Looks like Japan Has an International App Hit

Michael Fitzpatrick from Fortune writes:

What do you get if you cross emoting, goofy manga characters with free messaging and calls? Japan's only export app hit—called Line—which recently hit its 100 millionth download.

I just so happen to know some folks that use this app. While anecdotal evidence is scant evidence at best, it at least provides a single data point (at least personally).

I'm fairly impressed by how well this app has done in the international (i.e. external to Japan) market. I can think of many apps that have relatively wide global appeal (Facebook and Twitter come immediately to mind), but none that have come from the Land of the Rising Sun. In this case, it looks as if Line has found the right blend of app features.

Thoughts on the BlackBerry 10 Event

Like many folks today, I watched the BlackBerry 10 event (see the source link for the full BlackBerry 10 event video). I find these types of launch events to be fascinating. While they do not make or break a product, they can often set the tempo for the months to follow. Apple, of course, is famous for its product launch events. Amazon has done a particular good job with its launch events, and Google is no slouch (if less refined). The less that is said about Microsoft's launch events, the better (see the Surface launch for the gory details).

Where then, does the BlackBerry 10 event fall on that scale? Probably a tad below Amazon. This is due to several factors: people, devices, and software.

With regard to the people aspect, the results were mixed. BlackBerry (formerly Research in Motion) CEO Thorsten Heins was not very personable. That's not to say he was unlikeable, but rather that he was very bland. If you want to create a mental image of what I'm talking about, imagine Apple CEO Tim Cook but with 50% less personality. Steve Jobs, this man is not. However, he wasn't the star of of the show here. That award goes to Vivek Bhardwaj, BlackBerry's Head of Software. This guy is a natural on the stage. His presentation of the BlackBerry 10 software features was smooth, relaxed, and intriguing. Keep a watch on his career, folks.

The devices suffered somewhat in the presentation. Heins showed both the Z10 (referred to as the "Zed 10", which I find pleasing to the ear) touchscreen-based device and the Q10 keyboard-based device. I think there was a real missed opportunity here. While both devices were described on stage with their respective feature lists, I do think that BlackBerry should have spent a bit more time convincing us of the design qualities of the devices. Apple is a master of this. The folks at Engadget have an interesting review of the Z10, by the way. It seems like the Z10 is a solid (if flawed) device.

The BlackBerry 10 software was the best part of the presentation, especially in Bhardwaj's capable hands. The BlackBerry Hub feature integrates just about every major communication method (email, text, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) in an easy-to-glance UI. The Hub feature is bolstered by BlackBerry Peek, which lets users 'peek' at the hub from any screen in any app without causing the app to pause (including video). BlackBerry Flow is probably the best multi-tasking UI I've seen on a mobile device. Perhaps the best feature for modern smartphone users is BlackBerry Balance, which lets users separate apps (and more importantly, data) into "personal" and "work" profiles with a UI that allows for seamlessly transitioning between the two.

It looks like BlackBerry has put together a competent (if uneven) story for what it provides to users. It will be very tough to dislodge Google and Apple from their entrenched positions as the market leaders, but this is a good start for BlackBerry's attempt to regain its former glory.

Roku, the Tiny Content Device

Gavin Sullivan, writing at Forbes:

Since piggy backing on Netflix’s transition from snail mail DVD delivery to online streaming in 2008, Roku has in five short years landed 5m of its devices into American homes, and is running neck-and-neck with Apple TV for market leader position of non-gaming (Microsoft’s Xbox, etc.) set-top boxes. Yes, that Apple.

I love my Roku. It has a wide variety of 'channels' that provide lots of on-demand and streaming content. I'm a bit surprised that this small company hasn't been purchased by one of the other larger competitors (Google, I'm looking at you).

By the way, in case you were wondering about the oddly familiar-sounding name, from Wikipedia:

The company was founded in October 2002, by ReplayTV founder Anthony Wood. Roku means "six" in Japanese, a reference to the six companies Wood has launched.

Apple Needs to Improve Siri's Speech Style

Tom Cheredar, in a post over at VentureBeat:

While plenty has been said about Apple’s often sassy voice assistant feature, Siri, the technology giant thinks it can do even better, according to a recent job posting. Apple wants Siri to be more conversational, and as such, it’s seeking someone with both the technical capabilities as well as a love of words to fill a new position.

It's interesting that Apple posted this on LinkedIn.  I'm actually a fan of using Siri, and it is heartening to see that Apple is seemingly doing what it can to make Siri better.

However, it should be noted that I think Google's voice-controlled search assistant in the Google Search app on iOS provides a more 'natural' feel than does Siri.  That's not to say that Google's assistant provides better or worse results than Siri (my experience has been roughly equivalent with using both), but rather that Siri's voice doesn't sound as smooth as Google's voice.  Actually, I sometimes find Siri's voice to be a bit grating to the ear.

I hope that this job posting isn't going to be purely focused on making Siri more 'witty', but rather that the individual who takes on this role will hopefully be empowered to make Siri better as a whole (including the voice).

