The disapointing "new Surface Pro" 5

I spent most of the last half of 2016 checking google new results every for the new model of Surface Pro to succeed the Surface Pro 4 and now it is here after being announced in  a May 23 event in Shanghai just 2 days after the announcement of the new model of Surface Laptop. The "new Surface Pro" in it's announcement and it's specs really seems like an after thought that has left me disappointed. To illustrate what I mean I will compare it here to the Surface Pro 4 and the Dell Latitude 5285 which is everything that I has hoped the Surface Pro 5 would be.

	Surface Pro 4	new Surface Pro
CPU	6th generation Intel core m3, i5, or i7	7th generation Intel core m3, i5, or i7
Memory	4GB, 8GB, 16GB DDR3L 1600 MHz RAM	4GB, 8GB, 16GB (unknown speed)
HDD	128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB SSD	128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB SSD
Graphics	m3: Intel HD graphics 515 i5: Intel HD graphics 520 i7: Intel Iris graphics	m3: Intel HD Graphics 615 i5: Intel HD Graphics 620 i7: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640
Screen size	12.3” PixelSense 2736 x 1824 (267   PPI)	12.3” PixelSense 2736 x 1824 (267 PPI)
Battery life	9 hours	13.5 hours
Weight	1.73 lbs	1.73 lbs
Available keyboard cover	Yes	Yes
Stylus	Surface Pen	Surface Pen
Camera	5.0MP front, 8.0MP rear with 1080p video recording	5.0MP front, 8.0MP rear with 1080p video recording
Wireless	-          802.11ac Wi-Fi -          IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible -          Bluetooth 4.0	-          802.11ac Wi-Fi -          IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible -          Bluetooth 4.1
Ports	-          Full-size USB 3.0 -          microSD card reader -          Headset jack -          Mini DisplayPort -          Cover port -          Surface Connect	-          Full-size USB 3.0 -          microSD card reader -          Headset jack -          Mini DisplayPort -          Cover port -          Surface Connect
Price (low)	$699 m3, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD	$799 m3, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD
Price (mid)	$999 i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD	$1299 i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD
Price (high)	$2399 i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD	$2699 i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD

 Ok, so what does all this mean?

Compared to the Surface Pro 4, the "new Surface Pro" has an updated CPU which give it longer battery life and the corresponding chipset gives it an updated Bluetooth spec (4.1). Everything else is the same: same screen, same hard drive, same memory, same ports, same camera, same stylus.

Now lets look at the Dell offering: 

	new Surface Pro	Dell Latitude 5285
CPU	7th generation Intel core m3, i5, or i7	7th generation Intel core i3, i5, or i7
Memory	4GB, 8GB, 16GB (unknown speed)	4GB, 8GB, 16GB LPDDR3—1866 MHz
HDD	128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB SSD	128GB, 256GB, 360GB, 512GB, or 1TB SSD
Graphics	m3: Intel HD Graphics 615 i5: Intel HD Graphics 620 i7: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640	i3: Intel HD Graphics 620 i5: Intel HD Graphics 620 i7: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640
Screen size	12.3” PixelSense 2736 x 1824 (267 PPI)	12.3" 1920x1080 (179 PPI) with Corning Gorilla Glass 4, Anti-reflective and Anti-Smudge
Battery life	13.5 hours	7 hours
Weight	1.73 lbs	1.89 lbs
Available keyboard cover	Yes	Yes
Stylus	Surface Pen	Dell Active Pen
Camera	5.0MP front, 8.0MP rear with 1080p video recording	5.0MP front, 8.0MP rear with 1080p video recording
Wireless	-          802.11ac Wi-Fi -          IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible -          Bluetooth 4.1	-          Dual-Band Wireless-AC 8265 Wi-Fi -          Bluetooth 4.2
Ports	-          Full-size USB 3.0 -          microSD card reader -          Headset jack -          Mini DisplayPort -          Cover port -          Surface Connect	-          2x USB-C (DisplayPort compatible) -          microSD card reader -          micro-SIM card slot -          I2C for Dock Pin Keyboard connection -          microphone-in and stereo headphones universal connector
Price (low)	$799 m3, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD	$899 i3, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD
Price (mid)	$1299 i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD	$1429 i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD
Price (high)	$2699 i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD	$2428 i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 4G LTE

When you look at the Dell you get upgrades to a better processor on the low end, faster memory, Bluetooth 4,2, USB-C ports instead of USB3, and the availability to add a 4G LTE SIM card so you can operate without logging into a WiFi hotspot or tethering to your phone. Price-wise the Dell is more expensive at the low (with better CPU) and mid range but comes out cheaper at the high end even when you add the 4G LTE connectivity. The upgrade to USB-C is a huge gap in the specs of the new Surface Pro; the Dell shares one USB-C port for power which can still be used for external devices and power at the same time when you add a USB-C hub and both ports can be used to drive an external display. The only downside to the Dell is the shorter battery life (7 hours seems fine to me for this kind of device and double that of traditional laptops) and it tends to generate more heat then the Surface Pro models. If I had the cash to buy a new system today I would buy the Dell without a second thought.

