First and foremost, I’m going to assume you know what the iPad is - and if not, please check out this link and once you’ve done that we’ll be set to go. So after all the speculation has quieted down and we know the real facts about Apple’s new Tablet computer, I still have some linger questions:

1. Seriously, “iPad” is the final name? That’s what you settled on? Every time I’ve heard someone say that, they’ve giggled first.
2. How do you carry it with you? And relatedly, how fragile is the OLED screen? Does Apple Care cover the iPad?
3. How do you type on it? Flat on the table? What about when you’re holding it?
4. $30 for “Unlimited” AT&T 3G network - how much does “Unlimited” really mean? Because for all other plans, “Unlimited” is capped at 5GB.
5. $15 for 250MB a month - what happens when you go over?
6. Does it have bluetooth for accessories? Will there be third party docks?
7. If you already own an iPod and a MacBook, why should you buy this? (Thanks @ekmurphy)
8. What will this do to AT&T’s network, that has already had problems with the increased iPhone traffic?
9. How will this change iPod Touch sales?
10. Is there a built in microphone for potential voice use?
11. Is there a built in web cam?
12. Does it handle multitasking?
13. Can it receive push notifications?
14. Which wireless band is supported? A/B/G/N?
15. Now that you’ve crossed the line with a keyboard dock, will there be other dockable add ons? (I’m hoping for a game pad…)
16. Will the keyboard dock integrate with gaming?
17. Does the keyoard docking require the new API or is it pure hardware replacement for the virtual keypad?
18. How well will the “10hr” batter really hold up? If the iPhone’s batter really only last a day, wouldn’t that mean this 10hrs is more like 3-4?
19. No, seriously. “iPad”. You’re kidding, right?
20. Can I have one?

Well, a lot of these questions will be answered in due time - and some might be debated for coming months. Ultimately, I think this is great for the market. I actually really like the Tablet concept and look forward to getting my hands on one - it might not be the iPad, but I see value in the converged, media device. With Apple’s entrance into the market, it will force other manufacturers (I’m specifically thinking about Acer, Archos, Asus, HP, etc.) to step up their game.

If it means a price war - I’m ok with that. If it means speed to market, that’s fine too. But what I’m sure this will help with is overall consumer adoption, which will inspire more innovation. And the more manufacturers innovate, the awesomer the world gets.

2009 Resolutions:

• Keep better control over my RSS feeds. This is a big win for me. Over 2009 I was much more flexible with my RSS feeds, in that I cut off of feeds that were too noisy (or too stale) and added feeds that were either more personally focused or specifically relevant. This has made my RSS reader cleaner and easier to manage, while delivering better content than ever.
• Help at least five people quit AOL. I helped three. So that’s not too bad.
• Make 40-50% of tweets replies. I just checked and I’m around 25-30%, about half my goal. It’s a good wake-up-call to see this resolution and something I’m going to try at again.
• Sign up at least three friends to Twitter. I likely helped sign up 20+ people in ‘09, so this was a nice over-performance. Though with mainstream media’s constant spotlight on Twitter, this was fish in a barrel.
• Contribute more in online Forums. Huge failure here. If I contributed 5% in ‘08, then I was likely at 2% in ‘09… I’ll need to keep working on this one.
• Buy ZERO computers. Another big failure. Enough said.
• Redesign my website. Potentially the biggest failure on the list. This will remain a priority in ‘10 (see below).
• Use more features of Facebook and LinkedIn. A small success! In 2009 I started using these networks much, much more. I’m still no power-user, but I’ve uploaded pictures, kept my profile current, and interacted with friends and colleagues.
• Write more conversational blog posts. Another moderate success! I definitely wrote significantly fewer posts in ‘09 (as predicted) but my post-to-comment ration went from 1:2.4 to 1:3.1 - I’m proud of that and would like to keep seeing that number climb.

