What a month it’s been. We were on a relatively calm road, finally cooling down from record July temperatures when the stock market took a tumble.
Then last week the madness began. It’s usually not this busy in the Summer. When it is, it’s surely not compressed into such a short period of time. Ten days. That’s all it took to change the landscape of the tech world, and we already know that September will be huge. It’s incredibly exciting for us as tech geeks, but at the same time it’s just as frustrating, if not more than, for those directly involved in mergers, job losses, and financials.
In the next few years, we’ll be able to look back at this short time and see where giant shifts took place in the consumer technology industry. Where companies fell, were born, or began their demise. It’s going to be a wild ride going forward, with plenty of uncertainty leading the way, but a ride that many of us were expecting or hoping for. We knew that the glory days of a multi-faceted industry couldn’t last forever, and perhaps this is the Great Reset Button that was sorely needed.
In this article, we’ll look back at a few of the monumental events over the last few days and see what they could mean for the industry going forward. It’s all speculation at this point, and even analysts have their hands in the air trying to figure it out, but that’s the fun of it. That’s the excitement. That’s why we write about it and read about it.
And it all started with possibly the world’s most well-loved and well-hated company dropping a megaton unlike any other. At least, that’s what we thought on Monday.
Monday, August 15th
Google announces its plans to buy Motorola’s Mobility division
It couldn’t start any bigger than this. Google, the company behind Android OS, buying one of the top manufacturers of the hardware that supports it. Many speculate that it was for patents, but no one really knows for sure. Is the company finally making a play to be the Apple of Android OS, creating their own hardware? What does it mean for HTC, Samsung, and LG, the biggest partners for Android-based devices?
Tuesday, August 16th
Sony drops price of PS3 to $250, announces wifi-less PSP Lite
In an odd preemptive move, Sony announced that it was dropping the price of the PS3 to $250. This comes just days after Nintendo dropped the price of the 3DS to $169 itself. Why drop the price on a popular device with so many top-tier games arriving in the holiday season? At the same time, the company announces a WiFi-less PSP coming in at 99 Euros. Another new model, this time coming so soon before the launch of the Vita and without the necessary WiFi required to fully enjoy so many of its games? It’s clearly a strike at Microsoft and its popular Kinect, and the rebirth of the 3DS, but is it a bit of a white flag? The PS3’s sales in the West have been falling, and the PSP is dead as people prepare for the Vita.
Wednesday, August 17th
Nintendo announces cheaper, streamlined Wii
The WiiU is still a year away, and the Wii’s sales have been falling (but are still high, compared to the previous generation of consoles). Perception for Nintendo’s ability to make compelling hardware is at a low point. Announcing a new piece of Wii hardware (thus far, Europe only) at a cheap(er) price could be a giant jump start to the company. The price is definitely big enough for impulse buyers, and the removal of the Gamecube compatibility means nothing for new buyers. It could be a good way to bring in buyers who had been on the edge and lead them into the Wii U next year, but we won’t know for sure until sales numbers actually come in.
AT&T announces it is ditching affordable messaging plans
It’s been happening over the years, but AT&T made it official this day when it announced it is ditching one of its two messaging plans. All that will be left will be a “pay as you text” plan and $20 for unlimited. It’s a hefty change for many who message only 200-300 times per month, and begins to usher in an era where data is data in the mobile world, instead of segregating it.
Thursday, August 18th
Microsoft announces app store for Windows 8
Shocking no one, Microsoft announced that Windows 8 will have a built-in app store. Thanks to the popularity of Apple’s iOS app store, Android, Steam, and others, this is a huge step in the cross-over between desktop and mobile devices.
HP announces discontinuation of mobile unit, webOS support
Just a short time after it acquired Palm and launched the Touchpad, the experiment was over. HP announced the death of its mobile division and the support for webOS devices. One less player in the mobile OS world is massive news, especially seeing how bad it could be to put all of your eggs in the webOS basket, only to have it break. There is no idea what HP will do with webOS, whether it licenses it out or kills it all together. They’ve even noted that their PC arm is flailing madly. Either way, it’s not a great sign for the company.