Coming at a time when Apple is falling behind in this space with under-powered tablets (compared to full Windows 10 tablets like these) or laptops without touch screen support or detachable keyboards Microsoft is losing a lot of momentum and giving Apple a chance to come back and take the lead in the market again. I have not heard any rumors of any real innovation coming out of Apple in this space yet but shame on Microsoft for giving them the chance when they have worked so hard to claw themselves back into relevance out of the Windows 8 hole.

Amazon Alexa and Echo Show, What is going on with this?!

This month Amazon announced the new product launch of the Echo Show set to debut on June 28. You can read all about it in a few places, I will not repeat what has already been reported so if you do not know anything about it, please check these articles first:

https://www.amazon.com/echoshow

http://www.techradar.com/news/amazon-echo-show

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/5/9/15593378/everything-you-might-have-missed-amazon-echo-show

Really quickly, I will give you my brief review of this unreleased product. The Echo Show is overpriced and ugly. I really can't see a use for this thing in any room of any home as it does not bring any new features or benefits to the Amazon product environment and all that it can do is done just as well but less expensively in an Echo or Echo Dot and video calling is done way better in any smartphone via Facetime, Skype, or WhatsApp plus you can walk around the house with your smartphone and even use it in the car (attached to a fixed mount and operated hands free of course). The Echo Show is also quite ugly; I would not want that thing hanging out in any room of my house just because it does not look nice.

I did not choose to write this post just to agree with the rest of the internet that thinks this thing is stupid. You can google it and see lots of that rhetoric. Instead, I want to focus on another aspect of this announcement which is a bit more groundbreaking and far more interesting to me. With the addition to the Echo product line of Alexa messaging Amazon has, probably entirely unwittingly, brought back the landline.

At this point in history I would surmise that no one under the age of 50 even has a traditional home phone line at all other then the folks suckered in to getting phone service as part of a package including internet and cable television programming and that phone number never gets used in those households. A phone that plugs into the wall that you have to run to the other room to try and answer has become a things of the past having been entirely replaced by mobile phones with cellular service. Many years ago when my family transitioned away from a landline I even bought a special adapter to allow me to plug a landline phone into the computer to use it to answer Skype calls and that phone still never got used.

Mobile phones have become the number one way to stay in touch with work, friends and family wherever you may be. There is a problem with using a mobile phone as your primary mode of communication though. When you are out of the house at work or shopping or hanging out with friends or whatever, your phone is in your pocket or handbag and readily accessible. If someone calls or texts you, you either answer the phone immediately or take note of it to review the voice mail or text message when you get a break from whatever is taking your primary attention at the moment. Where is that handy mobile phone when you are at home though? It is sitting on a charger somewhere and if someone tries to get in touch with you when you are not in the same room as your charger you miss the call and may not even know you missed it until you check your phone hours later. Among the millennial generation that has never known a time without cellphones, these gaps when you are unavailable can cause much angst sparking suspicions that you are mortally injured or cheating on your significant other or just intentionally ignoring the request for communication out of spite or malice.

Alexa messaging will change the way we communicate with the world outside of our home. Even if you do not currently have any Amazon Echo devices in your home you may find yourself installing the Alexa app to communicate with your friends that do. Once the impact of Alexa messaging starts to be felt other standalone devices for Apple/Siri, Microsoft/Cortana, and Google Home will offer similar messaging features. When we first got an Echo and then looked at getting Dots for the kids' rooms we wondered why there was no way to use it as an intercom. Alexa messaging is not quite an intercom system but much more. Anyone in your Alexa contact list (which imports from the contact list on your mobile phone) can call you from another room or anywhere they have internet service. Now, instead of having a landline, all of your Echo devices will ring when someone calls and tell you who it is that is calling and you don't even have to run to the other room to grab it because you can just holler "Alexa: answer" while you walk to get in range of the microphone. If someone calls or leaves a text message while you are asleep then the light on top of the Echo devices changes to green so you know you have a message to check. My nine year old that does not have his own mobile number yet can now call me from his room when I am at work or in the call by just saying "Echo: call Paul Jacobs" and I can answer it with the Alexa app on my phone. Within a week of installing it, our Echo lit up green one day with a message for Sandy from one of her old high school friends that had just configured their messaging and saw in their contact list that Sandy was reachable this way.

