Hi, I'm Molly Wood, and welcome to the Buzz Report, the show about the tech news
that e eryone's talking about.
This week, Mobile World Congress in Barcelona
demolished the phone and tablet world as we know it, Apple demolished app
developer revenues, and computers are poised to demolish humans.
But first, it's the Gadget of the Week.
The Gadget of the Week is the ...
ha.
That is so cute how you think there's only one
gadget of the week this week.
It's Mobile World Congress time, people.
It's RAINING
phones and tablets.
And you know what that means ...
it's time for a Buzz Report
Gadgetpalooza edition!
Let's jump right in, shall we?
First, the phones.
The worst-kept secret in tech?
The PlayStation phone.
It's real now, and it's called the
Sony Xperia Play.
Android Gingerbread, 4-inch screen, PlayStation controls.
And you
know the getting's good when that's like the "eh" phone of the show.
Samsung Galaxy S II -- Samsung says it's the world's thinnest smart phone, now featuring
dual-core processors, 8 megapixel cameras, and WiFi only versions of the Galaxy S
devices, to take on the iPod Touch.
BOLD, Samsung.
We finally got hands on with the LG Optimus 3D, which looks awfully 3D promising,
and then HTC came out SWINGING.
They announced the Cha Cha and the Salsa, which
are Android smart phones that have dedicated Facebook buttons.
Which, I don't care what
you say.
I would use that.
F ...
is for Facebook.
Also, HTC announced updated versions of the Wildfire, the Desire, and the incredibly
popular Incredible, by upping their specs and putting an S after each name.
S ...
is for
smart phone?
Ok, and that's just the phones.
What about the tablets?
There was the HTC Flyer, a 7-inch
Gingerbread tablet,
the 9-inch LG Optimus Pad, which is a dual-core Honeycomb beast that takes 3D video.
We got a look at the HP TouchPad, which is the one I think is super promising looking --
it brings the WebOS interface to a 10-inch dual-core touchscreen.
Plus, Samsung dropped the Tab 10.1, which is a 10-inch version of the Galaxy Tab and
includes 4G, Honeycomb, and an EIGHT megapixel camera on the back, along with one
on the front.
People, when it rains tablets, it HAILS tablets.
And to think ...
some people go to
Barcelona for the jamon.
And while all that was happening, iPhone 5 rumors were raining down all over the place,
too.
Reports this week suggested Apple might have THREE future iPhone prototypes,
ranging from a much smaller, cheaper iPhone, like an iPhone Nano, to a phone with a
nice big 4-inch screen, to one that actually has a slide-out keyboard.
Which, I mean, if
Apple does a phone with a keyboard, I'll eat an iPhone 4.
But I would like to see them do
an iPhone Shuffle.
It just randomly calls people in your address book.
It's social!
Speaking of Apple, the company announced a new subscription service this week that lets
you sign up for movies, magazines, video, and newspapers through apps on your phone ...
but the app developers have to give Apple a 30 percent cut of all new subscriber money.
AND they can't include links in their apps to let people go buy content -- like say, a
Kindle book -- outside of the app.
Yep.
The most dominant app marketplace on the Web, demanding a 30 percent rake off
the top of every transaction that happens in its territory, and also making sure that hardly
any transactions DON'T happen in its territory.
I gotta hand it to 'em.
That is some
straight up ballsy mafia sh*t right there.
And FINALLY, everyone?
The Singularity is here.
If that's what they call it when
computers officially become smarter than humans, I think it's safe to say that we've
arrived.
The supercomputer Watson, equipped with just 2,880 CPUs operating at 80
teraflops and 15 terabytes of RAM, put the hurt on champions Ken Jennings and Brad
Rutter at "Jeopardy" this week, using artificial intelligence and natural language
interpretation to decipher quiz answers and deliver the correct responses in the form of a
question.
Mark my words, people.
The age of the machines is here.
Civilization is both
doomed ...
and saved.
But I think the real question here is: what does a computer do with the money it wins?
Go
to Disneyland?
Ahh, we still gotcha, Terminators.
And that's the Buzz Report for this week, everyone.
I'm Molly Wood, and thanks for watching.
