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The integrated amplifier was the huge mistake. Not because it was bad, but because people didn’t appreciate the feature.

about 18 hours ago on Google's potential Nexus Q successor revealed in FCC filing 1 reply 5 recommends

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I understood it as a device with a very singular purpose: play Google Play music through loudspeakers.

Which is basically cool, except that no one at the time had the bulk of their music on Google Play.

about 18 hours ago on Google's potential Nexus Q successor revealed in FCC filing 1 reply

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1992? Oh, crap. Damn you, Verge, for making me feel old!

about 18 hours ago on The Classics: Lush, 'Spooky' 1 recommend

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Maybe they – and we – should lower expectations. Just get the dang TVs with built-in Android. Or a little Android “puck” like Apple TV. At the very least it would mean being able to watch Youtube, and whatever movies I might have on Google Play. Once the numbers get past a certain point, people will start making (TV specific) apps, and more services like Netflix etc. will sign on.

1 day ago on Google TV: silent but not forgotten at I/O 2013 2 replies

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I remember when Microsoft tried to buy Nintendo.

2 days ago on Electronic Arts is no longer developing games for Nintendo's Wii U

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In Nintendo’s way of thinking, no, they don’t.

2 days ago on Electronic Arts is no longer developing games for Nintendo's Wii U 1 recommend

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I prefer to think of them as a straightforward and upfront info collecting monster…

3 days ago on Google encourages developers to push the limits by hacking Glass 4 recommends

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It was probably a mutually-arrived-at conclusion that there is almost no overlap between the market Nintendo aims at with the Wii U and the market EA games tend to serve.

3 days ago on Electronic Arts is no longer developing games for Nintendo's Wii U 3 replies

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I don’t want Google “improving” my photos automatically, but I’m sure the feature can be disabled.

On the other hand automatic hashtags would be fun.

4 days ago on Can fancy photos and lavish linking help Google+ take off? 1 reply

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G+ is something different than facebook. If you like what facebook is, you probably wont be spending much time on G+. On the other hand, a lot of people find G+ to be genuinely more rewarding a place to spend time. It’s less friend-centric and more interest-centric.

I admit, though, even with communities (which helps a lot) it’s still hard than it should be to tap into the content relevant to your interests.

4 days ago on Can fancy photos and lavish linking help Google+ take off? 3 replies 5 recommends

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In the context of mobile, MS is indeed the little guy, with Google holding all the good cards.

Google is well aware that not having a YouTube app is a pretty obvious demerit against Windows Phone for many people. Its a small piece of leverage, but leverage nonetheless.

4 days ago on Microsoft responds to YouTube demands, 'more than happy' to include ads if Google allows it 2 replies 24 recommends

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An S4 does not cost $650 though. Smartphones are priced high off-contract like that to encourage people to sign contracts. Google is forced to match the price of the regular Samsung version.

With the N4, they have no such restrictions. They could, and do, sell it close to cost.

It’s got nothing to do with the S4 being twice as powerful or twice as good, or twice as useful, or even costing twice as much to make, as an N4.

4 days ago on Google turns the Samsung Galaxy S4 into a Nexus phone, coming June 26th for $649 1 reply 1 recommend

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But nVidia Tegra4 can push 1200×1920? What is going on here?

4 days ago on HP announces SlateBook x2 and Split x2: your choice of Windows or Android in a transforming tablet 3 recommends

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It amazes me that they didn’t do this years ago. A messaging platform is only as good as its user base. If no one you know uses it, you aren’t going to use it either. Simple as that.

Heck, even Microsoft figured this out decades ago with Office for Mac: if you want to keep your position as the default software standard, you don’t lock out potential customers just because they don’t use your hardware/OS.

5 days ago on Message received: is BBM for Android and iPhone a sign of strength... or desperation? 1 reply 1 recommend

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Except you are wrong. It’s not a transition, like DOS→ Windows. It’s a choice: multitasking, keyboard+mouse, desktop environment, or single-task, touch, app-based environment.

Windows 8 allows you to set it up to do one (uninstall all metro apps, hide the store icon, and, in 8.1, boot to desktop) the other (hide the desktop icon) or both.

God damn it people, why is this such a hard concept for y’all to grasp!?

5 days ago on Microsoft confirms Windows 8.1 as official name for 'Blue' update, free for Windows 8 users 1 reply

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This is going to be US only, isn’t it?

Windows 8 Music metro still just launches an empty grey box in Japan. And you can’t buy any music from the Google Play store.

5 days ago on Exclusive: Google readies its Spotify competitor with Universal and Sony now on board

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Anyone else pick up on the complete absence of anything related to Google TV? Is that completely dead now or what?

5 days ago on Google I/O 2013: what to expect in gaming, Glass, and more 3 replies

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Not so much software but design of the SoC (chip). Apple’s Ax SoCs are very good, very smart low power components. nVidia Tegra is. … not.

5 days ago on Google I/O 2013: what to expect in gaming, Glass, and more 1 reply

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Of course there’s a cat.

5 days ago on Cyber caper: behind the scenes of the $45 million global ATM heist 1 reply 3 recommends

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Sounds suspicious…

5 days ago on Cyber caper: behind the scenes of the $45 million global ATM heist

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With rare exceptions, significant civilian casualties of war is a recent phenomenon starting with the Spanish civil war. In the 18th century you were looking at two armies dukeing it out in a battlefield somewhere well away from population centers.

The civilian casualty side of drone attacks is not the issue. The nationality of those civilians is.

Say Mexico decided to use drone attacks in western Texas somewhere, to hunt down drug traffickers. A few ranchers get killed here, a few more there. Somehow I imagine people in the USA would be rather upset…

6 days ago on US drone strikes condemned as illegal by Pakistan's highest court 1 reply 12 recommends

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The distinguishing, representative feature is livetiles vs. widgets vs. icons. Now, I’ve only used livetiles in the context of Windows 8, but after 6 months of that I’ve discovered that they bug the hell out of me. It’s the ticker-tape scrolling. I prefer my glance-able information to be current but static. Android gives me a re-sizable window showing the first few emails, and you can scroll down to see earlier ones if you want to. Windows is constantly scrolling through the emails, displaying just one or two in the little box at a time. After a while I just snapped: “NO, STOP IT, STOP CONSTANTLY SCROLLING YOU STUPID THING!!” Uninstalled every last metro app I could find.

7 days ago on Nokia's next Lumia teased on TV with a metal body and big camera lens 1 reply 3 recommends

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Notorious, as in the first and so far only model had a very large camera unit.

7 days ago on Nokia's next Lumia teased on TV with a metal body and big camera lens 1 reply 18 recommends

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That’s not necessarily a bad thing…

7 days ago on Nokia's next Lumia teased on TV with a metal body and big camera lens 1 reply 8 recommends

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“When we first developed the automobile, it was called the horseless carriage.”

Allright, that’s a reasonable point: “smartphone” is perhaps not the best name for a small tablet computer with a mobile data radio and the secondary ability to also make voice calls.

But its not that bad a name, either. It’s actually pretty good. Moreover the transition from “a cell phone that also accesses the internet” to “a small tablet that also makes voice calls” has been a gradual one.

My vote: let’s get together again in five years time to work it out.

7 days ago on Newt Gingrich is 'really puzzled' by cellphones that take pictures and needs your help 2 recommends