iPad2 versus Blackberry Playbook

On a recent trip to 4 cities spanning 3 countries over 15 days, I challenged myself to ditch the notebook (thus I took NO MICROSOFT or INTEL kit!) and rely 100% on my Blackberry 9800, iPad2 and Playbook (with one Bluetooth keyboard that I could pair with either). My key discovery is that I now can opt out of ever taking a notebook on the road again!

While my experience was far from a scientific endeavor, as a business leader I found I needed access to most typical things, e.g. email, web, ‘office’ applications (Word, Excel, PPT, PDF, etc.) on a regular basis. Also with the exception of the phone (and the option to tether it to the Playbook) I was limited to wi-fi only – which in China and Spain is iffy more often than not. In fact, I was only able to update the Playbook to OS 2.0 while in the Munich Airport during a 4 hour layover. Even without a constant internet connection, I found the experience to be well worth the shedding of nearly 10 Lbs of DELL notebook, power-cord, and sundries. As the Playbook allowed, via Blackberry’s Bridge, to get my email in a more readable format in real time based on the cell connection, I further didn’t suffer from having to do a lot of email with just my thumbs on a micro-keyboard. Whew!

I discovered there were a lot of positives to using the three devices individually and in conjunction. Firstly, I still like the form factor of the Playbook for email and web browsing. I was constantly able to grab my midsized device to read email and view attachments on the go. The great think about its form factor was the flip case that I keep it in also makes it look like a moleskin and it also fits easily into my jacket pocket. So if I was running around say Shanghai or Barcelona I was much less worried about thieves spying the hi-tech toy and attempting to make off with it. Something you really can’t do with an iPad that just screams look at me! However, I would go to the iPad first when I wanted to consume rich data and had a good to great WiFi connection. I found where the Playbook was very utilitarian the iPad shinned when it came to consuming rich and interactive content. I found they both had great battery life, with the iPad edging the Playbook, but both easily giving me a full day and me not having to carry around a power cord at all.

Out of more personal interest than anything else, I did make up a short list of the differences that I noticed based on my usage of both devices. I included what (in my opinion) often led to me prefer one rather than other. This isn’t meant to be a slight to either platform or its designers, nor is it ranked in any particular order (or likely even complete), but I thought it interesting enough to share my non-technical comparison nonetheless. So here is the list:

iPad 2

1. Apps! (really, hands down lots of these! Although I have not set up the Android player on the PB yet just the breadth and variety of the Apps shows how developers have and continue to innovate on this platform)
2. Stand alone email. The iPad allowed me to sync my three most often used accounts and manage my email effectively. While this was markedly improved in the PB 2.0 release midway thru my trip, I really liked the way Apple manages the email and content.
3. Easy access to email folders (in general it has a better mail app (although PB got a lot better with v2)
4. Style (it is a sexy piece of hardware and software)
5. Location of power plug – This might seem nit picky, but using a flip cover for the PB try to watch a movie while charging and having ear phones plugged in at the same time. With the iPad, you can set the device on its side (landscape mode) while charging
6. Intuitive (damn it just makes sense on how to get to what you need nearly 95% of the time)
7. Consuming ‘rich’ content (why isn’t there a flipboard app for Playbook!)
8. Variety of accessories
9. iTunes integration (I don’t use iCloud but I do want to sync my music)
10. Facetime (PB has a camera but no Skype or other cross platform sol’n – second to the power plug issue I have with the PB is the lack of RIM to get Skype on board)

Playbook

1. Screen size for reading books, its just right and easier to hold with one hand.
2. Screen size for handheld typing – much more comfortable to do this when I was not using the BT keyboard.
3. Multitasking and ability to ‘spin’ thru apps and close easily (Apple not as intuitive here)
4. Much better camera for photos and video, its size makes it a bit easier to use in this mode as well. (Although iPad3 will tip this in Apple’s favour I am sure.)
5. Support from non-iTunes media (AVI, MP4)
6. Micro USB – industry std and thus easy to find that cord to charge/sync
7. Integration of bezel with touch features (I found myself trying to do this over and over again on the iPad)
8. Handling of Adobe’s stuff (don’t need a lot but a significant number of our internal systems need this)
9. One click access (tool bar) to access important features/settings
10. Price (much better, but they have to be don’t they….)
11. Email more secure and accessible in concert with my Blackberry. I like the bridge, I think RIM did a crap job with the value prop to business for the security and admin here.
12. Email server integration better (mark and deleted on Exchange, Hotmail, etc. and it reproduces more accurately on accounts across devices)
13. Less likely to get stolen (it looks like a moleskin in my case, a iPad looks like an iPad)
14. I can fit it in my jacket pocket

I found many features were a wash – as I mentioned both iPad and Playbook versions are only Wi-Fi, yet both have very fast browsers and get to most sites quickly and easily. The iPad will optimize to some, but I found the Playbook stayed true to the non-mobile web version more often (which I preferred). I would like to see a good app for bookmark and password integration on both of these. I missed my Firefox.

