This is the second post in my 2013: A Tech Odyssey series

This is a continuation of my 2013: A Tech Odyssey series of posts.  You can reference the first post in the series here.

Apple’s Sauce Is Losing Its Flavor

I still remember seeing the first iPhone commercial.  That easy, light tune plucking away, while on-screen someone’s (very well-manicured) hand navigated the web effortlessly using touchscreen motions I’d never seen, and then came the reveal: This was also a phone?!  But they didn’t show me that clunky internet experience I’d had on mobile phones before; no, the screen reoriented itself to landscape view in order to see pages better, and zooming to easier read the fine details was as simple as a pinch-and-expand of the screen—a gesture I had never seen before, and yet instantly it was familiar.  Like my mind went “Oh yeah, pinch and expand, duh—how else would you do that?”  On top of this newfound familiarity with touchscreen, iPhone delivered opened the world of mobile apps—a term, in its infancy at the time, that would soon become a billion-dollar market serving as a pillar of our modern tech economy.  So much about the iPhone was new, exciting, and ground-breaking.  Yet here we are in 2013, and my new question is: Has anyone felt that way about an iPhone since then?

Blackberry devotees will quickly assert that smartphones were around years before Apple’s iPhone.  But Blackberry’s precipitous decline beginning in 2010 indicates that users decided Blackberry devices and operating systems, while innovative at the time of launch, were no longer competitive with new and emerging smartphones.  Why?  The iPhone was easier for the average consumer to use and understand—something that hadn’t quite been a high priority for mobile tech developers, considering the market for the kind of sophisticated technology found in iPhone had traditionally been more focused on business applications than appealing to tech newbies and laymen.  And that’s where Apple saw an opportunity and firmly established their foothold in 2008, doubling down on the fact that the wow/cool factor of touchscreen navigation and the simplicity of its user interface would win over even the most skeptical and discerning market demographic.

Of course, we won’t ignore the elephant in the room that hit the mobile scene shortly after iPhone: Google’s Android operating system.  At first, there were plenty of skeptics raising doubts about the ability of Android to compete with Apple’s iOS, with the fragmented disconnect amongst Google’s ecosystem of mobile devices running multiple versions of operating systems and applications (something that gave both consumers and developers plenty of headaches).  Then in 2010, Android rose and overtook Apple in mobile operating system market share—and it hasn’t given up the lead since.  While the App Store did post record revenues in 2012, the Google Play store is still growing at a faster rate.

Beyond mobile smartphones, Apple also built its reputation as a tech innovator by dominating the worldwide tablet market with the launch of iPad.  When one considers the massive popularity of the iPad since its release in 2010 versus the relative obscurity and slow adoption rate of Android tablets between then and 2012, it would seem Apple is destined to own that space forever; in fact, 91% of all web traffic on mobile tablets in 2012 can be attributed directly to iPad.  But now, even that tablet space has begun to give up notable market share to Google’s Android tablets.  It’s worth noting that, even with this statistical evidence of waning market share for iPads, there are plenty of tech pundits who claim that Apple will continue to dominate the tablet market for the next few years.  But you can’t dismiss the data proving that Google is making a serious challenge to Apple in the tablet space; and it stands to reason they will only become more competitive in this market as they gather user data and get smarter about tablet user demands.

While many attribute Android’s considerable mobile market share to its competitive pricing and features, Apple still believes Android’s success is not entirely ethical.  They remain firmly convinced that Samsung—manufacturer of Android’s most popular mobile devices—only became competitive in the mobile market by blatantly copying Apple’ s iPhone and iPad designs and infringing on its patent rights. For years, Apple has engaged in ongoing litigation to prove this, with varying degrees of success spanning multiple cases in numerous world courts.  But as evidenced by Android’s ever-increasing sales, solidifying consumer loyalty, and increased adoption-rate figures, Google has made it clear they will be sharing a large chunk of the mobile revenue market with Apple for the foreseeable future.