That’s a relatively successful year! So here’s what I’m planning for 2010:

• Buy ZERO computers. None. Not even one…
• Redesign my website. Just do it. (Ok, now on to new ones:)
• Drop to one Netflix disc. I started 2009 with three discs, but thanks to Netflix Instant (and Xbox 360 integration) I’ve been able to cut back to two. Netflix Instant is an amazing feature and I plan to rely on it only more this year. This will be pretty contingent on Netflix adding more available instant movies, but I don’t see that being too big a problem.
• Evangelize the cloud. I’ve begun relying on Microsoft’s Live Mesh and it’s amazing. Syncing files between multiple computers (between work, home desktop, home laptops, etc (see resolution #1)) Mesh has changed my life. With that and Dropbox, I aim to set up friends and family with these tools - to rely less on faulty external harddrives and more on online options.
• Be more open minded about mobile OS preferences. In 2009 I blogged a LOT about Windows Mobile, some about Android, and a little about BlackBerry… oh, and just a little about the iPhone. I mentioned Palm’s Web OS twice and Symbian almost never. In 2010 I can’t imagine losing interest in Windows Mobile - but I’d like to get more involved with other platforms too as this will help me perfect my mobile expertise. For example, there were dozens of complaints about the iPhone that I didn’t even know about until I got one…
• Engage more online. This is a bit of a leftover from last year, but with greater context. I want to interact with followers more on Twitter, friends on Facebook, connections on LinkedIn, comment more on blogs I read, and answer more questions in forums. The whole point of social media is the “social” part - time for me to contribute more.

So that’s it. Let’s see how well I do.

Have a happy and techy 2010!

It’s a fantastic report and has a great series of recommendations on what this means for the broader scope for Consumer Product Strategists, and I was reminded of the research when I saw this YouTube video (in German, which might actually help its cause):

Oh, so your phone has an App for that? Well this phone has hardware for that. Now is this a “smart” phone, or a really dumb idea?

Ok, sure this is a joke, but it brings up a good (and hilariously animated) point: how much function do we really need in our phones? At what point are we overly depending on a single device? Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all about convergence, but how much convergence is too much?

It’s like TV/VCR/DVD combos. How many of these out there still have three functioning parts? My guess is that over 80% of them have at least one of the three components in a less-than-functional state. And once one component breaks, then you either a) have to replace all three or b) have to replace part of it with an additional device giving you a big clunking TV/VCR/DVD connected to a DVD player.

But then there’s the other side of this argument: what if your device only does one thing and instead of a converged device, you carry many devices? I know people who carry one phone for calls, a BlackBerry for emails, and an iPod for media. This isn’t so crazy, right? Well thanks to smarter devices, it seems a little crazier now than ever before.

Converged devices, like the iPhone, have gained so much popularity because of their ability to eliminate the need for carrying multiple gadgets. Maybe a converged Phone, VCR, Toaster, Car-Charger, Printer, etc. is indeed in our future. So what does this do to the market? Mainly, I think it makes single-function devices considerably less attractive in the broader landscape of gadgets.

If, in the future, cell phones have image-stabilized, 12mp, zoomable cameras - we won’t need point-and-shoots. If laptops integrated 3G connections better, would we need MiFis? If phones have 3D, graphics accelerated gaming - would we need Gameboys? (Apple’s hoping the answer is “No”.) And if cell phones have SMS, email, or web connectivity, would we need a Twitter Peek - a device that only does Twitter? Well… no.

And that’s my point. Single-function devices are in trouble as converged devices take over consumer’s pockets. Will we ever get to a point where our phones make toast? I sure hope so. But in the meantime I think three things make sense: 1) only converge functions that naturally fit together, 2) don’t buy any converged device that integrates VHS, and 3) be leery of single-function devices.

The smartphone may be dead - but I look forward to seeing what new smart features converge in future devices.

If you’ve walked around New York, or if you’ve watched primetime TV recently, you’ve probably seen ads for HTC. Here’s one of my favorite current spots:

HTC’s launched an aggressive campaign in the US market to get its name out to consumers. And this is a very, very good move.

For HTC to increase its stake in the US market, consumers need to associate HTC as a company. HTC might have made dozens of phones that consumers know well, but until late 2008 HTC hadn’t even put a logo on a US-released phone. And consumers are very brand conscious with phones: people often ask “what’s that phone?” to which they expect a response like “Razr” or “the new Samsung” or “BlackBerry Bold” (don’t even get me started with phones named like “The Verizon XV6825asdf blah blah blah83425″ because that’s a post for another time). Consumers want brand named devices.

