Android World: Android and Me

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Android and Me

Facebook buys Instagram for $1 Billion
Google Glasses? I’ll pass, thank you very much
Transformer Prime GPS issues? There’s a dongle for that

Posted: 09 Apr 2012 10:11 AM PDT

Mark Zuckerberg has just announced via Facebook that the world’s biggest social network has agreed to acquire the photo-sharing service Instagram, which has over 30 million users of its own. The deal is reported to be for a staggering $1 Billion, leaving the founders at Instagram dancing in the streets (we assume).

The service will remain as it currently exists for now, though we expect to see tighter Facebook integration soon. For his part, Zuck says that they will largely leave Instagram in tact for the time being, and will look at bringing Instagram technology to other Facebook services.

Update: Instagram has posted on their blog about the acquisition. The founders report that the same Instagram you know and love will remain in tact post-acquisition.

Update 2: Mark Zuckerberg’s post can be found here.

Google Glasses? I’ll pass, thank you very much

Posted: 09 Apr 2012 08:08 AM PDT

Normally I’m a big proponent of emerging advancements in the technology industry. I lust after the latest gadget out there, and welcome technological innovations that will better my everyday life. When Google first took the wraps off of Project Glass, the project that will soon make augmented reality glasses…umm, a reality, I was excited for the next iteration of connectivity.

Fast forward to this week and an announcement from Google that the products have entered testing at Google HQ. Robert Scoble noticed Google executive Sergey Brin wearing a prototype at a fundraiser, and noticed a blue light flashing off his right eyeball, indicating the devices are indeed operational in some respect.

But as I’ve taken time to digest exactly what a future world with Google Glasses might look like, I’m not quite sure I like what I see. As a society, we’re already glued to our smartphones enough to the point that it’s not uncommon to see blog posts geared towards helping us disconnect and enjoy the world around us pop up on a daily basis. While it’s certainly easy to put your phone in your pocket or leave it on your desk for a while, it’s a lot harder to take off a pair of connected glasses, at least it will be when Google Glasses hits version 2.0.

See, the prototypes that are making the rounds today are a standalone device built for people with good eyesight or who wear contact lenses. It’s hard to see folks who wear glasses on a normal basis putting on a second pair of glasses with Google’s augmented reality system built-in. The prototypes as they exist currently will not be the final product. Instead, when Google Glasses makes its way to consumers in 2013 (and beyond), it’ll likely be sold either as a standalone glasses product, or as a lens that gets built into someone’s regular pair of glasses that people take with them everywhere.

While this certainly isn’t a problem in and of itself, it quickly becomes one when you consider how poorly our brains are able to handle multitasking. Argue with me all you want, but studies have repeatedly shown that we are awful at multitasking. When we multitask, instead of doing one task exceptionally well, we do two tasks half-assed. This is why drivers run the risk of deadly crashes when they decide to use their phones to text, email, or Twitter while driving (guilty, as charged). We simply aren’t that good at multitasking, and the thought of millions of people using augmented reality glasses while trying to partake in everyday life is frightening.

So no, I will not be rushing out to buy Google Glasses when (or, if) they reach the consumer market. My smartphone and tablet is enough for me to get my mobile connectivity fix, thank you very much.

Agree? Disagree? Sound off and have a conversation about the future of connectivity in the comments below.

Transformer Prime GPS issues? There’s a dongle for that

Posted: 09 Apr 2012 06:01 AM PDT

Transformer Prime owners have been complaining about GPS issues basically since launch. As with most complaints of this kind there were many that didn’t seem to experience the problem at all, while others found it intolerable. Prime owners in the UK were actually already given the option to return their Prime for a refund as a result of this issue or if they chose to keep it were given a six month extension on their warranty.

ASUS subsequently tried unsuccessfully to correct the problem with firmware updates, but the general issue as outlined by Anandtech back in January is the aluminum body of the Prime hindering the GPS reception. Not surprisingly it takes a hardware solution to deal with a hardware problem and that is exactly what ASUS will unveil on April 16th.

The rumor is that the dongle will attach via the proprietary dock connection on the Prime and that it is fairly unobtrusive^[1]. If you make heavy use of the dock for the keyboard that would seem like a bit of an annoyance, but I suppose if you really need solid GPS performance out of your Prime that is probably a tradeoff you are willing to make.

Prime owners will be able to register on the 16th and according to the ASUS representative the dongle itself should be shipping approximately two weeks later.

I know we have a fair number of Prime owners around here; has this been a big problem for you and if so are you happy with ASUS’s solution?