Sony’s SmartWatch 2 Versus Samsung’s Galaxy Gear

Sony’s new smartwatch, which is actually named the SmartWatch 2, has been a known quantity since its official announcement in June at the Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai, and now the Samsung Galaxy Gear has been itemized by its creators in Berlin at IFA. Meaning it’s time for the two to square off in our blogger arena of champions for a spec and feature showdown.

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SONY SMARTWATCH SPECS

• 1.6-inch, 220×176 display
• Aluminum body
• Micro USB charging
• Compatible with most Android phones
• NFC and Bluetooth 3.0 for connectivity
• 3 to 4 days battery under normal use
• €199 ($262 U.S), Ships in late September
• No camera, mic or speakers

SAMSUNG GALAXY GEAR SPECS

• 1.63-inch, 320×320 display
• Stainless steel body
• Snap-on, proprietary USB 3.0 charger
• 800MHz Exynos single-core processor
• Bluetooth 4.0 LE
• Compatible with new Galaxy devices, previous gen Galaxy support coming soon
• Around 1 day of use
• 4GB of onboard storage
• $299
• Ships in September (October for U.S.)
• 1.9 megapixel camera, 720p video recording, speaker + 2 mics
• Gyroscope and accelerometer for workout tracking

The SmartWatch 2 isn’t cheap at €199; in fact, it’s the same price as the newly-reduced 8GB Nexus 4 model. Samsung’s is $299 and much more full-featured, with Samsung managing to pack a whole host of A/V equipment in its device. It also runs a number of Android apps out of the box, which have been redesigned specifically for the watch.

SmartWatch 2 does have NFC for easy pairing with Android devices that support it, as well as more battery life, a better, higher resolution screen, and water/environment resistance that should keep your device protected from general grit and submersion at 3 feet for up to 30 minutes. Sony’s also doing a big push for bringing third-party apps to the SmartWatch software platform, which could help narrow the gap there.

Overall though, as you can see from the list of specs above, there’s not really much of a competition between the two devices in terms of features; but Sony’s SmartWatch 2 has an edge in battery life owing to its much more narrow feature set, and it offers wider support for other Android devices out of the box.

These are two very different definitions of the term “smartwatch,” with the more ambitious vision coming from Samsung. Aside from the steep requirement of apparent (temporary?) platform lock-in, I’m definitely much more intrigued by the Gear, but I also suspect both devices will find a mostly limited receptive audience among consumers.

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Samsung Unveils Galaxy Gear Smartwatch

BERLIN — Samsung Electronics unveiled on Wednesday its highly anticipated digital wristwatch that can snap photos, track workouts and use an array of apps — gadgetry that the company hopes will catapult it into a market of smart portable devices that leave cellphones in users’ pockets.

Named the Samsung Galaxy Gear, the so-called smartwatch will join Google Glass as the latest example of wearable technology. The watch is synced to a cellphone, allowing users to answer calls and receive text messages from their wrists. The timing of the release could also give Samsung a leg up over Apple, which has yet to unveil a similar device but has long been rumored to be working on one.

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At a much-hyped unveiling ceremony ahead of Berlin’s Internationale Funkausstellung, one of the world’s largest trade shows for consumer electronics, Samsung’s head of mobile communications, J.K. Shin, introduced the new device by pretending to receive a text message on stage.

“Don’t forget to mention Android,” Mr. Shin’s message read.

He then raised his left arm, exposing the watch to applause from both the Berlin crowd and people in Times Square in New York, who were patched into the event via video stream. Like other smartphones and tablets Samsung produces, Gear runs on Google’s Android operating system.

From the Gear’s small screen, which measures 1.63 inches diagonally, users can also receive e-mails, share pictures and use myriad apps designed for Gear. It does not, however, function as a stand-alone device and must be paired with a Samsung phone or tablet.

Pranav Mistry, the head of research at Samsung Research America, said the watch was “packed with technologies from the next decade.”

The watch has a rubbery wristband in which a small 1.9-megapixel camera is embedded. Its display surface has stainless steel bezels with four visible screws in each corner.