With a successful branding campaign, HTC can become a household name for mobile devices. I mean, it worked for LG. Only a few years ago no one in the US had heard of LG, but with a number of high quality phones, a bit of branding, and good marketing, and consumers go into stores asking for “The LG Vu” or what not.

HTC’s made some of the best quality devices and while that’s been enough to build the company a reputation of success within the gadget community, it’s good to see it take steps towards the larger market. Now, as they combine that with a branding campaign, I expect great things coming for HTC and look forward to seeing more a) awesome devices and b) impressive advertising.

At first you’re thinking - oh, white screen, poppy jingle, must be another iPhone ad! - but then you start paying attention and realize it’s an ad taking direct shots at Apple and you’re left with an ominous mention of the Droid. The Droid, is an upcoming Android OS phone by Motorola, which launches on Verizon next week. As the anti-iPhone commercial tells you, the Droid packs a big pixel-packed touch screen, full keyboard, 5mp camera with flash, multi-tasking abilities, and more - many things the iPhone doesn’t offer.

Verizon’s dropped the hammer on marketing the Droid. They’ve gone all out to push the message of a superior device to the masses. And you know what? It’s worked. It’s worked really, really well.

From people opting into the Droid’s mailing list, to the bigshot blogs covering the pre-launch hype, the Droid’s marketing is a total success.

Hell, Gizmodo published a post today called “How Motorola Stopped Sucking“. Seriously? It was that easy? One phone and their back? And wait, after all that “iDon’t” jargon, it turns out the Droid is actually pretty comparably built to the iPhone. So it basically comes down to: do you want a keyboard? Apple OS or Android? There’s no “better” for either of those questions. But the Droid’s taken a stab at the iPhone claiming superiority.

Where does Droid get off taken a direct approach at a competitor like that!?

Oh, right…

Here’s my take on all this: is the Droid an iPhone killer? No. Is there going to be an iPhone killer? No. The iPhone is going to continue leading the way for at least another generation to come. But, as I’ve said many times before, there is plenty of room for iPhone-killer marketing. I think the Droid’s launch is a perfect example of what the competition should be doing with each launch. Step up the game and force Apple to keep innovating to remain on top.

In the end the Droid looks like a great device and Android 2.0 is probably pretty sweet too. But does it matter for this hype? No, not really. Thanks to the abundance of marketing, there are enough consumers excited about the Droid without ever touching or seeing one that Verizon’s bound to sell out next week. And in the end, when have consumers been excited about a Verizon phone? I say good job all around.

YouTube is likely looking for a way to keep up with the buzzwordiest term of the month, “Real-Time”, and while it already has features to let you see new videos in real-time, giving its users the ability to search through recent comments as soon as they are posted might have been the next logical step. Now I’m not sure if you’ve recently read any YouTube comments, but if there one thing we don’t need immediately it’s incessant trolling.

Comments on YouTube videos represent just about all that is wrong with the internet. There’s constant spamming, derogatory sexism, racism, homophobia, and just awful hate - not to mention worse grammar and spelling than two monkeys playing scrabble… in a foreign language. With letters that somehow only spell swear words. I feel dirty just thinking about some of the comments I’ve seen on YouTube videos.

xkcd, as always, has a great take on the problem:

Why would we need to get to this mess of the web quicker? Take a look at the screenshot from YouTube’s announcement - who would want to see those comments in the first place? Not everything needs to be real-time.

There’s a justified rush to conquer the real-time web - it’s the source of what’s driving most online innovation and I think a lot of good is coming from it. I mean, the reason I like Twitter is because it’s the best source for right-now answers. It’s become my real-time search engine. But YouTube comments that just happened? I can wait…

Of course there is one worthwhile use-case: social media monitoring. Marketers that track their products/brands/campaigns will have an easier time getting live results from YouTube comments - which, let’s face it, probably won’t be positive comments. But this also presents marketers with the new challenge of another real-time channel. Just as quickly as they can discover comments, so can consumers - and as the race to drive the real-time web continues, so does the race to control it.

In the end, I’m excited to see more developments of the real-time web, but this is a classic case of “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” engineering.

