Linked List: October 7, 2013

Monday, 7 October 2013

‘OS X El Camino’ 

New episode of Canada’s favorite podcast, The Talk Show, featuring special guest Guy English. Topics include the practical performance advantages of the A7 and iOS going 64-bit, Steve Jobs’s cars-vs.-trucks analogy, the future of Microsoft, and more.

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Capturing the Aura of the Scottish Highlands With the iPhone 5S 

National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson is shooting the Scotland highlands with no cameras other than his iPhone 5S. Not bad. (Via Phil Schiller. (!))

Eric Schmidt Calls Android ‘More Secure Than the iPhone’ 

“The response reportedly drew laughs from the audience in attendance.”

Carl Icahn’s Recent Lunch With Tim Cook 

Peter Dodge:

I hope that Tim Cook, and the board of Apple, will feel free to ignore Icahn because Icahn’s not invested in the company, he’s only invested in the stock price, in his own greed. Sure, he might file a lawsuit to try and effect the changes he wants, but ultimately I think the majority of Apple’s shareholders understand the difference between investing in a company with a future and a stock with a price.

Doesn’t seem to me that Icahn has the best interests of Apple in mind with his recommendation of a massive $160 billion stock buy-back.

Matt Drance on Samsung’s Gear Commercial 

Keen observation from Matt Drance:

The Galaxy Gear ad, and the Galaxy Gear itself, convey none of this. The ad primes us with decades of fantastic expectations — expectations which just about any review of the product you can find will tell you have not been met. It also implicitly, and very ironically, shows just how lacking in vision the product itself is. The iPhone ad says, “We’re starting over.” The Gear ad says, “We tried to make that exact thing you’ve seen on TV all these years.”

Matthew Panzarino on Samsung’s Gear Commercial 

Matthew Panzarino, writing for TechCrunch:

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Samsung taking inspiration from the ‘Hello’ spot. However — and this is an important note — Samsung is a company which has had a billion-dollar judgement against it for copying Apple’s work.

If I was a company which had gained a reputation for copying Apple’s work, the last thing I’d want is to have my advertising associated with anything they’d ever done.

Right. You can’t separate this single instance from Samsung’s history.

Gizmag Reviews the Galaxy Gear 

I asked for it, DF reader Andrew Barnett found it: a positive review of the Galaxy Gear. Will Shanklin, writing for Gizmag:

Amongst a chorus of boos, hisses, and splattered fruit, we think the Galaxy Gear is a breakthrough product. It’s imperfect, but it’s a very strong debut, and by far the most exciting wearable computing device that you can buy today.

When thinking about the press’ [sic] generally negative response to the Gear, we can’t help but remember Samsung’s original Galaxy Note. At launch, it too drew a largely unenthusiastic, lackluster response from critics. Samsung was mocked mercilessly, especially by the Apple faithful, for centering a lavish marketing campaign around a giant-sized phone that uses a stylus.

But guess what? Customers ultimately voted quite differently with their wallets. The Note sold in bunches, made the phablet a legitimate product category, and became a surprise hit. Sure, it had a lot of help from Samsung’s clever and well-funded marketing machine, but so will the Galaxy Gear.

Fox News Debuts Bizarre, Giant Tablets in New Newsroom 

Perfect for Fox News. A total sham. As Richard Dunlop-Walters points out, these advanced 55-inch touchscreens are capable of showing four tweets at a time.

Acclaim for New Samsung Galaxy Gear Commercial 

I’m sure the similarity here is purely coincidental. It just doesn’t seem like Samsung to copy Apple.

Joanna Stern Reviews the Galaxy Gear 

Joanna Stern, writing for ABC News:

Over the past week I have repeatedly taken the Gear off and left it behind in meetings or on my desk at night because it just hasn’t been comfortable to wear. In fact, it actually took me awhile to write this review, because just keeping the watch on for longer periods of time was a challenge.

And when I wasn’t taking the watch off because of discomfort, I was taking it off to charge it.

Are there any good reviews of the Gear? Even just one? Pretty sure the Gear is the worst-reviewed major new tech product in a long time.