Founder, Publisher and Editorial Director of the 9to5/Electrek/DroneDJ sites.
Seth Weintraub is an award-winning journalist and blogger who won back to back Neal Awards during his three plus years covering Apple and Google at IDG’s Computerworld from 2007–2010. Weintraub next covered all things Google for Fortune Magazine from 2010-2011 amassing a thick rolodex of Google contacts and love for Silicon Valley tech culture.
It turns out that his hobby 9to5Mac.com blog was always his favorite and in 2011 he went full time adding his Fortune Google followers to 9to5Google.com and adding the style and commerce component 9to5Toys.com gear and deals site. In 2013, Weintraub bought one of the Tesla’s first Model S EVs off the assembly line and so began his love affair with the Electric Vehicle and green energy which in 2014 turned into electrek.co.
In 2018, DroneDJ was born to cover the burgeoning world of drones and UAV’s led by China’s DJI.
From 1997-2007, Weintraub was a Global IT director and Web Developer for a number of companies with stints at multimedia and branding agencies in Paris, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, Madrid and London before becoming a publisher/blogger.
Seth received a bachelors degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California with a minor in Multimedia and Creative Technology in 1997. In 2004, he received a Masters from NYU’s Tisch School of the Art’s ITP program.
Hobbies: Weintraub is a licensed single engine private pilot, certified open water scuba diver and spent over a year traveling to 60 cities in 23 countries. Whatever free time exists is now guaranteed to his lovely wife and two amazing sons.
More at About.me. BI 2014 profile.
Tips: seth@9to5mac.com, or llsethj on Wickr/Skype or link at top of page.
AllThingsD reports that Marissa Mayer pulled one of her PR people, Anne Espiritu, to work in Yahoo’s communications department.
I had the pleasure of dealing with Anne with Google’s consumer initiatives—including the launch of the Google Fashion initiatives.
The bigger issue for Yahoo/Mayer, and now Espiritu, is fixing its leaky communications staff.
[tweet https://twitter.com/vzwnews/status/231024543119052800]
The HTC Rezound is the latest smartphone to be upgraded to the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwichoperating system. The software upgrade will begin being pushed to customers in phases starting August 2.
Ice Cream Sandwich features upgraded functionality and new features, such as Face Unlock. By looking directly at the screen, the smartphone recognizes its owner and automatically unlocks the device.
The upgrade also includes speech-to-text technology and the ability to dismiss individual notifications by swiping a finger over the item even while the phone is locked. For easy multitasking, switch between apps using the Recent Apps feature and even close unused ones by just swiping them with a finger.
The HTC Rezound joins the Galaxy Nexus by Samsung, DROID RAZR by Motorola and the DROID RAZR MAXX as devices that have the Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.
Additional information on the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade can be found on the HTC Rezound support page.
We already received reports of the v3.14.605.12 hitting phones.
Android version numbers are continuing to inch upward this week. We are seeing Ice Cream Sandwich starting to take off as most flagship devices are on 4.0 and recent flagships get an update. Meanwhile, the Nexus 7 and those Nexus devices that were updated to Jelly Bean represented 0.8-percent of all Android devices.
| Version | Codename | API Level | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 | Cupcake | 3 | 0.2% |
| 1.6 | Donut | 4 | 0.5% |
| 2.1 | Eclair | 7 | 4.2% |
| 2.2 | Froyo | 8 | 15.5% |
| 2.3 – 2.3.2 | Gingerbread | 9 | 0.3% |
| 2.3.3 – 2.3.7 | 10 | 60.3% | |
| 3.1 | Honeycomb | 12 | 0.5% |
| 3.2 | 13 | 1.8% | |
| 4.0 – 4.0.2 | Ice Cream Sandwich | 14 | 0.1% |
| 4.0.3 – 4.0.4 | 15 | 15.8% | |
| 4.1 | Jelly Bean | 16 | 0.8% |
Another view below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Uk83shZsg&feature=player_embedded#!
As part of his Reddit AMA yesterday, Google’s newest entrepreneur in residence (is he the newest?) has this ^ to say. More video responses are available here.
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…And, more importantly, a pretty intuitive way to manage them. They are already there—so no need to download anything.
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Chrome stable just hit version 21, so you can move back to stable from Canary if you have a Retina MacBook Pro. Other goodies include:
- Chrome now includes the getUserMedia API, which lets you grant web apps access to your camera and microphone without a plug-in. The getUserMedia API is the first step in WebRTC, a new real-time communications standard which aims to allow high-quality video and audio communication on the web.
