How much would you pay or how much did you pay for your smartphone? Was it $200? $300? 500? How would you like to get one for free?
Amazon is coming up with a plan to offer smartphones for free. Let’s not get too excited. There’s not going to be an Amazon man driving a milk truck handing out free smartphones on the public square anytime soon. There will be strings attached; we just don’t know what they are. Will they pay for loyalty programs like Amazon Prime? How high or low priced will the contracts be? Some companies offer old model phones for cheap, I mean $1 cheap, with contracts. There are also talks with phone makers and hardware makers. Since plans are in this early stage, no date has been set for this potential Amazon free smartphone.
I’m doubtful this will get off the ground for Amazon. But in the tech world, never say never. The smartphone market is already crowded with big names like Apple, Android, Samsung, and Microsoft. Let’s not forget smaller companies like LG Electronics and ZTE. However, if Amazon does pull this off, it could be very, very bad news for competitors, especially Apple. Let’s face it, they’ve been living really well off high priced devices over the years. If Amazon’s venture is successful, them and other top companies will be forced to change prices and strategies. But will it be successful? Will it even be possible?
This week, Google Glass and Samsung Galaxy Smartwatch have dominated headlines. That got me thinking: What wearable technology has made history? I’m putting this in chorological order.
10. Abacus jewelry: In the 17th century Far East, this jewelry was all the rage. You could add and subtract on it, a revolutionary concept for that century.
9. The first wristwatch: It was designed by Breguet Queens of Naples in the?1810s. It was the first to tell time on your wrist. It took decades for this to catch on. In fact, the first men’s wristwatch wasn’t developed until 1904.
8. 3D Glasses: During the 1950s, these disposable tools brought cheesy action and?horror movies closer to the viewer. In 1952, Bwana Devil was the first to test this fad.
7. First Digital Wristwatch: In the early 1970s, Pulsar LED were the first wristwatches to tell you the time computerized, not manually. Pulsar LED made a huge pop culture impact in the James Bond film Live and Let Die.
6. Heart Rate Monitor: Wear this around your wrist and/or your chest, and you can measure your heart rate during and after exercise. Invented in the late 1970s and tested by a Finnish ski team,?they ?began to fly off shelves by the mid 80s, and haven’t stopped flying.
5. Virtual Reality: In the late 20th century, a headpiece taking you into another world became a part of American psyche. By the ’90s, it was a part of TV and film culture, there was even talk of applying it to video games. The military uses virtual reality to train soldiers to this day.
4. First Bluetooth Headset: In the early 2000s, these headsets started to bridge the gap between fixed and mobile devices. They made you look really important too.
3. RFID Technology: Since the mid-2000s,?it’s been used in passports to track the passport holder.?RFID?chips no bigger than a grain of rice have?been put in animals in case they get lost. There’s talk of (and some have done this) of putting them in human beings for various reasons. It’s controversial technology; many argue RFID violates privacy rights.
2. Smartwatch: It’s been anticipated for years, but by October 2013,? you can take pictures, hold smartphone apps, and even talk on your watch!
1. Google Glass: Still not amazed? Starting in 2014, you can take pictures with the wink of an eye. In fact, all the things you can do with a phone you can do with a set of?glasses. If this and smartwatches are successful, by the 2020s,?we may not even need smartphones anymore.
I learned something today. I thought Apple dominated the smartwatch scene. Then I learned of the Samsung Galaxy Gear and it’s early October release. I wonder what the outcome will be.
With this watch, you can catch notifications and keep time using many faces and time zones. The Galaxy Gear contains 1.9 megapixels worth of camera, two microphones. One can produce 10 second?movies with this watch. It’s not supposed to be used as a phone. But one can still conduct conversations with it. Samsung says you can access 70 apps on this watch, from Evernote to Pocket. It has a pedometer, to help you find your other Galaxy device in case it’s misplaced or stolen. There is some debate about battery life. They say battery life can last around 24 hours with no charging. But keep in mind it runs on Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy, so I’ll believe it when I see it. This watch is packed with 4GB of storage power. The cost is expected to run around $299.
