techcrunch: The iPad Pro is coming into the world with a lot of...

techcrunch:

The iPad Pro is coming into the world with a lot of weight on its shoulders. The speculation and expectation are running high. Is it a potential laptop replacement? An enterprise play? Will it bring the consumption-heavy world of iPad. And on top of it everything else, the onus is on it to prove that Apple’s tablet line has legs in the face of slowing sales and an incredibly long replacement cycle.

Read the full review here. 

It’s an excellent tablet, and will replace the need for a laptop for most people. We are truly in a post PC world.

via Tumblr http://bit.ly/1NrBEYc

Mmm, iPad Pro…

Mmm, iPad Pro…

via Tumblr http://bit.ly/1GNygSp

Apple Patent Hints at the Future of iPad as a Creation Device

As reported by TechCrunch today:

"Apple has a new patent, granted today by the USPTO, that details how wireless devices like iPhones and iPads might become context-specific remote input gadgets for use with creative desktop apps like Final Cut Pro, Logic, or even Photoshop. Using the tech described, your iPad could become a touch-screen video scrubber for editing movies, for example, and then easily switch to a color correction panel or audio mixer the next minute depending on your needs."

This sounds like one of the most appealing use-cases for iPad yet. It seems to me as though Apple saw what Rahul Dewan was doing with Duet Display and thought they could do even better.

Apple details how this might be used as well, which sounds like a much better user experience than has been seen in the past:

"In the patent, Apple describes how a user would be able to use their desktop software to set the type of remote that would appear on their device, and then describes how the app on your Mac would then receive commands based on what you do on the remote iPhone, iPad or other wireless device. Some examples include changing the interface for using a connected mobile device as a controller for real instrument audio recording, and then switching it to a MIDI-style virtual instrument input device."

This sounds like a great use-case for the many creators (and normal people who enjoy occasional dabbling like myself) that use Macs. There are many great MIDI-board applications already available for iPad, so it seems like an easy extension to have them control more “serious” Mac composition software. As Darrell from TechCrunch puts it “it’s definitely something that could add value to the ownership of iOS devices for the creative professional audience that already embraces Mac hardware.”

Apple’s sales numbers for iPad are down again, and many in the tech community are quick to shout about its inevitable downfall (something something Steve Jobs is dead so Apple is dead nonsense). TechCrunch reports that Apple filed for this patent in 2010, so I would argue they were quite aware of the need to shift focus with iPad.

"The patent was first filed in April of 2010, so it’s been on the shelf for quite a while now, but it’s still an interesting use case to consider, especially as Apple likely continues to re-evaluate the place of the iPad in its overall lineup, and possibly prepares for the launch of a larger, more powerful iPad Pro later this year, should rumors prove correct."

I agree with Darrell that this patent starts to get interesting now, but I disagree that it’s necessarily because of the “iPad Pro” (which I think is a mistake, if real, but that’s a story for another day).

Instead, I think this patent is interesting in light of the new Force Touch sensors that Apple has created. Rumors are that Force Touch will be coming to the next generation of iPhone, and I don’t think it’s a hard stretch to say the feature will come to the next generation iPad either. Force Touch on iPad will mean pressure sensitivity on iPad, which would instantly make it one of the best drawing tablets on the market. It only makes sense, then, that Apple would want to make it easy for users to be able to use that drawing feature in applications such as photoshop. Digital drawing is something that always made sense on the iPad form-factor, but was always less than stellar in practice. This patent and Force Touch promise to change that. If that won’t boost sales, I don’t know what will.

Back on the topic of MIDI boards, as described in the patent, Force Touch could also improve that functionality, making users actually want to use an iPad instead of a physical board. Force Touch would allow pressure sensitivity on the buttons, which could provide nuanced control of the MIDI board. Nuance is always welcome in music making. Another possibility is that Force Touch could be used to pull up a different set of MIDI controls, much the same way that it brings up a layer of secondary controls on Apple Watch.

If this patent is realized, users would finally have a truly compelling reason to upgrade their iPads (beyond the usual “thinner and lighter” reason). That’s likely what Apple needs to stop seeing bleeding iPad numbers.

