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Breeze Cellphone Can Be Just That for Seniors
Tweet Share on Facebook May 29, 2008 Comment (3)Another cellphone that's potentially good for seniors has hit the market. AT&T touts the Pantech Breeze as an uncomplicated handset with large buttons, large type on its screen, and easy-to-use menus.
But it's hardly as stripped down as others, including the ClarityLife, which was announced recently and is aimed directly at the older set. AT&T instead says the Breeze can appeal to any first-time phone user, including youngsters who still might want some of what today's wireless wonders can offer. That includes text messaging, the ability to download ringtones, and a camera that can also take video. Also, like some models under the Jitterbug brand, the Breeze includes a full keypad.
But like others aimed at seniors and juniors, the Breeze has dedicated buttons that can be programmed to call certain numbers. The Breeze includes three of the buttons for reaching loved ones or caregivers. They seem a great addition for melting the potential confusion caused by modern cellphones, whether someone is beset with an emergency or just easily muddled.
The phone is selling, after rebate, for $50 with a two-year contract and $125 without one.
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Google CEO: Get Ready for Cellphone Ads
Tweet Share on Facebook May 28, 2008 Comment (8)Brace yourself for ads on your cellphone. Google's CEO, for one, is predicting that ads on mobile devices will overtake those on the conventional Web in a matter of years.
Eric Schmidt told a German newspaper that not only will the market grow along with the use of mobile devices, but the ads can be better targeted. "The advertising gets more targeted because phones are personal," he says. "So targeted ads are possible. And that means the value of the ads will grow."
At the same time, a survey suggests consumers are growing more open to getting ads on their cellphones. And again, the ads can be more valuable because they can be personalized to a phone and its owner, says Harris Interactive's vice president, Milton Ellis.
"No other advertising medium approaches the personal relationship consumers have with their mobile devices," Ellis says. "The key is to gain consumer interest by baiting the hook and providing them with something traditional advertising cannot."
The best incentive, of course, is straight cash. Some 80 percent of adults said the best reason to accept mobile ads was some sort of direct payment. Teens, on the other hand, could be bribed more than adults with free music downloads.
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New Windows Matches iPhone's Multitouch
Tweet Share on Facebook May 28, 2008 Comment (8)With Windows Vista still under attack, Microsoft is trying to generate excitement for the next version of its ubiquitous operating system.
A Microsoft demo suggests the next Windows, to be released as early as next year, will feature a leap forward with multitouch technology. That's the two-finger, on-screen manipulation that made such a splash with Apple's iPhone. The feature is demonstrated here.
Moving photos and flipping objects with a couple of fingers is no doubt nifty. But few of us have expensive, touch-screen monitors. Maybe Microsoft is trying to breathe new life into tablet PCs, which are laptops with touch screens that haven't made a big dent in the market. Or maybe Microsoft is just trying to emphasize that it has always kept pace with Apple innovations. Microsoft reportedly has worked on multitouch software for at least as long as Apple.
But Microsoft hasn't gotten the feature into a popular product, as Apple did with its iPhone. And Microsoft has lost a bit of market share to Macintosh, whose latest Leopard version of Mac OS X won rave reviews while Vista floundered.
Has Microsoft learned anything? I fear not, judging from the multitouch demo. I'd feel better if Microsoft owned up to Vista mistakes and emphasized that the next version of Windows would be slimmer, faster, and friendlier to hardware. Instead, the software Goliath continues to emphasize new features, including one that few of us can now use. I'm yearning not for a multitouch Windows but for a Microsoft that's in better touch with its users.
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Money-Saving LED Lighting Is a Tough Sell
Tweet Share on Facebook May 23, 2008 Comment (5)The latest wrinkle in LED lighting is a three-way bulb, much like might be used in a living room lamp. The EarthLED EvoLux R gets successively brighter as you hit the switch.
It's not cheap, though, at $100 for a version that's as bright as a 100-watt incandescent bulb.
Of course, maker Advanced Lumonics says the bulb lasts 11 years and touts the money you'd save by not replacing power-hungry incandescents. I'm all for energy savings that equate to dollar savings, but LED bulbs seem a tough sell.
For one, lighting aesthetics (color, for one) make all the difference. Consumers want to try one of these bulbs before committing to a houseful. But a $100 trial is expensive. (Advanced Lumonics does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.)
Cheaper versions include a 100-watt equivalent that doesn't dim at $80 and 60-watt versions at $40. Even the last one is a stiff entry fee. Plus, let's face it, most of us can't think in terms of decade-long savings when the initial cost is so high.
Something like geothermal heat, which also takes years to get payback, costs only about twice as much as a conventional system. And unlike geothermal heat, light bulbs get broken. Fatally. Especially in living room lamps.
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Americans Spend and Socialize on Wireless Web
Tweet Share on Facebook May 23, 2008 Comment (1)A surprise to me: The shopping and selling site craigslist grabs the most attention of Americans browsing with their cellphones, according to market analysts at M:Metrics.
Overall, we're spending much more time on handset browsing. In a year, U.S. consumers nearly doubled (up 89 percent) the time spent browsing with their wireless phones. Facebook and MySpace were the third- and fourth-most-popular sites for mobile browsing.
The second most-popular site behind craigslist for always-shopping Americans? Well, eBay, of course.
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Apple Poised to Take Over Our Digital World
Tweet Share on Facebook May 22, 2008 Comment (6)There. Somebody said it: Apple will succeed at its ultimate goal of taking over our living rooms. That's living room as metaphor for the center of modern entertainment. A new report from market analysts at Forrester Research says Apple will become the "hub of the digital home."
