Jim Dalrymple at The Loop

If Apple were trying to make Mountain Lion more like iOS we would be touching the screen of our computers to interact with out apps instead of using the keyboard and mouse.

I think commenter Moeskido said it best

Those claims allow easy comparisons with Metro and Windows 8, without having to examine the huge philosophical differences between “make improvements specific to the platform” and “dump everything together in a continuing attempt to appease conservative IT people.”

MG Siegler via parislemon

As for the early projections of 34 million iPhones sold - which again, some people thought were crazy - also low. Try 37 million.

There are so many articles that deserve to be made fun of, but I couldn’t just pick one.

John Gruber via Daring Fireball

It’s the difference between “What’s the best we can do within the constraints of the current ePub spec?” versus “What’s the best we can do given the constraints of our engineering talent?” - the difference between going as fast as the W3C standards body permits versus going as fast as Apple is capable.

This design trade off is just like Apple’s 30 pin dock connector. Many try and argue that a mini or micro USB port that is supported throughout the industry is a better choice that an Apple only port. I see the other side to that argument. The 30 pin dock connector offers not only power and data, but video, audio out, audio in, FireWire, midi, ect. ect. Apple made the choice ~8 years ago to push forward with their own port with the features they wanted rather than wait for a standard port to be adopted. I think that choice has turned out ok.

They got Microsoft to help out with the name before they left the event for good.

26 minutes into the Verge CES 2012 SuperSession video

Nilay Patel-“Who owns the customer relationship when you guys sit down and hash out a phone? It’s you (OEM), it’s the platform provider, it’s the carrier.”

Drew Bamford (HTC)-“Thats just the fact of life in the mobile business right? Everybody owns the customer who wants to own the customer and so there is a fine balance.”

Joshua Topolsky-“Fun for the customer isn’t it, four or five different entities want to own you.”

Aaron Woodman (Microsoft)-“Whats funny about that question is that if you asked a customer most of them would say, at least in the US they would say their mobile operator.”

This just makes John Gruber’s point so much more poetic

Apple: Here is our new phone. It comes in black or white. We will let you sell it.

Apples controls the entire experience with its iPhone customers and no other smartphone OEMs, OS vendors, or carriers can make that claim. They sell the phone, provide support, provide updates, and curate the ecosystem. Maybe its not a coincidence that Apple is making the most money.

Chloe Albanesius via PCMag

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt on Tuesday took issue with the idea that the Android mobile operating system is fragmented, arguing that there is instead a “differentiation” between devices.

“Differentiation is positive, fragmentation is negative,” Schmidt said during an appearance here at the Consumer Electronics Show. “Differentiation means that you have a choice and the people who are making the phones, they’re going to compete on their view of innovation, and they’re going to try and convince you that theirs is better than somebody else.”

Fragmentation, however, means that you have an app and it runs on one device but not the other, he said.

HorseSchmidt

CES 2011: 3D TVs

CES 2012: Innovative and new designs, or something else…

AcerCloud
Samsung SwipeIt
LG Ultrabooks

MG Siegler via parislemon

Hard to pick the most ridiculous element of these updated numbers.

I can’t decide. You choose.

For reference

Lauren Goode via All Things D

The Streaming Stick will deliver HD streaming video and feature Wi-Fi capabilities, a processor and upgradeable software. The Stick won’t require any cables or a separate remote. It will, however, work only on TV sets with HDMI ports that are enabled for Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL).

This is the problem. Roku has a great idea, one that I have dreamed of for a long time. Using a non line of sight remote (RF, Bluetooth, or WiFI) with just a simple HDMI dongle is perfect replacement for a set top box, except for power. To draw power from HDMI you need a newer TV with MHL. Until this is as ubiquitous as the HDMI port itself this dongle idea wont make any impact. Hopefully Roku has enough market share to drive all TV manufactures to implement the technology required for a simple dongle set top box like this to succeed in the future.

Donny Benfield via The Gadget Gurus

Ice Cream Sandwich is a really, really, nice update for Android. Love or hate the looks of it, Google has really pushed forward with the user interface on the platform.

Let’s hit on the 3rd party apps. Android is no where close at all, to having the quality 3rd party apps that iOS has.

This is a great overview of the device and lines up with my opinions after playing with the Galaxy Nexus for only a few minutes.

• ICS is a huge improvement and really is pleasant to use even with some odd UI inconsistencies.
• AMOLED is sub par when compared to the Retina Display or any high end IPS display.
• The phone is too large to use comfortably with one hand.
• 3rd party apps on Android suck.

I still contend this phone is like a Windows 7 ultrabook being compared to a MacBook air.