My Favorite Things: Hong Kong
Earlier this month I was in Hong Kong for a few days. Hong Kong is one of those classically fabulous international cities. Here are a few of my favorite things from past trips: Taxi ride from the airport: The second I arrive at HKG I look forward to descending the ramp to the taxi stands. […]
Some Math Behind Electric Vehicles
The following was original published in CE Vision Magazine. You can download the full issue here. The presence of electric vehicles at CES continues to grow with 2011 setting records on multiple fronts. As gas prices rise and show little sign of retreating any time soon, interest in electric vehicles will continue to peak in the […]
Evolutionary Currents: Adding Context to the Nook Color Upgrade
This week Barnes & Noble upgraded the software running on their Nook Color e-reader tablets. Users can now access apps, have email pushed to the device and watch flash videos. There are a variety of reviews on the web (see: here, here, and here) discussing the anticipated update so here I’ll take a differ tack […]
Retail Trends to Watch
The following was published in Dealerscope Magazine in December 2010: The last three years have been a volatile period in the history of consumer electronics. While a recovery is slowly taking shape, I believe the next few years will offer as much change as the in the last year or so. Here are a few […]
Estimating iPad Second Quarter Unit Sales
Through the first three quarters of iPad availability, Apple sold 3.4 million, 4.3 million, and 7.33 million iPads respectively for a total of 15.03 million units through the first nine months. The estimates for Apple’s second quarter iPad sales are all over the board. For example, JP Morgan is expecting 5.3 million, RBC Capital is expecting […]
Apple’s AirPlay Remains the Sleeper Hit for 2011
Back in January I wrote that Apple’s AirPlay would drive a renaissance for audio. Networked audio solutions have been building slowly to a crescendo I believe plays out over the next 24 months. Of course companies like Sonos and Logitech with their Squeezebox suite of devices left important early footprints while defining the market for networked audio solutions. Several years ago I spoke with […]
10 Themes for 2011
10 predictions for 2011 published in the January edition of CE Vision. You can see the entire issue here. 1) The unemployment rate will end 2011 close to where it is today During the muted economic recovery many metrics and measures have significantly underperformed past economic recoveries despite the fact that the significant depth of […]
on Kindle Pricing Part II
Last week I provided an estimate of the implied revenue Amazon expects to earn in advertising from the newly discounted Kindle with Special Offers. I happened to catch MG Siegler’s post on TechCrunch on the same topic. Siegler takes an approach I heard frequently immediately following the announcement, namely that $25 isn’t a strong enough discount. Amazon should have been more aggressive and marked the device […]
The 360 degree solution
this was previously published in March 2008 in Dealerscope Magazine: Ten years ago, consumers bought consumer electronics devices largely independent of the services and content they would eventually use in conjunction with those devices. Those times are gone. As opposed to piecing together an a la carte experience by coupling hardware, software and services, today’s […]
Organizing Information
The most successful companies – especially in the digital world – will be built around organizing dispersed information (something I said I would expound upon). Name a successful company in the digital space, and you will see data organization at its core. AOL for example – while best known for its ISP business in the 1980s […]
