Apple Just Quietly Announced One of their Best Products, and Loudly Announced One of their Worst

The regular apple peaked with the pie innovation

The 2017 Apple WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference for those of you not in the know) is currently in full swing. The estimated 5000 attendees packed in on day one to hear the Apple brass talk new software, and some new hardware, to loyal Apple fans worldwide. The WWDC is not the place for new iPhone launches, except for the 3GS and 4 models, but is a place for the Cupertino company to show off new software and sometimes for them to show off their next wave of home computers. Previous WWDC saw the reveal of macOS, the App Store, and Safari. The pressure is usually not as high for the company as it is for an iPhone launch, but plenty of people still pay attention. No matter what Apple does, when they take the stage, people listen.

The 2017 edition of the WWDC was heavy on new software upgrades. Apple's latest operating system, named High Sierra, was put on display. iOS 11 received some new updates including enhanced augmented reality abilities. The voice assistant Siri is getting some much-needed updating. These reveals and updates are par for the course at WWDC.

Lost in all the hoopla of the software advances, Apple announced one of their most mind-blowing products ever. The new iMac Pro is one of the most beautiful, and insanely powerful, computers ever packaged for the consumer market. The specs on this machine, and the price to own one, is off the charts. Much like the light bulb for General Electric, Apple seems to keep its computer business around to show respect to their past. This part of the business is usually neglected. This WWDC is different. With the incredibly iMac Pro, Apple just released the best home computer a whole lot of money could buy.

The iMac Pro was not the big reveal at the 2017 WWDC. That honor was reserved for Apple's entry into the marketplace of smart speakers. The new HomePod joins the Amazon Echo, Google Home, and whatever Microsoft says is coming as the big kids on the personal assistant speaker market. The Siri in a speaker will tell you the news, play music, and do other not described things like all the smart speakers that came before. Apple is confident that their loyal fanbase will give up their Echos, Google Homes, or newly jump into the smart speaker market with their branded offering. The HomePod goes on sale at the end of 2017 for $350.

The Apple HomePod is the dumbest product Apple has ever been happy to sell to their customers. Most of the time Apple will see a market where no one has found the true potential, and then they take over that market with a well thought out product. Apple's offerings are never the best, they never do everything the customer wants, but they do the simple things extremely well. And they look good doing it. The HomePod is nothing like the successful products of Apple's past.

The HomePod is entering a marketplace where the Cupertino company's competitors have been adapting to the customers wants for over a year, and they are all doing it for far less money than what a HomePod will cost. Apple knows they are behind on the smart speaker market. The only way the presenters at the WWDC could differentiate the HomePod is to talk about how good it sounds. That has been proven to not be important for the smart speaker market. The original Amazon Echo was hailed by many in the tech media as a "premium" speaker with the benefits of Alexa. Once Amazon released the affordable Echo Dot, the one without a good speaker, sales skyrocketed. Amazon learned that people want a smart speaker for the smarts, not how the music sounds out of it. If someone wanted a great Bluetooth speaker, they would buy something from a company known for good speakers. Bose, Harmon Kardon, Sonos, they all offered great speakers for less than $300, and they all connect wirelessly to the Echo. Amazon and Google have already used Apple's model of introducing hardware, and now they will swat away the HomePod like all the other failures before.

Apple's claim of making the HomePod a great speaker shows how lost they are with the product. The tech press has predictably been there to hold the water for Apple's bad decisions. Once the HomePod is availbale for purchase, tech media sites like CNET and Gizmodo will no doubt praise Apple for having the best sounding smart speaker on the market. Check out this comically idiotic defense of the HomePod from the Cupertino bootlickers at Engadget. The author wants everyone to forget about the smart applications of the HomePod, and just focus on how awesome the speaker is. This is a speaker allegedly built by the scam artists who built the Beats Audio headphones and speakers. The same people who ruin good sound quality by overemphasizing bass and put unnecessary metal into their products so the headphones / speakers would feel heavy and therefore the consumer would think the product is high end. The HomePod was made by a group of people concerned more about marketing than they are concerned about actual audio quality. That should say all there is to say about the sound quality of the HomePod. 

