welcome to the PocketNow weekly this
week scandals oneplus phones are having
problems calling emergency numbers and
HTC's keyboard is serving people ads we
all love a bit of drama in our tech news
coverage also Bixby voice is supposedly
working now in North America and might
we see a sequel to the iPhone se II I'm
a Rivera drops by to help us unpack the
top news stories of the week so make
sure you're charged and ready for
episode 2 6 2 of the pocket now weekly
recorded July 20th at 2:00 p.m. Eastern
this weekly podcast is where we dissect
and discuss those gadgets that make our
lives mobile smartphones tablets and
wearables it's all the stuff you wished
existed when you were a kid and you
never would have dreamed that your phone
could reboot on you while dialing 9-1-1
i'm quan chi lo swag now senior editor
at pocketnow.com blasting the signal
from sunny Southern California this week
joined by the man the myth the legend
mr. high made Iveta host of the
PocketNow daily how are you doing on
this fine day today sir unmuting my
microphone and saying hi how are you
thank you for having me it is such a
pleasure to be invited even though that
rarely happens I know we're both working
busy schedules trying to keep this
PocketNow beast fed and and whenever we
can get you on and also that we've got
some some news that I definitely want to
unpack just sort of the behind the
scenes the inner workings at PocketNow
which i want to talk about at the end of
the show and your your key component in
making all these things happen so we
definitely wanted to have you on for
that interesting I feel flattered thank
you absolutely and always as always
plucky podcast producer mr. Jules Wong
will be frantically patching up holes to
keep our show afloat how's it going out
there on the East Coast this show was
compiled in just about 20 minutes from
the time just before the podcast
actually started so congratulations to
everyone on this show for making them
now Before we jump into more tech
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hashtag P and weekly I believe some
gadget guy at some gadget guy for one
comes back now hi my underscore Rivera
for him and I'm at point jules so talk
to us and we'll get you a discussion of
what's going on in mobile tech this week
oh and for folks that are listening to
the show or watching the video after the
fact it hit us up on the emails that
old-fashioned telecommunications
set up where you can hit it find us at
podcast at pocketnow.com we actually
have some listener mail that we're gonna
cover since we have Jaime here and he's
much better at answering questions than
I am yeah use your app servers so you
ain't what Adam Lane says we should do
we should have completely stopped doing
IM we should stop doing instant
messaging and let's all go back to email
Adam Lane says that that's the best way
to go
yeah I mean but I keep coming back to
there there you know what what is what
is a consistent way that I can reach
someone and texting an email just keep
coming back as the the platforms that I
can most reliably get ahold of someone
with the Facebook messaging with you
know I there are friends of mine I would
totally agree with you if message over
Twitter go ahead I would totally agree
with you if I didn't get 400 emails a
day every time we go to Aoife CES or MWC
the amount of spam we get the closer we
are to a show oh my god
so it just email becomes unusable like a
noise yeah definitely
III totally appreciate that there too
but it's there's way less memorization
involved like is this a whatsapp friend
is this a line friends is this a viber
friend so wait a sec how do i reused the
BlackBerry hub you don't use the
BlackBerry hub you want to talk about
nobody you know isn't that so funny
where we used to like we used to love
this notion of this one-stop shop for
all of our communication needs like HTC
had a similar solution for a little
while didn't they and in part of it
wasn't it was before since oh yeah it
was before since yes and then all of a
sudden you know this explosion in social
media completely rendered that useless
for the insane amount of content that
even regular consumers now face with
every single social media communication
system app plug-in notification alert
like now if I were to try and scan one
list view of that if I you know I'd
never want to talk to anyone ever again
and the only little ride from that here
is the hd2 so in pain no I I think that
it's I think that it's actually I've
been meaning to actually write something
about that it's it's abusive I don't
care that you've got new deals on subway
surfers or that you know sonic sonic
sonic - - is God I know you're a much
better player at Sky Force than I am
yeah I have to admit that but it's just
receiving all those notifications of
things that shouldn't be notifications
really annoying really annoying well so
and it's and it's exhausting I mean
there's already so much management that
has to happen if only there were some
really great pieces of software that
could help us streamline you know like
maybe some sort of digital Butler or
something right wouldn't that be super
spiffy what pretty cool and I think I'm
about to go under the transition that
happened in seventeen seventy seventy
six that's where the world is now and or
you're in there Oliver football's
strangely historically specific nation
peace oh okay together get it on right
I'm sorry and of course whenever we have
to unpack a joke like that it will make
it funnier for the eye let's jump into
some news cuz you know there's actually
quite a bit that we want to we want to
touch on this week starting off with
that headline story I think this is one
of the bigger news in the Android
enthusiast community right now and
that's some of the issues that oneplus
is facing and that the transcript in
update one but everyone else - I mean
we've seen reports from multiple you
know users of different OEMs from Sony
and like even the one plus five which is
that issue like that has been a
hit-and-miss
device to you in terms of this issue and
well we're talking about here is some
reports of us not being able to be
completed the phone just reboots before
the dispatcher can pick up and there's
been some speculation as to whether or
not this has been a a AOSP deal or
something with the apks from each many
but whatever the case it's not just one
plus we don't we can't just pile on one
plus again for another week on whatever
whatever hope they have you know it's
like this is industry-wide and their one
pluses doing it still due diligence by a
telling us that they've tested a
software patch for this issue with one
of the original reddit reporters on this
and they're now spreading it out to the
world via OTA so if you don't have it
you should pull it down manually in your
settings but again this is all going
through Samsung Sony Motorola a seuss
there was a case where a retail workers
and this is read it so take it with a
grain of salt but retail worker was told
by Asus not to sell any of the zenfone 3
line because and due to an issue and he
strongly believes that this is the issue
and Jaime we've talked a lot about that
user experience and and you know what it
is that we actually use on our phones is
this may be evidence that one of the
core features of having a mobile
communications device is still the
ability to make a phone call and the
thing that we would want to trust most
of all is that we would be able to do
that in an emergency so question have
you already admitted that you're a
millennial or would you consider
yourself to be part of Generation X like
me well no didn't like a couple episodes
back there's a new little mini buffer
yeah I was until now
oh you're is Anil oh my gosh in between
Gen X and Millennials for people born
like 1978 to 1984 or something like the
difference is I am NOT a centennial I am
still Generation X and I'm proud of it
I'm part of the x-men so here's the
thing I guess it all depends and it all
depends on each country it all depends
on many on many usage scenarios I you
know it's funny when I was sitting with
the former CEO of next bit now-defunct
company and you know I told them I feel
that the biggest problem with you know
with smartphones today is just like all
the steps that you have to do
make a phone call to do this to do that
and he was like well dude like people
don't really make phone calls that was
his response
and I'm like Tom I'm sorry but I totally
understand that people rarely make phone
calls today but that doesn't mean people
don't or that doesn't mean that that
should be the excuse for that to be
completely ignored and so you know I
feel that for things like emergency
phone calls and for absolutely
everything regardless even if people
don't really use these features it
doesn't really matter they should always
work and they should work great and
making the steps to make up like for
example I'm going back to the iPhone 7
plus for a video that I'm doing and so
just making the phone call it's like
shoot unlock the damn phone go into the
phone application go into the dialer and
then you know it's it's a four-step
process that you can't really follow and
sure there are ways to make emergency
phone calls from the lock screen but
it's just it should be better and and
the other thing in particularly with the
case of oneplus that I was thinking when
I was reading the news about that was
well these are unlocked phones like you
know they haven't been picked up by US
carriers and you know it's really
difficult for companies that serve
unlock products for them to be able to
abide to absolutely every single law of
emergency phone calls I'll tell you this
much I'm very sure that that one plus
fiber whichever phone I bring hearing on
though that's will not be able to da
$1.99 which is the emergency phone
number from here right you know so I I
think that it's a I agree with you it is
definitely a very broad topic over what
you know what OD Em's and OEMs are doing
to actually comply with many things
mainly if they're not picked up by a US
carrier when they are picked up by use
carrier it's a different story well and
this is just I think for me another data
point that we can look at where the
phone on our phone really is just one of
the least used apps on our phone and it
seems to be getting that kind of
attention which is not a great place to
be when a situation like this arises
again we're sort of pointing to one plus
because this story was sort of broken on
oneplus from oneplus owners but the fact
that it's becoming more replicatable and
other devices you know again I do have
some concerns that we're putting an
ever-growing
pressure on the supercomputer that lives
in our pocket to tackle every part of
our waking lifestyle and there are a few
things that these mobile computing
devices actually don't do that well that
that that part of the experience could
always be improved but I feel like the
most of the attention is is off on all
the shiny fun stuff I mean yeah this is
a Angeles gun against articles again
where we won
we're only we're only two episodes back
and doing the lives for you and I like
the inside baseball on our hangouts
setup right now is I need three pieces
of audio gear just to maintain a stable
in out for for Google hangout so now
unfortunately I think I might have
passed my my problems really underwater
if I was going to continue using this
Oaks coaxial no it's not glass no but
whatever so what I want to get to is
well Mary I lost my thought I'm still
trying to get over the comment I wanted
to make about Millennials texting that
well when instead of calling 9-1-1 but
whatever the case is that you know we've
dealt with a whole bunch of these
network fees that we deal the t-mobile
AT&T all those carriers have a 9-1-1
maintenance fee and everyone it makes a
big deal about this being a lifeline to
emergency services when you're out in
the middle of nowhere and severe cutting
in but these calls they don't actually
get them answered that well either to
like i again i had to rate wait like 16
20 24 rings in order to make my test
call which you're able to do you can set
up a local test call with your police
department or emergency departments
through their non-emergency line and
then call afterwards but put them twenty
rings to answer yes definitely also
speaks to I feel like another part of
that greater to
as we're looking at the future of the
telecommunications industry in the
United States how were funding emergency
services how we're training people to
interact with that and how the
localization of that changes from city
to city let alone from state to state
and it we do have I think feel I feel at
some point we need to arrive at sort of
a nationwide standard for how these
changes can be implemented we have a
couple comments from the p-n weekly
hashtag on Twitter from Joel GJ q the
Conservative conspiracy about chai comm
om invading the West with mobile devices
it's which I'm pretty sure joking it'd
be very interested but I would suspect
that Yoda phone which is still and then
also firm Renato Laporte this is
actually a great recommendation because
I just got this to recommend people in
the US watch last week tonight episode
about 911 and the problems around it
specifically with location definitely
touches on a few of the things that
we're talking about here because there
seemed to be failures in the system on
all fronts from the consumer devices
