My Appearance on WGST's "The Sully Show" 7/25/14 Talking Tech and BB&T Atlanta Open

Current tech topics  -  

Rick is working the BB&T Atlanta Open tennis tourney at Atlantic Station this week.. featuring some of the best men's tennis players in the world.

Have a listen:

listen to ‘The Sully Show July 25, 2014’ on Audioboo

Apple iPad Sales are a little Shaky

Apple sold only 13.2 million new tablets, down from 14.6 million a year earlier. This comes on the heels of a disappointing quarter this spring. “IPad sales met our expectations, but we realize they didn’t meet many of yours,” Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook told investors, blaming inventory issues and softness in the U.S. and European markets. He said that the most important thing to Apple was that iPad users were enjoying them and using them a lot.

In the call with investors, Cook focused on the enterprise market. Apple has a big proportion of that market, but Apple isn’t satisfied with how many businesses are adopting tablets. He says that a recent deal with IBM to create better enterprise apps will help speed that process up. “I just think we have to do some more things to get the business side of it moving in a faster trajectory,” he said. “I think we’re now onto something that can really do that.”

The overall tablet market has been shaky, and many people think it’s because smartphones with more powerful processors and bigger, better screens make them seem less necessary. Whenever Apple does release its new iPhones, they will likely be both bigger and more powerful than the iPhone 5S. That’s likely to be good news for Apple as it tries to claw market share back from Samsung. It could also be bad news for the iPad, as it tries to sell iPads to people with big phones in their pockets. But Apple has never been shy of cannibalizing its own products, so the iPad’s loss could be the company’s gain.

With a Apple smartwatch potentially coming, what does that mean for Apple and Apple fanboys?

Dealing With 'Advertising Pollution'

How do you like going to a website and then you have to watch a 25 second video before you can read the article?

Everyone gets that advertising is what powers the internet, and that our favorite sites wouldn't exist without it," writes longtime ad guy Ken Segall in The Relentless (and annoying) Pursuit of Eyeballs.

"Unfortunately, for some this is simply license to abuse. Let's call it what it is: advertising pollution."

CNN's in-your-face, your-video-will-play-in-00:25-seconds approach, once unthinkable, has become the norm. "Google," Segall adds, "is a leader in advertising pollution, with YouTube being a showcase for intrusive advertising. Many YouTube videos start with a mandatory ad, others start with an ad that can be dismissed only after the first 10 seconds. Even more annoying are the ad overlays that actually appear on top of the video you're trying to watch. It won't go away until you click the X. If you want to see the entire video unobstructed, you must drag the playhead back to start over. Annoying. And disrespectful, but they find it effective.

Japan To Offer $20,000 Subsidy For Fuel-Cell Cars

One of the barriers to entry for those looking to get a more eco-friendly car is price.

Would you be more willing to get a eco-friendly car if you were able to take advantage of a subsidy.
Toyota is on track to launch the first consumer fuel-cell car in Japan next year, and the country's Prime Minister says the government wants to assist the new alternative to gas-driven vehicles. Shinzo Abe announced that Japan will offer subsidies of almost $20,000 for fuel cell cars, which will decrease the Toyota model's cost by about 28%. He said, "This is the car of a new era because it doesn't emit any carbon dioxide and it's environmentally friendly. The government needs to support this. Honda is also planning to release a fuel-cell car next year.

Australian Website Waits Three Years To Inform Customers of Data Breach

Companies should be forced to tell consumers when their is a data breach.

Australian daily deals website "Catch of the Day" waited three years to tell its customers their email addresses, delivery addresses, hashed passwords, and some credit card details had been stolen. Its systems were breached in April 2011 and the company told police, banks and credit cards issuers, but didn't tell the Privacy Commissioner or customers until July 18th.

Pricetag on the new 105-inch Samsung TV - $120,000

An Ultra-HD TV

If you do buy this set, you'll get the white-glove treatment from a Samsung field engineer, who'll come to your home, explain the TV's features, help you optimize it for your viewing environment, and, presumably, whip up the first batch of popcorn.

Other than its ginormous size, the TV has a few unique features, including a curved screen with a 21x9 aspect ratio and 5120x2160 resolution to accommodate the extra screen width. These 21:9 TVs are likely to appeal to movie buffs, as they let you watch the many Blu-ray movies that are shot in the wider 2.35:1 or 2.39:1 aspect ratios without "letterboxing"—having black bars appear above and below the image.

That also means that regular 16:9 high-def programs, such as those from cable or satellite TV service providers, appear as "pillar boxed" images, with black bars appearing on either side. But thanks to Samsung’s Quad Screen Multi-Link feature, you can divide the screen into four quadrants so you can watch live TV, stream video and access the Web, all at once.