Many of the Apple faithful will fall for the reviews from a subservient tech media, and they will trust their favorite company and buy the HomePod. These early adopters will then brag to everyone in their social media circles about the superior sound quality. These HomePoders will then have to deal with the smarts of Siri. Here is where they will lose. 

Siri is widely considered far and away the worst of the popular smart assistants, and the HomePod buyers will have only Apple's voice helper. No Spotify, limited use of smart home devices like thermostats and light bulbs, and spotty comprehension. Apple says Siri will be smarter, but they have said that before. In the HomePod reveal, the presenter spent almost no time on the smart assistant features that Echo and Home owners enjoy, and spent a bunch of time having Siri play music from the Apple Music app. On the biggest stage, Apple decided to not show the flaws of their new smart speaker by showing how dumb the HomePod really is.

All these early missteps of the HomePod makes the $350 price tag look even more ridiculous. For the same price people could buy any of these smart home combinations:

2 Amazon Echos (one for the main floor and one for the bedroom)

3 Google Homes (one for the kitchen, living room, and bedroom)

9 Echo Dots (One for every damn room you have, note: you can purchase six Dots for the price of five)

An Echo Dot and a Bose Soundlink Revolve + (this is listed as CNET's best Bluetooth speaker.)

An Echo Dot, Nest Thermostat, and two TP-Link Dimmable Smart Light-bulbs that work with Alexa

An Echo Dot, a Bose Sound Base, and a Harmony Hub (control the television with your voice, and connect to a high-end speaker with Alexa)

An Echo, Echo Dot(s), Google Home, and numerous smart bulbs, locks, streaming devices, whatever, because Amazon and Google have thousands of skills (apps) to properly connect your home. Talk to your house like you live on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.

Therefore the $350 price tag for a bass heavy, not very smart speaker, is kind of dumb.

The HomePod will not end Apple. The software updates, the new iMac Pro, and the anticipated tenth anniversary iPhone will keep the small Cupertino company in business for a long time. On the backs of the useless Apple Pencil, the HomePod is just a little bit worrisome. Has Apple given up on innovation? Are they relying solely on the ability to separate idiots from their money? Let's hope not. We need the Apple that goes all out and shows off the new iMac Pro, not the one who tries to sell you an overbuilt, lacking usefulness, speaker. Let the HomePod die a Newton like death. Apple should know better.

RD

RD is the Founder and Head Editor for SeedSing. He created his MySpace profile on an original iMac. It had a red shell.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Top 12 Best Gadgets For Business

We have come a long way from the top business gadget of the 19th century

SeedSing is proud to offer voices from all over the globe. Today we present a guest post from freelance tech journalist Matthew Young. Get your ideas heard by writing for SeedSing

You may think that because you now have the latest laptop or the most advanced smartphone and the tablet that you don’t need anything else. You will be surprised to know that there is always something that could be used to enhance your life, whether during your leisure time or in the business field. 

These new 12 executive gadgets that range from USB ports to drawing tools are bound to enhance your business operations and make your daily life a lot more enjoyable.

1. Skiva’s OctoFire 8 Port USB 3.0 Hub
This may be the only USB hub you are ever going to need. Besides syncing data at speeds of 5 Gbps, it delivers more charging power compared to any other wall charger available today on the market. It's completely compatible with iPad Air, iPad Mini, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Apple iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus—just to mention a few. When not linked to your PC or laptop, it will also act as a standalone charger. Skiva’s OctoFire 8 Port USB 3.0 Hub has built-in over-charge, over-heat, and over-voltage plus over-current protection. The Early Bird edition is available at Kickstarter priced at $66.

