Apple needs to overhaul Apple TV in 2015

Here it goes - I'm calling it:

This year, 2015, we have to see an update to Apple TV. This update must be both in hardware and in software. 

The hardware can come either in the form of an updated set top box, or our can be the long rumored full-on Apple Television we've been hoping for. What it looks like essentially doesn't matter. What matters is that it will have an A8 system on a chip and 1-2 GB of RAM minimum. The A8X from iPad Air 2 wouldn't be a bad thing, though. 

The software could definitely use a more modern face-lift, but that's not the most important thing for now. What we absolutely need to see is an App Store so that developers can take advantage of the space. What makes any product, but Apple products in particular, great is what they enable you to do with them. An app ecosystem open to developers is vital to this, and is the biggest reason we've seen iOS and Android take off in recent years. And yes, this App Store likely means games on Apple TV (because it certainly means the potential for games: and where there's potential, there are apps taking advantage of that potential). 

The only way around these upgrades is for Apple to do something like they are doing with CarPlay, where the device responsible for AirPlay-ing to Apple TV handles the processing, and Apple TV just acts as a wireless display adapter. Or, Apple could come up with some other crazy, Apple-style optimizations and blow our minds. Essentially, the hardware needs to get more powerful, the OS needs to get easier to run, or our iPhones/iPads/Macs need to be offloading the computing from the device.

But of course, it's possible none of these update will happen. The consequence for these updates not happening is that Apple TV will fail to remain relevant in the streaming/set-top-box world. Playing the AirPlay card to justify Apple TV's superiority has worked so far, but Android 5.0 has achieved this ability with Chromecast, so it's not as cut and dry of an argument as before. 

So, I'm calling it: we will see a major update to Apple TV this year, or it will fade into obscurity. Apple TV can no longer afford to be Apple's hobby device.

Do you think we'll see an Apple TV update this year? How will that manifest? Do you even care about Apple TV anymore? Do you even care about set-top boxes or streaming devices anymore? Let me know in the comments. 

Quick charge vs wireless charging

There seems to be this move towards quick charging in the Android OEM world, and almost to the complete sacrifice of wireless charging. This misses the point of why wireless charging is great, though.

I will refer to quick charging as such, but also fast charging, and it goes by turbo charging as well. It's a Qualcomm technology, but every Android OEM that implements it has their own name for the tech. Know it's the same thing.

Don't get me wrong, quick charge is actually really cool. It's also not any worse for the battery than wireless charging, or so says Qualcomm, maker of the technology.

The real advantage of quick charge surfaces for the people that don't charge their phone every night. In my experience, there's a siginificant group of people who drain a battery near dead, and then charge it whenever that ~10% or lower battery occurs, and stop charging when they have to move from the power source. Alternatively, there are the super power users that simply have to charge their phone whenever possible, because they burn 30% battery an hour. In either case, though, they want to spend as little time tethered to the wall as possible, but they still want/need to get as much battery as they can. Especially with today's ~2900 mAh average flagship battery capacity, we need fast charging. Even Apple supports fast charging on their new iPhones by using an iPad charging brick.

So quick charging is great, and definitely has its purpose. But so does wireless charging.

Yes, wireless charging is a little bit slower than charging with a 1A charger. But it's a brilliant technology for the people that do charge their phones overnight. For example, the Nexus 6, with its 3200 mAh battery, takes around 4-5 hours to fully wireless charge from 0-100%. But that's not a problem for overnight. The advantage of wireless charging, then, is that it doesn't require plugging anything in. Especially with non-reversible USB connections in Android phones, this can be a challenge in the dark at night at the bedside. Wireless charging just requires the placing of the device on a pad. Done.

So, why aren't more OEM's supporting it? Well, there are still two major competing methods, those being qi and powermat. Qi is by far the most popular, but it isn't the industry standard, by any means. Also, carriers generally force manufacturers to not include wireless charging out of the box on US models, so that consumers have to buy accessories to support the feature. And consumers don't really know it exists, let alone that they should buy certain cases for it. Also, Apple hasn't chosen to support it on iPhone, yet, which is how most technology goes mainstream now-a-days.

And the biggest problem facing wireless charging right now is that it's still finicky if done poorly (which is likely why Apple hasn't decided to mess with it yet). It is incredibly convenient when done well, and I love it. But it's incredibly frustrating when it doens't work. The Nexus 6 is a perfect example of wireless charging done poorly. It starts with poor advertising of the feature, certainly. But it extends beyond that; the curve of the phone causes it to not sit well on many flat qi chargers, which happens to be the most common form that they take. This leads to it being hard for the coils to line up for the charging to occur, It's far too finnicky. It's especially surprising being that the Nexus 6 is the successor to the Nexus 5, which had a brilliant magnetic system with its OEM made charging pad that made lining up the charging coils fool proof. To be fair, the Nexus 6 charges great with the Tylt Vu wireless charging stand, but that's an expensive charger that not everyone will want.

Consumers just don't care about wireless charging enough for manufacturers to bother trying to include it. They'd rather focus on charging features that every consumer can understand and use as they always have. That's why we're seeing the quick charge push.

Internet TV stands a chance with new FCC proposal

Good news for us cord cutters out there: the Verge reported today that the FCC has just offered a proposal which would give companies the ability to license traditionally broadcast television based shows for streaming on the internet.

This proposal would be excellent for consumers, because it would mean generally lower monthly bills, and also only paying for shows that you actually want to watch. And it likely would lead to more competitive pricing from cable companies as well, which is never a bad thing.

