From Roberta Cowan at Reuters:

Next-generation software for BlackBerry’s smartphones is “ready to compete”, Research In Motion’s new chief executive, Thorsten Heins, told more than 2,000 technical developers on Tuesday, expressing confidence in RIM’s long-term future.

This reminds of those Japanese holdouts who continued to fight even after World War II ended.
via The Loop

So Microsoft now thinks the Web is better without plug-ins (via CNet):

“Metro-style IE runs plug-in free to improve battery life as well as security, reliability, and privacy for consumers,” said John Hrvatin, Internet Explorer program manager lead, in a blog post. “A plug-in free Web benefits consumers and developers and we all take part in the transition.”

How convenient. I guess that whole push with Silverlight to de-throne Flash is over, eh?
For the record, I was wondering Silverlight’s relevance way back in 2007.

iFixit.org sounds very interesting. Probably because I grew up spending a lot of time in junkyards and my dad’s basement fixing shit too:

We have been traveling to developing countries in Asia and Africa, visiting e-waste scrapyards and small repair shops, meeting “fixers” who breathe new life into gadgets that the western world has tossed away, and photographing the journey. Part travelogue, part investigative reporting, part soapbox, iFixit.org promises only one thing: a clear-eyed, thoughtful look at global repair culture.

via Minimal Mac

via The Atlantic

Sam Biddle for Gizmodo on ultrabooks:

What is an Ultrabook? Intel says they’re supposed to be affordable (around $1,000), thin (no more than 0.8 inches), light (no more than 3.1 pounds) and tenacious in the battery. They’re to have speedy SSD storage. That is Plato’s Ultrabook.

Thank you, Mr. Biddle. The term has been driving me crazy since it was introduced. It was adopted by PC makers to help them compete with the MacBook Air and term ‘netbook’ started to lose its coolness a few years ago.
Oh, by the way, the MacBook Air just turned 4 years old.
How many times to I have to say I’m tired of writing about Apple?

MG Siegler responds to the rumor Google will introduce their own Android tablet this spring:

The problem here is that Amazon is selling the Kindle Fire at or near break-even (they may even be losing money on each unit sold when you consider marketing, etc). And customers are getting what they pay for — a tablet of significantly less quality than the iPad.

If Google is going to undercut the $199 price, the hardware is either going to be shit — or Google is going to have to take a significant loss on each one sold. Maybe they do that and say they’ll make it back in search advertising. But there is real money they’re going to have to pay to an OEM to get them to agree to that.

Siegler’s whole post is spot on, but what about the ecosystem this “highest quality” Android is going to live in? Eric Schmidt’s quote seems to be addressing the hardware of the device. Hardware is only half the story.
It’s like selling a car to someone who lives in the desert. Sure, they have a great piece of automotive technology with climate control, and power steering and satellite radio, but it’s useless without access to roads and gas stations and mechanics.
This is essentially what Android tablets are today — cars in the desert.
Amazon gets this and while their car might be crappy, they at least have roads to drive on and places to go. Books, music and movies, all a few clicks away. Seamless.
Yes Google has their Android Marketplace but from most the articles I’ve read, it’s a place where you can’t make much money and the piracies rival what you’d see on a Canal Street here in Manhattan.
So for me, I could give a shit what Google releases, if they release anything, this spring. If I have nowhere to go when I drive off the dealer’s lot, it’s not even worth buying.

I love as more and more details and clues are leaked regarding Apple’s future product plans, things become so obvious to these brilliant, insightful analysts.
Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee talks about Apple’s (supposed) entry into the television market (via paidContent.org):

Frankly, we are not surprised and believe AAPL should enter the TV space as this is arguably the only major end market the company is not currently participating in a bigger way.

“Moreover, we have picked up several data points indicating activity from component makers to manufacturing partners as well as AAPL’s own patent filings from at least 2005.

“We believe it makes sense for AAPL to produce Apple TV in both a set-top box as well as an integrated all-in-one version to give users choice.