The watch is activated by pressing a button on the outer right side of the display or aiming the wristband lens at an object. A gentle swipe downward quickly turns on the camera, a feature Samsung calls the “Memographer.”

“This is a feature that changes the way we interact, the way we express and the way we capture,” Mr. Mistry said.

From the home screen, swiping upward brings up a number pad where a user can make a call. Because a gyroscope and accelerometer detect the Gear’s movement, a user can answer incoming calls by lifting his wrist to his ear.

“We have uniquely positioned the speakers and microphones so you can talk as you would on a regular phone,” Mr. Mistry said.

The Gear is set to be released worldwide next month, although neither Mr. Shin nor Mr. Mistry gave a date. Also under wraps was the cost, something many believe could be a determining factor in whether the next-generation technology hits home with consumers who have historically been reluctant to adopt such “wearables of tomorrow,” as Mr. Mistry called the Gear.

Samsung, which overtook Apple last year as the world’s largest producer of smartphones, got into the watch business in 1999 with a model that consumers shunned.

Galaxy Gear has 512 megabytes of RAM and an internal memory of four gigabytes. It has an 800-megahertz, single-core central processing unit and weighs 73.8 grams. Available colors include lime green, oatmeal beige, wild orange, mocha gray, jet black and rose gold.

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The Man is Turning on a Light with his Thoughts

The man in the picture is turning on a light with his thoughts. Depending on how you look at it, this is an interesting technology trick, a possible aid to paraplegics or another way that the virtual and physical worlds are becoming indistinguishable.

The device is a combination of Google Glass and a commercially available electroencephalograph, or EEG, which reads brain activity by monitoring electrical impulses on the scalp. Its wearer is Andrew Krage, a co-founder and senior architect at Daqri, a company in Los Angeles that works mostly in computer vision.

Daqri has built other EEG-based software, including an iPad app that measures concentration. Turn the device’s camera onto a special diagram laid on a flat surface and see how far a subject can “levitate” off of the paper a series of images that are superimposed on the iPad screen. It is used by makers of sensitive instruments, like satellites, to ensure that workers are sharp before they undertake delicate tasks.

The company’s aspiration is to create “the Photoshop of 4-D design,” offering designers a way to insert into three-dimensional space digital objects, said Brian Mullins, Daqri’s co-founder and chief executive. The company still does work of its own, creating things like moving animations of Lego constructions on top of the toymaker’s catalog and educational tools like a virtual human body for anatomy students.

A more advanced application scans a room to figure out its dimensions and furniture. A virtual helicopter can then be flown inside the space, avoiding the solid objects and “learning” new dimensions of the room as the camera moves. Most of the time, anyway – this software is not perfect. The result is either a training tool or a toy that combines the animation and physical reality, with both changing at the same time.

This ability to manipulate objects over space, coupled with the EEG work, is what Mr. Krage is doing with the Google Glass application. To Mr. Mullins, it is the beginning of a longer-term trend toward blending our external thoughts and the world seamlessly. Not only will the underlying software and processing power improve, but there are even projects on Kickstarter to make cheaper EEGs.

“Plato was wrong: A table and the idea of a table are equally real,” he said. “I can make it out of titanium, or I can manifest it as a virtual object, and then create it with a 3-D printer. Right now we are creating applications based on concentration, but the capabilities will increase.”

That may sound grandiose, but it may also be a reality of the Information Age. It makes a little more sense when you consider that software, possibly the greatest generator of wealth and innovation, is completely insubstantial; it may reside on tape or a disc, but it is really just a series of statements about how something should be organized.

Maybe other insubstantial realities lie ahead.

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Google's Nexus 4 gets Price Cut

Google's Nexus 4 made a splash last fall simply because it was well-built and inexpensive, and yet it didn't require a two-year contract with a wireless carrier. Now, it's even cheaper.The Nexus 4 now costs $200 for the 8 GB model and $250 for the 16 GB model--a $100 price reduction from before. Those prices aren't incredible if you're used to buying your phones through major wireless carriers at subsidized prices, but compared to most unlocked phones, the Nexus 4 is cheap. And it's a decent phone, running the latest version of Google's Android operating system.

