AlphaBit v6 – CES + TV Edition
Hope everyone is have a great start to the New Year! New Year, New name 
A) Advertising
- Super Bowl to be streamed online for first time
- The biggest event on television will now be available to those wanting to view them from their computer screens for free on NBC.
- Interesting to see how this will affect advertising, and if it will draw people away from the television experience or be more of a compliment to the viewing experience of television. Either way, a win for the digital space, next step is how to capitalize on enhancing the viewers’ experience
- Hulu lands exclusive digital syndication rights to TV comedy ‘Community’
- As digital syndication continues to grow, coupled with the growth of Smart TVs that include wifi, will more people cancel their cable subscription for online?
B) Best Buy
- Brian Dunn’s Comments to recent media coverage*****
- If you haven’t seen the article (more of a rant) ran by Forbes, which went viral (2MM pageviews). Brian Dunn concedes that Best Buy made some significant mistakesover cancellation of some internet orders just before Christmas but says BBY is strong, profitable.
- But Dunn has less patience for predictions of Best Buy's demise. "Some believe the Internet has made physical retailing (i.e., stores) irrelevant. There's no doubt that the Internet, and the mobile web in particular, have changed the way people shop, but there is strong evidence that consumers continues to value the experience of shopping in stores.”
- Also today, Best Buy released its December sales results. It said its same-store sales fell 1.2 percent and customer traffic was lower than expected. (Greg)
- Nevertheless, the Richfield-based consumer-electronic giant said its December revenues totalled $8.4 billion, with online revenues up 26 percent. And it still expects to meet analysts' earnings expectations for the full year.
- Trend for connected ‘smart’ homes contines to grow at 2012 consumer events
- One of the already ‘leaked’ buzz trend for CES this year is smart appliances, with home technology being one of the fastest growing trends by businesses in the past few years. Will this be the year it finally takes off?
C) Competitiors
- Walmart acquires app maker
- Walmart purchaces Small Society, a mobile and social network based business. The move is a response to ‘scan and scram’ shoppers who search brick-and-mortar stores for products they like, but then use barcode scanning apps like Ebay’s RedLaser or Amazon’s Price Check to locate them at lower prices elsewhere.
- It will be interesting to see Best Buy’s mobile strategy in-store, considering that many pundits call us ‘Amazon’s showroom’.
- Walmart purchaces Small Society, a mobile and social network based business. The move is a response to ‘scan and scram’ shoppers who search brick-and-mortar stores for products they like, but then use barcode scanning apps like Ebay’s RedLaser or Amazon’s Price Check to locate them at lower prices elsewhere.
Change ≠ Progress
Change does not necessarily mean progress.
Change does not equal progress.
Recently, I switched from a 7 year old phone to a new iPhone 4. I am paying about the same price in plan as I was before so my only real cost would be the initial $200 to get the phone. Thoughts: I was living in the dark ages. The iPhone is a neat phone with every app you can think about. I have noticed my production levels 'drop' as I keep checking the phone. I appreciated how I would just check my emails once a day, usually at night; rather than checking it several times throughout the day... o' technology
For me, changing phones did mean progress. I got a 5mp camera, sweet apps, and email. I may think my productivity levels have dropped but once I master the phone I should be efficient again. But many times people associate change with progress. If I had gotten a new phone but all the features were the same, that change is not progress. Changing politicians does not necessarily mean progress. Yes we voted for Change with Obama and Republicans in the midyear elections (progress yet to be determined) but that does not mean things will progress. We 'think' something different (change) will mean a different outcome. This is a wrong association. Things change, for good or for bad, because of value. If that person or object is of no value or less value than its predecessor, we will see digression not progression. Sure we like to compare to the most recent predecessor (it is the easiest thing to do and the one we have the most knowledge of hopefully) but we also need to uphold comparisons to what I call the average. I am not bashing Obama and saying he is worse than Bush or vice versa. All I am saying is that we voted for change but we need to vote based on value of person and not because 'the current state of affairs is bad'. Another word for 'the current state of affairs' would be circumstances. Circumstances change every day, especially in the political arena. Basing our judgments solely off circumstances is a shortminded perspective.