It’s important that Apple retakes the throne in mobile now, because being stagnant is dangerous for any company in an industry founded and based on innovation—especially when that company had established itself as the industry’s standard-bearer in terms of mobile design, features, and value.  But now I hear Apple is responding to real competition in the mobile app/mobile device space by offering a cheaper iPhone?  Consider me unimpressed, and blame Apple themselves for setting my expectations higher than that.  Sure, compromising quality for the sake of marketability may simply be the inevitable response to Google and Windows offering capable, competitively priced mobile alternatives—which I admit is a good thing for mobile consumers, retailers, and mobile tech innovation overall.  But despite industry peers who may consider that kind of product strategy essential to Apple’s longevity, I can’t help but see it as Apple following rather than leading.

Let’s remember, as I stated earlier: iPhone pretty much singlehandedly created this prosperous mobile industry we have today.  It jump-started society’s shift from cell phones to smartphones, transitioning them from merely a convenience to a virtual necessity, for both personal and professional applications.  Today, projections estimate $25 billion in mobile revenue in 2013—that’s an insane number for a mobile industry that one might say is just now hitting its stride.  However, despite the booming mobile tech economy and popularity of mobile apps, the Apple brand has simply lost its former luster—a theory supported by its falling stock, the languishing enthusiasm from tech bloggers and analysts for its newly-released products, and perhaps more importantly, the increasingly negative feedback of its core consumer base.  The same tech pundits who saw iPhone as groundbreaking at its inception now call it flat-out “boring.”  Thus, I feel Apple cannot remain a mobile tech success story and take advantage of its massive revenue potential without finding a way to be exciting again.  And though I am confident they will wow the tech world again in the near future, it is certainly no longer a foregone conclusion.

Ankur Gopal is CEO of Interapt, a mobile tech strategy and development firm.  When he’s not obsessing over his March Madness brackets (Illinois got robbed!), he is replying to emails at: agopal@interapthq.com

Search: It’s Not Just for Google Anymore

Google has held online Search in an iron grip ever since its IPO in late 2004.  So much so that, somewhere along the way, the word “Google” itself became part of our lexicon, a term that meant “to search for something online.”  Have that annoying friend who asks you when a movie is releasing, or who sings a particular song?  Dude, just Google it.

But Google suffers from one unavoidable flaw:  Searches that aren’t finely-targeted can produce a bevy of irrelevant and/or unhelpful results, even when using Google’s Search Tools to refine them.  In other words, browsing is much more difficult than searching, near impossible.  Couple that with the fact that only Google knows its own search algorithms, and this means companies who want Google to direct users to their own domains in some fashion other than advertisements—i.e. every company that wants Google users to spend money on their products—are left mostly guessing at ways to optimize their website for Google search.

Facebook has known of this defect in Google Search, just as they knew how poorly their own platform has leveraged Search throughout its lifespan; CEO Mark Zuckerberg even dropped hints about Facebook’s interest in Search as early as September of last year.  To their credit, Google, being equally aware of Facebook’s inevitable impending foray into Search, launched the Google+ network to establish the kind of social connections between its users that Facebook already had, in order to solve this problem before Facebook did.  But as most of us know, Google+’s adoption rate and user base pale in comparison to Facebook’s.  But it’s only recently that the Graph Search feature has begun rolling out for Facebook users, and the bruised egos from Facebook’s mid-2012 IPO woes, combined with its prior search deficiencies, indicate that Graph Search is designed to usher in a huge shift in the marketing landscape.

This is mainly because users will inherently trust Graph Search results to be more connectedwith the people or things they already like, as well as the people or things they already Like (see what I did there?).  Want to know how many of your friends enjoy a certain band before you download their music?  With Graph Search, not only will you see which Friends like that band, but you’ll make a judgment call based on those specific results; i.e. “Because Friend X likes Radiohead, I probably will too—because I already know we have very similar tastes in music.”