There are some cons to Alexa messaging. This is a new service that just launched so the setup process is not intuitive and it does not play well with some other Amazon services. The most painful aspect of the setup for me was the requirement that any individual Echo device that you want to "call" must be on an individual Amazon account and tied to a phone number. The individual Amazon account means now that all of my Echo devices can no longer share my "free" Amazon music account and a call to customer service confirmed that this also cannot even work with an Amazon Household account to share the Amazon Music Unlimited family subscription. Not being able to share my Amazon music with my Echo devices means I will choose a different music service outside of the Amazon ecosystem that will work better like Pandora or Spotify. The phone number requirement is stupid; I had to go and get a free number assigned through a Google voice account to setup my nine year old. I understand why Amazon might have thought his a good idea to make sure the device had access to a contact list on a mobile phone thus instantly having a network of connections but I was able to circumvent it pretty easily so really it is just stupid.

There is also the creepy factor inherent to all of the cloud based voice activated devices. Echo records everything you tell it and saves those recordings in the cloud, purportedly to improve it's ability to recognize your voice. You can go and remove these recordings at will but you can't tell it to stop saving them. There have already been reported cases of law enforcement seeking these recordings from Amazon. Also, there are the recent leaks from the CIA exposing their hacking tools showing their ability to hack devices. If you are really concerned about this aspect then you also need to reconsider every device you own that has a camera and microphone like your smartphone, laptop, and desktop computer which are all at risk of being compromised by law enforcement, hackers, or apps you may choose to install that may not strictly follow their privacy policy.

Going back to the Echo Show to end on a more positive note I want to predict what would have made this a far more useful product rather then giving it a 7" touch screen in such an unattractive package. If Amazon had taken a little more time in design and development with existing technology they could have instead launched the first real robotic in home assistant. I do not mean Rosie from The Jetsons as a humanoid robot that does housework; that would have been too expensive and robotics technology is really not there yet. Instead Amazon could have leveraged existing quad-copter drone technology to make a small drone that sits on a dock with a 5" or 6" screen, camera, microphone, and speaker. The drone could then go and fly over to wherever you are in the house when you get a call or when you call for it to come and "echo show" you something and then fly back to the dock for charging when dismissed. Teenagers nowadays with their snapchat fascination could even call the droid to come and follow them taking short videos of whatever activity they are doing.

iPhone 7 and Apple Watch 2: Are we there yet?

iPhone 7 and Apple Watch 2: Are we there yet?

On September 7, 2016 Apple announced the new  Apple Watch Series 2 with WatchOS 3, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus with iOS 10, and AirPods with the new W1 chip. This is an interesting release year for Apple which, in my opinion, is starting to reveal a subtle change in the company strategy under the helm of Tim Cook as compared to Steve Jobs.

First off the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are not terribly exciting. The new phones are little more then incremental upgrades over last year's iPhone 6 models which include 6s, 6s Plus, and SE. Here is what is new and different for 7 and 7 Plus:

• Super Mario Run is coming to iPhone first
• new Jet Black and Matte Black color options
• Force sensitive home button which is more like a trackpad then a button
• IP67 water resistance which means that you no longer have to have that horrible sense of dread when your iPhone slips out of your back pocket and falls into the toilet or you walk into a pool while trying to catch a Snorlax but you are still not going to want to take your phone swimming with you. 
• Better camera with optical image stabilization on all models and a second lense on the 7 Plus that allows for true optical zoom and some depth of field gimmicks to take better photos
• Better display (25% brighter with more colors)
• Stereo audio speakers on top and bottom of the phone for a true stereo experience when viewing media in landscape mode
• Better performance with the new A10Fusion quad core processor
• The removal of the headphone jack replaced instead with a set of lighting ear buds and a lightning to headphone jack adapter that both ship with the phone.

So Apple pretty much has to make these kinds of incremental improvements every year just in order to have a new device to release. Nothing new about the iPhone 7 is really exciting or innovative with one or two exceptions. Super Mario Run looks really cool but it will run fine on your iPhone 5 or 6 just as well as the new iPhone 7 so don't upgrade just for that. The removal of the headphone jack is a pretty big deal that has upset a lot of folks but it is actually a really good thing that Apple has done. Read on and I will explain further after the summary of the AirPods and Apple Watch 2. If you have a working iPhone 5 or 6 or an Android phone that you are happy with then wait until iPhone 8 in 2018 before considering an upgrade. 