that we need to rely on to the
infrastructure that needs to support it
to just basic telephone service every
piece of this I feel probably needs to
be addressed again it's something that
you don't think about until you need to
use it and then if it doesn't work man
that's bad you know it's worse you know
it's worse that the worst piece of the
puzzle is the fact that your what of
your phone is your battery is dead or
something which is very common these
days like totally you have this amazing
piece of machinery like like nothing
we've ever had before amazing piece of
computing that you can't guarantee will
last you more than after 5 p.m. and
usually most emergencies are at night so
it's just it's one of those funny things
where there is so much to do to actually
make this concept reliable to be
considered reliable obviously it's far
better than the way it used to be like
having to run to a payphone or or you
know things like that we've made leaps
but for example trying to find a fake a
payphone today
in New York City there aren't any I mean
be concerning that
well what's hilarious what's hilarious
about that though is part of what we're
talking about the notion that there
could be an infrastructure of publicly
available emergency phones to use in the
event that your locket communicator is
defunct yes this la has this I love
seeing this on the poor oh yeah
that's definitely true
seeing those freeway phones cuz yes it
is a possibility that you're full you'll
be out of a battery or whatever and I
love I think it's I've only seen that in
LA I haven't seen it anywhere else all
right and you have some stretches of a
of other freeway that actually do that
too but again it's so crucial in LA that
if anything is disrupting freeway
service like they've got they've got
teams of people driving all day long to
try and rectify those issues because
it's such a critical factor in how LA
functions you know one car broken down
on the side the road can impact miles
and miles every way and that that's
pretty dive mate and it's mainly not
because of the line that it's leaving
behind but because of everybody that's
seeing what's wrong with the car the NYC
subway which I think all of us have some
familiarity with and those help points
but you know when you're stuck in in the
middle of the subway with a derailment
in Auckland and you know you don't have
access that you cancer becomes more of a
hell point as those vandalized posts why
you why you guys why you gotta call
Harlem in that's racist reason did you
know did you see that fricking the
railing on the one minority I did not
I'm sorry it's you know again I I still
lost it I haven't totally disconnected
him on free time from New York
explicitly in on the sense that you
can't go to because like I have to deal
this more often it's just like hooray
another day with the MTA I don't mind
getting out LaGuardia
which is you know everyone talks about
as the hellish airports of the hellish
airport is their work
it's Newark well I probably shift gears
before we ask our droughts gonna get
really sad and the other scandals a bit
of news this week of course HTC this
this was I I remember I I saw this first
on reddit that someone broke this open
on reddit that there were certain
versions of the keyboard app on HTC
phones which started serving
advertisements after update and I feel
like HTC is you know again HTC is
ultimately responsible for the software
that runs on their phones but like damn
this company can't catch a break but I
don't feel like this was a major
oversight on HTC I feel like this was
likely an app that was updated that the
right code wasn't put in at the right
place on the phone version and then so
remember
so remember UTC out is being shelled so
you remember you got your you 11 arrived
like a week after mine right right had
the U 11 and so I did the unboxing and I
did the 24 hours video I was really
really appalled I don't think there's
any other way any other word that I
could use and when I started going into
blinkfeed for example and I started
noticing all the advertisement that was
on blinkfeed um and you know I I made
that I made it a point on the 24 hours
video and I don't know if HTC saw the
video and they targeted my device for
what but when I did the full review I
had no more advertisement on blinkfeed
so I have no clue of its because I was
using a Taiwanese dual SIM unit or what
is the case all I know is if you
remember this whole mentality of serving
ads was actually born with the one m9 HD
was looking for ways to improve the
revenue and so they decided that they
wanted to bring that they wanted to do
the whole advertisement on blinkfeed and
they also decided they if you remember
they had this like really interesting
widget where the apps would shuffle on
on the on
on your home screen and those apps some
of these were the ones you used most
others were actually apps that they were
suggesting and that you would download
so you know when I saw the news on on
this touch on touch bowel serving ads I
was like oh my god like really HTC this
is what I said in my 24 hours video
which I obviously I actually I actually
typed in on the script and I recorded
the script it's complaining about ads
but then I couldn't portray it on video
on my review because it was no longer
there but you know I was very clear in
my 24 hours videos like listen HTC
you're not charging 400 bucks for this
phone I totally know I totally
understand Amazon doing this and they're
giving you a discount for the phone I
mean think about it
I mean I saw your video on the on the
Idol 5 on the 5s how much is it 200
bucks for the 5s on yet and well so in
most markets what it actually is is I
think now because I actually tried to
buy one just to see it's a it's 279 and
then you get an $80 Amazon gift card but
still subsidizing so I'm not gonna lie I
love I actually buy my Kindles with
advertisement on purpose because I like
for them to suggest books to me it's a
it's an e-book reader and I want
suggested content focused on this in the
case of smartphones I mean in the case
of Amazon not you know I know that the
ads that are being served by Amazon on
smartphones are not great but I just you
know in the case of HTC it's like this
is a $600 phone like please you know it
doesn't make sense for so you feel and
again we're speculating here this isn't
like we've got any kind of internal
contact at HTC and HTC's official
response was that this was a goof that
touch Pal was going to serve ads in this
way but do you feel that this was maybe
sort of a convenient oversight that this
fits into that strategy of trying to
monetize doesn't come pre-loaded I don't
know if there was or wasn't all I know
is that and I apologize for the honking
of horns I'm like like a block away from
that from main road but the problem is
that I don't know if it's an oversight
or not all I
it's been something that started with
the Wynnum 9 I saw it on the one a9 as
well when I reviewed it I did not see it
on the HTC 10 but I and nor did I see it
on the you ultra when I review it but I
did see it on the you 11 so whatever the
case may be you know it's not like if
there is not a president HCC was clear
that this was going to be one of their
strategies back with the one of nine so
you know they haven't officially said
anything but the it's there and and the
ads that were served on blinkfeed were
terrible yeah like they were really a
rural again like you bring up an
excellent point in this economy where so
many of these corporations are built
around trafficking and data and making
money by advertising by by serving up
ads the better your relevant ads are the
less they're going to feel intrusive and
your example of the Kindle I think is an
excellent example because I'm in the
same boat I like it when Amazon can look
at my my reading patterns and suggest
books based on the things that I've
liked in the past and that doesn't feel
nearly as intrusive as when you know a
blinkfeed like service just pops up
whatever random candy crush ad it thinks
is gonna be popular for a majority of
consumers and it has nothing to do with
me exactly drew mine hey V er um what's
funny is like I've actually run into a
bit more of this like for example in
trying to update Bixby which we're gonna
talk about here in just a bit um Samsung
actually had a pop up allowing me to opt
out of Samsung advertisements on their
Bixby service so again like I think that
was gonna be more focused on Samsung
services like get the most out of your
galaxy but you know this blurring of the
line between tooltips and just
straight-up ads the same thing Microsoft
has kind of been hammered for recently
on the Windows 10 creator update yeah
all these helpful little tidbits of
information that are really just
advertisements and disguise for
Microsoft services and and I feel I feel
that the main problem is again if yours
if your Facebook you're giving near your
service for free I don't mind your
advertisement because this is what keeps
the right
like the product exactly no but but not
only that it's like you know if you want
to be part of this this is this is the
the catch you know you don't pay
anything to be part of it
but like for example you know you're
you're like YouTube it makes sense for
ads to be served it makes sense for
people to opt out through YouTube red I
think that it's fine I just I don't find
it logical full or a phone to cost
flagship price and for me to be served
ads that is not correct I mean i dilute
Leiby that price tag should absolutely
be the opt-out yeah I'm paying this much
money a lot of money for a premium
experience exactly exactly and I feel I
know I do understand that companies you
know I is the company that makes the
most amount of profit from online
services in the industry up to the point
where I think that it was last year that
Apple literally made a hundred percent
of the profits for unlike on online
services and it was like it was
hilarious like how can you have a
negative graph but that's that's the way
it was portrayed right point being the
point being is again I do understand
that these companies want to figure out
more ways to make money but you know
what why don't your CEOs get a pay cut
or something like that if you're not
doing well instead of serving people for
something that they're not that they're
already paying for they shouldn't be
bothered by this or the options should
be available people can opt out from it
at the beginning some ads are useful it
I would be the first person to accept
ads if they're useful to me and if
they're not that I could just switch
them off I would love that you know well
anything I still need oh and absolutely
because I feel like one of the biggest
problems facing the mobile industry in
general is this sort of notion of
disclosure you know just what what
exactly is taking place with my data
with my information and and to what
degree is this relationship entwined
with the cost of my service and and I
don't know that there's a sexy way to
communicate that to consumers but for
people who care about that I feel it
should still be made accessible shifting
gears i we just have a little corporate
news again we're talking about major
corporations and businesses and you know
CEOs at the helm at
the helm of these different companies
and it looks like we've got some action
happening with Nokia the hmd CEO
position our tonu mela who I'm pretty
sure I just mispronounced his name is
stepping down as the head of this
company do we do we feel like this is
maybe an early danger signal of what's
happening at hmd or are we is it still
too early to tell what this company's
strategy or plan is going to look like I
don't know I I saw the news but I was
like so I actually am liking the
strategy that so yesterday we were
sitting with Sam which is my our
colleague for the Spanish website that
we'll talk about later and it's like so
how do you pronounce it correctly nokia
nokia which is the correct way like I
don't I don't know i think that i think
that HMT has done an amazing job in
reviving Nokia I say Nokia I don't agree
with the marketing strategy of making an
exclusive for China the beginning and
all this and that I probably they were
expecting other results at the beginning
these phones are very aggressively
priced like extremely aggressively
priced but their presence in the United
States as if like zero it's not until
now with the Amazon exclusive and I
think that that was genius I think that
nailing that phone as an Amazon
exclusive was another good idea
obviously they need carrier support at
some point their phones are pretty they
perform well you know that the build
quality oh my god when I saw that Nokia
six at MWC I was like this thing is
gorgeous
I just wish it wasn't so underpowered
but this is just me being the you know
the the spec guy that I am but the
phones are great so I don't know I I
can't I I can't speculate I I feel that
Nokia's just getting started I hope that
there is more to come
so from what we hear it's a personal
decision it was abrupt and everyone
supporting him and his move and the
current president of hmd global is
acting a CEO in the time being now
if it no if it weren't personal if we
were to look at if we were to find tea
leaves in what was happening with the
Nokia three five and six launches we've
seen you know it was a pretty ambitious
thing 121 before and it was gonna be
spread out between May and June first
