Google and Google TV - Thank You for the Music

If music be the food of love, play on;

Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,

The appetite may sicken, and so die.

Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, 1,1

Here we go again with the media circus. For those who may be reading this in the future, I read on average nearly one hundred (100) newspapers per day, thanks of course to the miracle of the RSS feeds that I subscribed.

This, in case anyone is even more curious, is an old habit I developed from my Technician day at C&W, now Telecom Provider LIME , as back then in those redundancy years of 2001 to 2004, work on installing and fixing POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) Landlines were so few due to the adoption of mobile phones by Jamaicans that I had ample time to catch up on my reading.

Even while working at Telecom Provider CLARO before I contract was terminated on December 3^rd 2009, I was on the job, under trees on my lunch break, reading articles.

When going home from Kingston, tired or waiting on contractors, I would stop the Suzuki Jimny vehicle and upon locking up the vehicle, catch a few winks of sleep before awakening to read some articles that I had received in my email for which I had long subscribed since UTECH days (1998-2001).

My list of email and friends contacts globally is almost 800,000,000 and my newspaper email circulation numbers in the hundreds, roughly about two hundred (200) as I have lost count.

Some of these newspaper subscriptions are not even in English, as one of my regular newspapers is from India! John Public is definitely bucking the global trend: I MAKE time whenever and wherever to read, a habit having been beaten into us while attending Glenmuir High School: Flagrans Vertatis Studio – Burning with the Zeal for Truth!

But is Google TV and Apple TV the future of Television?

So it seems that I am already following the advice as laid out in the article “Advice for a young engineering student”, published Sunday September 19^th 2010 by Cliff Ennico, Creators News Service, The Jamaica Observer.

I am planning to work on the foreign language bit by applying for the JET (Japanese English Teacher) Program, I already know basic economic theory and I regularly send email to several Silicon Valley CEO’s, including Senator Barack Obama, President of the United States of America.

Not interested in psychology though, as with the rise of Social Networking, Sociology appears to be the modicum for determining customer desire for electronic gadgets and will still be relevant in the future as stated in the article “Pew: Gen Y to remain active social networkers”, published July 9, 2010 11:16 AM PDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News - The Digital Home.

This does not surprise me, as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said as much in the article “Why no one cares about privacy anymore”, published March 12, 2010 4:00 AM PST by Declan McCullagh, CNET News - Politics and Law: “People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people - and that social norm is just something that has evolved over time”.

Truer words have never been spoken by someone so young.

This is something of which I can personally attest, having suggested designed changes to both the Apple iPhone (originally my idea from 2003!!) in the form of the External Loop Antenna, which CEO Steve Jobs endorses so much that they will be using it again as stated in the article “Will Apple redesign iPhone antenna for Verizon? Don't count on it!”, published Wednesday August 18, 2:50 pm ET, by Ben Patterson, Technology Writer, Yahoo! News

Possibly with free complementary bumpers or just an epitaxial deposited carbon polymer coating and the Apple iPad, which involved just my suggesting making the Apple iPhone bigger.

In fact, the new External Loop Antenna Design actually improves reception as stated in the article “iPhone 4's Antenna Boosts Voice and Data Rates, With One Big Flaw”, published Friday, June 25, 2010 05:38 AM PDT by Mark Sullivan, PC World by reducing the BER (Bit Error Rate) by making the Apple iPhone fully resonant with its transmit and receive frequencies for 3G Data, thus translating to higher speeds

The WCDMA Modulation Schema can use Adaptive Modulation and instead of using low speed QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) that defines UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems) speeds, it can take advantage of QAM (Quadrature amplitude Modulation) and thus the higher speeds associated with Telecom Provider AT&T’s HSDPA + (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) 3G service.

Please note: CEO Steve Jobs is not lying [statistically incongruent] about the Apple iPad’s origins as stated in the article “Apple's Jobs says iPad idea came before iPhone”, published Wednesday June 2, 2:35 am ET By RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Business Writer, Yahoo! News; I just reminded him of his old abandoned idea, which I merely re-described, jogging his memory. CEO Steve Jobs truly is a legend, like Bob Dylan and my personal hero, Bob Marley.