- The getUserMedia API also allows web apps to create awesome new experiences like Webcam Toyand Magic Xylophone. In Chrome Web Lab, if you’re on the latest version of Chrome, the Sketchbots experiment uses getUserMedia to let you take a picture of your face, which is then converted to a line drawing and sent to a robot in the Science Museum in London. The robot then draws out your portrait in a patch of sand, which you can watch live on YouTube and visitors can watch in person at the museum. It’s just about as crazy as it sounds, and twice as cool.
- In addition, today’s Stable channel release includes deeper Google Cloud Print integration,expanded support for gamepads, and support for high-resolution Mac Retina screens. To check it all out, just download Google Chrome.
Amazon has a good deal if you want to get your Nexus on: $40 credit toward your bill when you sign up for a Share Everything plan via Amazon. That makes the already free Galaxy Nexus a pretty solid deal. All other Verizon phones at Amazon also apply for the $40-off plan.
So, those tethering apps that Verizon use to block on the Google Play store? Not cool, says the Federal Communications Commission. In fact, Verizon had to pony up $1.25 million for the trouble, according to a press release issued by the F.C.C. today.
The F.C.C. determined that the nation’s largest wireless carrier, according to GigaOm, was in the wrong in this situation, because Verizon purchased spectrum in 2008 that required it to allow open access to its network. Whoops!
Funny Story: Google just picked up Wildfire, the social networking analytics company for a reported $250 million.
As BI notes, one of those Wildfire employees that will be integrated into Google is Zuck’s sister, Arielle. Clearly, there might be some issues with hiring the sister of who founded Google’s major competitor. But, these things happen.
Arielle Zuckerberg is a junior product manager at Wildfire, and she maintains a blog where she even critiques Facebook on its design.
It will be very interesting to see if she joins Google with her colleagues.
[tweet https://twitter.com/randizuckerberg/status/230386374677766144]
For those who like to watch TV while browsing the web on their Chromebooks, or at least the Chrome Browser on Mac/PC, there is now a Google TV remote extension.
New Yorkers and people visiting our fair city will appreciate Google’s latest update to Maps: Subway schedule changes are now built-in. That means you can see what kind of outages you are in for (especially helpful on the weekends!) when you are heading toward a subway station. While we once had to check the MTA’s website, this is much easier and more direct. From the blog post:
- Since first making New York City public transit directions available in Google Maps, we’ve been working to deliver you with the most accurate and useful information about subway, bus, commuter rail, and ferry service across the greater metro area. Starting today, we’ll also be showing planned service alerts for the city’s subways, which serve more than 200 million people every year.
- Have you ever arrived at a subway platform only to find that the train you intended to take is skipping stops, rerouted on another line, or isn’t running at all due to scheduled maintenance? Now when you click on any of the 468 New York City subway stations labeled on Google Maps, you’ll see whether any planned service changes are expected to affect that station at the time. In addition, the relevant alerts will be included in the step-by-step transit directions pointing you wherever you’re going.
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You do not get more convenient than this leak from Scandinavia. A $50 price tag for a dock that just has audio out seems a little steep. Throw in HDMI—and then we are talking. Also, those travel cover colors are not my cup, but I am sure they will be popular. It drops August 24, if these things are to be believed.
Nordic Hardware (via DroidLife)
Google Play begins selling Galaxy Nexus accessories(9to5google.com)
This Apple vs. Samsung trial is turning into a treasure trove of information on the two companies, with the latest bit of information being that Samsung is readying a 11.8-inch Galaxy Tab with an incredible 2,560-by-1, 600 pixel resolution. That is a 30-inch monitor brought down to the size of a netbook display, and it is somewhere between the screens on a retina MacBook Pro and a Retina iPad. This mega-tablet is labeled “P10” on slide 83 of Samsung’s presentation, so it has no one but itself to blame for this premature announcement.
A rough calculation on the size is just slightly bigger than the screen of the smaller MacBook Air. I will admit that I would love to try one of these out. And, before you go blaming Samsung for stealing Apple’s Retina invention, remember that Samsung makes the displays in Apple’s Retina iPad. Therefore, it has just as much right as anyone. As for the look and feel of the Tab, that is for the courts to decide.