Wu wasn’t surprised at all. Wonder if he was expecting this 6 months ago, or a year? I’m sure that part in Walter Isaacson’s bio of Steve Jobs where Jobs talks about cracking the TV market didn’t help you at all either.
Analysts are about as reliable as weather people. It’s only when they see the clouds on the horizon can they predict the rain.
Newsflash – I can do that too.

Despite the thoughtful and elegant design of the new Windows Phone OS, it seems Microsoft is having trouble getting developers to design and build quality applications.

In response to this, Microsoft Canada has launched the Developer Movement, which gives away prizes for each quality application a developer makes.

I don’t think Apple ever had to pay developers to ensure their applications were well-designed.

Where’s that Ballmer chant when you need it?

David Pogue imagines a world where car companies operated like tech companies:

Here at the annual Consumer Electronic Automotive Show, the largest trade show in the world, the carheads have again made their annual pilgrimage to see what new breakthrough vehicles will be finding their way into American garages in the new year.

Axxle, the Cupertino, Calif., automaker, is again notable by its absence. But even though its perfectionist founder, Steve Hubs, recently died, the company’s impact was everywhere at the show.

When Axxle announced its sleek, simple-to-drive iCar last year, automotive blogs like Gizmoto and Engearjet savaged it for its lack of a windshield, doors, roof and body. “Only the fanboys would want to drive a flat glass surfboard,” went a typical remark.

Well done.

WSJ: Microsoft, Nokia Flirted With RIM:

Microsoft Corp. and Nokia Corp. in recent months flirted with the idea of making a joint bid for Research In Motion Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter.

Really? Microsoft and Nokia flirted with RIM? This RIM?
Like the way Vinny, Pauly and the Situation flirt with grenades to bring home at the end of the night?
I think we need a grenade whistle any time a company gets close to RIM.
Do Microsoft and Nokia have technology beer goggles on that make RIM appear like a valuable acquisition?

The Editorial Board of the Washington Post has weighed in on ICANN’s upcoming push to create more top-level domains. The Post is wondering what, exactly, is the point?

“A potential disaster,” declared Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz during a congressional hearing last week. An invitation to extortion, cried a coalition of businesses. A crippling blow, warned a group of nonprofits.

Who knows? It will definitely be a change, and it’s going to cost some coin. But for regular people, not corporations (although some consider them people, apparently), it remains to be seen whether it will matter all that much.

Instagram is one of the most used applications on my iPhone. So I was happy to see Apple pick them as iPhone App Of The Year for 2011.
Nate Bolt at TechCrunch boils down Instagram’s popularity to quality, audience and constraints (via Working Title).
So it pained me to read news like this one at CNet (via The Brooks Review):

“I think the advertising experience is going to be extremely engaging,” Systrom said. “It’s much harder with text,” but Instagram offers photos, and brand names such as Audi, Kate Spade, and Burberry have joined Instagram.

The optimistic and delusional side of my brain read the CNet article in the context of the Android version of Instagram they’re working on. Having advertisements on Android is a natural thing – it’s how Google pays the bills. And it’s how Google encourages developers to pay their bills. But there’s other ways to pay the bills.
Right now Instagram is free. Maybe hindsight tells us even just charging $.99 would have been better than giving it away. Maybe charging for Instagram would have also prevented it’s rise in popularity. Maybe not.
My hope is that Instagram will figure out a classy way to integrate advertising that doesn’t disrupt the experience. Even better, offer a premium, ad-free version. I’d be willing to pay and I bet many others would be too.

Technology Review says gasoline fuel cells may be coming soon (via Technabob):

If you want to take an electric car on a long drive, you need a gas-powered generator, like the one in the Chevrolet Volt, to extend its range. The problem is that when it’s running on the generator, it’s no more efficient than a conventional car. In fact, it’s even less efficient, because it has a heavy battery pack to lug around.

Now researchers at the University of Maryland have made a fuel cell that could provide a far more efficient alternative to a gasoline generator. Like all fuel cells, it generates electricity through a chemical reaction, rather than by burning fuel, and can be twice as efficient at generating electricity as a generator that uses combustion.

Burning fuel, lol.

via Flickr via Shawn Blanc