Archive for the 'Apple' Category

Split-Screen TV Gaming Comes to iOS 5

Published on October 8, 2011 in Apple, Gaming, iPhone and Technology. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

With iOS 5, Apple is extending Airplay to any third-party app, allowing iPhones and iPads to serve as wireless game controllers for the Apple TV.

Real Racing 2 developer Firemint is showing off something new: split-screen gaming on the television, with up to four players racing at the same time.

This resembles Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U console, but in reverse. Instead of sending a wireless signal from the set-top box to the controller, as the Wii U will do, Airplay sends a signal from the phone or tablet to the Apple TV. What’s interesting here is that the TV can show a composite image from multiple iPhones and iPads. The game changes because you’re seeing something different on the larger display from what’s on your individual screen. I’m sure we’ll see more apps designed to take advantage of this iOS 5 feature.

Is Airplay gaming reason enough to buy an Apple TV and four iPod Touches? Of course not. But if you’ve got an Apple TV, chances are you’ve already got at least one other iOS device. Or if you own a bunch of iOS devices, the Apple TV’s $99 price isn’t bad for a simple multiplayer game console.

This is another example of TVs and set-top boxes doing what previously required a dedicated game system. Although Real Racing 2 isn’t as dense as, say, Gran Turismo 5, it’s cheaper and simpler, and may therefore appeal to a wider audience. You’d better believe that what happened to the established games industry in mobile will eventually happen in the living room.

Once AppleTV functionality is integrated into future LED televisions, we will have a new revolution in online gaming.

Future TV’s made by Apple

Published on September 18, 2011 in Advertising, Apple, Cloud, Google, Microsoft, Online Ads, PlayStation, Sony, Technology and Xbox. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Apple is going to release the most amazing device that is going to be another platform for everyone to listen to music, a place for you to use apps and play video games, and a place for you to watch movies and any other channel on TV. This device is of course going to be tied to their online store for easy purchasing of all those soft items.

This device is going to be an LED TV. It’s going to be revolutionary in scope. You can play video games using a iPhone or iTouch as a remote control and similar to function as a Wii remote .

Apple has the operating system already. They have expertise in manufacturing computer devices, video boards, and computer monitors. In fact, apple sells full computers that basically only look like monitors or in some respects a TV. What’s the difference between a monitor and a TV? A TV has a tuner. So Apple will put in a HD digital tuner; increasing the cost very little.

The television industry… pretty much undermines innovation in the sector,” Jobs said at the All Things Digital Conference in July 2010. “The only way this is going to change is if you start from scratch, tear up the box, redesign, and get it to the consumer in a way that they want to buy it.”

Innovation in televisions will come in the form of technology convergence by really making the TV the entertainment hub. It has to be all things to all people. It has to be able to not only connect to the Internet and watch channels similar to the Roku device, but it should have the ability to install apps like an iPhone or Android.  It will also allow you to connect a laptop or tablet so that the TV becomes an extension of the device, in an easy and fashionable way.

So, why doesn’t the Xbox or Sony PlayStation allow channels and apps to be installed easily? I would say bad vision which leads to poor business decisions. There are limited apps on the PlayStation and Xbox in their online stores; otherwise apps are installed with an OS update. The game console companies haven’t learned their lesson.  But I’m happy because now we will see some serious innovation and competition in this space. However, Apple does not have to compete directly with Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox since these devices have been focused as a gamer device with the aspirations of being something more someday. Apple’s LED TV will be something more with the added benefit of also being a gaming platform.  We learn again from Apple that making a platform for developers to create apps and make money will help increase sales.

Lets also point out that the average American watches 5 hours of TV a day and plays on the Internet a couple hours a day.  If Apple makes the TV the entertainment hub to combine these activities, then they have a winning combination.

Now lets review what’s happening in the cable and TV industry. We see the same thing year after year. I have a cable bill for over $100/month, I have Netflix for $16/month, I have an internet bill for $40, I have a video game console (where Xbox customers also have to pay for their yearly membership). How do you decrease costs?  Today, you can purchase a Roku device; for which I have high hopes. Roku has a great vision with games and channels on their device. And it’s great for those who want to cut the cord and not have Cable or Satellite TV. But this company lacks the developer support that apple already has with the iOS. Apple should buy Roku and integrate their technology and vision into the existing Apple TV product.  Otherwise it’s an acquisition target for another competitor.  Apple is in the position to allow any developer to create channel apps and also sell or rent any content by streaming the video; similar to Netflix or Amazon Video services. There’s still the issue with limited original content and sports channels.  The new model is cheaper services, paying for only the content/channels you want to watch and better integrated devices.