Loyal readers know well that I’m a Windows Mobile user - and I have been for the last six versions of the mobile operating system (Windows Mobile 2003, Windows Mobile 2003SE, Windows Mobile 5, Windows Mobile 6, Windows Mobile 6.1, and now Windows Phone (apparently what they’re now calling Windows Mobile devices from WM6.5 and on)). So obviously I’m a bit excited about the today’s official release of the new build.

But apparently, I’m the only one.

I’ve previously criticized Palm and RIM for soft-launching devices and not stirring up interest the way Apple does, but we’re not talking about a single phone here, we’re talking about a full Operating System, bound to run on 30+ phones by the year’s end. Microsoft even did the right thing: they set a firm launch date (that didn’t overlap with an Apple announcement) and even told a few people about it in advance (go figure!). But today, the big day we’ve all I’ve been looking forward to, I have to ask: where’s the delivery?

In short: it’s just not there. And the sad part is that I just don’t really have an excuse for the lack of enthusiasm from the tech community. Here’s the best rationale I can do:

• The masses love the iPhone. The iPhone is awesome and has stolen all of the mobile thunder for the year (yes, it did come out two years ago, but has gained enough momentum to steamroll the competition).
• The big blogs love the iPhone. Both Gizmodo and Engadget took the opportunity of Windows Mobile 6.5’s launch to bash the new build. Thanks guys. I’m not saying WM6.5 is perfect (in fact, I’m not saying a thing about it in this post - that’s coming later), but how about a little bitartisan reviewing?
• The tech-geeks have moved to Android. As I said recently, the Linux-based Android handsets appeal more to the geeks. While Windows Mobile has always been great for techies due to highly customizable and hackable Windows CE core, Android has linux. Game over.
• Windows Mobile users often don’t know they’re using Windows Mobile. The biggest problem with WinMo is that it’s just so poorly branded. Most (and yes I do mean “most”) people who own Windows Mobile Phones likely don’t know what version they’re using, couldn’t tell you if it’s 5.0, 6.0, 6.1 or 6.5 - let alone if it’s even running Windows Mobile! But it’s not their fault, no one ever told them.
• Microsoft doesn’t really market Windows Mobile. Ever seen an iPhone ad? Wait, here’s a better question: ever not seen an iPhone ad?! Enough said.

So as today comes and goes, with little hype and a lot of disappointment, I think Microsoft should take a good hard look at the results of the launch and reevaluate how they address the next version of Windows Mobile.

Better yet, Microsoft should take lesson from their own playbook: spend money marketing a product, it can work. Hell, with only $80m spent on Bing, you can take a sizable chunk from Google. Google! I just hope they take a fraction of that and put it towards mobile platforms to go up against the other players quickly creeping in on their marketshare. Hell, it’s worked for Apple just fine.

But hey, let’s not get too down on them today. Let’s celebrate Windows Mobile 6.5’s release - and then start the countdown all over again to Windows Mobile 7.

Update: oh. I found the marketing material

Unlike Apple, that has one OS and one device, or Windows Mobile, with multiple OSes for various devices, the promise behind Android was that it was a flexible, lightweight, and robust platform (seems like an contradictory adjective list, no?), that could run on barebones dumbphones as well as super-powered, touchscreen, smartphones. The surprise however, is that for the first 10 months of Android’s existence, it was only available on a single device: the TMobile G1 (warning, that link has annoying music playing in the background).

The G1 (or HTC-manufactured “Dream”) landed on TMobile late 2008 and introduced Android to the masses. Now this is tough for me to say, because I’m potentially one of the biggest HTC fans out there, but the G1 is actually a pretty flawed piece of hardware. I previously documented the problems with the hardware design (hint: it has to do with buttons), but beyond the lacking functionality, the G1 just doesn’t feel that great in the hand. It’s a bit clunky and big, but not very sturdy feeling. Its sliding screen feels a little cheap and the keyboard is just junky.

So what does this mean for Android? The answer should be: “Nothing”. But as this was the only piece of hardware out for Android’s first ten months, it means that Android became associated with the G1 - and not in a totally great way.