The point is, the next iPad is the time for change in the product line, and Apple is thinking about what those changes should be. iPad as a creator’s tool certainly sounds intriguing.

Hearthstone is (finally!) available on Android

Source: http://toucharcade.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/hearthstone.jpg

One of my favorite games on iPad is now available for Android powered tablets.

That's right, as of right now, you can download Hearthstone from the Google Play Store to your Android tablet. The game is free to play, and offers in-app purchases. Let the downloading ensue.

There is talk that the game may come out for phones (Android and iOS) as well, being that current phone hardware is more than up to the challenge. I'm personally curious as to how they plan on implementing the game on a phone screen. I'm also curious as to whether or not anyone would want to play the game on their phone.

If you haven't heard of Hearthstone, it's an electronic trading card game based loosely on the mechanics of Magic the Gathering. It's been simplified from Magic's physical card game roots, but it retains all of the fun play-ability and strategy of the inspiration.

The game has been available on PC for over a year now in beta form and full release, and has been on iPad for a little less than a year. One of my friends was in on the beta, and he actually got me hooked on the concept. It's really quite addicting.

It's sad that in 2014 we still see Android launches lag behind iOS launches, but hopefully Lollipop and Google's recent developer focused efforts can remedy this.

King of the Tablet Market, If the Market Even Exists...

So, here's a thought:

iPad is the undisputed tablet king. No, that's not the thought, I just needed to lay that out as a bit of exposition.

iPad is the best tablet on the market today. But perhaps that says more about the industry than it does Apple's own design and marketing prowess.

Perhaps iPad is the best because tablets are not the future. Perhaps tablets existed to help us transition to larger screen phones. Apple capitalized on this the most. Other manufacturers, meanwhile, realized that this wasn't part of the long term tech end game, and put out half-hearted attempts or nothing at all.

Think about it, though: what were the best non-iPad tablets? The Nexus 7 lineup were the only good selling flagship tablets. Why did these devices sell well? Primarily, they sold well because they were (are?) cheap, but still work well enough. Google and Asus didn't build the Nexus 7 to radically alter what a tablet is or what we could/should do with it. The Nexus 7 is/was simply a device designed for content consumption.

I think size is relevant as well to this idea. Non-iPad tablets have never really been successful in the ~9-10" range, but sell acceptably in the sub-8" category. This is reflective of the idea that the tablets are for media consumption; these tablets are for doing things on the couch or in bed. iPad, on the other hand, tries to be more with its 9.7" screen. There's room to do more than just read and watch videos. Sure, the Surface Pro 3 has succeeded (on a curved grading scale) at being a "productive" tablet, but I would argue that particularly because of its unoptimized operating system, it's actually a touchscreen laptop, not a tablet.

One of the biggest problems with iPad, though, is that despite Apple's best efforts to make the tablet useful, and despite excellent efforts from developers, iPad is still not the *best* tool for a lot of jobs that I do. There are CAD apps for iPad, but my computer is better for that. There are video editing apps, but a Mac would be better for that. I can bang out a paper, blog post, or long email on my iPad, but my laptop is better for that.

I'd say there are only two areas where iPad is equal or better in experience to a laptop/computer, and those would be photo editing and music making. The caveat here is that I'm talking about photo editing for people who have insufficient experience with Adobe Lightroom, Aperture, and/or Photoshop for the desktop. User-friendly photo editing (you know, for amateurs) is excellent on iPad. Music making follows the same line, in that powerful composing apps like Logic Pro are only available, or just far better on a laptop/desktop. Even some of the more serious elements of Garage Band are just better with a mouse than with a touchscreen. That being said, there are some excellent composing apps like Novation Launchpad, Beatwave, and Figure for just goofing around with music, or composing amateur electronic beats. I imagine apps similar to Finale would work pretty well on a touch interface.

In any case, where tablets are great is reading, web browsing, and watching video. But really, for these things the best device for the task is the one that you have with you. And as a culture, we always have our phones with us. This is why Samsung is putting heart rate monitors on their flagships, and Apple, HTC, and LG are putting motion trackers in theirs (but that's a post for another day).

