Last year, Amazon (AMZN) turned the tablet market on its head by releasing the Kindle Fire, which featured a then-unthinkable $199 price tag and… not too much else. That’s not to say the Kindle Fire was a disaster in any way, it’s more that it was a low-price tablet in both name and in design that featured good-but-not-great hardware and that lacked key features such as a camera and a microphone. The Kindle Fire’s killer price point helped it move a lot of units over the holiday season, but its sales reportedly sank quickly once Apple (AAPL) released its new iPad in the spring. More →
We’re now just two weeks away from seeing Apple (AAPL) take the wraps off its sixth iPhone and while nothing is certain until Apple makes it official, we have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the so-called “iPhone 5.” Parts leaks, rumors and even videos of the new iPhone housing have been flowing steadily for months now, and they paint a relatively complete picture: We’re looking at a complete redesign that is just 7.6 millimeters thick, a 4-inch display, 4G LTE connectivity, 1GB of RAM and a new unibody aluminum case. More →
There have been rumblings in some corners of the tech press that Google (GOOG) ought to be quaking in its boots in the wake of the Apple (AAPL) v. Samsung (005930) patent verdict because it could give Apple enough juice to take out Android all together. This is highly unlikely to ever happen for a multitude of reasons, but the most important is that Google has a lot of money, a lot of creative and talented people, and a lot of incentive to make sure that Android remains successful. More →
It’s just easier to come out and say it, right? Well, it’s not like anyone that reads what I write here on BGR, or on Twitter, or Facebook, or speaks to me, or watches me, could have been unclear about the fact that I love Apple (AAPL) as a company. I love almost every product the company makes, and I have bought (within reason — OK, maybe not) every single Apple product since around 2003. More →
It wasn’t that long ago when American wireless subscribers seemed resigned to the fact that AT&T (T) was going to gobble up T-Mobile and that Sprint (S) would likely be bought up by Verizon (VZ) shortly after, thus dooming us all to live under a wireless duopoly. But then something happened: The government decided that an AT&T/T-Mobile merger would consolidate the wireless industry too much and moved to block it. And since then, there have been some encouraging signs that the U.S. wireless market may be getting more, rather than less, competitive. More →
There’s no shortage of people criticizing Microsoft (MSFT) over the decisions it has made with Windows 8 and its Surface tablet, from analysts to OEMs to game developers. And to be fair, I think a good deal of the criticism has merit: the switch from the standard desktop UI to the UI Formerly Known as Metro might indeed be too jarring for many users — the UI may be great for tablets, but it seems to be a complete debacle as a desktop UI. Microsoft might have to do some serious kiss-and-make-up with disgruntled OEMs as well if its Surface tablet doesn’t create an instant market for Windows tablets. So why do I think the Microsoft deserves some applause for Windows 8 and the Surface despite all these potential issues? Because it’s the first time I can remember that the company has taken a significant risk to do something innovative. More →
It’s no secret that AT&T (T) is a terrible wireless carrier — just ask anyone who uses, or has used AT&T. Its calls drop, data is unusable in any location with more than four wireless subscribers within a square mile, and it nickel and dimes every single fucking thing. You know what set me off though? The fact that AT&T is limiting FaceTime over cellular and making subscribers switch to a new shared data plan if they want to use it. It was bad enough AT&T brazenly charges you a fee if you want to use the data you pay for on another device via tethering, but now AT&T is trying to control just what you can and can’t do with your own data, which you pay for every month, down to the specific application. More →
Although Facebook (FB) met expectations in its first-ever earnings report on Thursday, the reaction from investors has been decidedly ugly so far. By the end of trading on Friday, the company’s stock price had dropped by 117% to close at $23.70, or about half the value of its 52-week peak of $45. Making things worse, Facebook’s big slide came on a day when the NASDAQ closed up 2.24%, meaning Facebook can’t plausibly blame its slide on weak U.S. GDP numbers or other external factors. More →
Yes, Google Fiber is only being launched in Kansas City so far. And sure, there’s not much hope that it will spread across the entire country for the near future. But that doesn’t mean Google’s (GOOG) insanely fast 1Gbps fiber network shouldn’t be pushing cable companies and other ISPs to up their games in terms of both service quality and pricing. More →
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone 4 and its stunning Retina display, he said it would set the standard for mobile displays for the following five years. Five years is a lifetime in the smartphone industry, but two years later it’s safe to say the iPhone’s screen is easily still a market leader — I would even go as far as to say no mobile display even comes close to matching the iPhone’s in terms of clarity. But as sharp as Apple’s (AAPL) screen is, it is quickly falling behind the pack in another key area. More →
When the history of gaming is written, Rovio’s Angry Birds will to be touchscreen device games what Super Mario Bros. was to 8-bit consoles — that is, the seminal title that helped bring an emerging gaming platform into the mainstream. Rovio has certainly set a high bar for itself and the release of Amazing Alex on Thursday is the company’s attempt to show it can do much more than simply fling birds with slingshots. While Amazing Alex is definitely a clever puzzle game with an intriguing setup, it lacks the visceral sense of immediacy that made Angry Birds so much fun. More →
I was somewhat surprised to learn this week that Microsoft had developed a tablet that’s actually pretty cool. My expectations were admittedly low when I attended the company’s big unveiling event in Los Angeles but once I saw the tablet and played around with it for a bit, I gradually grew more impressed, something I haven’t felt about any Microsoft product other than the Xbox in a long time. More →