This reads just as I thought. I was lucky enough to get on Orange France’s initial 100Mbps Fiber rollout and my results were the same. The Internet was not always “faster,” because latency times were not necessarily improved with the addition of the high-speed service. Perhaps most frustrating is that big downloads were often time-capped by the ISP that was hosting the file, so I did not get to see all of the speed the fiber had.
Torrents went to full speed, though. I could download a full *Linux distro* in a minute or two….
Google unveils Gigabit Google Fiber Internet and TV service starting at $120/month [Gallery](9to5google.com)
Big news from Google for Gmail users today. Instead of the Peer-to-peer video chat you are used to in Gmail, Google now pops in its superior Hangouts tech that allows up to 10 people to chat simultaneously.
Unlike the old video chat, which was based on peer-to-peer technology, Hangouts utilize the power of Google’s network to deliver higher reliability and enhanced quality. You’ll be able to chat with all the same people you did before and, in fact, with Hangouts you’ll now be able to reach them not only when they are using Gmail but also if they are on Google+ in the browser or on their Android or iOS devices.
This is huge not only for personal communications, but also for businesses that now have a free multi-caller video conferencing technology at their disposal. The Google Talk replacement might also explain the recent outage that knocked out Google Talk for most of the morning last week.
Not only will hangouts hopefully improve your chatting experience, but it will also bring more people and businesses into the Google Plus fold.
Capstone Investments‘s Rory Maher this morning had some reflections in the wake of Google’s announcement last Thursday that it plans to offer free Internet service in some parts of the U.S. and paid packages with access up to a gigabit per second.
Writes Maher, it looks like Google is planning nationwide availability given an ad the company has put up for a sales person to sell the service to businesses on a nationwide basis. Maher thinks building a network coast to coast would be too expensive, so probably Google would seek to “barter” fiber: “We believe in most markets Google will likely build in outlying areas where fiber capacity is limited and barter with other fiber providers to build the capacity to serve an entire market. We believe this could cut construction costs significantly.”
BI noted that this would cost nearly $400 billion—significantly ahead of Google’s war chest allotment.
Whatever Google needs to do to make this happen is totally worth it. I have taken to looking at Zillow’s Kansas City pages, noting the $1,000’s plus charge for Gigabit in NYC would quickly offset the cost. Does anyone know how good the pizza is in Kansas City?
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So much for the report last weekend that it would take weeks (plural) to restock the flagship 7-inch tablet from Google, the Nexus 7. Merely a week later, it is back in the Nexus Store, but it really never left the virtual shelves of many third parties.
If you are ordering a Nexus 7, you can expect it in “3-5 days” now or by the end of the week.
Here is a novel idea for upstart Android manufacturers: Take those resources that you could devote to creating your own skins/apps/experience on top of Android, and then use those same resources to get the latest stock version of Android to devices instead.
Virgin Mobile is pretty good at this (even taking the Motorola Triumph without MotoBlur on it ) and only adding apps. However, as manufacturers go, ZTE has something promising in its Grand X device: Pure Android.
While it does not have Jelly Bean on it (no guarantees either), The Gran X has pure Ice Cream Sandwich on it from shipping and no wasted time and energy on bloatware. Good for them.
As The Verge reviewed, it is mediocre otherwise with mostly cheap components and, to be frank, some software adjustments needed.
However, without bloatware, it is also quicker/easier to update the device…should they decide to do so in a swift fashion. How about some Jelly Bean?
The Grand X is available in the United Kingdom now and will be stateside by the end of next month.
My favorite low-cost phone over the past two years is the LG Optimus V on Virgin Mobile. You could often find the very capable, lightly skinned LG Android 2.2 phone for under $100 with Virgin’s unlimited data plans that start at $35/month. It is hard to beat that combo.
Today, Virgin replaced that low-cost Android phone with an even lower priced model called “the PCD Chaser” for just $79.99 without a contract. The Chaser comes with many of the same specs as the Virgin Optimus V, including a 3-megapixel camera, 800MHz processor, 3.2-inch display, and hardware buttons. The Chaser adds the new price tag and Android 2.3, which will be welcome by the low-cost folks but lamented by those who want to see Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean on their devices (Virgin never updated the Optimus V, so do not expect this one to get an upgrade either).
Doing the math: $79.99 + $35/month*12 = $500 for the first year of smartphone usage, including unlimited texts and data, is a pretty good proposition. The price is especially good considering the cost of Virgin’s high-end phone, the iPhone 4S, which runs for $650 without a byte of data. Many feature phone owners are probably paying more than that for their dumbphones.
