Windows Phone Predicted to Overtake Apple’s iOS by 2015

If there’s one thing analysts love, it’s mobile phones. That may be because the landscape is so competitive, and things change so fast. Regardless what it is, ever since the iPhone came out, it’s been a focus of all tech pundits. Now, since last year, Microsoft truly entered the market with its Windows Phone 7. Unfortunately for them, they haven’t seen much success in the market, remaining at a very low adoption rate of 1.9%. Still, research firm IHS iSuppli is now predicting that Windows Phones will overtake iOS in the smartphone market within 3 years. Crazy prediction, or bold move? Here’s the details.

First, there’s no question that so far, Windows Phone 7 has seen very little success, despite a large marketing effort from Microsoft. Ever since the first version came out, critics have pointed out various flaws in the system, and updates have been slow to come through the various carriers. Worse, it almost seemed like mobile phone stores didn’t even want to sell these phones. With the iPhone and Android taking all the real estate, it was very hard for Microsoft to find a spot on the shelve. But last year they made a very significant move, by partnering with Nokia, the largest cellphone marker in the world. Now, they will be making Windows Phones as well, and that might be enough to propel this system ahead. This is in fact what the research firm is basing it’s predictions on. The very first Nokia phone to hit the US soil running Windows Phone 7, the Lumia 900, was a big hit at CES. That’s why IHS iSuppli thinks this is just the beginning, and that the path for Microsoft and Nokia is wide open. They are predicting a 15% market share by next year.

But there’s several problems with that theory. First, of course Nokia is the largest phone maker, but the main reason is because almost all low end phones, those you typically find in Africa, part of Asia and even many European and South American markets are all using cheap Nokia phones. Those aren’t smartphones, and they won’t be running Windows Phone 7. Nokia smartphones have never been a success in the US, or many other industrial countries. So the power Nokia adds to Windows Phone 7 is not that great. Then, being a success at CES and being a success in the market place are two different things. The fact is people who go in mobile phone stores look for an iPhone or an Android phone, primarily. It’s doubtful that a lot of tech press coverage from CES is going to change that. The idea that suddenly, this one phone will propel Microsoft ahead of the market is fairly dubious.

Overall, anything could happen. The iPhone and iOS could become stale, uninteresting, and we could see a mass of customers switching within a year. But that’s doubtful. Chances are, Nokia won’t bring much to Microsoft, at least not in the US.

Let me know your thoughts please comment!

Fisher Price Kid Tough DVR CES 2012

I wish I had this as a kid! The experience of being a parent is very rewarding. Molding the life of a person while teaching that person about the world in which we live can be very fun, particularly if you have the same interests. Chances are, however, if you’re interested in gadgets, your children has shown interest in the toys you tinker with on a constant basis. Regrettably, kids can place some heavy risk on your electronics and gadgets, do giving them hands-on time with your costly possessions maybe rather nerve wrecking. Many gadgets won’t stand a chance against butter fingers and sticky fingers from a three year old, and that is why the Fisher Price Kid Tough electronic line is so attractive. At CES 2012, in the 2^nd week of January, a portable DVR was unveiled by the company which is tough enough to hold its own against horseplay with your kids.

This device, which is dubbed as the Kid Tough Portable DVR comes in either blue or pink and is designed for kids between ages 2 and 5. Although it is called a DVR, this recent addition to the Kids Tough electronics line is really more than a media player as it features a 3.5” touch screen and a headphone jack to let them watch stuff while on the go. The rechargeable battery that it has can last for up to 6 hours and it can be recharged using a docking station. In order to use this device, you just have to dock the DVR in the station, attach it to the set top box and then set the time and length you want recorded.

The device greatest feature is definitely not storage space, as it only has a standard of 2GB. You can however, expand this o up to about 32GB if you need to place more stuff on it. It is set to be released in stores in the month of May, and the price is about 150 dollars. Do you wish to buy one and have your 4 year old test out its ruggedness?

You will be able to buy it in either pink or blue. It has a comfortable but tough case, with tactile areas which softens its ruggedized display, thus making it easy to hold. It has nice big buttons which makes it easy for young children to use.

The Portable Kid Tough DVR can be attached to a TV satellite system and programmed to record and save TV shows to its hard drive. You then unplug, give it to your child, and make a 4 hour car ride much better. It has a built in stereo speaker as well as 3.5 millimeter headphone jack.

In June 2012, it will be sold retail at a price of 149.99 dollars.

Watch the demo video to see it in action!

Sound Donut CES 2012

The Sound Donut had an interesting display at the Consumer Electronic show this year. The Sound Doughnut is a wireless Bluetooth speaker. It is Siri enabled and can play audio in something the company calls “3D Sound.”

Read more and see the awesome donut display from CNET here: http://ces.cnet.com/2300-33363_1-10010988.html

Review of the Sensics SmartGoggles by CashSherpa.com

The Consumer Electronic Show, or CES, is the place where new hardware and gadgets get introduced all the time. This year is no different, and CES 2012 was home to a lot of new releases. One of which was the Sensics SmartGoggles 3D, a massive helmet and screen combination that reacts to your movements to provide real time display feedback from your own actions. But will this prove successful, even useful at all? Not everything from CES ends up as an actual product.

