This week at its World Wide Developer Conference, Apple publicly exposed some of the features of the next generation of its mobile operating system, iOS 6. It is not coming out until the Fall, probably in conjunction with the next iteration of the iPhone, but here are the things I am really impatient for: [Read more...]
Top 10 New iOS 6 Features I’m Stoked About
June 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Multiple Monitors Does Not Equate to Multi-Tasking
February 8, 2012 by 1 Comment
Image courtesy of MacWorld Magazine, June 2008
I am a long time member of the cult of multiple monitors. And the practice is really taking off. But the NYT has it all wrong. [Read more...]
Cloud-Enabled Business Models (Or Why iTunes Match Will Change Your Phone)
December 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Gartner’s hype cycle charts how all emergent technologies start with a trigger, quickly ramp up to a peak of inflated expectations, drop in to a trough of disillusionment and then move back up a slope of enlightenment onto a relatively stable plateau of productivity. Cloud computing is moving right along that curve; the initial buzz was followed by a paralyzing fear of security issues, but we are now well up the slope of enlightenment: cloud computing is here to stay, and nobody disputes that it’s going to have a huge impact.
The power of cloud computing to enable radical new business models is really starting to be felt on a massive scale.
iPhoneography Update
November 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The New York Times has an article discussing the the iPhone telephoto lens from my earlier post on the subject. They have uniformly positive things to say about the burgeoning area, and mention a couple other seemingly good alternatives as well.
Similarly, Ars Technica has just posted an in-depth article on this subject, except theirs is much more focused on the results than the accessories. It is about as thorough examination of the subject as you are likely to find, and worth checking out (best read on a good bright monitor instead of a mobile device since it contains a ton of comparison photos.)
By way of update on the Photojojo unit, in my experience having a lens that can pull in distance shots is proving quite handy. And the tripod and tripod mount are also useful. Unlike previous efforts I had tried, the case for the Photojojo unit I mentioned is sturdy enough, unobtrusive enough, and easy enough to use that you can just put the case on in advance of an event and then keep the lens handy for quick installation & removal.
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Are Entrepreneurs Wild Risk-Takers?
November 14, 2011 by 1 Comment
When I wrote my post about What I Look For in an Entrepreneur, I did not include a gigantic appetite for risk on the list of desired attributes. Ben Smith recently wrote a great guest post on peHub suggesting that great entrepreneurs need to take big risks: Why Great Entrepreneurs Take Risks and Get Fired. In it, Ben points out that thinking differently, taking risks and being unafraid of failure are the essence of entrepreneurship. So what gives?
Localytics CEO on Steve Jobs, Raising Capital, Mobile Apps & TechStars
November 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Here’s a short video interview with the Founder and CEO of one of my portfolio companies, Raj Aggarwal (@analyticsraj) of Localytics. Raj sat down for a few minutes with Keith Cline of VentureFizz. In this short video interview, Raj talks about the origins of Localytics, his experience raising money from Launchpad Venture Group and others, his pick axes & shovels strategy for Localytics, and his experience working for Steve Jobs on defining the early iPhone business model…
Telephoto Lens for Your iPhone 4S
October 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Add-on lenses for cellphone cameras have been around for a while. And most of them are crap. But I stumbled onto a great little kit that is very nicely made, and, when combined with the out-standing new camera on the iPhone 4S, takes such great photographs, that I had to share.
Godspeed, Steve
October 5, 2011 by 2 Comments
The world lost a great mind today. Although I had warning, I am still more deeply affected than I would have expected. I have admired and respected Steve Jobs and adored his products for almost 30 years. Apple is almost entirely responsible for two of the most abiding passions of my life – a fascination with technology and what it makes possible, and a love of excellent design. When well executed, computers are, as Jobs called them, “a bicycle for the mind.” There is no business figure I have read more books and articles about, watched more of, or followed with greater interest. Watching him get sicker and sicker over these last years has been truly awful, and, as odd as it is to say about the CEO of a for-profit company making consumer electronic devices, I feel like a little piece of me died today as well. I truly will miss him. I can think of no better way to mark his passing than to dig up the following note I wrote him right after his liver transplant, a month after the iPad debut, when he had begun to make regular headlines for answering the occasional private email, and Apple was taking a lot of heat for refusing to support flash on the iPhone.
10 Best Things About Apple’s iOS 5 [Updated]
October 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment
[Originally Published on July 10; Updated on October 3]. In honor of Apple’s big iPhone announcement tomorrow, I thought it was worth republishing this list of the best things about Apple’s iOS 5. It will be awesome. Most of the focus will be on the new hardware, but the fact is that it is really the software that will make a bigger difference to most people. There is something for everyone to look forward to amongst the 200+ new features headed our way. Here’s the list of the top 10 things I am most psyched about:
NFC? NFW! (Near Field Communications is Total Hype) [Updated]
September 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The buzz about near field communications (NFC) is totally missing the point. NFC is just a contactless (or nearly contactless) replacement for swiping a credit card. But who cares? The swipe really doesn’t need replacing. It is no more trouble to swipe a credit card than it is to tap a smartphone on a pad. 20 credit cards stacked up in your pocket is still a tenth the size and weight of your smartphone. Saving that weight or hassle when you are headed to the gym is hardly a compelling vision. It is just not valuable to consumers or merchants, especially when you consider the hassles one has to go to in order to manage the security risks.
The excitement is misplaced. The things to get excited about are systems which handle the payment for you by tapping into the smarts of a mobile device and your identity and your context to create a relationship between you and the vendor, to the potential benefit of both. Currently an NFC tap is every bit as anonymous and devoid of context as the tried & true credit card swipe. What you want is a system that knows it is you and allows the merchant to relate to you in the form of loyalty awards, discounts and relevant offers.