whispers of the shipping dates from
clove and other UK retailers came out
and like April May and that turned out
to be bang June now July some models at
the copper color of the Nokia six
supposed to come out in August even on
Amazon that does now despite all that
that doesn't mean it's doing poorly I
mean they've they have like several
models in the top twenty of Amazon's
best top unlocked units so it's like you
know which is not really much in the
United States you have to bear in mind
that
yeah it's stiple enough to like have
that as a as a plot point although this
is the right time to start making that
this is the right time to start making
that push simply because I feel like
there is a growing as small it's a tiny
little ember of growing interest in the
unlocked market you know when when we're
seeing on ER phones popping up at Target
you know like yes there is some retail
wedge room to start having those
conversations with especially people in
the United States I was gonna say North
America but the rest of North America
understands and in that case jewels as
well remember at that level of you know
as a see you've never heard a CEO be
fired from a company they always step
down in most cases they'll never mention
the reasons why they were forced to step
oh it's a personal reason the what was
protracted and I know you know that was
I mean they were aiming for like a full
portfolio of devices it's not I'm not
sure if this means that things are going
are progressing too slowly because we've
only got into the point
we're only starting to talk about the
Nokia eights coming out soon and then
you know you want to have at least a
couple more like Ed likes a dozen or
something yeah like they want to do a
dozen phones this year and now it
doesn't look like it's gonna be happy at
that pace so I mean yeah it definitely
doesn't look although I gotta say let's
say that this was like one of the worst
CEO behind-the-scenes drama-filled
situations that will never be privy to
for hmd and for the Nokia brand this is
probably the best way for this to go
down I think there is enough consumer
sentiment in goodwill to weather some
missteps on entry-level and mid-range
err phones but once we start talking a
flagship launch and a flagship release
and actually shipping product and
getting consumers on board they cannot
they do not have room to make missteps
there so if there's any conflict in the
internal leadership as to what the
vision for this new Nokia should be they
need to iron that out with the phones
that are gonna be lower profile more you
know just sort of spread out in the
ecosystem some of the strong suits that
nokia has always had I mean they've
always serviced the developing markets
and entry-level markets really really
well and so there's room there for them
to make a couple mistakes but once we
start hearing about Nokia eight and if
they're still having shenanigans
happening behind the scenes then that's
gonna be the death of this licensing
agreement agreed agreed
we do have a couple tweets here from PN
weekly a lot of people just really
hoping to see a Nokia succeed
Ranade Laporte I really want them to
succeed the Nokia six is a great phone
build wise imagine a similar design and
flagship specs from Peter hatin I really
want Nokia to succeed this is an
interesting question do you think
branching out into IO T before a
flagship could confuse consumers that
maybe this Nokia branding from the
Withings acquisition might be spreading
the name thinner for what consumers
should expect from that label
I don't think we talked about no here I
don't see any of its applications in
products yet and you know if that's like
that's that's enterprise I mean I think
it's clearly stratified what they're
doing here and this is just I don't
think it's a bad idea you think about it
who doesn't who doesn't want their you
know their smartphone to match but their
scale and their armband and you know
this is what to a certain degree Apple
sells you know and all these companies
want to mimic to a certain degree
Cupertino success in all services you
know in some of these businesses you're
not gonna make money but all these
businesses help mindshare they help the
brand exposure grow and that's really
what these companies need to expand you
know I feel that mine shares would no
kid needs right now and I think that it
was a smart idea and what things was a
really good brand so I think they did a
smart move right there yeah I absolutely
agree here's this major pushes can the
Nokia label become a full lifestyle
brand and again I think Apple has been
the most successful at making that
transition Samsung's probably a close
second and I think there's every
opportunity to look at phones as one
aspect of this being a label which is an
omnipresent part of an individual's life
what was it was it for its CEO it was an
automaker I think it was Volvo that said
we're no longer competing against car
companies we're competing against Apple
Amazon these are the companies were
competing with the companies that
actually own the information and that
are actually pushing innovation to
another level well and and consumers
dollars are finite right you know there
are a lot of people who are making
decisions between owning equipment like
cars and then owning other things that
might make their lives more fun so yeah
a smart car but they don't have the
plans to do so well I just mean just in
general though like that you know if
we're gonna you know talk about
different generations and their spending
habits the younger you are the less
likely it is ever in American history
that you're going to own a car you know
that that's a major
fundamental shift in our economy and
that some of these things like
homeownership and luxury goods ownership
that is going to be a more difficult
sell to people who are looking at their
spending power diminishing and then
saying well for my buying power I want
to have experiences not own that then
only for me having to take care of them
exactly I think that's an amazing point
one and you know it's interesting with
the whole auto industry and the way it
fell in the United States about eight
years ago and there is you know there
were obviously different ways to
subsidize this industry but in the end
and all shifted to the fact that cars
became very expensive like people don't
really say that but I you know vehicles
literally grew in price nearly ten
thousand dollars apiece so if in the
past you could buy like the really cheap
Mitsubishi Mirage like the entry-level
you know all these cars you now have to
pay ten thousand dollars more for these
cars and all in the sake of these are
fuel-efficient vehicles so you know it I
have an amazing point like people aren't
really investing in things like vehicles
as much as they used to because they're
not affordable anymore I mean people's
incomes are going down minimum wage is
becoming more common among among younger
the younger crowd which it wasn't the
case before yeah so it's it's definitely
people are not investing in this if
anything they'd rather travel you're
right everyone's you know going for the
new model and it's like twenty eight
which is rising twenty to fifty percent
above inflation from like thirty years
ago or so like that whatever it's like
we're gonna go on Craigslist and buy the
two thousand tow the car that's what we
do that's what that's how we survived
and this kind of Starbucks barista
economy where you're a manager does a
tricky right at all any of the customers
rating whatnot blah blah blah now beyond
all of that in terms of just providing
services I think you people are more
conscious conscious of companies that
have a conscious I mean that's that's I
mean that's pretty much it
you're talking about people who talk
about this on social media
say you know what I'm not gonna spend my
money on a place that doesn't treat its
workers right that doesn't you know know
what I need at the right time and that
has robots for a customer service that's
take a complaint or take a compliment
and make it into a complaint that needs
to be asked about and that has happened
to oneplus by the way so I mean you
started to show off with like let's not
unduly no I this this is I mean like I'm
just yeah to unpack I mean you know a
lot a lot of what we're talking about
here especially just for that that kind
of philosophy and comparisons to other
markets it's just that it is it is kind
of funny though going back to watch
movies from the 80s where someone's like
talking about a BMW and it costs $10,000
for a hottie zmw like oh for a Beemer of
Bieber let's let's shift gears because
we've got one other bit of news that I
want to unpack here to speak on here
well yeah you know because this is sort
of a so kind of this this look at some
of the way that companies are being run
we've already sort of mentioned
Microsoft I mentioned Microsoft in that
idea of how they're you know how they
position their products and and you know
some of the frustrations I've had with
Windows 10 but this is exactly the kind
of move that makes me so frustrated to
actually be a fan of Microsoft is this
ongoing perpetual confusion as to what
Microsoft is trying to do in the market
with Windows 10 Windows 10 for armed
devices and then Windows 10 for mobile
devices and this is where I totally
appreciate where consumers are looking
at this there's no way to concisely
explain what's going on no one really
seems to know what this strategy is
supposed to look like and we've all
pretty much given up on any idea of
Microsoft being competitive as in the
mobile phone space how you want me to
show you just how bad it is do it so I
was I was recently invited to Seattle
for a summit particulars summit that's
other projects that were working on that
you'll know about soon and so the funny
part is I said I spent I don't know how
long did we lose travel dinner the
answer was zero all of them were using
iPhones that all of them that is how
that is the Microsoft strategy for with
those phone not even the employees are
using them anymore
and it's really sad because you know I
think it was a great platform well I
think Windows Phone was a good platform
in its time sadly not supported but
clearly you know not even the company is
believing in their own products anymore
I mean the well and they haven't
launched that baby that's that's how
much of a belief they have you know they
haven't launched them anymore this this
has become a major fundamental shift in
focus to where I feel I'm spacing on the
current Microsoft CEOs name Nadella
some thoughts can adela yeah so some
he's definitely a server-side guy he
like services he likes licensing he
likes making everything into an apple I
mean we've been hearing those
discussions about Windows 10 as a
service you know your operating system
should be handled just like any other
app on a mobile or desktop device and so
this is what has become so frustrating
about that part of the conversation
where we saw some real inroads Microsoft
was was building some momentum in the
Windows Phone 8.1 days and then we went
three years without having a proper
flagship and then we got the Lumia 950
which wasn't a very nice phone to be
competing a piece up a nice stop being
nice it was terrible
you know I mean like it this is this is
what's so frustrating is had there been
iteration in between the Lumia 930 in
the Lumia 950 we never would have gotten
into this position where they released
such a plasticy creaky unpleasant phone
to use but instead we saw this Microsoft
that was like oh you know what Windows
Phone 7
that's totally dead wait until we're
gonna wow you with Windows Phone 8 oh
you know what Windows Phone 8 isn't
really what you we want you to use so
just hold off wait and Windows 10 is
gonna knock your socks off and so when
you keep putting these these gaps in the
market there's no momentum for
developers there's no momentum for
consumers you feel like you're being
left out to dry after you've spent
hundreds of dollars to jump into this
ecosystem as an outlier because it's not
you know part of the iOS or the Android
ecosystem and then years later we still
get to this point where they're teasing
some idea that they might eventually
consider the possibility of doing some
market research on asking people whether
or not they should potentially release
another phone and you're like fool me
once shame on me fool me twelve times no
still shame on me I got it I gotta go no
no I think that it has a lot to do with
the thumb I'll give you an example I
when I remember when you know back in
the old days of Steve Ballmer everything
was money like we'll see where we make
money we're doing this because we're
making a little money here we're making
a little money there it was always that
talk the Satya I love his approach I
love the fact that he is more of he's
less about the money more about how
these services can be useful to you I
feel that Microsoft still has more to go
like for example this whole Windows 10
creators update is about anything but
creators I'm like okay so you're telling
me you're telling me that this is the
creators update and all you have is a 3d
version of paintbrush but you don't
you're you still you still don't have a
really good video editing application so
what can I create with that you don't
have a good like a syphon paint brush
what else was on this creators update
like really that you know I feel that
this company
