Author Archives: Tarun

Link: Channels →

John Gruber’s theory of what an iTV may actually look like: A Newsstand with TV apps, like ESPN or HBO, as channels. Brilliant idea. Will TV networks work as hard as print media distributors have on iOS content? Given that … Continue reading

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Link: Google+ Adds “What’s Hot” and “Ripples” Services →

What’s Hot: Shows the most popular, publicly shared posts. Ripples: Shows where shared posts originate from. What they have in common? Data visualization. Cool for people interested in that, questionable for the general masses. What’s Hot looks like a more … Continue reading

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Link: Microsoft’s Vision of the Future →

It’s about what you pictured and have seen in movies: all touch screen displays, various features that provide useless functionality (a business card that changes state as you flip it?), a lack of understanding what a button is, the device … Continue reading

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Link: Redbox Hikes Price, Too →

My email inbox said this: The price change is due to rising operating expenses, including new increases in debit card fees. So, not necessarily because of contract fees, but because of the banks and debit cards. Deflects any way to … Continue reading

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Link: Skeumorphisms →

John Gruber comments on James Higgs’s post on the juxtaposition of leather-decorated apps on minimalist hardware. I think Gruber’s last statement is a great summary of why Apple chooses to perhaps go with this design philosophy: And as for the … Continue reading

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Weekly Download #18: Android Ice Cream Sandwich, Windows Phone 7, Nokia, Netflix, Samsung, Siri, Oink, Tablets

On this week’s podcast, Tarun and Chris talk about the latest innovations in Android-land with Ice Cream Sandwich (yummm); Windows Phone 7 and Tarun’s love for the Nokia Searay; Netflix still failing; Calming the hype on Siri; Kevin Rose’s latest … Continue reading

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Link: Tablet shipments surpass Netbooks →

Jeff Orr, group director of mobile devices at ABI Research: This is a trend that we do not expect will reverse… As they are different segments, this is not a direct replacement behavior, but a changing of leadership for the … Continue reading

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Link: A Nightmare Quarter →

Dan Frommer lays out Q3 for Netflix, which wasn’t pretty compared to their previous stellar performance. Subscribers are down 800k and they lost 20% in stock, but there may be some good news: Only 7% of Netflix’s new streaming subscribers … Continue reading

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Taking Things Siri-ously

Tarun explores the limitations of a personal assistant on a phone using Siri as a lens. He then postulates what a goal of a phone assistant should be and its implications on daily interactivity. Continue reading

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Link: Blogging with Siri →

Erica Sadun and Steve Sande are working on an eBook to help people use Siri in more ways than just out-of-the-box. In this example, Erica explains how to connect Siri to Blogger to dictate a post. There are other cool … Continue reading

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Link: Oink →

Oink is a mobile app that will allow someone to rate things, but: Whereas sites like Yelp let people rate entire establishments, Oink lets you rate things within an establishment–like a particular dish or feature (balcony seating). The information can … Continue reading

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Link: Ice Cream Sandwich →

Some comments: Unlocking your phone using face recognition. Very sci-fi. Heavy usage of core video animations, as the background seems to actually rain when moving from screen to screen. Assuming that users know the difference between the cellular signal and … Continue reading

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Link: Touch Everywhere →

From Microsoft, a new technology that allows people to use any surface (including one’s hands) for touch input.

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Link: Nokia 800 “Searay” →

I really like the design of this phone. It looks polished and really puts focus on the interface, rather than the phone design itself. Note how the buttons don’t seem intrusive; the speaker/mic bar is large to give a focus … Continue reading

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Weekly Download #17: iPhone 4S and App Sales, Google+ Real-Time Search, Chime.in, Dropbox, iPhone 5, RIM, Hulu

Tarun and Chris discuss the “incredible” iPhone 4S sales; the App Store market; Google’s recent integration of real-time search into Plus; a new social network Chime.in; Dropbox as a feature; iPhone 5 rumors; RIM’s apology; Hulu’s stand against the Man. … Continue reading

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Link: Apple Meets Dropbox →

In this story from Forbes, there are some stunning figures on how much revenue the business makes, as well as the interaction between Steve and Drew Houston, founder of Dropbox: Jobs smiled warmly as he told them he was going … Continue reading

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Link: Filtering the Noise →

Yet another social media tool called “chime.in” was announced, which takes the major social media networks and sorts the information in content streams. [Bill] Gross said that the service… is meant to help users focus on following topics rather than … Continue reading

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Link: Context →

Dan Frommer provides a graph that illustrates how absolutely insane 4 million iPhone sales in one weekend is. The key reason for the spike, according to Frommer: I assume that the iPhone 4S design is helping here. My guess is … Continue reading

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Link: In-App Purchasing Works! →

Dan Frommer does a quick survey of the top grossing apps. 14/25 of these apps are free. What’s more intriguing is that all 14 are games. Would in-app purchasing be as effective in apps that are not games?

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Link: Hulu Thinks Twice About Selling →

Peter Kafka with the details. From the press release: Since Hulu holds a unique and compelling strategic value to each of its owners, we have terminated the sale process and look forward to working together to continue mapping out its … Continue reading

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Link: Google revives Real Time Search through Plus →

The hashtag omission from the early stages of Google+ was curious, but here is the reason — real time search is now ready for hashtag support. It took some time, but this is the first step to bringing people closer … Continue reading

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Link: Zynga on HTML5 →

Dean Takahashi reports on Zynga’s latest announcements. Zynga is going to attempt to support both Flash and HTML5 in tandem, but recognizes the large opportunity space inherent in having Facebook on the iPad officially. It will be interesting to see … Continue reading

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Weekly Download #16: Steve Jobs, Google+, Netflix, iPhone 4S, Digital Traffic, Facebook, Nuance and Swype, 3D Mario

We begin with a celebration of Steve Jobs and try to remind ourselves and listeners of what “he may have wanted.” Then, we discuss various topics including: Google+’s managements curious absence from their own social network; Netflix reneging on Qwikster; … Continue reading

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Link: 3D to Augment Gaming Experience →

Chris Kohler from Wired previews Super Mario 3D Land. Nintendo has a great idea to make the 3D functionality a game-changer. What better than to implement it in their flagship game?: For example: everybody loves 1up mushrooms, those green fungal … Continue reading

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Link: Google+ Traffic Drops →

The service isn’t sticky.

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