2. ZUtA – The First Mini Robotic Printer
This is the premier mini robotic printer. The ZUta comes with a rechargeable battery as well as an on/off switch and you can connect it directly to PCs or smartphones. It allows printing on any size of paper. More appealing is the fact that it can easily be packed into your bag for printing on the go. Using an omni-wheel system, it accurately moves around the page being printed at a speed of 1.2 pages every minute. ZUta runs for 60 minutes on a full charge. This amazing portable robotic printer has accrued a total of $511,662 of its $400,000 Kickstarter target for production. $200 is sufficient to secure you an early bird white version. The ZUta is expected to become available on May 2016.

3. Pencil by FiftyThree
This popular smart stylus is going be sold through Amazon online outlets and some selected Apple stores at prices starting at $69.99. The FiftyThree is a perfect gift for one who cherishes creativity. The rectangular shaped Pencil stands at 5.45 by 0.6 by 0.25 inches (HWD). The Walnut model is lighter at only 0.8 ounces while Graphite model is slightly heavier weighing at 1.12 ounces. The Pencil from FiftyThree is compatible with the 3rd generation iPad and the later makes plus, the Retina as well as non-Retina iPad Mini.

4. Spracht The Conference Mate
Available in black or white color options, the Conference Mate from Spracht is compact in size. The speaker top is black and has all the system touch controls for answer/end calls, volume, mute and play/pause functions for music. At the unit top is where you get the main speaker together with the controls. This NFC enabled gadget is easy when it comes to setting up. This fine little bluetooth speaker sounds good and performs well. It is ideal for the home desk, your office or any place where audio is needed. It is available at around $80 via Amazon. 

5. Vivitek Qumi Q5 LED Pocket Projector
This stylish and innovative Vivitek LED pocket projector has 500 lumens brightness. It’s a very light device too at about 499g. It is the premier 3D-ready projector whose HD pixel resolution stands at 800 x 1,380. It can be used with numerous devices such as laptops, netbooks, smartphones, tablets, video and digital cameras and is ideal for digital content sharing. The real winner is the thick, ultra-glossy top sheet, available in not less than 5 different options: white, black, red, blue and yellow. All these remarkable features perhaps justify the high price tag of $600.

6. IronKey Personal S250 Secure Drive 16GB
The IronKey S250 is fully compatible with all major operating systems such as Linux, Windows and Mac. If what you desire is the best kind of security currently available in the market to secure thieves, hackers, and the elements, the Fort Knox you need is the IronKey Personal S250. It keeps your data secure, although due to its rugged construction and security it comes at a rather steep price of $329 for 16GB.

7. Sony Smartwatch 3 Stainless Steel
This is not just the first Android Wear device that comes with GPS skills, it also comes with built in connectivity (NFC and Wi-Fi)—perhaps this is its biggest selling point. The SmartWatch 3 comes with 4GB of storage space and its power comes from a quad-core 1.2GHz Arm A7 processor, something that appeared like overkill during the early Android's ecosystem days. Inside the SmartWatch 3 you will get a 420mAh battery. This latest Sony product charges through Micro USB saving you the need of carrying a separate accessory for charging. The SW3 takes the game a notch higher in terms of waterproofing. You can control this gadget that is priced at $300 with touch, voice and your finger gestures.

8. HP Multi Jet Fusion
As of now, conventional 3D printing employ a sluggish process in creating layers of material gradually forming the output you desire. The time needed for printing large objects also places a limitation on the feasibility and scalability of 3D printing technology. The first machines using Multi Jet Fusion Technology that are going to be released by HP will be focused on creating high-quality 3D prints that are thermoplastic-based. The goal is to target businesses that are small and medium-sized, or the numerous “service bureaus” which are serving the printing needs of 3rd-party businesses.

9. Bitdefender Box
The Bitdefender Box concept is very smart. It works in a similar manner to a hardware firewall in preventing unauthorized access without inhibiting your outbound traffic. It also provides anti-malware and antivirus protection via the cloud. You can install the app on your tablets, laptops, and smartphones giving them protection even when connected to the shadiest Wi-Fi hotspots. The admission price is $199 plus $99 an annual subscription (applicable after one year).