Having sold nearly fifty million (50,000,000) Apple iPhones since its debut in 2007 and having plans to sell another twenty four (24,000,000) million more as stated in the article “Report: Apple readying 24 million units of next iPhone”, published May 17, 2010 10:25 AM PDT by Erica Ogg, CNET News - Circuit Breaker.

The Apple iPhone may possibly be the most popular consumer electronics device of the past Decade and the Decade to come. This push towards the increasing relevance of Sociology is especially true in light of the fact that the Apple iPhone 4.0 posited on the launch of its new iPhone 4.0 OS, which finally supports:

1. Multitasking
2. folders (finally)
3. A new Apple advertising platform called Apple iAd
4. A game social network called Game Center, similar to that of Microsoft Xbox 360
5. iBook, similar to the iBookStore App on the Apple iPad with a free complimentary book Winnie the Pooh (first thing Apple has ever given away for free!!)

All as note in the article “Will iPhone 4.0 derail Microsoft's phone plans?”, published April 9, 2010 10:24 AM PDT by Ina Fried, CNET News - Beyond Binary.

This is confirmed in the video “CNET The AppleByte” aired April 8 2010 by Brian Senior Editor, CNET News is now a bonafide to be a hit, clawing back some of the lost smart phone market share from the disorganized Google Android camp.

It is unaffected by the so-called “Antenagate” as stated in the article “Analyst: iPhone 'AntennaGate' Impacted Apple Sales”, published Wednesday September 8, 11:12 am ET by Barry Levine of newsfactor.com, Yahoo! News.

Sales during the now historical Summer of 2010 AD were though the roof with components shortage both for the mythical White Apple iPhone and the Unicorn, the Apple iPad as stated in the article “White iPhone 4 faces manufacturing woes; iPad too”, published Friday July 24 2010 by  Ben Patterson, Technology Writer, Yahoo! News.

This as confirmed by the article “LG overwhelmed by iPad display orders”, published by July 23, 2010 9:56 AM PDT by Erica Ogg, CNET News - Circuit Breaker.

This is only now recently abating with Apple iPads now shipping under twenty four (24) hours as stated in the article “Apple now shipping iPad within 24 hours”, published August 30, 2010 6:48 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News – Apple. The Apple iPad is selling like hot bread and not only has it had no game as stated in the article “No iPad Killer Coming Until 2012, Says iSuppli”, published Thursday August 26, 1:59 pm ET, Barbara E. Hernandez , Yahoo! News.

But it is expected to be a hit for Christmas 2010 as stated in the article “Apple iPad Looks like a Holiday Hit”, published Tuesday September 14, 5:46 pm ET by Jeff Bertolucci, Yahoo! News and is projected to sell nearly twenty eight million (28,000,000) Units by 2011 AD as stated in the article “Apple Could Sell 28M iPads in 2011, Analyst Says”, published Wednesday September 8, 12:12 pm ET by Chloe Albanesius, PC Magazine.

The Apple iPad is now seen as a game changer and predicted to kill of the Netbooks as stated in the article  “ iPad, tablets expected to dampen Netbook sales”, published April 6, 2010 8:17 AM PDT by Lance Whitney CNET News – Crave and “Netbook Sales Sag as the iPad Arrives” published April 7, 2010, 12:27AM EST By Cliff Edwards, CNET News – COMPUTERS

This event which is now coming to fruition stated in the article “Apple ponders iPad cannibalization of PC's”, published July 20, 2010 8:43 PM PDT, by Brooke Crothers, CNET News Nanotech - The Circuits Blog.

This is now making the following question of the relevance of the Netbook, made popular by Netbook that started it all, the Asus eEE Netbook, of great importance, now soon to be relegated to the museum as another stage in the development of the portable computer as stated in the article “Tablets Threaten to Make Netbooks Obsolete”, published Wednesday September 8, 2:20 pm ET by Tony Bradley, Yahoo! News.

