July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

You wouldn’t think motorcycle manufacturer Harley Davidson and Apple have much in common, besides sometimes-fanatical brand devotees. But the two companies just concluded a business deal, for a word.

Apple has acquired a trademark from Harley Davidson for the word “lightning.” Patently Apple noticed the transfer, which would seem to cover the tiny Lightning connector Apple is using in its newest iPhones and iPads.

Harley Davidson had acquired the trademark to cover motorcycle parts as well as helmets and turn signals. It appears Apple has acquired just some aspects of the trademark, as the EU Patent & Trademark office filing indicates the acquisition was a partial transfer, and Patently Apple states that the usage Apple has purchased falls into the area of “television sets, games, computer game programs, eye glasses, and eyeglass frames.”

Well that’s interesting.

Those usage classes seem to be applicable to the perhaps mythical but always-coming-next-year Apple TV. Or, to a glasses-mounted heads-up display for iPhone and iPad that is reminiscent of Google Glass – an area that Microsoft is also working on.

Which could be very, very interesting indeed.

It seems clear that some sort of head-mounted (glasses, contact lenses, or implant) display is going to be available in the not-too-distant future. And it seems obvious that Apple wants to be one of the companies creating it.

Whether that is really connected to lightning, or docks, or cables is another story.

photo credit: Stuck in Customs via photopin cc

Happy about the new iPhone 5? You should be … or maybe you shouldn’t, because the announcements made today weren’t everything that we’d hoped for. In fact, some are startlingly painful. Here are eight that almost make today feel like a bad day:

1. No HD radio on the iPod Nano or any iOS devices

Most people may not care, but that’s just because you just don’t know about HD radio. It’s basically the same as today’s FM radio except that it’s a better digital signal rather than a standard analog signal. It’s clearer, crisper, and provides a better listening experience. Oh, and it offers up to three channels per station.

Because it’s digital, HD radio can actually have multiple channels for individual stations, so your favorite FM station can have different stations to listen to. Here in L.A., some FM stations have their parent AM radio stations shared on the same frequency, or even their webstream as another channel. That way, you get more radio stations over the same spectrum of radio waves.

But Apple completely skipped over HD radio again, as the company has done year after year since the Zune HD came out with the feature. And not only is there no HD radio, radio itself is limited solely to the iPod Nano. If you have any other Apple product (iPhone 5, iPod Touch, etc.), you’re out of luck. Because apparently if you can get Internet over Wi-Fi, which is obviously everywhere, who needs the radio?

2. No NFC

While it’s use is minuscule today, but NFC (near-field communication) is a simple technology that allows users to share pictures, websites, and other tidbits of data by putting your phone in close proximity to another NFC-enabled device. The feature, which has been on Android phones for about a year now, isn’t on all devices, but it has made significant headway, especially in light of Google Wallet and other services which are attempting to transform our phones into our wallets.

With mobile payments in mind, and with Apple traditionally at the forefront of creating new ways for people to purchase goods, no NFC on the iPhone 5 can only mean one of two things: The company doesn’t have it’s own method of mobile transactions like NFC, or it simply isn’t done developing it and refuses to use the current standard. In either case, if you’re heading down to Jamba Juice and don’t want to pull out your wallet, don’t get an iPhone.

3. The camera lens isn’t faster

Camera technology on smartphones is all the rage these days. Nokia has their Pureview, and Apple is saying that their new camera is the best yet. I’ve done significant testing on smartphone cameras, and the iPhone 4S is still has one of the best cameras on the market. But the lens? It’s not faster.

As a photographer, I can tell you that the difference between an f-stop rating of f/1.4 and f/1.8 is the difference between a good shot and a great shot. Moreover, smartphone cameras have gone down to f/2.2, including a vast number of competing phones like the HTC One series and Nokia Lumia 900. You may think that the difference between f/2.2 and f/2.4 is moot, but remember, this is Apple talking about how they’re improving the iPhone. Yet the most critical aspect of any camera — how fast it shoots — is completely forgotten.

4. No USB 3.0/Thunderbolt support

After five years of the iPhone stuck on USB 2.0, and Apple finally transitioning with their latest line of MacBooks to USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt, is it really so hard to make the most popular phone in the world transfer data through a cable a little faster? Is it?

Based on what Apple showed today, apparently it is. The new Lightning cable is a USB 2.0 connector, meaning it transfers data, if at full speed, at 35MB/s. Sure, that’s fast … but if you’re backing up gigabytes to your computer, that’s going to take a long, long time. It does today. I just backed up a bunch of new games I got for my 16GB iPhone 4S, and it took around 20 minutes to fully sync.

Is Apple addressing that problem in any way, knowing full well that they have both the technology and means to do so at little cost? Nope.

5. No iPad Mini

While some of the other disappointments are actually hurtful, Apple not revealing anything about the rumored iPad Mini at today’s event was a sad letdown, like waking up in the morning really thirsty for orange juice and finding an empty carton in the fridge. Then again, as Devindra pointed out late last month, the iPad Mini reveal is expected to come in October. Shucks, I guess we’ll just have to wait a little while longer.

6. The Lightning adapter is ridiculously expensive

As first discovered by Gizmodo’s Casey Chan (caution, NSFW), the new Lightning adapter that makes any older iPhone peripheral work with the iPhone 5 costs an absurdly expensive $30, or $40 for a 20cm cable. This is compared to the $10 adapter for the updated MagSafe power connectors that the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines use. Charging $30 or $40 for a simple adapter is so obnoxious that it’s actually a mockery of Apple product buyers who want to use their older iPhone/iPod Touch accessories.