10. SMART kapp Whiteboard
The Kapp IQ allows the user to draw on it—although what has set the device apart from the standard whiteboard is the ability of saving a snapshot of your drawing for further review. The device measures 33.675-50.75-4.75 inches and weighs at 107 pounds. Both 75 and 84-inch model are in the works. More significantly, anybody can interact with this device and it can connect up with 250 users simultaneously, using an Android device or NFC-enabled iOS. The Kapp IQ is retailing at $4000 while the enterprise version is available for $5000 in a 65-inch model.

11. SenseHUD
The gadget sits on your vehicle dashboard, projecting the screen of your smartphone onto its own electrochromic glass pane. SenseHUD glass will pick up the messaging, route guidance, and the speedometer making it visible to you as you drive. A major strength of the device is the price. Maker SenseDriver recently launched its limited preorder initiative, giving the device at $99. The final price will be determined later.

12. Vysk QS1
Manufactured by Vysk, the case enhances your privacy through a hardware solution inbuilt design. It is available for use with Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5, iPhone 5 or 5S. The Vysk QS1case enables you to encrypt photos and texts, and make your private VoIP calls via microphones that are inbuilt and a proprietary Vysk encryption processor. The QS1 can be ordered from Vysk since May 2015 at $229.

Conclusion
Creative people have a strong affinity to their trade tools. As you can see from the above 12 leading devices, when it comes to the latest technology, there is an abundance of new and innovative new office gadgets on the market which are definitely guaranteed to make you as a professional happy and more productive. You are indeed spoiled for choice. It’s up to you to decide what device best suits your specific office requirements. 

Matthew Young

About the Author:  Matthew Young is a freelance tech journalist and blogger hailing from Boston. He is passionate about new, emerging tech in the industry. When Matthew is not busy writing about awesome new technology, he usually spends time fiddling with his camera and learning a thing or two about photography. You can reach Matthew on Twitter @mattbeardyoung!

Welcome to the Future: The web as the platform

You may not need to upgrade to Windows 10

I have long waited for the day that the platform I use would be primarily the internet browser. Years ago, I installed a Linux based desktop distribution and stripped out much of the software aside from Firefox. This was when Google Docs had yet to become Google Drive and Google’s Chrome browser was in very infantile stages. It sort of worked. There was not much for web based services for video editing, software development, or photo management the way there is today, but I did not really expect it to fulfill all my needs at the time. I just wanted to see how far we had to go. I ended up using it as my baseline, adding software as I needed it after the browser when nothing available through the web sufficed.

Today things are quite different. I have been using a Chromebook for about a year now and I have not found that I need to go back to a full desktop for anything that I use a computer for on a personal level. Those three things I mentioned above are now taken care of through web based applications. I do all of my writing on Google Drive. I use a service called Codeanywhere for coding. I use WeVideo to edit together video clips. And Google Photos works great for photo management and editing for me. If I do need access to a desktop computer, I have a headless Mac mini sitting in my living room that takes care of some automated tasks. I can use remote desktop to get at it, but I have not used it for anything that I couldn’t do with Chrome OS. Maybe someday I would put a Chromebox in it’s place, but the Mac is doing the job fine right now.

The reason I have been so excited for the web to be operating system rather than merely another application on your main operating system (Windows, OS X, Linux, etc.) is because every platform has a portal to the web. At this point it makes more sense to build a web app before any platform specific app. In fact, a lot of the apps that can be attained from the various app stores of the modern mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and others) are little more than a native app wrapper around code that runs in a web browser. This does not always mean that the device needs to be connected to the web for the app to function. Many offline apps are built using web browser technologies as the core. Many websites can be placed on the homescreen of your device and be indistinguishable from an app store app to the untrained eye, even without going through the app store. I like this idea since I do not believe that any app store curator be it Apple, Google, Microsoft, or whoever, should be the czar to the digital media we enjoy.

