Technology

There’s new hardware, but the software may be the bigger leap The tech industry loves to extol its ability to recover from failure. It regularly brags that, in contrast to older, more staid sectors of the economy, tech sees failure as a learning experience and bounces back with something different and better. But that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Lots of companies try to improve on failed or disappointing products, but few overhaul them completely and start all over. Mostly they unveil more modest iterations they hope will do the trick. Microsoft’s Windows 7 fixed the worst problems of the awful Windows Vista, but it was mainly a modern, sleeker evolution  of the ancient Windows XP, rushed to market to expunge Vista from users’ minds. Apple’s iCloud cleared the low bar set by the  embarrassing Mobile Me , but, it wasn’t close to a total do-over, at least at first. Now, Apple has undertaken an almost total software reboot of a struggling product with its late...

Nike has finally announced when it will begin selling its self-lacing sneakers inspired by the shoes worn by Michael J. Fox in  Back to The Future II.  According to a  tweet from the company's Heidi Burget t , the Hyper Adapt 1.0 will be available for "experience & purchase" starting on the 28th of November, but only in select Nike locations in the US. Pricing is still unknown, but expect a "high price tag," according to a  Wired  feature  on the shoe's development. YOU HAVE TO CHARGE THESE SHOES You can check out the full story from  Wired  for a more detailed look at how the sneakers were made, but here are the key points. Each shoe has an internal cable system made from fishing line and a pressure sensor in the sole. When you put your foot in, the cables tighten based on "an algorithmic pressure equation," and this fit can be adjusted throughout the day with a pair of buttons near the tongue. LEDs in the heel light...

New name, bigger marketing, and a new focus on hardware Google is buying up massive swaths of vertical real estate to advertise its upcoming October 4th hardware event. Billboards in the United States, building-side projections in Germany — timed to coincide with Cologne’s Photokina exhibition — and even  a freaking statue  have all popped up in recent days. It feels very much like the bubbling start to a high-pressure marketing campaign that’s going to boil over as Google’s announcement day approaches. This isn’t atypical for Google, which has previously  dominated Times Square  with its Android advertising, but the difference is that the big ads are focused on the hardware now. Hell, Google’s video teaser literally transmogrifies the digital search box into the outline of a physical phone. How does this relate to the iPhone? Well, most things in the world relate to the iPhone  in some way  nowadays, but my reading of Google’s actions is...

A GPS sensor and better water resistance make the new Apple Watch a serious fitness tracker Let’s call it what it is: a fitness tracker. The Apple Watch Series 2 is exactly that. It’s what Apple had resisted calling its wearable for the past year and a half, even declining to categorize it as such when citing industry rankings, opting for the “smartwatch” category instead. It is, definitely, still a smartwatch. But the Watch now has focus, and that’s a good thing. From the first Apple Watch, which came out in April of 2015, Apple learned that lots of people were using it primarily for health and fitness-tracking purposes. They had been groomed by years of Fitbits and Jawbones and Garmins and Polars and “smart” scales and the whole notion of the quantified self, which promises self-betterment if you could just get a handle on your personal data. Apple learned that people will pay for technology that promises an escape from technology, even if only for 30-minute sweaty...

First released in April, Apple’s iconic paper bag is already beloved by millions throughout the world. But now, the bag is coming under fire. Apple’s patent application for its (really very good) bag was  published earlier this week  and is already drawing  hurtful and unwarranted mockery  for its elegant and simple language, which includes such koans as "bags are often used for containing items" and "the paper bag may include a bag container." Surely (the argument goes) Apple can’t patent the very concept of the paper bag, an object deployed for literally decades with little to no changes. Can Apple’s bag be so revolutionary, so groundbreaking, as to require its own patent? The answer is yes. The bag is good, and deserves all the support we can give it. "BAGS ARE OFTEN USED FOR CONTAINING ITEMS" Part of the confusion comes from the way the patent is structured, starting with the broadest possible statement of the idea and then gradu...