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The 5 biggest tech failures of 2012

Technology marches onward with unrelenting determination year after year. The gadgets that run our lives get cheaper, faster, and more beautiful without fail. However, that doesn’t mean that individual companies can’t pull a boner from time to time, and 2012 was no exception. Let’s take a look at the five biggest technology fails of the past year.

The HP-Autonomy deal:

Before HP ousted its consumer-hating CEO Leo Apotheker in 2011, he inked a deal to buy UK-based business services and consulting firm Autonomy for $11.1 billion. This action was undertaken with the understanding that HP was leaving the consumer market. When new CEO Meg Whitman joined the company, fresh off her loss in the California gubernatorial race, she stuck with Autonomy in 2012.

HP had employed accountants to go over Autonomy’s books, but it now seems they missed some big red flags. The deal has turned out to be a massive mistake for HP, which has recently announced it is taking an $8.8 billion writedown on the acquisition in its quarterly earnings. That means that HP believes it paid several times more for Autonomy than it was actually worth. For a company still reeling from the failure of WebOS and declines in its PC sales, this is no small bump in the road.

 

HP has claimed there is evidence of extensive fraud at Autonomy, which inflated its revenues prior to the sale. Still, if the evidence was so extensive, why did the board not realize what was happening sooner? The handling of the situation has been a disaster in its own right. Autonomy’s founder has pushed back against the allegations, but HP isn’t backing down. Whatever went wrong, HP messed this one up big time. It might take months to see how deep this rabbit hole goes.

 

The Nexus Q

 

Oh, Google. The speakers were so enthusiastic about the Nexus Q back at Google I/O 2012. The Nexus Q was a spherical set-top media streamer that connected to Android devices and played content exclusively from Google Play. It was announced alongside the Nexus 7, a small tablet that does appear to be a certifiable hit. However, the Nexus Q launch could not have gone worse for Google.

The search giant gave out free units to attendees of Google I/O, but that didn’t earn the device any good will — it was widely panned for lacking in functionality. No Netflix, no Hulu, and no NAS access? The Nexus Q was proudly made in the USA, and the pricing showed it. Google took pre-orders at $299, which was far higher than competing set-top boxes.

 

As the terrible reviews rolled in, Google reconsidered its strategy. Google said it was re-tooling the Nexus Q after getting feedback from reviewers and developers. Those brave few who pre-ordered the Nexus Q got theirs for free. However, the device never showed up for sale again, and now even the placeholder has been pulled as the new round of Nexus devices have rolled out.

 

The Nexus Q was a bold move, but it you have to wonder why Google announced it. Why didn’t anyone stop and ask who the Nexus Q was supposed to be for?

 

Apple Maps

The folks at Apple have a reputation for user-friendly design and careful incremental changes. That’s why the buggy mess that is Apple Maps has been such a surprise. Google had been providing the mapping data for iOS since the first iPhone launched back in 2007, but the increasingly adversarial relationship between the two companies eventually sent Cupertino off on a quest to do its own maps. This turns out to have been a mistake.

 

Apple bought several companies to bolster its mapping efforts, but the end result was just not very good. Users found a myriad of issues with the software including missing addresses, no public transit info, corrupted satellite data, entire cities missing or in the wrong place, and buggy navigation. There have even been reports recently that several dozen Australian iPhone users have been led dangerously astray by their phones, which incorrectly placed a city in the middle of a remote wilderness park.

 

Things got so bad in September that Apple CEO Tim Cook had to issue an apology for the fiasco and advised users to take a look at some alternative mapping apps while Apple sorted out the issues. This by itself is unprecedented. Apple’s mobile software chief Scott Forstall, and iOS Maps manager Richard Williamson have both been fired in the wake of the debacle.

 

Google released a new Google Maps app on iOS late in 2012. It quickly became the most downloaded free app in the App Store. How’s that humble pie tasting, Apple?

Microsoft’s “Metro” problems

 

Microsoft always seems to be walking back its naming schemes. Remember Windows Phone 7 Series? The Surface switcheroo? Windows/MSN Live/Mesh Skydrive? Redmond’s 2012 failure was with its prevalent Metro branding. Windows 8 brings the Metro UI and apps to the desktop, but now we don’t even know what to call it. Despite having a cadre of lawyers on retainer all over the world, no one seemed to notice that “Metro” was trademarked by someone else. Numerous reports point to a trademark challenge by Germany-based Metro AG. Now Metro has been replaced by — well, nothing really.

 

 

The company has been adamant that Metro was never supposed to be a consumer-facing term, but it was fairly prominent going all the way back to the launch of Windows Phone 7. So now developers can’t use the term, and Microsoft has been slow to come up with a reasonable alternative. This situation confuses the conversation because Windows 8 runs both “Metro” apps and regular Windows apps. The best option seems to be “Windows 8 style,” but that’s pretty awkward.

 

The embarrassment might have been lessened if Microsoft hadn’t pushed Metro to the forefront in Windows 8 with such insistence. The Desktop has been demoted to be “just another app.” Metro (or whatever they’re calling it) might make sense on a tablet, but users with a mouse are feeling perplexed. It may even be because of this mess that Windows boss Steven Sinofsky was fired.

 

Windows 8 didn’t get the big activation bump seen in the last release, and this despite having rock-bottom pricing. It’s been a lukewarm reception for Microsoft’s new OS, and that’s largely due to the Metro UI. It might be the right move down the road, but it’s a tough sell now.

 

RIM’s lost year

 2012 started on an upbeat note for Canadian smartphone pioneer Research in Motion (RIM). The old co-CEOs were gone and Thorsten Heins was newly at the helm. What followed was a year in which the only way RIM seemed to be able to make news was to announce that it had lost more money. And it did — a lot of it.

