adobe Launches Animate CC, Previously Known As Flash Professional:

Adobe tells me that about a third of the content product in Flash Professional was actually HTML5 content — so the old name really didn’t make sense anymore. “HTML5 has become the standard and this reflects the tool’s role,” Adobe evangelist Paul Trani told me. “We don’t care what you want to do. Want to do Flash? Fantastic.”

Trani noted that, with some very minor exceptions, HTML5 can now replace Flash for almost all standard use cases that Animate CC’s users were looking for.

I used Macromedia Adobe Flash for many years to make immersive, interactive experiences long before it was even close to possible to do it with HTML and JavaScript.

It’s great to see Adobe get with the times and adjust course with it’s products. I haven’t used Animate CC yet, but I’m hoping it’s good. The need to create interactive experiences and animations is more important than ever in today’s websites and mobile applications.

Pentagram’s Emily Oberman brands Snoop Dogg’s new line of weed products:

Pentagram partner Emily Oberman has crafted the identity for Snoop Dogg’s new line of cannabis-based products called Leafs by Snoop. Adopting a “laid-back California cool” aesthetic for the rapper and ganja lover’s range, a leaf motif features throughout. A mix of pastel gold colours and imagery like palm trees, fish, birds and cloudy skies completes the sunny identity.

You know you’re mainstream when Pentagram does your product branding for you.

I love the deliberately incorrect spelling of the product.

Paul Thurrott on the problems with Microsoft’s Surface tablets:

Microsoft is having its iPhone 4 “Antennagate” moment, thanks to rampant reliability issues with its Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 devices. But rather than publicly face the problems head-on, the software giant has retreated behind a veil of silence. This is a huge mistake, and it is undermining the credibility and viability of its hardware offerings.

I’ve offered this advice privately, to no avail. Allow me to now make it publicly.

Microsoft, you’re f@#$ing up. Big time.

If Microsoft wants to play with the big boys and big girls in the hardware game, it’s gotta man up and address these problems head-on.