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.
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Somebody (Thomas Hawk – Flickr) with a real camera was on the scene last night to capture Project Glass’ prototypes sitting on Google Co-founder Sergey Brin’s dome.
Another close-up is below (via The Verge).
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Besides the Scobelizer spotting Google Glasses on co-founder Sergey Brin (above), we are hearing some additional information about the project. First, the brand was changed from “Project Wingfront,” which was the name of the project in the [x] labs. As it graduated to public knowledge, Google needed a more general-purpose name. I am told this decision was made in the past month.
Additionally, my understanding is that there has been a lot of strife in the Wingfront group over the past few months. Product people complain that they need time to iterate and perfect the experience, while management wants to get these into the outside world as soon as possible. Some strong tensions in the group are getting even more heated as more people are brought in.
The glasses shown off in the video and on the Plus page is only one of many prototypes worn in the [x] labs. I am told that there are clip-on models that attach to normal glasses, as well as ones built into full-fledge sunglasses that I previously detailed (here and here).
But most importantly, when can we buy these things?
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[tweet https://twitter.com/sprint/status/188003634016030720]
It looks like Google and Sprint finally got around to updating the NExus S 4G to Ice Cream Sandwich. The update, certainly expected for awhile, is detailled below.
Nexus S Software Update – IMM76D (Android 4.0 – Ice Cream Sandwich)
Enhancements/Fixes:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JpdPU8QatDM]
As we noted in our live event coverage, the Sprint EVO One features HD Audio, which should allow users to hear the other side of the conversation much more vividly. Perhaps to illustrate the feature, the HTC promo video brings back the famous 80’s commercial Pin drop.
This is Sprint’s 1980s Pin Drop commercial:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnlqrMWVYCs]
HTC details the design work in the video below:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pNlGtUPuabs]
If you really liked the Droid Charge’s look and feel, with its fast LTE speeds and physical buttons, but did not want to jump on Verizon Wireless, U.S. Cellular has a phone with a similar experience. The Samsung Galaxy S Aviator sticks out with the following features:
I am surprisingly a big fan of real buttons, because you can feel them for navigation, and sometimes capacitance gets all out of whack.
Otherwise, the Charge is a solid phone on Verizon, and now U.S. Cellular owners will have a nice option too.
The press release follows:
The announcement was made— naturally— by Twitter:
[tweet https://twitter.com/#!/gabrielstricker/status/187725823690813440]
Google still lists Stricker as Director of Global Communications & Public Affairs, where he reported to Senior Vice President Communications Rachel Whetstone:
Gabriel Stricker is Director of Global Communications & Public Affairs at Google Inc. where he heads Search communications – addressing everything from web search and other search properties (such as Maps, Earth, News and Books) to issues pertaining to partnerships, content, and the use of intellectual property. Gabriel received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University. He is the author of the bestselling book on guerrilla marketing entitled, Mao In the Boardroom, published by St. Martin’s Press.
At Twitter, he is now called Vice President of Communications.
[slideshow]
Notes from the event:
Sprint CEO Dan Hesse takes the presentation stage floor:
HTC President Jason Mackenzie takes the stage to unveil new Evo One:
HTC Lead Designer Jonah Becker takes the stage to discuss the Evo One’s design:
Sprint Product Chief Fared Adib takes stage to talk about camera features:
Sprint CEO and HTC President are back on stage to conclude presentation:
The HTC Evo One will be available in the second quarter for $199.99. Pre-sale starts May 7.
Demonstration area opens:
The full-sized pictures are below:
Google today revealed what we have been talking about for months (here and here): Google Glasses. The project is called “Project Glass,” and now there is even a Plus page on it.
[slideshow]
I probably do not have to say this, but TAKE MY MONEY!!!!
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According to recent reports, Google’s Drive is coming any day now. Dropbox, not wanting to lose an opportunity to get in under the wire, is doubling its referral bonuses. Instead of the normal 250MB, users can now get 500MB per referral for a maximum of 16GB of free space (both referrer and referee). If you are a pro/paid user, your maximum referral limit is 32GB of free space.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZdCByYeNRU&feature=player_embedded]
“New content, new partners, new countries, new features”
Google’s Art Project is expanding to 30,000 high-resolution images at 151 museums in 40 countries from an initial 1,000 images at 17 museums in nine countries. The project’s goal is to give people access to the world’s great works.
The expanded Art Project embraces all sizes of institutions, specializing in art or in other types of culture. For example, you can take a look at the White House in Washington, D.C., explore the collection of the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, and continue the journey to the Santiniketan Triptych in the halls of the National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi. In the United States alone, some 29 partners in 16 cities are participating, ranging from excellent regional museums like the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina to top notch university galleries such as the SCAD museum of art in Savannah, Georgia.
Even The White House got “Streetviewed”:
Here are a few other new things from the expanded Art Project that you might enjoy:
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Google today revealed that it purchased mobile payments company TxVia for an undisclosed sum of money.
we’ve acquired payments technology company TxVia to complement our payments capabilities and accelerate innovation towards our full Google Wallet vision. TxVia is a technology pioneer that offers a fast, flexible and highly reliable payments platform—which we believe is one of the best in the world.
Since 2008, TxVia has supported the management of more than 100 million accounts. They’ve partnered with the industry’s best known brands, and their leadership team has played an instrumental role in defining the fast-growing prepaid card segment of emerging payments. In this time, TxVia has also certified and directly connected to the major payment networks, which establishes a solid foundation for Google Wallet and our partners to drive innovation on a global scale and in a partner friendly way.