In summary, I really like them both for a lot of reasons and for things that they each do very well – some the same and some different. However, I have noticed, while both of them were in my bag, I reached for the iPad about 2x as often as the Playbook. Was this b/c it was new to me, sure it was, will I continue to reach for the iPad2 more often, time will tell.

Mobile World Congress 2012

This is my first time to attend the annual super show that is Mobile World Congress.

I am excited to be here as both an exhibitor and attendee. During the show I’ll get to meet with a lot of customers of UBM TechInsights and learn more about their use or our Teardown research, semiconductor engineering work, and intellectual property activities. I am also interested to what is going on with how these companies are innovating in the mobile space, some very interesting announcements should be on hand from Microsoft, Intel, Ford Motor Co., and Google’s many Android ecosystem partners.

I’ll do my best to update this with my own thoughts and comments throughout the event.

Patents, IP and my new gig

Over the past couple months I have been immersed in the world of intellectual property.

My new role as the SVP of Marketing and Products at UBM TechInsights has trust me into an unassumingly hot area right now as companies of all sizes, geographies and increasingly industries look at managing and fortifying stakeholder value and risk management through their patent holdings. As such, I have been following a lot of the current news and synthesizing information from many sources.As my first blog in my new role, I thought I’d share some of the resources, I’ve found useful.

Some readings on first-to-file versus first-to-invent and patent reform.

• First to File , Wikipedia
• U.S. inventors on their markets for race to patent office, New Scientist
• Novelty and disclosure in patent law, Rand Journal
• The end of the first-to-invent rule: A concise history of its origin, IDEA – The Intellectual Property Law Review
• From first-to-invent to first-to-file, the Canadian experience, American Intellectual Property Law Association
• U.S. Senate approves patent reform, Reuters
  

Some additional (recent) articles and news:

Google purchases IBM inventions as patent arms race looms

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/07/29/google_purchases_ibm_inventions_as_patent_arms_race_looms.html

Patents, Innovation, Mobile Tech, and Why It’s All a Big Mess

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2011/07/19/patents-innovation-mobile-tech-and-why-its-all-a-big-mess/

Google’s Schmidt: Competitors are responding with lawsuits rather than innovation

http://www.androidapps.com/finance/articles/8804-googles-schmidt-competitors-are-responding-with-lawsuits-rather-than-innovation

Are the patent wars stifling innovation?

http://asia.cnet.com/are-the-patent-wars-stifling-innovation-62210120.htm

Patent Failure: Has the Sun Set on the Day of the Patent?

http://www.experts-exchange.com/blogs/EE-Tech-News/B_5412-Patent-Failure-Has-the-Sun-Set-on-the-Day-of-the-Patent.html

Is U.S. innovation experiencing death by patent?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/is-us-innovation-experiencing-death-by-patent/2011/07/26/gIQANnAubI_blog.html

How The Patent War, A Multibillion Dollar Waste, Could End With A Stroke Of A Pen

http://www.businessinsider.com/patent-war-2011-7

Smartphone Innovation Leads To Rise In Patent Disputes

http://www.financierworldwide.com/article.php?id=8389

When Patents Attack

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/07/26/138576167/when-patents-attack

This Is Where the Patent Trolls Live

http://gizmodo.com/5824912/who-is-really-snuffing-out-american-innovation

Penicillin: the antidote to patent wars

http://mobilebusinessbriefing.com/article/penicillin-the-antidote-to-patent-wars

Chinese Innovation Is a Paper Tiger

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904800304576472034085730262.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

China as an Innovation Center? Not So Fast

http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2011/07/china-as-an-innovation-center-not-so-fast/

Look for more patent and IP information from me in the future.

My Global Mind

Listening some 1994 Queensryche, seems they new a lot about where the Internet was taking society.

There’s hunger in Africa,
and anger on assembly lines.
At the touch of a button
I’m miles away.

I want no connection, just information,
and I’m gone.
I feel so helpless,
so I turn my gaze to another place.