I bought the iPhone 4. My coworker calls it the snooty phone, which I tend to agree with. Most people that do have the iPhone 4 have a 'snooty' attitude about them. Am I one of them now?! I didn't buy the 3G or the 3GS because they were ridiculous prices. I am not going to spend $300 $400 or $500 on a phone that will be outdated after calling 3 people. You saw it with laptops. You are now seeing it with smartphones. $200 is reasonable (probably debatable) and if you saw what I was carrying before, more of a weapon than a telecommunications device, you would understand I needed an upgrade. Smartphones are only going to get cheaper. Why? Phone companies will be driving the price down to get you under their subscription (where they make their money). Look, if you are a telecommunications company and have already spent millions and millions of dollars setting up an infrastructure for wireless internet/communications, you will give a customer $100 to get them to spend several thousands of dollars over their cellphone lifetime.
Let's vote on value, not on the circumstances.
Let's buy on value, not impulsively.
Let's eat nutritional value, not junk.
Let's value others, not degrade them.
In all changes, we are shifting blame. We don't blame ourselves for issues so we 'change' things to cover it up.
Change ≠ Progress.
Share on FacebookReview: How to Make An American Job Before it is Too Late.
Great read on how 'Job Creation should be the #1 objective for state economic policy'. Andy Grove, senior adviser to Intel, was the company’s chief executive officer or chairman from 1987 until 2005. The whole Bloomberg article can be read here.
I fled Hungary as a young man in 1956 to come to the U.S. Growing up in the Soviet bloc, I witnessed first-hand the perils of both government overreach and a stratified population. Most Americans probably aren’t aware that there was a time in this country when tanks and cavalry were massed on Pennsylvania Avenue to chase away the unemployed. It was 1932; thousands of jobless veterans were demonstrating outside the White House. Soldiers with fixed bayonets and live ammunition moved in on them, and herded them away from the White House. In America! Unemployment is corrosive. If what I’m suggesting sounds protectionist, so be it.
I cannot even imagine that right now. I know it happens around the world and the US has been pretty blessed to have 5%, now 10% unemployment. Imagine a country with 20%, 30%, 40%! unemployment. Almost half the people not having a job. I am worried and agree with Andy Grove that job creation should be THEE #1 state economic policy. Without jobs, more people sit at home, gain less and less experience, and their creative juices begin to fade as they have a very steep learning curve once they get back into the job force. I believe in hard work. I believe in work, whatever that may be.
The story comes to mind of an engineer who was to be executed by guillotine. The guillotine was stuck, and custom required that if the blade didn’t drop, the condemned man was set free. Before this could happen, the engineer pointed with excitement to a rusty pulley, and told the executioner to apply some oil there. Off went his head.
Grove uses a perfect allegorical story about how the US will kill itself if we keep outsourcing our manufacturing labor in place of 'head knowledge'. There are only so many managerial jobs and to compete with new international schools becoming par with US graduate schools, we are placing ourselves into a hole by not laying a foundation of labor, manufacturing, and a wide blue collar workforce. Scaling is important but at what cost?
How could the U.S. have forgotten? I believe the answer has to do with a general undervaluing of manufacturing -- the idea that as long as “knowledge work” stays in the U.S., it doesn’t matter what happens to factory jobs.
The scaling process is no longer happening in the U.S. And as long as that’s the case, plowing capital into young companies that build their factories elsewhere will continue to yield a bad return in terms of American jobs.
I leave you as Andy Grove left his article: we change on our own, or change will continue to be forced upon us.
Share on FacebookBehold II
I went to another AT&T store, this time at Southcenter and asked the first person if they had a Samsung Smartphone. They said no they did not have any but they would be getting a new one next week. However, I do remember what Judy's phone looked like and saw that they did have the Samsung Jack. I do not know why both AT&T representatives would say they did not have any Samsung smartphones.