Next up is is the Apple Watch Series 2. Here is what is new and different for Apple Watch 2:

• Pokemon Go app for the Apple Watch
• White ceramic color option
• Waterproof up to 50m which means you can take it swimming with you while your iPhone stays in your duffel.
• Better performance with the dual core S2 chip
• Built-in GPS

Now the watch is getting incremental updates so that Apple can release a new one every year. Well, I still don't want one. If I was going swimming 3 times a week for fitness I might think about getting an Apple Watch to help track my exercise but I find that Pokemon Go motivates me to get out and walk already far more then Apple Watch 2 will motivate me to get out and go swimming and I really don't mind holding my phone in my hand while I walk so I really don't need the watch to tell me when a wild pokemon or a pokestop pops up. The watch still can not operate independently from the iPhone and in fact replace the need for a phone in your pocket at all which is what I am waiting for. We are definitely not there yet with the watch but I am starting to understand why Apple released this really expensive fitness tracker. Read on and I will explain further.

To complement the new iPhone 7 with it's lack of headphone jack this year Apple is trying to re-design bluetooth headsets with the release of the AirPods. A lot of ridicule has been directed at these things that look like Apple literally took a pair of scissors and snipped off the wires from their signature white earbuds. The most notable thing about the AirPods is that they are not just bluetooth. Prior to the event Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak made his feelings known when he warned Apple against removing the headphone jack. They key point that Steve made was that bluetooth audio does not sound good enough for people that want the better fidelity they get from a wired connection. Apple's answer to this problem was to "enhance" bluetooth and make their own wireless technology in the form of the W1 chip. The advantages of the W1 chip are that it can sync the audio playback between the right and left ear buds without a connecting wire, it has better quality audio, it supports Siri (from your phone) and you "sync" it with your phone by just tapping the AirPod on your iPhone or Apple Watch just like using the Phone for Apple Pay. The obvious disadvantage is that it only works with other Apple devices running iOS 10, watchOS 3, or MacOS Sierra.

Since the release more information has been gathered from the folks chosen to do pre-release hands on reviews by Apple and, it turns out, that the AirPods will work with non Apple devices!.  Inside that W1 chip is a fairly standard bluetooth audio connection to your phone so, in theory, it won't sound any better then any other bluetooth headset. Some reviews are in now seeming to tell the tale that they really do sound marginally better then other bluetooth headsets due to the build quality and the better fit. Will this be enough to satisfy the concerns of the Steve Wozniaks of the world? Probably not and I have no plans to spend $159 on a pair but this was still a good and bold move on the part of Apple. 

Apple is changing it's product strategy. Under Steve Jobs Apple would let other folks throw products at the wall to see what would stick for a while (Samsung is great at doing that) and then jump into a new market slashing through the competition like a ninja with an innovative product that suddenly made even folks that didn't think they needed one want one. This is how Apple released the Macintosh, the iPod, the iMac, the iPhone, and the iPad. Starting with the Apple Watch their strategy has changed and continues with the release of the AirPods. Apple is no longer playing the ninja lurking in the shadows waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Now Apple is playing the long game feeding products into the market that are not meant to make everyone want one right away but instead force the market to change as the competitors try to keep up with Apple and standards change to accommodate the innovations that Apple puts into their products. The removal of the headphone jack on iPhone 7 and the release of the AirPods are just this.

In order for a standalone smart watch that replaces your phone to be a successful product there has to be a way to talk on it that is not holding the watch to your ear or inflicting speakerphone on all of your callers and there has to be a way to listen to music that is not plugging a wire into the watch. The AirPods are the beginning of the creation of such a thing and the removal of the headphone jack is a way to start nudging consumers to want such a thing. My vision of the smart watch that I would want to buy to replace my phone includes in its initial packaging such an accessory that is not as gawdy as the AirPod, has better music quality, and has a tiny high resolution camera on each earbud to allow the capture of high quality 3D images and video streamed through the earbuds to the device where it is captured in memory and / or streamed to the cloud or as a live broadcast. Current bluetooth technology does not yet support the kind of accessory that I envision but AirPods will move the industry and innovations in technology to such a thing. 

iPhoneSE with Google Hangouts: The Best of Both Worlds

I just recently upgraded from a Motorola Moto X (model XT1058) to an iPhoneSE 64GB. I had originally intended to write a nice review of the iPhoneSE once I got it all setup. This blog entry could be considered that but while I was configuring the device and explaining to a few folks what I had done I realized that there was much to it then just getting a new phone or even migrating from Android to iOS.

