Time of the Tech

First off, let me give credit to whom it is due. I have gloriously modeled (or blatantly copied) the design of this blog entry, "three thoughts on ...", from Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl. Now back to my three thoughts. Google unveiled their first official tablet earlier this week, which is the Nexus 7 tablet. The device will debut for $200 and the hardware is manufactured by Asus. Thought 1: At 7 inches and $200 this is meant to compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire which is also 7 inches and $200. Amazon, Google, Apple, and Microsoft are all staking claims into different segments of the tablet market. Amazon and Google are competing for the smaller screen, E-reader, more affordable sector. Apple is dominating the higher end tablet sector. And the upcoming Microsoft Surface is vying for the tablet/netbook sector. Thought 2: The Nexus 7 will be a perfect device for anyone looking for an E-reader that can also function as a web browser. The Nexus 7 is clearly ...

The much anticipated Blizzard game, Diablo III, was released in May 2012. I did not have a chance to pick up a copy until this month. Let me begin by acknowledging that the game is very good. But there is an aspect of the game which worries me. Diablo III has an auction house where you can sell the items you get from the game. These auction houses have been around for some time in video games. The difference with Diablo III is that not only can you bid with the in-game "gold" money, but you can bid using real money. So if your character manages to "loot" a unique item, maybe you can sell it for US dollars. I have already heard stories around my gamer friends of an item selling for $50. The real money auction house in Diablo III, brings me back to a discussion I had with a friend, Claude. We talked about how the only thing stopping hardcore gamers from immersing themselves in games and losing track of reality was if they found a way to make money from playing th...

This is a open letter to all those that keep on using the term "iPhone 5" to refer to the upcoming iPhone. I am surprised by how many of you are out there, people like the writers from the tech blog BGR.  The upcoming iPhone will be the "iPhone 6"! See and count: Original iPhone iPhone 3G iPhone 3GS iPhone 4 iPhone 4S Upcoming iPhone The iPhone 4S was the "iPhone 5". Furthermore, in terms of product names, Apple will mimic the iPod, which is what we saw with the iPad too. That means the upcoming iPhone will just be called the "iPhone". The differentiation will be through the use of the word "generation". Once the newest iPhone comes out, it will be the current generation iPhone.  So please no more iPhone 5 talk. I get what you are saying, but it sounds so wrong...

It has been six months since my last post. As expected, a lot has happened. The main thing is that I have been married for six months. As foretold, I do not have time for some of my previous hobbies. For me, that translates into less time for blogging and reading. But I paid for another year of this domain name, so I am going to put it to use. Back to the last six months....The most surprising phenomenon is the deterioration of my relationship with Google. I never thought my relationship with Google would be this way while Larry Page and Sergey Brin were in charge. I never thought I would warm up to Apple, after disliking most tactics used by Steve Jobs (e.g., partnering with only AT&T, App Store rejection policy). Please do not infer that I no longer value Google because I do. However, the halo that I perceived to be on top of them is now gone. I have always had great respect for Gmail, Google Search, and Google Maps, so I fully supported Google with their Android project e...