That's precisely Apple's goal, which seemed brazen when CEO Steve Jobs first voiced it in 2000. But the company has moved with amazing success beyond its PC roots. Apple has captured leading positions in digital music and video as well as the wired and wireless devices for playing them.
Apple is now best poised to tame the mess of gadgets, cables, and software that befuddle digital music and video, write analysts J. P. Gownder and James L. McQuivey in their report, "The Future of Apple Inc."
"Apple intends to reinvent itself as a digital home provider over the next five years," they say. "Its goal, we believe, is to provide hardware, software, and installation services to create an integrated digital experience."
Expect, for example, that Apple will release a central device for storing and sharing all those digital music and video files that we have scattered around. Microsoft sensed the same need and is selling Windows Home Server, which reviewers (including me) much like.
Apple, however, will have the marketing sense to never use the word "server," the analysts say. Think about graceful Apple names like "Time Capsule" for what others stoop to calling "NAS," which is short for "network attached storage."
It's hard to disagree with Forrester's analysis, except for nitpicks. Forrester imagines that Apple will turn its retail stores and their "genius bars" into a launchpad for installing home electronics. That seems a stretch. It's a big change from running a few retail stores to rolling trucks with crews of well-trained techs. I still think the cable and telephone companies are in the best position to become our home integrators.
Then again, a van (gleaming white, of course) with that Apple logo would look so much more chic at the curb than some beat-up telco truck.
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Netflix Box Is Appealing, but Not Enough
Tweet Share on Facebook May 21, 2008 Comment (6)The first Netflix box has appeared and looks promising. The online rental giant has teamed up with electronics maker Roku to release a $100 device that allows near-instant watching of movies and TV across the Internet.
The online videos are free to Netflix members, who typically pay $18 a month to get disks through the mail. But until now, the service was available only on PCs, or on the TVs of the few of us geeks who have connected one to a computer.
Initial reviews are positive, at least for how the device operates. One question is the video selection, which at some 10,000 titles is well short of what Netflix offers on disk. But we've used the download service quite a bit and think it's easy to find something good to watch.
Michael Arrington at TechCrunch calls the service a compelling add-on for Netflix users: "Free is such a beautiful word."
But others point out that while the service is free to subscribers, getting it into the living room means paying $100 and installing another box. That's a formula for a flop, Thomas Hawk says in his Digital Connection blog.
I think the argument against Netflix's or other new boxes is a strong one. That's the biggest rip on Vudu, another device that downloads commercial video from the Internet.
The services need to get themselves integrated into other gadgets, such as game consoles, DVD players, and new, connected televisions themselves. Netflix has said it's pursuing those kinds of deals. It needs them—and with bigger partners than Roku.
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Come Get Your Microsoft Kick, er, Cashbacks
Tweet Share on Facebook May 21, 2008 CommentMicrosoft said today it will pay cash from its ad revenue to shoppers who find and buy something through its product search engine. But other schemes to pay users from search ad revenue have hardly gone mainstream.
There just isn't enough money involved to be compelling, especially with the hassle of having to register and whatnot. Think coupons, says Henry Blodget in his blog: "Folks who clip coupons in the real world will be very excited about Live Search Cash Back and will likely use it religiously. But there's a reason coupons haven't taken over the world."
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Google Health Enables Data Downloads
Tweet Share on Facebook May 21, 2008 Comment (5)Google has launched its site for storing personal medical data, Google Health. And it's the first site I've visited that can download medical data from one of my providers, stirring my interest more than competitors have.
As with similar services from Microsoft, Revolution Health, and WebMD, the basic service at Google Health is a place to store personal medical data. But most of the sites depend on individuals to enter the data themselves.
All of them, like dozens of other health-related sites, also offer information, forums, and other tools on diseases and conditions. They also help manage wellness programs such as diet and exercise.
But Google and Microsoft appear to be the most aggressive in linking to data already stored by health providers, such as doctors, clinics, and pharmacies. Google, for example, launched with a number of partners, including the Walgreens and Longs drugstore chains.
My family fills most of its prescriptions at Walgreens. And it was easy to link my Google Health account to the Walgreens database, making a history of my medications an integral part of my Google-based personal health record. That's a nice first step.
A bigger fish, though, would be the insurers that already store much of our health histories. My insurer, Aetna, already offers extensive records through its own online service. Aetna is reportedly in talks with Google and Microsoft about sharing the data.
The prospect of links connecting all of them is exciting. It's also daunting, with a number of privacy experts warning that consumers could stumble into unexpected disclosures of health records—even assuming the best intentions on the part of Google, Microsoft, and others.
As a consumer, I could stomach what seem like small risks to my privacy for the sake of convenience. I'd at least like the option.
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Cable Outpaces Telco Broadband Growth
Tweet Share on Facebook May 16, 2008 CommentIt seems clearer that the days of cheaper broadband are drawing to a close or at least a pause. Telephone companies, which had pushed down access rates, are curtailing their price-cutting to woo new subscribers, according to a new report.
As a result, cable companies are again beating telcos at adding broadband subscribers. The first quarter of this year was the first since 2004 that the cablecos added more broadband users than did the telephone companies, the report from Leichtman Research Group says.
AT&T, for one, has raised the monthly charge for many of its DSL plans. Some cable companies, including Comcast, have offered a smattering of lower-priced tiers, but they still remain generally more expensive than telcos' offerings.