And this Apple iPad Effect on the sales of Netbooks is very real, as stated in the article “So, who's still buying Netbooks?”, published September 9, 2010 4:00 AM PDT by Erica Ogg, CNET News - Circuit Breaker.

But curiously not affecting Apple MacBooks sales as stated in the article “CHART OF THE DAY: Apple Selling Just As Many Computers As Dell To College Students”, published September. 13, 2010, 4:04 PM by Jay Yarow, Business Insider - SAI.

In fact, Apple is now number three (3) in the small form factor PC category inclusive of Laptops and Netbooks, behind notablers such as HP and Acer as stated in the article “Apple: We're No. 3, We're No. 3!”, published August 3, 2010 10:20am by Eric Benderoff, Appolocious.

Leaping over such tech giants as Asus, Lenovo Dell and Toshiba as stated in the article “iPad pushes Apple into the top mobile ranks”, published August 2, 2010 9:20 PM PDT by Brooke Crothers, Nanotech - The Circuits - CNET News.

Three million, three hundred thousand (3,300,000) strong sales since the debut of the Apple iPad on the weekend of Saturday April 3^rd and Sunday April 4^th 2010 AD.

There is a flood, an avalanche if you will, of tablets that are coming in the Fall of 2010 as stated in the article “iPad competitors lining up”, published September 7, 2010 4:00 AM PDT by Erica Ogg, CNET News - Circuit Breaker.

Ditto in the video “CNET Loaded”, aired Tuesday August 7^th 2010 by Mark Licea, Senior Executive Editor, CNET News and as stated in the article “iPad paves the Way for Coming Tablet Invasion”, published Tuesday August 24, 10:57 am ET by Tony Bradley, Yahoo! News.

This means lower prices for Laptops and Netbooks due to decreased demand for these electronic devices as stated in the article “Apple ponders iPad cannibalization of PC's”, published July 20, 2010 8:43 PM PDT, by Brooke Crothers, CNET News Nanotech - The Circuits Blog, to whet the appetite of the Christmas crowd on Black Friday after having been stuffed with Thanksgiving Dinner.

If anything, the Apple iPad and the Amazon Kindle, which I like to call the White Unicorn and the Black Panther, together, have rekindled the love of reading, especially using a format made popular in the early 80’s, that being e-books and in part saving the Publishing and Newspaper Industry as stated in the article “Kindle and iPad e-Readers Spark Revolution”, published Thursday August 26, 11:51 am ET by Daniel Ionescu, Yahoo! News

The Apple iPad is simultaneously acting as an accelerant for e-book piracy, as stated in the article “Is iPad supercharging e-book piracy?”, published May 14, 2010 12:32 PM PDT by David Carnoy, CNET News.

Apple plans to debut a 7” Apple iPad for the business community, apparently more of a show that they have not forgotten the suits and ties in the office and is a special device, just for them. This 7” wonder is in the works, and is Apple’s specially tailored device for the jet set as opposed to merely making them have to use the generic Apple iPad

Aside from the small screen size, it may be more specifically tailored form their office needs stated in the article “Report says Apple to Launch 7-inch iPad by Christmas”, published Tuesday August 17, 3:40 am ET, by Dan Nystedt, Yahoo! News.

The coming of FaceTime to the Apple iPad is speculated in the article “Report: Next iPad likely to include camera”, published August 3, 2010 10:47 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News - Apple and in the article “Rumors have a Camera-Equipped iPad coming Soon”, published Monday September 13, 4:55 pm ET, Adam Dickter, newsfactor.com, Yahoo! News.

It is a guaranteed sure-fire hit no matter what innovations the other would-be Apple iPad assassins arm themselves with as stated in the article “iPad Due for Front-Facing Camera?”, published Saturday September 11, 5:00 pm ET by Paul Suarez, Yahoo! News.

The recently revamped Roku-lookalike Apple iTV as stated in the article “For 99 cents, Amazon sells shows, Apple rents them”, published September 1, 2010 2:31 PM PDT by Ina Fried, CNET News - Beyond Binary is projected to not do so badly either

Despite Apple CEO Steve Jobs calling it a “hobby” and the much smaller form factor device not sporting the much expected baked in video calling Platform FaceTime as opined by ZDTV pundit David Gewirtz in the article “FaceTime could be Apple's iTV killer app”, published August 23, 2010, 7:35am PDT, By David Gewirtz, ZDNet Government.

