Author Archives: Trapped Speed

DIAL In Your Roku

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The latest news from Roku is that they are going to adopt support for a fledgling standard called DIAL. According to The Verge, they will bring a Chromecast like ability to the already bountiful video experience offered by Roku.

This is a great move by Roku, an example of the need to assume your competitors strengths before they can assume yours (Most often cited between Netflix and HBO). Next on the list should probably be to counter the downward movement of games consoles like the Wii Mini or PS Vita TV.

iTunes Store Suggestion

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Not sure how this has been overlooked so long, but the iOS version of iTunes should support the same wish list capabilities of the desktop app. It would be great to be able to tag songs and albums as “to be purchased” or just to be remembered later. This could also have a social aspect, as friends and family could buy you music from that list on your birthday or another special occasion.

Also lacking on iOS is support for iTunes Extras and LP. These services enhance the movie and music album experience with extra content such as commentary and artwork or liner notes. The big screen of the iPad or the lean back entertainment of the Apple TV is ripe for support of these features. Another incentive to retain customers by offering the best experience across devices.

Lastly, iTunes would have a greater wow factor for customers if their content purchases would sync up to the content preview. For example, when previewing a song results in a purchase of said song, the iPod app should take over playing that purchased track seamlessly from the store.

This level of attention to detail is what customers should expect from their Apple experience.

Reed Alert!

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Enterprise puns aside, big news in the RSS world today with the launch of Reeder 2 (iTunes link).  The developer Silvio Rizzi rewrote the iOS app for a post apocalyptic Google world of feed reading by including support for the top services like Feedbin and Feedly. While he was at it, Rizzi also made the app universal for iPhone and iPad (does anyone really call out the iPod Touch separately?) as well as iOS 7 optimized.

All this comes in at the price of $4.99 (US), which is reasonable given the utility if you are the type to regularly read RSS feeds. Also on the horizon is an updated release of the Mac version of Reeder, as mentioned in this tweet. After that, I imagine search would be at the top of everyone’s wish list.

 

Taking Out The Trash

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I don’t know who is more savvy: Apple for quietly dumping a little trash out the back while introducing the new iPhone 5s and 5c (West Wing style), or Macworld for catching the changes.

Dan Moren writes about the Cards app being discontinued. Instead of updating the app for iOS 7, or expanding it to be iPad compatible, Apple has pulled the plug. Always a niche product, the Cards app seemed like a good idea, and hopefully third-party apps will surpass Apple’s effort.

More alarming was the news from Jonathan Seff, who writes about a price increase for AppleCare+. While the up-front price of $99 remains the same, the “incident” cost for replacing a damaged iPhone has increased 60%, from $49 to $79. Confusingly, Apple also removed language indicating coverage for the included EarPods, though thankfully follow-up from Macworld indicates these will still be covered.

It’s not all bad news for AppleCare+, however, as Apple has expanded the option to cover the iPod Touch and iPod Classic. They’ve also brought the option to purchase AppleCare+ to many European countries.

These news bits are not horrible or particularly insightful on their own, by any standard; but they are important to remaining vigilant in the aggregate. What they do reveal: Apple is aware of the news cycle and willing to work it in order to bury stories that are not flattering to the brand.

Pulling The Thread

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Sony has announced a new console. No not that one. Not that one either. No, that one was Nintendo. No, Sony has made the very intriguing move of releasing the PS Vita TV.

Combining the likes of a Roku or Apple TV, the PS Vita TV makes a play for the affordable set top box / media streamer market. The unique differentiator Sony hopes to leverage here is its games: the ability to access an online game store and physical Vita game discs, all controlled with a venerable PlayStation controller. This is in addition to video access from companies like Hulu and other Japanese-centric services.

Technically, Nintendo was first to market with a mini console from the big three, with the Wii Mini. While probably the right idea, the Wii Mini has not garnered much attention. Sony, however, has the opportunity to zig while Microsoft is zagging; while the Xbox One attempts to be the ultimate all-in-one, Sony is segmenting the market with a high-end (PS4) and low-end (PS Vita TV) model. This move could be very influential as we test the theory of whether or not we’ve reached peak console. If released world wide, the PS Vita TV could also be terrible news for the OUYA and its fledgling Android console brethren. The mini console / micro set to box market would seem to be growing crowded, and without any movement from Microsoft to an Xbox mini or a more substantial push for games on Roku.

Tim Cook has coined the phrase that Apple feels there is something in living room, and they keep “pulling the thread.” The PS Vita TV could be just the direction that thread is leading.

iPhone Speculation

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When considering the relationship of the all-but-confirmed iPhone 5C to the rest of the iPhone family, I think you can look to the historical relationship of Apple’s consumer and professional portable line.

The 12″ iBook and the 12″ Powerbook where very closely related, sharing similar specs and form factor. Later, the 13″ Macbook and 13″ Macbook Pro would also share the close relationship of specs and form factor their predecessors had. Typically the largest differentiator of the two lines was in materials, with the pro line using aluminum and the consumer line using polycarbonates (plastics). I believe the iPhone 5 and the 5C could inherit that relationship, using largely the same internal components, differentiated by the same materials choice of the prior portable line: aluminum or polycarbonate.