Another positive reason to celebrate the web as a platform from a developer’s perspective is that an app hosted on the web can feature the ultimate piracy protection. Using a system that the user has to log into and pay if they want to continue to get certain features means that there is no way that a pirate can use your software without paying. Now I do believe that users should be allowed to try before paying, and I think that is one of the main lessons we have to learn from the state of piracy today. However, individual developers are free to try other models.

Problems with the web as a platform at this point are mainly the complexities. Most people are used to the world of software being something installed locally. Though web apps can be installed locally, most do not require it. The expectation is that you will likely be online when accessing these services. Many people are not comfortable with this. I can use Google Drive offline to some extent, but I cannot edit video from within a tunnel on the Metro. I think that some of the heavier web apps will evolve to work offline, but our connectivity will also evolve to a point where we will not be offline ever. It may still be a while, but even as I write this I am hardly ever away from access to the internet. I almost have to go out of my way to make it so that I am totally outside the boundaries of an internet signal. I went to a cave on my recent vacation and they had wifi hotspots in there. Seventeen hundred feet underground and I still could not escape internet access. Even with my example of the Metro train, I would not be surprised to see wifi installed in the near future. And if not, do I really need to be doing heavy web applications from within a Metro tunnel?

So the web is the platform. Some people are currently stuck using a more fully featured version of Microsoft Office or Photoshop, but I think it is silly to think that every feature of those software packages would not be available through a web app one day. I think someday soon native software will be dwarfed by what is available as a web app.

Kirk Aug

Kirk has settled into his virtual cubicle at SeedSing. He is curious if future space tourism will have good wifi coverage. Follow him on twitter @kirkaug.

Welcome to the Future: Wearables Part 1

This watch must be smart. It knows how to tell time with Roman Numerals

Let me tell you about my watch.

In January of 2015 I purchased a Microsoft Band. I had been going to the local Microsoft store every Sunday afternoon to inquire if they had any Bands in stock. One day I got lucky, someone had returned a gift and there was a medium Band ready for my wrist.

Why would I want a Microsoft Band you ask (or you ask what is a Microsoft Band)? Well I am one of the few people on this planet with a Windows phone. I was with Blackberry for many years and I felt that Microsoft would fill my business needs when Blackberry became obsolete. I may have been wrong, but I do love Microsoft's mobile platform. The Band was a great device, with Cortana integration for Windows phone. That is the only additional benefit with a Band and a Windows Phone. All other features are available to any one with an Andriod or IPhone. Even if I did not have the Windows Phone, there was an excellent chance I would have purchased the Band just on the features alone.

I had been eyeing a Pebble smartwatch for some time but could never take the plunge (I know there is no Pebble app for the Windows Phone, but there are always ways around that problem). The price did not reflect everything I was looking for in a wrist wearable. I wanted my texts, e-mails, notifications, and some fitness tracking. I also felt that the Pebble looked kind of cheap. Do not get me wrong, it is a grand piece of technology, the aesthetics were just off. I was not looking for a computer on my wrist, I was never going to take phone calls from my wrist, and I was not about to use a watch as a camera. My choice of phone and time were conspiring against my simple wishes.

In late October of 2014 Microsoft unveiled the Band, with little fanfare. It was exciting for me, because I knew this wearable would be compatible with my very personal choice of phone os. The Band had all the features I wanted. E-mail / text / notifications sent to my wrist, steps counted, sleep tracking, calories burned, alarms, calendar, and the ability to display the time of day. There were a few features I could have cared less for, like GPS (I have a phone with that function and the Band needs the phone close by), and a fairly useless keyboard for text responses. The Band was also $199.00, better than most smartwatches with similar features. There was a few things I would have liked to see. The Band being waterproof  and native music controls would have been nice. During my time with the Band I have relied more on apps like the Starbucks card and Pimp My Band (best third party app out there), and I have found myself caring less for things like sleep tracking. The positives way outweighed the negative, I was sold.

