• apple,  ipad,  microsoft,  office,  windows 8

    Gates: Microsoft Surface Has “Richness”

    Yesterday, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates appears with Warren Buffett on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

    During the program, it wasn’t surprising that Gates was bullish on the prospects of the Surface family of tablet computers and Windows 8.

    There are two quotes that everyone is talking about.  Here’s the first:

    “”If you have Surface or Surface Pro, you have got the portability of the tablet but the richness of terms of the keyboard, Microsoft Office, of the PC,” Gates said.”

    And now, the second:

    “”With Windows 8, Microsoft is trying to gain market share in what has been dominated by the iPad-type device,” Gates said. “But a lot those users are frustrated. They can’t type. They can’t create documents. They don’t have Office there. So we’re providing them something with the benefits they’ve seen that has made that a big category but without giving up what they expect in a PC.””

    Both of these quotes have Apple fanboys crying foul.  For staters, Mr. Gates has better head over to a local Best Buy or Staples.  Assuming that he does, he will see the myriad of keyboard solutions for the Apple iPad.  So as far as I’m concerned, the keyboards for the Surface and Surface Pro are accessories, just like the keyboards for iPads, and as a result, is a wash.  If Microsoft put one of those Surface keyboards in the box as standard hardware, I’d give him the point over Apple.

    But the second quote, some would say — and I agree with — is a little self serving and misleading.

    First of all, I’m not frustrated with my iPad.  I love it.

    Second of all, I can type.  The iPad has a large on screen keyboard, assuming that you are using a full size iPad.  And even if you don’t want to use the on screen keyboard, Apple and others make full size keyboards that connect via Bluetooth.  I choose to use the Apple mini keyboard with my iPad.  But, fine, I really don’t care.

    Thirdly, and this is the misleading part in my opinion, we can create content on our iPads.  We don’t need Windows 8 PCs and we sure don’t need Surface tablets.  For people who want to create general productivity content, that is to say word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, there are at least three very good options.

    There is Apple’s own iWork products: Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.  Not to mention, iPhoto, Garage Band, iMovie, and even Cards if you are into that sort of thing.  (Cards is the weakest of Apple apps in the list, but I have used it a few times, so I’ve included it here.)

    If you want to be able to work with real Microsoft Office documents, you don’t have to wait for Microsoft to eventually get around to releasing a native iOS version of Office.  You can create and edit Office documents — in their native formats — right now with Documents To Go from BlackBerry and QuickOffice from Google.  I’ve used both apps in the past on other mobile platforms and still use Documents To Go occasionally on my iPad.

    So is looks like Gates was doing a lot of squawking and not much in the way of persuading the educated consumer about the merits of Windows 8 and Surface tablets.  The numbers are clear.  iPad sales continue to climb with millions of units sold each quarter.  So do the numbers of units sold for the Microsoft Surface.  With 1.6 million units sold, maybe they will reach 2 million this year.

    [Via ComputerWorld.com…]

  • apple,  att,  blackberry,  sms,  sprint,  texting,  tmobile,  verizon

    The Use of Carrier SMS Texting Is In Decline

    I generally don’t read USAToday, except while traveling, but a pair of articles on texting caught my attention.

    The first, “Sore thumbs? Text messaging declines” (link) talks about the decline of SMS messaging by consumers.  People aren’t texting less, they are sending more messages then ever.  According to the article, Americans sent an estimated 2.2 trillion messages in 2012.  What is in decline is how many of those 2.2 trillion messages are sent and delivered by Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and other wireless carriers.

    It place of SMS messaging is the rise in popularity of Internet-based short message service (SMS) applications such as Apple’s iMessage, Snap Chat, BlackBerry Messenger, and all the rest.  Unlike the SMS service you sign up for when you buy a new cell phone, these new texting apps use your phone’s Internet connection rather than the voice network on your cell phone.

    So what does this mean?  Well, for one thing, it means that many of us can probably save some money on our monthly cell phone bills.  The days of thousands of dollar monthly bills due to uncontrolled text messaging is probably coming to an end.  My entire family has either an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and we all text each other with iMessages.  The number of pure SMS messages charged against my cell phone’s texting service plan in a month are virtually non-existant.

    I once read an article online that spoke about text messaging fees from the big four wireless providers here in the U.S.  I didn’t save a copy of that article, but it essentially said that text messages are sent of the voice portion of the cell phone and that it only costs the phone company a few pennies to send a message.  We, the consumer, are paying anywhere from $0.10 – $0.25 for each message we send and receive.  To illustrate, if I send a text message to a friend on the same wireless service as me, the phone company will make $0.40 – $1.00 on what is really just to messages.  They make money when I send the original message twice (they charge me to send and my friend to receive) and when my friend replies.  Talk about price gouging.

    The second article, “Fewer drivers nabbed by texting bans” (link) has to do with texting while driving, a very stupid thing to do, and the efforts of law enforcement to reduce the habit.  That piece, I think will be a different rant altogether.

  • case,  cygnett,  galaxy s4,  samsung

    Check Out Cygnett’s New WorkMake Evolution and Galaxy S4 Drop Test

    Cygnett makes some amazing cases and the new WorkMate Evolution tri-materail protective case for the Samsung Galaxy S4 is no exception.

    But don’t take my word for it.  Check out Cygnett’s torture test video.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4PrO6mn-N4]

    (No Samsung phones were hurt during the filming of this video.)

    I think the WorkMate Evolution Bright Blue case is my favorite.  I really like that color.

    The WorkMake Evolution cases are on sale now for a very affordable $29.99.  To see the full line of WorkMate Evolution cases, check out the Cygnett website for more details.