If you were following the Consumer Electronics Show last week, you know that several TV makers showed off some of the most exciting technologies we’ve seen yet. LG offered up an ultra-thin OLED TV that, years ago, seemed at least a decade away. The company followed that up with the announcement of its first 4K resolution TV. If you haven’t heard of 4K resolution, it’s a technology that delivers — are you ready for this? — four times the resolution found in 1080p.
CES 2012 has drawn to a close, and if you’d said twelve months ago that Nokia would leave the show having introduced one of the stand-out products, the industry would’ve laughed you out of Vegas. Sure enough, though, the AT&T Nokia Lumia 900 is on everyone’s lips, delivering the slick style of the first Lumia 800 with the sort of big screen and capable camera dominating the smartphone market today. Rumors suggest it’ll drop in March, but is Nokia ready to price the LTE Lumia to succeed?
After Sony’s gaming leader Kaz Hirai said at the Consumer Electronics Show recently that his company would not be unveiling new hardware at the E3 Gaming Expo later this year, a slew of people took to the Web to wonder when it might finally offer up a new console. Some say it could happen next year, while others think it could be 2014. There are even some folks who say Sony won’t release its new console until 2015.
Ultrabooks have undoubtedly been the star of CES 2012 this week – heck, we counted up the top contenders and found almost a dozen – but the slimline notebooks’ challenge is more than just shedding pounds and squeezing in as big a display as possible. For all Intel’s hard work pushing the trademark, and its manufacturer partners’ efforts coming up with their own slimline machines, the biggest threat to ultrabook success wasn’t even shown at CES. Apple’s MacBook Air.
My son’s favorite color is pink. It’s not even close. He’s three years old. Whenever he is offered anything, he wants it in pink. He’s always loved the color. His favorite lovey is pink. His favorite toy cars are pink. When we drive through at Starbucks, he always wants a cake pop, and the only one he’ll eat is the Birthday Cake flavor. It’s pink, with sprinkles. This is, of course, a problem, but not in the way you might think.
If you’ve been following the rumors surrounding Netflix lately, you know that the streaming provider might just be well on its way to being acquired by Yahoo. Details on the matter are scant so far, but there are some who say that the deal could make some sense for both sides.
Coffee and geeks go together. Yet, given geeks can be the most obsessive about getting the very best user-experience, it’s surprising how many are content to drink bad coffee. I’m talking about pods, pads and K-Cups, and the shiny, alluring machines that fire hot water through them. Like many people, my morning wouldn’t be complete without at least one cup of coffee, but what really frustrates me is when people who I know love coffee just as much talk in hushed and reverent tones about their latest “heavenly” pod experience. Those super-convenient little Senseo pads, or the Keureg K-Cups? They’re selling you stale coffee.
Have you seen the video of kids complaining about their Christmas presents? I won’t go into much detail, because SlashGear’s own Chris Burns covers this succinctly. But the gist is that it’s a video of entitled kids complaining about the gifts they did not get. My favorites are the ones (plural) where kids complain “Sure, I got a car, but I also wanted an iPad.” Then they curse at their parents, or their creator, or life in general. I agree with Burnsy. Take their gifts away.
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is right around the corner, which means all of us in the technology world are gearing up to see all kinds of new devices. From televisions to smartphones to Ultrabooks, just about any major product category (and some that have yet to be revealed) will be making a showing at CES.
“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” goes the old saying, but beleaguered RIM seems to have decided on its own interpretation: “If you can’t beat ‘em, license to ‘em.” Talk of RIM sweet-talking rivals like Samsung and HTC into adding BlackBerry 10 to their line-up of supported platforms has resurfaced, with Jefferies & Co. analyst Peter Misek suggesting that the great Canadian software coax has already begun. Question is, who’d fall for it?
I learned when I was a camp counselor that you should always support the person up front. When they say something wrong, let it slide and fix it later. When they suggest something unpopular, go with it, and if it proves unsuccessful, it’s no big deal. I never had a camp director suggest we run naked through a poison ivy patch, or show up to Hershey Park at 4AM so we can get a good parking spot. Usually, things worked out in the end.
It’s been a year since I issued my “Anti-Tech Resolutions,” and now it’s time for a new batch. But this won’t be the same Anti-Tech spiel that I ran last year. I learned a lot from those resolutions, both the ones I kept and decided to abandon. But I learned more about how to keep and follow a New Year’s resolution itself. So, here’s what I have learned about making New Year’s resolutions, including my newest set of technological directives for the coming year.
