Facebook’s Home On Android Could Give You A Sixth Sense For Your Social Life

Constant, close contact with your friends. That’s the promise of a “Facebook phone.” The modified Android OS and mobile homescreen replacement that sources tell us Facebook will unveil April 4th pushes your social life to you so fetching it isn’t interruptive. The news feed brought us ambient intimacy, but Facebook’s homescreen could turn that social graph awareness into a sixth sense.

While it only takes a quarter of a minute each time, reaching for your phone, waking it from sleep, firing up the Facebook app, and loading your latest notifications does pull you out of the present. Checking the news feed for the latest photos and stories from your friends is a conscious decision. You’re either living your life or reading Facebook. The social network would surely prefer those to be one and the same.

If that data automatically fed right into your homescreen, every time you opened your phone you’d be instantly up to date on conversations with friends and get a peek into their lives. And if Facebook can pipe this content into the lock screen, it’d be even more immersive, like a true heads-up display. It’s a deeper way to plug in, where the shell disappears and you gain a more visceral connection to the people you care about.

This is the purpose of what Facebook plans to launch next week, which my sources got me the scoop on right when the big press event was announced yesterday. It’s a Facebook-ified homescreen that will be shown off on an HTC handset running a version of Android modified by Facebook, similar to what Amazon did to create the Kindle operating system.

Making Facebook an indigenous resident of your phone’s homescreen could accelerate your social life. It might reduce the time it takes you to respond to messages or continue a comment thread. If a friend is down the street, Facebook could have a better chance of advising you to join them. Giving Facebook a way to tell you more directly about what’s going on in your immediate vicinity could be important as it focuses more on local discovery.

If this all seems like Facebook overload to you, you probably won’t buy the HTC phone just to sport this new homescreen. In the past, salesand surveys of sentiments about a Facebook-integrated handset have shown little demand of a ‘Facebook Phone’ with a capital P.

But if it didn’t interfere with or detract from your other apps and overall smartphone experience, but just augmented it with live social info, a ‘Facebook phone’ with a lowercase ‘p’ and its social homescreen could become something you wouldn’t mind having. Maybe it wouldn’t be a priority when buying a handset, but “Facebook Home-enabled” could be another feature in a device’s “Pros” column. And if Facebook made a more basic version of the homescreen replacement available as a traditional app download for all Android phones, I think a fair amount of hardcore social networkers would install it.

After  all, it would put you on the cutting edge of Facebook’s technology. Similar to how Facebook uses its standalone apps like Messenger and its new Android beta club to field test new features with a set of guinea pig early adopters, Facebook Home could let people experience the next wave of social before it trickles down to iOS and the rest of the world.

That, combined with the immersive, non-interruptive experience I describe above are why I see Facebook’s new “Home On Android” as its version of the iWatch or Google Glass. It might not appeal to everyone just yet, but some will want to experience Facebook’s vision for the future of friendship.

Two unlikely PC makers emerge: Google, Microsoft

Here's a disruptive technology trend: Google and Microsoft as makers of personal computers.

If I had tried to predict in 2010 that these two companies would make branded PCs -- using PC in the generic sense -- I can imagine the response.

"You're an idiot" (and the usual variations I get on that theme) come to mind. But more-thoughtful readers, I'm guessing, would have made the logical argument that Microsoft would piss off its customers and destroy its business model. And Google? Why in the world would Google make a laptop?

Well, it's 2013 and we have the Surface Pro -- which Panos Panay, the Microsoft executive in charge of Surface, has said was "designed as a PC" -- and the Google Chromebook Pixel, which is clearly a laptop.

Who knows how all of this is going to shake out, but we do know that Microsoft is not going away and, in fact, will expand its Surface lineup. And I don't think the Pixel is a one-time deal. (I hope not, because I intend to buy the next iteration.)

So, how does this disrupt things? Here are a few thoughts. 