I played around with the Samsung Jack then went to the T-Mobile store and saw the Behold II. Sorry about the confusion on the first post. To make up for not reviewing a smartphone, here is just an extra post on my opinion of the Samsung Behold II:
- Dimensions 4.6" x 2.23" x 0.51" (117 x 57 x 13 mm)
- Weight 4.29 oz (122 g)
- Battery Talk: 6 hours max. (360 minutes)
Standby: 100 hours max. (4.2 days)
1500 mAh LiIon - Display 3.2" diagonal
Type: OLED (Full-Color)
Resolution: 320 x 480 pixels
Colors: 65,536 (16-bit) - Platform/OS Android v1.6
- Processor 528 MHz ARM11
- Memory 153 MB
- Connectivity Bluetooth, USB, Wi-fi
- Camera 5+ Megapixel Camera, Auto-Focus, flash
My first impression of the phone was that it was a very sleek and well designed phone physically. It held well in the hands and the face of the phone was very flush. The screen was beautiful, amazing display. The first feature I tried out was the camera and the 5 Megapixel camera did not dissappoint. Another great feature was the use of one of the coolest operating systems in the Android; too bad it was not Android 2.X
Some whacky things I felt were unnecessary was the cube which could not be customized. It felt like a waste of a screen. Samsung's TouchWiz user interface could be worked on. While texting, the phone did lag behind my speed.
After checking out the phone at T-Mobile, I tried to read up on some reviews online. It seemed like the majority of reviews were bashing the Samsung Behold II and I think it is because everyone was comparing it to the Iphone. Compared to the other phones at T-Mobile like the MyTouch, which is weak, or the Moto Cliq, the Behold II is a very stellar phone.
In many of the reviews, they argued Samsung was behind on their phones. From what I remember, the MyTouch rushed out without a 3.5mm jack so they had to make a second edition already. The Motorolla Cliq is an awesome device if you like carrying a 5 lb dumbbell in your pocket! The onscreen keyboard is more than efficient, probably why they had the Cliq Xt come out in March. The Cliq is a good phone and does not need the keyboard.
It is one of Samsung's first Android phones, so as a new one, they did a better job than most. Apple is on their 4th edition of the Iphone. And if all Android phones are supposed to look the same (UI), what makes one stand out over the other? I give Samsung credit for trying to be different. To sum it up, I am giving this phone a 3.5 out of 5 because it is not perfect, but none of the First Gen Android phones were.
Samsung Showdown
Samsung Mythic (SGH-a897) vs Samsung Impression (SGH-a877)
Is the Newer Samsung Mythic better than the counterpart Samsung Impression?
The Samsung phones have a nice drop tab which allows you to move things from the sidebar to the front.
Walking into an AT&T store, all the craze was with the Iphone 4, the latest and greatest smartphone for Apple so far. My intention was to find the best Samsung phone AT&T had to offer. Here is my review:
At first, there did not seem to be any Samsung phones carried by AT&T. Then I went further down the isle and behold, three Samsung phones side by side.
NOTE: the other phone was the Samsung Solstice
After playing with them for a while, I realized they were really phones set up for quick messaging. None of the phones featured were forced to come with a data plan, making it cheaper and an easier alternative to phones like the Apple Iphone or HTC Aria. The Samsung Mythic was going for $99.99 while the Samsung Impression was $79.99. Compared to each other, the Mythic was a bit slower to upload applications and at times was non responsive. The full screen was tough to text on as well.On the other hand, the Impression comes with a full QWERTY keyboard and feels quality in your hands. Being without a slide out keyboard, the Samsung Mythic weighs only 3.8 oz versus the Impression’s 5.3 oz. The Mythic is slimmer as well.
The Mystic offers more advanced features such as voice command support, USB mass storage, PC syncing, instant messaging, emails, GPS with AT&T Navigator support, stereo Bluetooth, and really pushed AT&T's Mobile TV subscription. The Impression included comparable features but lacked a flash on the 3 Megapixel camera.
Side by side, the Impression had a clearer resolution than the Mythic.
Let’s compare more on Samsung Mythic and Samsung Impression, Technical specs - they are very close, however, the Mythic is a newer phone with a 3.2 Megapixel Camera/Camcorder and supports up to 32 GB of memory while the Impression can only support up to 16GB.
Final thought: The Samsung Mythic is more expensive, less responsive, and harder to work with than the Samsung Impression. The Mystic looks like a knock off on the Iphone. The one knack on the Impression is that the wall paper does not turn as you slide out the keyboard, making it odd to look at. But all in all, the Impression really left an 'impression' for a solid quick text and multimedia phone. The phone is definitely targeted to teenagers, soccer moms, and anyone who does not want the expensive data plans but wants a quality, durable product with some great features.
Share on Facebook