Buying the phone unlocked means you can bring it to certain wireless carriers in the United States and save a lot of money on service. For example, with T-Mobile you can pay as little as $50 per month if you bring your own phone. Or, you can get a SIM card from Straight Talk and pay $45 per month for service. An unlocked phone also allows you to travel overseas and take advantage of lower service prices from local carriers.

The only major drawback to the Nexus 4 is that it doesn't support 4G LTE data speeds, which can sometimes rival the speeds of home Internet service. Most smartphones sold in the United States now support 4G LTE, so this is one area where the Nexus 4 seems seriously outdated.

Still, at $200, the slower data speeds are more palatable, especially for new smartphone adopters that are willing to sacrifice performance for a lower monthly bill.

Rumor has it that a new Nexus phone, dubbed the Nexus 5, is coming soon. It's unknown whether this phone will be as cheap as the Nexus 4 was when it launched last year.

But with lower prices on the Nexus 4, Google seems to be girding itself for the arrival of a cheaper iPhone, supposedly called the "iPhone 5C." Like the Nexus 4, Apple's phone could be aimed at customers who want an unlocked, off-contract handset without spending gobs of cash. I'll be surprised if the Nexus 4 doesn't stick around to do battle with Apple, even after the Nexus 5 comes into existence.

Read More: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/28/tech/mobile/google-nexus-4-price/index.html

The Sales Rule Most Entrepreneurs Break

Have you ever been in a situation where you are the buyer and the sales experience is uneasy, maybe even aggressive or confrontational? We all have.

Here's a common scenario: A customer says: "I'm looking for quotes on life insurance, but I'm not ready to buy just yet."

The salesperson responds: "Great. I will be glad to help, " and goes right into product details, but fails to take the time to use the power of agreement.

When the customer said they weren't buying today, a smart response from the salesperson would have been: "I understand, Most people come to me in the beginning stages, just shopping for information. It would be my pleasure to get you all the information you need so that when you are prepared to make a decision, you will consider me."

Always agree with your customer first. In fact, always, always, always agree with the customer before doing anything else as a salesperson.

Agreement is the single most important and the most commonly overlooked rule in all of selling. It takes discipline to be agreeable, especially when the need to be right is such an impulse for most people.

If you want agreement from the customer, you've got to be agreeable with them first. This vital rule of Always Agree, is not to be confused with the old saying: "The customer is always right." The customer is not always right, but you should still agree with their view of the situation.

We are attracted to products, ideas and people that represent the things we're in agreement with. This is a universal fact. In selling, people buy when they agree. Make the other party right, and then figure out how to sell your product and close a deal.

This all seems so simple, but trust me, it's not until you drill it over and over. Take the next 24 hours to agree with everyone you come into contact with. It's incredibly hard. Most of us are so practiced at giving our opinion, that we miss moments to agree with others. Try it today and when you find yourself not agreeing with the other party, start over.

Take your team at work, for example. They want you to postpone a major presentation so they can better prepare and not have to work past 8pm every night for a week. Agree. "I understand where you're coming from, I don't want to be here late every night for a week either. Let's just rally and win this piece of business." They may mumble some choice words under their breath, but they'll feel validated, understood and ultimately will get to work.

Here's another example. You're trying to get your eight-year-old to school. "I don't want to go to school," he insists. Agree with him. Your instinct, because you are already late and stressed, is to be right and make your kid feel wrong. Don't do it. Instead, agree. "I understand my little man. You don't want to go to school. When I was your age, I didn't want to go to school either. Now put your shoes on and let's roll."

Agreement in this instance makes the kid feel understood and when people feel understood they normally move their position and to do what you want. Don't confuse agreement with manipulation. When you truly agree with someone, you are agreeing with where they are right now in this moment.

Here are some agreeable phrases I use with others that will make you a master at causing people to want to buy from you:

• "I understand."
• "I agree."
• "I hear what you're saying and you are right."
• "You're right and I completely agree with you."
• "I'm with you and, in fact, was saying the same thing just the other day."

Consider this exchange over price:

"Your price is too high."

