In line with the target date announced by Tim Cook last week, Apple is now allowing customers to place online orders for the new Apple TV set-top box. The new Apple TV is available with either 32 GB of storage for $149 or 64 GB for $199, and orders will begin shipping to customers later this week, with the earliest deliveries being set for October 30 for those who opt for one-day shipping.
The new trackpad is about 20 percent wider, and its surface seems smoother than the previous model. I don't know how long that will last, or whether it's just because the new model hasn't yet been assaulted with my Cheetos-encrusted fingers—yet. But the smoother the finger glide, the less taxing it is on your hands and wrists.
She may be hard of hearing sometime, frustrating with her odd answers, but when she gets it right, Siri is a wonderful, and safe, companion for the car. We may just have to learn to love her.
Apple aired three new iPhone 6s ads today, showcasing the device's new Camera and Siri hands-free capabilities.
Microsoft is in a different game. With no more than 3% market share, the Windows Phone OS doesn’t enjoy the support of a lively ecosystem. Growing it to assume the role of a laptop- or desktop-class OS is technically feasible… it’s a Mere Matter of Software. But unlike Android and iOS it doesn’t have a broad base of hardware to run on. Microsoft would need to evangelize OEMs on a new software/hardware combo, one that would compete with existing Windows devices. Not likely.
Actually, one can’t help but wonder how long Microsoft will keep pouring money into Windows Phone devices… or into Windows hybrids and laptops, for that matter. At $1B or more per quarter, these devices can’t be bringing much to the bottom line. Microsoft is generating nice numbers in other parts of its business. One day, the company will have to more fully dedicate itself to what it does best.
The bricks-and-mortar alternatives for showing new Microsoft products in their best light are not great. The number of electronics stores has dwindled, leaving just one giant in the United States, Best Buy. And while the stores of wireless carriers are good for putting smartphones in front of the public, category-bending tablets and laptops often require explanations from more-trained specialists.
“I think the stores are an important part of interacting with our customers and having them realize the full breadth of what Microsoft brings end-to-end,” Amy Hood, Microsoft’s chief financial officer, said in a phone interview last week.
While the thinkers are arguing, textbook publishers are acting. With their traditional business models under pressure, they’ve begun to reinvent themselves as educational technology companies. They’re selling schools and colleges on a new generation of digital courseware—ALEKS is just one example—that takes on much of the work that teachers used to do. The software isn’t meant to replace teachers, they insist. Rather, it’s meant to free them to focus on the sort of high-level, conceptual instruction that only a human can provide.
When will Apple TV get Angry Birds?
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Thanks for reading.