My global mind reaches out for the truth.
Why try holding back the wave?

You’ll only drown in the changes.
You’ve got to learn to let go.
Just let go and experience the flight.
Try to see from a different side..
If balance is the key
maybe we’ll see
a future understanding,
then we won’t feel so helpless,
an turn away and hide from the change.

My global mind searches for something new.
My global mind zeros in on news.
Time and rules are changing.
Attention span is quickening.
Welcome to the Information Age.

I feel so helpless,
so I turn my gaze to another place.
My global mind searches for something new.
My global mind zeros in on news.
My global mind reaches out for the truth.
My global mind zeros in on you.
It’s searching everywhere,
across the mountains,
across the oceans,
across every man made line.

No boundary gonna keep it from you.

Source: Queensryche, Promised Land

eReaders and the disappointing Sony Touch Edition

So its been almost year since I gave up books. I chose the Sony eReader Touch back in June of last year b/c I was looking for a quality eReader that allowed me to skip pages by ‘flicking’ a finger. I was also interested in expandable memory as well as choice – I didn’t want a Kindle b/c it was too tied to only the Amazon books.

The Sony PRS-600 seemed like a perfect fit. I did not mind the lack of wifi, I liked the metal feel, and I was intrigued by the ability to buy books from Kobo, Sony and others and at the same time rent from the library as they offered more ePUBs.

Since I purchased the Sony Touch Edition, I have been met with many disappointments. If it where just one or two I wouldn’t have written this bog, but its an on-going thing over nearly a year that I think others should consider before buying a Sony eReader.

Note: I have had the reader for 10 months and read over 20 books on it, so this is not a early view or opinion – I have enjoyed the form factor immensely and am a converted eReader person. and have recommended the form factor to others. In short here are some of the comments after long-term use that I have to share:

1. The battery is lousy, it lasts barely a week.
2. The battery is so bad I have had it replaced (under warranty) once already – Sony did a quick turn around, but still the original battery died 6-months in.
3. The selection at the Sony store is crap – thank God for Kobo; I have bought 80% of the books there based on better pricing and better selection. So if you do use the Sony and haven’t checked out http://www.kobobooks.com you are often paying too much for your reading.
4. The Sony Reader Library software is crap. Seriously its ugly, it connects to a store that lack titles (50% of popular titles are US only and I am in Canada. Yet Amazon and Kobo offer these here and usually at a better price. I have kept hoping Sony would address this, but has they haven’t I question their commitment to being more than a hardware provider.
5. The software that was packaged with the eReader is weak. I gave up on the expandable memory b/c it promised more things like music and pictures, but if you put more than 1GB of music on the card the reader takes forever for the eReader to reboot.
6. The handwriting feature is terrible. I thought when I bought it I would be able to take passable notes and not have to carry a pen and pad b/c the eReader from Sony had a stylus, but I tried for several months to make this work for me at no avail.
7. The sync database (software) get corrupted once every couple months. The software starts reloading all the books over and over causing sync (in the best case) to cease to function.
8. Note taking and comments on the eReader don’t show up on the software – this is really annoying if you are reading books for your profession and make notes and highlights, but then when your eReader is “in the shop” and you cannot access any of these.
9. Library rental function is a load of sh*t, libraries offer mostly the Free Classics that you can get from Google, Kobo, Sony, Amazon and others. Absolutely no benefit here currently.
10. The O/S is very disappointing. I have over 70 books and the way they are organized is by author, title, or date. There is no search. Some times the author is last name first and some times its first and then last name – same author. So digging for a book in the library is a real pain.

Don’t get me wrong. I love eReader form factors. I have just found myself (after 10 months) thinking I would NEVER recommend or choosing to buy a Sony version again. Sorry Sony I’ll keep using your product until it becomes too unpleasant not to, but don’t expect a repeat customer based on my current experience.

And future customers should think twice before choosing Sony products based on my experience.

Is Canada responsible for educating the next US worker?

As an American expat living in Canada I am often caught between and betwixt the argument about why I live here and the long-term Canada/USA socio-political relationship. I must say I am still proud to be an American and have my family and many friends still there. Yet, over these past few years when I travel to the states I cannot help but be thankful I live in Canada at this point in my life. Yes, I could undoubted make more money in California or Boston (as I work in IT) and pay less in taxes, but would these offset some of the things I just worry (much) less about here. But I have already completed my education.