The features of the Microsoft Band (except for maybe GPS) should be with every smartwatch. I think these are the only features smartwatches need. The other area the Band excels is the size and placement of the screen. The current crop of smartwatches use a large square (or circular) screen. This makes most of the watches only able to be worn on a large (usually a mans) wrist. The Band made the screen a rectangle, and the placement is recommended to be on the bottom of your wrist. This is the way all smartwatches should work. I use the device to see my notifications. When I am cycling, or driving my car, the natural reaction I have to read my Band is to quickly look at the bottom of my wrist. It is simple, and makes the messages much easier to read. Super fancy pen and watch company Mont Blanc knows this is best way to make a smartwatch. This is where Microsoft got something right, all smartwatches should copy this design aesthetic.

The Microsoft Band is a forward thinking device. The push of basic information from your phone is what will make the smartwatch market take off. The Apple Watch seemed to miss the boat on so many things people want, plus it was laughable overpriced. The Android wear devices seem to be caught in a keeping up with a moronic Apple cycle.  The Band may not look great (I refer to it as my prison bracelet), but it's functionality more than makes up for the weird looks. Microsoft deserves to be a market leader for understanding what people want in the world of wearables, and making the price reasonable. 

Just please make the next one waterproof. I am going to forget it is on my wrist sooner or later. Thank goodness I have the warranty.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. He knows his technology choices are part of the minority. Give the other side by writing for SeedSing. 

Welcome to the future: The Babel fish lives (in electronic form)

Welcome to the Future is SeedSing's look at trends and technology that are shaping the world we will live in. Submit ideas of interesting sociological or scientific ideas that are altering our current lives to seedsing.rdk@gmail.com .

Ever since I heard of the babel fish in Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or the universal translator used in the Star Trek series, I have been thrilled with the concept. As someone who is interested in the perspectives of as many people as possible, the idea that I could communicate with anyone no matter where they are from or what linguistic background they had was very compelling.

I remember when I first became aware of Google Translate. The first thing I did was find various Spanish or German chat rooms on IRC and tried to talk to people by translating my English into their language and then translating the response back manually. As cumbersome as this was, it also gave me a feeling of exhilaration.

Playing around with translate on the internet is fun and all, but it has become a useful tool in meat world too. Last year when my partner and I went to Mexico I used it quite a lot. Not only was translate helpful, but Google Now recognized that I was in Mexico and knowing that I was natively from the US gave me an easily accessible currency conversion without my having to do anything except enter the numbers. The way technology does things like this without me even having to think about it is tearing down international borders and I am overjoyed to see it.

We still have a long way to go before we will have babel fish or Star Trek level universal translation, but the space is progressing nicely. Coupled with voice transcription technologies, we are starting to see near real time language translation. Earlier this year the Google Translate app began to have a feature which takes what a person says in one language, transcribes it to text, translates it, and says the words aloud in the target language. From what I have heard the feature is still pretty error prone, but it will only get better over time. Another feature that came with that same update is the ability to hold the camera up to some text and get a translation of that text overlaid on the camera’s image on screen. It even does a pretty decent job of matching color and font on the translated image.

Microsoft, who owns Skype, is also making huge headway in the universal translation space. Skype users can now connect with people translating between English, French, German, Italian, Mandarin, and Spanish in near real time. Google is reportedly working on similar technology for its Hangouts service.

Language barriers are definitely being broken and this is amazing. The more that people of different backgrounds can understand each other, the more compassionate we will all be toward each other. It surely is not the pervading solution to violence and hate in the world, but it will at least be helpful in the reduction of it.

Kirk Aug

Kirk is able to communicate with his SeedSing colleagues. The problem is he is seeking more insightful conversation, and that conversation may be in another language. Talk to Kirk by following him on twitter @kirkaug.