• The decline of the PC OEM: PC makers like Samsung and Acer will look elsewhere (Android). Yeah, they'll still make PCs, but the writing is on the wall: this isn't your father's PC industry. 
• Vertical computer companies: Apple's success as a hardware and software designer is well known, aka, vertical integration of design. That is, all aspects of hardware and software design of the iPad and MacBook are controlled by Apple. Now add Microsoft and Google to that list. 
• Rise of Microsoft: Microsoft doesn't have to do a whole lot to rise as a PC maker, since it's starting from zero. My opinion is that its mere presence makes all the difference. Surface influences how Microsoft designs its software. To wit, Windows 8. That affects all PC users. 
• Google's Pixel: Google is doing more or less the same thing. It's using a killer laptop design to bring attention to Chrome. It's certainly got my attention. Chrome as an operating environment is very niche right now, but I can see it catching on as Google finesses and improves the experience and more reviewers realize that you don't need a traditional OS like Windows or OS X.

That just scrapes the surface (pun not intended). I'm sure readers can think of a lot more disruptive outcomes with these two giant companies making devices.

Microsoft Surface.

LG Is Also Said To Be Building A Smartwatch And Google Glass Competitor, As Is Everyone

If you’re looking for a smartwatch in the next few years, you likely won’t want for choice. A new report pegs LG as developing its own take on the new category, according to The Korea Times on Friday. LG is supposedly working on a smartwatch as well as a product “similar to Internet giant’s Google Glass,” according to the paper’s sources, as part of a strategy to remain competitive long-term.

The LG smartwatch is in development alongside the Glass-like product as a “non-commercialized” R&D project, which essentially means it isn’t ready to ship. LG, like Samsung and a number of other handset makers, is no stranger to combining mobile phone technology with watch-based designs. The LG-GD910, for instance, was demoed at CES 2009 and featured a touchscreen and built-in 3G.

LG joins Samsung (which confirmed earlier this week that it was working on a smartwatch), Apple (which hasn’t confirmed anything, but which is reported to be working on it from various sources), and now Google (a new FT report claims it’s in on the action just this morning) as companies reportedly developing smartwatches. And of course Sony already actually shipped one, plus there are offerings available from Pebble and MetaWatch, among others.

In short, everyone has or is working on a smartwatch. And while the list is shorter for Google Glass, at this “non-commercialized” stage described in the Korea Times report today, you can bet your britches everyone else is working on that, too. We’ve already seen rumors about Microsoft, Sony andApple developing Glass-type devices too, and now LG adds to that list.

The thing is this: if you’re a major electronics manufacturer, and at this point you haven’t assigned at least one guy with a lab coat or an engineering degree to look into both wrist- and head-mounted wearable tech, you’re already out of touch. For better or for worse, these wearables are happening, and at this point I’m more surprised not to hear that a company is working on those areas. I’m looking at you HTC and BlackBerry: where are your reports of clandestine research projects? This doesn’t count:

Rovio Opens Angry Birds Space Encounter Exhibit After Announcing Global Theme Park Plans

with the introduction of the first Angry Birds interactive attraction, as the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is opening an Angry Birds Space Encounter Exhibit.

The whole thing measures up to 4,500 square feet of pure Angry Birds wonder. Six stations are set up to let visitors interact with Angry Birds space-related activities and games. This is part of a slow build into Angry Birds-themed consumer attractions for Rovio, who has gone from a mobile game maker to merchandise phenom, with a newly released animated cartoon series being distributed through the games themselves.

The Finnish company has beat out Ikea in a contest for a 12.9 acre plot of land in Espoo, Finland, with which it plans to build new offices and a family fun theme park, reports the WSJ.

Rovio also mentioned that it had plans to develop a concept for this type of “family entertainment center” which could be used for a global network of Angry Birds theme parks.

“We’re in the process of developing a concept for a family entertainment center that could be replicated around the world,” EVP of Corporate development Mikko Setala told the WSJ. “Concept development should be completed this spring.”

Alas, spring has sprung and the Angry Birds Space Encounter has opened up in Florida’s Kennedy Space Station. Is this the early concept for the forthcoming Angry Birds theme parks’ space-related branch? There’s no telling until Rovio gets the show on the road, but the timing sure matches up nicely with Setala’s remarks.

Guests of the exhibit can create customized Angry Birds and print it to take home. There are also games like an “Eggsteroid” slingshot contest and a “Cold Cuts Tile Puzzle”, which lets users slide around puzzle pieces to find their favorite Angry Birds characters.

