I’m going to try something new here. When you are writing about Gadgets or Consumer Electronics, things happen quickly within the space. While I try to post 1-2 gadget reviews a week, that takes time and often I miss out on quickly discussing things that catch my eye. So, I’m going to embark on a bit of an experiment here.
As I work through the morning, I’m going to watch for different articles or announcements that I feel are important enough to warrant a quick mention and commentary from me. While I can’t guarantee that I will be able to do this EVERY day, I will do my best to do this as regularly as I can. If you like these sorts of things, please let me know via a comments, tweet (I’m @hightechdad) or email (use the contact form). If you think my time should be spent some other way, be sure to let me know.
Without further delay, here are a couple of things that caught my eye today (thus far):
- Apple And Android Now Make Up 75 Percent Of U.S. Smartphone Web Traffic – “When it comes to the mobile Web, increasingly there are only two mobile platforms which matter: Apple and Android.” HTD: This only makes sense to me and I think it is good that there are two clear cut contenders for the #1 space. The iPhone has reigned here for a while so in order to keep innovation moving ahead, I really hope that the Google Android system gives them a run for their money. I received a lot of traction from my Droid review, so it is obvious that people really want to learn more. It’s almost boiling down to who your carrier is though. For Verizon, go Android (Droid). For AT&T, go iPhone. For Sprint, I don’t think the Palm Pre (Palm OS) is gonna make it so there, I think things are up for grabs, as with Tmobile as well. You can’t bank around a device, but an Operating System does help. Blackberry and RIM are obvious contenders as well, but they need a killer update to stay in the race.
- PS3 to support stereoscopic 3D – “Sony recently announced to its investors that it will add 3D stereoscopic capability to the games on its PS3 gaming console via a future firmware update.” HTD: Breathing life into the existing gaming consoles out there is critical to any of the big manufacturers. Recently, for example, NetFlix has been added to the Xbox & PS3, and the Wii integration will be coming next year. Immersive 3D gaming via a firmware update is a logical, inexpensive next step to extend the life of these gaming platforms.
- LinkedIn Finally Opens Platform; TweetDeck to Launch LinkedIn Support – “When developers get their hands on a social media platform, amazing things tend to happen.” HTD: I always thought that 2009 would be the year of integrations. API’s and mashups have been all of the rage. Social Networking companies and those who use API’s of these companies (e.g., TweetDeck & Seesmic Desktop) can capitalize on these content providers opening up their platforms and access to their data. This is an important move by LinkedIn.
- Latest jailbroken iPhone worm tries filching bank passwords – “The second malicious worm to attack jailbroken iPhones has been spotted in the wild, and is the first to directly target users’ bank accounts.” HTD: If you are going to modify a device’s OS, whether it be the iPhone, the Android OS, or the Xbox (modded users have recently been shut out of Xbox Live), you run the risk of either the company shutting you down, dropping support for you or you opening up your device to hacks or exploits. Just be sure you know the ramifications of what you are doing before you do it. For this issue, just change your default password from “alpine” and you should be fine.
What type of news are you interested in? Gadgets? Social Media? Technology trends? If there is something specific that you like, let me know and I will give my 1-4 sentence analysis of it from a “HighTechDad” perspective.
HTD says: News breaks fast. Twitter is a great way to track it!