really needs to walk the talk because if
you saw Panoz and and Meyerson and their
keynotes it's all we want to help you
create we want to help you do this we
want to help you do that but it's just
such an oddity that you know this
company is not really focusing on what
they're saying and so then you have
Apple Apple has got services that don't
make money like the Apple watch like the
Apple TV but they don't let these
services go they still continue pushing
them because at some point they're gonna
blow up and that's the way they see it
and that used to be Microsoft I mean I
think about to think about yourself
think about the Xbox if the Xbox were
released under this current Microsoft
admission and it would be with the ring
on the vine we would have an Xbox and
four years later they'd be like oh well
here's like a little point one update
that you're really gonna like but hold
off because we're gonna release an Xbox
two that's gonna knock your socks off in
six more years and you're like that's
not how this market functions it's not
what it resembles and so I I completely
agree with you on sort of the general
focus of a guy like Nadella
at the head of this company but what I
find so frustrating is at some point we
need to hear some cohesive messaging
from Microsoft and and that's what's
really killing me is if Microsoft wants
to go off and focus on being a services
company instead of having our own phone
platform here are all of the Microsoft
services that are gonna make your iPhone
or your Android phone even better great
but let's stop dabbling with these
public beta experiments teasing
information about will they or won't
they ever release a surface phone I
think it's time to poop or get off the
bus yeah exactly and it's it's always
been like this with Nutella and ever
since the the transfer of power
especially with the Nokia dumping and
just you know it's all always been
alright let's start over build things up
tear them down let's start it over and
things just you know there's they're
trying to they're trying to aim for a
viral hit and that's something that you
can't do and with every sizzle release
it's the desperation oh no no no this
time we really mean it this time it's
really gonna wow you and then it has
it's really real and then they're gonna
had a vent in February for a product
they want to launch in December it's
like see this is I love I okay so by the
way you know well probably what I'm used
for Michael Fishman true when he was
working with us was the Lumia 950 review
it was it was probably what it was it
was probably what news but if it's like
up until like minutes six or something
would Michael just starts throwing in
all the complaints of them both
he's like reboots boy howdy does this
phone love tree but inside his plane at
the end it's like wait a second this one
costs $650 and it feels like a beta
product are you serious like you know I
let's think about it for a minute
Apple took years before they announced
the product and then it took them six
months before they were able to push it
out and then it took him a full year
even even against their own will to
launch an app store like people forget
how long it took for the iPhone to
mature into what it is and people forget
how long it took Android to mature into
what it is and I feel that Microsoft
really needs to just step down and say
okay become popular let's write that
lightning and let's focus on making a
phone platform that actually works just
as much as we worked on Windows 10 and
just as much as it delights because I'm
not gonna live my favorite computer
right now is the surface pro 4 mm-hmm I
think it's a death I look at that as
another example it took three days
surfaces before people were really
taking them seriously in the market and
actually it wasn't we put out a surface
one and then we went silent for three
years it was been put out a surface one
and that got panned by most people we
put out a surface two and a few people
thought that was a little bit better and
we put out a surface three and people
started taking us seriously and by
surface for this was a premier Windows
experience and people understood that
yeah and again I sorry Jules please go
ahead
I was just gonna - you about your
opinions of how Panos Panay has taken
his reproach to these disparate product
lines because when you consider you go
back in Windows Mobile and you had a
years-long base and it was you know it
was fairly popular up until the newer
smarter competition ate it up and then
you have pcs which we're in a deaths
file everyone kept saying and now this
new form factor is taking things up a
notch again so I mean we're in sort of a
flux situation and you know we've seen
yeah you know def smile turnaround and
hot markets at least back in you know so
six of seven oh eight oh nine that was
rushing up and building up and they
failed to write a line so here's a
problem in that meeting that I and I
really can't talk about what happened in
the Microsoft meeting that I went to all
I'm gonna say is this it was really
funny when I you know they showed me a
product and I was like wow this is
really cool the problem is that this
product you know I'm and I looked at it
from a practical practical IT standpoint
and by the way this has nothing to do
with smartphones or tablets or anything
it's actually a software product and I
saw it and I'm like okay this is really
cool but is there is there a possibility
for you to do this and response was that
is actually a very cool idea but could
you tell me how we could market that to
the enterprise sector and I'm like you
get it do you I heard Julie set that I'm
like okay wait a second let me
understand this your focus over the past
two keynotes
of different Microsoft products that
have been announced is we love consumers
we want you to create we want you to do
but then your mentality is still that
you want a one-size-fits-all solution
for everything it doesn't work that we
can't approach everything from how are
we gonna sell this to the enterprise
standpoint you need consumer products
enterprise products and it's been that
way like you over matter
you need to talk to them in different
ways like you think about it think about
it one back in the day of back in the
day when Steve Jobs pulled Apple from
the shackles he was like I don't want
ten different types of Mac's I want to
max a pro and a consumer yep I don't a
consumer I think it's four terabyte
server in the back of my house that
needs me feeding information I just need
a little thing with the Wi-Fi max what's
kind of funny is a lot of consumers are
actually looking at you it's such an
irony when you have like you there is no
there are only two versions of Mac OS
mac OS mac OS server how many versions
of Windows are there can does anybody
know so I don't think any I don't even
think Microsoft knows I don't even think
Microsoft knows and so wait a second so
you're telling me that you create
different versions of Windows Home Pro
whatever it is that you have and you
still expect for everything else that
you do to cater you can't do one size
fits all you you either branch out and
create a separate consumer division that
only focuses on creating consumer
products and sure create a pro version
of whatever you do and sell that to your
enterprise but like for example think
about it video editors on Windows in
particular like sure Premiere Pro is
amazing but for things like YouTube it
is too complex and Apple had a time like
that they had Final Cut 7 and it was
what movie makers used them they still
use it today but think about it the boom
in YouTube and the boom in having
everybody be able to create really
good-looking video started with Final
Cut 10 I mean they people Pam that
people will like no it's not as powerful
as 7 it doesn't really matter what it
did is it created a spur of creators of
everybody being able to I mean think
about it I I would not be like the
difference between how much it takes me
to build a pocket out daily in Premiere
- how much it takes me on final cut is
hours like the difference is ours not
for rendering times but simply the
practicality of the tool and so if might
like Excel for example how many people
actually know how to use Excel well I
mean I oh you weren't asking me okay yes
the point being is you know do you
really know how to create if if or
vlookup array uh okay you do but how
many people do you know know how to do
that and so going back to that it's
that's the problem of Microsoft either
they figure out how to create a consumer
division that focuses on the phone
business or consumers or I don't think
there's actually at this point I I kind
of don't want them to at this point I
want Microsoft off in crazy are in deal
and to look at what the future of data
and services should look like and I
think them trying to reinvest in trying
to become a third place player in the OS
market is throwing good money after very
very bad you guys have heard me grumble
on about the post smartphone world and
how that's gonna that's coming up fast
and we're gonna be splitting services
off and then you look at a product like
hollows in it which they keep teasing
you know they keep showing us these
glimpses of what their AR strategy could
look like and they still haven't gotten
any kind of consumer version or army you
know an actual Enterprise like if we're
gonna say it's got to be for enterprise
first um there that doesn't exist yet
and so this with a are catch-up we're
watching Google and Apple play with a
our strategies and by the time Microsoft
deliver something will already be off on
competing solutions okay you this who's
actually gonna be willing to buy Apollo
lens for whatever it is when now you've
got a are kit on iOS which is obviously
not going to be as complete as as but
it's gonna be available for everybody in
November and not like I'm making no it
doesn't matter is whether or not it's
the most complete it matters if
developers embrace it and from what I
understand a our kit on Apple is
actually really easy
to code for especially when you're
getting kids in on Swift's from yep
Swift playgrounds you're doing you're
doing thing I feel that they're doing
things right in in many ways and
Microsoft is they're doing a lot of
things right Microsoft is cool again I
make my point I love what they're doing
but in the phone space they need to
shift their whole focus or they need to
walk the talk is what I'm trying to say
yeah in their presentations and in their
a notes they're saying that they're
focusing on creators but their products
don't show that well because we're
talking about all these services that we
want to be able to access but now what
we're seeing uh bixby finally getting
activated its voice gonna be activated
in the US with all these little
functions they created a little nice
teaser video talking about oh hey you
can screenshot things and text it to
your sister in the same voice man which
is you know it's great it's and there's
a little limited like third-party app
integration so that you can go into the
google play music and you know create a
playlist with album arts and whatnot so
I mean it's been months it's been months
or something
damn launched well and it's been months
and I don't know that any of us even
have it yet you know I know I know
people have been getting the update but
I've been I've been rock have NSA to try
it on Brian but up I mean even with the
t-mobile roaming SIM card like nothing
have you received it no I mean I even
tried like flash installing apks to see
if I could Frankenstein it to work and
it's in fact when I did that that's when
I about Samsung ads so it was like
Samsung punishing me for trying to
install dicks for me
no go ahead one sorry oh I was just
gonna say I was gonna actually throw it
to you and just my curiosity and in how
this competes with other voice
assistance and to me it still feels like
Samsung's kind of reinventing the wheel
as opposed to adding something that's
gonna profoundly change the way I use my
phone but but please sing my song take
them from there
oh I I mean I set it on yes
daily I love if this thing can do with
the teaser video shows it looks unique
it looks unique from a point that it is
context to where air and it is able to
help you actually do more things with
your phone that would be like most
people would have to actually interact
with a certain part of the phone and
just copy-paste and do all these things
where it seems that Bixby is able to do
that on its own obviously we have to
test that to provide a full opinion what
I will say is you know we go back to the
problem with digital assistants like the
biggest problem with Google assistants
is that it doesn't connect with anything
yet like there are very few third-party
applications that served with it
whereas Siri right now which was left in
the left in the ashes for years became
cool as of last year where you know I'm
not gonna lie I'm like a history can you
get me an uber to go to the airport what
is this bee did you get the Alexa
talking to you did you get the Alexa
update for your you 11 I have not fired
it up because I've been really because
that's another thing how is it it's it's
surprisingly because again I don't have
an echo so I'm very of the Amazon
ecosystem right now and just their
method for adding their skills
the little applets that you can control
through voice actions I mean there's
this really great battle happening
