Hi, I'm Molly Wood, and welcome to the Buzz Report, the show about the tech news
that everyone's talking about. This week, it's some more iPad, the big iPhone OS
update, and a shakeup at Digg. But first, the news.
That's right, he news. There's no gadget of the week because we all know the gadget
of the month is the iPad. More on that later.
First, some important Internet news. A federal appeals court ruled that the FCC does not
have the authority to enforce Net neutrality regulation, fine Comcast for throttling
traffic on its network, or, potentially, enforce giant chunks of the National Broadband
plan introduced in March. Analysts have speculated that the only way the FCC can
reasonably respond is to go nuclear and try to place the entire telecom industry under
archaic and intense regulation of the type the traditional phone companies currently
live under. So, that kinda backfired, didn't it, Comcast?
Moving on, the iPad landed with an earth-shattering roar this week. There were lines
and parties and screaming and whatnot. Apple said it sold 300,000 iPads over the
weekend, which is pretty healthy, considering it isn't available globally. Speaking of
which, there were nearly 3,000 iPads available on eBay for international users, and one
guy in the UK apparently paid more than 5 thousand dollars for one. So, you know, if
you're not happy with yours, you know what to do with it.
So far, reviews of the iPad are generally positive--general consensus seems to be that it's
a genuinely seminal device, gorgeous to look at, and fun to play with. Also, kind of heavy
and hard to hold -- I mean, Kotaku actually posted a slideshow on how best to hold the
iPad for gaming. Really? Yeah. Really. And no one really thinks there's a killer use for it
just yet, other than general coolness. I actually think the single best argument to get one is
the mid-week news that, according to the TSA, you won't have to take it out of your bag
when you go through airport security.
iPad wins! iPad wins!!!
And Apple isn't letting the hype die just yet. The company held an event in San Francisco this week, just
DAYS after the iPad launch, to announce details of iPhone OS 4.0, and more.
So the event just ended, here are the hgihlights. iPhone OS will get
multitasking, including some cool new background audio features for
stuff like Pandora, Skype, which is huge, background wallpapers, which is
less huge, and an amazing new organizational paradigm for collecting
related applications ... it's called ... Folders. There's better email
management, the iBooks app on iPhone and iPod Touch, and a huge new
mobile ad initiative called iAd, where all the ads are super pretty and
hopefully make Apple a bajillion more dollars. iPhone OS 4.0 comes out
in summer, it won't be available on the iPad until Fall, iPhone 3G owners
get Folders and ads but no multitasking, and there's still no support for
Flash or tethering.
Phew. In sum, the iPhone is now just about as cool as Android in the
features department. So, hooray for competition!
Now, in the midst of this Apple frenzy, Microsoft threw its little event-holding hat in the
ring. The company invited journalists to an unveiling in San Francisco on April 12, with
a little cylinder and a message that said, "it's time to share." Oooh. It was all very
mysterious for about four hours, when Microsoft rushed to tell everyone that it would be
announcing its Project Pink phones, the Pure and the Turtle, which will be for Verizon
and go on sale sometime in March. Yeah. Now you know. So, the phones might turn out
to be cool, but that right there is why Apple keeps winning the hype wars. Catch the snap,
Redmond.
And in Web happenings this week, Digg's CEO, Jay Adelson, stepped down as head of
the company, and Digg co-founder Kevin Rose will take over as interim CEO. Wow. Kevin
Rose ... as CEO? Seriously? I mean, I know he co-founded it and everything, but ... this
guy?
No, I'm just kidding, buddy, I'm sure you're gonna be great. Seriously, Kevin's doing
great things already! He got rid of the Digg Bar that wrapped other people's Websites in
frames, and he unbanned all the blocked domains on the site ... kid's got good instincts.
I'm sure it'll be fine.
Seriously, though. This guy?
And finally, let's have a look at what's Clogging the Tubes. This week, you may have some iPad burnout,
but why not try to look at it through the adorable eyes of a two-and-a-half-year-old child?
Man, you can totally see the genius of Apple's interface design, that even a two and a half year old can
figure out how to use it in seconds. And you can totally see the STUPIDITY of Apple, that even a two and
a half year old can figure out that THIS THING NEEDS A CAMERA!!!
And that's the Buzz Report for this week, everyone. I'm Molly Wood, and thanks for watching.
