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Opinion: Will Mobile Devices Eventually Replace the Big Screen TV?

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December 6, 2011
  • In this opinion piece published on CNET, freelance writer Steve Guttenberg predicts that iPads and other tablet devices will eventually make having a large screen TV a thing of the past.
  • “By 2020 younger people who will have grown up with tablets won’t see a need to ever buy a big display, which will by then seem as obtrusive as a pair of 4-foot-tall tower speakers do to most buyers nowadays,” he suggests.
  • For the naysayers, Guttenberg cites audio technology as an example. Twenty years ago, it was hard to imagine that most consumers would be less concerned about a set of quality speakers and more interested in portability or personalization. Yet that’s where we’ve landed.
  • “With music, everyone except for a handful of audiophiles, listens in their cars, computer, or on iPod,” he writes. “A home hi-fi of any quality now seems irrelevant; the same fate is in the cards for TVs. They will start to look too big, too imposing for the room’s decor.”
  • This is interesting to consider now, as tablet sales are taking off in the consumer market. Will mobile devices such as the tablet kill TV?
  • Guttenberg believes we are heading in that direction: “There will always be a market for big TVs, just as there is for great audio, but big-screen sales will continue to shrink over time. Most people will be perfectly content to watch movies and sports on their iPads.”

Cloud Battle Begins: Should Amazon take Lessons from Apple iCloud?

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October 11, 2011
  • In order for Amazon to stay competitive in the cloud computing market, its S3 (Simple Storage Service) and EC2 (Elastic Cloud Computing) could take some notes from Apple’s iCloud (launching October 12).
  • Seamless integration “provides iCloud with huge scale advantages over Amazon,” suggests Forbes, by wirelessly storing content from iPhones, iPads, the iPod touch, Macs or PCs and automatically pushing content to all devices.
  • “Consumer-centricity” makes cloud-computing user-friendly with targeted features like iTunes Match. “This feature prevents the need to painstakingly upload music into the cloud as iTunes Match itself creates a library matching the user’s existing playlist.”
  • And pricing. “While the iCloud provides free 5GB-worth of storage for documents, mail, and back-up for iOS 5 users, Amazon’s S3 service charges users for even the first gigabyte of storage space.”
  • The article points that little is yet known about Amazon’s other competitor, Google’s GDrive.

Infographic: What Lessons Can Be Learned from Steve Jobs Ten Commandments?

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September 16, 2011
  • Following Steve Jobs’ departure as CEO of Apple, The Daily Beast has published an insightful infographic that outlines what it sees as the “ten commandments” of Jobs’ business and creative philosophies.
  • The commandments range from “Be ruthless” and “Tap the experts” to “Shun focus groups” and “Prototype to the extreme.”
  • For example, Commandment 1: “Go for perfect — Jobs sweats the details. The night before the first iPod launched, the Apple staff stayed up all night replacing headphone jacks because Jobs didn’t think they were ‘clicky’ enough.”
  • ETCentric staffer Bob Lambert provided the following comments with this submission: “There are many, many tributes to the wisdom and business style of Steve Jobs these days. This one-page infographic is one of the best I’ve seen on the idealogy of the man and the company. What lesson on clear and focused thinking can we take from this?”

Virtual Jukebox: Collaborative AirPlay Streaming Music App

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August 31, 2011
  • Bowers & Wilkins has launched a free app that enables users to stream music from wirelessly connected Apple devices for playback on any AirPlay-enabled player, such as the Zeppelin Air iPod dock.
  • “There are many fantastic mobile apps that allow you to stream music, but the Zeppelin Air App is the first of its kind that enables users to share music and create collaborative playlists with friends, mobile device to mobile device,” explains Paul McCarthy of App Developer Aurnhammer. “Bowers & Wilkins has essentially created a wireless, virtual jukebox.”
  • “The app lets every person with an ‘i’ device contribute to a party’s playlist,” reports MarketNews. “The music can first be compiled through the app, then arranged to the organizer’s liking before it’s officially sent to the AirPlay device for playback.”
  • An open WiFi network and AirPlay is required to use the app. AirPlay requires iTunes 10.1 or later and an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Spotify Launches Music Download Store and iPod Syncing

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May 13, 2011

A new app from Swedish start-up Spotify may attempt to take on Apple’s iTunes. The European online music service recently announced a new MP3 download store in addition to the ability to sync music on iPods and related devices.

According to a report last week on PCMag.com: “Spotify features include the ability to: search, browse, and play millions of tracks; stream over Wi-Fi or 2.5/3G; access offline playlists; on-the-fly sync; a what’s new tab; wireless sync of your local files to your phone; and the ability to tag favorites into a special list. One of the most frequent requests, however, was the abilty to sync that music to Apple’s iPod, something Spotify said is now a reality. Just connect an iPod to your computer via USB and it will appear in the ‘devices’ section of the Spotify sidebar. You can then sync MP3s in your Spotify playlists to the iPod.”

Spotify has 13 million tracks available and more than 1 million subscribers. It features a free, ad-supported option and a premium service for unlimited access. The company says that its iPhone and Android app can now be used by its free service customers.

Spotify is doing well in Europe, but has yet to launch in the U.S. It has inked deals with EMI and Sony for U.S. service and if it can enter into an agreement with Universal Music Group and Warner Music it may become a serious competitor for the likes of Rhapsody and iTunes.

Since Apple has a track record of updating software to prevent third-party iPod syncing, it will be interesting to see how it responds to Spotify’s efforts.

Updated ETCentric post (and Facebook-Spotify news): “Is Facebook Poised to become THE Social Entertainment Operating System?” (5/31/11)

Related Bloomberg Businessweek article: “Here’s Spotify’s Master Plan: Tackle iTunes Head On” (5/5/11)

Related CNET article: “Spotify cozies up to iPod, takes aim at iTunes” (5/4/11)

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