The Sensics SmartGoggles looks like a big helmet, along with a visor. Except that this visor is actually a display, providing 1280×800 resolution for games or other applications. The company describes it as entertainment goggles, providing 360 degree view and tracking. Indeed, when the system is on, moving around or turning your head is registered. Even jumping will produce the desired effect. The way it works is an array of cameras are mounted on top of it, and scans the environment around you. Then, the virtual world you see, whether that’s a game or other, is updated in real time as the world around you changes from your movements. Even your hands can be recognized and integrated into the display. This would allow someone to control a virtual avatar simply by spinning around, rather than spinning a mouse. It could bring Minority Report style technology to the real world, which could be pretty useful.

However, the technology isn’t without it’s problems. First, these goggles, which are really more like a helmet, are massive. They weight a lot, although the weight is well balanced. You probably couldn’t wear that for a long period of time without feeling it. Then, when you do all kind of movements with this on, you do look very weird, and it also takes a lot of space around you to do those movements safely. It wouldn’t work in any small or crammed home. Finally, it would require specialized software to go along with it, since the input methods are completely different. Still, it does have the advantage of being completely self contained into the device, along with a 1.2GHz dual core processor and a 3D accelerator graphics chip, which is pretty powerful. There are use cases when it may be useful. The helmet may look gigantic, but in the proper work environment, like for training pilots, it could replace much bigger devices.

Overall, while this isn’t exactly new technology, it’s been implemented in a new way that makes it fairly easy to use and could potentially become useful. It might not catch on amongst gamers or home users, but there could be specialized use cases. There’s still no hint at a price or release date, although it’s doubtful a lot of software would support it quite yet.

CES 2012 Thinnest Ultrabook, The Aspire S5

Acer debuted the world’s thinnest Ultrabook named The Aspire S5 at CES 2012. The Aspire S5 is even thinner at 15 mm than the Apple’s MacBook Air at 17 mm.

Known spec. breakdown:

Known features: The Acer Aspire S5 has SSD, USB 3.0 connectivity, HDMI port, and a Thunderbolt connector for 30Gbps transfers.  The Acer Aspire S5 weighs in at only 3 lb. The computer will power up in just 1.5 seconds. It is made of magnesium alloy and brushed metal and has a screen size of 13.3-inches. Exact specs on all features are not known.

It will come with an Intel Core processor and solid state drive.

For now Acer has taken the crown from Apple for the world’s thinnest Ultrabook.

Critics Love Windows Phones?

I saw this article in the New York Times today and wanted to share. I decided to buy a phone that did not run Apple or Android software so I went with a Windows Phone. I purchased the highest rated Windows phone that T-Mobile carries called the HTC Radar 4G. I wanted the Nokia 800, but unfortunately it’s not available in the US yet. I have 2 weeks to try it out, but I love the look of the Windows Mobile operating system. It makes static icon based Google and Apple phones look dated.

Some of the reviews mentioned in the New York Times read:

“GORGEOUS,” raves The Huffington Post.

“Best-looking smartphone operating system in the industry,” gushes Slate.

“Far superior to most if not all the Android smartphones,” saysTechCrunch.

As you can see the Windows Phones are actually getting positive reviews! A Microsoft product actually has critiques raving about it. One of the problems for lackluster sales is Windows Phones have been made by HTC and Samsung don’t boost top of the line specs. Critiques were down on Microsoft partnering with Nokia, but I think it was a genius move. After seeing the Nokia Lumia 800 on YouTube it’s probably one of the best looking smart phones of all time.

Microsoft built Windows Mobile from the ground up which is one of the reasons the design looks so fresh. Interestingly Windows 8 operating system will look a look like Windows Mobile. It’s thought the design switch is so Windows 8 runs better on tablets.

Mashup’s Ultimate United State of Pop 25 Song 2011 Mix

This is the ultimate pop mix from blended together from the top 25 songs of 2011. The mix was created by Jordan Roseman also known as DJ Earworm. The video just hit YouTube and I’m sure in a few hours or days it will have millions of hits. The cool part about the Mashup video is its not only the top pop songs, but also the music videos all mashed up together.

Watch the video below posted on YouTube:

The four other Mashup videos from 2007-2011 have generated 68 million views on YouTube. Be the first to post this on FaceBook or Twitter check it out!

Bing Now Tied to Yahoo in Web Searches

In the ever growing online search business, Google has been the king for many years now. After replacing AltaVista and Yahoo almost a decade ago, it’s the go to place for many of us when we’re looking for information online. But ever since Microsoft shelved their MSN search and launched Bing, the little product has been gaining grounds. Now, the Microsoft engine has just tied with Yahoo, at 15% each. As it keeps growing, it’s slowly eroding the dominant player, and getting a few more eyes to turn its way, as Microsoft keeps improving their site for users to get better results all the time.

