Time of the Tech

I have been with Android since it's beginning on October 2008 with the introduction of the T-Mobile G1. After three years of prophesying Android... after converting many of my friends to the Android platform... right before the launch of the of Galaxy Nexus.. I betrayed Android. I bought an iPhone 4S on Verizon. Of course, I did NOT betray Android, it only feels that way because because a few of the Android converts constantly accuse me of being a "backstabber". And the multitude of iSheep*, above on their pedestals, give me a smug look like if they knew one day I would see the truth and that time is now. To be fair, I have always said, that the iPhone is the best phone for most people. I just did not happen to be that person, mostly because of my lack of respect for AT&T. The latest iPhone has debuted concurrently on AT&T,Sprint, and Verizon thus everything changes. Originally, I wanted to wait and see what the Galaxy Nexus had to offer. I wanted to expe

The Galaxy Nexus was announced earlier today in Hong Kong by Samsung and Google.  The first surprise is that it will not have "Prime" in its name. We should be used to this as most phones are given a code name during the development phase. Too bad, because I liked the name Nexus Prime. Also the first "Google Phone" was the Nexus One, followed by the Nexus S, so putting Nexus after Galaxy does not flow. Fortunately, this is the only strike against the phone.  The Galaxy Nexus specs (iPhone 4S specs in blue): 1.2 MHz, dual-core vs 1 MHz, dual-core 1 GB RAM vs 512 MB 5 MP rear camera, 1.3 MP front camera vs 8 MP rear camera, VGA front camera 1280 x 720 resolution with a 4.65 inch screen vs 960 x 640 with 3.5 inch screen 0.89 cm thin, 135 mg vs 0.93 cm thin, 140 mg Only two buttons: volume rocker and power vs volume rocker, power and ring silent button No SD card, internal storage 16/32 GB options vs No SD card, internal storag

Today Apple announced their fifth iPhone, we have had, in order: June 2007, iPhone July 2008, iPhone 3G  June 2009, iPhone 3GS June 2010, iPhone 4 For this iPhone, we were all hoping for an iPhone 5, which is to mean, a redesigned phone. Instead we got an updated iPhone 4, we got the iPhone 4S.  What we did NOT get: A bigger screen, the iPhone 4S will be the usual 3.5". 4G! This is huge, can people wisely enter into a two year contract without 4G. 3G might be good enough now, but what will happen in a year with carriers shifting their resources to 4G LTE? When websites continue to demand more bandwidth? When our lives inch closer to the cloud? This launch reminds me of the first iPhone, the 3G technology was there, but Apple chose the safe route and went with 2G. When Apple released the iPhone 3G a year later, it rendered the first iPhone obsolete. Many mactards were "forced" to upgrade.   What we DID get: A dual core processor and bump in RAM

This Tuesday, October 4, 2011, Apple is going to announce the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 will most likely go on sale within a couple weeks of the announcement. Maybe even within a couple of days! Verizon, Samsung, and/or Google will announce the Nexus Prime the following Tuesday, October 11, 2011. The Nexus Prime is expected to go on sale late October or early November. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Nexus line of phones, think of it as the closest thing we have to a pure "Google Phone". The Nexus Prime would then be the "Google Phone III". * The next thirty days are the most anticipated days in the history of cell phones. If you are thinking of buying a cell phone in the next month, do not! At least not until you see what the iPhone 5 and Nexus Prime are about. Consider yourself fortunate that you are looking for a phone during this time. You have two phones that are finally worthy of each other. If we cannot get Pacquiao vs Mayweather, life ha

Netflix stock was trading at around $295 per share in July 2011. Now, Netflix stock is at around $130 per share. What happened? Three big things happened. Netflix split the pricing for streaming and DVD mail services. The streaming service price stayed the same, but it was no longer free with the DVD mail service. Also, the DVD mail service went up in price. Netflix failed to renew its Starz contract for streaming, which included Disney and CBS content. Netflix officially splits its streaming and DVD mail services. The streaming content will remain Netflix and the DVD mail services will be called Qwikster. Separate accounts are required. This lead to Netflix losing customers. 600,000 lost customers by the time this quarter ends in September. Netflix thought they would be adding 400,000 customers this quarter.  Was it smart for Netflix to focus on streaming? Yes. They have to be aggressive about their streaming service, which they have been. The DVD mail service, while pr

Six months have passed since the AT&T deal to buy T-Mobile was announced, see link  here.  I was confident the deal would go through. After all, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does a horrible job at preventing monopolies/oligopolies. I, along with 44,000 thousand other people (that has to be a record), filed a public comment on the FCC page for filing 11-65,   "In the Matter of applications of AT&T Inc. and Deutsche Telekom AG for consent to assign or Transfer Control of licenses and Authorizations ." Here is my public comment filed on May 02, 2011: I strongly urge the FCC to not allow the acquisition of T-mobile USA by AT&T because it would negatively impact the cell phone industry for consumers with higher prices and less innovation. The higher prices and innovation will be a direct result of decreasing the number of national carriers from 4 to 3. AT&T can say what they want about regional carriers (i.e., Metro PCS), but for most peop

Eight months ago, I wrote about Google TV not being able to succeed at the $300/$400 price range. See full article here,  previous Google TV article. Google must have read my article or maybe microeconomics started to make sense for them. The previously $300 Logitech Revue  is now $100! And the previously $400  Sony Internet TV Blu-Ray Player  is now $250! I officially feel "dirty" for buying Apple TV for $100. Ugh. How was I suppose to know that the Logitech Revue price was going to drop by 67%? At least I am not in the camp that bought the Logitech Revue for $300. If you are looking for a machine to stream Netflix onto your television, buy the Google TV Logitech Revue. If you are looking for a Blu-Ray player buy the Sony Google TV model. Since my last post about Google TV, "The Goog" has bought Motorola Mobility. Motorola Mobility not only makes phones, but have the rights to a large amount of cable and satellite boxes. So you know Google is going