Author: Navneet Alang

Now that both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times have suggested Apple’s iPhone is coming to Verizon, it’s likely a safe bet it’s happening. Sure, some details like dates might be off; but with both major outlets saying the same thing, let’s all just agree it’s coming now, ‘kay? But with Verizon having around 90 million wireless subscribers, the iPhone’s arrival will send some send significant ripples through the industry. After all, after only being on only one provider, Apple have jumped to having around a quarter of the smartphone market in a few short years. With significantly more…

With yet another report stating that Android is actually outselling other smartphone platforms, it’s clear that Google’s smartphone OS is here to stay. And thank goodness. Android has been a boon to the tech world, driving competition in the smartphone market while introducing the benefits of those devices to way more people. Yet, despite it’s massive success, it’s also clear Android as a platform could be better. Compared to – yes, you knew it was coming – Apple’s iOS, Android is still lacking in some areas. Now, it’s not that Android should necessarily try to emulate Apple’s OS. Instead of trying…

It is, I admit, sometimes hard not to feel sorry for Sony. The electronics giant, who own some of the most recognizable brands in the industry, is, to put it mildly, no longer the industry leader it once was. To be sure, they have gotten themselves out the rut they have been in for years. They’re embracing widely used formats like ePub or DivX; the PS3 is finally appealing; and their launch of Google TV is a sign of a company looking to change. But for at least a decade now, Sony has been hamstrung by a series of mistakes that have cost it its leadership position. Whether their disastrous early attempts at…

In what appears to be another shocking attempt to constrain and limit the functioning of the internet, US lawmakers are currently pushing an MPAA-backed bill that threatens to block American internet users from accessing sites that are deemed to be ‘dedicated to piracy’. What bill S. 3804 aims to do is twofold: first, for a site based in the US, it would force any US-based registrar (i.e. the people who hand out domain names) to shut a site down if it appears to be dedicated to piracy. And secondly, for sites not in America, it would insist that ISP’s block the domain from their traffic. So on its surface,…

A couple of weeks ago, a study came out of Toronto’s York University about Facebook and narcissism that suggested there was some kind of link between the social network and the psychological trait in which people are too concerned with themselves. The media ran with it. CBS said that “Facebook users were more likely to be narcissistic”. The Daily Mail suggested something even more extreme, by simply saying FB users were “narcissistic and have low self-esteem”. Even the university’s own press release “Facebook fiends tend to be narcissistic”. Trouble is, that simply isn’t true. Social Media…

Almost everyone in the tech world agrees that the future is mobile. In fact, I do too. Being able to work wherever, whenever, untethered by cables is great. To write a blog post in a park or share photos from the beach is one of the most convenient and enjoyable things technology has allowed us to do. People move around a lot these days, and the laptop just makes sense. Yet, though you might call me crazy, for my main, day-to-day computer, I still want a desktop computer. While admittedly, I wouldn’t only want a desktop, I still don’t want to live without one. So why would I – someone who doesn’t really play…

Though the technology world is admittedly a bit obsessed with Apple, it’s hard to blame them. After all, the Cupertino-based company wouldn’t inspire so much chatter if their products and services were merely ordinary or everyday. Apple seem to have a knack for creating things – both technology and services – that provoke discussion. But why is it that their competitors – everyone from Google, Microsoft and Amazon to Sony and Samsung – fail to inspire the same sort of fevered adoration or initiate industry-changing shockwaves? What lessons are they failing to learn? Here are three things all…

So the new Twitter – which we and about a million of other sites have reported on  – is slowly rolling out to users as we speak. On the surface, the new Twitter is all about usability: rather that one main column, it contains two that can adapt to either displaying extra information like lists and trends, or can display the photos and videos or that people are constantly linking to or related tweets. But thought of another way, this is a way of getting users to stay put on Twitter’s website. Rather than using apps or clicking away, the new design encourages users to stay in one place. So in a way, this is Twitter’s…

The introduction of Google’s Priority Inbox in GMail was hailed by many as a step forward for email. Here finally was a way to not simply filter email in to spam and regular email, but a way to filter on what you read and replied to most. Though the service has its share of people who don’t seem to see the benefit – like GigaOM’s Mathew Ingram, who simply finds that he can prioritize fine on his own – most of the reaction was pretty positive. Primarily, I’ve found that Priority Inbox works best for separating out those emails that you’ll read ‘eventually’ and the ones you want to read right now. Perhaps the…

Over the past few weeks, some changes at Google and some comments from its CEO have gotten me thinking about the effect the company is having on culture. Now, to be clear, I am not part of that group of people – Nick Carr, Andrew Keen or Evgeny Morozov – who feel that the internet is ruining things. Quite to the contrary, I’m very optimistic about the promise of new technology to make the world better and fairer. But some of what Google is doing these days is making me wonder whether large tech corporations are the ones to lead us into the future. Google Wants Our Brains Why? Well first was Eric Schmidt’s comments…