Let me start with a brief review of the iPhoneSE. This is the device that Apple should have released along with the iPhone 6s a year ago. I suppose someone inside Apple wanted to protect the sales projection for the 6s which is why they did not but since then have realized that there were still a lot of iPhone 5, 5c, and 5s users that did not and were not going to upgrade to a bigger phone. My Moto X had a 5" screen which was bearable but still too big. Even the 4.7" screen of the iPhone 6 and 6s is still too big. The 4" screen size of the iPhone 5 is, in my opinion, the perfect size for a phone. The 4" iPhone fits easily in any pocket or small purse and can be used effectively with one hand. My thumb can navigate anywhere on the screen and with the TouchID sensor I can even unlock the phone one handed without having to enter a passcode. Inside the iPhoneSE is all of the guts of the 6s with the same A9 CPU chip, M9 motion co-processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 12 megapixel iSight camera. The iPhoneSE even has a 1624 mAh battery which is bigger then that of the iPhone 5s although smaller then the 1715 mAh battery in the 6s. With the smaller screen the iPhoneSE uses far less juice to operate so the battery is more then sufficient. By far, though, the best thing about the iPhoneSE is that Apple kept the form factor exactly the same down to the button layout which means it immediately fits into any case that was designed around the iPhone 5 or 5s. Apple wasn't even smart enough to accomplish that little feat with the release of the 5c which won't fit into cases built for the 5s. In my subjective review of the iPhoneSE I can't find a thing wrong with the device to complain about.

Having been an avid Android user for over 3 years one might think that the transition to iOS would be rough but it was not. I suppose that this pain was mitgated by the fact that I have owned an iPad using iOS for longer then I have owned an Android device so I was already intimately familiar with iOS and know how to operate it. But there is more to it then just that. When I got my first Android phone (having come from a Blackberry) I decided that I liked Android over iOS for a phone for a couple of reasons. The first reason to prefer Android is the less restricted Google Play store which is far more lenient in what apps they allow to be sold through their distribution channel. I will still miss the ability to run a bitTorrent client on my mobile device but I decided I can live without that luxury until it is time to upgrade my iPad but more on that in another post... The second reason to prefer Android over iOS is the bevy of free services that Google offers which are all built right in to Android. There is Google Voice, Google Docs, Google Drive, and more. In 2013 there was no such thing as Google Hangouts until it was officially launched during the Google I/O conference on May 15, 2013. Now Google Hangouts encompasses text messaging, voice phone calls, video calls, video conferences with up to 10 participants, and has access to all of your Google contacts. On my Moto X I was able to set Hangouts to handle all incoming SMS messages. If you have a Google Voice number that is now also integrated with Hangouts so that you can make and receive voice calls through it. Hangouts is also a fully cross platform application with apps for Android and iOS as well as desktop apps for Windows and Mac OS through the Chrome applications. This means with Hangouts I can send and receive text messages from any device so I don't have to type on the tiny phone keyboard when I am sitting in front of my keyboard.

As I was configuring the new phone I realized one other interesting thing that kind of changed everything. On Android the Hangouts dialer is a separate app so making and receiving phone calls through Hangouts means a separate icon to click. On iOS the dialer is integrated into the Hangouts app for iOS.

Here are the steps I took in my migration from my Android phone to the new iPhoneSE:

1. I ordered a new phone on a new line to get a new number (no upgrade of the existing number). Since providers are making you pay for the phone on a monthly plan now anyway there is no penalty to making a new account for the new phone
2. Once the new phone was activated I went into my Google Voice account and put in a transfer request to move the phone number from my existing cell to Google Voice. Note that I had previously configured Google Voice to handle all calls and SMS messages through Hangouts.
3. I configured Google Voice to forward calls to my new cell number.
4. I configured the new phone to use Google Voice for voicemail (there are instructions for this in Google Voice)
5. Once the number transfer was complete I deactivate the service on my old phone
6. I installed the Google Hangouts app on the iPhone but told it not to ring the phone since Google Voice would forward the incoming call to the new cell number anyway

BAM! My old number is now fully functional on the new phone. I can use the Hangouts app to place calls and send and receive text messages from my old number which is in everyone's contact list already. The only person who even has the new number is my wife Sandy. 

At this point I have the best of both worlds enjoying all of the free Google services seamlessly on an iPhone. Anyone who has a Gmail account has a Google account and with a few clicks can configure Google Voice and Google Hangouts in the same manner. 