Monday, August 22nd
Skype buys Groupme
It may seem small, but Skype (and in essence Microsoft) has been gobbling up small, innovating companies. Groupme, a company/app dedicated to group messaging and communication, is the latest. It’s a promising product that will add to Skype’s growing capabilities. Moreso, though it proves that Skype is moving beyond just video calls and into a social sphere that’s currently inhabited by Facebook and Google+.
Ford and Toyota partner on hybrid technology
Though vehicles like the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf aren’t gaining much traction in the market yet, two companies who have gotten the message on hybrid/electric technology are Ford and Toyota. On Monday they announced a deal to co-develop hybrid systems to help push the truck and SUV markets cleaner. Large vehicles are the top money-makers for car manufacturers, and with a push from the US government for more strict fuel standards it could cripple the industry again. Unless, that is, the innovation from these two giants births promising technology to help reach that goal. It could revitalize the automotive industry yet again.
Tuesday, August 23rd
RIM launches new Blackberry Curve
The downward spiral for the other fruit company continues. RIM relies on a stagnating, dying OS on decent hardware to keep its sales going on, but the signs are becoming more clear every day: the company is in trouble. Tuesday, RIM unveiled what might potentially be the last gasp for its ailing OS, the new Blackberry Curve. Always a massive seller, it’s unclear as to how it will sell now, with so much competition from Android devices and an iPhone 5 looming in the coming weeks. Last legs? More like a pirate with two wooden legs, about to get eaten by a shark.
Google fiber project goes live in beta
Fast internet speeds. Even these days, finding a decent speedy ISP can be a challenge, especially one that is affordable. Google has been working on a fiber-optic project over the last few years that’s culminated in live beta testing this week in Palo Alto. Free internet access, with speeds eclipsing 151 Mb/s. The only catch: you need to be a student or educational faculty member. It’s a wonderful, happily-accepted attack on over-charging and underperforming ISPs like Comcast and AT&T, and we welcome it.
Nintendo working on new 3DS with second analog pad and less emphasis on 3D?
Nintendo had just dropped the price on the “failing” 3DS — sales were still huge for the device, though below Nintendo-ish expectations — and spurred a massive amount of new sales. Huge hits for the device are coming this holiday season. The Vita has been pushed back to 2012. It looks like a solid road to recovery for the device… or does it? Rumors began to surface on Tuesday of a redesign for the device, with less emphasis on 3D and a second analog stick added on. A possible rebrand could happen as well. Nintendo has not been known to abandon a device so quickly, not even in the Virtual Boy days, so why now? Is the company in such dire straits that it needs to make a “whole new” (refreshed) product so soon?
Wednesday, August 24th
“I hereby resign as CEO of Apple.”
Those seven words have sent shockwaves across the world. Steve Jobs, the man who revolutionized consumer electronics again and again, announced his resignation as head of Apple, placing current interim CEO Tim Cook in charge for good. The man most known for his mock turtle necks and iron fist, led the charge in how we access media, books and games, and how products can touch our lives in new and unexpected ways. None of us really needed an iPod, or a touch screen phone, or an iPad, but suddenly we all desired to to have one — or two, or three, or four. His push for high quality, excellent user experience, and emotional attachment in products led to new market segments. For a company to invent one successful new segment in its lifespan is a monumental feat. For a company to do it every year, like Apple has, is unthinkable.
It’s because of Jobs that we have Google’s Android, that Nintendo and Sony are clinging for life in the portable gaming world, that HP purchased — and then dumped — webOS, that PC laptops began including video cameras for Skype chat, that mobile data plans are a thing. With him gone from the top Apple won’t fail, but it will be without one of the most important figures in innovation and technology. Jobs is the modern equivalent of Thomas Jefferson, a great inventor creating products that change how and why we do things. Steve will stay on as a Chairman, but the shift of focus at Apple may just beginning. It’s unknown what will happen next, good or bad.
And that’s just part of it.
There were many events that happened earlier this Summer that shaped these decisions over the last two weeks, and the door is left open for many more. Tokyo Game Show is coming in a couple of weeks, where Sony is expected to make more announcements. A new iPhone is going to be announced shortly. AT&T’s purchase of T-Mobile is becoming a reality. The Google/Motorola/Android fallout is just beginning.
It’s an exciting, interesting time indeed.
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