Now I’m not saying that Android has a bad image - most gadgeteers are quite fond of Android - but what I’ve seen for the better part of this year, is constant speculation on Android’s future. The common statement I’ve heard is that “it’ll be great to see what happens when Android makes it onto more devices”. And I agree. Android has loads of potential, but we won’t really know how it will pan out until more phones run Android.

Fortunately, that time is fast approaching.

Last month TMobile released a second Android handset, the MyTouch 3G (also manufactured by HTC, named Magic) - a device similar to the G1, but lacking a keyboard (argh! I’m not getting into this today). And now, a few weeks later, the floodgates have opened. Before the year’s end, there will likely be a dozen available Android handsets. That’s a big increase from ONE.

So what does this mean? Here’s my take:

This is good for Android because:

• More devices means more consumer adoption. Not everyone wanted a G1, but now there are choices. Really, something for everyone.
• More carriers means more consumer adoption. Not everyone wants TMobile. With Sprint selling the Hero this fall and Verizon and AT&T playing up rumors of new devices, there will be an Android device available to all big US carriers.
• More consumer adoption means more developer adoption. The more Android devices out there, the more desirable it will be for developers to build great apps - making the phones that much better for consumers. It’s cyclically awesome.
• Android is no longer just for geeks. Yes, I said it. I work in Kendall Square in Cambridge, arguably one of the geekiest places in the world - I see more G1s here than anywhere else. Correlation may not be causation - but I’m just saying - the G1 is geeky. New Android handsets are slick and more appealing to the mass market.

But also bad for Android because:

• Fragmenting the platform makes development difficult. Developers constantly complain that Windows Mobile is tough to develop for, because there are many different screen sizes, processors, hardware specs, etc. With each change, developers have to build/tweak to get their apps to work correctly.
• More devices means more confusion. If you have an iPhone, you know it’s an Apple iPhone. There’s no mistaking that. But the more varied devices that run Android, the less consistent the brand recognition. The less brand recognition, the less brand loyalty. Ultimately, more devices dilutes Android.
• Android isn’t geeky anymore. It’s the “Google Phone” or “Linux Phone” - over the last year, I’ve always loved talking to G1 owners who have built their own apps, customized their interface, or hacked it to play Doom - but as Android makes its way to the masses, it looses its geek-cred.

Well in the end that’s 4-3 in favor of this being a great thing for Android and I’m excited about that. I think it’s a great platform and at very least is driving the smartphone market to become ever stronger. Is Android ready to take down Apple? No. But is it going to be fun to watch the platform expand? Absolutely.

Before I get to the rant section of today’s post, I should preface with the fact that I think the App concept is fantastic and has revolutionized the mobile industry in a great way. iPhone app development is cheap, quick, and relatively easy, drawing out hoards of developers making it a strong marketplace where there truly is an app for just about everything.

The app-ification of the mobile industry is even better. Following Apple’s Shaq-sized footsteps, Blackberry has App World, Windows Mobile has a Marketplace, Palm has its App Catalog, Android has App Market, Nokia has Ovi, and Motorola has App Warehouse (ok, that last one was fake, but if Motorola had a platform, its apps likely would be sold from a warehouse). Although I’m vehemently against the fragmentation of development platforms (expect a blog post on this sometime soon) I’m still glad to see mobile platforms deservedly gain developers’ interest because it means more fun and function for consumers.

Now of course, not all the apps are that great, or useful, or appropriate… (you all know that iFart and 30+ noise emulating clones exist, I’m not even going to link to it because they don’t deserve it), but amazingly, that’s not what I’m going to rant on today. Instead, I’m going to rant about feature apps - applications that enhance the phone’s functionality.

Here’s the back story: earlier this week my friend Matt took me to a Red Sox game (thanks Matty!) and we had pretty awesome seats (seriously, thanks!), right down at about field level. In between innings we decided to take a few pictures. Matt pulled out his trusty iPhone (the most popular camera in the world) but wanted to take a picture of a player deeper in outfield. The iPhone’s camera is pretty good, but it has no zooming ability. But not to fear, Matt showed me that “there’s an app for that!” and loaded up a third party application that zooms in the camera, “and for only a buck - well worth it”. Although I agree with him, that only a dollar seems fair for an application that adds such a great feature to the phone, I’m less enthusiastic about it being a third party app.