So are you convinced to go get a Samsung Galaxy Gear Smartwatch? If I wasn’t prone to losing my watches all the time, I’d be tempted. The many faces, camera, microphone and that good storage power on one little device are all great selling points. The real red flag is the battery life. It’s enough I got to keep my iPod touch plugged in all the time because battery life goes so quick. Do I have to worry about that?with this watch? Then there’s the $299 cost. With what I’m allegedly getting, I’m good with that price.?However, I’m reading comments that some people aren’t. Some even say they’ll only pay that much with an Apple watch. Speaking of Apple I-Watch, what will their response be? When these two devices go head to head, who will win?
Google Glass has been?a hot topic in the tech community for a while. They’ve even been the subject of a congressional inquiry. Now, there’s a Google Glass App Store coming for Google Glass users.
But they’ll have to wait until 2014 to get that app store. An essay in the New York Times seems to confirm that. This app store will be available when Google Glass is publically available next year. As of today, only a few thousand of qualified people have access to them. Rumors say they will run around $500, but some experts say that price will be about $1000. Google did confirm the app store rumors, but kept hush about the more intimate details. Will this app store be part of Google play or will it have it’s own store?
These are just a few of the questions I’m looking forward to. When in 2014 is Google Glass going to be released?? They’re still encouraging app developers to submit their apps. So don’t look for a January of February date. One thing that does make sense about Glass is they’re building the store around time when the device is made public. It makes no sense to release the app store when only several thousand people can ever get access to it. How well will Google Glass do? How well will this store do? There’s a part of me that’s rooting against Google Glass because I have serious privacy concerns. What questions do you have about Google Glass?
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Well, for parents of school aged children, as well as the kids going to college. Here are some great apps for kids of all ages.
10. Encyclopedia Britannica: Yes, they have encyclopedias on all devices available for apps. Yes, people still do use encyclopedias to do papers.
9. Mint.com: This is a good tool to teach your jr. high or high school kid about the importance of budgeting. This is a great tool for working high school and college students who are putting budgeting into action.
8. Slate Math for Kids: Perfect for elementary school kids. Math is something that is needed by all and if you get behind in your elementary school years, may God help by the time?they get to Algebra and Geometry. Slate Math for Kids keeps them ahead.
7. Kid Science: This one is also geared toward elementary school kids. It makes science fun and easy to learn. You know this is going to be good when the founder of the app studies bacteria.
6. Dragon Dictation: This is heaven sent for writing papers. If you ask me, this app also helps with listening and speaking skills.
5. KNO: Apparently, the days of hand held textbooks are numbered. They serve schools and publishers as well as students. They even serve publishers. But what’s really cool about KNO is they donate $1 of every purchase to classes in need.
4. Graphing Calculator: When in college, I had to pay hundreds for these graphic calculators and still came out confused. Now they got free apps for that and free guides too. Sometimes kids today have it too easy.
3. Court Smart E-Textbooks: Not only do they offer textbooks at 60% lower than the paper books, but you got to love their tools, like cut and paste and search topics.
2. Evernote: This free app offers it all. You can take notes with the app. You can remind yourself of homework assignments and projects. You can even remember all those connections you’re making on campus.
1. Dictionary.com: This should be self-explanatory. It’s always good to carry a dictionary with you. But now, you can carry one on your device.
Six years ago, Blackberry’s stocks were around $236 a share. As of today, August 13, 2013, those stocks are around $11 a share. Now, it’s committee is talking of either selling the company or merging with another business and/or venture capitalists.
How did it get this way? When Blackberry started in the mid 1980s, it had high expectations. In the 20 plus years that followed, it lead the way in beepers, two way pagers and email devices. But after 2007, it all went down hill. That year, the iPhone was released, and Blackberry couldn’t compete. Then came competitors in Asia, with their low cost and exceptional service. There was the Blackberry Storm fiasco, and fiascos following that. They were either too bulky, the hardware or software didn’t work right, and, well, whatever could go wrong did go wrong. By the end of 2009, Blackberry’s stocks were under $50 a pop, a 78% decrease in two years.
So basically, when Apple released the iPhone in ’07, Blackberry was doomed. But what if this revolutionary company is bought out? What would they get? At best, it would probably get some patents, security technology, and nostalgia. So this wouldn’t even be attractive to many companies or venture capitalists, unless it can use what little they have to really turn things around. And hail maries have been thrown like that before in the technological world. Or Blackberry could throw one last 4th quarter hail mary on their own. What should the once high and mighty Blackberry’s fate be?