Because of this, our phones have been steadily growing in size, to the point where the 5.7" Samsung Galaxy Note 4 no longer seems like the giant it once did. I can definitely image a world and a day where the value of the tablet is miniscule. With proper interconnection between large phone, computer, watch, and television, there would be little need for the tablet.

So here's my thought: perhaps Google recognized this, and that's why they didn't make a more serious play at the market. I mean, they literally didn't update the Nexus 10 for three years. And the Nexus 7's were always meant as budget devices. Perhaps Google saw the long haul even as well all held out with our 3.5" iPhones claiming superiority. Perhaps Google was willing to watch the tablet market slip to Apple, because they knew it wouldn't matter in the long run.

And look, they may be starting to be right. Apple's iPad sales are slipping. Consumers aren't upgrading their iPads.

And sure, Google released the new Nexus 9 with HTC, but by most reviews and impressions, the tablet is a very budget device released at too high of a price point. I also think it's worth noting that the tablet only comes in 16 or 32 GB, which seems to place it in a less serious light than iPad, which you can get in 16, 64, and 128 GB.

Samsung hasn't been so willing to surrender the market, but I really hope that their tablet releases (up until the Galaxy Tab S) have not been an honest effort at winning the market, because they've been terrible across the board. The latest tablets from Samsung are only notable because of the thinness, light weight, and excellent (if oversaturated) screens.

This is just my thought, though. Let me know if you agree, disagree, or your feelings are more complicated than that in the comments. Do you think tablets have a future? Do you do awesome things with your iPad?

Big phone, small tablet

I whipped this post up real quick as part of my daily journaling. Give it a read, and tell me how you like it.

iPad Mini 3 is barely an upgrade. Apple seems to know that the small tablet is giving way to the large phone, just like Google acknowledged at their Nexus announcement.

Then again, Google switching from the the Nexus 7 to the Nexus 9 could just be that the Nexus 6 isn't different enough from the Nexus 7 to still be able to sell them both.

That being said, I think that's a trend in the market overall, and we will see that reflected in sales numbers and new product announcements. Tablets are useful, but people won't use them if their phone is "good enough" for the task.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Thoughts on "It's Time to Kill the Surface"

So first, this is the initial post that I'm we're talking about here: http://stratechery.com/2014/time-kill-surface/
Give the full article a read. It will help you understand what is being said above.

Source: http://thewindowsclub.thewindowsclubco.netdna-cdn.com/
wp-content/uploads/2013/10/surface-RT3-400x263.png?0479ea

So, MG Siegler makes the comments on Tumblr:

"Ben Thompson makes the case as to why new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella should kill off the Surface product line:"

'This here is the greatest danger of forgetting your original goal; you start making up new ones, that are basically “because we need it to exist.” The hardware capability that Nadella claims Surface leverages only exists because of the decision to make Surface. Nadella is basically saying Microsoft needs to make Surface because Microsoft makes Surface. With that sort of reasoning, you can continue on a wrong path forever, just like the Xbox.'

"I was thinking this very thing last night after hearing Nadella speak at the Code Conference. He often seems to be making the case for many of Microsoft’s products because they already exist, not because they shouldexist. As he did with the Surface Mini, I expect him to trim."

This is a really interesting point, and one that goes for Samsung and their 12” tablets: the companies are making projects to answer problems that the large mass of consumers don’t have. Consumers are okay with carrying a laptop and a small tablet around because each serves a different purpose. And nobody that was working on large professional projects on the go thought, gee, I’d like to use a less precise input method while doing this. And consumers certainly didn’t ask for the headaches of Windows RT.

At the end of the day, the solution to consumers not buying your product isn’t to reiterate it. If they weren’t buying the idea before, they’re not sold on the idea regardless of the implementation. It wasn’t a question of poor marketing, it was a question of poor intention. After the first Surface generation, Microsoft should have rethought the whole division entirely. Perhaps the case of having a device to showcase the software for developers and OEM’s (similar to Nexus devices and/or the Chromebook Pixel) makes sense. That’s fine, and then you can charge any price for it because it’s not for consumers.

As it stands, though, even the Surface Pro 3, arguably the best Surface to date. isn’t compelling enough for me to buy, and I imagine most of the rest of the market will feel the same.