In this way, Facebook cashes in on our mind’s inherent tendency to gauge the credibility of something based on its connection to our friend.  On the flip side, do we care what music Google listens to?  No, because Google is not a person (Citizens United be damned).  Thus Facebook is now effectively using its most valuable resource—its users—to create game-changing tools that no one else can, and Graph Search may be their biggest achievement yet.  But, as is always the case with predictions, I could be wrong—after all, not everyone is sold on Graph Search.  And many users constantly worry about privacy concerns and consider pulling back their interaction with the network.

But for now the question is: How does mobile factor into this new feature?  After all, Zuckerberg himself has admitted that mobile will drive Facebook’s revenue for years to come—yet Graph Search will not immediately be available as a feature through the Facebook app.  Thoughts differ on whether this is a wise move on Facebook’s part.  So exactly how and when will Graph Search and Facebook’s mobile strategy converge?  What could this mean for location-based social marketing?

Think of standing in a movie theater lobby, opening your Facebook app and instantly viewing every Facebook Friend’s approval ratings of each film playing that night–as well as which Friends are at the theater with you.  Or walking into a car dealership and holding up your phone (or just looking through your Google Glass) at car models in the showroom, with your Friends’ avatars and comments hovering above them.  Of course, the possibilities go on.  Whatever the result, I’ll be fascinated to see how Graph Search’s mobile strategy develops in 2013.

Ankur Gopal is CEO of Interapt, a mobile tech strategy and development firm.  When he’s not spending too much of his own time on Facebook, he is replying to emails at agopal@interapthq.com

Turn your smartphone sideways and the MyWeather app displays clever forecast graphs

By now, I’m sure all smartphone owners have looked up their local weather, perhaps using the well-known Weather Channel app.  I’m also sure I have countless times personally lamented how inaccurate and sluggish these apps could be on occasion.  That’s why I was pleased to discover MyWeather, a newly released weather app for iPhone and Android that is a noticeable improvement.

Visually, MyWeather impresses right away, with a smooth user experience as well as unique graphs and animations that display weather trends over an elapsed time span, even forecasting the way the sky will look in the coming days.  MyWeather recently took their experience a step further this past week when they released an app for the iPad 2 (sadly, first-generation iPads cannot access the app).

But how else does MyWeather separate itself from competitors?  MyWeather offers several reasons why it leads the way for mobile weather apps: their forecasts are 6 times more accurate; their severe weather alerts are more precisely tuned to your exact latitude and longitude; and it offers users the ability to pull and store these detailed forecasts for several chosen locations at once.

MyWeather offers more relevant weather information for your exact latitude and longitude

Beyond the local forecasts, I find these features very useful for monitoring weather at relative’s homes, vacation and other travel destinations, and even outdoor venues where I frequently attend concerts and sporting events.  And now I can sync all of these locations and forecasts between my iPhone/Android, iPad 2, and desktop MyWeather applications.

I don’t need to tell you the benefits of getting an accurate weather forecast in advance, no matter what the season.  And since most of us keep our smartphones on us at all times, we frequently rely on the accuracy of their weather apps to prepare us for inclement weather.  MyWeather delivers the most reliable and convenient mobile weather app you can find.

Ankur Gopal is CEO of Interapt, a mobile tech strategy and development firm.  When he’s not trying to figure out how his smartphone can actually change the weather, he is replying to emails at agopal@interapthq.com

An image of Portable Parenting's Timeout feature

This is a very useful app for disciplining, rewarding and teaching children anywhere your phone can go, which both teaches them accountability and gives parents more opportunities to turn punishment into a positive learning experience.

The Portable Parenting app employs several unique tools, including Take Out Time Out, a system that both records when and why your child was in Time Out as well as providing voice and text commands.  It also provides a Star Stash rewards system that allows a child to earn stars towards desirable rewards, like fun activities or a certain toy.  Similarly, the app offers a Parenting Bank to better educate children at a young age to budget and manage their allowance.  The app also generates reports to help parents measure a child’s improvement over time.