The exhibit is open now to the public at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Image Credit: Joe Cascio, Delaware North

HTC Will Start Being More Vocal About Its Brilliance, Confirms Camera Supply Is Behind HTC One Delay

HTC has revealed that it will finally drop the frankly stupid “Quietly Brilliant” tagline it has been using for the past few years, the WSJ reports, with company marketing chief Benjamin Ho saying they “haven’t been loud enough” with marketing to date. The first fruits of that change in strategy are already apparent, with HTC handing out snacks at the Galaxy S4 launch event in NYC, and the use of the hashtag #theNextBigFlop to directly take down the S4 on Twitter.

Ho also explained in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that supply shortage, specifically involving camera components (which are unique to the HTC One and use a new “Ultrapixel” layered sensor technology), is what’s behind the continued delay in launching the HTC One in the U.S. That’s acting as a choke point preventing the speedy ramp up of production, Ho told the WSJ.

While HTC is being more vocal in terms of both being aggressive with the competition and its products, and with informing the public about the real reason behind its slow global rollout of the flagship HTC One device, it has a lot of ground to make up. Q4 sales were down 41 percent year over year, and recently, HTC CEO Peter Chou said recently he’ll resign if the One fails to succeed with consumers.

The Taiwanese company will also be dumping funds into marketing, meaning that this change from the “Quiet” company of old isn’t just about optics. Ho said in the WSJ interview that it will be increasing its digital marketing spend by 250 percent this year compared with last, and that print and traditional media ads will get a 100 percent budget bump in 2013.

It’s unclear how much of that budget will be dedicated to smack talk, but HTC is already actively banging that drum. In addition to the Twitter campaign mentioned above, there’s also recent comments made by HTC North America President Mike Woodward, who told Business Insider that his company was “pleased to see no innovation in the design itself” with the S4, noting that he thought “Samsung is trying to overwhelm us with money and marketing.” In the interview he noted that while HTC couldn’t match the Samsung marketing giant in terms of available cash, it will amp up its efforts.

HTC doesn’t need to spend a lot of money, but it does need to stop pretending that making good hardware and then sitting back and being mostly quiet about it is the way to compete in the smartphone game. Luckily, it looks like the company has finally realized that too. Now it just needs to ship.

Presefy Lets You Control Presentations With Your Phone, No Software Required

Here’s how it works:

• You create an account at Presefy, then upload your presentation from your computer.
• You head on over to Presefy on your phone, log in, and hit the “Play” button next to whichever presentation you’re trying to show
• You point any computer attached to any display to your channel’s unique URL (e.ghttp://www.presefy.com/gregkumparak). The presentation pops up on screen immediately
• You swipe from slide to slide right from the web interface on your phone, and the onscreen slides react accordingly.

Oh, and another cool trick: since it’s all being pushed over the web anyway, you can have just about as many people viewing the presentation on their own laptops as you want. No more straining to see what the slide says just because the dude who made it decided to put all of his bulletpoints in 8 pt. Comic Sans. College professors can give lectures without the folks in the back needing binoculars.

Presefy is currently free, though the team is working on a Pro plan with features like password-protected presentations, downloadable presentations, and the ability for viewers to go between slides without screwing with the main display. The service only plays friendly with Powerpoints and PDFs at the moment (folks on Keynote will have to export to something else), but the team says other formats are coming soon.

The one catch: since this is all done through the browser, you’ll want to make sure the venue you’re presenting at has solid connectivity. In a college classroom or a meeting room at your favorite VC’s office? Sure. At a tech conference with 5,000 people all chorking up the connection? This might not the best solution.

Plantbook Laptop Concept

A highly futuristic concept of a laptop that bases it’s charging system in the same water-soaking abilities of the bamboo by the designers Seunggi Baek and Hyerim Kim. The Plantbook system uses an external water tank, hence the Plantbook continuously absorbs water when soaking it in water and generates electrolysis using power stored in a solar heat plate installed on the top. In this process, it is operated using hydrogen as energy source and discharges oxygen. If you put it into a water bottle while you don’t use the laptop, it automatically charges a battery and discharges oxygen