Why Apple's 'Why iPhone' page following Samsung Galaxy S4 debut is not good enough

Apple has launched a new page on their site entitled, "There's iPhone. And then there's everything else."

Just two days after the Samsung Galaxy S4's extremely popular debut, the page is Apple's latest attempt at convincing the public why iPhone is the best and why Android sucks (without actually publishing the word 'Android' or 'sucks', of course).

Honestly, though, it seems like Apple is truly trembling in their iPants right about now. Just imagine the spoiled, little kid on the playground whose new iPhone 5 has just been one-upped by another kid's newer Samsung Galaxy S4. The Apple kid isn't happy. And even if the Apple kid knows he's been beaten, he won't let the world just forget about he and his iPhone-- Oh, HELL NO! He'll continue rattling off overly-defensive and even irrelevant points about he and his 5 until his mom finally comes to pick him up and assure him that, "It's okay, honey. We'll go get you a new GS4 this weekend."

That's how I imagine the whole situation, anyways.

However, here's really why Apple's new 'Why iPhone' page is simply not good enough to beat the competition (namely, the Samsung Galaxy S4). If Apple wants to really compete, they had better release an iPhone that actually stands victorious in the never-ending hardware-software battle.

So here we have it. Artsy photos of iPhone 5s laying in neat, angled arrangements with colorful on-screen images. Surprised?

And, yes, Apple has even included a picture of their Fall 2012 J.D. Power & Associates "Highest Customer Satisfaction" award. To the left of the award's picture, Apple's classic passive-aggressive and competitive marketing attitude is at work in the caption, "Apparently love can be measured."

I have to hand it to the copywriters at Apple. They've really mastered the art of getting customers to adopt the 'Us Vs. Them' mentality, haven't they?

"Apparently love can be measured."

Don't forget about the 'Retina Display'! Apple coined the term after all. But with the iPhone 5's meek 326 ppi, Apple's state-of-the-art smart phone is simply left in the dust, especially considering the HTC One's dominating 468 ppi screen. That's not to say the iPhone 5's screen isn't nice. It is. It's bright, crisp, and certainly not 'pixelly' looking. But, then again, it's not even 720p. Most high-end phones are 1080p by now. 

And then Apple continues, listing the A6 chip (which is, again, fast but not top of the line fast), Siri (which Google's voice recognition software easily beats in every way except for giving skeuomorphic sports scores),  wireless and LTE technology (really?), iOS 6, iCloud, and "the world's most popular camera" (according to Flickr numbers), as the reasons why iPhone really is the best of the best.

But for anyone who really knows what the market has to offer, Apple iPhone is just the old, jaded, wrinkly yet dedicated dude at the gym who just won't stop trying to be the best. 

I'd honor the iPhone for staying in the game for so long, if only they weren't so passive-aggressive and cult-like in their approach. Maybe a more humble attitude might suit them? Maybe not. Only time will tell... (aka the iPhone 5S).

R.I.P. Google Reader, 10/07/2005-07/01/2013

Yesterday was a mournful day for RSS and Atom feed junkies everywhere across the Internet as Google announced that their popular Google Reader content aggregator platform will be retired on July 1st of this year.

In the official blog post, "A second spring of cleaning", Google acknowledges that Google Reader has a "loyal following" but that usage has declined over the years.

At first, the news made me sad. But after reading through the comments in this reddit post, though, I'm much more optimistic. Google Reader was great, sure. It was the first web-based content aggregator I ever used. But it's also dated, lacking a sleek, native interface and, of course, the ability to share articles instantly on your Twitter and Facebook accounts since Google+ came along.

Image courtsey of Chron

I say, "Sayonara Google Reader!"

Meanwhile... some users simply can't accept Google Reader's inevitable end. There are multiple petitions on Change.org urging Google to keep Reader alive. Here's one. Here's another one. And even one more.

For me? I'll just calmly meander over to Feedly. Feedly provides a clean, easy-on-the-eyes service that will automatically sync your Google Reader subscriptions with their service. Done and done.

Facebook strives to stay profitable with new pay-to-promote feature

Facebook users have been able to promote their own posts for $7 each since last year. But now, Facebook is gradually rolling out a new feature which will enable users to promote their friends' posts for, you guessed it, seven dollars each.

The feature will be available to all users once the gradual roll out is complete

The company told Bloomberg, "If your friend is renting their apartment out and she tells her friends on Facebook, you can share the post with the people you and your friend have in common so that it shows up higher in news feed and more people notice it."

Most people have hundreds and sometimes thousands of Facebook friends, making the News Feed so fast-paced that many friends' posts are buried in the sands of time before anyone has the chance to look at it. The algorithm responsible for what you see on your News Feed "ensures that only about 15 percent of an account holder's posts are seen by their friends or fans," according to Jim Edwards of Business Insider.

If you're just sharing your family vacation photo album or a status update about how delicious your macaroni and cheese is, you're probably not going to mind that only "15 percent" of your friends and fans will see the post.

But if your friend needs help promoting a public event, a charity or cause, an advertisement for selling something, or an important life announcement, Facebook's new pay-to-promote feature might come in handy.

Unfortunately, the cost of promoting a post won't be a static seven dollars. Instead, the cost to promote a post will vary depending on a number of factors, "including geographic location and how many people the post would reach," Salvador Rodriguez of the L.A. Times reports.

The feature will be rolled out to all users over time.

