bruceb news

Think you’re keeping up with the tech industry? Here are two recent reports that took me by surprise.

Android is crushing everything in its path. In the first quarter of 2013, Android smartphones had a 75% market share. Apple’s iOS came in at a distant second place, with 17% market share.

Two hundred million smartphones were shipped in the first quarter, up almost 60% from the first quarter of 2012, according to the IDC report.

Remember when you thought the iPhone was dominating the smartphone world? It was never really true (Apple gets the lion’s share of the profits but never had more than half the market share) and now it’s old news. […] continued

Here we go again.

Windows 8 is succumbing to the pressure from too many people with too many agendas. It’s starting to get a bit of the Vista stink. Everybody seems to “know” that Windows 8 is something to be avoided. Nobody can articulate what the problems are – it’s something they heard somewhere. “I know somebody who got it and just hated it.” “I read an article that said it was awful.”

Let’s jump to the conclusion.

  –  Windows 7 is a lovely stable operating system. If you get a computer with Windows 7, you’ll love it.

  –  Windows 8 is a lovely stable operating system. […] continued

There is finally a strong selection of Windows 8 laptops on the market, but they are mixed with the aging inventory of models that do not take advantage of the improvements in laptop design – lighter weight, thinner profiles, faster hard drives, and touchscreens. Here’s a quick survey to help you shop.

In general, keep three things in mind:

–  Ultrabook. It’s a marketing term that has been stretched to cover quite a variety of machines. Still, it’s a reasonably reliable shorthand for the latest generation of processors in a thin and light form factor.

–  Windows 8. Don’t be afraid. […] continued

Let’s not mince words: very few people have purchased Microsoft’s Surface tablets. It’s still early in the long game that Microsoft is playing but the world is not exactly being changed overnight.

Microsoft is trying to position the Surface devices more clearly in the market.

The original Surface RT ($499 and up) is the one that runs Windows RT, a rewritten version of Windows for ARM processors that can’t run any traditional Windows programs. It is thinner, lighter, and the battery lasts all day, so it’s being positioned as a tablet (that can be used to do real work).

The new Surface Pro ($899 and up) runs the full version of Windows 8, with full compatibility with every Windows program. […] continued

The number of smartphones and tablets sold worldwide in 2012 is absolutely staggering. The sense of amazement is the same no matter how you measure it – number of units sold, growth year over year, spending, profits, comparison to declining computer sales. There is something profound going on in the world.

A couple of trends in 2012 are surprising. We’ve been accustomed to thinking of Apple as an unstoppable giant setting the bar high above competitors. In fact, the world is a duopoly, divided between Android and Apple iOS, and Android has taken a sharp lead in the number of devices sold. […] continued

If you have a new Android phone running the latest version of Android (“Jelly Bean,” Android versions 4.1 or 4.2), you can turn on Google Now, one of the most interesting and forward-looking smartphone apps available on any platform.

I don’t have a Jelly Bean phone, so I’m relying on news reports, blogs, and comments by knowledgeable tech journalists. My impression is that Google Now is useful but still limited and unpolished. That’s okay. You can still learn quite a lot from it about how companies hope to keep you in their ecosystems and what data mining might do for you in the future. […] continued

Previously: Clash Of The Titans – The Battle Over Skydrive On iOS

War has broken out.

Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon have been building walled gardens, ecosystems of services that work best if you have multiple devices on the same platform. Example: once you buy an iPad, it is far more likely that your next phone will be an iPhone, because you’ve become familiar with how iOS works, and because the Apple ecosystem will make the two devices work together.

The walls around the garden have mostly been used to keep you inside, buying more devices on the platform where you started. […] continued

Microsoft is embroiled in a conflict with Apple that is part of a bigger story. Today I’ll tell you about the details of the standoff over whether Microsoft will be allowed to keep giving away a Skydrive app for iPhones and iPads. In the next article, I’ll give you the bigger picture, which will help you understand some of the battles to come – and perhaps help you make decisions about what devices you buy.

Today’s flap is about whether Microsoft will be able to update an app for iPhones and iPads that provides access to files and pictures stored in Skydrive. […] continued

If you’re curious about the Microsoft Surface tablets, you’ll be able to look at them in Staples and Best Buy next week. Microsoft’s original plan was to sell them only online and in Microsoft-branded stores until early next year but something – probably slow sales – has inspired them to make the Windows RT tablets more widely available starting December 16.

The reaction to Windows 8 and the new Windows tablets has been muted since their release on October 26. Instead of being ready to launch new products right away, many manufacturers have acted as if the whole thing caught them by surprise. […] continued

An email arrived tonight from Verizon announcing that 4G LTE service has officially arrived in Santa Rosa and nearby areas in Sonoma County. Verizon actually turned on LTE up here about a month ago; I noticed the LTE indicator lighting up on my Verizon devices and loyal correspondents left comments about it on my earlier article about 4G.

Here’s the Verizon coverage map this evening, showing pretty broad availability across the central part of Sonoma County. At my home west of Sebastopol, I’ve got just as weak a signal as before, but the two-bar data connection delivers LTE speed.

I haven’t heard any updates about AT&T. […] continued