 The light at the end of the tunnel was expected to be BlackBerry 10. Finally RIM would catch up with the competition and gets its mobile platform modernized. However, each quarterly report brought news of more delays. Rather than launching in 2012 as originally intended, BlackBerry 10 has been pushed to early 2013. Even the company’s preferred narrative that BlackBerry is still wildly popular overseas is looking less plausible. RIM had to cut several thousand jobs last summer, and recent news hasn’t been encouraging either. Its revenue as reported in December is down 47% from last year, and it saw the first overall subscriber decrease in its history. RIM can’t afford another year like 2012.

 

I’m sure these technology behemoths didn’t go into 2012 expecting to stumble like they did. For some these snafus are just a momentary spot of embarrassment in an otherwise great year. For others, it’s a sign of major problems going forward. Here’s to a more productive 2013.

Apple posts 'apology' to Samsung on U.K. website!!

As required by a U.K. court, Apple has posted a notice on its website that says Samsung did not copy Cupertino with its Galaxy lineup of tablets and smartphones. Well, sort of.
In the notice, accessible via the "Samsung/Apple UK judgement" link on apple.co.uk, Apple acknowledges that the High Court of Justice of England and Wales found that that Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe on Apple's design patent for the iPad.

But those hoping for a mea culpa from Cupertino shouldn't hold their breath. Apple goes on to toot its own horn and highlight the parts of the judge's ruling that criticize Samsung's tablets - particularly that bit about how the Galaxy Tab lineup is "not as cool" as the iPad.

"The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking," the judge wrote. The Galaxy Tabs, though, "do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design."

Apple concludes by pointing out that judges in Germany and the U.S. have ruled in Apple's favor on patent infringement cases involving Samsung.

Apple did not pen this note out the goodness of its heart, of course. In July, Judge Colin Birss of the High Court ordered Apple to post a note on its website and publish an ad in magazines and newspapers to say that Samsung did not rip off Apple when it designed its tablets. Not surprisingly, Apple was not pleased and appealed the decision, so its public apology was delayed. But the U.K.'s Court of Appeals last week upheld the lower court's decision. Apple has apparently decided not to take the issue to the U.K. Supreme Court, and posted the notice.

The full notice is below. Also check out PCMag's roundup of Apple's Most Notable Apologies.

Samsung / Apple UK judgment

On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic (UK) Limited's Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple's registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the High court is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.

In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:

"The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It is an understated, smooth and simple product. It is a cool design."

"The informed user's overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool."

That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal's judgment is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the registered design in force anywhere in Europe.

However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple's design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple's far more popular iPad.

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Apple iOS 6 update starts rolling out globally!!

There is good news for all those who own Apple iOS devices. iOS 6, the highly anticipated update to the mobile and tablet platform has officially started rolling out as of last night.
Unfortunately, the release of the new OS didn’t go as smoothly as one would have hoped. Early iOS 6 adopters have been reporting that after updating their devices and connecting to Wi-Fi, Safari would launch on its own to verify whether the user was using a Paywalled Wi-Fi connection or not. What this led to, was Safari not being able to load the verification page at all, leaving hundreds, if not thousands, of users without the ability to connect to their own Wi-Fi networks. However, Apple has issued a fix for this problem on their end and users should be able to go ahead and connect to their Wi-Fi networks without any hiccups.

iOS 6 is said to include over 200 updates and additions that supposedly make the iOS devices far more pleasurable and convenient to use. Of those new features, the key updates to look out for are:

Facebook integration
Shared Photostream
Do Not Disturb
Google Maps replaced with Apple Maps
Turn-by-turn navigation
Call handling updated
Better Siri functionality and integration
No native Youtube App
We are still in the process of running our iPhone with iOS 6 through intense use to see if there is any change in battery performance, so we will update on that front at a later point. You can read our hands-on with the new OS here and see which of the features will be supported, given that we are in India. For starters, there is no turn-by-turn voice navigation when using GPS.

iOS 6 can be downloaded via iTunes (connect your device and clicking “check for updates”) or by the software update option that can be found on your device (Settings > General > Software Update). If the official route doesn’t work for you (like it didn’t for us initially), you can download the IPSW file for your respective device directly from the Apple website using the links below:

iPad 2 CDMA
iPad 2 GSM
iPad 2 Wi-Fi only
iPad 3 CDMA
iPad 3 GSM
iPad 3 Wi-Fi only
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4 CDMA
iPhone 4 GSM
iPhone 4S (UNIFIED RECEIVER, SO NO GSM OR CDMA)
iPod Touch G
As a word of caution, we recommend ALWAYS taking a full backup of your device before updating the firmware on your iOS device. Once iOS 6 is installed, you can then proceed to restore from backup, ensuring that all your information is intact.
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Have you already installed iOS 6 on your iOS device? What do you think of the new OS? Let us know in the comments section below:

Apple iPhone 5 versus competing flagship smartphones!

Last night Apple unveiled to the world their sixth generation smartphone, the iPhone 5. The device was pretty much a culmination of all the rumours that have been doing the rounds since January and the launch felt like a really bad kept secret.

Nonetheless, the iPhone 5 has received some good first impressions from the people who got hands-on time with the device at the launch event.

Today’s flagship smartphones are not only about the looks and style but also about the power under their hood and what new they bring to the table in terms of their features and performance. So here we take a quick look at the specifications and the USPs of the iPhone 5 versus other flagship smartphones – the HTC One X, Samsung Galaxy S III, LG Optimus 4X HD and the Nokia Lumia 920.

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iPhone 5 to feature a Nano SIM tray?

iPhone 5 to feature a Nano SIM tray?

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