This could also mean that we will actually see the long rumored Apple Television, rather than just the current set top box iteration. Google appears to have been prepping for a future with this passed proposal, based on an app seen for Android TV.

Are you excited for this as I am? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Waze is mimicking some Google Now features in the iOS 8 notification panel

Finally, a developer is actually trying to do something useful with the notification center widgets in iOS 8.

Waze just released an update that includes a widget which can be added to the "today" view of the notification panel in iOS 8. The widget will show estimated travel time to two different locations, which are pre-set as "home" and "work." The widget is also a quick trigger to launch into directions to either location. 

Waze is a mapping service which uses crowd-sourced routes and live, crowd-sourced traffic information. It's always played second fiddle to Google Maps and Apple Maps, but it's still a useful service.

This is a pretty cool use of the today view, but Waze definitely borrowed this feature from Google Now.

Google Now has been displaying cards with directions to frequent locations since its inception, and this predictive information is a big part of what made it unique and useful.

But hey, I'm not complaining. Useful features are useful.

I just think that it's interesting that widgets have been on Android for a years, and there has been an incredible demand for them by consumers, yet developers seem slow to really adopt them. I mean, how many truly useful widgets have you actually found on iOS? To me, it seems like iOS 8 is one of the slowest adopted iOS versions by developers.

Are you using Waze? Will you try it out now that it has a cool widget? Are you an Android user still laughing at iPhone users who are thrilled about finally getting widgets? Let me know what you think in the comments.

OnePlus has another new product that you can't buy yet

OnePlus is the OEM behind the One, which is a relatively cheap off contract phone running Cyanogenmod 11s on flagship level specs that has been a huge hit in the Android geek community recently. The phone started sales on an invite system, meaning that not everyone who wanted the phone were able to purchase it. There have been other issues associated with the phone, but that's another post for another day.

The first bit of good news is that the OnePlus One will be available for purchase by anyone, with or without an invite, "while supplies last" according to OnePlus' official website. This is about 5 months too late, but at least they've finally gotten around to letting people buy their phone. Do note, though, that this is clearly stated as "while supplies last" so I recommend buying a device as soon as you can if you're interested. I have a feeling that the supply isn't huge.

The thing about OnePlus and the OnePlus One is that the phone is being sold for so cheap ($300 for the base model off contract, which is less than half of the average flagship phone off contract) that OnePlus is essentially making no money on the sales of their devices (although, I mean, I'm sure they're making some money...). This is problematic for a business, since the whole point of a business is to make money, and it needs money to survive.

Part of OnePlus' strategy to make money, then, is to sell themes and other software to OnePlus One owners. But that can only take in so much money at $1-2 per download on an extremely limited user base.

OnePlus had initially planned to sell back cover replacements for the phone, but it now appears that that plan has been scrapped, and that the company is focusing on back covers for the next generation of their phone.

So how else is OnePlus going to make money, you ask? Well, we're seeing the strategy unfold now, and it looks like accessory sales are the name of the game.

As reported by AndroidAndMe.com, OnePlus announced today a portable external battery pack made to match the two existing OnePlus One models, those being the "silk white" and "sandstone black" models. They appropriately call the product the OnePlus Power Bank. The battery pack carries a charge of 10,000 mAh, which is more than enough to give any modern smartphone at least two charges.

Now, battery packs aren't new by any means, and while I am a sucker for matching items, I wouldn't buy a new battery pack just to match my phone. But the real beauty of this battery pack is that it's dirt cheap compared to the competition. OnePlus has announced the price as $14.99. That's an incredible deal if you've ever looked into purchasing external rechargeable battery packs on Amazon.

But, of course, the usual OnePlus comes back, and this product isn't yet available for purchase. AndroidAndMe.com reports that OnePlus will have the power banks available "soon." However, as we've seen with the One, "soon" might mean a couple months.

Are you excited for this ultra cheap battery pack? Are you buying the OnePlus One as you read this? Do you hate OnePlus as a company? Personally, I'm really looking forward to this battery pack actually hitting the market, but I'm not buying a One, because it isn't supported by my carrier.
 Let me know what you think in the comments.

Here's one reason why businesses are cautious of adopting Apple Pay

Apple Pay might just be too good of an experience for users, that businesses don't want it to become mainstream. 

You might be thinking that this doesn't make any sense, but I'll explain the justification that I found in the article that inspired this post. 

Source: http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/
540f672aecad04af0bdc85e7-1200-924/apple-pay-walkthrough-3.jpg

Apple Pay uses a specific codec of NFC which only allows transmission to the NFC reader, not from it. This allows iPhones to send payment information, but they cannot receive anything back from the merchant. 

This is great for the consumer, because you don't end up getting annoying ad pop ups after making a payment, but it's not good for the business, which benefits from their advertisements spreading. 

Also not beneficial to businesses is that Apple Pay doesn't support loyalty cards or programs, which businesses also rely on. 

Other proposed services do support loyalty programs and point-of-sale advertisements. This is the reason why we're seeing companies like Walmart support services like CurrentC, despite the service being inferior, and not desired by customers. 

What businesses will have to come to terms with, though, is that if Apple Pay catches on with consumers, businesses will lose customers if they don't support the technology. And Apple Pay will gain mainstream support once word of its ease of use spreads, and people are able to get phone upgrades. 

Do you find the fact that businesses don't care about a good experience annoying? Let me know what you think in the comments. 

(via)