As a parent of two young girls (who are dual citizens), one of which has just started school, I look at the opportunities they have here to become world-class citizens. Over the years my thoughts have been more around the ‘family values’ of maternity leave (parents should have ample time to be a part of their kid’s first year) and healthcare (not having to worry about deductibles, insurance policy fine print, high costs of pharmaceuticals, “whether that is just an ear ache or not”, etc.) benefits we have here. But over the past few months, I have really been entranced by the changes going on directly and indirectly in US education.

I am not a total outsider when it comes to education, my mother-in-law was a teacher for 20+ years, my aunt is a teacher, my sister-in-law works for Emory University, and my sister works at Harvard, and my own Mother was also involved in education for over a decade. As for myself, I am a college grad who is employed as a market analyst and consultant in the hi-tech industry – so life long learning is important to me.

With all of this said, I cannot express my concern enough about the changes going on in the U.S. with regards to the neutering of the education system! This is all happening at the same time that employers are trying to recover from a significant economic downturn and are clamouring for workers that have 21st Century skills and a strong education background. This isn’t a new phenomena, a quick search took me to this article from the LA Times in 2008, “Shortage of skilled workers looms in US” and has continued in recent articles like, “Ageing workforce creates skills shortage…” Yet I watch as teachers and the education system is vilified as underperforming and overpaid babysitters.

In his Op-Ed for the NY Times, Paul Krugman wrote a “Leaving Children Behind” looked that impact of spending cuts by federals government on education, students and teaches. And in a recent TED Talk, Microsoft founder Bill Gates discussed the impact on State budgets on Education. In my opinion this is a potential ‘one-two’ punch that combines cuts from federal and state for education and will have a significant impact on the long-term education of US children, the workforce, and the economic prosperity of the nation as a whole.

The following was taken from the McKinsey&Co. report. “The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America’s Schools”, while its from 2006, the report was published in 2009 and should really concern parents who are expecting improvements in education and thus their children’s future in America.

These current changes are not reflected in a recent study where the US rankings have fallen to average when compared to 70 other countries. Yet they will undoubtedly accelerate this decline in the rankings. And I can only assume that the on-going changes that I have mentioned above will continue as states look to bust more teacher collective bargaining agreements and teacher unions. This study by McKinsey & Company supports this train of thought.

While I won’t say that the schools in Canada are the best in the world, I do feel after looking at the short sightedness in the U.S. at the federal and state level, I cannot help but be concerned about how ready the next generation of Americans will be in terms of leadership, scientific, and economic skills. Of course if you are rich in the U.S. you can continue to send your kids to private schools. And companies can always petition the government for more HIB Visas to get the best ad brightest Indian, Chinese or Canadian minds to manage the average under skilled American worker.

And for the rest of America – well I am sure their kid will be the next Michael Jordan and education really doesn’t matter anyhow.

Nokia Sleeps Around or Covers its Bases?

I got the weirdest email from Nokia today about my @ovi.com email that you get as part of your Nokia account, in short they announced their partnership with Yahoo! mail for their email service in the future. Given the recent Microsoft Windows Phone 7 announcement I cannot for the life of my figure out why Nokia wouldn’t partner with Microsoft’s Hotmail email service as a compliment to Windows Phone 7 and a mobile extension of Office 365.

I mean its great that Steven Elop is getting his ex-boss to pony up over a $1BN in “development” fees and incentives to Nokia, but why the convoluted strategy. Worried about the EU being too worried about another European IT leader going to the US? Is this insurance against a full on (possibly inevitable) Microsoft take over of Nokia? Ah well….

Here is the email from Nokia:

Dear XXXX,

Nokia is partnering with Yahoo! to power and enhance your Ovi Mail experience. In the coming weeks you can enjoy an easier and faster Ovi Mail website, the integration of instant messaging into the mail web experience, and the ability to import your friends’ email addresses from other email services you might already use.

You’re all set to enjoy these service enhancements very soon.

Important to know

Once the transition starts, you will immediately begin receiving new emails into your updated Ovi Mail account, but you may not see your old emails for several days until the transition has finished. Don’t worry because your emails are safe and are being moved to Yahoo!. You will see them in your inbox again once the transfer is complete. We will confirm the completion of the transfer in a separate email.

We’re sorry for any inconvenience that this might cause, but we assure you that this is a temporary situation that will be resolved as soon as the move to Yahoo! is complete.

Thank you for joining us in using the updated Ovi Mail service. We look forward to bringing you further enhancements in the coming weeks!

Sincerely,

Nokia