Apple is so over.

With Ashton Kutcher's recent Jobs'-inspired fruitarian diet landing him in the hospital just days before filming jOBS, Apple's "tanking stock", and Tim Cook's futile pep-talk to his deservedly confused and worried employees, Apple is still topping headlines... just not in a good way.

Everyone and their grandma has an iPhone by now. I have an iPhone 4S, but it just sits in my desk drawer, collecting dust until some dude on Craig's List will give me cash for it.

But the truth is that, yes, Apple had its moment of glory. Back in March 2012, CNBC reported that "half of all U.S. households own at least one Apple product, according to CNBC's All-America Economic survey." And that was last March.

Apple's market value continued to climb until its stock reached a record-breaking $700 per share. Analysts were even predicting a jump to a whopping $1000 per share, though it never happened. Bryan Goldberg, journalist for PandoDaily writes, "The company walked on water. It pissed lightning and shat thunder. It's employees never got sick. Rain wasn't allowed over Cupertino."

Then Apple's Q4 2012 numbers hit:

• $36 billion total revenue.
• $8.2 billion net profit.
• 26.9 million iPhones.
• 14 million iPads.
• 4.9 million Macs.
• 5.3 million iPods.

All in all, pretty impressive. Right?

Goldberg goes on, however... "Now, look at this smoldering crater of cesspool." Apple's share has been plummeting consistently since mid-September, with today's value hovering around a meager $450.

Apple just isn't cool anymore. Buzz Marketing's Tina Wells told Forbes: "Teens are telling us Apple is done. Apple has done a great job of embracing Gen X and older (Millennials), but I don't think they are connecting with Millennial kids."

And it's true. I, for one, am not excited about Apple products anymore. I tried the Macbook Pro, I tried the iPhone 4S. Sure, they're solid products with as much capability as most other Windows or Android devices. But the appeal just isn't there. Apple's designs are stale, boring, and uninspired. The skeuomorphism has simply got to go.

Farewell, Apple. You were good while you lasted. Good luck competing with Google, Samsung, and Microsoft (all of whom massively outspend and outperform Apple in R&D). Better start digging.

Top Gear Season 19, Episode 1

Jeremy Clarkson fits snugly in his ambitious creation, the 'P45'. Photo: Jalopnik

Yesterday at 8:00 PM in the UK, gear heads all 'round the world finally gave a deep sigh of relief. That's right. Last night marked the beginning of Season 19 of Top Gear, undoubtedly the most popular car show on television. And quite a season premier it was: Jeremy's ridiculous P45 mini-car, the aristocratic Bentley Continental GT Speed ripping around a rally track, Damian Lewis' slippery lap in a reasonably priced car, and Richard's review of the immaculate Pagani Huayra.

Americans who can't navigate the Internet so well (*wink* *nudge*) will have to wait until next Sunday night to watch the season premier as it airs on BBC America.

There you have it. Top Gear's back for another round. Cheers.

HYPE: Pebble smart watch starts shipping today

There aren't very many people wearing smart watches yet-- at least not from what I've seen. But, apparently the Pebble E-Paper watch for iPhone and Android has had quite a bit of support, earning over $10 million on Kickstarter via 68,929 backers.

The Pebble starts shipping today to Kickstarter backers who pledged $99 or more before May 18th, 2012, but the company says it will need at least six weeks to fulfill all the orders. Once the Pebble arrives on doorsteps, users will enjoy a variety of functions all supported via Bluetooth connection with a smart phone:

• The official Pebble app available in the Android and Apple app marketplaces. 
• Vibrating notifications and messages, including e-mail, incoming Caller ID, SMS, calendar alerts, Facebook messages, Twitter, and weather alerts.
• Music control
• Connection with your phone's GPS, allowing apps for cycling, golfing, running, swimming, etc.

Pebble's CEO Eric Migicovsky working in his office. Photo: Wired.com

But perhaps the most important feature is its potential for customization. The Pebble Dev Blog details plans for releasing the watch's SDK and APIs and, needless to say, creative techies are already brainstorming possible apps for the Pebble. One comment suggests connecting the watch to the phone's NFC, another would like to see apps for sailing, locating your friends, and walking/work-out routing.

If you still want to get a Pebble smart watch of your own, you can pre-order one for $150 from the Pebble homepage.

Pebble won't be without competition, however. Google has already secured a patent for their smart watch while Apple is only rumored to be crafting one of their own. Hell, Sony has had their own smart watch on sale at Verizon since June!

But I think Pebble will do just fine, considering it supports both iOS and Android devices. Windows Phone users (like myself) will have to wait for a smart watch, though...

Flipping the bird

Twitter's iconic bird logo may have been inspired by these doodles sketched on "brown paper towels acquired from the Twitter rest rooms."

The images were posted on Twitter's Dribbble.com profile just a few days ago.

Some of the designs look like they could be slapped onto the side of USPS trucks. The one on the top left is quite realistic. And lots of the designs are, well, quite wonky.

Look at these ones. Birds, more birds, and... wait-- what's that?! A picture of someone's hand, flipping the bird. That logo seems fitting to me. After all, some tweets are so dumb that the tweeter might as well be flipping everyone off anyways.

And this last batch is even more bizarre: A smoking bird with a mohawk. A geeky bird wearing thick, black-rimmed glasses and a bowl cut. A couple of birds made of hands. There you have it. They seemed to have made the right choice in the end.