For those wireless customers currently using a feature phone but now ready for an upgrade, the PCD Chaser comes with the best Android features without the hefty price tag. Today, Virgin Mobile USA offers the PCD Chaser for $79.99 with Beyond Talk unlimited data and messaging plans starting at $35 per month.
The device comes with a 3.2” touchscreen, 3MP camera, Android 2.3 operating system, and a powerful 800 MHz processor great for multitasking. Operating on the Sprint Nationwide Network, the PCD Chaser comes preloaded with Virgin Mobile Live, Virgin Mobile ID Packs, Facebook, Twitter, and more. This is a great, affordable 3G starter smartphone. It will roll out to national retailers beginning in September through October but you can get it now online.
ComScore, in a recent report titled “The Great American Smartphone Migration“, said smartphone usage grew 10 percent in the past year and passed the 50 percent threshold.
“The growing number of smartphones available to consumers, accompanied by the decrease in price points and surge in mobile media content, have made smartphone ownership possible and desirable for many more Americans,” said Mark Donovan, comScore SVP of Mobile. “Within the year, we expect to see smartphone owners become the mobile majority, a milestone that represents not only the evolution of the mobile landscape but highlights the enormous potential for marketers as these powerful, ubiquitous devices open new opportunities to reach a growing audience of consumers.”
PCD is a phone-outsourcing partner, not a manufacturer, so it is not quite clear who actually produces this phone ($80 says it is made in China). I hope to get a review up as soon as possible. Virgin said they will be available online immediately and at its retail partners shortly.
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It is not Apple’s $8.8 billion in profits, but it is getting closer. Samsung announced record quarterly earnings today of $5.9 billion. That is up 79 percent from a year ago. Samsung does not break out its smartphone sales anymore, but some analysts have it selling about twice as many as Apple in the most recent quarter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQkC3C73Rk0&feature=player_embedded
Announced on Google Plus, Vizio just sold out of its first Google TV in 12 hours. I think the $99 price point is going to do really well for Vizio.
Here is hoping it makes plenty more!
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Image CNET
Update: The Google Earth iOS app has now been updated to version 7.0.0 with the expected 3D imagery and Tour Guide feature.
• Tour guide: Explore places you never thought to search for with new tours of your favorite cities, historic landmarks and natural wonders.
• 3D imagery: Take flight above entire cities in 3D. Get started with Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Geneva or Rome and look for new additions in the coming weeks. Available for iPhone 4S and iPad 2 or later.
About 12 percent of 9to5Mac readers are now on iOS 6 with Apple’s in-house 3D Maps. The larger population of iOS users, however, can only get a fix of 3D maps by heading to Google Earth, which today gets an update to 3D maps, according to CNET. The 3D maps for iOS were formerly announced at Google I/O last month, and it appears the feature will go live today.
Just like iOS Maps, the 3D stuff only works on recent hardware like the iPhone 4S and the second- and third-gen iPads. Meanwhile, 3D was enabled on Android Maps at Google I/O.
iOS users are getting those same 14 regions, including Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston and others. As Google adds more 3D cities to its database, both those platforms will get them at same time.
So just how soon will Google get some more 3D cities in its repertoire? It’s in the works says Peter Birch, a product manager on Google’s geo team.
“By the end of this year, we’re targeting getting coverage for 300 million people, and that’s really just this year,” Birch said in an interview with CNET. “We’re looking to add and expand to that.”
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Google is aware of the problem that is causing Google Talk to be down for most people, including me. The problem appeared early this morning, and Google updated the downtime status twice on the Apps dashboard over the past hour and change.
We’re aware of a problem with Google Talk affecting a majority of users. The affected users are able to access Google Talk, but are seeing error messages and/or other unexpected behavior. We will provide an update by 7/26/12 7:50 AM detailing when we expect to resolve the problem. Please note that this resolution time is an estimate and may change.
We will update, hopefully soon, when things improve.
Update: 9:15 ET. We are able to see our contact list and some IMs are going thru. However still not back to normal.
Update: 10:50ET Google updates that service to some users has been restored but not all (including me).
Update: Noon Google says it is back up:
[tweet https://twitter.com/google/status/228538249860235264]
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7/26/12 11:25 AM
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The problem with Google Talk should be resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better. If you are still experiencing an issue, please contact us via the Google Help Center.
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