There has been some innovation from traditional TV manufacturers. 3D and widgets have been introduced but they haven’t been very popular. Then there’s the incremental improvement in TV size and image quality. I see incremental improvements without much vision in the form of wireless connectivity and apps from some vendors. HP tried this with yahoo widgets without much success. Google is trying to sell a Sony Google TV device; which is another console to buy. Google has vision but doesn’t have the right expertise in manufacturing of monitors. But the vision is there. Google’s purchase of Motorola Mobility demonstrates that Google is interested in the TV hardware devices Motorola manufactures, but again it’s just another brick to plug into the TV. This might work and allow Google to integrate the Android OS which is a similar platform as the future Apple TV. Or at least I hope it does.

Apple also thinks it can do 3D better.  In 2010, Apple won a patent for a revolutionary new 3D screen system that would not require glasses and could be viewed by multiple people at the same time. The patent went so far as to slam current 3D systems, noting that most people dislike goggles and dismissing current non-glasses systems as “essentially unworkable for projecting a 3D image….”

Why else would Apple want to sell TV’s since it’s something most people already have and it’s a device most people want to own for at least 10 years? Well, because it’s another device to make money selling apps, music and of course commercials or ads.

Apple stands to make huge revenue selling more apps and music however Ad revenue is another billion plus dollar revenue stream for Apple. And ads can be better, if that were even possible.  If Apple knows who you are based on your account and from other social media information AND they know what kind of music and television you watch, then they can push personalized ads and commercials. Commercials for the kids, parents or whoever else is using the TV. This is an incredible platform for not only innovating and changing industries but making huge money. Also, as far as I can tell, Google has been stealing Apple’s interfaces and functionality in the form of Andriod smartphones and Android tablets. Apple TV and Apple iAd platform will finally allow Apple to rip off Google’s advertising functionality.

So let’s sum up what will happen. A new Apple LED  TV with the iOS operating system will let people use apps purchased from the Apple store, music and video that streams from Apple’s cloud service (so you don’t have to have a large hard drive anymore).  An Apple LED TV will full yintegrate one single piece of hardware without additional unnecessary cords to external gaming or cable TV consoles. And Apple iAds platform will allow anyone to finally publish advertisements for the television, apps, and anywhere else Apple products take us.

How do you kill Microsoft?

Published on September 3, 2011 in Apple, Google, iPhone, Microsoft, Technology and user experience. 0 Comments

How do you kill Microsoft? Improve the end user experience. Microsoft has bright engineers and business people. They have been extremely good at consistently making satisfactory products and in some cases stellar products for their time (and then over charging companies.) Yes, competition has been stifled which has resulted in innovation being hampered in some areas. But it has also allowed for companies to standardize and work on improving their own end user experience. Administrators can integrate technologies and come up with some amazing solutions which have resulted in allowing these corporations to bring more and better services to its customers. It has allowed all companies who have adopted these technologies and practices to remain competitive and increase the barriers to entry in their respective markets. Microsoft has been great at slowly improving the user experience but their focus has been on the corporate technology manager and administrator.  But I want more and better. And better means they need to regain their original frame of mind where they knew it was about making the user experience, regardless of who that user is, amazing. Make the buying experience better for the consumer and CIO. Make the implementation and administration experience better for the technology manager and administrator. Make the development experience better for the developer. Make the technology available and free for the student, open source engineer and business start-up with a special limited license. Make the product fun, fast and error free for the user.

Steve Ballmer once said at a conference to employees that Microsoft technologies have to be like toasters where they just work and it’s easy enough for his mother to use it. Ok, but make the products not only as stable as a toaster but so great I want to butter my bread all the time.

What Apple and Google has demonstrated to the world was that it can be done better. And that improving the user experience regardless of their technical skill is the key to killing any reigning champ.  I once remember a Lotus Notes developer telling me that the only reason everyone was adopting Microsoft Exchange Server was that it was so colorful and easy to use. Regardless of the feature strengths the product had over the competition, she was right. The product was designed for an amazing user experience over any other product on the market.

Here’s another story… A month after the Apple iPhone was released, I was in Redmond having a conversation with a number of the Exchange and Windows mobile product developers and managers. I spoke to one of the developers who said he quit the mobile team out of frustration and moved into the Exchange team. He said not only was he bored with the mobile development work he was doing but frustrated that there was no drive to change the UI or user experience within the team. And he wanted to join a winning team. A group formed around us listening to our conversation. I explained that I loved the iPhone and was trying to get the product adopted in my company as the standard mobile phone for communication and collaboration. The Microsoft employees, ever faithful and oblivious, told me the iPhone would never be widely adopted by corporations given security concerns. I disagreed. The security issues can be resolved and Apple also licenses the Microsoft ActiveSync technology, but the user experience is so far superior that end users will mobilize and bring this technology into the company, just as customers had done in Microsoft’s early history.

To command line, or not command line, that is the question: Whether it be nobler in the GUI…Well, give them both is obviously the answer but give them BETTER is the key.