This Event Will Make or Break the BlackBerry

Hugo Miller at Bloomberg writing about the upcoming BlackBerry 10 event:

RIM needs an attention-grabber if it is to reverse six quarters of declining sales and a steady loss of market share. RIM was poised to finish 2012 with a 4.7 percent share of the global market, compared with almost 90 percent for Apple and Android combined, research firm IDC said last month. As recently as the first quarter of 2011, RIM had a 14 percent share.

The 'leaks' that have come out related to the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, apps, and devices have been interesting and show a ton of promise. I've been fairly impressed with what I have seen thus far.

However, the market hasn't shown much ability to support a true third competitor behind Google and Apple.  Microsoft is nipping at RIM's heels for what little market leftovers exist, and has shown that it is willing to spend a lot of money to try to sway developers to its side. It is not at all hyperbole to say that this upcoming release from RIM will likely make or break the company.

The question is, which will it be?

Windows Phone 8 Doesn't Need An Installation Disc

Paul Thurrott, writing for Supersite for Windows:

Look, it’s possible that someone, someday, will run into this screen innocuously. Software isn’t perfect. But this isn’t a case of innocence, it’s someone purposefully not explaining what they did and then making Windows Phone look bad as a result. Hilarious!

The story here is that a picture was posted on Twitter that seemingly showed Windows Phone 8 prompting the user for an installation disc.  Unfortunately, the person who posted the picture failed to mention that they were attempting to load a modified boot loader.  This is of course not anywhere near the expected use of the phone, and it is irresponsible at best and disingenuous at worst to have posted the photo without providing context.

Amazon is Probably Starting a Music Price War

Aabha Rathee, writing for Wall St. Cheat Sheet:

Amazon announced last week that its 22-million song catalog was now optimized for users of Apple devices in a way that lets them circumvent the iTunes store and pay lesser for their music. Users will be able to the Safari web browser on their iOS device to access the music, with purchases then directly stored to their Amazon Cloud Player library.

Rathee later goes on to mention (via quotes) how this action is similar to the strategy that Amazon employed when eBooks became available on the iPad. As Matthew Yglesias opines in an article over on Slate, Amazon can be a scary competitor even when (or perhaps especially when) it doesn't care about profits.

I'm not entirely convinced that Amazon can continue to play the market share game this aggressively, but I'm intrigued by the prospects of a formidable competitor keeping Apple on its toes.

Nokia Wants You To Print a Shell For Your Phone

Joel Willans on Nokia's site, quoting Nokia Community & Developer Marketing Manager John Kneeland:

Perhaps in addition to our own beautifully-designed phones, we could sell some kind of phone template, and entrepreneurs the world over could build a local business on building phones precisely tailored to the needs of his or her local community. You want a waterproof, glow-in-the-dark phone with a bottle-opener and a solar charger? Someone can build it for you—or you can print it yourself!



This is a fantastic idea and is clearly a forward-looking move by Nokia.  The era of 3D printing is upon us, and it is in the best interests of many companies to follow suit by releasing usable 3D printing documents for their products.  It's a great way to build customer loyalty and PR buzz by fostering a community based on a product.

The Boeing 787 Failed a Battery Test in Spectacular Fashion Back in 2006

Dominic Gates, writing for The Seattle Times about a failed battery test on the Boeing 787 program:

During testing of a prototype charging-system design in the 2006 incident, “the battery caught fire, exploded, and Securaplane’s entire administrative building burned to the ground,” according to a summary by the administrative law judge in a related employment lawsuit.

The ruinous fire resisted the initial efforts of two employees with fire extinguishers, and escalated, despite the dispatch of a fleet of fire trucks, to destroy the 10,000-square-foot building.

It reached temperatures of about 1,200 degrees and resulted in losses of millions of dollars.

Despite the fact that Boeing won the commercial airplane crown in orders and deliveries from longtime rival Airbus, it has been a rough start to the year for the folks at the airplane maker. The reason? Issues with the 787.

Gates' article delves into more detail about the failed battery test as well as the FAA's role in approving Boeing's design for handling battery fires. The infographic in the article is superb.

Every new airplane model has its 'teething issues' during initial Entry into Service. The 787 is running into some atypically difficult issues, but I'm quite confident that the folks at Boeing will solve these problems and the 787 will grace the skies for many years to come.

Sony Might Be Getting Its (Design) Groove Back

A few days ago I had a discussion with some friends about how strange it was that Sony had yet to make any sort of real impact on the mobile world. This lack of impact was particularly intriguing to me considering that Sony has such a rich design history. This design history is so rich, in fact, that one of Apple's industrial designers produced the often-shared 'Jony' phone design concept which was inspired by Sony's design aesthetics.

It was excellent timing (for my benefit, at least) to see that Sony has revealed its Xperia Tablet Z which looks to my eye to be a very pleasing design. At 6.9mm, it is slightly thinner than the famously-thin iPad Mini but in a 10.1-inch form factor. The fact that it runs Android Jelly Bean is the icing on the cake. (Quite attractive cake, by the way.)

I'm a bit concerned about battery life based on the small (6000mAh) battery, but all in all I'm starting to be convinced that Sony might be returning to its design roots.