Comment

Too expensive, for what is essentially, radio. Knock off about $5-6 off the price, say $3.99 a month, and then we’re talking.
Also, as others have pointed out, Google still scoops up your data with this service, so really, you are paying for it, by providing Google with your information.

3 days ago on Google takes on Spotify with Google Play Music All Access subscription service, priced at $9.99 per month 2 replies 5 recommends

Comment

Google, via YouTube may be becoming a production studio, by producing original content. I could definitely see Apple or Microsoft make a play for the film division of Sony or Paramount Pictures or MGM or Lionsgate.

With everybody now producing tablets, guess what? You’ll need to sell content for those tablets, including books and video content. Now, you can be the conduit or store front, and let Netflix and Amazon make all the dough, who are producing their own scripted dramas, but you’ll make even more if you own a piece of the content. Look at Disney and their huge success with Marvel Studios, Pixar and coming soon, Lucasfilm….films.

9 days ago on Microsoft reportedly trying to buy Nook ebook ecosystem for $1 billion

Comment

Barely. These days, being an OEM for somebody else’s software is a terrible business model.
Microsoft will have to get fully into the hardware business and become Apple, as their OEM slate and PC partners are ultimately doomed.

9 days ago on Microsoft reportedly trying to buy Nook ebook ecosystem for $1 billion 1 reply

Comment

If Nokia were smart, the Meego OS that powered the N9 would be the one that gets pushed down the value chain, replacing Asha and the old Symbian handsets. Since it’s for developing markets, high app counts aren’t the top priority (yet), but it would be a good hedge for Nokia against the possibility of Microsoft either building their own Surface Phone or abandoning Windows Phone, a la Plays For Sure.

10 days ago on Nokia hedges its commitment to Windows Phone with new Asha platform and $99 phone 1 reply

Comment

This, +1000.

11 days ago on Hollywood studios analyze scripts to turn them into algorithmic hits

Comment

Good luck to them, but the studios should be smarter than this. They’re getting scammed.

There is no algorithm or sure fire formula to creating hit movies ( or hit books, or hit songs). Creativity is always scattershot, and sometimes you’ll have huge hits, and sometimes you won’t. The only constant is placing bets on true creative talent that can’t be analyzed via an algorithm.

11 days ago on Hollywood studios analyze scripts to turn them into algorithmic hits 1 reply

Comment

I guess Sony wants to squeeze out a few more sales before the Intel Haswell chip hits. I’m assuming most notebooks sporting the new chipset will be available, what, late Summer, early Fall?

11 days ago on Sony's new VAIO Fit lineup refines its entry-level laptops, and its confusing naming scheme 1 recommend

Comment

Well, the definition of PC is changing as well.
It no longer has to mean a Wintel device.
Who’s to say that an iPad or Chromebook isn’t a Personal Computer? Or hey, even Google Glasses?
And unless Microsoft really overhauls Windows, I doubt it’ll be the OS running in wearable devices like glasses and watches.

17 days ago on New PC for Grandma?

Comment

Uh, what? The app store for Windows RT Metro style apps, is a virtual ghost town.

17 days ago on Microsoft said to be planning next-gen Surface announcement for June 2 replies 4 recommends

Comment

I’m sure OEMs aren’t crazy about the supposed reference design device turning into a regular product with regular refresh cycles.

You’re right; it doesn’t necessarily mean OEMs will go to Android en masse, but they will be looking to cover their own backsides to prevent a PlaysForSure stab in the back from Microsoft. Just ask Creative and iRiver how they feel about the move from PlaysForSure to Zune.

17 days ago on Microsoft said to be planning next-gen Surface announcement for June

Comment

Given the supply chain and distribution problems of the first release Surface devices, Microsoft may be better off handing off that responsibility to an OEM more experienced in the hardware business (yes, yes, I know, outside of the Xbox I mean).

Also, even more than Windows Phone, Windows 8 RT (not Pro) still faces a withering app shortage. You’re pretty much forced to do everything via the browser. On a large screen it’s not a big deal; on a 7-inch screen, apps are a pretty big deal.

17 days ago on Microsoft said to be planning next-gen Surface announcement for June 1 reply

Comment

Yeah, but 4K TVs are already on the market. Given the console product cycles, it’d be pretty silly if Microsoft didn’t add hardware support for 4K resolution in this upcoming Xbox.
Since Sony are also pushing their HDTVs, you can bet that 4K support will be part of the next Playstation console.