That being said, I think the 5C could look like something of a cross between the 5th generation iPod Touch and the iPhone 5. The premise being that the price of the iPod Touch ($299) plus the standard added price of cellular for iPad ($129) could equal the price of a theoretical iPhone 5C. This would also be very close to the price point of the two year old iPhone (currently the 4), which is $450. After last year’s introduction of the iPad Mini at the odd price of $329, iPhone using the $429 price point seems quite possible. This would throw the traditional marketing idea of mentally ending prices with 99 (E.g. $299 or $399).

Others have stated very smart reasons why the time is right for a shake up in the iPhone family, such as emerging (unsubsidized) market opportunities like China, standardizing the lineup on the lightning port, bringing LTE to the entire lineup, and discontinuing the 3.5″ display size. These all seem logical and likely reasons to me.

One area of speculation I have not seen has been what happens next year with the iPhone 5C. Does Apple maintain the three iPhone strategy, or does it change or adapt that strategy? What opportunity is there next year with a 5C at $329? Or the year after that? Could Apple really hit a $229 price with a full featured, albeit 2-3 year old iPhone? Would a previous generation iPhone replace the majority of the iPod line? This is all without considering the ever-present calls for and rumors of an even larger screened iPhone. The next two years could be very exciting and unpredictable for the iPhone family when considering price, size and materials alone.

It is assumed that while the iPhone 5C will come in a variety of colors, it will be limited in other options to simply the number of available skus. Most are assuming that there will only be one or two storage options (8GB/16GB) with the colors (white, blue, green, red, yellow). Looking again to the iPod Touch lineup, the face of the unit is white. The leaked pictures of the iPhone 5C however show a black face for all of the colors. This is somewhat of a surprise, after iOS 7 seemed to be favoring white over black. Perhaps again, this is a move to reduce costs (the white iPhone 4 production was delayed significantly).

Turning to the expected iPhone 5S, the “S” could be for sensor or security if the rumored fingerprint reader is true. Also intriguing is the somewhat late rumor of gold champagne anodization as a new color option. Along with another late rumor of a deal with China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless network operator, what if the gold champagne iPhone option was a carrier exclusive? It could help drive tremendous sales on an untapped market for the iPhone. This would represent another step away from the norm for Apple.

Whatever Apple has decided on, I look forward to hearing what they have to say on September 10th and Septemer 11th.

The Written Oral History

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I sometimes joke that when I die, my tombstone will say, “Here lies the guy who hired Jonathan Ive.”

If you’ve got the time, Fast Company has a six-part series of articles looking back at the history of design at Apple, as told by former employees. Comprised of interviews conducted by Max Chafkin (and others), the interviews have been chopped up and presented in a sort of quotable chronology.

Have too much more time on your hands? For two bucks you can read the extended 14 chapter version as an ebook from iTunes or Amazon.

iOS Store Suggestions

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Speed and search.

The app stores have always been web based sites. For all of Safari’s touted improvements to speed however, the interface to Apple’s stores have always been slow – way too slow. Especially on iOS. A focus on the customer experience does not mean removing third-party apps that provide a better store experience than yours. It means making those apps irrelevant by making the speed, responsiveness and search of your store vastly superior.

A search for the term “Camera Noir” on Google or Bing takes a fraction of a second. It also correctly returns the expected result of a direct link to the app in the App Store as the top hit. Google clocked its results at .28 seconds. The App Store took 12 seconds to return the same search term. Why is the web providing a superior experience over a native app?

Google also provided instant and relevant suggested searches below the text box. The App Store also provides instant, though questionably relevant suggested search terms. With the full term “Camera Noir” typed in, the suggested search still had seemingly random camera-related terms offered. An interesting side note: subsequent searches for the term “Camera Noir” were relatively faster (six seconds) and more relevant suggestions made (Camera Noir for camera noir for example). Search needs to be right the first time, not cached or trained for all those subsequent times you’ll be searching for that app you theoretically already downloaded.

Google is also able to correctly interpret misspellings such as “cmera noire”, whereas the iOS App Store app provides no suggested results, nor any result at all when searching for “cmera noire” or similar misspellings. Not even the infamous iOS autocorrect can assist here – no option or sub-text box suggesting to correct seemingly easy-to-guess words.

Without delving into unfamiliar territory, it’s suffice to say that developers also have their own issues with speed and search in the App Store. Released a great new app, for example? Great, it may take hours after being released to be returned in a search result, even if that search is for the exact title of your app.

The App Store has been a tremendous success and industry changing phenomenon, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement, no matter who you ask. Large, philosophical debates can be had over ideas like app discovery and pricing, but perfecting the basics of speed and search still have a long way to go.

Photographer: John Chakeres

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“I don’t see myself as a traditional photographer, but as an image builder, trying to capture an essence, which results in images that translate as pleasurable experiences to viewers, pleasurable because it is, not because of what it is, where it is or why it is.  My photographs exist within themselves, detailed portraits of the crossroads where art and technology meet.”

I had the pleasure of working with John a few years back in a retail technology setting. The way he has incorporated technology into his art, and his art into a career makes him a rich story teller and nice guy. The desolate yet richly textured materials of his work are fantastic.

It’s All … Part Of The Plan

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“That moment, Feige later recalls, was when he started thinking that he could build a series of interrelated movies, the cinematic equivalent of what comics nerds call “continuity.” He wanted [to] do something that only comic book villains ever think they can get away with: build a universe.”

Marvel would prefer that you pay no attention to the executive behind the curtain. Adam Rogers pulls that curtain back just a little bit, profiling the man responsible for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Also examined: who, if anyone, at Warner Brothers or DC could play the part of canonical visionary across their franchises.