Hands On with Skifta – AirPlay for Android

Skifta-android-app

We’ve written about Skifta before, but now that it’s out of beta – and I have an Android phone that rates above the 2.1 OS – I decided to give it a try. Skifta is a DLNA app from Qualcomm that lets you stream content around to different networked devices. Sadly I don’t have a DLNA TV, or a media streamer that supports DLNA, so my testing was limited, but I was able to get the gist of the app with just my phone and PC.

First the good stuff. After downloading Skifta, my phone instantly identified my PC as an available content source. I selected the source, and my playback device, and Skifta popped up an option for browsing available media. From my phone I was able to see photos, music and video on my computer. I opened the video folder first, and immediately played an old home movie I digitized for Christmas last year. It was an odd moment. Here was a video recorded on VHS nearly 20 years ago, now available on my smartphone. Surreal. Music streaming worked reasonably too, though there was a bit of a lag when trying to skip between tracks.

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HBO Takes Issue With Apple Security

Wondering why you can’t pass HBO Go video from your iPad or iPhone to your HDTV? Josh Arnold did too… and took his query to Twitter where HBO responded: HBO requires a level of content protection that’s not currently supported by Apple TV. If you recall, I bought the iPhone HDMI adapter with intentions of streaming … Read more

Verizon Consolidates Mobile FiOS Apps

Looks like Verizon has finally taken my advice and has begun consolidating their disparate FiOS-related apps into a unified control panel.  Instead of say launching an individual mobile program to change channels on our Verizon DVR and then launching another to manage recordings, those formerly distinct functions are now logically accessed and controlled via the … Read more

A Failure of Microsoft Marketing

With initial iPhone 4 weekend sales pegged at potentially 4 million units, I’m reflecting on Microsoft’s failure to generate much excitement (or sales) from their competing Windows Phone 7 platform. And, as the freshest mobile experience on the market, the reception surely has been a failure.

Microsoft’s first, primary, and ongoing error is in the branding department. At launch, their arguably late Windows Mobile replacement operating system was titled “Windows Phone 7 Series” … which is saddled with a whole lot of baggage. Like Microsoft’s derivative “I’m a PC” commercials, Windows Phone sounds like a wannabe iPhone. Except I wouldn’t say Windows has the most positive connotation. For many, Windows is a relic and something we’re forced to use at work. With a large number of folks still stuck on XP, this isn’t the message Microsoft should be projecting. Quintuply so given Windows Phone actual innovative, vibrant, and fast Metro UI.

Then there’s the “Series” problem. As Microsoft doesn’t actually create it’s own hardware, a device running this software would have been known by the cumbersome and redundant “Windows Phone 7 Series phone.” While the redundancy hasn’t been entirely eliminated, Microsoft did at least streamline relatively quickly by dropping the “Series” monicker. But it’s all still too pedestrian and not reflective of their software experience. Would anyone have bought a Windows Gaming Console? Boo-ring! But Microsoft “Xbox” on the other hand exudes mystery and sex appeal. And happens to sell quite well. I’m left wondering why they weren’t as aggressive when rebooting the mobile experience. I’d say it’s a lack of vision. Yet, Metro’s execution indicates otherwise. So perhaps this is the result of branding by committee and they decided on something safe.

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Siri, Then & Now

As most probably know by now, Siri is Apple’s iPhone 4S digital assistant featuring uncanny voice recognition and conversational interaction. Here’s how Apple describes it/him/her:

Siri on iPhone 4S lets you use your voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, and more. Ask Siri to do things just by talking the way you talk. Siri understands what you say, knows what you mean, and even talks back. Siri is so easy to use and does so much, you’ll keep finding more and more ways to use it.

But Siri wasn’t always Apple’s crown jewel and, as an independent company, released an iOS app in early 2010. We briefly touched on it then when Robert Scoble declared Siri the future of the web. Given prior Borg-like Apple acquisitions, I wasn’t particularly floored when the folks from Cupertino acquired Siri just a few short months after launch. But given it’s deep iPhone 4S integration and tent pole marketing, in retrospect, Scoble’s enthusiasm was warranted and I was wrong.

But enough of the historical play by play. When Siri was originally released, I did what any 12 year old boy geek blogger would have and asked it a series of ridiculous questions back in February, 2010. Being curious how Siri has matured in the intervening months, I recruited fellow blogger Andru Edwards of Gear Live to replicate a few of my inquiries on his iPhone 4S…

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Despite Limited Uptake, Windows Media Center Lives On

Despite limited uptake, Microsoft’s very fine and mostly free Media Center experience will live to fight another day within Windows 8. How limited is usage? Well we don’t have complete stats, but based on this Windows 7 sampling, I’d say significant engagement is well under 1% of installs. Of course, 1% of bazillions could be … Read more

I Don’t Need Mac OS X Lion. Do You?

I’ve stepped off the software upgrade carousel. While I dutifully and promptly upgraded my laptops to Leopard ($129) and Snow Leopard ($29), Apple’s not getting me with Mac OS X Lion ($30). In both previous occasions, I bought into the hype only to be disappointed by modest improvement and irrelevant functionality (for my needs)… combined … Read more

Spotify’s Music Discovery Shortcoming

In case you haven’t heard, online music service Spotify has landed stateside. While there’s a lot to like, which we’ll get to, there does seem to be at least one notable shortcoming in regards to music discovery – and I’m not the only one to come to that conclusion based upon feedback found in my Twitter … Read more