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  • Androids Returned More Than Other Gadgets

    July 28, 2011 01:39 PM | Ed Hansberry

    Just how high are return rates for the platform? One source stirs the pot.

  • Anxious To Get Google's New Mobile Payment System?

    May 25, 2011 11:44 PM | Ed Hansberry

    If payment systems that use your phone take off, having to carry cash or credit cards around may soon be a thing of the past. Consider the risks first though.

  • Reduce Your Android Security Risks

    May 17, 2011 01:00 PM | Ed Hansberry

    Threats against Google's mobile platform have increased 400% in the last year, but common sense will protect users against many of the attacks.

  • The End Of Wireless Tether For Android

    May 04, 2011 03:22 PM | Ed Hansberry

    Google is stopping customers of certain wireless networks from downloading apps for Android devices that allows them to tether other devices.

  • iPad2: A Reflection Of Jobsian Philosophy

    March 03, 2011 08:06 PM | Kurt Marko

    It's hard not to love a week in which we are graced with two holidays. On Tuesday we had National Pancake Day, an unabashed marketing creation by the likes of IHOP to rekindle America's love affair with flapjacks. On Wednesday we celebrated National iPod Day, an equally-scripted spectacle by those maestros of tech marketing at Apple to fan the flames of tablet lust. The iPad 2 has been covered like a blanket this week, so by now most technophiles already know the essential new features and how it compares both with last year's model and this year's competition, but the key to Apple's success in this market can be found in the closing remarks of Jobs' keynote (see the stream here). Under his leadership, Apple has evolved a very different way of looking at technology; a viewpoint that sees tablets as a wholly new category, with uses and users distinctly unlike those of the PC. Truly, the rest of the technology industry is from Mars, while Apple is from Venus.

  • Can BlackBerry Survive?

    February 04, 2011 06:59 PM | Kurt Marko

    The recent euphoria over Verizon finally prying the iPhone from AT&T's exclusive grasp, along with the almost weekly announcement of new Android products, has probably left smartphone pioneer RIM feeling awfully neglected. While the BlackBerry is merely the latest in a long line of technology products that can lay claim to the honorary Mark Twain "Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated" award, if not outright dying, the BlackBerry may be slowly creeping to irrelevance.

  • Codec Wars: What About Mobile Devices And Content Sites

    January 26, 2011 07:53 PM | Kurt Marko

    Last week I commented about Google's decision to eliminate support for the H.264 video codec standard from Chrome and while I initially focused on the implications for PC users, given the growing use of mobile browsers, I wondered if the ramifications could be even more significant for them. Well, on further reflection, I'm not too worried, at least yet.

  • Google's Video Announcement Creates More Heat Than Light

    January 18, 2011 06:54 PM | Kurt Marko

    Google created quite the Internet buzz last week with their announcement dropping support for the H.264 video codec standard as the default HTML5 video player in Chrome, opting instead to use technology from the open source WebM project. Although H.264 is an ITU standard for high definition video and is already widely used on Blu-ray discs, apparently it's not open enough, or perhaps as easily manipulable, for Google's liking. Since their original announcement was woefully short on specifics, using vague arguments like "the open and community-driven development model is a key factor in [the Web's] rapid evolution and ubiquitous adoption" -- something presumably missing from an ITU standard -- it opened the door to widespread speculation on ulterior motives.

  • FUD Strikes Chrome OS

    December 16, 2010 08:08 PM | Kurt Marko

    Chrome OS is one of those rare Google products that's accompanied by almost universal skepticism. In fact, their Cr-48 laptop proof-of-concept was on the received a fair amount of opprobrium. Admittedly the hardware isn't close to the elegance of a MacBook Air, but the objections primarily focus on Chrome's operating model, not the device. The complaints fall into four categories:

  • Google's Office Trojan Horse

    November 23, 2010 05:42 PM | Kurt Marko

    It's no secret that Google has been eying Microsoft's lucrative Office application franchise since the release of the premium, supported version of Google Apps a couple years ago.

  • Google v. US: More Than Competitive Sniping

    November 03, 2010 08:06 PM | Kurt Marko

    The conventional wisdom is that Google's lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Interior is just an indirect shot at Microsoft. But there are larger issues at play.
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