My question: why doesn’t Apple include these much-needed features into the standard build of the operating system instead of selling them?

As indicated by third party developers, the phone is fully capable of these features, but for some reason or another, aren’t included in the standard build. Is it because Apple makes more money for every time it sells an app? Man, I hope not. If there were security or stabilization issues, then why would Apple release an app to the public at all? If it’s a copyright problem, that third party developers came up with an idea and won’t sell to Apple, well that shouldn’t be a problem for them either (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, go watch Pirates of Silicon Valley. You can borrow my copy if you want…).

Oh, wait… (and here comes the punch line) taking good third party ideas and building them in is exactly what Apple is doing. In the annual iPhone upgrade, Apple is indeed baking some of the most popular apps to give users the features that should have been there all along. Here’s a good list of “15 Apps Rendered Obsolete by the iPhone 3GS“. #10 on the list: Camera Zoom.

Ultimately Apple’s seems to be slow on improving its operating system because independent developers are doing the work instead, a detriment, and cost, to consumers.

So the next time you wonder if “there’s an app for that” - instead maybe you should wonder why it’s not already standard.

But, to my surprise, I didn’t actually get one bit of negative feedback. I expected to hear from readers about the moral and ethical boundaries in blogging, what I owe my readers, how writing a sponsored post is “selling out” - but I guess that was really just my own insecurities about talking up a product that a company sent me, because no one really seemed all that worried about it.

In fact, I ended up hearing from a lot of readers and most of you found it pretty cool.

I heard from a number of readers who I didn’t know were out there - because normally I only hear from the small percentage of you that comment - and it was refreshing and awesome. Mainly, because a) it reassured me that I have really great readers and b) each of you that reached out said great things about my sponsored post (sure, maybe you were sucking up so you could get a chance at the free monitor… but I don’t mind!). I also heard from a number of regular commenters too, the loyal few that I know are there, and they seemed to like the sponsored post too - which was helpful because knowing I didn’t rock the boat with my active readers was critical.

Basically, everyone liked the post, enjoyed my take on the topic, and thought that I was giving something away was pretty sweet. So first of all, thanks! Because I couldn’t do it without you. No, seriously.

If it weren’t for readers, this would just be a diary (and an embarrassingly lame one). The reason I blog, is to share my thoughts and opinions with people who have similar interests. And now that enough people who share my interests have found me, I can share even cooler things, like free monitors. This makes my blog more interesting and readers more interested. So seriously, thanks!

So anyway, onto the contest winner:

Some of you wrote in with very funny stories and solid reasoning for your candidacy for the free monitor, but the winner in my book (which, as the sole judge, is all that matters) is David from California with his broken Dell laptop!

David’s story goes:

I could really use this monitor because for the last 10 months I have been using an old Dell laptop with a busted screen. I got the computer free from my friend, and doesn’t have a warranty. But it only works with the screen is folded almost all the way open, at about 165 degrees. This is especially frustrating because if it goes past 165 degrees then the whole computer shuts off so I have to keep it perfectly propped open at the right angle. After 10 months of this, my neck is killing me from hunching over and I’m ready to quit using a computer all together.

Now, while I was tempted to tell David that there is probably a pretty easy way to fix it by tinkering in the screen’s hinge housing, there’s one main reason this is a winner in my book: David’s apparently been uncomfortably adjusting himself to a broken computer, instead of adjusting his broken computer to him. And that just sounds awful and totally deserving of the “Smart” comfort features in the LG W2353. David can dock his broken laptop right into the monitor and never have to look at the open-face madness he’s grown accustomed to. So David, email me your address and I’ll ship it off to you this week.

So thus ends a sponsored conversation: LG got me to plug its monitors, I got two post ideas out of it, you guys wrote me with some awesome stories, and David got a free neck-saving upgrade.

Now even though I don’t see myself letting this blog get overrun by product contests anytime soon, I’m glad I experimented with the concept, and I fully understand the benefits. In short, the reason this worked out so well? I disclosed the sponsored nature of the post and was completely honest about my opinion of the product (seriously, I still wish the thing had real buttons…).