between things that you can control with
your voice that live on your phone and
services that you can control with your
voice that are part of smart home
installations or other services that are
sort of broader than that and so right
now Google assistant is pretty good for
search and is pretty good for
controlling things on your phone big
speed looks like it could help augment
some of that again controlling things
that live on your phone and then Alexa
has this really robust developer
ecosystem for services that live outside
of just the glowing rectangle you hold
right in front of your face and so the
unfortunate part of that is you have to
memorize who do I talk to
my phone to get this to work that's a
lot to ask consumers but there is
potential I feel I think there's still
potential for any company to walk in and
deliver a killer ai but I feel there's
potential to help us really shift up how
we use our phones I feel I feel that the
whole public's sorry I feel that the
whole move of Alexa moving to phones is
genius this is like this is like and I
hate to bring this example but I'll have
to bring it first like Roku like I got
this Roku TCL Smart TV the other day and
I hate Smart TVs but I love the concept
of being able to control everything from
my phone and on having to juggle with
the controller data and so for me the
main reason why I had never bought an
Alexa speaker was because I am NOT going
to talk to the damn speaker alright just
I'm not gonna ask for diapers or
what-have-you
right III think that I still need that I
need to close that gap where I am very
simply going to ask a speaker to just
buy something for me and that I'm not
able to see what I'm doing on a screen I
love that's the reason why I love that
Amazon echo what is it the show or the
the one that has a screen that for me is
genius because I'm actually I'm actively
seeing what the speaker is doing in an
interface I think that that was genius
now I love the whole concept of it being
in my own and because I've never used
that I can't really have an opinion on
it but if I'm able to create the things
that I want on the phone which has a
keyboard which has a more interactive
way and if that all synced to whatever
the speaker is going to do as well then
yes I am buying the damn speaker that I
feel you know if these things can
coexist I feel that that's a that's a
smart approach but I'll have to give it
a try I'll download it I think right now
the frustrating aspect is that you have
to have multiple devices to have to fill
the gaps you know like what Alexa does
well you know is gonna complement what
Google home assistant does well and it's
not a sense of continuity as much as it
is just patchwork and you know covering
this with and that we've been messing
with stuff like this since the Xbox with
Kinect - you know it's funny to think
that there have been so many
implementations of this
right now a little Bluetooth speaker is
the one that we're sort of most
impressed by and all I see is people
saying Xbox turn on Xbox and then people
don't do anything else with it that's
all they do or you know that's not true
is like I was sitting on my friend's
couch one seems like hey watch I can
totally cook bring up Netflix and he
tried three times to use voice actions
to play a movie on Netflix and then he's
never tried ever again
it didn't work once it's now it's now a
non-starter he'll pick up a room he'll
pick up his phone that that's that's it
it was done you know you can tell you
know there's no room for that so now get
good Microsoft as I would say to Xbox
gamers in any case let's jump your
little quickfire what we have for
hardware or at least the next few
stories here so talking about the show
me me three possibly four 2018 and
instead of a 5.5 inch flexible OLED
display we're talking about a six inch
rigid OLED display I mean I include this
in there just as a LCD you know LED and
how it's still this hard ramped up for
people to deal with for manufacturers to
deal with and the big deals flexible
OLED these days so um how do you think
they're how much of a trainwreck do you
think this transition has been
especially with the iPhone eights
putting a wrench to things one oh no
really I mean for this news for this
story specifically I think the big news
is will Xiaomi hammer out a meaningful
deal with Samsung that can actually
fulfill demand while we're watching the
iPhone sort of suck up all of the
manufacturing capacity because this is
this is potentially short term bad news
for LG Display LG has its own separate
wing of the LG Electronics Corporation
has been panels and stuff like that and
this is another one you you want to talk
about a company that didn't act with
consistency when they started making the
flex they were producing flexible OLED
z' for their own phones and then they
just sort of stopped and LG's went back
to LCDs and this is something where had
they maybe kept a little more pressure
on the market they would have have they
would have had the manufacturing in
place to be a more direct competitor for
Samsung to fulfill this demand I think
there's more market pressure in terms of
just active-matrix organic just regular
instead of the plastic you know there's
certain qualities to it that made it
much more harder to compete for them to
compete but you know that's that's
components talk that we can get into I
mean
it's Apple if it weren't for Apple we
wouldn't have these problems we would
still be an LCD land but this is the
kind of stuff that's gonna impact a lot
of sort of the tangents on smart phones
right you know like the VR experience is
gonna be nicer for most consumers on an
OLED especially once we can start
working with either the pixel pitch or
the sub pixel pixel arrangements not to
get too deep in the weeds but these are
the types of things that we need to ramp
up the manufacturing so that everyone
sort of competing on those same points
and you're gonna have a lot a lot harder
time if you're a smaller manufacturer
because the Samsung is the Apple's
these companies are just leeching the
market dry so that that's where I feel
like again LG missed an opportunity to
keep up the pressure on their own
development because I think the next
thing is gonna be you know the idea of
maybe transparent displays you know once
we start really solving some of those
problems for consumer applications
they're just imagine the the automobile
windshield industry having access to
heads-up displays that are properly
built into your into your car windshield
you know that kind of demand is gonna
suck up the market even worse in just
the same way that we're gonna be looking
at batteries for electric cars but now I
know I'm off on tangents yes quantum
vision let's go into the iPhone s
either could be a sequel apparently
according to French outlets and this
could have come at an event in August
and there's reason to believe that the
spikes the fact that people are trending
more towards the findings more in terms
of a form factor they have a factory in
Indiana P hard
they fought very hard for to establish
so that they can set up a store in India
their growth market their main growth
market and they're making iPhone has
Eve's at that factory so I think the
iPhone se is like the iPod I mean I
think that that thing is not gonna go
away anytime soon it makes sense for
them to continue iterating I think it's
gonna happen yeah so I mean for me it's
just I desperately hope that it's once
again the same she'll just with updated
specs I still think that the iPhone 5 is
one of the most beautiful things that
Apple's ever created
this is the best premium one thumb on
the go user experience that you can have
especially if you've got tiny little
hobbit thumbs like I do
III this is probably the most successful
Apple product that I've ever had the joy
of reviewing so there's just the
personal aspect of it that I hope that
they do iterate another one and if this
factor comes from India then so much the
better
because they're talking about something
like a 399 euro price point for an
updated iPhone se better specs and
better storage and that could be epic
that would put a big hurt on a lot of
other premium mid Rangers integrated all
right do you think the home pod will
save Siri because we're looking at some
analytics from Virchow and they were
talking about its decline in usage a
decline in user base in Syria as well as
s voice which is Samsung's a low voice
thing and the beneficiaries of all that
are Cortana for Microsoft Google
multiple ways that you can access Google
assistance as well as Amazon Alexa hands
even though hound has a lateral move I
guess you could say for user buddies
there's some interesting metrics for
that but usage time has increased on the
major platforms it's time spent overall
per month is going down so I mean your
training per session usage for the
amount of times that you that you need
to ask Alexa or Syria or whatever for a
certain thing our session members or
lower sections they're our lower session
number is better for consumers and
higher session usage times better for
companies well I mean let me throw this
one to you Jaime I mean not not two not
two
you know I'm sort of disrupted the
question that you were asking there
Jules but you know you were talking
about Siri beforehand and that there
have been improvements to that to that
set up do you think a standalone piece
of hardware would make more of a
difference of getting people back on
cereal so think about how many companies
are adopting Alexa right now peripherals
like it's insane how much Amazon is
expanding the reach of Alexa I think
that if Apple doesn't do the same thing
particularly with their amount of market
dominance I think that they would be
losing ground like crazy I don't think
the home pod is just gonna be this
really ugly ball of yarn with with a
crazy price tag I feel that you know I
feel the biggest challenge is really
Apple Apple really needs to take Siri a
little more seriously in what you know
we say artificial intelligence and I
feel that a lot of services are not
there yet I do love the fact that I can
you know one of the main reasons why I
carry an Apple watch in New York is
because it like all I have to do is like
hey Siri give me walking directions to
the spot and it always gets it right I
despise Apple Maps but it works really
well for walking and it wasn't until
Android 2.0 Android wear 2.0 that you
could do the same thing with Google with
with Android wear and one of my biggest
complaints with with an
we're in the past or I'm sorry with
Google Maps in the past is that it
wouldn't it would like walk north and
I'm like I'm in the middle of the
frickin concrete jungle how am I
supposed to know where North is like I
just I need for you to tell me left
right
walk straight you know things like that
and Apple was the first company to
figure the basics out in this and so I
feel that the more people rely on Siri
the more people are gonna need for it to
connect to more things right now for
example things like homekit require for
you to have an act of iOS device like
for example either you have an Apple TV
or you have an iPad that can control
these homekit services that shouldn't be
that way there should be something else
and it's funny because Apple makes
routers but these routers don't have
that functionality so I feel that there
is a lot of things that Apple really
needs to start taking seriously and the
home hot is not at Apple not because
it's not a good idea but because of the
price point the price point is really
stupid yeah I don't think there's any
other way to say the price point is
stupid so that's my two cents
now I so I understand the psychology
because it kind of goes back a little to
like you know saying my buddies
experiences with Xbox and Kinect you get
one try so with all of these people out
there using iPhones I'm sure most of
them have tried to dabble with Siri not
gotten something that they wanted out of
a query or a search or navigation and
then just never really bothered to go
back so if Apple comes out with a piece
of hardware right now these little
assistant speakers are becoming super
vogue people buy back into an Apple
version because it just works with all
of my other Apple products and they give
Siri another try and again we might be
talking about years of them not having
tried Siri to now get a new flavor and
you taste of what Siri can do now I
think that makes sense
I don't but we're I completely agree
with you hi mate is it doesn't make
sense at the price point that they put
the home bot out for so that's that's a
steep price again you know trying I've
seen price point I was flying into
LaGuardia
flying into LaGuardia the other day and
it was the first time that I actively
saw somebody talked to Siri and it I had
never seen it before
zero like my sister has an iPhone 7 plus
full-blown and everything she never uses
Siri now I was like just tell Siri to
set an alarm you know cuz she's like I
know what I'm like what are you doing
I'm setting my alarm for tones just tell
Siri to do it for you it's just like
really you can do that like most
people's response is that it's funny but
it's it's ironic just how how few people
actually watch Apple's keynotes and what
Siri can do and they rely on what we
show consumers that the products can do
and so you know it was this person just
walking out and it was like can you get
me a lift to take me home that was what