According to numbers from Hitwise, a company monitoring the search engines, every month Bing has been gaining market share, while Google has been going down, ever so slightly. At 1% or less at a time, it’s going to be quite a while before Google starts becoming a minority, but already the company is worried. The interesting thing about Bing and Yahoo is that both are actually the same thing. Bing search powers Yahoo, so both of them use the Microsoft engine, which can make the numbers seem even more impressive, at around 30% versus 65% for Google. Of course, these are all guesses made by the various analytics firms, and the true numbers might be lower for the two up comers, with some saying they are still at 13% or even 11% each. Still, Microsoft is definitively growing on Google’s territory, and that has analysts intrigued.

Bing has grown from very little to what it is today. Many users feel Bing give them better results than Google on a number of fronts. Some of the popular functions include video search, which gives previews of the videos right there on the search page, and an image search which doesn’t filter out more risque content in the same way that Google seems to. Of course, anyone using a Windows Phone, or the default Internet Explorer bar, will also be using Bing. Whatever the reason, people are getting more accustomed to it, and that’s the last thing Google want. Still, Microsoft isn’t making money with it. In fact, the company is losing tons of money on Bing, because it’s spending so much making it better, and making those partner deals. Whether they have a true plan for future monetization of their engine is unknown, although since they are Microsoft, most figure they have the money for it.

Overall, this is all a very good thing for consumers. More competition is better, and the fact that Google no longer has such a strong monopoly forces them to innovate even faster. We get more competition, more choice, and more innovation, which is something the Internet thrives on. As both companies keep growing, we’ll see which one will end up being the favorite of most users in the years to come.

Find Broken Links with Broken Link Checker

While watching the Affiliate Summit East keynote with Wil Reynolds I got this idea. Mr. Reynolds suggested that all bloggers use a broken link checkers on their blogs. Not only will this allow your blog to stay current is also presents SEO opportunities. For example if you link to another relevant web site and after a few years that site closes its doors you might be able to buy the expired domain. A great WordPress tool I found is called Broken Link Checker http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/broken-link-checker. Broken Link Checker currently has a 4 out of 5 star rating on the WordPress web site.

Key features:

• Monitors links in your posts, pages, comments, the blogroll, and custom fields (optional).
• Detects links that don’t work, missing images and redirects.
• Notifies you either via the Dashboard or by email.
• Makes broken links display differently in posts (optional).
• Prevents search engines from following broken links (optional).
• You can search and filter links by URL, anchor text and so on.
• Links can be edited directly from the plugin’s page, without manually updating each post.
• Highly configurable.

Plugin is very easy to install and works great with the current version of WordPress.

Trillian FPS Camera Capturing Video at the Speed of Light

Most consumer cameras have settings that allow them to take several pictures in a row. A good DSLR will give you the opportunity to take perhaps 5 shots inside of a single second. This can be quite useful to capture an animal in movement, or a fast moving car. There’s even cameras out there that can capture a thousand shots in a single second, and they are used to capture some spectacular shots, like a bullet moving through the air. But now, researchers at MIT created a brand new camera called the Trillian FPS Camera, that can take over a trillion images per second, and capture shots at the speed of light.

First, this isn’t your typical consumer camera. The device is still very much a development system, and requires a specific setup. The camera itself is also more than just a normal camera, it’s a large box that contains hundreds of sensors, all taking shots, with a computer alternating the shots so that they take a trillion images every second. Also, right now this camera can only take pictures in one dimension, which means you need a set of mirrors to rotate the angle used, so that you can get a two dimensional image. All this means you’re not likely to get this technology in your personal camera any time soon, and right now the price would make it prohibitive anyways. It’s a device still confined to the labs, for all intent purposes. Still, that doesn’t mean there isn’t uses for it. Thanks to this setup, shots can now be seen at the speed of light, which means you can actually see light photons travel through the air, something never seen before.

As the shots are taken, the scientists show off a beam of light, from a highly precise laser, illuminating a scene. You’re now able to see the light hit each object in the scene, and see how it gets scattered and absorbed by the various surfaces. This brings a lot of possibilities in many fields. For example, industrial designers could use such a camera to see how their materials react, and if there’s any defect in their construction, based on how the light acts. Also, this may make light imaging possible in medical fields, in places where we currently use x-rays, because now simple light photons can be seen travelling through space. There’s a lot of different uses that can be seen for the Trillian FPS Camera, although for now they are mostly in the scientific and industrial domains. The scientists say they envision a time when normal cameras may get such a technology, but it’s likely to be a while still.

It’s unclear how expensive the Trillian FPS Camera would be, simply because it’s not for sale. It’s still a development device, and still being perfected by the engineers at MIT. Still, it’s a very interesting breakthrough in technology, and something camera lovers would be very interested in getting one day.

Watch this video of camera capturing light going through a soda bottle. Pretty awesome!