24 days ago on The next Xbox will be revealed on May 21st 1 reply

Comment

So Apple is still a cash machine, but the wild growth is obviously behind them.
An anemic 2% GDP, no job growth and market saturation, will do that.

25 days ago on Apple posts $9.5b profit on $43.6b in revenue, but iPhone growth slows at 37.4m units sold

Comment

If I were either one of these two men in the photo (in fact, one of them is an innocent high school track athlete apparently), I’d sue the NY Post into non-existence.

about 1 month ago on Online witch hunt for Boston bomber leads to NY Post cover photo of innocent 'suspects'

Comment

No HBO-Go either, or Showtime.

Game of Thrones (exclusively via HBO) is probably one of the biggest worldwide hit TV shows, and yet you can’t access it either on Windows Phone or Windows RT.

about 1 month ago on Nokia Lumia sales hit record high of 5.6 million in Q1, still struggling in US 1 reply 1 recommend

Comment

In the subsidized phone U.S. market, this analogy fall apart, when one super high end phone, is equal in price, relatively, to a low end or mid tier device.

Most people can get an iPhone 5 or SGS3 for the same upfront cost on contract as a Lumia 820 on AT&T…..or a Lumia 920.

Surely you can see what’s wrong with that picture.

Personally, I’m puzzled why Nokia hasn’t attacked the U.S. prepaid market with their Lumia 620s. Those seem right up the alley for someone on Virgin, Boost or MetroPCS, but all they offer are low spec Androids…and one offers an iPhone 5.

about 1 month ago on Nokia Lumia sales hit record high of 5.6 million in Q1, still struggling in US

Comment

In fact, funnily enough, Microsoft on their own site, recommended that users use software such as iTunes to manage their music, due to discontinuing support of the Zune software, as it does not work with WP8.

about 1 month ago on Nokia Lumia sales hit record high of 5.6 million in Q1, still struggling in US

Comment

I’m talking about software that tethers you in to their ecosystem, not comparable music services.

For many, though not all, users, iTunes is a one stop shop to manage app purchases, buy content and manage their smartphone, with contacts and such. Other platforms like Android and Windows Phone need multiple pieces of software to accomplish the same things.

about 1 month ago on Nokia Lumia sales hit record high of 5.6 million in Q1, still struggling in US 1 recommend

Comment

I find that strategy questionable.

Once a user wants to upgrade from a low end Nokia phone, who’s to say that user doesn’t go to an iPhone or an Android. Windows Phones, due to their lower app count, aren’t as ‘sticky’ as iPhones are, and there’s no equivalent of iTunes to lock users in.

about 1 month ago on Nokia Lumia sales hit record high of 5.6 million in Q1, still struggling in US 2 replies 1 recommend

Comment

Both are correct. Nokia’s big drop in China is coming from a slow down in sales of their basic mobile/feature phones. In fact, it’s not a drop; feature phone sales have cratered.

The problem is that Nokia, though they’ve increased Lumia sales, haven’t been able to do so at a rate that makes up for that shortfall in their basic phones.

about 1 month ago on Nokia Lumia sales hit record high of 5.6 million in Q1, still struggling in US 1 reply 2 recommends

Comment

The phone itself is really nice. The problem isn’t the 920 per se; it’s the platform. Windows Phone has some nice UI ideas, but ultimately, it hasn’t answered the crucial question, ‘why should I switch from my iPhone/Galaxy?’
As time goes on, and we go into the 3rd or 4th year with things staying the same with Windows Phone, as far as consumer take-up, Microsoft may need to face that the platform may really never take off.

about 1 month ago on Nokia Lumia sales hit record high of 5.6 million in Q1, still struggling in US 1 recommend

Comment

Nokia may survive as a smaller firm, as someone pointed out above, even if selling fewer devices. They’ve survived without the U.S. market years past, they can do it again.

This is more Microsoft’s problem; the Windows Phone ecosystem, in order to survive, needs to generate revenue from app sales, and that comes mostly from the U.S. and Western Europe. Emerging markets customers are more about the lower priced handsets; the Microsoft Windows Phone ecosystem there, is less important.

about 1 month ago on Nokia Lumia sales hit record high of 5.6 million in Q1, still struggling in US 1 recommend