Because, you know, you have to pay extra if you want to use Apple’s newest toy with old equipment. We wouldn’t want to make the new, shiny iPhone look bad for no penalty.

7. No increase in available storage

As an owner of the iPhone 4S and iPad, both 16GB versions, it only took a few short months (or, in the iPad’s case, weeks) to fill up that space with games, media, and apps. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explained last week at the Kindle Fire HD reveal that products with high definition displays need more space, simple as that. Apple knows this full well; the iPad’s display has a huge resolution of 2048×1536, which makes apps take a lot of space.

The iPhone 5? It has a bigger display, too, but no boost in capacity. If you want a device, you can pay $200, the standard for high-end smartphones (plus a 2-year contract), or you can pay $300 for the 32GB model. Or better yet, $400 for the 64GB version. Oh, and remember, the iPhone has no expandable storage, so what you buy is what you’re stuck with. Sixteen GB isn’t enough space these days, especially with so many great apps available … but I guess that isn’t Apple’s problem.

8. No price decrease for extra storage

The only thing worse than not increasing the amount of storage is still charging the absurd $100 fine for more space. For 16GB, $200 is reasonable, but $300 for $32GB? No. Just no. And $400 for 64GB? Give me a break. Flash storage today at those capacities costs nothing; it’s essentially pure profit for Apple no matter how much they charge, and while nearly every other major hardware device charges $50 for every major increase in storage space, Apple hasn’t lifted a finger to do so.

The worst part is, as much as we hate it, if you’re low on space now like I am, the only viable option is to pay the $100 ransom for more on the next phone.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Apple has introduced a new connector for the iPhone 5 called Lightning, a much smaller device that will complement the Thunderbolt port on Macs in name and speed.

Lightning includes an all-digital 8-signal design, adaptive interface, more durability, and is 80 percent smaller than the current connector.

But what if you already have a ton of older connector cables lying around? Apple will offer Lightning accessories and adapters that can connect with your old connectors.

Lightning is alternately good and bad for Apple fans. On the plus side, it looks pretty cool and is much smaller and more durable. But on the downside, I have several connector cords that I’ll have to buy adapters for if I choose to get the iPhone 5.

Adapters will cost $29 or $39, depending if you want a cord attached to it. A straight-up Lightning-to-USB cable is also for sale now for $19.

Photo via The Verge

But I can’t resist this one. And it is, after all, news. Even the BBC agrees.

The U.S. Army has successfully tested a lighting laser gun. Yeah. How cool is that: lighting, laser, and gun, all in one weapon.

Gotta be an Al Qaeda car

Here’s how they describe it: a “device that will shoot lightning bolts down laser beams to destroy its target.” I sure hope the grunt who gets to use it first is of Scandinavian origin and has a name like “Thor.”

This is how it works: a very brief but incredibly intense laser beam paints the target. By intense, the army means 50 billion watts of optical power … about 500 million times more powerful than the light bulb illuminating your room.

By some trick of physics, very intense laser beams focus themselves in air. And when they are intensive enough, laser beams generate an electro-magnetic field “strong enough to rip electrons off of air molecules.” Army scientists explain it all right here.

Thor wishes he had an LIPC

That does two things. First, it creates free electrons … the raw material for a lightning bolt. Second, and just as important, it creates a channel of plasma along the path of the laser beam.

(Plasma is just ordinary matter stripped of some of its electrons.)

As you might have guessed when reading “channel,” plasma is a highly efficient conductor of electrons … much more efficient than the surrounding ordinary air.

And given that lighting bolts are just lots and lots of electrons desperately seeking a cool place to crash for the night but soon, you have just created everything you need to aim lightning.

In fact, you’ve created a weapon straight out of science fiction or fantasy: a lightning laser gun.

DARPA has outdone itself again.

But not really in the naming department. Some unimaginative army pencil-pusher has labeled this fantastical machine the Laser-Induced Plasma Channel (LIPC).

Doesn’t quite have the ring of a BFG, does it?

Image credits: Thor/ShutterStock, Lightning/ShutterStock

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

The Windows Phone 7 news just won’t stop today. After Microsoft launched its new platform this morning with AT&T leading the way, we now have word on a few T-Mobile devices: HTC’s HD7, and Dell’s terribly named Venue Pro.

The HD7, by many accounts, is simply HTC’s HD2 phone (released last year with Windows Mobile 6.5) with newer software. It sports the same massive 4.3-inch screen, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, and 5MP camera — although this time around the device can also record 720p high-definition video at 24 frames-per-second. It will be available exclusively on T-Mobile at some point mid-November.

It’s interesting that the HD7 is so similar to the HD2, since Microsoft announced in March that the older device wouldn’t be upgradeable to Windows Phone 7 — something that infuriated HD2 owners at the time. The hardware similarity is a sign that the HD2 could very well run Windows Phone 7, although it will probably need to be hacked to do so.

The Dell Venue Pro is actually the company’s slick-looking Lightning phone, which was obviously renamed by some clueless middle manager. It sports a 4.1-inch AMOLED screen,  but the device’s defining characteristic is most definitely its slide-up portrait keyboard. When the keyboard is out, the Venue Pro looks unlike any phone on the market right now. But it remains to be seen if its unique look will convince consumers that Dell can make a decent phone.

T-Mobile will also be the exclusive carrier for the Venue Pro, but it won’t be sold in T-Mobile stores. Dell is instead hand-picking retailers to promote it. The company says the device will be available in time for the holidays.

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