Despite no 1080p support, it is a solid product nonetheless as opined in the article “Apple TV isn't 1080p and you shouldn't care”, published  September 3, 2010 10:40 AM PDT by Matthew Moskovciak, CNET News - Crave.

Google Android however, surged ahead to third place in the United States of America, accounting for nearly 27% of the smart phone market, surpassing Apple’s iOS’s 23% for the first time, according to Broadcast ratings and apparently mobile smart phone analyst Nielsen as stated in the article “Android sales outpacing iPhone”, published Monday August 2, 4:32 pm ET by Christopher Null, Yahoo News.

Worse, Nokia and RIM, makers of the BlackBerry, will eventually cave under pressure and be assimilated by the unstoppable juggernaut that is Android, according to analyst Piper Jaffray  “Report: Android to win half of smart phone market”, published September 7, 2010 9:55 AM PDT by Larry Dignan, CNET News - Wireless.

Analyst IDC takes it further, predicting Google android to grow to 25% of market share behind the now desperate Nokia Symbian OS by 2014 AD as stated in the article “Android market share to surge over next four years”, published September 8, 2010 9:16 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News - Wireless.

Most of the new tablets now coming out to challenge the Apple iPad are sporting Android such as the Samsung Galaxy Tablet, snubbing Google Chrome, which had been designed for Netbooks.

This as Google Android 2.2, otherwise known as Froyo, is not optimized for Tablets as stated in the article “Google's Big Tease on Tablets: Android or Chrome OS?”, published Saturday September 11, 12:11 pm ET by Jeff Bertolucci, Yahoo! News.

From UnderDog to Top Dog as stated in the article “Android Goes from UnderDog to Top Dog: Watch Out, Apple”, published Friday September 10, 6:08 pm ET, by Jeff Bertolucci, Yahoo! News.

This is good enough for a HollyWood Movie in the same Oscar league as The Social Network (2010) Movie about Facebook’s origins as stated in the article “'Social Network' raises questions as debut nears”, published August 27, 2010 4:00 AM PDT by Caroline McCarthy, CNET News - The Social.

Apple iTV, the new quarter-of-previous-size US$99, has a challenger in the form of the much rumoured Google TV, to launch this fourth Quarter of 2010 as stated in the article “Google to start TV service in US this autumn”, published Tuesday September 7, 10:37 am ET By Nicola Leske, Yahoo! News. Support comes in the form of the article “Intel's Otellini: Google TV shipping this month”, published September 9, 2010 2:13 PM PDT by Tom Krazit, CNET News - Relevant Results.

The only news with regards to their hardware being that it is a mashup of gear provided by various manufacturers. Thus it remain to be seen if Google’s concept of Television, which sounds bulky and lacking in portability, as the Apple iTV affords will bear fruit.

Especially as they may be using Android 3.0, otherwise known as Gingerbread and may come with Internet on Television as stated in the article “For Google TV, a Sharp Turn Away from Apple TV”, published Tuesday September 7, 3:12 pm ET by Jared Newman, Yahoo! News.

Video Calling with Offline file Storage among other things as suggested in the wishlist as stated by Barbara E Hernandez in the article “Five Ways Google TV Can Kill Apple TV”, published Friday September 10, 4:36 pm ET by Barbara E. Hernandez, Yahoo! News.

Evidently this is a Geek’s fantasy, strongly suggestive of their target audience. Only time as usual, will bear out if this latest challenge by Google will upset Apple’s entry into this already crowded arena where content is king as stated in the article “Content kings control the future of IPTV”, published August 23, 2010 4:00 AM PDT by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - Signal Strength.

Excuse, but I have to leave you now, as today is the finale of Digicel Rising Stars on Television Jamaica this Sunday September 19th 2010 AD, and I dare not miss it………more time!! Tell y’all about it tomorrow……….