predictive

Marc Andreessen's view of the world boils down to software.

From where he stands, as the guy who co-founded Netscape Communications and now co-runs the powerful Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, no industry is safe from software. Or, as Andreessen put it in a much-discussed piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal, "Software is eating the world."

Software has chewed up music and publishing. It's eaten away at Madison Avenue. It's swallowed up retail outlets like Tower Records. The list goes on.

No area is safe--and that's why Andreessen sees so much … Read more

Rewind to E3, June 2011: we saw the PlayStation Vita. We marveled at its capabilities and its price. For $250--at the time, the same price as a Nintendo 3DS--Sony offered a far superior piece of hardware. We looked forward to its release at the end of the year.

Of course, that was then, and this is now. The Nintendo 3DS dropped its price to $170, still expensive but more sensible. The Vita will release in Japan on December 17, but in the U.S. the release has been delayed until February 22, 2012. Sony has been keen to make a comeback and make a new handheld game system to revive the flailing world of the PSP. Can it succeed?

Regardless of the hype and demand the Vita is able generate in the U.S., there's still a general sentiment of disappointment sweeping through the gaming community on this side of the world. As the Vita misses the 2011 holiday season, a huge loss of momentum follows. Instead of cashing in on becoming what would likely be the toy to get this year, the Vita will see a late February release, just in time to coincide with paying off bank-breaking gift-giving expenditures from a few weeks prior.

It's easy to make lofty accusations about missing golden opportunities and of course we don't know what truly influenced this decision made by Sony, but it's impossible to ignore the potential impact the Vita could have had in the U.S. before 2012 sets in.… Read more

Expecting something from Apple can be a dangerous game, but that doesn't mean it's not fun to try and read the tea leaves every once in a while.

Below are five things I think we can expect from Apple next year. Some of these are based on a long ramp-up of rumors and telltale signs from this year, with others outright speculation from trends and the company's product release habits.

It's worth pointing out that Apple's usual lack of predictability is what makes it such an interesting company to watch. Nowhere was that more clear … Read more

At year's end, it's customary--or at least common--for prognosticators to trumpet the predictions they got right and to ignore the rest.

However, I've decided to break with tradition and review my entire list from last November. There aren't any howlers, but I must admit I was a bit impatient on a few fronts. (I'd like to note that fellow ex-analyst Andi Mann also did so recently.)

Less focus on definitions (and dare we say hype?). Grade: B. There's been incremental advance in user education, but I find I still need to keep a NIST definition (… Read more

I'll bet you didn't know when I launched the Reporters' Roundtable podcast in 2009 that I secretly planned for episode 100 to air on 11/11/11, the Nerd New Year.

OK, I just got lucky. Although I do have to point out that the topic of Roundtable Episode 1 was Steve Jobs' 9/9/09 return to the public eye as he announced several updates to Apple products.

Yes, we are all geeks here. Numbers are important to us. So for Episode 100 (important milestone!) of a tech podcast airing on 11/11/11 (just plain cool), … Read more

Opera Mini 6.5 brings this version of the alternative browser to iOS devices (version 6.5 has been available for Android for three weeks at the time of this review). We have had a chance to put the slimmed-down browser through its paces and it offers several features we think users will like. With the right tweaks, it may even become the favorite over Apple's Safari--if people are willing to give it a try.

The clean, elegant interface hides multiple useful features, with only five buttons to choose from, along with the address bar and search box. The … Read more

Tech analyst Charlie Wolf, of Needham & Company, released an update to his watch of Apple stock, raising his February prediction of $450 to $540 behind the strength of 54 million iPads and 108 million iPhones to be sold in 2012.

Wolf's analysis shows the iPhone still being the major chunk of Apple's profits, accounting for nearly 50 percent (value per share). Perhaps surprisingly, the iPad is predicted to jump Mac sales bringing in 12.2 percent while the Mac holds at 11.8 percent.

As noted by AppleInsider, the largest increase in value by Wolf's predictions … Read more

Four years ago today, Apple's first iPhone went on sale, a landmark event that bears looking at anew as all eyes are now on the company to announce a fifth-generation of the device.

It's easy to look back at the iPhone's rise and success and see how it's managed to work out so well: Apple took aim at a product category with the same approach it used with the iPod, creating its own hardware and software, then eventually bundling it with extra services and features. Proof enough of that is the App Store, something that began … Read more

The iPod Touch has always played second fiddle to the iPhone. Most people can't even get the name right. More often than not I hear it referred to as the "iTouch." When asked to describe it, though, the explanation is invariably the same: "It's an iPhone without the phone."

The truth is that the iPod Touch lacks much more than just the iPhone's ability to dial phone numbers. It's missing a GPS receiver, a high-quality camera, a native text messaging app, and most of all, it's missing a cellular data connection. Still, considering that the device sells for as little as $200 with no contract and offers 90 percent of the iPhone's features, it seems inevitable that Apple would close the gap some day by integrating 3G.

We've seen products like the ZTE Peel attempt to address the iPod's lack of 3G, but the result is bulky and still burdens you with a two-year contract. The same goes for MiFi-style 3G/4G puck solutions. They're inelegant, require separate charging, and always come with a contract attached.

Will 2011 be the year Apple integrates 3G into the iPod Touch? The skeptic in me thinks that no carrier would agree to it and that Apple wouldn't cannibalize iPhone sales to make a 3G iPod Touch happen. But then again, the steps the company has made with the iPad's data plan, and the advancements it has shown for iOS 5, set the stage perfectly for just such a product.… Read more