the person said to Ceres standing right
beside me and immediately Siri responded
immediately the lift was requested and
that was it
yeah and I feel that that is the ticket
well and I know that that is it that
that's become a major a major gripe for
me with a lot of companies like you've
heard me bitch and moan about LG's
marketing in the in the past um one of
the most successful yeah um one of the
most successful steps that Amazon took
was getting Alexa in the show mr. robot
where the the female investigator has
this sort of bedroom sequence where
she's asking Alexa questions and it's I
mean it informs the character cuz we're
supposed to understand that this is sort
of a lonely woman but instead of having
a lonely cat lady and she's talking to
her cat we have a lonely tech lady and
she's talking to an Alexa and all of a
sudden the appeal the the usage what you
could use in Alexa for what Amazon's
ecosystem looks like how the speaker
functions totally spelled out I think in
one of the best in show marketing
synergy commercials that they ever could
have put together at the right
demographic I mean people watching the
show mr. robot you know you've got the
right demo if you've got a branding if
you've got a branding commercial in the
middle of the show like that for an
Amazon service and I feel like Apple
needs to kind of get back to some of the
iPhone advertising of old to really try
and better inform their consumer base
what these things can do now and I think
that Amazon actually does it best you
don't have to say hey Alexa or okay
Alexa Alexa all you have to do is say
Alexa you know I I feel but in my review
of the Google pixel and the whole Google
assistant when it came out I'm like okay
there is nothing natural about having to
say okay Google all the time yeah
there's nothing natural and your your
the biggest problem with breaking that
barrier is having like Google on its own
is not a normal word like it's not that
you know you don't unless somebody named
their dog Google it's not a normal word
there is nothing wrong with it just
being Google Google can you get me this
google you help me with that and just
say maybe that okay Google if we're
gonna make the the action phrase
something like a casual greeting at
least give us the ability to I mean like
back
I still love pulling out my moto x2 just
for some of those really basic software
additions to their voice search where I
could train a different keyword to act
eyes like like I was like how lord Vader
yeah that's like lord Vader I want to do
it something like really like how do you
lord Vader that it was lord Vader that's
what I use with the Moto X that's
hilarious Vader
why don't we involve him in the
situation and let's go into Lenovo
they're working with Disney for a new
proprietary platform for an augmented
reality game tester off with Star Wars
Jedi challenges
that's gonna be come here Lenovo who
came up with the design of that goggle
thingy
you've got there cuz like it looks
really bad okay what's a burr is fine
the lightsaber is fine but the goggles
they're the lightsaber still the only
thing I wish is that they had made it
look a little bit more like like like
the stormtrooper mask or something like
that or you know Jedi you you take it
back to the blaster shield helmet that
Luke wears in a new hope when he's
training it's his saber exactly just
just a little bit of the plastic on the
outside clad to resemble that as opposed
to just a generic VR looking headset
thing and that's not even generic that
looks terrible man well I mean I don't
know if you've seen some of those like
cheap you know put your phone in this
cradle the headset things like it looks
a little bit better in my opinion and
some of the worst or more most egregious
cardboard style headsets I've seen but
no I completely agree it does look a
little funky because it doesn't look
Jedi it looks it looks Seth look III
think they saw a sirs what is it a
hundred and eighty VR thingy and they
were like okay that thing looks like a
frickin tech like something that came
out of Jurassic Park we can make
something a little less ugly and we're
gonna be just well I don't know is like
I was I was about to say like it looks
like a black Virtual Boy you know what's
cool and that makes me sad but what I'm
excited about though you know just this
notion that you've got a major tech
outlet lenovo has resources they have
been digging into AR they're probably
piggybacking on some of their project
tango experience with the fab 2 pro they
weren't the windows had sense to write
well and we know that they've also been
drawing you know some partnership work
with Qualcomm I still think one of the
best apps to show that off is that
Qualcomm app were you're fighting aliens
that come out of come out of other
dimensions and vortexes and like a giant
worm pops up out of your living room
floor and you've got to kill it that
this is like a first gen application of
AR and it works really well this isn't a
person with lenovo was a smart play I
could just imagine myself like knocking
the vase on the side and then just
hitting the TV on the other end that's
gonna be so again but but like we were
saying earlier you this lenovo is going
to be steps ahead of a company like
Microsoft now if they get this out in
the market it's got the Disney name on
it it's got the Star Wars name on it
it's gonna be a lot of consumers first
experiences with augmented reality
because a lot of people aren't playing
with this on their phones
where's hololens where's my just think
about this this is the perfect sequel to
pokemon go like no pokemon go expose
children to a are like nothing and now
it's gonna have the star wars branding I
mean right now I think that they're just
piggybacking on children and the whole
you know what happened with Pokemon go
and it's like you know what this is not
gonna make money now but if we get
children on board this is going to blow
up in five years
mm-hmm you know once they become
teenagers or whatever I mean this I
think it's the smartest way to do it yes
I agree
they were first this is another company
trying to make a Pokemon go competitor
you know think about you how many emails
did we get this is gonna be the app
that's gonna out Pokemon go Pokemon go
this is gonna be the next AR amazing
that you're like no no no no no
you're already irrelevant if you're
thinking you can just piggyback on the
novelty of what Pokemon go brought and
so now any other thing that comes after
this is gonna be the service which came
after Disney Star Wars AR yeah and
that's and let's hey let's hope they
figure it out because honestly you know
the biggest problem with pokemons go was
okay let me get this straight so I have
to buy a what type of data plan for my
kid because he wants to go chasing
pokemons so the reason why Pokemon go
was the novelty was made why it didn't
last as long as it as long as people
wanted it to let past was mainly because
of that I am like here like here there
is not unlimited day
in the United States there's not a limit
date or if there is it's extremely
expensive and nobody's gonna buy it for
their kids forget it what was hilarious
though is so pokemons go comes out we're
in that first week of just everyone
going nuts over it
and I forget why we had to go to the
mall it's not important and we're
walking by and you know they all have
their little Terrier kiosks and every
single one of them had some kind of
Pokemon go travel pack where you could
sign up for extra data and you'd get
like a little backpack with a water
bottle and a portable phone charging
battery like every single one had some
kind of put together with the overstock
crap that we haven't sold was ready to
go and we also saw the same thing with
apps like like Super Mario run I mean it
was awesome and everything but it's um
it's not why I'm like why Super Mario
run data-driven like why does it have to
require data every single time just
download the damn game and if I want to
play for the prop it's 27 is
experimental everybody me yes but with
anything in Disney it's not like gonna
be that show from Anglia television
called nightmare okay you better get it
right and where it's like people have
this hell home and they don't know what
they're doing it's sort of a are aged
but not really and before kids have to
see have to help them along have to help
this get along in battling quests like
that was only real social use for
putting a helmet that blocks your vision
on top of your head and I don't see that
you know being exploited you know much
beyond personal use and just talking
about it well but I mean that's also
kind of what makes a are interesting is
that it gets us away from blocking out
the world around us that's why I hope
this is done well because it'll be the
first step in showing people we can
interact with the world around you with
data and services but really ultimately
I just hope that at some point I get
that really terrible Star Trek The Next
Generation game where you have to throw
frisbees into tubas and and you get like
a dopamine hit and then they try and
steal the enterprise
because of the videogames and the kids
these days and what not but let's wrap
up our last story because I do want to
get to these viewer emails before we
have to let hi Meghan is the show is
running a little long I need to go for
it anyways deep repent is accepting
pre-orders for its Galaxy Note 8 skins
and blah blah blah there's nothing to
see here let's move on yeah or something
look at that that's cool dual cameras
there the fingerprint sensor is kind of
offset but still at that annoying
position and the bezels are less but
that's to be expected if you're
following the s8 design language you
could say they get really cheeky about
disclosing the whole thing you know at
the picture as a quote-unquote week do
we have in inside information about the
no date no maybe it says cheaply I don't
know small text and then you know you
can pre-order it and once you get your
device or what's the device launches
you'll soon be able to have that all
that ships all told it's about 16
mission dollars they have to account for
shipping and whatnot so there you go
that's the story let's move on yeah I
feel good about moving on let's hit some
fury all right we do have three
questions from podcast at pocketnow.com
the first one up I'm gonna chew through
here real quick this comes from crit
from from Keith CH is I was gonna say
Chris but that's not his or her name and
now I don't know how to pronounce that
um hey guys your thoughts on this please
nokia has been making phones since way
back during the time of the palm phones
PDAs that had the communicator if they
developed their first smartphone with
Android instead of sticking with Symbian
do you think they would still be in the
game now against Apple or at least
alongside Samsung LG and the others
Jaime what do you think I mean there's a
lot of armchair quarterbacking on what a
company should have done or how they
could have been successful xx a
hindsight's always 20/20
would they have been just another
Android manufacturer or would they be at
the top it I don't know man I
what made samsung galaxy so popular they
threw marketing at that thing like
nothing we've ever stained you know it's
it's really hard to predict I think that
the move to Windows Phone wasn't stupid
given the scale that Microsoft had at
the time like it doesn't really make
sense for Windows Phone to have failed
so much like Nokia and Microsoft were
the perfect combination to have this
take off and there were some really
unique things that both companies
brought to these smart phones it was
just the fact that for some reason they
didn't take off so III rather not do the
of game because even if even if
Nokia would have adopted Android early
you have to understand like Nokia was
also competing they had Symbian and they
had Licensing's I think that even
Samsung was a licensee of Symbian so so
think about it I mean why were they
going to adopt Android if they weren't
making any money out of it whereas you
know and here's the problem I mean think
about it we have so many OEMs that have
adopted Android Samsung LG HTC which of
these companies are making money today
so it's really hard for you know aside
from phones so it's really hard for us
to say yes they should have done Android
right now the only company that's making
money on Android is Samsung they are the
only ones everybody else is struggling
so you know even for the companies that
adopted Android early like HTC which was
the pioneer they're not making money so
I can't really respond to that III
really I'll put myself out there and say
I really feel that had Nokia especially
with the leadership the Nokia had at the
time had they jumped on Android they
still would have been ignoring most of
the North American market they had no
interests in interest in playing in the
United States at all and I think that
they would have ended up becoming at
best another company like Motorola where
just like you know Nokia got bought out
by Microsoft they might have been
optioned with the changing tides in
consumer response
and they would have fallen I field just
like you were saying to the media
juggernaut that was Samsung at the time
I just don't think the leadership at
Nokia anticipated the change in consumer
behavior any better than blackberry palm
or Microsoft did exactly I mean all
these companies underestimated Apple