Portable Parenting is a simple yet powerful tool that also helps parents, grandparents, and caretakers improve their parenting using a hip, “techie” solution that their kids can relate to.  You can download it from the iPhone App Store or Android Marketplace.

Ankur Gopal is CEO of Interapt, a mobile tech strategy and development firm.  When he’s not trying to figure out how his smartphone can make him breakfast, he is replying to emails at agopal@interapthq.com

And now, in the age of technology and Facebook/Twitter, relationships are starting to spawn greater and greater distances. No gadget will ever replace a real hug, but there are ways to make your loved ones feel closer.

So how do you keep in touch with your long-distance betrothed during the month of love and Super Bowl party forgiveness?

Video chatting

If you or someone you know has an iPhone, make them plug it into a computer and iTunes, which is the only way to upgrade your phone. You’d be surprised how many people never connect their phone to their computer and run outdated software on their phone. Nothing says love like taking advantage of the Apple upgrades.

Apple just released enhancements to Facetime, Apple’s video chatting service. Android works well with the Qik app.,  It’s a good way to see each other when on the go.

While it’s romantic and fun to plan video chats with your significant other, make sure you schedule them. Do not randomly initiate a video chat. Relationships fail when one person is trying to video chat while the other person is busy. If the other person is not prepared to chat, there can be feelings of rejection.

While video chatting is still just catching on, look at it to become more widespread.

Skype

We’ve all seen Skype used on TV and use it for work and web conferencing on our computer. But did you know it’s coming to a TV near you?

For those unfamiliar with Skype, the software application allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. You simply sign up for a Skype account and then search for contacts. Once you and your friends and family are signed up, you can make free Skype calls from your computer to theirs. Skype also allows for video chat, file sharing, call forwarding, instant messaging and several other convenient features.

The most recent addition to Skype is the ability to make and receive calls through your TV. Both Samsung and Panasonic offer Skype-embedded televisions for crystal-clear video chat in HD. Just make sure you’re not in sweats and have a cucumber facial pack on when that TV video chat comes through. But then again, perhaps that is true love.

Multimedia Messaging Service

Got a cameraphone? Then use it to your advantage. Statistics show that 97 percent of SMS and MMS messages are opened and read. So attach a picture or short video to your next text message. It starts a conversation and shows you’re thinking of that person, even if you are far apart.

Managing distance

Distance may make the heart grow fonder, but if you need 24/7 immersion with your significant other, these technologies help put you in the same room no matter how far apart you may be. There are lots of easy, inexpensive technologies available to improve communication, but if none of these tickle your fancy, pick up a pen, get a stamp and pour your heart out on paper. That never fails.

Ankur Gopal is COO for Agent 511, a mobile strategy and development firm. When he’s not trying designing Apps on his smartphone to write Voice-Tribune articles for him, he is replying to emails at agopal@agent511.com.

The recent CES show in Las Vegas showcased some great new tech advances that we’ll be seeing in Louisville very soon, if your neighbor hasn’t gotten it already.

Apple iPad

Tablets

While iPads aren’t necessarily new, their functionality continues to increase with the increased sophistication of applications and improved development. There are some amazing tools and apps to really enhance your tablet experience.

iPad is the clear early winner, but all the other big guns are entering the emerging tablet market and making their pitch. Samsung, Toshiba, HP, Dell, Visio, and Motorola are all offering tablets with different versions running Google’s new Honeycomb Operating System. RIM (The Blackberry guys) are also entering the tablet war zone and creating an app store. I see them running a very distant third to Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market.

Tablets are coming in all shapes and sizes, and with different features based on needs. Expect to see a lot more tablets in the workplace this year.

If you haven’t bought an iPad yet, you might want to wait until April when iPad 2.0 is expected to come out. Apple is obviously tight-lipped about what features it will have, but speculation is that it will have a front or a rear camera (or both). This will be useful for videoconferencing.

