The Google Blog announced the other day that upcoming Android Wear watches will work with newer iPhones. I’d been curious whether or not Google (and its OEM partners) would go down this path. In general, iPhone owners enjoy the same Google apps that their Android counterparts use. However, given Google’s stabs into integrated hardware – Nexus … Continue reading Android Watch on iOS
Having just traveled to the stellar A. Smith Bowman Bourbon Distillery in Fresericksburg, VA, I found it pretty serendipitous that I was shown the below ad by Knob Creek. It’s fascinating to see Airbnb used as a sort of platform for an experience, rather than merely a hotel replacement. Sure, the tent near the brewery … Continue reading Distilling Experiences
Starbucks has made it its business to partner with lots of tech companies – Uber, Spotify, The New York Times – and the most recent addition to that list is Lyft, the popular ride-sharing service. I think this partnership – along with Starbucks’s other deals – represents a new kind of dominance for the brand. In the 1990s … Continue reading Another Coffee for the Road
Fitbit has announced plans to go public. Although the firm has first mover advantage in the wearable fitness space, I’m a little skeptical of its long-term prospects. Namely, I think that the days of the single-use device – and especially, wearables – are numbered. As the Apple Watch – and to vastly lesser extents, Android … Continue reading Fitbit vs GoPro IPO
About darn time. No cloud home for your photos is complete without the ability to download them easily. For the first time, we’re bringing you bulk download. Continue reading Flickr
Juan Pablo Vazques has an article in Harvard Business Review about how Apple Pay’s reliance upon credit cards is ultimately iterative, but not disruptive. He writes: Apple executives could have negotiated with retail banks, just as it did with the recording labels, to launch Apple Pay. If it had, Apple Pay would have been a … Continue reading Apple Pay’s Credit Card Reliance
Wired has a solid review of the new Macbook. Their conclusion is spot on: Much like that first Air, the new MacBook is for the future. It’s a vision of our next computer, the one we’ll buy when our Airs or ThinkPads can’t keep up anymore. The MacBook is a work in progress: The processor and … Continue reading Reviewing the New Macbook
Looks like Samsung has come around to Apple’s design language, what with the headphone jack placement and all. Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S6
Jay-Z recently revealed his plans for Tidal, a high-fidelity music-streaming service. The key differentiators are: Tidal will have no free tier Tidal will have a $10/mo compressed quality option, and a $20 CD-quality option Tidal will offer equity stakes in the company to artists I’m a little skeptical that Tidal will succeed. Spotify and Pandora are … Continue reading Tidal
In 2013, Facebook tried and failed to create its own phone. Now Facebook has come back with a more considered vengeance, and announced today at F8, its developer conference, the inception of Messenger Platform, which will play nice with third party apps, and ultimately, I believe, achieve some of the results Facebook sought back in 2013. Facebook seems … Continue reading Facebook Messenger: The Trojan Horse
Silicon Spatula 