Welcome to the first non-holiday edition of This Week in Technology for January 13th, 2013; which may seem a bit depressing since it serves as the official signal that we are all back to work full time and merely starting to accrue our coveted vacation time all over again. No worries though, because we have a great recap in store for you this week. It seems the New Year has already brought some welcomed changes and our top stories are why the Android market [1] is developing apps for iPhone [2] , Facebook’s newest monetization gimmick that centers around Mark Zuckerberg [3] , and a fantastic insight into the best gizmos and gadgets that were unveiled at the Consumer Electronics show [4] in Las Vegas over the past week. Without further ado, let’s get on to This Week in Technology.
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Google/Android Develops Apps for iPhone
When Google first started developing smartphone applications for iPads and iPhones in late 2012, many consumers took it as a sign that Android was finally starting to fall in line with global trends and accept that the world really does run on Apple’s time clock. The NY Times [5] reports this week that this strategy was actually a brilliant marketing move, however, because Google has become so intertwined with iPhone users that they gain a unique market with millions of subscribers that were previously unreachable. In fact, the December release of Google Maps for the iPhone was by far the most popular download during the holidays.
So what’s really in it for Google since most of its apps are free to download? There are a number of benefits ranging from ad revenue to usage data to simply impressing iPhone customers with what Google believes is a superior product line. Everything from YouTube to the Google Chrome browser to Gmail is now available for Apple smartphone users and many are already appreciating the increased functionality. At the end of the day, this leads to money back in Google’s pocket and it is a trend that they plan on increasing with new developers in 2013.
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Message Mark Zuckerberg for $100
Maybe you caught a recap last month where Facebook was planning on rolling out paid messaging so that businesses could solicit consumers that were not on their follow or friends list, but we didn’t even see this story coming. According to CNN [6] , the groundwork for this new service has already been implemented and you can test it by trying to send a personal message directly to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. One the familiar dialogue box pops up, you’ll be able to enter your private message as usual but at the bottom of the page, you’ll have the option to “Just send this message to his Other Folder,†(which means his spam box) or, “Send this message to his inbox for $100.†Yes, you read that right…for one hundred bucks, you can send Zuckerberg a message that he may or may not delete before reading. In fact, your hard earned Benjamin Franklin doesn’t even guarantee you a “Thank You,†reply.
While there is no word yet on whether or not anyone has actually attempted to use this marketing ploy, Facebook has stated that their “extreme price points†are to discourage spam and other types of mass solicitations. It appears that their price-point is still not carved in stone though so maybe trying to talk to Zuckerberg will become a little bit more reasonable in the future.
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Consumer Electronics Show Highlights
Now on to the story that we’ve all been waiting for, the wonderful goodness that is known simply as the Consumer Electronics Show. Companies from around the world gathered in Las Vegas last week to show off their latest inventions and we’re not going to lie to you…it was more fun than Disney World [7] . Everywhere we looked there was a sleek new tablet, a lightning fast smartphone, and supercomputers disguised as laptops plus thousands of new televisions, smart cars, talking robots, and super-cool video games/toys.
So what were our personal favorites? The Razer Edge tablet was pretty sweet with its sleek Windows 8 interface and a Core i7 processor. In case you’re not into new tech; that’s a tablet that’s faster than the best of the best of desktop computers from just a few years ago. While it’s geared towards gaming, it has enough processing power for just about any office task. Just be ready to fork over $1,300 for the upgraded version.
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We also saw a series of 4K HDTV’s on display throughout the convention center and these babies featured 3840-by-2160 resolution and up to 8 million pixels to bring your family room to life. Sony and Panasonic also combined these new technologies with OLED to create mind-blowing digital television that makes your current TV look absolutely prehistoric, but it’s not time to get our hopes up quite yet. The programming available is very limited and these beauties are simply not worth even thinking about…yet.
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Project Shield will inevitably be a gamer’s new best fri end in the coming year because this cool little device literally mounts a smartphone-like screen onto an X-BOX controller to create a portable platform that can rival anything that’s been released on the market to date. With a quad core processor and access to Google Play downloads, go ahead and put this on your child’s Christmas wish list today. You’ll thank us later.
Finally, the Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC adds a new dimension to our computing choices with a big 27 inch interactive display screen that features Windows 8 and plenty of computing power. Weighing in at a meager 17 pounds, this neat innovation can be used directly on your lap, flat on a desk, or nearly anywhere you need a versatile computer.
While it’s a little too heavy to take with you on say, a public bus, it is designed to be used throughout the home or office and we really liked the heck out of it. Expect this to be a big ticket item around the holidays as well.
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Related Posts
Links
- ^ Android market (www.android.com)
- ^ iPhone (www.apple.com)
- ^ Mark Zuckerberg (www.facebook.com)
- ^ Consumer Electronics show (ces.cnet.com)
- ^ NY Times (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ CNN (money.cnn.com)
- ^ Disney World (disneyworld.disney.go.com)
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