Google Wallet has been somewhat slow in adoption due in no small part to the competing Verizon-AT&T-T-Mobile ISIS consortium. Google’s Payments team has also undergone some strife…
The latest marketshare-ish numbers are in for Android and it seems that people continue to update their phones…to Gingerbread. Almost two-thirds of all Android phones hitting the market in the last two weeks are running Android 2.3.x with a significant share—23.1-percent still on Android 2.2 Froyo. Honeycomb, the Tablet-only fix OS, is at around 3.3-percent, while Ice Cream Sandwich is on a scant 2.9-percent of devices including Galaxy Nexus, Acer Transformer Prime, and newly updated HTC Vivid (along with some custom builds and some unlocked manufacturer phones).
The distribution over time (below) is showing the long haul ICS has ahead of it (and do not forget we are likely going to hear about Jelly Bean at Google I/O in June).
Google, which seems to give every department a mission for today, has a bunch of great stuff (like every year):
Besides the 8 bit maps, above, we have:
Google Chrome multitask:
LLCoolJ makes a special appearance to explain Tap, the new Morse Code Keyboard for Android devices (Japanese version):
Google Self Driving NASCAR Racing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dP_Et8-pQNo
YouTube comes to DVD…
Fiber Bar for Kansas City:
Also, Google’s Really Advanced Search, weather control, Interplanetary Analytics, GoRo, Google Street Roo, underwater image search (Chinese), and Voice for Pets.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KhZKNZO8mQ&feature=youtu.be]
I was just thinking about something like this.
By the way, is that LL Cool J at the end?
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In case you were worried that 8-Bit Maps were the only new release today, fear not. Google is releasing the Google Racing Autonomous NASCAR racing team in a variety of flavors, including Android, YouTube, and Chrome.
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rznYifPHxDg]
Love this. And it is not “just for Nintendo.” It is for everyone.
(Also, notice the “Google Store”? That might not be a joke.)
ye olde Nexus One Store circa 2010
The Wall Street Journal today reports that Google is in the process of building an online store to sell tablets running the Android operating system, including some with Google branding. We heard about the ASUS 7-inch Google tablet before, but the WSJ says Samsung may make devices too.
The Internet search company is planning to market and sell tablets directly to consumers through an online store, similar to rivals Apple and Amazon.com Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. The move is an effort to turn around sluggish sales of tablet computers powered by Google’s Android software.Some of the online store’s future tablets are expected to be co-branded with Google’s name, said people familiar with the matter. Google won’t make the devices and its existing partners such as Samsung Electronics Co. and ASUSTeK Computer Inc. will be responsible for the hardware. One Android tablet that may be sold in the online store is due to be released later this year by Taiwan-based Asus, said one of these people. Some details about the project remain unclear, including when Google plans to unveil the online store. Google is expected to release the next version of its Android software, called Jelly Bean, in the middle of this year, people familiar with the matter have said.
Google killed its Nexus One mere months after opening it in 2010. However, the company said carriers were crushing its ability to sell the device (tablets often sell without contracts).
Oh, and they expect JellyBean to be announced mid-year (read: Google I/O).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cdgQpa1pUUE#!]
Inspiring.
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Amazon is rolling out a big 6.3 update for the Kindle Fire right about now with the following updates:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZd_hIln1-I]
Today, Google Enterprise announced a new offering designed to aid Apps customers in managing information and preserving important data. “Vault” is aimed at easing document and email management as it relates to corporate litigation, regulatory investigation and compliance actions.
Businesses of all sizes need to be prepared for the unexpected. In today’s environment, using Vault to manage, archive and preserve your data can help protect your business. Litigation costs can really take a toll on a business when minor lawsuits can run up to many thousands of dollars, and larger lawsuits can cost even more. Significant litigation costs come from having to search and find relevant data, which is also known as electronic discovery (eDiscovery).
The tool costs $5/user/year and will knock down some walls of companies who would not have been able to get Google Apps if it were not for this tool.
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From 9to5toys.com:
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OneSaleADay via Ebay Daily Deal has the 16GB Galaxy Nexus for $429.99. With free shipping, that is the lowest price we have ever seen for this GSM Android 4.0 phone without a contract. It will work on any GSM carrier including T-Mobile and AT&T in the United States.
In a land where SUVs rule the landscape in the face of growing fuel costs, it is little surprise that a well-made, huge Android Phablet would sell well in the U.S. Indeed, Samsung’s Galaxy Note got a supers-shot of sales adrenaline when it reached the United States shores.
The Note passed 2 million in sales earlier this month, but add its recent U.S. launch, and the smartphone maker now claims it has sold 5 million devices. Detractors will of course claim that 5 million sold “into inventory and not necessarily sales.” Samsung clarifies that these are sales. It is pretty clear that there are not a million devices in inventory—these are selling well either way.
Samsung passed 1 million Notes at the end of last year. My Galaxy Note review.
The Cloud storage Google Drive has been an on-again, off-again rumor for years.
Today, GigaOm’s Om Malik says Google Drive will release to the public in the first week in April.
I am told the big day is sometime during the first week of April 2012…Google is going to offer 1 Gb of storage space for free, but will charge for more storage. The market leader Dropbox currently offers 2 Gb for free. Google’s product will come with a local client and the web interface will look much like the Google Docs interface. Interestingly, it will launch for Google Apps customers and will be domain specific as well. Google has also built an API for third party apps with this service so folks can store content from other apps in the Google drive. My sources are impressed, so far with what they have seen.
This could be the last piece of the Cloud puzzle.
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Just in case you had not heard that Samsung pushed its Galaxy Note Ice Cream Sandwich update from Q1 2012 to Q2 2012, here is a reminder on Samsung’s Mobile USA Facebook page. Perhaps as a bonus, this build of ICS appears to be extremely light on TouchWiz. Is there any chance Samsung is dumping its overlay?
Thanks Allegrotechie!