A Few of My Favorite and Significant Products of 2012
One great thing about a tech industry in transition is that manufacturers amp up the amount and breadth of the products they announce. 2012 was a transition year for PCs, smartphones, and tablets, and there … Continue reading
How To Make Windows 8 Great
There has been a lot of discussion here lately, both in posts such as Why IT buyers are Excited About Convertibles and Hybrids and Microsoft Surface: How Relevant Are Legacy Apps and Hardware? about the failings and the potential … Continue reading
Microsoft Surface: How Relevant Are Legacy Apps and Hardware?
Microsoft Surface has been on sale for a while now and reviews are out where reviewers tell the public what they thought about their experiences. The reviews varied widely as I illustrate below, but I … Continue reading
Evernote and Sugarsync: Headed in Reverse Windows 8 Gear
Two of the apps that changed the way I work are Evernote and Sugarsync. Evernote allowed me to go paperless and Sugarsync allowed me to have access to all my data accessible by any device. … Continue reading
Dell XPS 12: Windows 8 Ultrabook Re-imagined
With the advent of Microsoft’s Windows 8, computer makers developed different form factors to take advantage of the new operating system. Most of these new Windows 8 form factors were shown for the first time … Continue reading
Windows 8: Tepid Marketing–>Slow Sales
Kind of sad, isn’t it? This sorry attempt at a festive display of new PCs at a Micro Center store in Rockville, MD, says a lot about the thud with which Windows 8 seems to … Continue reading
Things I Prefer to do on my iPad versus my Surface
Last week, I covered areas and usage models where I preferred to use Microsoft Surface over my Apple iPad(s). I was actually surprised I would like Surface in so many areas given it is such … Continue reading
In Praise of Old-fashioned PCs
. I’m a big fan of tablets, especially the iPad. Altrhough I find myself spending more and more time with a tablet and less and less with a traditional computer, I can’t imagine getting by … Continue reading
Ten Things I prefer to do on Microsoft Surface versus my Apple iPad
My primary tablet of choice for years has been Apple’s iPad. The iPad, iPad 2, and the New (now old) iPad (3). This is after trying at least 20 other tablets with Android phone, Android … Continue reading
Microsoft Pulls it Together (Almost) for Windows 8 Launch
I attended Microsoft’s launch last week for Windows 8, Windows RT, and Surface. While launch day is only one milestone in a string of milestones, launch day is the one day that everything must come … Continue reading
Windows, iOS, and Android All Have Something to Prove This Week
Prior to Apple developing iOS and over the last 25 years, there had never been much of a threat to the Windows ecosystem. With iOS, Apple proved many things, including the value of a holistic … Continue reading
Without Metro Apps, Innovative Touch-based Windows 8 Consumer Hardware is Meaningless
Last week at IFA in Berlin, Germany, HP, Dell, Samsung, and Sony announced some very unique hardware designs for Windows 8. They included touch notebooks, convertibles, sliders, flippers, hybrids, and tablets that can take advantage … Continue reading
How Significant is the Synaptics ThinTouch, ForcePad and ClearPad Technology?
As I have cited previously, human computer interface (HCI) changes have defined the winners of the last decade in the phone, tablet, and premium PC and game console markets. I believe this will continue into … Continue reading
Microsoft Office 2013’s Biggest Risk Could be its Visual Design
Microsoft Office has been the staple of productivity for years, particularly for businesses. Therefore, whenever big changes happen to the product, it’s a big deal. Literally millions of IT departments and users shoulder the burden … Continue reading
Human-Computer Interface Transitions will Continue to Drive Market Changes
As a former executive and product manager for end consumer products and technologies, I have planned and conducted extensive primary research on Human-Computer Interfaces (HCI) or Human Machine Interface (HMI). A lot of this research … Continue reading
HSA Foundation: for Show or for Real?
I recently spent a few days at AMD’s Fusion Developer Summit in Seattle, Washington. Among many of the announcements was one to introduce the HSA Foundation, an organization currently including AMD, ARM, Imagination, MediaTek, and … Continue reading
Ultrabooks: Progress a Year Later?
One year ago almost to the day at Computex 2011, Intel introduced Ultrabooks to the world. The first generation of Ultrabooks was nice, but they were also homogeneous (exception Dell XPS 13) and very expensive, limiting … Continue reading
AMD’s “Trinity” APU Delivers Impressive Multimedia
AMD officially launched its “Trinity” line of second-generation AMD A-Series APUs for notebooks two weeks ago and systems will be hitting the store shelves in a few weeks; desktops are expected later this summer. Reviews … Continue reading
Why Apple is Wrong About Convertibles
On Apple’s last earnings call, CEO Tim Cook responded to a question on Windows 8 convertibles by saying, “You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those aren’t going to be pleasing to the … Continue reading
Immersive Social Games Bringing Families Together
The big discussion on social games recently is centered around games like Farmville and companies like Zynga, whose recent IPO generated a lot of attention. I see a much more interesting phenomenon taking place where … Continue reading
Two Sides of the Consumer Coin to Windows RT
Yesterday, Microsoft unveiled via a blog the different Windows 8 editions and comparing the different features and functionalities. There are three versions, Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, and Windows RT. One of the biggest changes in … Continue reading
NVIDIA Solved the Ultrabook Discrete Graphics Problem with Kepler
When Intel released their first Ultrabook specification, one of the first component implications I thought of were the impact to discrete graphics. My thought process was simple; based on the Intel specifications for battery life, … Continue reading
Windows 8 CP Tablet Experience: Distinctive yet Risky for Holiday 2012
A little less than a week ago, Microsoft launched to the public the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (CP). This is a follow-on to the Developer Preview (DP) that I’ve been using on a tablet and … Continue reading
Why the PC Industry Cannot Ignore Smartphones
When HP abandoned their smartphone and tablet business and webOS last August, many in the industry were disappointed in the speed of the Palm acquisition and the quick dismantling of it. Some who consider themselves … Continue reading
The Dell XPS 13: An Ultrabook that Could Steal Customers From Apple
If you are in the high-tech industry and haven’t heard of the term “Ultrabook”, you’ve probably been on sabbatical or have been living under a rock. Intel introduced an industry-wide initiative to re-think the Windows … Continue reading