they underestimated Google and you have
to remember like both Google and Apple
were non-players like when the iPhone
launch I mean Apple Apple was you know
barely started selling a few computers
their biggest market was the iPod YUM
and you know think about Google like
Google was just the search company they
weren't doing anything else you know it
was it was their vision in in what
pertains to services that really made
smartphones take off like who would have
thought it wasn't really the smartphone
it was the apps right it's all about the
ABS I mean it's sad because again
Windows Mobile was on point there but
yeah they completely missed the market
there yeah
all right and so uh let's move on to our
next question from Ben chunk a little
pocket now after marques Brownlee mkbhd
made me aware of the high quality
movement VT clip on wide and Telo wide
tella and macro lenses I was wondering
which is better a dual camera system
with a wide-angle lens at musica clip on
two times till it lands on the normal
camera or a dual camera system with two
times tella ones and using a clip on
wide-angle lens on the normal camera so
in other words like the normal camera
well wouldn't go away
unaffected just like you would just clip
on a two times wide or or tell us and
which one I mean stock glass on devices
is kind of an iffy subjects every time
you deal with it you know sometimes the
pixel where you get the flaring and
whatnot and then other times it's you
know it's it's okay I mean the barreling
on the wide-angle of the LG G 6 on the
b20 it's kind of odd because it's not
exactly centered but you know it's
you given your teeth so what you thing
well and Jaime you've traveled quite a
bit with both sort of LG solutions and
with Apple solutions what do you think
more flexibility to have the wider
camera built-in or just add some glass
up front spoiler from high after the
buzz I don't have like I was looking
into my iPhone and I'm like crap I don't
have any zoomed in shots why because I
don't use the telephoto lens well I
don't I use auto lens so here's the
thing I love the LGG six wide angle
camera and the reason why I love it is
because one of the things that I hate
the most about smartphones particularly
with video I use smartphones mostly for
video is because of the crop it's
because of that what is it 127
millimeter somewhere around there
someone some of them are even closer to
30 okay so here's the thing whenever and
just you know for viewers and listeners
whenever I use a 35 millimeter lens
because of its low light capabilities on
my camera I have to be holding the phone
like three feet away I have to be using
a monitor to be able to hold the phone
three feet away just because I need that
because the the so point is that crop
provided by smartphones is already
annoying compared to your standard DSLR
which usually their kit lenses are 16 to
18 millimeters you're very you're
farther away from that you're sorry
you're farther away from the subject on
a DSLR than you are with a smartphone so
the fact of the matter is you know I
would rule I don't think it's it's
there's a point in you in buying any
sort of lenses unless you think that
you're actively going to be zooming into
shots from my experience I tell you I
have the iPhone 7 plus I've been using
it and it's it's funny like I was even
looking into my gallery and I rarely use
this phone for photography because ever
since the G ever since the LG g5 and the
beats plenty and now the g6 I rely on
the wide angle a lot there are stories
you just can't tell like for example I
use this example but it's it's the it's
the best example I have if you're in the
Vatican City you're doing the whole a
Vatican tour you're with another 400
people in the same room
you know can't move to get the right
shot so isn't it cool for you to be able
to just take the shot and crop whatever
you want from it later because you
didn't have to step back to get the
whole monument you just use that wide
angle and it works perfectly for
Instagram if you're gonna do a square
shot or you just zoom into it a little
it's got great resolution I do feel that
you know these lenses these dual camera
lenses need to do a better job at you
know providing better optics for that
wide-angle um but if anything you know I
don't think you'll be using the
telephoto honestly I wouldn't waste any
money on it and in the case of
wide-angle fisheye whatever it is
solutions that they're out there I feel
those solutions are terrible because
they create this this like sort of
distortion on the on the borders on yes
on each side it's called fringing and
you're not gonna use a shot like that it
creates this like really horrible a
magnified lens sort of effect that you
know either one it's just not useful
you know yeah that's right my experience
with clip-on lenses you know cuz I've
got and you actually hooked me up with
what I gave you that because I really
didn't care about it because of the so
you know like they've got like this just
big honkin flower which I think this
might be manufactured in the same place
to some of the moment lens is that
Marquez was reviewing it's a lot to
carry with you they get lost they get
scratched you get fingerprints on them
anytime you degrade the glass in front
of your camera you're gonna have
degradation in your audio in your audio
in your visual quality but the one thing
that I have really enjoyed using our
macro lenses so a little lens that
increases the or decreases the minimum
focusing distance to your camera those
are really fun to play with nobody yes
those are it's just that though it's
it's a very niche case it's not
something that I keep this kit with me
around just so that I can have that one
lens out of for
[Laughter]
it's like I think I want to go take some
flower macros I'll bust out that one
lens that I keep ahold of I'm really
torn because I still like the the my
favorite dual camera strategy is
huawei's where you've got two cameras
that are focused on the same field of
view and they're just doing different
things with color and light but if we're
talking about changing the focal length
I still feel that the the wide angle is
the better approach I was really shocked
looking at photos from the iPhone from
the one plus one plus five and from the
LGG six at full zoom the g6 wasn't that
far behind in terms of that crop zoom
and the visual quality was about the
same I mean you're not gonna get great
shots at the far end of a camera zoom
just cuz you're cropping out data so for
me I tend to prefer the wide over the
zoom but for my core photography I like
you know color and monochrome or
grayscale as my favorite way for just
general shots I continued I continued
drifting back to the p10 just because of
that monochrome it's funny it's not
until I did the after the buzz that I
was like crap I need colored photos on
this so you know I look at a third-world
country which is not really that pretty
and it's just amazing how black and
white photography can make even the
dullest places not beautiful and that's
the main reason why I use it and you
know New York can be very dull in
certain spots as well and so again I
have to agree with you like my favorite
camp combination of algae mainly because
again I rely on video and so I love
using that secondary wide-angle lens for
video particularly but in the case of
photography oh my god way yeah
especially like you know New York and
black and white you can always make that
was gorgeous
remember those shots that we those shots
that we took for the Sam Singh event if
I only went to walk outside like dude
like the other time I was going through
bows just looking around for the
afterbuzz I'm like oh my god so I found
all these like really beautiful shots
that I took a night in black and white
and I was like god I need to post these
they're just gorgeous
there's no room for comparison yeah some
good stuff I mean again like that's how
nerdy we were after the Samsung event we
were walking around at the g6 and a Pete
and like it what 2:00 in the morning
[Laughter]
yeah we were starving that was that
maybe one of the best pizzas of every
let's wrap this up there's one more
question here I'm gonna try and condense
this from Trevor basically Trevor's
asking about the price creep so we've
seen a lot of price creep on premium
flagship phones but now we're seeing it
on the 1 plus 5 we can be we can
speculate that the 1 plus 5 and the our
11 share a frame for some cost savings
that the manufacturing lines aren't
completely retooled between those two
different phones but you know we're
seeing from the oneplus 3 at that $400
price point the 1 plus 3t we saw a price
bump there 1 plus 5 we see another price
bump there
let me see do you think that this trend
will continue will they end up like the
Nexus eventually matching the price of
phones that used to derived for being
more expensive I certainly don't see
them backing down the price at any point
so you know is is this gonna be a crimp
on the enthusiast markets where a brand
comes up by being a cost-effective
flagship replacement but then every
generation they get more and more
expensive along the way I think that one
plus is going to need to at some point
either keep the old generation 1 plus
for an extra year and sell it at a more
aggressive price point and because I
mean these phones like 6 gigabytes of
RAM on the 1 plus 3t I mean that phone
was ahead of its time there is nothing
wrong with that phone staying in the
market for another year which is the Oh
the whole Apple the whole Apple way of
doing things
I in it I feel that it's something that
will continue but I'm really sad with
that with the fact that oneplus what was
the oneplus that was a smaller phone and
that was less expensive oh the oneplus X
the oneplus X I feel I hate the fact
that that experiment failed I feel that
that was the best mentality let's
when entry-level phone that's affordable
but that's also sort of powerful to a
certain degree and let's have another
like the Vanguard flagship but we're
also going to be more aggressive because
people you know whether we like it or
not sure the phone is growing in price
but the problem is all phones are
growing in price like think about it a
Galaxy s8 is $750 yep 750 dollars like
that is a lot of money for a phone so
you know so long as the other flagships
continue growing in price and now we're
hearing rumors of the iPhone 8 costing a
thousand bucks and we have the galaxy as
a plus costing nearly $900 I think that
that's you know this just gives one plus
ly you a continue playing with the
pissed aggregates well that's just the
way it's gonna be so I think that one
place should consider leaving the old
phone for another year but just to cater
to the people that still wants a really
powerful phone with good support but
then they should continue pushing the
bar with the Vanguard you know flagship
that's my opinion well and I think it's
an opportunity for other companies to
like I know a lot of people are been
complaining about the Alcatel Idol 5s
and in that it's a big retreat that they
didn't try and make it a more powerful
phone like they tried to make the 4s
more premium and you're like you know
there's this actually there's this big
gap in the market where they could take
a step back from all their competitors
of last year I don't think I could tell
you know knew what they were in for
opposite the honoree and the axon 7 and
the 1 + 3 + 3 T and they got hammered
so now to go back to what made the
oneplus three such an interesting phone
I think is a compelling move from a
business strategy standpoint we'll have
to see if it pays off for him but I I
think we're all just gonna be what I
think consumers should be prepared for
is it's not only can we compete by
putting in like a really hot processor
is that we're demanding more and more of
every device lifestyle durability camera
tech battery tech recharging tech the
accessories in the box everything is is
getting feature creeped up to higher
price points just at the time that I
think we're also
to see an international market that is
going to become crazy competitive around
things like batteries home batteries
solar batteries car batteries this is
going to put double pressure on the
phone market and I would wholly expect
to see prices at every part of the
smartphone tier rise because of that no
and I think I love the point that you're
making mainly because I'm gonna ask this
to everyone number one in favor of the
Idol 5s I'm sorry can you please name
any other phone at a $200 price point
that looks that good number one and then
in the case of the one plus five please
give me an example of any $400 film that
includes things like - charging or where
you have options like amazing audio
quality like what you've what you've
experienced one I feel that you know
they're still struggling with their
camera experiment I feel that doing
telephoto was a mistake again I think
they should have not everything has to
look like an iPhone or mimic the iPhone
please please like like seriously I feel
that there are you know Apple has failed
in certain strategies for me one of them
has been this dual camera approach on
the iPhone 7 plus I mean yeah it's not
the best solution I think that there are
smarter things that can be done like the
portrait mode doesn't even like that
doesn't even work well in low light
there are so many things that could have
been done with another type of approach