Video Conferencing

Video conversations will become more and more common. The more mainstream use will be providing a video window to another person to “see what I see” – a concert, a document, a recipe, grocery shopping, a meeting, etc.

I’m not convinced video will take the place of casual phone calls or texting – mostly because we don’t necessarily want the other party to see us, but instead see something.

Amazon Kindle

E-Book Readers

The jury is still out on which is the best platform to read books. But one thing is for certain – digital books have won over brick-and-mortar stores. I predict we’ll see multiple bookstore chains close or sell off major assets.

One thing we will see are interactive books that allow kids to learn new words or do an activity – and parents can track progress.

Magazines have been slow to adopt digital, but you can get many magazines on your iPad – expect more digital newsstands as more people get tablets or e-book readers.

Flip UltraHD Camcorder

Pocket Videocameras

My dad used to make me carry the video camera bag when we went on family trips. Now you can record all your favorite moments, and have it fit in your pocket. Most are under $200, waterproof and have up to 10 hours of recording time in HD.

4G

AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile – we love them and love to hate them. They carry enormous amounts of data and allow us to communicate almost anywhere. Yet there’s always that one guy (or gal) who “hates” their phone because of poor service.

Fortunately for the impatient, expanded networks and mobile broadband will give us faster speeds and the ability to do more. If you have a 4G enabled phone and find yourself traveling in Nashville, Chicago or any large major city, turn it on and see for yourself.

Facebook: Privacy, LIKEs, and Places

Facebook is not new technology, but we’re seeing advertising, marketing and branding change due to the mass adoption of it. The “like” button is going to be one of the most important pieces of data on the Internet. What you “like” is very important to advertisers.

The “like” feature is not something that you need to be afraid to click. It’s really a great feature to stay on top of what companies are offering. Just realize that a “like” exposes your profile and sometimes your friends’ profiles to more than you may realize. Carefully choose the pages you decide to “like” as you get accustomed to lots and lots of activity coming across your live feeds and status updates.

As a word of caution, it’s not a good idea to list your home address or private information on your profile. (You’d be surprised how many people do this, and then announce that they are leaving for vacation.)

Texting

Again, texting isn’t new – but you’ll be able to do WAY more stuff with a simple text message in 2011. Banks will notify you of happenings in your account in 160 characters or less. You’ll be able to text customer support and get an answer in real time instead of waiting on the phone.

But one thing Kentucky says you can’t do any more in 2011 is text and drive. Nothing is so critical that it can’t wait for a few minutes, so remember to practice safe text.

Panasonic 3D TV

Television

Thinner screens and 3-D TVs that you can watch without glasses will arrive, but they’ll come with a bigger price tag. 3-D projectors are coming down in price and give fantastic results, so I think we’ll see a lot more people buying projectors instead of larger screens than in the past.

We’ll also see more interactive TVs that connect to the Internet, stream content on-demand and allow you to interact with other viewers or with the show itself.

Smart Homes & Smart Cars

You’ll be able to close your blinds, record TV shows and create different moods in the house with your smartphone. You will be able to start your car with your smartphone.

Not impressive enough? How about your home detecting when you are 10 miles from home in your car and turning on your heat and preheating your oven? Companies like Control4 are making the home smarter and easier to manage from a phone/tablet.

Polaroid Glasses

This just in from Polaroid and Lady Gaga – no, I’m serious. This gadget allows you to take pictures of whatever you see and display it on the outside of your lens for all to see. Neat concept, but I would hate for people to stare in my eyes and watch TV.

Keep learning

Pick up a gadget that interests you and give yourself a month to really use it and incorporate it into your life. Rather than let technology continue to pass you by – embrace it.

Ankur Gopal is COO for Agent 511, a Louisville-based mobile tech strategy and development firm. When he’s not trying to figure out how his smartphone can make him breakfast, he is replying to e-mails at agopal@agent511.com.