Here is another interesting tip. Google Voice will assign you a phone number for free so by this same method you can take your old deactivated phone and configure Hangouts on it so you can grant a family member their own phone and number without paying for any service at all. As long as they have access to Wifi (like connected through the personal hotspot on your phone) they can talk and text and otherwise use it like a real phone. 

The perfect laptop is [almost] here

Remember this old post where I recommended to not buy a new laptop but wait? Well the waiting is almost over. The recently announced Microsoft SurfaceBook is pretty darn close. You have to get the top end model to meet my prediction but lets compare:

	My Prediction	Microsoft SurfaceBook
Screen	10”	13.5”
CPU	Core i5	2.4-GHz Skylake Intel Core i5-6300U or 2.6-GHz Skylake Intel Core i7-6600U
GPU	Dedicated	Nvidia Maxwell based GPU with 1GB GDDR5 memory available in the keyboard dock
RAM	8GB	8GB or 16GB
SSD	1TB	128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
Battery life	10 hours	“Up to 12 hours of video playback” 10 hours of battery in the dock plus 2 hours in the tablet
Weight	1 pound	3.5 pounds with keyboard 1.6 pounds with just tablet
Price	$1000	$1500 - $3200

Pretty close, right? There are three things that keep this from being perfect:

1. The screen is too big for a tablet. iPad Pro has the same problem.
2. The battery is too small in tablet mode.
3. The cost is too high.

If I had $3200 to burn I would buy this today. The performance difference between the available i5 and i7 processors is pretty small so if you can survive with only 256GB of storage and don't need a dedicated GPU then the $1699 model with only 8GB of memory is still a solid choice to replace your existing laptop and even your desktop. The add-on surface dock for $199 gives you two mini display ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, four high-speed USB 3.0 ports, and an audio output so when at home you get the 13.5" tablet screen plus two external monitors.

Windows 10 makes an excellent operating system for this device as well. If you are coming from Windows 7 there is a bit of a learning curve to adapt to the new start menu. If you are coming from Windows 8, well, upgrade immediately as Windows 10 corrects all the big problems with Windows 8 returning the start menu and allowing you to run the Metro apps in windowed mode. The fact that you can get the same user interface on desktop, laptop, tablet, and phone is pretty amazing and puts Microsoft officially out in front of Apple for the first time in a long time. 

If you really need a new laptop now then consider the $1699 SurfaceBook with the $199 dock; you won't find better available this year.

If you can hold out a little longer then do. Microsoft has taken a page out of Google's book. Google offers the Nexus phone and tablets as reference products that set the standard for other manufacturers to meet. Most people will never buy a Nexus phone because they are more costly without the carrier subsidies. Similarly most people should not buy the currently overpriced SurfaceBook. Instead, wait until next year when you see Dell and Asus offering less expensive options with smaller screens and less total weight. 

2015 Fall iPhone and iPad release: What's new and what's not

So here it is September and time for the new iPhone release event for the year from Apple. There was nothing revolutionary released today and it was IMHO a tad bit disappointing to see the direction Apple's product roadmaps are going.

Warning, I write a lot, here is an index to skip past the bits that are not interesting to the bits that are:

• What's New
• What's Not New
• What's Great
• What Apple should have released this Fall
• My recommendations for the year

While I am at heart a PC guy I am by no means an Apple hater. I own a 1st generation iPad mini which I love and my primary workstation at Technicolor is a 27" iMac which is my preference to use for everything other then Microsoft Office applications and network file management. At my recommendation my wife got an iPhone 6 earlier this year and the other two phones in my family plan are both iPhone 5c models.

To prove I am not a hater I will even start this post with what was released today that was shiny and new:

• Rose gold iPhone 6s with color matched dock
• iPhone 6s Taptonic feedback
• 12.9" iPad Pro tablet
• AppleTV

The new iPhone 6s is pretty much just the same as the 2014 iPhone 6 in every way but two things. First, you can now get it in pink, er rose gold, with a charging cradle that matches the color of the phone. Rose gold is new.

The new iPhone 6s now has a taptonic feedback engine under the screen. This means the screen can detect how hard you are pressing the screen and provide a little vibration as feedback so that your finger feels the touch. This technology is a neat gimmick and is one of those innovative technologies that only Apple could pull off and pull off well. It is not entirely a new technology as Apple put it in the touchpad on the Macbook line last year but putting it under a touch screen display is new so I give credit where credit is due. Apple gave it a new name too: 3D Touch. The name is new.

