This past holiday season it was quite evident that the Amazon Kindle Fire was incredibly successful, especially for Amazon. But what does that success mean for Google? It may not mean as much as you would think and you may know why if you own the Kindle Fire. Look though your Kindle Fires apps, what is missing that all Android phones have? That’s right, the Android Marketplace. Amazon essentially gutted out the Marketplace and put their own in its place. Which means one thing for Google, less profit.
Jan 26
Oct 19
The huge influx of Androids, iPhones, iPads, Blackberries and other “App” capable devices have allowed every-day people with a little coding knowledge to create their own programs. Everything from finding happy hour specials at local bars to doctors being able to analyze x-rays can now be seen in apps for mobile devices. This open-source theme, is about to take a step to the next level.
Bug Labs, a small firm out of New York, is attempting to provide this freedom to not only applications, but the devices themselves. Using their hardware, anyone can invent a device that will be compatible with their mobile plans. Pete Semmelhack, CEO of Bug Labs, explained to the New York Observer, “Right now there are hundreds of thousands of apps but only a few dozen mobile devices. We want to create an ecosystem for mobile hardware that is just as robust as the one which exists for software.” Continue reading »
Oct 06
Who has the better apps? Who has the better maps? Who has the better phones? Verizon and AT&T, the two powerhouse cell phone providers, constantly try to find ways to one up each other. A recent development paints the picture that AT&T has taken the next big step.
After a three-year delay, Transit Wireless, LLC announced in July it had secured the financing needed to build a network that would allow for cell phone service in all 277 New York City subway stations. AT&T, along with T-Mobile, have each signed 10-year agreements to gain access to this new network. Continue reading »
Feb 11
Photo via BusinessInsider.com
Back in November, I did a post about how GQ’s app for new and used cell phones marked the beginning of a shift to the paradigm of the magazine world. It seems the explosion of the “App” world has had the same effect on the newspaper industry as The New York Times app has recently reached 3 million downloads. In December alone, they had 75 million page views from mobile sites and apps.
It seems that apps have squelched fears of the Internet killing printed media (in revenue at least). According to Business Insider, The Time’s fourth quarter Internet revenues “increased 10.3% to $102.0 million from $92.5 million, and Internet advertising revenues increased 10.6 percent to $90.6 million from $81.9 million, thanks to a considerable boost from About.com.”
Although the days of actually getting your fingers dirty from flipping newspaper pages may soon be history, continued advancement in the fields of cell phone and tablet technology will no doubt offer the printed media industry an arena in which to thrive. A piece of me will miss the feel of the pages on my fingers but, hey, it’s good news for trees, right?
Feb 04
Some friends in NYC have a great blog called Born Tired, which consists of nothing but images captured from their new and refurbished cell phones. Most of the members reside in New York, but many of the contributors travel frequently, so photos get posted from around the world. The pictures range from funny and ridiculous to beautiful and artsy, but what makes Born Tired so awesome is that the photos are nothing more than glimpses of everyday life.
The dominant theme of the blog is photos of people sleeping in public/random places (hence the name Born Tired), but a bunch of other themes have developed as the blog gained popularity. A lot of them are kind of inside jokes, but if you frequent the blog, you’ll start to pick up on them.
Born tired has gained so much popularity over the past year that there’s a sandwich named after the blog at Hana Food Corporation in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and the the blog is now actually being made into a book. The book will be a collection of the most popular photos as well as sections for the most common themes, and it will be published by &Press sometime this year. Born Tired the book is rumored to be approximately 150 pages in length and should retail for $10 – $15. We’ll keep you updated on the release.
Jan 21
The New York Times recently published an article about how the amount of people injured by walking into something while distracted by their new or refurbished cell phones is on the rise, which was both funny and kind of sad as I’ve definitely run into a few stationary objects mid text.
According to the article, more than 1,000 people visited the emergency room in 2008 because of a walking/running accident that occurred while they were using their cell phone. Apparently that number had doubled from 2007, which was twice the number from 2006.
Jack L. Nasar, a professor of city and regional planning at Ohio State, points out that the actual number of injuries incurred from being distracted by mobile phones is much, much higher, but most of the injuries aren’t serious enough to warrant a visit to the emergency room, so they go unrecorded.
The night after I read this article I visited my favorite restaurant, and the waitress told about how she had just walked into the corner of her coffee table because she was texting her boyfriend. I can’t help but laugh at myself every time I walk into something, but I guess it would be a lot different if it were an oncoming bus that I stepped in front of. Note to self: Look up more often while texting.