to camera technology and so but you know
going back to the point of defending
these products I you know I I feel that
oneplus gives you a lot of bang for your
buck I mean what is the price of those
bullet headphones one it's like twenty
dollars or 13 I think so I wanted to
holders there were 25 but yeah it's
somewhere in between 25 bucks and with
when you gave me those bullet headphones
you were like dude you need to listen to
these you're not gonna believe how good
they say that I was like okay fine
you're the audio expert shoot it alright
and I'm just I'm regretting that I
forgot them in New York really good how
many companies give you all that bang
for your buck I you know I'm not
complaining about oneplus a strategy I
think they're doing great yeah III think
the Traverse point he was referenced
a conversation I had with with Erika
Griffin about the sharing the frame with
the r11 and I think one plus probably
wouldn't have done this dual camera
experiment if they weren't on the same
shell as what a pole was doing with the
r11 I think it probably would have been
something closer to what we saw with the
one plus three you know maybe even just
a really good single camera fight
Samsung on their own ground why why do
dual if you know you can have one really
killer epic high-quality camera but you
know it is one of those things that I
really feel like for us who are
enthusiasts we should be conscious not
only conscious but I think we should be
prepared for this hitting our wallets
harder and harder because another thing
too is you know a lot of these companies
need to pivot unfortunately if you go
after enthusiasts first you don't make
as much money yeah exactly you don't
make as much money until you pivot and
find some mainstream success or then you
or you die you know so I think you know
the move that we saw from oneplus is
probably a step in them looking to court
a broader audience than what they can
they can achieve with just you know the
Android junkies jumping on for a bargain
because we're kind of the worst
customers or company like wait till we
talked with the tackle there had a great
look at that absolutely yeah I look very
very controversial kind of thing but you
know I mean I mean even sometimes people
themselves admit that they get a little
true to which we all look sometimes but
in any case I think my two cents on it
all is that one plus is trying to you
know Pablo and BBK and whatever back
chain is linking them to the investments
they're trying they they want to see
some margin coming out of a low margin
or no margin company now and this is
their pivot
Carl Pei is using this as an opportunity
to say that they want to they want to
produce the best smartphones they can
period and forget about value that's not
important to us anymore well I'm
it just so happens that you know the
things yes are younger they make less in
this economy you know all the all these
economies and I giving them the monies
that's well and and I feel that oneplus
is a victim of its own success you know
when you're media messaging is never
settle or flagship killer like you're
gonna court an audience of people who
want that you know that they want to
spend less on something which is just as
good as what you're claiming the the
competition is but um I want to wrap
this up real quick because I know we've
we've kept you a little longer than I
expected to Jaime um just did if we
could get a little four one one on
pocket now Spanish that experiment
launched a couple weeks ago a Tony came
on to talk about it during our
anniversary podcast and you were an
integral part of getting this up and
running and I was hoping you could share
some thoughts on on reaching a new
market and using this plugin a parking
espanol is a literally a labor of love
it's been a project that we've been
discussing for many years and actually
the backbone like if you look at how
long we've been posting behind the
scenes and just creating the backbone of
the Spanish website it's it's actually
pretty much a year of work because we
didn't want to just launch something in
for it to be empty and so we've got my
buddy Sam Sam who's actually working in
the Spanish area Sanus is an awesome guy
he's a like a multi-faceted geek he's a
musician he's a tattoo artist
he's uh he's a geek like very few people
that I know but he's also an English
teacher and he's got certain expertise
that are they're really interesting and
he brings this like you know comma key
flavor like Espanola is gonna have its
own its own approach we're not really
trying to because you know Latin America
and you know the Spanish culture is very
different to the English culture like
even our jokes are not funny in English
and even English jokes are not funny in
Spanish so it'll actually take a very
different approach and we're actually
we're actively working at you know just
to give you an idea obviously this is a
project
that is an investment there is you know
it's gonna take time for it to take off
and so you know we're asking we're
asking everybody to provide this as much
feedback as they can we are definitely
going to take the plunge
on video but obviously we've made an
investment on the text website and so
doing that in video where I do want to
be part of that and actively be part of
that obviously requires the fact that I
need more time don't we all the end and
right now it's it's gonna take a while
we have a few approaches that we wanted
to because we actually do want to do
something a little unique on video
that's not being done anywhere else and
that's really the purpose I feel that
there is a niche of approaches that are
not being served in Spanish and it's the
main reason why actually you know
because obviously I'm the only one that
speaks Spanish in the team before Sam
and so it was like okay am I willing to
take upon this and I'm like yes I do I I
you know every single time that I've
been approached by people it's like well
why don't you do it in Spanish like it's
like we we we Latinas have this thing
where we don't like to be whitewashed
for example we don't like we don't like
for our heritage to be white watch and
so everybody's like you have no accent
in English like why don't you do
something in Spanish and stuff like that
and I'm like we want to it's just doing
things in Spanish is not easy they these
projects grow really quickly but they
you know it's funny but advertisement in
English actually is is more it pays
better in English that it does pay in
Spanish so building this project is
going to require support it's gonna
require support from the community it's
gonna require for you know I we ask that
you please you know let us know this
Park and I own espanol is about you
trying to say serve the Spanish
community and we want to do it in a very
unique way but we will need your support
and viewership you know read what we do
that will obviously be part of the the
this time you call it and I don't even
know you call it in English
boomp Atlanta is the way you say it in
Spanish that's going to be that that's
gonna be the point of reference for us
to launch what we want to do in video
obviously video requires a lot more
complexity and we're a very small
project right now so yeah we we we
invite you to be part of this we again
this is not something that we that that
were just experimenting with and just
throwing a finger out no we know what we
want and we know what we want to do and
but it all depends on on your support
initially and thank you like we received
very nice acceptance at the beginning
and again it's gonna take more time but
I can't wait I can't wait for everything
that's coming I can't wait to have more
time to actually wanted to but so far so
good you know it's been really nice well
I'm glad to hear that because even just
the early content that I've been I've
been able to interact with like because
you know I can't speak Spanish for
but you know I still read it well enough
from my high school education of of
different foreign languages and it's
already fun content to interact with so
I can't wait to see what you guys have
coming up next by the way everybody the
memes of the day on our Facebook page
that's actually Sam I mean is just
hilarious so for all of you that were
thinking that these were gonna turn into
the bad jokes that I use the daily
they're not you still have to watch
those bad jokes and there are gonna be
different bad jokes I just find it so
funny when people when people are like I
find it so funny when people are like
dude your jokes are terrible and I'm
like dude do you know what it's like to
come up with a different joke every day
for five years
no five they don't years well and I mean
that's what I love about you know when I
make a joke about my stumpy thumb or you
know how I wrap up my videos I mean the
same thing for you it's like I can tell
almost instantly from the comments like
oh that's someone who's seen more than
two of my videos because they know what
I'm doing when I'm saying mega pickle as
opposed to Mega Pixel
I know like I need to be able to have
some fun producing this content too and
there there are these these ideas and
these callbacks that I like to come back
to and I feel like for the packing a
daily the joke is is sort of its own
entity now it needs to be apart and it
probably needs to not be the best joke
ever for its a dude I think it's it's
funny because when when you know when I
when I came up with the first daily and
then the whole you know it's funny
because I showed it to Brandon who was
back then the owner of out he's
like why a joke and I'm like well
because I look like people's dad and I
need to break the ice somehow well I
mean I really want to thank you for
jumping on to to chat the news this week
again it was really important that we
got important to me that we got you on
because I I'm really excited about this
pocket now Spanish experiment so I'm
hoping that again that we're that it's
resonating that we're we're finding
people to engage with it because again
it's it's only through that kind of idea
of community that these these projects
can survive all at the same time that
people keep saying that they want new
things or they want new content or they
want a fresh approach and then we try to
do those things but then oftentimes
they're not given really enough time to
find you know their to find their
audience or to find their footing this
is one that that's important to me to
make sure that yeah keep it going yeah
yeah definitely no I you know from our
own experience I actually tried to start
a few Spanish projects many years ago in
the brandon times and dude like it takes
time people have no idea how much work
like it's it's it's funny really oh my
god so it's funny how much people
underestimate you know the work we do
you know it's a at some point I had a
few friends that were like oh why don't
we start something together and it's
gonna be us and you're gonna teach us
what to do and I'm like sure I'll do it
but you know once they started doing the
work they're like dude you know you make
this look easy but it's not I was gonna
say that
like no that's the best compliment
actually is like we make it look easy
but you know ah it's really not you know
putting a video together writing an
article like it takes a lot of thought
it takes a lot of time and it requires a
lot of alone time you know it takes away
from you know time with our families you
know sometimes I've you know we've got
deadlines with so many videos to do and
you know sometimes it's 3:00 a.m. 4:00
a.m. people don't know this and then
they're like oh look at the bags on your
eyes and look at this guy you look like
crap and I'm like have you any idea how
much I've been doing and you know we
never say these things but yes PocketNow
Spanish my new project is that it has
been a lot of hours of putting this
together so yes are we expecting it to
blow up we hope so I mean we hope that
people like it because they're there as
we take people's time seriously we've
this that's one thing that I've been
I've been saying in pocket now for many
years we take people's time seriously we
don't just come out here and you know
just push something because we want to
test the waters no there's been a lot of
thought into many of the things that we
do you know like projects like your your
projects like the real camera review I
mean how much time does it take you to
make a real camera view I mean it's it's
crapload of time dude and I have so much
admiration for your talents in
particular you know and so that people
don't know this people just watch the
video and they you know they criticize
it in the comments and everything you
know we had we grow a thick skin or out
of it but it doesn't change the fact
that we you know we strive to bring us
much excellent list of the products we
do as possible agreed and I think that's
the perfect note to go out on gents
because we've we've run a lot longer
than I thought it was but it was a good
conversation and we don't have you on
enough you know to you know when we get
you it's like well we're gonna buy you
don't invite me just pizzas that limit
right there you have it folks another
episode of the pocket now weekly has
come and gone this show is over but the
conversation continues on Twitter where
you can find high Maia's high main
underscore Rivera Jules is at point
Jules and I'm humbly at some gadget guy
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