Of course the big announcement of the day (if you ask Tim Cook) was the 12.9" iPad Pro. This is the largest tablet ever from Apple. The sheer size of it is new. Unfortunately it still runs only iOS even though it has the computing power under the hood to run full desktop operating systems. This means it is still limited to the touch screen interface and very limited multi-tasking. There were improvements to iOS 9 but not so much that one would ever choose an iPad instead of a desktop or laptop computer. The biggest iPad ever is new.

The real big announcement (if you ask me) was the new AppleTV box. This is the first year they have released a new AppleTV in the fall announcement so the timing is new. It is clear from the way that they went through the announcement that Apple is taking this product seriously giving it the time it deserves in the spotlight. Apple added Siri to AppleTV for searching and navigating channels. Siri is a gimmick but a well done gimmick and a voice controlled TV (that works well) is new. Sorry, XBox One, I don't think you got it right with your stalker interface. AppleTV is now the only real contender to Roku in the market. With an AppleTV you can get HBO Now without a television provider subscription and Hulu Plus through which you can subscribe to Showtime without a television provider subscription. Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner, and DirecTV please take note that this is the future of TV; get on the bandwagon now while there is still room for your large posteriors.

So what was released today that was not great, not so much innovative, and generally just not new?

• watchOS 2
• A9X Processor
• iOS 9
• Smart Keyboard
• Apple Pencil aka Stylus
• Amateur iPads
• iPhone 6s and 6s Plus
• iCloud storage upgrades

For the life of me I can't figure out what was new in watchOS 2. There are more color and band options this year including pink, er rose gold, and a couple new features like nightstand mode and time travel (not like the TARDIS). I guess since it is a new year they upversioned the OS with some new feature that app developers can access. I would not have called it version 2; that should just have been a version 1.1.

With a new year and updated hardware with more resolution and an updated OS with more features Apple needed a new CPU, the A9X. Yes, this is the 3rd generation 64-bit Apple mobile processor and it may have 1.8x CPU performance and 2x GPU performance compared to the A8X in iPad Air 2 but CPU performance doubles every year anyway. A faster CPU is really not new.

With a new year and updated hardware Apple also needed an operating system upgrade. Every year there is a new version of iOS, that is really not a new thing. What are the new features in iOS? A shortcut bar, new built-in apps, and multi-tasking. The shortcut bar and the updated apps are nice but there are little updates like this every year and even in lesser version upgrades. The last version iOS 8.1 upgrade offered a screen reader which can read your eBook for you using Siri's voice which IMHO is a much bigger update then a shortcut bar or new apps. Then there is the "multi-tasking". Slide over, split view, and picture-in-picture are three different gimmicks that will allow you to use two apps at the same time. I wouldn't call that multi-tasking. Duo-tasking is more like it. There was more multi-tasking in Windows 3.1 (released in 1992) and MacOS 5 (released in 1987). Multi-tasking is not new and neither really is iOS9.

Smart keyboard? What is smart about it? Was it smart for Apple to copy Microsoft Surface and offer a keyboard cover? Ok, well maybe that was smart but Apple used to be an innovator and leader in the market. It is disheartening to see Apple become a follower. The new "smart connector" that attaches keyboard to power and data is clever and well done but also not something new. PC tablet makers have been fiddling with laptop / tablet hybrids the last few years that do all that and even offer a backup battery and additional connectors inside the detachable keyboard. A keyboard cover is hardly new.

Apple pencil is a stylus. Steve Jobs always said that the human hand comes pre-configured with 10 styluses already so there is no need for another. Steve is not in charge any more so this year Apple puts out a $99 stylus that works with a single device which will cost you no less then $799. This may be the best stylus ever designed but you better have a real need for it to justify a thousand dollar replacement for pencil and paper. Apple demoed some very high precision artwork and CAD apps for it but the people doing this kind of work already have high precision Wacom tablets and 30" professional monitors; these folks are really not going to be happy doing this kind of work on a 13" screen. BTW Wacom also offers a really nice stylus that works on all capacitive touch screens for only $60. An expensive fancy stylus is not new.

And what about all of the other iPads that are not "Pro"? Does that make them amateur? This year Apple put all of their attention into the iPad Pro and literally ignored the other iPad models. iPad Air and iPad Air 2 get a $100 price reduction this year and nothing else, not even rose gold. iPad Mini 4 gets the guts of the iPad Air 2 which means A8X processor and fingerprint scanner but it should have gotten that last year. In the Steve Jobs years Apple was not afraid to cannibalize their own markets, releasing iPhone directly competing with iPod and then continuing to upgrade iPod Touch with all the latest goodies available in the iPhone. Since last year the trend for Apple has been to protect the market for the new hotness by intentionally ignoring upgrades on the old and busted. This year every iPad but the iPad Pro is suddenly the old and busted.