"I agree. I have often thought the exact same thing and even wondered why people would consider this product knowing it was so expensive. It's crazy, isn't it? Why did you come to look at it today?"

See what I did here? Very little except agree.

The power of agreement can be applied in many aspects of life. Try it. Agree with your clients, co-workers, spouse or significant other, your kids, your animals and especially those you have a disagreement with.

Agreeing allows the chance to determine your customers' needs, find the right product, and close the deal.

Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/227774#ixzz2dQjqKu8S

10 Entreprenuer Principles for Startup Success Through Failure

If you can’t deal with failure, then the entrepreneur lifestyle is not for you. Don’t believe that urban myth that all you need is a good idea, a little fun work, and the money will start rolling in. When you are pushing the limits, nobody gets it right the first time, or even maybe the tenth time. That’s why the term “pivot” was invented, so you don’t have to call every change a failure.

Thomas Edison called every failure an experiment (now it would be a pivot), and each one told him successfully what didn’t work. Mistakes are more insidious, and should be avoided at all costs (use your advisors and other resources). Mistakes are things you do on purpose, with negative consequences already known by many others, because you didn’t do your homework.

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Failures and pivots come in all shapes and sizes, but entrepreneurs need to adhere to a common set of principles for failing productively, leading to ultimate success:

1. Don’t allow the same failure twice. This is called the “fail forward” strategy, or learning more about your business from each failure, as well as developing the confidence and commitment to make decisions and take responsibility for them regardless of the results. Repeating the same failure, or the common failures of others, is a huge mistake.
2. Keep the cost of failure survivable. Keep the key elements in your strategy and rollout small enough and tested early, so that a single failure will not bring down the rest of your startup. This is often called the “fail fast” strategy, with the ability to adapt and iterate to success, based on learning.
3. Make each move forward a planned experiment. Don’t rely on random opportunities and default decisions to set your strategy. The idea is that there is a right way to go wrong, and “failing smart” allows you to learn something from each pivot. Overt decisions, based on rational thought and real data, will always trump no decision.
4. A credible failure makes an entrepreneur more investable. Emanating from Silicon Valley, there is a culture of “fail often,” and you’ll succeed sooner. But be aware that failures are analyzed as closely as successes, to see if they represent real innovation, real learning, and a rational decision process, indicating success potential.
5. Actively seek and don’t ignore critical feedback. Successful entrepreneurs assume some adaptation and change will be required, so they actively seek feedback, spot failures and fix them early. They avoid the instinctive reaction of denial, or the stubbornness of charging straight ahead despite evidence that a strategy is not working.
6. Determine not only what went wrong, but also how to do it right.Avoid random trials and errors. If you don’t learn from a specific failure, it becomes a mistake that is destined to happen again. Every failure deserves a root cause analysis, so that you end up fixing the real problem, and not just a symptom.
7. Document and update business processes after each failure. Too many failures in startups result from key business processes not being documented at all, or being non-functional. Failures should result in better processes and better documentation, or they become mistakes destined to be repeated.
8. Blaming bad luck, poor timing, or misjudgment is a mistake. These are most often excuses, rather than reasons for a failure. There will never be a perfect time to launch a startup. There will always be uncertainty, and we will always be humans, using judgment calls in lieu of knowledge and real information. Explore the root cause of every failure.
9. Listen to conventional wisdom and advisors, then chart your own path. New paths are the key to success for an entrepreneur, but unless you listen and do your homework, you will be unable to recognize the old proven paths to perdition. Blindly following old paths, or ignoring known dangers, are unforgivable mistakes.
10. Resilience is the best antidote to failure. Thomas Edison had resilience, bouncing back after 1000 failures on the light bulb alone. Many experts believe that the primary cause of startup failure is not running out of money, but quitting too early. If you accept failure as learning, it’s not discouraging to keep adapting until you find success.

Success may not really always start with failure, but the wise entrepreneur should expect it, embrace it, and capitalize on the learning opportunity. In reality the difference between success and failure in a startup is very small – for example, being acquired in the throes of a bad experiment might be seen as a success or a failure, depending on your perspective. In the entrepreneur lifestyle perspective, every learning experience is a success, so failure is not an option.

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