And what about the upgrades to iPhone 6? The 6s and 6s Plus got the 3D touch and pink paint job but are in all other ways just the same. There was no highly anticipated 4" iPhone 6c and nothing innovative about the s models. These phones should have been labelled s6 and s6 Plus for "still 6" and "still 6 Plus". They are in almost every way exactly the same as last year's iPhones and join the amateur iPads now in the rank of the old and busted.

It was astounding to me that iCloud got stage time this year for paid storage upgrades. All of the other cloud storage solutions have been offering more storage for cheaper then Apple for years now. A 1TB cloud storage upgrade is not new.

Ok, so what should Apple have released this year? What would I have done if I were directing Apple product management? Well first and foremost the 2015 Fall product release should not have been focused on the biggest and most expensive iPad ever. Instead, this product release should have been focused on the Apple pencil. Breaking the mold of a Steve Jobs run Apple and releasing a stylus should have been the first thing they talked about at the event before rolling into the iPad lineup. The first demo of the pencil should have been on the iPad Mini 4 which could have been in all ways the same as what was actually released except with support for Apple Pencil. Following iPad Mini 4 should have been iPad Air 3 with an A9X processor and support for Apple Pencil. Then roll into iPad Pro showing the amazing things you can do with Apple Pencil on iPad Pro. The iPad Pro should also have come with something else entirely new. iPad Pro should have been offered with a mobile version of OS X with full support for all Apple Desktop apps and support for pointing devices. Connect a bluetooth pointing device (mouse) and a cursor appears allowing you to use it just like a laptop. The keyboard cover is a nice gimmick but they should have also offered a full keyboard dock that contains a trackpad, backup battery, and additional I/O ports. Put the iPad Pro in the keyboard dock and put it next to a MacBook and you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. But wait, there is more! That mobile version of OS X and the full version of OS X should get support for running iOS apps (in a window or full screened) so that new iPad still runs all of the apps you are used to and then they just eliminate the pre-installed redundant desktop applications like iTunes favoring the lightweight iOS versions instead. Microsoft has already gone through this transition with the abysmal metro / tablet apps in Windows 8 that you can now run in traditional windowed desktop mode in Windows 10. As it stands the iPad Pro is a 12.9" retina display version of Microsoft Surface RT with a fancy stylus option. The Surface Pro and countless other Window 10 tablets that will be released over the course of the next year will come with built-in support for all legacy Windows desktop applications. Apple is falling behind Microsoft lacking a unified experience like Windows 10 which offers with the same interface and apps available on desktop, laptop, and mobile devices.

To round out this article I will give my personal computing recommendations for the year.

First, if you do not already have a primary desktop or laptop computer then start with a good quality desktop computer. If you like Apple desktops then the 2014 line of iMacs are still quite excellent and you can even get one with a beautiful 5K display. If you don't have iMac budget then get a good desktop PC with an i5 or i7 processor. Don't buy a laptop / notebook computer. If you need to sometimes take your work on the go then a tablet is good enough companion device for now, just not good enough to be your primary personal computing device.

If you are looking to buy your first tablet then get either the iPad Air 2 or iPad Mini 4 depending on your size preference. I have an iPad Mini now which I love because I can fit it in my front pocket and it mounts nicely on the dashboard of my commuter car without blocking my view of the road. Don't buy an Android tablet, you will wish you got an iPad instead.

If your contract is up and you are in the market for a phone then consider your options carefully. Do not get a 6s or 6s Plus. The best phone to get at the moment would be the iPhone 6 which just got $100 cheaper. If you are not interested in the fingerprint scanner or Apple Pay then the iPhone 5c is a smaller and even less expensive choice that will work just fine as well. If you are familiar with Android devices and Google applications then consider Android. The Nexus 5X and 6X come out next month and are just as good as iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. The new Moto X is another solid offering just as good as a 6s. Don't buy a Samsung phone or a Windows phone.

If you can wait before forging into the laptop / tablet market or upgrading your current laptop / tablet then wait. Later this year and early next year you can expect to see some very solid Window 10 tablet options. Look for these specs: 7" - 12" screen, i5 or i7 CPU, 8-16 GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and 8 hour battery life for no more theb $1000. Think about that. The Windows 10 tablet you will be able to buy soon will be twice as powerful as iPad Pro for the same price and will run all of your desktop apps.